When Luna woke up, she was in the sleeping compartment of the landraider. Her head felt like it was being squeezed while her throat was scratchy and dry. She accidentally nudged something on the floor. It was Annie who quickly stirred awake. She saw Luna was awake and prepared to give her a tight hug, but Luna screamed in fear.

She backed away as she shrieked and distanced herself from Annie. When she cornered herself, she shut her eyes tight and covered them with both hands.

"Please no more! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!"

Annie slowly tried to approach her, but when Luna heard her footsteps, she wailed like a frightened child. She hid her face away as Luna faced the corner and started to sob uncontrollably.

"Annie! I heard a scream…" Baldric stopped when she saw Luna curled up and crying in a corner and Annie, rattled and confused about what was going on. She looked at Baldric, her eyes pleaded for help. He put the bowl of soup he was carrying on a nearby chair and approached them.

"Luna, Luna. Hey it’s me." He cautiously approached her. "It’s alright. You’re safe now."

She shakily looked up, but when Luna saw his face, her eyes widened with fear.

"Please! No more! Stay away from me! Stay away!"

"Luna it’s me, it’s us."

"Please I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I’m sorry." He warily tried again to reach her but Luna backed into the corner even harder.

Baldric and Annie exchanged glances, unsure of what to do next. Annie begged him to try again. He inhaled deeply and approached Luna. She backed herself into a corner again, shaking her head and crying. Baldric reached for her hands, and she shrieked the moment he touched her.

Luna, unbeknownst to them, noticed two people standing behind Annie and Baldric. Marko's bloodied corpse stood behind Annie. His mangled body was riddled with bullet wounds. Beatrice and her two children were burned to death behind Baldric. Their faces erupted with rage the moment he touched her.

She recoiled at his touch, crying and begging him to leave her alone. Annie and Baldric exchanged glances before returning to Luna, who cried and apologized to both of them, unsure of what to do next.

They left Luna alone to collect herself while both of them went upstairs to tell Elizabeth and Ada to give Luna some alone time. Baldric returned again to check on her a few hours later and found her still crying and huddled in a corner. He could tell she was desperately trying to stay awake. She would back away and cry in her corner whenever he came close. Baldric, unsure what to do, simply left her meal on the bedside table and gently closed the door.

=0o0=

They've been travelling for twenty-one days and have made their way back up to the upper levels of the underempire, guided by the necklace. They discovered a magicore vein along the way, so their fuel was completely filled.

They all gave Luna a day to recover, but things only seemed to get worse. Elizabeth offered to help, but everyone, including Luna, stopped her. Ada told the child that there are creatures in the underempire who feast on magic, and those creatures are incredibly dangerous.

Luna's awake days were also recorded. She had managed to keep herself awake for two days, and Baldric noted that she wasn’t eating or drinking.

She started talking to them again, but only in short sentences, and she still refused to leave the sleeping compartment. Baldric saw her exhausted state and decided on his own to put some of Gerwulf's medicine in her food so Luna could rest. It was a bad idea, because when she fell asleep, she had violent nightmares that caused her to thrash and scream like she was possessed.

She completely avoided all of them after the nightmare incident. She didn't talk to anyone except to check on them, and she spent most of her time alone in the dark sleeping compartment.

Luna also stopped sleeping or avoided sleeping as much as she could. Baldric had to intervene when she was about to fall asleep and repeatedly struck herself with a wrench to stay awake. Luna even went so far as to refuse to eat or drink anything she had prepared herself, fearful that they had sprayed more sleeping medicine on her food.

=0o0=

The effects became apparent after three days of not sleeping or sleeping for only a few minutes. Ada made a snide remark about directions, and Luna was about to strike the GEA if Baldric hadn't intervened. When Luna came out to check on them, she was always irritable and short-tempered. She nearly tripped over Willow and was about to kick the cub when she noticed Elizabeth looking at her. She returned to the compartment and barricaded it, preventing even Baldric from entering.

=0o0=

Four days without proper sleep and Luna was so exhausted that she resorted to locking herself in the storage so that no one would bother or talk to her. Her only companion was the ball of light that stuck to Luna like glue. Baldric went down to the storage and caught her leaning against the walls, desperately trying to stay awake.

