"I'm too late?"
Sunny gripped the obsidian knife.
The one person he really didn't want to kill had arrived.
As selfish as it was of him, Sunny was glad that Hope would need to break the last chain herself.
Because it meant he wouldn't have to kill Noctis.
But… but he just had to show up, didn't he? The Nightmare wouldn't be complete without him.
"I suppose you are."
The breeze returned, brushing his ashen hair out of his face.
Noctis looked around.
"Did you do this?"
Sunny shook his head.
"No, that was Sevras. And before you ask, no, I wasn't trying to make him do this."
Noctis nodded.
"I see, I see… who's in that grave?"
Sunny nearly took a step back.
"...Lady Aidre."
Noctis nodded.
"I see, I see… let me guess, she asked you to kill her?"
Sunny swallowed hard.
"Thats right."
Noctis shook his head and sighed.
"These damn women… always dying on their own accord. What about me?"
Then, he nodded.
"Well, that's that then. Prepare to die."
Sunny sighed.
"Are you sure? I'd really rather not kill you."
Noctis laughed.
"Oh? And you are so sure you'd win?"
Sunny nodded.
"Your Flaw is active, isn't it? Don't play dumb."
Noctis didn't react to his words, instead leaping from the rooftop he was standing on, landing not too far away from Sunny.
"So? I don't see your Shadow anywhere. Sevras must have damaged it severely, right?"
Sunny shook his head.
"Serpent."
The world around them darkened as the head of a serpent revealed itself, sunlight gleaming on its obsidian scales.
Noctis stared at the Shadow.
"Oh…"
Sunny silently pleaded.
'Please, just run… please…'
The shadows at his feet moved, wrapping themselves around Serpent as it transformed into Solvane.
Serpent still had plenty of essence to spare, and so did he.
He wasn't completely confident in beating Noctis, but he knew his chances of victory were higher.
He wanted to run. To make Noctis give up, but if he returned… he must have found a way to track him again.
It was either convince him to back off, or kill him.
'Damn it…'
"Ah, well… if you have that big old snake with you, then I guess it's only fair that I bring my own backup?"
Two shadows fell over Noctis for a moment before landing with loud bangs.
Behind Noctis, two much more advanced looking Sailor Dolls stood, brimming with energy and power.
Remembering he had his eyes back, Sunny shifted his vision. Within each of them, seven transcendent soul cores brimmed with energy.
Sunny glowered.
'He wants us to fight one on one…'
The Sailor Dolls were only here to take up Serpent's time, not to be used as actual weapons to defeat him.
'Bastard.'
Sunny groaned.
"Fine."
He took a step forward, the Mantle covering every inch of his body in an instant.
Noctis also took a step forward, untying his robes.
With a flourish, he threw away the red robes, leaving his torso bare. Tucked in his waistband were the two diamond sickles he always used.
The robe flew away in the wind, landing gods knows where.
Quickly glancing at his runes, Sunny clicked his tongue and reached into his soul.
White sparks began to coalesce within his hand, and a long saber made of glass appeared.
Five of the six shadows he had wrapped around Serpent slowly slinked off of it and wrapped themselves around him instead.
Behind him, Serpent's form changed into that of Sevras.
Behind Noctis, ethereal wings grew from Sailor Doll's backs.
With a leap, the three Transcendent Titans took to the skies as their masters stared each other down.
"You know… Aranea told me that everything would be fine as long as I did what she said."
Noctis shook his head and sighed dramatically before grabbing the two sickles.
"I'm starting to believe I was tricked."
Sunny paused.
'Aranea said that? Did she lie to him..? Why would she do that?'
Sunny shuddered.
'Or she didn't.'
Noctis began monologuing about some nonsense he didn't care about, his words only falling on deaf ears.
There were two possibilities.
Aranea's visions were wrong, and she had misled Noctis, or Aranea's visions were right, and Noctis was right where she wanted him to be.
If her visions were wrong, then that was fine.
But if they were right, then… once more there were two possibilities.
