***
Some distance away, at the edge of the island, a small hand appeared from the darkness. A young girl in battered armor struggled to grab something, then pulled herself up, fell on the grass, and remained motionless, staring at the dark sky.
Her small body was covered in burns and lacerations, the bronze armor shredded so thoroughly that it was falling apart, slowly turning into dimming sparks of light. She was severely wounded, drained of essence, and exhausted.
But she was alive.
Effie stared at the stars, too tired to move. Feeling pain course through her badly burnt body, she winced slightly, and then whispered quietly:
"Oh... you should have seen the other guy..."
A pale smile appeared on her bloodied face.
…Far below, a giant steel carcass was swaying in the wind, its leg tangled in a heavenly chain that the colossus had broken as he fell. His chest was split open, and deep within it, a half-open cage in the form of a human figure was slowly turning cold.
Sun Prince was dead, as well.
Now, only two Chain Lords remained.
***
Sunny and Noctis left the cargo hold of the ancient ship in a hurry, barely escaping the Wormwine. Behind them, the brown vines were already crawling across the floor, growing in size with each second, hungry to find a source of soul essence to devour.
Noctis did not seem too enthusiastic about the prospect of fighting his own creation, and neither was Sunny. The last time, he had destroyed the Corrupted Monster by killing its host… but this time, he himself ran the risk of becoming the host!
It was better to retreat and choose their battle wisely.
Very soon, they climbed on the hull of the broken vessel and lingered there for a few moments, looking up.
Above them, the remaining ships of the defending fleet hovered in the air, for some reason reluctant to approach and continue their relentless onslaught. There were still around forty ships left, but, perhaps stunned by the death of their commanders or afraid of the sorcerer, the enemies remained in place.
Then, as if following an order, the ships turned and flew back, toward the Ivory City.
Sunny frowned.
"They are… retreating?"
He glanced at Noctis, unsure of what was happening.
The sorcerer stared at the sky for a few more moments, and then sighed.
"Well… I have good news and bad news."
Sunny did not like the sound of it at all.
"What is it?"
Noctis smiled.
"The good news is that the eclipse is ending."
And indeed, as soon as he said it, the crimson hue of the night sky changed. Looking up, Sunny saw that the shadow was leaving the surface of the moon, which was returning to its usual silver color.
It's position, though…
Suddenly, he felt a very, very bad premonition.
"...What's the bad news?"
Noctis silently pointed east.
Turning around, Sunny saw a line of pale lilac painting the sky above the horizon as the edge of the sun slowly appeared from the darkness of the Sky Below.
The sorcerer grinned.
"The night is over. It's a new day…"