"Maybe you should let Ely try and help."

But Luna remained silent. He was irritated because she simply sat down and turned away. Baldric lost his patience and grabbed her shoulder, causing her to recoil away from him.

"I can’t watch you suffer like this! I can’t babysit you too! I don’t care if we have to fight the inflik! Get Elizabeth’s help!" But Luna violently shook her head and hid her face from him.

"I’m fine. I can take it."

"No, you can’t! Everyone is worried sick and here you are hiding in the dark, refusing to even talk to anyone!"

"I don’t need any of you to worry about me."

"What the hell is this all about, Luna?! Why are you doing this? Tell me." Luna was afraid to face Baldric. "It's me. We promised no secrets, right? We would always have each other's backs? Trust me. Luna. What's wrong?"

Unknown to him, her hallucinations worsened, and it became more difficult for her sleep-deprived mind to distinguish between a dream and reality. Luna saw ghosts behind them whenever she looked at any of them. And she could see the ghost of Baldric's wife standing behind him, holding their children.

He took a step closer and forced her to look at him. Luna begged him to leave her alone, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Luna, Answer me because I can’t take it seeing you like this. What’s wrong? You can tell me. You can trust me, right?"

"After what I did to you, you can't trust me."

She was trapped. Baldric approached her slowly, and she desperately searched for a way out.

"Don’t come any closer, please." Luna begged him. "Please. Please. Please."

"I won’t let you kill yourself, Luna. We are right here for you." Baldric came in closer and slowly pulled her in for a hug, but she tried to violently get away. Baldric knew this wasn’t the way to help her, but he could see that Luna needed something to reassure her.

Baldric refused to let go, no matter how hard she screamed or squirmed, and she eventually stopped and cried on his shoulder. The hallucinations faded, but Luna sobbed like a child as Baldric hugged her and she clutched him tightly. He remained silent as he let her cry. He clung to her for as long as she needed, and Luna clung to him as if she would fall if she let go.

=0o0=

Baldric didn't know how long they were both down there for, but he stayed beside her until Luna fell asleep. When Annie came down, she found Luna leaning on his shoulder.

{Ada needs you both upstairs. She says it’s urgent.} She gestured.

Baldric was hesitant to wake Luna up. And when she did, Luna looked even more exhausted than before. The three of them headed to the driver's compartment. Ada stopped the landraider and already kept Elizabeth, the ball of light and Willow close to her.

"There is someone ahead."

"Who is it?" Baldric asked.

"It is another GEA. I tried to communicate with them and it is asking for both of you. After that, it severed my connection." Luna looked outside and saw that a lone figure blocked their path. Baldric looked at Luna, whose eyes were still red.

"I can go alone."

"No." Luna cut him off. "I won’t let you go alone. Ada, Annie, put the landraider on the fortress protocol and make sure everything is airtight and sealed. Elizabeth stay close to them no matter what."

Luna hadn’t put on her long coat and hat for so many days that it felt bizarre as she put it back on. It felt as though the world had finally caught up to them. Both of them went down and confronted the figure.

It was a singular GEA, but it did not wear a disguise like Ada. It was more of an advanced version of an automaton. Its body was painted black and it wore a ragged cloak with a hood. It had four arms and was holding onto a staff that emitted a pale green light. It did not make any hissing or sputtering noises like any other automaton, and its metal armor was smooth and sleek while its green eyes watched them. It bowed when both of them got close.

"Using the under empire to hide yourselves and to be able to bypass all the threats from above is truly a stroke of genius." The GEA gave them a round of applause. "You two truly earned your title as shadows."

"We don’t want to fight you, Asar." Baldric said. "We can all just all walk away right now."

"I would love to. But I can't." Asar walked closer. "And why are you so quiet, Luna?" It scanned her from head to toe. "Hmmmm, something is different about you. It feels like you’re slipping."

She did not reply.

"So you are after the Princess too, Asar?" Baldric stepped between her and the GEA.

"Why no, but the whole world is. Do you know what has been happening on the surface ever since you two have hidden away down here? A lot actually, but the most important one is that Ablan is finally gone."

"What?!" Luna and Baldric said it together.

