Shadow Slave

Sunny remained silent for a few moments, absorbing what Noctis had told him. The Altar Island was calm and tranquil, the lake surrounding it shimmering in the darkness with the reflected moonlight. The branches of the ancient tree swayed gently above his head.

'Because she was worshipped…'

He snorted and looked away, feeling bitterly disappointed, for some reason. After a while, he said darkly:

"So, what? That is all there is? Sun God was jealous?"

The sorcerer glanced at him, lingered for a moment, and then slowly shook his head.

"No… no, he wasn't."

Noctis remained silent for a bit, then sighed.

"The gods had never shown any animosity toward daemons. In fact, their relationship was somewhat friendly. In the battles of the ancient times, they even fought side by side as allies."

He frowned.

"Neither had the gods ever cared about whom or what the mortals worshipped. Ah, there were all kinds of silly cults before! There were rulers that proclaimed themselves divine, people who built temples to beasts and spirits… some oddballs even worshipped rocks. Or the Corrupted abominations… by the Moon, can you imagine? But the gods did not mind at all."

The sorcerer glanced up at the sky, thought for a bit, and then said somberly:

"However, people had never worshipped a daemon… before Hope. The daemons, you see, are elusive and solitary creatures by nature. There is the eldest, mysterious Weaver — the Demon of Fate, who is shrouded in countless layers of lies. Then there is the youngest, Nether — the Demon of Destiny, who secluded himself in the darkness of the Underworld. There is the Demon of Oblivion, whose name is long forgotten…"

attentively, absorbing the new information. Already accustomed to wielding the emerald medallion, he reflexively let go of the beautiful stone and allowed it to hand from the chain wrapped around his fingers, so that his

the Underworld was actually called Nether? I wonder which came first, the name of the title… and he was also the Demon of Destiny, it seems. Wait, aren't fate and destiny the

thoughts were interrupted by the sorcerer's wistful

were, until the Demon of Desire decided to come and live among us mortals,

then continued, his face growing

while the gods were friendly to daemons and indifferent to mortals building temples to beasts, spirits, and rocks… they would not allow a daemon to be worshipped. They were so unwilling, in

cold sense of dread permeate his heart. Remembering one of his nightmares, he

"...But why?"

him with a bit of surprise and

knows? I guess only the gods do… well, and maybe a daemon or two. I doubt that even Hope knew what she had done wrong... but maybe she does, now. In any

Noctis suddenly laughed.

not even existed when I was young, you know. But then, suddenly, each of the six cults started treating daemon worshippers as criminals, pests who were spreading a vile disease... and the concept of heresy was invented. Now, becoming a heretic

grew silent, and then

Kingdom of Hope was a turning point in history. With it, the Age of Heroes ended, and the current one

and the daemons had been allies once? Knowing that they would eventually clash in a devastating war, he could not quite believe it… however, on second thought, the Prince of

the other daemons had not consorted with the gods, as

creatures of the Void? What was the exact timeline of all

'Damn, so many questions…'

glanced at Noctis, hesitated for a few moments, and then grasped

was having none of it. He glanced at Sunny and said with a

ask me a question. That would be the second question… wait, no, the second one was whether

his head, looked at Sunny with reproach, and stood

night. Tell your friends to prepare well in the