733 lnferno

As two immortals fought in the sky above the Ivory City, more and more of it became engulfed in fire. Driven mad by grief, pain, and the terrible weight of his endless life, the noble dragon had lost the last of his sanity. In his frenzy to destroy the elusive, hateful enemy, he brought down a deluge of immolating flame upon the beautiful city.

The loss of life was tremendous. The suffering of dying people was indescribable. The heat was unbearable.

Thousands died in the fire, and thousands more were being burned to ash with every minute. Panic and horror drowned the whole city, turning its citizens into a mindless mob. They tried to run, trampling countless people to death… only to be swallowed by the flame in the next second.

The buildings of white stone were melting like candles, and graceful aerial bridges that connected the island were crumbling into the abyss. Suffering, death, and destruction reigned supreme.

…And above all of it, the Ivory Tower stood, sublime and heartlessly indifferent.

Sunny traversed the dying city, witnessing the apocalyptic sight of its terrible demise. As he moved through the burning alleyways and streets, it seemed as though the whole world coming to the end. He was surrounded by smoke, fire, and an echoing cacophony of human screams, assaulted from all sides by the ghastly smell of burning flesh and the pervasive feeling of desperate, primal fear.

The Lord of Light was the god of creation… but he was also the god of destruction. Today, this aspect of his descended upon the doomed city in all its harrowing glory.

Sunny himself was one mistake away from being destroyed.

He was running through the burning nightmare, sticking to shadows where he could and using smoke to hide his presence from the panicking mob. With his powerful claws and talons, it was not hard for him to scale buildings or propel himself off their walls to stay above the crowd. Reaching the edge of an island, he could use a bridge, an aqueduct, or a heavenly chain to reach the next one.

Sunny was fast and powerful enough to save himself from the fires that were swiftly spreading through the Ivory City, devouring flesh and stone with equal hunger. However, nothing was going to save him if Sevirax unleashed a river of flame on his head… not even the Mantle of the Underworld was going to survive a direct clash against the dragon's flame for more than a second.

All he could rely on were his intuition and quick reaction.

Reaching the edge of a large building's roof, Sunny prepared to leap over the street below… but then staggered back and dove into the shadows, appearing a dozen meters away.

A split second later, a pillar of raging flame fell from above, erasing the building he was aiming for from existence, and taking the whole street with it. The roof he was standing on was cut in half, and the whole structure shuddered, starting to collapse into the sweltering inferno.

The path forward was cut off by the annihilating fire, forcing him to change his course.

Cursing, Sunny dashed to the side, jumped down, and glanced at the sky.

Surprisingly, Noctis was still resisting the frenzied dragon.

The river of light that his transformed form consisted of looked pale and weak in the overbearing radiance of the sun. The aura of terrifying might that emanated from Sevirax made it seem even more inadequate… the difference in power between the two was clear and immense.

And yet, the Beast of Twilight was holding his own.

Now that the Ivory Lord had succumbed to madness and abandoned all reason, he had turned into a mindless beast. A great one, but a beast nevertheless. Despite being at a tremendous disadvantage, the sorcerer was using his cunning and devious malice to stay one step ahead of the enemy.

Constantly moving and shifting its form, the pale light swirled around the dragon and seeped between his scales to relentlessly bit into his flesh. Even though each wound was small and inconsequential, they brought the beast a lot of pain. From time to time, the light coalesced into the giant wolf and sank its fangs into the dragon, shattering the scales directly.

Noctis was also always careful to position himself between Sevirax and the Ivory City, forcing the crazed Chain Lord to cause more and more destruction.

The more pain Sevirax experienced, the more of his beloved city he destroyed, the deeper his madness and desperation grew, and the less reason remained in his damaged mind, making it easier for the ruthless sorcerer to fight him. The countless tiny wounds he delivered to the dragon were slowly starting to accumulate…

However, Noctis was being damaged himself, as well. Although he was able to dodge most of the flame, each time, a small part of him was irrevocably destroyed. The light that constituted him looked much paler, already…

Sunny simply could not tell who was going to win this terrible battle. He had to be prepared for both outcomes.

…Just as Noctis had told him, as the two clashing Transcendents circled in the sky, they slowly moved toward the Ivory Tower. Sunny was getting closer to it, too. He had already traversed half a dozen islands, somehow managing to suffer only a couple of serious burns. Now, only a few chains separated him from the great pagoda itself.

As he climbed onto the last island before the one he was aiming for, a terrible roar suddenly thundered from above, making the whole world shudder.

Falling to his knees, Sunny pressed his hands against his ears and looked up, stunned.

What he saw made him freeze in shock.

The great dragon Sevirax…

Was falling.

His ivory scales were painted red, and a large chunk of flesh was missing from his neck. A river of sizzling blood was flowing from the terrible wound, and one of his mighty wings seemed to be broken. Unable to support his weight in the air, the dragon plummeted from the skies and crashed heavily into the Ivory Island, raising a cloud of dust and disappearing from view.

Sunny swayed, then slowly stood up.

'C—crazy bastard… he actually did it…'

Noctis... had won?

Turning around, he searched the sky and saw the form of a ghostly wolf being engulfed in flame. The pale light was being swiftly devoured by it, and then disappeared entirely.

Instead, a small human figure fell down, landing somewhere far away in the city.

He knew that Noctis was still alive… the sorcerer was immortal, after all. However, Sunny doubted that he would be able to recover any time soon.

It did not matter, though.

The sorcerer had already done his part. Sevirax was mortally wounded, and all that remained was to thrust the knife into his flesh, making the wound actually kill him.

Sunny dashed forward. The Ivory Tower loomed above him, obstructing the sky. He just had to reach the edge of the island and traverse one last chain to approach its foundation.

The island he was currently traversing was devoid of any buildings. Instead, there was just one tall, jagged piece of white rock protruding from its center, with soot-covered chains hanging from it.

Not paying it any attention, Sunny ran to the aerial bridge that led to the Ivory Island.

As he approached it, however, he slowed down, and then stopped completely.

…A lone human figure was sitting on the steps leading to the bridge.

The stranger was relaxed and seemingly unconcerned by the titanic battle that had just taken place. With his back turned to the Ivory Tower, the man was looking directly at Sunny...

Waiting for him.