Either she actually wanted to free Hope and had made Noctis fail on purpose, or Noctis was in the prime position to prevent Hope from being freed.
'But isn't it a bit too late for that?'
Six of the seven Chain Lords were dead. Hope could free herself at any moment. The only thing stopping her now was the fact that she was waiting for Sunny.
'Strange… so strange…'
Perhaps it was wiser to run away…
Sadly, it was a bit late for that.
"...that's why I destroyed that stupid box. Can you believe that fool had practically no security on that thing? Ridiculous! You could've stolen everything had I not shown up!"
Noctis seemed to be ranting about Sevras, but Sunny didn't care too much. The sorcerer sighed, and a second later, he was upon him.
Stepping to the side, Sunny dodged an overhead swing, only to be kicked away a moment later when he went for a stab to the side. Flipping mid air, tendrils of shadow shot from his body, pulling him to the ground before Noctis could leap towards him.
Landing on the ground, Sunny lifted himself up as he breathed heavily. That single kick to the side he had received had already bruised him quite a lot.
Noctis walked towards him with a carefree expression, enjoying the breeze on his bare torso.
"Isn't this fun?"
"No."
Sunny lunged towards him, only for it to be a feint as he dashed backwards before launching the saber towards Noctis. The sunlight caught the glass for a moment, dazing him as he knocked it aside.
As the saber was spinning midair, a hand caught it, Sunny appeared beside Noctis with a shadow step, stabbing the blade toward him.
With a loud clink, the blade of the saber was caught between the outer edges of the two sickles held out in front of Noctis. Sunny saw himself within the diamond blades for a moment, his determined reflection staring back at him.
Sunny clicked his tongue, stepping away.
He wanted to use the Shell of the four-armed fiend, but against someone like Noctis that would likely only give him a bigger target.
His own body would have to do.
Sunny dove deep into the Shadow Dance. Now that his eyes were back, he could shadow someone with much better accuracy than before as he could observe their essence. Within Noctis' body, ghostly transparent essence flowed with more precise control than he had ever seen from anyone before.
'Live a thousand years and you'd be decent at that I guess…'
If he could learn even a little of that…
His thoughts were interrupted as once more Noctis was upon him.
White sparks exploded outwards as their blades met, with Sunny struggling to hold back both sickles at once.
'I need another weapon…'
Sadly, he didn't have any other weapon as strong as his current one. It would most likely be destroyed if he used it to fight Noctis. He could preserve the weapon and enhance it with his shadows, but he'd be actively losing strength for a weapon that wouldn't exactly turn the tides of the battle.
So for now, he'd have to stick with one.
The Saber — [Sun's Tears] gleamed.
One of its enchantments allowed it to refract light, capable of dazing opponents with bright light. Another enchantment massively improved its power during the day, and the last enchantment allowed it to be temporarily subsumed within the user to increase the strength of their fire-related abilities, an enchantment that was sadly quite useless to him.
'So be it. It's good enough for now.'
The Memory he received from Aidre did not seem very useful to him right now, so he had not bothered summoning it.
Sunny was quickly losing the contest of strength between their blades.
Spikes emerged from the shadows beneath Noctis, just for him to leap backwards, abandoning their clash.
Sunny let out a long breath.
'He… he hasn't even used his Aspect yet.'
Then again, Noctis' Aspect had to do with souls and transplanting them, he most likely didn't have any direct combat abilities outside of his sorcery and transformation.
'He doesn't seem to have prepared a trap either. I should be fine…'
Manifesting a dagger of shadows, Sunny gripped his tightly as he readed his blade again.
Raising the sword above his head, the sun's rays intensified into a beam of light aimed right at Noctis. Dashing to the side, ghostly essence left his palm, coalescing into a…
'Crap-!'
Sunny immediately lowered his blade and dodged as the beam of light was reflected right at him, Noctis having made a mirror from his essence.
'Ah, to hell with it!'
Sunny dashed forward once more, manifesting two more arms with two more daggers.
