The terrifying Sun Sons and the desperate escape

Dan Tie opened his eyes and looked ahead.

The world was pitch-black, with tangled coral and seafloor plants growing everywhere.

"Where am I?"

"I remember seeing the beacon for our return."

The thought drifted hazily through Dan Tie's mind as he activated his helmet's night vision.

His eyes swept across the area. Beneath the jumble of coral and shells, he spotted enormous structures he knew all too well.

He saw a Radiance Relay, a Spiral Jump Platform, and even the foundations of a Prismatic Tower.

Once, he had known all of these things intimately. They had filled him with pride.

These colossal structures were the hallmarks of the entire Sun Empire.

Wherever they appeared, all darkness would be banished, and all would submit to the order of the sun.

But now, everything he had once taken pride in lay in ruins.

Dust covered the remains, and coral and shells steeped in the aura of souls had grown over them.

"Is this a battlefield on some other planet?"

Dan Tie was still pondering when a wave of excruciating pain struck him.

His massive body convulsed, and the thoughts that had been clear only moments ago were swallowed by a violent urge.

He craved blood. He craved slaughter!

The instinct slowly drove him mad, and his breathing grew ragged.

He tried to recall the teachings their great father had given them, the glory their legion commander had bestowed upon them.

But endless slaughter and conquest had blurred it all.

He could no longer remember how many battles he had fought in that infinite labyrinth. How many prey had he hunted down?

Had he fulfilled the hopes of the father of his bloodline?

Was the Holy Blood within him still pure, untouched by any defilement?

Whenever he thought of that, Dan Tie could