664 10/12 0:13 (Autumn, Sunrise, Midrar)
A wave of heat exploded, washing harmlessly over Luna as she punched forward, Orichalcum gloves batting away the Orichalcum blade, the orange edge falling harmlessly upon the black scales and being forced to cede ground.
Their wielders did not wait for a final resolution to be reached, the curved sword vanishing entirely and appearing in Amber's right hand, already preparing for a following slash to carve a second wound into Luna's pale flesh.
Yet she failed, the Lunarian stepping around the slash and going for a fist aimed right at the Phoenix's right shoulder.
To the white-haired one's surprise, the golden one completely discarded blocking the blow, instead launching her own, Vital Energy and Mana covering her left hand in a dense coating.
Luna's fist struck first, slamming into her target and causing red eyes to widen, feeling like her hand struck not a proper solid but instead an incredibly hot cloth, Amber's body even if distorting slightly, completely ignoring the blow and continuing with her own slash.
A golden line was carved in the air, biting into the white-haired one's clothes but nothing else, the Vampiric one having otherwise dodged the rest of the attack.
Two black hands closed around the Phoenix's wrists, the hands deflating at once before detonating in a short-lived wave of flames that nevertheless forced Luna to disengage temporarily, her mind assessing both the situation and, more pressingly, the way that this Form worked.
Meanwhile the golden strings repaired the damage, regrowing from flames alone and weaving itself once more into a whole, golden statue.
Red eyes moved slowly over the sparks of embers that rapidly went out in this zone without any oxygen. 'You are just a container made by a single string right now, aren't you? Inside is not vital organs or blood but simply flames that you are using to manipulate your own body.'
The Lunarian sent out, judging this entirely based on the feeling of her strikes and the speed of the detonations, a correct judgement if one was to guess using Amber's emotions. 'In that case I would suggest acquiring the Skill Weaving, so that you may create a more effective pattern while using this Form.'
The white-haired one's suggestion was accepted with merely a nod of Amber's head as she had already thought about it.
Before the two could return to their fight, Luna jumped back, a blade of solid light phasing right through the white stones and aiming on impaling her, Sabel soon appearing from a suddenly appearing tunnel in the ground that she created.
'You escaped my Senses by creating a hole exactly your size in the Energy-rich soil beneath us so that you could hide your presence in it to launch that Anti-Luna strike while Amber was distracting me.' Luna nodded approvingly, lips widening in a smile as her Senses now more actively felt the white matter of this Domain.
Carefully she sought out Mafel, unwilling to face another surprise attack and, as she imagined, finding her in the pit she previously created to slow down Sabel, Feeling the way that her Unique Skill weakened because of the end of her Vow's advantageous state.
Yet, even so, her newest armour and her increased mastery over her Unique Skill and Arma remained the same, a lasting benefit.
Luna stepped forward, her Will taking in the characteristics of the Condemnation-Attribute, the Composite Attribute born from the Dark- and Curse-Attributes.
Her Will solidified around her right hand into a sharpened claw, clashing against Sabel's Light-Attribute blade.
The Anti-Luna Effect, thing that should have given the light weapon an advantage, was completely nullified by encountering the Bane of Luna that was using the Will as a method of transfer, leaving it only a contest between Sabel's construct and Luna's Will.
And as could be guessed, the former of the two immediately fell apart, forcing Amber to immediately intervene instead of waiting the right moment or risking Sabel being knocked out of the fight.
The Phoenix exploded forward, thrusting her golden sword into Luna's face and causing the latter to turn to the side, dodging her blow and calculating the strength and speed behind the movement.
'You are faster than you should be. Is it because in your current situation you can rapidly shift your force? Or is it because of the difference in weight? Both, yes, that makes more sense.' The Vampiric one nodded to herself, a drop of ichor filled with intent falling upon the pale ground beneath.
And in response this last one rippled upward, erupting into long stakes that impaled the doll into multiple places, piercing the golden fibre and causing brief jets of flames to escape from the confines of her golden body.
The trapped Phoenix was only saved from further attacks by Sabel releasing a wide-range concussive wave of Light infused with both her Rebellion and the Anti-Luna Effect to force the latter to withdraw briefly.
Just enough time for Mafel to rejoin them, her staff's thorned branches joining together into a single whip, amassing a large amount of Vital Energy and Mana alike around its length before slamming down in a single explosive blow.
The Unique Arma crashed into Luna's crossed arms, the lash slamming the Lunarian further away from her Mates. 'Mafel is not using any Spell. Why? Even if her Skills cannot be activated at this time because of the Vow, their Passive Effects should still be fully operational, Holy Curse equalizing her Curse- and Holy-Attribute Affinity. Even without a Magic-Skill, she should still, even if roughly, Cast a support Spell on either Sabel or Amber.'
The white-haired one thought rapidly. 'Or at least she should be able to Cast a weakening Spell on me, her Staff should have offered more than enough direct contact for it. Unless her armour wouldn't let her! I see, a Vow integrated in the armour itself, shutting off her ability to Cast Spells on other People to amplify its Effects.'
Luna nodded to herself, convinced that this was most likely the case and working out how she should help her with it later, jumping to the side once she saw Amber punch forward, rapidly generating a brief air current followed by a tongue of flames.
'You should study more natural flames and what they feed upon.' She sent back mentally. 'That way instead of air in general, you could create more effective fuel at a much lower Cost.'
Her theoretical lesson was immediately followed by a practical example, particles of gasses rapidly accumulating above her left hand, sealed shut in a secondary, almost solid, layer of air that isolated them from the emptiness of the missing atmosphere.
Within it, a spark started to burn before detonating forward, a conflagration directed right towards the Phoenix.
