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.

tiny cracks in her prison, and drove a whole realm utterly insane, 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 insidious, invisible weapon that struck at human hearts

Those who were closed and

what was her own hope? What

Well, that was easy…

to

Sunny wanted to be

too well. Solvane was seeking out death, the two Transcendents of the

the North… Sunny didn't know about the last Chain Lord, but from the little bits of what the

the time running in reverse that he had witnessed at the very start of the Nightmare. The Ivory Tower had descended from the sky, and the burned wasteland

Ivory City would be burned to the ground, and Hope's prison would then

then, the Crushing would be created,

dire feeling grasped his two

'Oh, no…'

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

resolve to conquer the Nightmare. They had to either help this mad sorcerer free the terrifying Demon, or make sure that she would never

five of them were pitted against the five

audible groan escaped

the Spell always

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

and doomed all of the remaining immortals, including herself, to a fate worse than death — to

had indeed been the bravest of

depending on how

that didn't really

channeled a somber thought,

that he