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.

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 and minds from

not even Saints. Those who

her own hope? What was the Demon of Desire

Well, that was easy…

wanted to

wanted to be free,

all too well. Solvane was seeking out death, the two Transcendents of the Ivory City seemed to be on

Lord, but from the little bits of what the sorcerer had

Nightmare. The Ivory Tower had descended

that one day, perhaps soon, the Ivory City would be burned to the ground, and Hope's prison would then break off its

the Crushing would be created,

cold, dire feeling grasped

'Oh, no…'

came to a harrowing realization. His eyes widened, and

the conflict they — 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

five of them were pitted against the five

audible groan

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

the gratitude she expressed… had

along what would happen if one of the Chain Lords was killed, and doomed all of the remaining immortals, including herself, to a fate worse than

she had indeed been the bravest of them all… and

how one looked at

didn't

the emerald amulet and channeled a somber thought, which came out in

that