Snow howled through the broken towers of the blackened ruins as an ominous chill settled over the battlefield. The night sky was pierced by a cold moon, clouds drifting like forgotten souls, and stars flickering in nervous anticipation. Beneath the cosmic silence, Naoko Rotsuki stood again—alive, bloodied, and burning with defiance.
Her silver hair, though streaked with ash and blood, still shimmered with unnatural beauty. Her breathing was labored, ribs likely cracked, lips split, but her golden-silver eyes held an eerie calm. The green glow of Lunar Mana curled around her like mist—the Moon of Healing had begun its sacred work. Bone cracked back into place beneath her skin, wounds sealed with a hiss, and burned flesh regenerated rapidly. She flexed her fingers, then clenched them into fists.
"You're persistent," came Ebernio's amused voice, echoing like a melody of chaos. She floated above the ruined hall, her long golden hair untamed, red eyes gleaming with childlike glee. She twirled, letting her jagged black dress ripple around her. "But it's time to peel you open and see how many lives hide in that little body."
Naoko didn't answer. The floor beneath her cracked as she launched forward—a blur of silver and black.
"Lunar Ascension"
In a flash, Naoko's fists collided with Ebernio's extended palm. The impact sent a thunderous boom rippling through the sky. Ebernio grinned wider and twisted, catching Naoko's arm mid-strike, yanking her forward. With one motion, she slammed Naoko through a wall of obsidian stone. Debris exploded outward like shrapnel.
But Naoko rolled to her feet, her legs surrounded by red mana now—the Moon of Frenzy. Her speed doubled, her strikes became erratic, unpredictable, wild. She dashed through the smoke, her punches raining down in vicious arcs. Ebernio dodged and parried, each clash splitting the air with sonic shrieks.
Naoko's left hand surged with blue lightning—the Moon of Ruin. With a scream, she pressed it against Ebernio's side. There was a crack like the sky splitting, and Ebernio was hurled across the battlefield, lightning scorching a deep ravine into the earth.
"Now that stung," the goddess of destruction laughed, her dress charred, skin smoldering. "But playtime's over, little demigoddess."
Ebernio descended, and the world bent.
The very air collapsed into her—a vortex of gravity surrounded her body as she called upon the dark core of her domain. Her fingers clawed into the air and pulled it apart, revealing a blinding white-hot rift behind her.
"Come, Naoko," she whispered. "Show me your divine ascent."
Naoko didn't flinch. Her hands formed a sign, and in a flash, a silver lunar shield encased her body—the Moon of Defense shimmered, absorbing the gravitational crush. But even that sacred shield groaned under the weight.
Then, she vanished.
A shimmer, a flicker of time—the White Moon.
Naoko reappeared behind Ebernio, leg raised. Her heel smashed down onto the goddess's shoulder. The sound of cracking bone echoed. Ebernio stumbled, but caught herself mid-fall, retaliating with a black beam of anti-matter, singing the night with its screech.
Naoko dodged mid-air, twisting, and retaliated with a punch that glowed with red fury. Ebernio caught it, but the force still knocked her through two pillars.
The land around them was ruined—craters, broken columns, floating debris.
Ebernio rose again, her skin now glowing with crimson sigils. She opened her mouth and screamed, unleashing a concussive wave of darkness. The scream tore through space, distorting reality, shredding the moonlight.
Naoko's shield cracked, her body thrown back—but she spun mid-air, using her heel to catch herself on a floating slab of obsidian.
And then—her voice, low, determined.
"double moon "
The skies trembled.
A halo of pure moonlight formed above her. Silver wings burst from her back—illusory but radiant. Her mana exploded outward, stabilizing and weaving into two lunar threads—red and silver.
Time slowed. Gravity broke. Sound faded.
Naoko raised her hands, and a glyph appeared in the air—a divine seal of the Moon. She whispered:
"Twin Blessing: Wrath and Shield."
With a single beat of her wings, she blurred into motion, faster than before, every strike now laced with divine pressure. She pummeled Ebernio—fist to face, knee to stomach, elbow to ribs. Each impact cracked the air.
Ebernio, laughing, finally blocked a blow and retaliated with a full-body explosion of void energy. It scorched the battlefield—but Naoko's shield absorbed it.
Naoko roared, unleashing a twin spiral of red lightning and silver light, forcing Ebernio to retreat, smiling still.
"Yes," she hissed. "Now you're dancing properly."
The battle had only just begun. And now, the moon herself had chosen her warrior.
....