Sunny stared at the terrifying fiend for a few moments, then suddenly grimaced, clutched his chest, and fell to one knee.
A bestial growl escaped through his sharp fangs.
'Argh!'
His heart was beating wildly, sending waves of pain rolling through his exhausted body. He felt weak and light-headed, beads of sweat glistening on his obsidian skin. This condition was only worsened by the usual sense of frailty that came from utterly depleting reserves of essence.
Sunny felt… infirm.
'God… damn it! Am I… am I having a heart attack?'
He groaned, remained motionless for a bit, and then slowly stood up. Still clutching his chest, he hunched awkwardly and looked around, trying to determine which island he had found himself on, and what wicked creature might have kept the Corrupted monstrosity at bay.
His pupils widened slightly.
'No way…'
The night was slowly advancing, and the island was drowned by the dimming resplendence of a beautiful crimson sunset. Despite only having been here once, Sunny recognized the place… the vastness of the island, the emerald grass that veiled its surface like a soft carpet, the rolling hills, the moss-covered ruins…
He had reached the Southern island, where the crumbling fortress lay at the estuary of the Great Chain, one of the anchors which connected the Isles to the mainland of the Dream Realm far below.
Well… the fortress had been ruined in the future. Currently, it might have been still standing.
'...Such luck.'
Sunny was glad to learn that he had arrived at the southernmost point of the Chained Isles during his mad escape from the Black Tar fiend. However, he was still uneasy about the fact that the abomination refused to approach it.
He was in no condition to fight anything, let alone a creature capable of scaring a Corrupted Monster.
But what choice was there?
Sunny glanced at the massive body of the terrifying abomination that loomed in the distance, then toward the center of the island. The choices, really, were simple: he could either jump back on the heavenly chain and try his luck in a battle against the Black Tar fiend, or remain on the island and risk meeting the unknown horror.
He hesitated for a bit… and then started limping away from the edge.
Yes, an unknown danger was almost always worse than that which was familiar… but who knew, maybe he was going to get lucky.
Maybe the unseen horror was going to turn out friendly and nice.
'Yeah… why not? Sure. Statistically speaking, a thing like that is bound to happen… one day…'
***
By the time Sunny reached the center of the island, the night had already descended upon the world, and a full moon was climbing up the velvet surface of the starlit sky. The hills became shrouded in darkness, which hid and protected him, and there was a little bit of shadow essence, now, filling his three cores.
The pain in his chest had subsided somewhat, but Sunny still felt weak and feverish.
He was heading toward the southern edge of the island to take a look at the current status of the boundary fortress, and studied his surroundings carefully in search of any sign of danger. If there was indeed a terrible threat somewhere on the island, it would be better to discover it before it had the chance to discover him first.
Cresting the top of a tall hill, Sunny suddenly froze, and then crouched down. Safely veiled by the shadows, he looked at a shimmering white light that danced some distance away, in the center of a small valley that was formed by the hill he was standing on and several others.
'What… what is this?'
He hesitated for a moment, then commanded the gloomy shadow to slide off from his body and get closer to the source of light.
However… the shadow hesitated, too.
Sunny blinked.
'What the hell are you waiting for?! Get down there! You can run away if things go wrong!'
The gloomy shadow gave him a long look, then shook its head resentfully, and timidly glided forward.
Soon, Sunny saw a strange picture.
In the center of the valley, a small fire burned, its color entirely white. In front of it, a lone human figure sat. The human's head was hung low, his face obscured by the falling hair. He was naked above the waist, his pale skin covered with dry blood. However, there seemed to be no wounds on the stranger's body… in fact, there was not a single scar on it.
On a stone in front of him, a diamond sickle lay, its blade painted crimson.
The image of the bloodied man, half of his body illuminated by the warm light of the dancing flame, half washed in the cold pale moonlight, was eerie and strangely beautiful. Sunny found himself slightly hypnotized by the solemn mystery of it all, almost to the point of forgetting the danger he was in.
After a while, the man let out a deep sigh.
…And then, suddenly, spoke in a bright and melodious voice:
"Who is it there, hiding in the shadows? Don't be so timid, friend… come out. Share the warmth of this fire with me, if you wish. The night is cold and dark."
A sonorous laughter rolled across the valley.
"...Oh, don't be scared. I won't eat you."
Sunny shivered.
'Keep your voice down, fool! There's something horrible hiding on this island!'
But then, he thought for a moment and shuddered.
Unless… unless the man himself was the unknown horror.
The horror in question, meanwhile, raised his head, finally revealing his face.
It was young and beautiful, with smooth silken skin, high cheekbones, and exquisite features. The man's smile was carefree and pleasant, his eyes bright and humorous. There was a symbol of a crescent moon drawn on his forehead.
Sunny recognized him immediately, of course.
It was the exact same face he had seen a thousand times, depicted on each of the miraculous coins.
…However, Sunny had no time to pay this revelation any attention, because something else drew all of it. It was the fact that the young man shifted slightly, turned his head, and looked directly at him.
Not even at the gloomy shadow that hid some distance away from the fire, but at the distant top of the hill where Sunny himself crouched in the shadows.
'C—crap…'
The young man beckoned him with a finger, still smiling.
"Come, come. It is rude to refuse a sincere invitation… especially one coming from such a nice person as me. Oh… where are my manners? I didn't even introduce myself! Rejoice, stranger... you are in the brilliant presence of Noctis, the great Sorcerer of the East…