Shadow Slave

Sunny froze in place, dumbfounded, and just stood still for a moment. Surrounded by stunned silence, all he could hear was the wild beating of his hearts and the hum of blood rushing in his ears.

His eye twitched.

'No way… no way the bastard just did this to me…'

As all four of his shadows wrapped themselves around his body, Sunny turned his head slightly and stared at the sorcerer's finger, which was, without a shadow of a doubt, pointing straight at his broad back. His mouth turned dry.

'He did!'

What the hell was Noctis thinking?!

No, no... the sorcerer would not have sold him out. Yes, shifting the blame on Sunny had to be a con of some sort... but what would Noctis achieve by doing this? Nothing!

Unless, of course...

Unless this had been his plan all along.

A cold, sickening feeling suddenly grasped Sunny's heart.

High above him, the gaze of the dreadful colossus slowly shifted from the elegant figure of the sorcerer to the four-armed devil standing by his side. The weight of that gaze pressed down on Sunny, making him bare his teeth in a snarl. It felt as if he was being pierced by it, his very soul laid bare.

And somewhere within his soul, locked inside the Covetous Coffer, were the three knives — one made of obsidian, one made of glass, one made of bloodred ruby.

Something changed about the terrifying presence of Sun Prince, and his deafening voice resounded once again, now suffused by a distant, pale echo of a vague emotion.

"...SHADOW."

Sunny paled. He had forgotten that the master of the original shadowspawn was to blame for what happened to the prince of the Ivory City, as well. In fact, one could even say that Shadow Lord was the main culprit of the hundred years of harrowing torture that Sun Prince endured… he had stolen the ember knife, after all.

So, if the steel colossus had a reason to really hate someone…

'Curses.'

Feeling his hearts turn cold, Sunny silently watched as the colossus shifted his weight, then bent slightly, preparing to reach down with his giant steel hand. He was desperately trying to calculate his chances of escaping this situation alive…

At that moment, Noctis suddenly cleared his throat, and then addressed Sun Prince in a friendly tone:

"Oh, but do be careful! You know how tricky shadows are, my friend. This one in particular is full of treachery, vileness, and unspeakable malice… the beast even slaughtered a temple full of innocent maidens! He also tried to poison me... oh, the villainy! So, be careful when you grab him! Or you just might lose your hand..."

A low growl escaped from Sunny's mouth. He could feel the other members of the cohort grow tense and ready to fight. Cassie's hand fell on the hilt of the Quiet Dancer, and Kai outstretched his own, ready to summon his bow. Effie was staring up with a somber expression on her childish face, her body drawn like a spring.

But what were they supposed to do?

Even if Sunny knew which of the three knives was meant for Sun Prince, how could he thrust it into the Transcendent's flesh? The actual body of the Chain Lord was buried somewhere inside the walking mountain of steel. More than that, using the knife would only make him mortal… after that, he would still have to be killed, somehow…

Killing a Saint was no easy task.

As the colossus leaned down and moved his hand to reach inside the moondial, Sunny was thinking feverishly. He saw only one option — to run, run, run away as fast as he could. Using Shadow Step, he would be able to dodge, at least.

But for how long would he be able to outrun the giant? Sunny had seen him breach the gap between two islands with one jump. Now that the range of Shadow Control had grown, Sunny could possibly do the same…

The difference was that a single jump like that was going to drain all his essence, while Sun Prince would be able to pursue him indefinitely, tireless and inescapable like death itself.

'Damn, damn, damn…'

The world suddenly grew darker, the sun obstructed by a giant palm. It was open, descending from above like a vast plain of grey steel. It was as though the sky itself was falling on his head.

Effie took a step back and hissed:

"Sunny! What do we do?!"

Frozen in place, he hesitated for a moment.

And then said:

"Nothing. Don't do anything… don't move…"

There was no point in trying to fight Sun Prince, or even running away.

Because…

As the steel colossus leaned over the outer ring of the ancient moondial, the tall pillars shone with ethereal light, suddenly flooded with a mind-boggling amount of soul essence. A myriad of runes revealed themselves, carved in a vast circle that encompassed the whole structure.

And then, everything around them turned to light… cold, pale light of the moon.

Blinded by it, Sunny didn't see what happened next, and just felt something vast and chilling, and yet intangible, move past him with stunning speed. Then, he heard the thunder of a deafening impact, and the groan of steel that was being torn apart. The whole island shook, the quake throwing him to the ground. Sunny hit the cold stones, and sensed the shadow of Sun Prince… changing.

As the pale moonlight dimmed and was extinguished, he saw a shocking sight.

The moondial lay broken, the pillars shattered and toppled over. Not too far away from him, a giant steel hand rested on the ground.

However, it was not attached to the body of the colossus anymore.

The giant was staggering back, his right arm torn at the shoulder. A river of molten metal was flowing from the terrible wound, falling down like blood. The grass was turning to ash where it fell.

…And amidst all of this, unperturbed, stood Noctis. The sorcerer's expression was calm and slightly amused.

Staring at all the chaos, he flicked a speck of dust off his silk garments, shook his head, and said:

"Tsk, have I not warned him to be careful? I did, didn't I? By the Moon, why does no one listen to me... I am the wisest man in all of Kingdom of Hope, after all…"