Chapter XXV: Fate is a Bitch (The first of many such titles)

"...And that's when I woke up," Cassie concluded the retelling of the dream/vision she had excluding some choice things: like how she felt when seeing the angel being devoured by the shadows - that was personal to her.

Her three companions were silent for a while.

Nephis had her usual poker face on, which made it hard to determine what she was thinking or feeling. Meanwhile, Sunny had a completely lost expression etched onto his face.

To him, what their blond companion had told them was more in line with a charlatan's prophecy than a vision acquired via an Aspect Ability. It was disjointed and full of symbolism and vague imagery.

However, it was not all undecipherable as the last part was clear enough for him.

'I better steer clear of any angelic beings, just in case," determined the Shadow Slave.

On the other hand, William knew exactly what the vision meant. Also, he glossed over the fact that there was no indication of him being mentioned in it.

'I'm probably not that significant in the grand scheme of things to be mentioned in the vision or maybe it is the effect of my [Fateless] attribute,' the tall youth hypothesized as he observed Cassie's pale countenance, 'whatever the reason may be, my situation doesn't change.'

##################################

Sometime later, they were all sitting on the western edge of the platform they were staying on. They had their hot, crab meat breakfast in their hands while observing the Carapace Scavengers below.

Sunless bit into his food as his shadow scouted out a route to the next high landmark.

"Were there always that many?"

The dark-haired youth glanced at the Changing Star before swallowing his food.

"No, there were much more. The carcass is almost completely eaten already. I doubt it would last them until nightfall."

"As I see it, we have two options available for us," stated William from next to Sunny, "One, we wait until Sunny scouts out a path for the next high landmark but we risk having to deal with more Scavengers; or two, we try our luck with reaching our next campsite while the scavies are busy but risk not being able to reach it before nightfall. Let's vote for it. I personally prefer number one."

Before the others could voice their opinions, a commontion coming from below attracted their attention.

Down below, among the broken mounds of red coral, lay the half-eaten carcass of a shark-like nightmare creature. Between the bones that had been stripped of their meat, something was shimmering while buried in the mud: two extremely large, luminescent crystals.

".....Is that?" uttered Sunless with widened eyes.

"Yes," nodded the Legacy heiress, "they are the shards of two Transcendent soul shards."

William observed the shorter boy shiver upon realizing something.

'[Fated] must really be shafting you hard if she let loose a Corrupted Monster on you as soon as you got here,' commented the white-haired Sleeper internally, 'anyways, those guys should come now, right?'

"Should we....."

"Shhhh!" Nephis shushed the outskirtsskid. "Wait and listen."

"Here they come," muttered William.

Sunny looked between the two Sleepers before obediently doing as he was told and listened carefully to the clamor of the Carapace Scavengers.

Then, he noticed the disharmony. It was as if they were.....frightened.

Following that, the Changing Star tensed up and pointed at a specific part of the coral. Sunny, after concentrating, was finally able to notice the two massive shadows emerge from one of the particularly large pathways.

Soon, the figures that cast the shadows could be seen.

'Damn,' Sunny gulped at the sight.

The creatures were similar in structure and shape as the Carapace Scavengers, but that was the end of their similarities.

They towered over the surrounding scavies at a height of about three meters. Also, their carapace armor was much thicker than that of a normal scavenger and was colored in a deep black and scarlet color scheme - akin to an archaic armor drenched in bloodd Moreover, all over their body, vicious-looking spikes protruded from its carapace, adding to its intimidating look. Furthermore, instead of having pincers, the monstrous creatures had two long, curved, bony scythes.

(Image)

William let out a low whistle at the terrifying appearance of the creatures.

"What the hell are those?"

"Awakened Monsters."

"Monsters."

Both William and Nephis said, respectively; the female Sleeper regarded the other with a side glance before concentrating back onto the new arrivals.

Meanwhile, William was busy trying to recall the information he knew about different nightmare creature classes.

(A.N: the section below is for those who have not read the Shadow Slave novel or those who don't know about the nightmare creature classes. Others can freely skip until they reach the asterisk {*}.)

Nightmare creatures have been organized into several differenet 'classes' by the Nightmare Spell according to the number of soul cores they possess, which peaks at seven.

A nightmare creature with one soul core is classified as a 'beast'. As per their classification, they have no intelligence other than some primitive instincts, but that does not make them any less dangerous to the unprepared Sleeper.