"Oh it’s true. The independent and proud country of bounty hunters is no more. Ablan has been taken over by Silvus, and what a day that was. Betrayals, chaos, and open street warfare; it was a story fit for the ages!" Asar extended his arms as though he was telling a grand story. "But why should you listen? When I can show you instead!"

Asar got out a small pyramid and carefully placed it on the ground. Light shot out of its tip, making both of them back away. From the light, images began to form, and soon Luna and Baldric realized the images were from inside the council room atop the floating oasis casino. The images began to move, and they saw that the ten shadows were assembled for the first time without her.

=0o0=

They recognized Max right away, and then they saw their friends. The first was a towering, full-woolly mammoth bestian named Alexander Osipov. The second was a buxom young woman with raven black hair who smoked a long pipe named Fenia Hirel. The third was a middle-aged man wearing a ten-gallon hat with a goofy grin on his face, named Theobald Luchenski. And last is a brown-skinned male Ork with long black hair named Krax.

They then saw the other shadows. They saw Treese right away, then the other three shadows. An Alar, a towering half-bird, half-man creature named Drokron Corvax. Trhat Othi was a Trojek, a creature that was encased inside a rock and mineral armor. And a glorkan, named Prontir Thon. Luna and Baldric realised the room was being shown through Asar’s eyes. And with all of them together, they formed the ten council shadows.

"Shame you weren’t there, Luna. It was one hell of a family picture." Asar said as the three of them continued to watch on. All ten shadows were sitting around the table as Max and Treese argued with each other.

"We have already removed Luna as a shadow and marked her as a castless! What more do you want?!" Max yelled out.

"It’s not what I want. It’s what His Excellency the Crown Prince demanded as compensation." Treese crossed his arms with a grin. "He said that as reparations for a council shadow attacking him personally, Ablan should work together with Silvus to bring down the traitors and also to assist them in future endeavors with a significantly reduced payment."

"Let me get this straight. Silvus wants Ablan to be its Vassal because of one person!" Trhat said, slamming his mighty mineral fist on the table.

"You really think any hunter would work for free, much less under Silvus banners?" Krax said to Treese.

"I don’t see what the issue is here." He responded. "It’s them who are going to be working for Silvus, not us. It’s the people who will be doing the heavy lifting while we rake it in! Who cares about the dirt on the heels of your shoes? This is your opportunity to get in and join in while you still can! Silvus can offer this country more than what it has now! We can even extend beyond this damn region and start claiming new territory."

"We would rather die than let this nation be controlled by Silvus, Treese." Alexander stood up. His massive height cast a large shadow. "Tell Asterion that those are our terms and if he doesn’t like it, he can wage war on Ablan if he dares."

Treese smiled. "Well, actually, he already did."

Loud explosions could be heard in the distance as armored automatons and Silvus soldiers stormed into the room, all pointing their guns at the nine shadows, but they were much faster.

Fenia blew a cloud of pitch black smoke across the room, blocking all sight. They could hear Alexander and Drokron roaring, and gunshots rang out as men yelled and screamed all around them.

Asar remained motionless in his seat, barely doing anything. When the smoke cleared, Treese was gone, every single Silvus soldier had been killed, and all of the automatons had been destroyed. When more explosions were heard outside the casino, Asar stood up and joined the eight shadows as they looked at the city below.

The streets below had turned into a battleground, with Ablan's numerous defensive structures exploding and catching fire. More explosions tore through the outer and iron rings, accompanied by citizens' screams, blasts, and gunfire from all directions.

"They got through our defenses," Fenia muttered.

"Or perhaps someone let them in!" Alexander yelled angrily.

Max cursed and pointed into the distance. It was a cloudy night, but lights were gradually becoming visible through the clouds.

The clouds were breached by an entire Silvus airship armada of massive heavy armored dreadnaughts. As landing craft glided and walkers leapt down to the city below, the lights on the airships shone downwards. With their anti-air and heavy weapon defenses destroyed, it was a one-sided battle, with the echoes of Llomeryn's citizens reaching the casino's top floors. The airships dropped heavy bombs upon the city, and the eight shadows scrambled when the moving images stopped and faded, leaving Luna and Baldric frozen in shock.