Shadow Slave

As Sunny slowly approached the main cargo hold, he felt doubt crawl into his mind.

What was he actually doing?

A battle between two Saints was no place for an Awakened, no matter how powerful he had grown after absorbing thousands of shadow fragments and forming the fourth core. The gap in power between Sunny and Solvane was just too vast… he had faced her twice in the past, and each time, the War Maiden crushed him without even putting any effort into her attacks.

The bitter taste of those defeats still lingered in his mouth.

…Especially of the second one, when he watched helplessly as she slaughtered Elyas in front of his eyes.

When he remembered that vile day, his pupils narrowed. An overwhelming feeling of hatred and anger drowned his mind, so scorching and consuming that Sunny was momentarily stunned by the intensity of it.

Every wound, every second of torturous pain, every night of quiet desperation he had experienced in the Red Colosseum rose from the depths of his memory, making him feel as if he was reliving all that torment. The memory of the burning Sacred Grove was there, too, as well as that of an old man crying as he cradled the dead body of his mother in his trembling arms.

And that of Elyas's bright eyes suddenly turning empty and hollow. The grief, shame, and fury of not having been able to keep his promise and save the young man…

Sunny tried to resist the hatred, but failed. It was just too vast, deep… and deserved.

Solvane had deserved his hatred.

She put him in a cage…

She tried to make him a slave.

Gritting his teeth and suppressing a bestial growl, Sunny continued to move forward.

'I'll make her pay... it is not impossible.'

His task was not as hard as he had made it to be. He did not need to defeat Solvane… he just needed to give Noctis an opportunity to defeat her. Anyone could be defeated, anyone could be destroyed... you just had to use the right weapon.

Even the gods had not been able to save themselves.

Sunny's enemy was an immortal Transcendent… but his weapon was an immortal Transcendent, too.

Approaching a familiar door, he summoned the Cruel Sight, inhaled deeply… and then turned into an incorporeal shadow, sliding noiselessly into the main cargo hold of the broken ship.

There, two Saints were entangled in a vicious battle.

***

Both Noctis and Solvane seemed to have forgone the use of weapons. Neither had they assumed their Transformed forms, preferring to remain in the shape of humans.

They were not even using their Aspect Abilities, unless Sunny simply failed to comprehend the scope and magnitude of what the Transcendents were doing.

Instead, the immortals chose the most direct, intimate, and brutal form of combat — they were fighting with their bare hands.

…Each strike was devastating enough to crush a mountain, sending destructive shockwaves through the vast cargo hold.

And Noctis seemed to be losing terribly.

Up close, the sorcerer looked even worse than when Sunny had caught a glimpse of him outside of the ship. He was covered in blood from head to toe, his face broken and missing an eye. One of his cheeks was ripped open, revealing white teeth and making it seem as though Noctis was grinning. The sight of it was both ghastly and disturbing.

Noctis looked more like a corpse than a living being.

And yet, he was still moving.

The speed at which the two Saints fought was almost too great for Sunny to discern anything, but he could still perceive the sorcerer deflecting some of Solvane's vicious blows and trying to dodge others.

Sometimes, he even succeeded.

…But mostly, he failed.

With each strike that landed on his body, more blood was spilled, more bones were broken with a sickening crunch, and more of what made Noctis himself was destroyed. There was almost nothing left of the beautiful and charming person Sunny had once seen on the surface of a golden coin.

Solvane, on the other hand, seemed perfectly fine.

Her tantalizing face was calm and slightly sad, her soft skin free of any blemishes, her simple red tunic flawlessly clean. The only indication that she had been locked in a furious fight with another Transcended was that her hands were covered in scarlet blood, becoming of the same color as her garment.

His thoughts darkened.

'Damnation…'

Sunny hid in the shadows, watching tensely and waiting for his chance to interfere. There had to be a chance, a single instance where a momentary delay in Solvane's onslaught would allow Noctis to turn the tables on the War Maiden…

But no matter how long he waited and how closely he watched, the moment never came.

Instead, after another blow, Noctis let out a terrible scream and fell to his knees, blood streaming from his mouth.

Solvane calmly stepped forward and grabbed him by the hair, jerking the sorcerer's head up so that his mangled face could be seen.

With a solemn expression, she raised her bloodied fist to deliver the final blow and said in a voice that seemed to be more mournful than triumphant:

"Is this all? I… I expected more from you, Noctis… I wished for so much more…"

As Sunny cursed and prepared to attack the War Maiden from behind, the sorcerer struggled weakly in her grip. His gaze danced wildly across the cargo hold, as if searching for something to save him.

And then, for a short moment, it landed directly at Sunny, making him freeze.

Did… did he imagine it?

It seemed as though Noctis looked at him with purpose. It was just a split second, but Sunny was ready to swear that he noticed a silent message in the sorcerer's one remaining eye…

Don't.

…And that he saw something moving beneath the immortal's skin.

Sunny only hesitated for a heartbeat, but by then, it was already too late to do anything. Solvane struck, breaking Noctis's ribcage and thrusting her hand into his chest.

But then...

The War Maiden suddenly flinched and jumped back, letting out a quiet yelp. Her bloodied hand was pressed tightly against her body.

Noctis, meanwhile, continued to kneel, staring expressionlessly at his broken chest.

…Then, he shifted slightly and let out a long, deep sigh of relief.

"Ah… this is so much better… so much easier..."

He looked up, his ghastly grin slowly turning into a sincere one.

"...This was almost worth ruining my attire!"