Next comes the nightmare creatures with two soul cores that are classified as 'monsters'. These creatures are much stronger than the beasts and have some form of warped, primitive intelligence.

After that comes the 'demons' that have three soul cores. It is at this level that nightmare creatures show intelligence similar to humans - if not greater. Also, in rare cases, they can acquire abilities specific to themselves.

Following that, there are the nightmare creatures with four soul cores with the classification of 'devils'; these devils, different from the rest of the other creatures, always have strange and harrowing abilities that are not much different from the awakeneds' Aspect Abilities.

Then comes the 'Tyrant' class nightmare creatures with five soul cores. As their name suggests, Tyrants are able to create and command hordes of lesser minions to do their bidding.

Next are the creatures with six soul cores that are given the classification of 'Terrors'. A Terror class nightmare creature is able to influence its surroundings one way or another in various unknown and deadly ways.

Finally, nightmare creatures with seven soul cores are succinctly classified as 'Titans'. As its name suggests, a Titan is the peak at which a nightmare creature can become. Thus, they are also regarded as Calamities since their sheer scale and abilities are so boundless that they can only be described as forces of nature.

*

The three Sleepers, who had vision, watched as the awakened monsters moved towards the carcass. The Carapace Scavengers scurried away in fear from their path, and those that were not fast enough were mercilessly cut down by the bigger monsters' scythes. The azure blood of the powerless crab centaurs spurted everywhere, and some of it even landed on the black and scarlet carapace of the attackers.

"Did they come here to absorb the soul shard?" inquired the quiet blond girl next to William.

Even though she couldn't see the situation, she knew the gist of the situation from what she was hearing from both her companions and the scavengers below.

Finally, the black and red monsters reached the carcass and took one crystal each. However, instead of directly absorbing it, the scythe wielders promptly turned around and carried the priceless crystals away.

"They..... took it away," Sunny muttered audibly as he watched the crystals being carried into the coral.

"So... Everyone who wants to stay says,' Aye!'," requested the white-haired youth as he looked at his companions.

"Aye." (x4)

"It's settled then," he continued before standing up and stretching his body, "we'll advance tomorrow."

With that, William went to rest up.

Cassie soon followed after him, seemingly deep in thought.

Meanwhile, Nephis was staring at the direction the two nightmare creatures took the soul shards.

"They're going westwards," she muttered under her breath, then looked over at the boy next to her.

"Follow them with your shadow just in case."

"Sure," he nodded and proceeded to command his faithful shadow.

################################

William lay on his back as he observed the grey skies of the Forgotten Shore while listening to Nephis and Sunny having a friendly spar that was suggested by the dark-haired boy.

Well, calling it a spar is a bit of a stretch since the poor guy was being one-sidedly played with by the more experienced swordsman.

Well, it was not his place to cast judgment on him since he would've been in the same situation as Sunless were it not for his [Eidetic Kinesthesia] attribute.

As for him?

He had nothing better to do since they were essentially grounded to their camp for the day. Well, he supposed he could've used the time to engrave a spell or two into his brain, but he soon dismissed the notion due to the others being awake. He didn't feel comfortable putting all his cards on the table just yet.

Turning his head to the side, he saw Cassie, who was sitting next to him while hugging her knees to her chest. Her doll-like face sported a slight grimace.

"A penny for your thoughts, Cass?"

Cassie blinked a couple of times as she got pulled out of her own mind by his question, "Hm? No, I've just been thinking...."

She went silent for a moment as she turned her face in his direction, "Do you think that we will ever make it out of here?"

William didn't expect her to ask him of all the people about this, but he supposed that it was a valid question. If everything goes like it did in the original story, then Sunny and Cassie would definitely make it out while Nephis stays behind for plot reasons.

However, a question plagued his mind since he arrived in this reality: What about him? What was the reason for his existence here? What role was he supposed to fulfill in this play?

There are too many questions with no answers in sight. It made him sigh internally.

"William?" Cassie's soft voice brought him back from the mires of his mind.

"Sorry, was out of it for a second," he apologized with an embarrassed smile that Cassie couldn't see, "anyways, regarding your question, I believe that we can definitely make it back home."

This seemed to attract the attention of the two sparring Sleepers.

"What makes you so confident?" th blond oracle couldn't hide the incredulity in her voice.