With a grin, Noctis blocked all of them with little effort, the shadow hands being destroyed by the sheer power from the blow.
But this time, the clash continued. Sunny had not been kicked away immediately.
His saber met Noctis' sickle several times, more white sparks exploded between them. Sunny was slowly getting pushed back in their clash, but for every second they fought, he could read Noctis' moves just a little better, and could react just a little faster.
Ducking beneath a swing, Sunny sent a sweeping cut towards Noctis' chest, only for Noctis to lean his entire body backwards before flipping away.
'Damn!'
Reading the moves of an old beast like this… it wasn't easy.
Sunny fell into the shadows to recover for a moment.
Noctis looked around, not spotting him. Looking at his palm, he slowly rea-
Sunny emerged from right below him, trying to stab his feet.
Noctis immediately raised his foot as his other foot kicked at Sunny's wrist, sending the saber flying away. His foot came slamming down at his face a moment later, only to meet Sunny's hand.
Noctis immediately grimaced in pain, ghostly light exploded from beneath his foot as he kicked off the ground in a hurry.
Stabbed straight the sole of one of his feet was the Moonlight Shard. Sunny had summoned it last second when Noctis had tried to stomp his face.
He had drawn first blood.
No words were spoken, no insults were exchanged, they only stared at each other in anticipation of their next clash.
The Moonlight Shard disappeared into tiny sparks just before Noctis brought his foot down to destroy it.
'That's one of my cards gone…'
He would've much preferred to use it to land a fatal blow, but impeding Noctis' movements was far more important currently.
The sorcerer didn't grimace even slightly as he put his foot down, the bleeding having already stopped.
'Right, he can heal himself…'
Looking around, Sunny searched for something in the environment he could use. Noctis did the same.
'Damn it… fighting someone like me… this sucks.'
Noctis was every bit as cunning as he was and more. Noctis was basically Sunny if he had lived a thousand years, he had practically every advantage over him.
Sunny's only current advantages were the fact that Noctis' Flaw was in full effect. Sure, he was an Ascended Titan fighting a Transcendent Beast, but calling humans Beasts was simply unfair.
Still, the fight was not hopeless. Sunny could see a clear path to victory.
…Or perhaps Noctis was only making it seem that way, just so he could take away his hope in a single moment.
He always had to be ready.
'At least I don't have to worry about stabbing attacks…'
Frankly, he'd be more worried Noctis was using his fists. Sickles were better farming tools than they were weapons.
Still, he would not underestimate them.
Clenching his teeth, Sunny sunk into the shadows once more.
Noctis looked around and immediately began to perform the ritual Sunny had seen him attempt to do multiple times.
'Is it bait?'
This time, Sunny decided to wait and do nothing.
And sure enough, after a while, nothing happened.
Sunny came to a realization.
'He must not be able to do it during the day.'
If his Aspect was weaker, then his sorcery must be as well.
Noctis seemed to realise Sunny knew as well, as his frustration began to show itself. Sunny was certain Noctis was a master at keeping a poker face, but how well could he really do that when six of Hope's Chains were broken? Hope's Poison was at its strongest, and Sunny could tell behind Noctis' carefree smile there was barely contained madness. He was the same.
'I need to keep this fight going…'
He had no hopes of outlasting a Saint, but… Noctis may end up like Sevras, losing his mind before the battle could even end.
There was also the clash of titans in the air. Sunny was confident Serpent would emerge victorious. He simply had to stall.
But still… he wanted to win. Simply ganging up on the mad sorcerer wouldn't feel like a true win. Not that Sunny cared too much about those kinds of things, but still, he couldn't rely on his Shadows forever.
Sunny emerged atop a nearby roof, causing Noctis to notice him immediately.
He grinned.
"Scared?"
Sunny grinned in return.
"A little. Are you?"
Noctis didn't respond as he dashed towards him, seemingly also realising he was on a timer.
Noctis spun midair, starting his strike with only one sickle. Reading the move, Sunny blocked the first strike but didn't stand his ground, allowing the strike to send him flying so as he could dodge the follow up strike.