This last one ignored the attack, her Fire-Attribute Absorption more than able to deal with the heat while her current physical state meant that physical Damage would be far from effective on her.
Launching herself through the flames, the blonde slashed at the white-haired one, trying to send her hurling to the ground.
Yet the only thing she struck was a suddenly risen wall of that strange white matter, the force of her slash having been greatly spent to pass it, enough for Luna to grab her wrist and hurl her away.
'What even is this material?' Mafel couldn't help but write out of briefly existing, solid Curses, her rising frustration with the chaotic matter beneath letting her ignore for now the way that Amber was currently flailing in mid-air, trying to land.
At her question, Luna merely smiled, turning red eyes towards the one among her Mates that was still fully concentrated, letting her crimson blood fall upon the hungry earth beneath. 'Sabel, why don't you share your thought on this place?' She sent out, causing this last one to jump at the sudden request.
'This is- This is a reproduction of the surface of the Moon, right? There is no other place that would be bloodthirsty enough to simply drink both normal People's blood and your Ichor. And the ground beneath us is...' Here the Human stopped briefly, having a theory but almost not wanting to let it out, unwilling for it to be the truth.
'The ground beneath us is Orichalcum, isn't it.' She finally finished after feeling Luna's mental push, her hesitation clear in the message's tone.
Feeling the disbelief coming from both Mafel and Amber, Luna sent back her own amusement. 'You are right. This is Orichalcum. Your surprise is because you don't understand it properly. The Orichalcum that is found on Gaea is either an artificial Material created through some Skills or the remains of dead Lunarians.'
Silence spread within the Domain, the newly acquired knowledge causing the three more humane ones to still completely, their mind immediately moving to the Orichalcum they all took in to construct their Unique Armas.
Luna, watching them, tried to work out why they reacted like that, unaware that her view of 'if it exists, it can be food if needed' was far from the common thought.
'Did you- did you always know that or ...?' Sabel's hesitant question was met only by a slow blink from the white-haired one.
'I figured it out once I became a Lunarian, knowledge of what our own bodies are and can do is the first thing we acquire upon our own birth.' Her calm answer caused only further silence, her Mates' mind working overtime to deal with the sudden new information.
'How cute, is it because you just now figured out you took in another Person's body?' Luna's own sudden revelation caused her lips to turn up even further, amusement flaring brightly behind her eyes. 'I would like to remind you all that not only am I an actively Vampiric Entity, but also that my shadow counts as my mouth and I have Devoured the bodies of both Monsters and People that were stored there.'
'Okay, but even so, you were Scarlet, right? So, you should have understood our reactions at least? Or why we would have maybe liked it if we knew that before taking in the r-remains of your P-people!' Sabel sent back, blurting out her thoughts as fast as she possibly could, earning only a slow blink from two blood-coloured eyes.
'I think you misunderstood my previous Selves. I am the most moral of the three.' The pale one's calm observation caused even the subtly preparing Mafel to stop in surprise, sounding out in frank disbelief.
'What do you mean?' Sabel's slow, probing question was soon answered.
'By nature, I am moved only by what interests me and the acquisition of power. Nothing else. The fact that I can even imitate and feel with the intensity that I do, is because our Mark lets me more deeply feel how the three of you do. Starting from the least problematic of the two, my Ghoul-Self.'
'That one shared my own desire for power combined with both a Ghoul's supernatural Hunger and an innate hate directed towards everyone and everything. She was, in all aspects, a mindless engine for death and destruction, able to use all my understanding of combat, both in magical and martial fields, and answering only the most direct and specific order unless it would meet that me's design.'
'You just said 'least problematic'. I didn't mishear you, right? What you described sound like, well, a disaster of immense proportions. And why wasn't she, you?, that one killed before?' Sabel couldn't help but ask, her interest stolen by the Lunarian's words, wanting to know more and in so doing helping to distract herself from the strain of her continuous Aura usage.
'All of that is because while Scarlet was a lot of things, among them was being beyond petty. Having though in advance the possibility that she could either be taken control of by someone or rising as an Undead under someone's control, she carved an autonomous Spell into every single one of her cells, long enough for it to become part of her Status. That Spell had two simple purposes, the first being to function as an additional Binding for our Innate Skill Spirit Body, preventing it from being weakened or lost.
'The second, and the most dangerous of the two, was to automatically activate that Skill, ignoring Cooldowns, her current physical state and any Status Alterations that should have prevented it, if any of a list of events happened.
'And those events were not only incredibly broad but also petty as well. The Skill would activate in the following situations: if she is in a Dungeon; if she is near Azure, that me's sister; if she is dying; if she is in a fight for more than one minute; if she is fighting three or more Beings for longer than six seconds; if she is in a conflict between two sides with a total of ten or more People; if she is fighting Being with an active Unique Skill for more than three seconds; if any phenomena of a sexual nature happens within ten meters of my body; if she hears any plans or comments aiming at harming either me or Azure; and the most petty, if she receives an order to harm any Being.'
'Whoa, that is petty.' Sabel could only say that, her eyes having long since glazed over.
'Right?! And the worst thing is, that was not even the only surprise she left behind! She made seventeen such measures, each activated in different situations, designed with the purpose of turning a loss into a draw by bringing her opponent down with her.' Luna amusedly explained. 'Not to worry, my ascension to a Lunarian erased those measures and now I will be able to create much more precise ones.'
'So, you are still going to make new measures?' Sabel let out, shaking her head a couple of times to clear her mind from the new information.
'Well, obviously. Scarlet may have been way too petty and uncaring about other People, but I too feel that anyone that manages to kill me, deserves to keep me company in the afterlife.' Luna's casual words rendered clear that she herself was similarly mean to her previous self.
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