"I mean, look at our group," William stated with a grin, "we have the sword princess with her full antisocial glory who can freeze nightmare creatures by her cold glares. Sunny, who, for being much of a creep as he is, does a great job at scouting our paths. Plus, I believe he took the cockroach as his spirit animal from what I've seen of his tenacity."

William ignored the two glares directed at him from the peanut gallery as he pointed at Cassie, "Also, we have you who can see visions about the future that can guide us."

Then, he pointed to himself.

"And last but not least, you have my glorious self who can carry this group through most fights with my marvelous skills. Plus, I'm an excellent cook."

"And humble too," he heard Sunny comment, but he disregarded it in favor of the melodious laughter that was coming out of Cassie.

'Come to think of it,' he thought as he observed his blind friend, 'this is the first time I heard her laugh genuinely since we got here. Well, it makes it worth the death stare Nephis is giving me.'

The melodic laughter seemed to ease the tension in the camp that had unknowingly formed after witnessing the carapace monsters.

Soon enough, Cassie's laughter died down, and her expression turned wistful. It was also then that the other two decided to end their 'spar' and join them.

"What do you miss the most about home?" Cassie asked. It was directed not only at William but also at all those present.

Then silence took hold of the conversation as each one tried to think of anything that they missed.

"I don't miss anything in particular," Sunny was the first to admit. Cassie seemed surprised at that.

"What about your family?"

Another short bout of silence ensued before he spoke again, "I don't really have a family. I guess I have a sister..... somewhere. But we haven't seen each other for many years."

"What about you, Ms. Nephis?"

The said Sleeper tilted her head at the name Cassie had used to call her.

"Just Nephis will do," she probably didn't mean for it to come out as a cold command, but, unfortunately, it did.

"Huh? O-Oh, alright. Sorry," the poor girl got half-frightened by the cold, aloof tone. "S-So, what do you miss most about home, N-Nephis?"

"...My mother," was her curt reply. This answer got a curious look from the shadow master who had heard from Caster about her family's situation.

"I , too, miss my family the most," Cassie nervousness lessened as she found common grounds to talk about with the enigmatic Legacy Sleeper. "I am sure mom and dad are very worried about me..."

She fell silent abruptly before she continued self-deprecating smile, "No, they are not really worried; rather, they must be heartbroken, thinking that I'm already dead."

Cassie's not-so-positive statement led to an awkward silence that continued until Sunless remembered that someone was holding out on them.

"Hey, William, what about you?" inquired the shorter, pale male.

This brought the attention of both Cassie and Nephis back to the cerulean-eyed youth.

"Dude, my situation's not much different from you," he replied to his dark-haired companion while trying to feign nonchalance, "I don't have anything that I would particularly miss in the waking world. As for family, well, I don't have any."

'Not anymore,' he added in his mind.

Sunny nodded his head slightly. It was rare for someone to afford having a family while living in the outskirts where food was scarce and safety was questionable at best.

Cassie had a sad expression upon hearing her friend's situation, while Nephis was unsure whether what the boy was saying was the truth or some fabrication to reduce her suspicion about him.

With this, the conversation ended with each one having known a bit more about their companions.

######################################

During the evening that followed, Sunny was forced to do another two thousand sword strikes, courtesy of his white-haired combat instructor who had engaged in another spar with Nephis.

Then, they ate their dinner before hitting the hay for the night.

As always, William volunteered to take up the first watch. During his watch, he had managed to engrave half the magic circle for [Ray of Enfeeblement] before Arthas, who he had summoned to keep an eye out, notified him that Nephis was waking up.

All in all, things went smoothly for the rest of the night.

After that, the following morning, they descended down the statue and went back into the Coral Labyrinth. However, before that, Nephis deemed it necessary to say a few words:

"Today will be different from before. There will be much more scavengers roaming in the labyrinth. We might not be able to create an ambush or avoid fighting several of them at once."

"So we need to pick and choose our battles, huh?" commented the tall Sleeper, to which Nephis nodded.

"Exactly."

"Then, I would suggest a formation with you and Sunny at the front, Cassie in the middle with her echo, and I at the back to guard the rear."

Nephis lowered her head as she thought about William's suggestion. Then, with a nod, she agreed, "It may work as long as we don't get surrounded."

"We won't if we don't waste too much time fighting. Make each fight short and sweet by focusing on the scavies' weak points," William added.