Flying through the air, Sunny observed how the fight between Serpent and the Sailor Dolls was going.
Serpent was winning without a doubt.
But the Sailor Dolls were built to last, Serpent simply couldn't put them down fast enough.
Sunny clicked his tongue.
'Screw this.'
Dark wings appeared on his back, letting him shift his trajectory and glide further and further away.
If Noctis truly didn't have a way to track him, there was no reason for them to fight.
Sunny would simply flee and wait for Serpent to win.
Noctis leapt towards him, assuming his transformation midair.
Watching the stream of ghostly white sparks fly towards him, Sunny grinned. Flying straight into a wall, he vanished into it, sinking into the shadows.
The sparks passed straight through the wall, even reaching into the shadows, but Sunny was already gone.
He stepped away, appearing near the tree he had buried Aidre.
Noctis however, remained in his transformed state.
Unseen by Sunny, Noctis performed the ritual, and this time it worked.
As Sunny stood dusting himself off, a shadow fell over him.
'S-'
Rolling to the side, he felt a terrible blow scrape across the side of his arm.
A long cut had appeared on his forearm, drawing blood.
Sunny immediately shadow stepped away, appearing atop a tree branch.
Noctis turned to him, laughing.
"Where are you going?"
"Over here."
Raising one of the diamond sickles to his mouth, Noctis smelled the blood that had been left on its blade. Sunny half expected him to lick the blood off like a maniac, but he only smelled it before grimacing.
"Disgusting... What's in this?"
"...Weaver's blood."
Noctis' eyes widened.
"Weaver? Okay, you definitely need to die."
Just before Sunny shadow stepped away again, Noctis yelled out:
"Run little mouse, don't you know a hunter is an expert at chasing?"
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
"Really? I thought they were trap laying type."
Noctis grinned and said nothing as Sunny vanished once more.
This time, Noctis did not chase him.
Instead, he flew towards his Sailor Dolls.
His target was Serpent.
'This bastard…'
Why the hell was he like this? Why did he have to show up just when things were done and dusted?! Could this bastard-
'Ah, so be it.'
Emerging from the shadows below, Sunny raised a bow manifested by shadows and shot an arrow towards Noctis. The arrow soared through the sky and uselessly passed through the swarm of white sparks. The swarm turned to him for a moment, and Sunny could've sworn he saw it grin. A second later, the swarm turned back, ignoring him.
The sparks began to coalesce into a wolf-like constellation, immediately biting at Serpent.
Then it passed through Serpent uselessly.
Because Serpent was gone, with Sunny having dismissed it.
'You wanna play like that? So can I.'
He'd need to be wary of Noctis severing the connection between him and his Shadow of course, but he was ready for it this time.
Serpent emerged from his shadow once more, assuming the form of Aranea.
Sunny blinked.
'Right.'
If Serpent could use Aranea's abilities, then he could definitely fool her visions, right?
'I think that's how it works?'
"Do it."
Serpent turned and looked at him blankly, confused.
Sunny glowered.
'Nothing, huh? So it's still a tossup…'
Aranea's vision of victory could've possibly been a bust from the start, but…
He gritted his teeth.
…Aranea was by his side right now. Who's to say he couldn't change the outcome of those visions?
Now, the future was uncertain.
Sunny glanced at Serpent.
"Tell me where to go."
Serpent pointed towards the tree where he had buried Aidre.
'Ah… if only you talked.'
His Shadows communicated with him in a far more primal way than humans did, with them transferring thoughts and emotions to each other directly.
Still, even if Serpent didn't speak, Sunny trusted it with his life.
Sinking into the Shadows, Sunny appeared by the tree once more.
A few seconds later, Noctis appeared in the sky above him, the Sailor Dolls hanging closely behind.
"Haven't you had enough of this?"
Sunny grinned.
"Not really? I can do this for a while."
Serpent stood behind him in the form of Solvane.
For a while, they just stared at each other.
