A piercing thrumming shot through Gehrman's head as he activated [Eyes on The Inside] at high power. Though he would eventually be able to find the Nightmare Creatures that infested these waters, he needed to be efficient about it.
Losing even one of these ships would be a major setback, and Gehrman wasn't keen on letting that happen.
Now that the Sirens were dead and the Nightwalkers had entered the battle, there was no immediate threat to the entire convoy.
As the echoes of different planes of existence cut through his brain Gehrman could quickly see all of the surrounding areas in much greater detail. The stronger the being the more of an impact they would have, after all. So the only reason he needed to go so far was to make sure he was able to grasp the placement of every creature and Awakened in the water.
As images and feelings rushed into his mind Gehrman's eyebrows shot up at what he felt. The Saint who had traveled with the Flag Ship of the convoy (who was addressed as Bloodwave) had traveled to the depths below to face the creature who had facilitated this assault. By the looks of it, it was a Corrupted Devil.
Not great, but in this environment he was sure that the transformed Saint could take care of it.
Hundreds of other aquatic Nightmare Creatures were being rounded up and slaughtered by the Awakened of the House of Night. A good portion of them make sure to find any of the surviving humans flailing after being returned from hypnosis.
In all truth, there was little left for Gehrman to do besides filleting the corpses of Nightmare Creatures and adding it to his engineers material piles.
But he did not do that immediately.
Instead he was frozen in place by utter surprise.
That was because amongst the myriad of Souls in the surrounding areas…there were also four Shadow Cores.
…Sunny?
…
After everything was done and the convoy finished making emergency repairs Gehrman took a quick flight over to one of the neighboring ships.
At the bow of it, he met with two Ascended. The notably fearsome Nightwalker who had helped Gehrman take care of the Sirens…and Sunny.
"When the hell did you get here?" Gehrman landed on the ship with a metallic thud.
Sunny turned to meet him with a neutral look on his face, while the Nightwalker kept looking between them.
"Ah, Sunless. You did not tell me you were familiar with the esteemed Red Judge."
"Yeah, we met on the Forgotten Shore," Sunny's features darkened a little and he pushed off the railing he was leaning on, his eyes trained on Gehrman.
"You two can get to know each other another time, for now…we should talk."
Gehrman tilted his head but followed his young friend after a quick nod of recognition to the other amicable Master.
As they descended throughout the reinforced and plain corridors of the ship they weaved between many halls and stairs. One might consider it a maze, even. But Sunny naturally had no such issues with it.
Gehrman had long known that shadows, or at least his own, were able to report whatever they sensed back to Sunny. It was what made him such an effective scout. And it also meant that he could never get lost in this place.
"Being quite terse, aren't we?" Gehrman prodded.
"I guess. But I'm exhausted. The first time I try to rest on this trip and a horde of Nightmare Creatures attack, breaking the hull of my ship and sending everything into chaos."
Gehrman noted that Sunny's reply both answered and didn't answer his question. This was a unique quirk of the young man that he found rather odd, but appeared to be important to him.
Perhaps his odd wordplay was connected to his Flaw.
Gehrman wasn't so rude as to push a friend, however, so he simply nodded.
"I admit, I am a bit surprised to see you here. Last I checked, independent Awakened like you wouldn't get the news until the call came for enlisting of the Second Evacuation Army."
Sunny did not reply immediately. Only after lightly going down another series of steps did he reply.
"Jet asked me to join a while back. But I only decided a little while ago to join. It was…kind of last minute. No one else knows yet, except for you and Cassie."
Gehrman found this to be a tad strange, and once again had the feeling he was missing out on some information. Caster had talked about how it seemed that Neph and Sunny had a fight at the Valor Dance. Judging by how the young man was currently traveling to the opposite side of the planet and neglecting to tell his friends about it, it must have shaken him a good deal.
"Why did you tell Cassie and not the rest?" Gehrman asked.
Sunny sighed and stopped in front of a door. After verifying his identity it opened, revealing a spacious room with a bed and many accommodations. It was the same type of quarters that Gehrman was granted.
"I didn't tell her," Sunny's voice became bitter. "But before I left she headed me off and gave me this letter to give you. Didn't say anything other than telling me not to read it and wishing me well."
"Odd," was all Gehrman could say.
Indeed this was strange behavior. Ever since becoming Awakened she had changed, whether from the experiences or because of her Aspect Gehrman wasn't sure. But now that he thought about it, he was never really clear on Cassie's ability to see the future. She received visions, but whether they were forced on her or she could summon them was unclear.
Nevertheless, he took the letter.
"Did you look at it?"
Sunny turned his back.
"No."
There was something deep in that simple word. Sunny said it with a venom that was not exactly fitting the situation.
After the Forgotten Shore, Sunny had seemed to be much more distant from Cassie. Gehrman had found out they didn't interact for months after, despite being rather close in the Dream Realm.
But after their 2nd Nightmare he had thought they had gotten over whatever it was that drove them apart.
Now it was apparent that the wound that separated them had merely scabbed over.
"I got more work to do, my cohort is promising, but they lack experience fighting together. I'll keep in touch."
Sunny turned to leave and Gehrman called after him with a smile.
"A cohort? They made you one of those elite Irregular Captains then?"
For the first time, the glum guy brightened.
"Ha, of course they did. I'm listed as a Special Strategic Asset in that fancy data bank of their's, so they couldn't possibly stick me with the normal people."
…
Back in his own room, Gehrman opened the letter. He wasn't sure what to expect, but when he read the handwritten scrawl, he had to read it several more times to be sure that what he read was right. And when he finally did process everything, he felt as bitter as Sunny seemed when he had handed this off to him.
"...What the actual hell?"
Gehrman furrowed his brows and read it one more time.
Gehrman,
There are 4 Nightmare Creatures in the Antarctic that you can not deal the final blow too. Sunny must be the one to kill them. If you do not, Nephis, Kai, Effie, Sunny, and I will all die.
The first creature is an enormous insectoid creature with a beetle-like body. Its carapace is made out of white jade. It is likely a Tyrant, and will be the Gate Guardian of one of the Gates in the Antarctic Center.
The second is almost definitely Titan with the rough size and shape of a humanoid mountain. It will have a mechanical-looking eye and be roaming across the lower Antarctic Center near Ereubus Fields.
The third is a creature with powerful mental hexes. Likely a Terror. It will wait at the bottom of the ocean and create thralls out of surrounding humans and Nightmare Creatures. It will appear in the waters of the LO49 Research Facility at the end of the Antarctic Center.
The fourth is a creature of a warped humanoid. It is a Gate Guardian, but it does not control its horde. Likely a Demon or a Devil. This creature will appear near the LO49 Research Facility.
I know you may have the power to slay these creatures. I know you may want to. But please remember that hundreds of millions will die if you do. Kill their lieutenants, kill their soldiers, but do not kill these Nightmare Creatures.
Sunny must be the one to kill them.