'Of course, my Corpse Scavengers will be making sure of that.'

Then, his cerulean eyes turned to look at Sunless.

"Keep an eye out for big bastards like the ones from yesterday. I don't want to feel what their scythes feel like."

The dark-haired boy nodded with a grim look. He would rather not fight against those monstrosities if possible.

The Changing Star nodded before concluding the discussion, "Good. Now, let's get moving. Time's of the essence."

With that, the quartet descended to the floor of the Coral Labyrinth and began rushing through it with utmost haste.

###################################

Sunny's shadow scoured the lands before them and allowed them to avoid large groups of nightmare creatures.

Whatever small groups they encountered were dealt with swiftly thanks to William and Nephis's efforts. Sunny also got a kill to his name whenever he could but after seeing the efficiency to which the other two fighters dealt with the threats, he decided to stick to his role as the scout - at least, until he had a much better handle on the sword.

It provided no use for anyone if he delayed the group just so he could get a few kills.

Despite the few encounters they had with small groups of scavengers, the four Sleepers managed to make good progress. Also, thankfully, they had no monsters chasing after them even though they seemed to be weirdly attracted to their group whenever they were close.

However, soon, their luck seemed to run dry.

Sunny stopped in his tracks, and so did the rest of his companions shortly after.

"Damn," he muttered in frustration.

"What's the matter, Sunny?" asked William whose armor was half-drenched in the azure blood of the scavengers he killed.

"There is a group of four scavengers up ahead blocking the only path forward," he explained with in a frustrated tone before sighing, "do we retrace our steps and choose a different path?"

Nephis looked at the skies for a while before she shook her head, "No, we'll waste too much time this way. We have to go through them."

"Same tactic as the day before?" inquired William, giving a knowing look at the silver-haired Sleeper who simply nodded wordlessly in return and moved to secure an ambush position.

Sunny looked between his two companions before sighing internally and following behind the Changing Star.

Seconds later, only William and Cassie were left.

"Well," voiced the boy while summoning his sinister mourneblade.

"Better get this show on the road."

####################################

The blond girl couldn't tell him not to get hurt since she knew it was inevitable. Also, she didn't want him to have to lie again.

She heard his footsteps get farther from her location until they suddenly stopped.

"Take care of yourself, Cass," having said that, he continued on his way to face off against the group of nightmare creatures.

"Please, stay safe," she prayed in a low voice while clutching her hands together.

#####################################

"Grhh!"

William grunted as he tanked the attacks of two Carapace Scavengers via bone shields that connected to his armor's shoulders.

The plan had gone horribly wrong from the start.

Either it was due to his activating the [Mantle of Death] too soon, or Sunny attacking a second too late; whichever the reason may be, it ended in Sunny's target getting out of its shocked state sooner than expected and turning just as he was about to strike the discolored patch of chitin on its back.

As a result, Sunny's blade struck harmlessly against the adamantine chitin and notified the nightmare creature of his presence.

With a piercing scream, the scavenger awakened the rest of its buddies from their brief period of shock and gave out their element of surprise.

Thankfully, Nephis had struck her target so they didn't have to deal with four awakened beasts.

With a huff, William rolled to the side to dodge another downward pincer strike then with a blade forged out of the bone of his armor from his bracer, he sliced at the frontal joint of the attacking creature.

Thankfully, his armor was an Awakened memory. Thus, it was able to cleave through the joint with enough force behind them and cause an outflow of azure blood from the severed limb.

However, this move made him vulnerable to an attack from the second scavenger.

Yet, that attack never came. Just when the scavenger was about to attack, its eyes suddenly lost their glint of life as the monster erupted in white flames.

Not taking this chance pass by, William gripped Frostmourne and pierced it through the injured scavenger's torso. Then, with a roar of anger, the Sleeper's grip on the sword tightened, and he pulled the blade upward.

In an impressive feat of strength, the Carapace Scavenger was cleaved in half from his torso upwards.

The runic sword glowed in glee, and the Nightmare Spell whispered in its owner's ears.

[You have slain an awakened beast, Carapace Scavenger.] (D20 = 2)

[Your soul grows stronger.]

When he cleaved the nightmare creature, a shimmering object flew into the air before falling.

William followed its trajectory and saw it fall right into the hands of a silver-haired girl with clear-grey eyes.