Then, Noctis raised his hands.
"Okay I surrender."
Sunny raised an eyebrow.
Was he serious?
"Do I look like I was born yesterday?"
Noctis raised his eyebrow in return.
"I didn't say that. Actually, if you give me the obsidian knife, I'll leave you alone."
Sunny stared at him.
"You're joking."
'He's stalling. He's clearly stalling.'
But for what?
"Am not. How about we hug and make up?"
Sunny just stared.
"No way."
"Why not?"
Sunny tilted his head.
"Because I'm not a moron?"
Noctis nodded.
"Ah, but is that true?"
Noctis pointed behind Sunny.
"Would you have let that guy sneak up on you if you weren't a moron?"
Sunny just continued staring at him.
"...Bastard. You really do think I was born yesterday."
He quite literally had eyes on the back of his head. Nothing was sneaking up on him.
Sunny's mind whirred.
'I see. That ritual or whatever he uses to locate me takes some time to prepare again, if that's what he's stalling for that is.'
"Can you just leave? I'm really just about done with gods damned kingdom."
Looking at the Sailor Dolls behind Noctis, Sunny realised they weren't regenerating any essence.
'Timer.'
Sunny sunk into the shadows.
Noctis grinned once more.
"Hey… did you think these two were really the only ones I bought?"
Sunny didn't respond. In fact, he wasn't even close enough to hear him as he had already left the area.
Noctis looked around in disappointment.
"Aw…"
And just then, an invisible dome shimmered to life around in the city.
From the shadows, Sunny noticed it too.
'The hell is that…'
It was transparent enough that sunlight filtered through it regularly, but it was also translucent enough that it blurred the atmosphere.
'Could be another bluff, but… better not touch it.'
Stepping through the shadows again, Sunny appeared not too far away from Noctis, who was impatiently staring at a makeshift compass.
'That bastard!'
Where had he been hiding that?
The compass pointed straight toward him. At the same time, Noctis turned his head toward him, his eyes landing on him with eerie accuracy.
'Motherf-'
Sunny sunk into the shadows once more, barely avoiding the slash of his diamond sickle.
'This… this could go on forever.'
If Sunny ran, Noctis would just catch him. If they fought directly, Sunny would need to use Serpent to deal with the Sailor Dolls, and if Sunny tried to reposition himself during the fight, Noctis would just target Serpent.
Sunny nodded to himself.
'Guess I'll just force an all out battle.'
Returning to the tree, Sunny emerged with Serpent, and Noctis landed not too far away a moment later.
"Ready to fight now, little mouse?"
"Yeah."
Sunny summoned the Sun's Tears and tossed it to Serpent who assumed the form of Solvane. As for Sunny himself, he turned into a shadow and slithered atop Serpent.
'Please work… please work…'
Then, he felt it. He became the seventh shadow augmenting Serpent.
'Alright!'
In this battle, Sunny was without a doubt the weak link. If Noctis wanted to deal with Serpent, he could simply ignore it and go for Sunny instead. Serpent could probably live on even after the death of its master, but if Sunny died then what the hell was even the point of all this?
There was no running, so… may as well enable his shadow to go all out, rather than be stuck protecting its weak master.
Embracing his Shadow, he could feel everything it felt. He couldn't really recognise the emotions of Serpent's alien mind, but from what he could tell…
His Shadow was beside itself with glee.
Their battle was about to begin, and Sunny found himself looking at the world through Serpent's eyes.
'Woah… woa..'
Disorienting. Very disorienting! If he were in his human form, he might have stumbled around dizzily.
Solvane's senses were quite sharp, and through her eyes, the world seemed to make more sense.
'That must be her [Mystery Pryer] attribute, or whatever it was before I turned her into a Shadow…'
How on earth had she fallen for Noctis' trap back then? Had she grown so arrogant that she just didn't care? Had she ignored it in hopes that it would kill her? Or had Noctis manufactured it in a way that Solvane wouldn't notice?
Sunny was pulled from his thoughts as the world around him began to blur. Serpent had begun its assault.
