"Tomorrow, I'll introduce you. They need time to settle in, and I have things to take care of. I also need rest—I haven't had a proper break in a month, and every single day, something has been trying to kill me."
"You're right, I was a bit too hasty. I'll leave you to your business then," I said, waving goodbye.
I walked back to the wall, where my cohort was on shift.
"Captain, you're back," one of them greeted me.
"Yeah, just had a chat with a friend."
"Master Jet told us to inform you—there's another meeting tomorrow."
"Just great… If they're calling another meeting this soon, something must have gone wrong," I complained.
No one said anything, and we continued our shift in silence. A few hours later, we were replaced, and everyone was allowed to rest or enter the Dream Realm—except for me, since I had to attend yet another briefing.
After a quick nap, I made my way to the meeting hall.
When I arrived, Jet, Winter, Dale, and Sunny were already there, along with nearly all the other Masters, waiting for Saint Tyris. Even Bloodwave stood on the side, accompanied by Gunlaug, Naeve, and several House of Night Masters.
"Master Jet, do we know why they called this meeting so soon?" I asked.
"No. Army Command must have received new information," she replied.
Saint Tyris entered and began speaking. She explained that the remaining Nightmare creatures were now converging on Falcon Scott, as it was the last surviving siege capital. However, they would also start infighting, which meant it wasn't the worst-case scenario. To respond to this, Army Command had decided to hasten the evacuation, which would now take three weeks.
She then introduced the major threats:
The Devouring Cloud, which Winter was tasked with containing.
The Terror of LO49, assigned to the House of Night.
The Fallen Titan Goliath, which Sunny volunteered to eliminate.
The Heart of Darkness, assigned to Masters specializing in large-scale bombardment.
And finally, she herself would continue to contain the Winter Beast.
Once the meeting ended, I turned to the other Irregular Company captains.
"This is bad," I muttered.
"What is?" Jet asked.
"Saint Tyris is weakening too fast. She's lost almost twenty percent of her strength already. At this rate, she won't last three weeks—and we'll be lucky if she doesn't die in a direct clash."
"Then why hasn't she said anything?" Sunny asked, hopeful. "Maybe we can figure something out."
"You don't get it. A Corrupted Titan is too strong. She's only able to contain it because she counters its abilities," Jet said grimly.
"We have to think of something. She really won't hold out if she doesn't get any rest," I said. Then, shaking my head, I added, "Anyway, come on, Sunny. Show me the way to Professor Obel."
"You change topics way too fast," he grumbled.
"Well, I can't think of anything we can do right now, so there's no point dwelling on it too much."
After a quick farewell, Sunny and I made our way to where Professor Obel was staying.
"How did you even shout so loudly yesterday?" Sunny asked after a few minutes of walking.
"If you think about it, it's pretty simple. Just augment your lungs and vocal cords with essence."
"Isn't that too wasteful?"
"It barely costs any essence."
When we arrived at a dormitory, Sunny knocked on the door. A young woman answered.
"Sunny, come in. Who's this?" she asked, eyeing me.
"He's the madman I told you about—the one who lured the Nightmare creatures away yesterday."
I smirked. "I'm Ascended Christopher, but just call me Chris. And for the record, I'm not mad."
"I'm Beth. Come in," she said, stepping aside.
The place was modest, clearly designed to house multiple people. Inside, an old man sat at a table, fidgeting with a children's toy.
"Professor, your favorite Awakened is here," Beth said, "and he brought another one with him."
The old man looked up. "Ah, Sunny! Come sit down. And nice to meet you—I'm Obel."
"It's an honor to meet the famous Professor Obel. I've always wanted to meet you," I said as I took a seat.
We talked for a while about the current situation, and Sunny asked if they were comfortable.
Then, I leaned forward, grinning. "Professor, would you entertain me with a game of chess?"
"What's that? I haven't heard of it before," he said curiously.
"Oh, it's a strategy game I picked up during my first Nightmare. Look, I even carved the pieces and board from Nightmare creatures," I said, summoning Casket of Forgotten Threads and pulling out the handcrafted chess set.
Obel's eyes lit up with interest. "It looks fascinating. How do you play?"
"It's a strategy game. The rules are…"