Nephis looked at the soul shard in her hand and then looked at the azure-coated William.

"Here," she offered the soul shard toward the white-haired boy.

"Thank you," he said as he took the soul shard and placed it into the [Scout's Sack]. After doing so, he looked at her with a genial smile, "Also, thank you for the save."

As reticent as always, Nephis accepted William's gratitude with a nod before looking in another direction.

Following her gaze, William saw Sunny sprawling on the ground with his chest rising and falling rapidly as he tried to regulate his breathing. Next to him was a Carapace Scavenger that had Sunny's [Azure Blade] embedded into its maw.

"Hey, Sunny! Are you still alive?" William yelled in a mirthful manner.

Sunny responded by raising the universally known symbol for 'Fuck off'.

"Love you too buddy," he chuckled when he saw the middle finger then he turned to Nephis, "seems like he is still kicking."

William saw a corner of the Legacy heiress's lips rise slightly; then, like a mirage, it vanished and she returned to her usual impassive expression.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" the silver-haired Sleeper asked when she noticed the white-haired male's strange expression.

"No reason," replied William as he walked towards the direction of their prone companion, "I just discovered that even statues could smile. You discover something new every day, eh?"

Nephis wanted to say something in return but she was interrupted by Sunny's excited cry, "Hell yeah!"

The two Sleepers stared in bewilderment at the dark-haired youth that had just jumped to his feet in elation. There was an excited and proud smile present on his pale features.

"I got an echo!"

This surprised both Nephis and William - for different reasons.

Nephis knew how rare it was to get an echo of a nightmare creature. Sometimes, one would end up killing hundreds upon hundreds of the same kind of creatures without ever getting an echo.

Meanwhile, William was mentally sighing, 'I guess what is [Fated] to happen will always happen. At least, it gives me a general idea of Sunny's growth.'

Immediately after notifying them of his acquisition, as if sewn togethr from sparks of light, the hulking echo of a Carapace Scavenger manifested right next to Sunny.

The guy himself was like a kid in a candy store, "I bet this bad boy can help us deal with any fights we get forced into."

"Good," Nephis nodded as she observed the scavenger, her lips curving upwards by the smallest of geometrical degrees.

"I hate to be the party pooper here," commented William while he observed the skies, "but we need to hurry back to Cassie and get moving while we still have daylight to burn."

He didn't like the fact that Sunny got lucky this time. Don't get him wrong, he wanted all the best for his dark-haired friend, but whenever he got lucky with anything, a catastrophe was soon to follow.

Thankfully, it didn't take long for the three Sleepers to extract the soul shards and reconvene with their blind companion.

Not a moment later, they continued their journey through the Coral Labyrinth.

The new echo soon proved itself to be a valuable addition to the group since it made it easier to travel through the labyrinth and fight the occasional unavoidable group of scavengers.

Moreover, William was regularly getting messages from the Nightmare Spell that his minions were doing their jobs of protecting their rear faithfully and tirelessly.

The group was making pretty good progress in reaching their next high rise camping are. One could've even called their situation calm.

However, it was only meant to be the calm before the storm since fate clearly had other plans in store.

After hours of ducking and weaving through the narrow coral passages while following behind their scout and navigator, Sunny; Cassie suddenly yelled, "Stop!"

The three Sleepers and the two echoes immediately halted their steps upon the sudden cry and the humans turned to look at their companion in worry with deep frowns etched on their faces.

"What is it Cassie?" asked Sunless, his voice laced with a sliver of panic.

William felt it when they stopped moving - the winds were stronger than before. He looked up at the skies and his frowned deepened further.

"Can't you hear it," the oracle said from the back of her echo, her long blond hair was blowing with the wind, "the murmuring?"

"What do you-" Nephis was interrupted by William's terror-stricken voice.

"Move!"

"What?" Nephis retorted more out of reflex than out of curiosity.

"Goddamnit people I said move!" he yelled again and that was when a drop of water fell directly on Sunny's nose.

Sunny rose his head to the skies and his heart fell to the ground as he saw wrathful dark stormy clouds cover up the skies at a rapid pace. Then, it also covered the sun.

And when that happened, everyone's hearts sank too.

"Fuck!" William yelled, his normal joyful demeanor all but gone "Move people! Move!"

"Move to where?" Sunny yelled back.

"Wherever it is safest, you're the scout! Figure it out!"

