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.

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

immune to her power. Neither mundane humans nor Awakened... not even Saints. Those who were closed and those who were far, all fell victim to

What was the Demon of Desire yearning

Well, that was easy…

to be

wanted to be

so that they would destroy each other. And 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 to kill

about the last Chain Lord, but from the little bits of what the sorcerer had said, she was not in her

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

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

Crushing would be

cold, dire feeling grasped

'Oh, no…'

eyes widened, and he glanced at

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

five of them were pitted against the five

groan escaped from

always being

Solvane's challenge… the gratitude she expressed… had Solvane really

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 from her

been the bravest

depending on how one looked at

didn't really

the emerald amulet and channeled a somber thought,

one thing that