Shadow Slave

Sunny did not know much about astronomy. However, due to being born during a solar eclipse, he knew a thing or two about eclipses… a useless piece of knowledge he had never thought would become so vital one day.

After being devoured by the shadows, the moon had turned red, which seemed like a sign of its return. However, in reality, it just meant that the moon was now fully submerged in the deepest, darkest part of the planet's shadow.

So… did Noctis get his power back? Had he grown more powerful than ever, even? Or was he currently the weakest he had ever been?

Was the damn Dream Realm even a planet?!

Sunny did not know, and had no time to wonder. He was being destroyed from the inside by the Broken Oath, and relentlessly attacked by the warriors of the Ivory City at the same time. No matter how many he killed, their tide did not seem to wane…

Well, in that case, he just had to kill even more.

Jumping back, Sunny braced himself, and then put his shoulder behind the Patient Avenger. In the next moment, a fiery explosion boomed on the deck of the ship.

…Far away, on a desolate island bordering the Ivory City, Sun Prince raised his hand and aimed the gargantuan javelin, his gaze locked on the ferocious battle between Noctis and Solvane that no one except for him was able to see. His emotionless face glistened with crimson light, reflecting the radiance of the blood moon.

'Damnation!'

Thrown down by the detonation of the flames contained within the kite shield and surrounded by a red haze, Sunny rose shakily and stared at the steel colossus, his heart growing cold. Noctis… the bastard had to be aiming at Noctis…

If the sorcerer died, they were going to die with him.

Powerless to change anything, Sunny just gritted his teeth and watched.

That was why he saw a graceful ship suddenly emerging from the darkness of the Sky Below, its bow aimed at Sun Prince. Left with no other choice, Cassie had abandoned the safety of the treacherous gaps between the islands and threw her vessel up in a desperate attempt to stall the monstrous giant.

The massive siege engine on the bow of the ship shuddered, and a heavy bolt streaked through the dark red sky, hitting the colossus right in the chest. Then, it detonated, drowning the world in pale blue light for a moment.

Sunny froze, his eyes opening wide.

'Crazy girl… she actually did it!'

When the flash of the explosion disappeared, he saw the towering figure of the prince sway slightly and take half a step back. Then, Sun Prince indifferently looked down, at a barely visible scratch left on the breastplate of his polished armor. He did not seem damaged by the devastating detonation of the enchanted bolt at all.

However, he did forget about Noctis… at least for now.

That had not come without a cost, though.

Cassie's desperate maneuver might have distracted the colossus, but it left her in a vulnerable position. Four of the pursuing enemy ships had managed to close distance and surrounded the graceful vessel, showering its deck with arrows. Several Sailor Dolls fell down, their wooden bodies damaged heavily or destroyed completely. The rest released their own arrows.

There were two mannequins standing beside the blind young woman, each holding a heavy shield. By now, both shields were riddled with arrows, and this time, their protection turned out to be lacking.

Two arrows slid past Cassie's defenders. She deflected one with the Quiet Dancer, but the second struck her in the shoulder, throwing the slender girl back…

At the same time, the four enemy ships shot the heavy ballistae standing on their bows, and four wicked bolts hit the hull of the graceful vessel. Two bounced off, but the other two must have possessed powerful enchantment — they lodged themselves deep into the ancient wood, but failed to deal any substantial damage.

However, dealing damage was not their real purpose.

Each bolt was connected to the ship that had shot it by a thick chain. Harpooned by them, Cassie's vessel was severely slowed down and pulled into two different directions, its hull groaning, as if on the verge of being ripped apart.

The two ships that failed to sink their harpoons into it were free to either close in to send a boarding party over, or simply ram it at high speed.

And not too far away, Sun Prince was already readying his javelin again…

However, Sunny did not see any of this.

After a few moments of disorientation, those warriors who had survived the blast of fire from the Patient Avenger had renewed their assault, thrown into a frenzy by the death of so many of their comrades. He was forced to fight without paying attention to anything else.

In this battle, each of the members of the cohort had a role to play. He was powerless to help Cassie, even if he wanted to. Sunny had to survive his own ordeal, and the blind girl had to survive hers…

That bitter feeling of powerlessness… he had not tasted it in a long, long time.

Deflecting a deadly blow of the enemy sword and killing the man wielding it with a lightning-fast slash of the Midnight Shard, Sunny let out a hoarse, resentful growl.

'Hate it… I hate this feeling…'

Far away, the Sailor Dolls somehow managed to sever one of the harpoon chains, a few of them silently falling into the crimson darkness in the process. Cassie broke the shaft of the arrow lodged in her shoulder, gritted her teeth, and took the oars again. Now held by only one vessel, she did not try to escape by playing tug-of-war with it, and instead suddenly turned her ship in the direction of the enemy.

Not expecting this, the enemy captain did not react in time. As the result, the metal beak of the sorcerous ship's ram crashed into its side at full speed, piercing the hull and splitting the whole vessel in half.

A moment later, the Sailor Dolls shot the portside ballistae, several more bolts glancing ineffectively off the giant's impenetrable steel body without leaving even a scratch. It did get his attention, however… another javelin flew at the graceful ship, missing it just by a meter or two.

Cassie did not die.

And Sunny did not die, either.

He slaughtered the last of the ship's defenders and drew in a rugged breath, then braced himself when the deck suddenly shuddered under him.

'What…'

Looking up, he saw boarding hooks biting into the wooden railings, and planks being thrown from the deck of another ship to the one he was standing on.

Dozens of warriors in red armor were already jumping over, their eyes burning with bloodlust and a maniacal dream of glory.

He remained motionless for a split second, and then tiredly smiled.

'Oh… they came themselves. I see. How convenient… I won't have to waste essence on using Shadow Step…'

Gripping his weapons, Sunny threw a glance overboard.

Only nine gargoyles remained, but all members of the cohort seemed to be still alive, if a little worse to wear. The enemy fleet was missing two dozen ships, or even more…

Things were about to get really hard, however.

Now that they had the undivided attention of Sun Prince…

Now that their reserves of essence were starting to run dry…

The real trial was about to start.

Illuminated by the dim crimson radiance, Sunny bared his fangs and dashed toward the rushing enemies.

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