Noctis was visibly annoyed at Sunny's actions, damn near growling in frustration.
'Could just be a show… stay on guard.'
Sunny could feel Serpent's thoughts churning, its alien intelligence completely unfamiliar to him.
'What.. the hell?'
Its mind was strange to the point where Sunny couldn't even make sense of its thoughts.
But one thing he did know was that it was smart.
Not human smart, but just plain smart.
It knew how to make good and effective moves in combat, but it didn't seem to understand human psychology, and couldn't quite understand things like Sunny did.
'That's okay… that's what I'm here for.'
Noctis was forced on the defensive in an instant. With Serpent's strength now at his full disposal, Sunny wasn't going to waste it.
'Switch to Sevras and subsume the saber.'
Serpent obeyed immediately, and Sunny felt his perception of the world change once more.
'Wo-ooah.'
It almost felt like the world around him was spinning. A strange experience.
A moment later, his senses changed even more as Serpent assumed Sevras' transformation. Dark flames erupted from its maw, washing over Noctis and his Sailor Dolls.
Noctis attempted to slash through the air at something, but his sickle swung uselessly.
Then just before the flames could wash over him, Noctis darted away. He appeared some distance away, black flames eating away at the tips of his hair.
Murky chains shot from ground towards him as he stopped, wrapping around his arms. Noctis grunted in annoyance, snapping the chain in a moment, but that one moment was enough for Serpent to let loose another wave of flames.
Strangely, the things the flames set on fire didn't seem to be burning. In fact, the flames felt somewhat cold instead, as if they weren't truly flames.
'Must be something about Serpent.'
It was as if rather than spreading heat, the flames spread death.
He did not dwell on it for long, as through his shadow sense he saw the Sailor Dolls slowly getting up, the flames having not destroyed them just yet.
'The hell are they even made of?'
The wood that had been used to create didn't look very special to him, and yet it was far sturdier than any he had ever seen.
'Did he raid the Sacred Grove? Possible…'
He wanted to get a closer look at the wood, but sadly his eyes were not his own right now, and Serpent definitely had better things to pay attention to.
Dark flames washed over Noctis, and Sunny lost sight of him for a moment. And as the flames subsided, he was gone.
Serpent's head rapidly moved, its reptilian eyes searching through every part of the world around it.
'Where did he..?'
It didn't matter. He'd show up again.
Instead, Serpent flapped its wings and made its way towards the now fully recovered Sailor Dolls. Flames erupted from its maw, this time, it continued to pour out of Serpent's mouth like a waterfall of darkness.
Through his shadow sense Sunny watched as the dolls were immediately forced on their knees, the flames pushing them to the ground. The torrent of flame continued for several more seconds before Serpent had to stop, as holding the dragon's breath for too long ran the risk of injuring their throat in return. Smoke sputtered out of its maw as the flames stopped spewing.
On the ground below, the Sailor Dolls were somehow still alive, albeit the speed of which they picked themselves up was much slower than before.
'Stay alert, Serpent.'
Noctis was bound to show up at any second now.
Serpent's form rippled and shifted once more. Now, in place of the fearsome dragon was a short young woman with extremely long hair.
Sunny's vision flashed, images of past, present, and future events appearing within his mind.
'D-Damn…'
The abilities of an oracle were not for the faint of heart, Sunny felt his mind spinning. Sadly though, as a shadow, Aranea's abilities were incomplete as she lacked the Storm God's blessing. Serpent could not make use of her future sight abilities nearly as well as the Saint could.
'So be it.'
Sunny manifested himself into large wings to keep Serpent floating temporarily as it sifted through its visions. A pale white glow appeared at where its eye sockets would've been.
'What is… what is this?'
As the ability was incomplete, neither Sunny nor Serpent could glean information they didn't already have access to, but strangely… one image continued to pop up over and over again.
It was himself, kneeling on the ground with his head lowered, Noctis standing before him.
The sorcerer's hand was thrust straight through his chest.