Amid this sudden threat, Luna still hovered in the sky, gazing at the barely visible horizon.
The height she had reached was staggering, so much so that Toki could barely make her out.
At that moment, Toki responded to Zon Risson's idea in a low but firm voice:
"Please… let's refrain from doing this."
Zon narrowed his eyes at him and thought:
"This boy… knows what he wants."
Toki stood up, his body still streaked with blood:
"I understand that this was your idea, both of you…"
Then he continued with a heavy tone of apology:
"But I sincerely apologize for involving you in a personal problem."
Zon stepped forward, his voice calm yet confident:
"Don't say that… the world wasn't made for you to face it alone."
Toki paused for a moment, still facing away from them… then spoke barely audibly:
"…So, do you see that full moon? We must — block it!!"
Without warning, Luna moved less than a step forward, causing the surroundings to warp.
Because of her, Shun and Zon froze in place, as did the sleeping villagers, except for Toki and the crimson-haired girl.
Reality bent with the spatial distortion, everything around them twisted.
At that moment, Luna's eyes seemed to reconstruct themselves.
As her eye patterns changed, gradients gradually appeared across their sharpness.
The atmosphere grew more dangerous, with clouds approaching from all directions.
It coincided with a terrifying laugh, like a malfunctioning robot and broken radio.
Before the darkness could swallow the moon, Toki surged upward with force, a faint sky-blue aura surrounding his body as if protecting him.
He didn't fully understand what was happening, but he rushed to counter Luna's effect.
He gritted his teeth, swinging his arm wrapped in chaotic energy.
He kicked the air until he rose higher than Luna, while the others remained frozen below.
"Wake up! Luna!" Toki directed his glowing fist toward the moon, the clouds spiraling like a vortex.
The clouds dispersed, the full moon returned to its place, and the awareness of Zon and the others came back, though they could not move.
Despite his position, Zon remained upright, waiting for his moment with patience and reason.
Toki's right arm bones shattered, and he clenched his jaw to stay conscious. He screamed in his mind: "It hurts! It hurts!! I have to fix this situation quickly—"
Before he could fall, a sudden strike came from light ribbons.
As Toki fell under the attack, his features remained determined, and the blue aura continued to emanate from him.
His body expanded and contracted under the spatial distortion, while the blue aura restored him to normal and healed his wounds with delicate strands of energy.
Toki retreated behind Zon's position, muttering: "How did it come to this? I thought it was just a bout with specific symptoms. But… what just happened is different."
Meanwhile, Sophie, unaffected, spoke inwardly as she stared at Shun:
"I don't know what happened to you, my sister Luna… but with the help of this voice whispering in my memory…"
"A voice telling me, 'Oh descendant of my ancestors, the time has come for you to rise,'" she continued as she watched luminous ribbons swirl around Luna like a windmill.
She closed her eyes and extended her arms into the air, continuing:
"I will trust this power and bring you back, my sister…"
At that moment, frozen Shun was bewildered and brimming with curious excitement; he literally didn't know which of the three to focus on, his astonished expressions clearly visible.
Sophie stood and spoke in a calm, focused tone:
"Oh singular succession…
The darkness of night, and the overwhelming day…
I declare the eclipse's judgment… the seventh moon
Roses, Fast Assault…" (total silence)
Spark… spark…
Blood, scalding hot, appeared around Sophie violently, accumulating and rising.
At the same time, Luna's light ribbons took the shape of wolves ready to pounce on Sophie.
But as she finished speaking, the mass transformed into serrated rings like crystalline structures, yet with a bloody appearance.
Those rings dissipated into the sky, blocking all the ribbons.
They became rings wrapping around the necks of giant snakes emerging from the ground.
She gestured with her left hand, her crimson eyes glowing, her bloody aura spinning around her body, then spreading throughout the village.
Thus, time and space returned to their normal state without noticeable distortion.
Red roses hovered around the village after the snakes exploded.
The whistle of the wind returned once more.
—
To be continued…
~~~
(Author's comment: What is this, Sophie?! Where have you been, Sophie!!)