Shadow Slave

Sunny shuddered, turning his head to the center of the Ivory City. The thunderous roar that just rolled across the flying islands chilled him to the bone, making both of his hearts stutter.

The voice of Sevirax, the Ivory Dragon, was filled with so much sorrow, wrath, and madness that every dire horror Sunny had experienced in the Kingdom of Hope paled in comparison.

It was like the voice of death itself, coming to drag them down to hell.

Taking an involuntary step back, he looked at Noctis and asked hoarsely:

“Wasn’t… wasn’t he supposed to be the sanest of the Chain Lords?”

The sorcerer slowly opened his eyes, remained motionless for a moment, and then rose to his feet.

“He was.”

Noctis glanced in the direction of the Sky Below, where the corpse of the Sun Prince swayed forlornly, tangled in the chains.

“…He’s not anymore, though.”

As all of them watched, a gargantuan silhouette rose above the city. Sun glistened on the ivory scales of the great beast, and as he moved through the sky, a deep shadow covered streets and houses.

The dragon was much more beautiful, majestic, and terrifying than Sunny could have ever imagined. It radiated a feeling of power and holiness that was so intense that it reached across dozens of islands and crashed into them like a wave, making the members of the cohort pale.

Sevirax looked more like a creature of myth than an actual monster. In fact, calling him a monster would have been unthinkable… whatever the Nightmare Creatures were, he was the opposite. His mighty body, his white scales, his shining eyes, his terrible maw, all of it was suffused with profound and dreadful splendor.

The whole body of the great beast was surrounded by a golden halo of divinity, which only Sunny could see.

…And all of that immeasurable power, all of that immolating fury, all that inhuman madness was aimed at them.

Only Noctis remained indifferent, looking at the approaching dragon with a steady gaze.

Sunny’s face grew dark.

“You are going to fight… that?”

The sorcerer lingered for a moment, then glanced at him and smiled.

“He finally lost his mind. A mindless enemy is not too terrible to face…”

With that, Noctis took a step forward and glanced over his shoulder.

He said in a wistful tone:

“…Remember your promise, my friend.”

In the next moment, the figure of the sorcerer shimmered, and then disappeared…

Turning into a torrent of pure light.

Sunny and the rest looked at the river of beautiful light that suddenly surged forward, pale under the bright radiance of the sun. All of them suddenly felt something moving in their hearts, as if they were touched by the presence of true divinity.

As if they were witnessing something sacred.

As the pale light rose to meet the white dragon, it flowed and swirled, shaping itself into the form of a colossal, ghostly wolf. On his forehead, a shape of a crescent moon shined radiantly. The wolf whose body was weaved of moonlight opened its maw and let out a deafening howl.

Then, he collided with the frenzied dragon, and was obliterated.

…He was made out of nothing but ethereal light, after all.

But although the shape of the wolf was broken, the light remained. It washed over Sevirax and clung to his scales, ten thousand radiant fangs sinking into them at the same time.

It was as though the dragon was fighting a boundless swarm of fireflies instead of a single beast.

Sevirax roared in pain, and then twisted his long neck. A stream of annihilating flame shot out of his maw, destroying thousands upon thousands of motes of light.

Drops of sizzling blood fell to the ground from the skies.

Sunny stared up, paralyzed by the mind-boggling scale and otherworldly sight of the heavenly clash.

‘Beast of Twilight…’

For better or for worse, he had no time to observe the fight between descendants of the gods.

In this battle, he had a role to play, too.

With a sigh, Sunny turned his gaze to the beautiful Ivory City and dashed forward.

He had to enter the Ivory City.

***

In the future, the Shipwreck Island had been connected to the Twisted Rock — and then to nothing, directly bordering the Rift after the small island crumbled into the Sky Below. However, this had not happened yet. The Rift did not even exist.

Instead, it bordered the Ivory City.

Sunny jumped down to the heavenly chain, realizing that he had traversed this one already, once. Back then, it had been rusted and sick, being slowly devoured by Chain Worms. The Mordant Mimic had run across it, escaping the awakening Wormvine while Sunny pursued.

Now, the heavenly chain looked as good as new. Trying to conserve his essence, Sunny held off on turning into a shadow and simply ran forward. With his four cores and the augmentation of four shadows, his speed was nothing short of staggering — especially because he used his long upper arms to propel himself forward, as well, running more like a beast than like a human.

As the four-armed devil shot across the chain, the two Trancendents continued their fight in the skies. He caught glimpses of it from time, or simply felt powerful shockwaves travel through the air, making his bones tremble and the heavy chain sway.

The dragon was still enveloped by the swarm of light, spewing streams of fire to burn it away. The light, however, constantly moved, breaking apart and coalescing together, changing shape, and causing more and more pain to the great beast. Sometimes, the colossal form of the ghostly wolf appeared for a short moment to deliver a vicious attack, then dissolved again to avoid retaliation.

It seemed as though Noctis was just one mistake away from being gravely wounded and broken by the dragon’s flames… and yet, he was not making any mistakes. Fighting with a devious cunning and fierce will, the sorcerer always seemed one step ahead of Sevirax.

But with every flash of annihilating fire, a small part of him was destroyed.

Sunny did not know how much longer Noctis would be able to hold…

And for that reason, his task was growing more and more pressing.

He had to reach the Ivory Tower before one of the Saints fell…

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