Shadow Slave

No one dared to speak for a few moments, unnerved by the sudden change in the sorcerer's mood. After a while, though, Effie tugged on his sleeve and asked:

"Uh, care to elaborate... Grandpa Noctis?"

Noctis looked at her absentmindedly, then flinched and jerked his sleeve away, wiping the spot where the little girl touched it with a repulsed look.

"G—grandpa? Who are you calling a grandpa, you critter?!"

He moved his chair away from Effie and stared at her menacingly for a moment, then threw a hurt look at Sunny.

Sunny shrugged.

"...You are a thousand years older than her."

The sorcerer opened his mouth with a deeply offended expression, then puffed and looked away.

After a long and poignant pause, he continued:

"Anyway… as I was saying, Sevras has three weaknesses. The first one is his Flaw — he is incredibly powerful during the day, but nearly powerless during the night. The second one is his brother… surprising, I know, considering what he did to the poor guy. But the Ivory Lord still genuinely cares about his younger sibling. In fact, that is probably the only thing he cares about anymore, apart from his duty and principles."

Noctis grew quiet for a moment, and then added in a somber tone:

"And the third one is his city. That… Sevras loves his people. But he also hates them. They are a burden that weighs heavily on his soul, one that he cannot escape. Their relationship had long been perverted by Hope, and by his own stubborn unwillingness to give up. Noble, righteous Sevras… he might seem like the sanest among us, but in reality, he is the closest to utter madness. All it will take to send him over the edge is one push."

The immortal Transcendent sighed, then shook his head reproachfully.

"That guy… ah, truly, he has always been too serious. You can't survive in this place without a sense of humor… even if you are immortal."

The sorcerer giggled at his own joke, and then looked at them with a relaxed smile.

Dragon Sevirax is at his weakest. And we will kill his

at the

it wise, to

this, Noctis

is just a mindless beast. Killing a beast is

and his eyes suddenly shone

blood of the Moon, Beast God... the

a sip of his wine, slowly returning to his

not hunted for a while… the wilderness is just so ghastly, you know? The dirt, the insects… the

heavily, and

There was a question that he really wanted to ask, but

Finally, he said:

but our lives will be depending on your fight with the dragon. I think

his

it's nothing much. More or less the exact opposite of his. I am at my strongest

a bit, and then

the more they want to possess her, eventually giving in to irresistible desire. A terrible fate, no doubt,

then shook his

Prince's Flaw… well, it doesn't matter anymore. Now that he is encased in that steel monstrosity and almost mindless, we won't be able to make

of them looked at each other, and after a long

you are fighting the Sun Prince and Solvane… what, exactly, are

stared at them in confusion, then raised an

it not clear? While I am preoccupied with the Chain Lords... you will simply have

a bit, and then

you somehow fail to destroy them, at least keep them away from me for a while. Solvane and the Sun Prince… yeah, shouldn't take me too long… I think you will

***

to the edge of the island alone and stood there for a while,

seemingly insane plan of attacking the Ivory City… the battle the cohort was going to wage against two armies while Saints fought in the

remained an unknown variable