Shadow Slave

Blood Weave was slowly devouring the toxin, but Sunny still felt weak and feverish. Dismissing Saint, he walked around the cargo hold, getting used to the feel of the Undying Chain and looking around to see if there was something interesting laying around.

Like another chest full of Noctis coins, for example.

Sadly, he didn't find anything. Even if the cargo hold had once stored ancient curios and treasures, everything was destroyed by the vines and the brown moss over thousands of years.

However, he was pleasantly surprised to realize that the lusterless steel armor was not constricting his movements at all. It was really like a second layer of skin… perhaps if Sunny wasn't augmented by the shadow, the Undying Chain would have been cumbersome. But he was, and on top of that, there were almost two thousand shadow fragments stored in his two cores.

Even if an Awakened wasn't supposed to be able to wear the Transcendent armor effortlessly, Sunny had no such problem.

'Sweet…'

Finally, he limped over to the pile of dust that remained of Solvane and knelt beside it, then reached inside the ashes and retrieved the wooden knife.

Of course, Sunny had not forgotten about it.

To his disappointment, though, what he was holding in his hand was just the handle. The blade had splintered and broken off, and the wood seemed lifeless and dead.

It was already starting to rot, and even when Sunny looked beneath the surface of the strange knife, he didn't see anything… no spellweave, no brilliant radiance of a sea of soul essence, and no String of Fate folding endlessly on itself in a perfect circle.

The wooden knife was truly and utterly broken.

Almost as if it was created for a singular purpose, and had no reason to exist after fulfilling it.

Sunny looked at the knife with a thoughtful frown.

'Interesting…'

Was the wooden knife created specifically to bring death to the immortal Solvane? If so, were the obsidian knife in the Sanctuary of Noctis and the ivory knife in the Night Temple meant to end the lives of two other immortals?

Suddenly, he shivered.

A single String of Fate, folded on itself and creating a perfect circle…

If he had looked into the wooden knife before it was destroyed, would he have seen the same thing?

A tentative hint of understanding appeared in his mind.

Somehow, Sunny felt that he would. He also suspected that the String of Fate would not have been just a random one.

No… it would have been Solvane's fate.

A String that was somehow torn out of the tapestry of Fate and tied in an endless circle… would something like that make a person immortal?

"And so the shackles were made eternal…"

Who could have done such a terrifying thing?

Well, the answer was rather obvious. The Lord of Light, Sun God, who had destroyed Hope's kingdom and imprisoned her in the Ivory Tower, certainly could. After all, he was not only the deity of flame and light, but also of passion, creation, and destruction.

Looking at the remains of the wooden knife that were rotting and turning to dust in his hand, Sunny couldn't help but shudder.

If he was right, then he was holding a weapon created by a god.

…And he had used that weapon to kill an immortal created by a god.

For the first time since Sunny had learned about the divinities of the Dream Realm, he suddenly felt really glad that they were dead.

***

Some time later, he jumped through the breach created by the Wormvine and climbed onto the ancient ship's hull. Hissing from pain, Sunny staggered a little, then limped toward where the wreck ended.

Since the ship was laying on its side, the wooden surface beneath his feet was inclined down and uneven. Almost inevitably, he lost his balance and rolled the last stretch of the way, landing on the ground in a graceless heap.

"...Ouch."

Sunny remained motionless for a while, then sighed and picked himself off the ground. Standing up, he studied the desolate valley, and then headed to where he had seen the Fire Keepers last.

The landscape of the Shipwreck Island was changed. The ground was overturned and scarred by deep trenches, looking like a battlefield of an ancient war. Some of the trenches were empty, some were filled with massive stems of dead vines that protruded from the soil like rotting serpents. The air was filled with dust, ash, and smoke.

Using the Cruel Sight as a staff to support his weight, Sunny limped forward and soon found the ring of bonfires.

A pale smile appeared on his face.

'Well, what would you know… they actually survived.'

Indeed, the Fire Keepers seemed to be all there. Granted, they looked incredibly exhausted, battered, and injured all over.

All of them were covered in blood, dirt, and soot, their armor torn. Some were sitting with tired expressions on their faces, others lay on the ground, with only the movement of their chests betraying that they were alive. Only the steadfast young man who had wielded a short spear and a heavy shield in battle — the healer of the cohort — was up and about, tending to his companions.

Sunny walked between two of the bonfires and stopped, leaning on the Cruel Sight.

His eyes darted around, lingered on the delicate figure of a young woman with pale blond hair for a moment, and then turned away.

"...Sunny?"

He glanced at Shakti, the Artisan girl, who was resting on the ground a few steps away from him.

The young woman looked more or less like a corpse. Her armor was almost destroyed, revealing deep lacerations on her tanned skin, and her face was dirty and pale from blood loss. What's worse, her right arm was torn away, ending in a bloodied bandage near the elbow... such a wound was not permanent, since it was dealt to her spirit body and not the actual one, but still quite severe.

Nevertheless, there was a wide grin on the Artisan's face.

Looking him over, she whistled and said:

"New armor? Looking good!"

She tried to laugh, but then bent over in a fit of violent coughing. It seemed that all of them were still suffering from the effects of the Wormvine's poison, even if the healer had used his Aspect to make it less lethal.

The others looked in their direction, alerted to his arrival by Shakti's voice. Their eyes brightened.

"Thank the gods! Sunny, you're alive!"

"Good work out there!"

"Crazy bastard… you actually did it?"

Sunny couldn't help but smile.

"Obviously. Why wouldn't I? It was just a Corrupted Monster…"

His smile widened.

"...Actually, I also went and killed an immortal Saint that happened to be nearby. One strike for the both of them, to not waste any time. All it took was a minute."

The Fire Keepers stared at him for a bit, then rolled their eyes.

Shakti shook her head.

"Sure, Sunny. If you say so. But really… I just don't get you. Killing a Corrupted Monster is already an incredible thing, why do you even have to invent some ridiculous story…"

Sunny blinked a couple of times with an innocent look.

"What do you mean, invent a story? It's the truth! I am a very honest person. The most honest person in two worlds, really…"