Sunny commanded his shadow to climb on top of one of the taller coral pillars to get a better view of their surroundings.

Meanwhile, Cassie was severely alarmed by William's change of tone, "W-What's happening?"

"A storm is coming," answered Nephis with a voice suffused with apprehension.

Sunny saw the landscape through his shadow and found that they the knight statue was already pretty far away from their situation.

"Damn," he muttered before facing his companions, "we have about three or four kilometers until we reach the cliffs. Do... Do you think we could make it."

"If we take the most direct route then, yes," was Nephis's answer.

Before Sunny could even ask about the monsters ahead, William sent a mental order to his minions to clear their path for them.

"What about the monsters?"

"We'll go through them," answered Nephis as she began to move, "what are you waiting for? GO!"

Under the heavy downpour of rain, the group of four humans and two echoes rushed through coral labyrinth as fast as their feet could carry them - there was no point in conserving your strength when your life was on the line.

Thankfully, the path seemed to be eerily empty but no one had time to question the lack of the labyrinth's residents since the storm was getting worse and the first flash of lightning already illuminated the dark sky and let out a deafening thunderclap.

The next moment, the ground shook violently causing Sunny to lose his footing and roll in the mud. Thankfully, he found himself being picked up and thrown over a shoulder.

The shoulder-lengthed white hair that was now brown at parts due to the mud was a good indicator of who it was that saved him.

"Bear with it Sunny, we can't slow down now," William said rapidly while continuing to carry the shorter boy over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Sunless would have been indignant about the position he was in if not for him gritting his teeth in horror at the sight of the ground being covered by a layer of water that was reaching their shins.

'The Black Sea is coming back!' panicked the dark-haired kid. The water was steadily rising causing them to lose their running speed.

In a minor stroke of luck, another flash of lightning illuminated the dark figure of a big mass of rocks.

They had reached the cliffs!

Then, the grounds rumbled like a pack of a million elephants were stampeding on it and Sunny witnessed torrents of black water rushing into the Coral Labyrinth.

He saw a tardy Carapace Scavenger thrown by the torrent into a coral wall causing its adamantine carapace armor to crack open like a rotten egg.

Suddenly, he felt himself getting moved and held by one arm to the side. Then, he noticed that William was carrying Cassie, who had already dismissed her echo like him, in a similar manner.

"Hold tight onto my back princess," ordered William in a hurry.

Nephis had a warry look on her face, "But I-"

"Spell be damned woman! Do you want to die? Just fucking do as I say and stop with the 'I'm suspicious of you' act!" yelled William even louder in a tone that brook no argument.

Sunny and Cassie both felt that somehow something snapped in William's mind but they thought better than to voice their opinions now.

A moment of silence followed.

William felt Nephis's slender arms wrap around his neck while her legs wrapped around his waist.

After taking a deep breath, eight, thick bony arachnid legs sprung from William's armor and pierced into the rock of the cliff side.

Then, under the astonished gazed of Nephis and Sunless, they all began climbing up the cliff like a spider in an impressive speed.

"Brace!" Sunny yelled as his shadow saw a big wave of black water coming towards them.

The wave smashed into them making them all even more drenched than before. However, fortunately, William's spider legs was able to withstand it and they soon began their ascent again.

They were literally racing against time as the water level was rising quickly and now was reaching William's feet.

No matter how fast William was climbing, the extra weight was dragging him down; yet, he still continued despite that.

The water level continued to rise as it got past his feet. It got past his legs, waist, abdomen, and it was almost reaching his torso.

William had to strain his muscles to raise the bodies of Cassie and Sunny so that they won't be submerged in the black waters.

Then, when their hope was at their lowest and water threatened to drown them, William had managed to reach the edge of the cliff.

The quartet fell with their backs on top of the cliff as the heavy downpour smashed into their pale faces.

They had survived.... Somehow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For those interested, the loot count will be counted at the end of the chapters whenever appliable from now on.

{The day's loot count: 1 mentioned kill + 8 personal unmentioned kills + 12 minion kills.}

{20 D20 rolls = 20(10), 2, 9, 16, 3, 15, 9, 5, 9, 16, 3, 13, 2, 7, 17, 15, 14, 1, 3, 11}

{+3 memories: [Azure Sword], [Azure Spear], [Foot Soldier's Armor]}

Here is the new chapter.

Happy reading and have a great day!