Shadow Slave

Sunny remained silent for as long as he could, until, finally, the Flaw forced him to give an answer.

He looked grimly at Noctis, and then said — or rather, thought — hoarsely:

"...Maybe he just wanted to see you suffer."

Noctis laughed brightly, then nodded.

"Oh, indeed! Maybe you are right. Gods can be very cruel, sometimes. After all, they are much more ancient and vast than kindness and compassion. Or, maybe, it is not really our lives that keep the Demon bound, but instead our will and desire to keep her imprisoned. Or maybe it is a test of our conviction… that is what the Sun Lord believes, at least. Or maybe… maybe he actually hoped that we would free her. Who knows?"

He smiled, then sighed, and finally added:

"...If mortals like us could know the will of gods, then we'd be gods instead."

After that, a somber silence settled over the deck of the flying ship.

Sunny stared at the delicious food in front of him, realizing that he had lost all his appetite.

Hope… the Demon of Desire…

How terrifying she was.

Slowly, several things that had seemed random and meaningless fell into place.

The jubilant crowd in the bloodsoaked Red Colosseum, the perverse conviction of beautiful Solvane, the harrowing torture of the Sun Prince, the madness that burned in the eyes of the black steed… all of it was the result of her harrowing power.

turning it into a ghastly, hideous, demented hell. Every aspiration, every desire, every dream, every hope were twisted, set aflame, and turned into a weapon. An

Neither mundane humans nor Awakened... not even Saints. Those who were closed and those who were far,

what was her own hope? What was

Well, that was easy…

wanted to be

like Sunny wanted to be free,

from the looks of it, her curse was working all too well. Solvane was seeking out death, the two Transcendents of the Ivory City seemed to be on the verge of fratricide, and Noctis was planning

the last Chain Lord, but from the little bits of what

witnessed at the very start of the Nightmare. The Ivory Tower had descended from the sky,

Ivory City would be burned to the ground, and Hope's prison would then break off its seven chains

Crushing would be

feeling grasped his

'Oh, no…'

Sunny came to a harrowing realization. His eyes widened, and he

Cassie, Effie, Kai, and Mordret — had to resolve to conquer the Nightmare. They had to either help this mad sorcerer free the terrifying Demon, or make sure that she would

of them were pitted against the five

groan escaped from his

to the Spell always being fair? How the hell can this be

before accepting Solvane's challenge… the gratitude she expressed… had Solvane really eradicated the blessed of Heart God

of the Chain Lords was killed, and doomed all of the remaining immortals, including herself, to a fate worse than death — to a slow and inevitable descent into madness, followed by eventual destruction? All in order to free Hope

she had indeed been the bravest

depending on how one

that didn't really

amulet and channeled a somber thought, which came out in

was one thing that he still couldn't