Shadow Slave

Sunny scowled, surprised by that reaction. He glanced at Kai, then motioned for him to sit down. From the looks of it, this conversation was going to be a long one.

The archer cautiously lowered himself onto a nearby chair and let out or quiet groan of pain, then looked around, a hint of curiosity appearing in his cloudy eyes. His gaze lingered on various pieces of furniture and exquisite decorations, then finally settled on the flustered sorcerer.

Noctis seemed to have regained his composure somewhat. He stared at his half-eaten apple with a somber expression, then threw it away and sat down himself.

A heavy sigh escaped from his lips.

"The three things you asked for… are not that easy to accomplish."

The immortal glanced at Kai, then raised one elegant finger:

"I can help your friend, Nightingale, recover from his wounds… somewhat. Those burns were not delivered by mundane flames, and so, even I would not be able to restore that which was destroyed completely. With my help, he will be able to regain most of his strength and vitality. I can also repair the damage done to his soul. But the flames… their mark will remain. Unless you want me to build him a completely new vessel, of course…"

Noctis smiled, and then glanced at one of the wooden mannequins, which was in the process of disposing of the carelessly discarded apple.

"Something like that, but much better!"

Kai shivered.

"Will I be able to draw a bow and control soul essence after your treat my body?"

The sorcerer nodded.

"Of course! You might even grow stronger than you were before. But your face… I am sorry to say this, Nightingale, but it will remain as hideous as it is now. The pain that consumes you will subside, but never go away completely. If you agree to transfer your soul into a doll, on the other hand, your strength will diminish slightly… but you won't have to endure that suffering anymore. I can also promise to make a truly beautiful vessel for you, one worthy of carrying even the most radiant of souls."

The archer remained silent for a while, then smiled.

suits me fine. As long as I can

an expression of confusion written

don't you want

chuckled, his voice hoarse and grating. Then, he

"...I already am."

the archer with dubious expressions, thinking that he had lost his mind. Well… more than anyone else in the Kingdom of Hope had already lost theirs. His disfigured face was ugly, grotesque,

Kai felt compelled to expand on that strange statement. He just remained silent, calmly looking at the sorcerer. After a

wish. The treatment will be long and painful, but it can

second finger

other thing you asked for… lots of my coins, was it? To be honest… how do I say this… uh…

Sunny blinked, surprised.

"What? Why?!"

made a helpless gesture with

you know how long it took me to create a few thousand before? Each coin contains a piece of a Corrupted soul, after all. That is the reason why they are so valuable, precious, and coveted by everyone in the Kingdom of

thought for a few moments

there were a few humans I fed to the Mimic, as well. Regardless, all those coins were consumed when that poor fool claimed the Obsidian Knife from the altar. So… if you really want me to make new ones… I guess I can quickly kill

shivered, then hurriedly

no! No need! Uh… let's not

Noctis smiled.

Well, alright.

the

the Temple of the Chalice… I am sorry to say this, but there is absolutely no chance of me ever going anywhere near that place again. Not that I could, even if I wanted to. And I

with a deep scowl, then

is so terrible

and nervously seeped his

it's terrible. It's just that men aren't allowed to enter the Temple, unless they are serving a woman. They put that rule in place… uh… after