Chapter 31: Night Wish

The battle erupted with a thunderous clash with each side charging at the other with no hesitation. Swords met claws, and spells collided with brute force which created chaotic symphony of violence on the mountain.

High above, the sky hung in a weird limbo. It was almost as if it couldn’t decide whether to hit snooze or wake up. The faintest hint of sunlight peeked over the horizon but the light was still too sleepy to do much. The battlefield was wrapped in the eerie shadows of an indecisive dawn.

In the midst of the chaos, a violent blow sent both sides skidding back with positions clear now. Muffet stood facing Yokuni. The two predators circled about sizing each other up. Hyorine found herself locked against the towering Cerebro while Colyrine darted between Squad 6 members and slashed with brutal speed.

Sinque gritted her teeth as Colyrine’s movements blurred around her. The smaller Lycan was fast—too fast for the less experienced Squad 6 members to keep up with.

Meanwhile, Tayona was crouched by a group of injured squad members. Her hands emitted a pulsating light with her recovery magic now released from them. Sweat dripped down her forehead. She worked desperately to heal and restore enough strength to provide backup for Sinque and Hyorine.

“Hurry,” Tayona muttered under her breath. Across the battlefield, Colyrine laughed while dancing around the squad.

Colyrine twirled effortlessly between Squad 6 members and left shallow, precise cuts in their wake. She laughed. “I haven’t even started trying yet!”

The squad, despite their injuries held their ground. They mostly had some minor slash wounds. One girl with blood trickling from a cut on her arm clenched her teeth. “Her claws… they don’t go that deep...”

One of the girls standing at the back of the group suddenly planted her feet and began chanting under her breath. Her hands moved and made motions within the air. The mystical words then spilled out of her with growing intensity. “Mystcry Arts #21: Phantasmise!”

Dark chains materialized from thin air which wrapped themselves around Colyrine’s limbs. They glinted ominously to a dark color every few seconds, tightening with each pulse. Colyrine’s movement stopped. Her smirk faltered upon being binded by the chains.

“Tamed like a wild puppy,” one of the girls joked. She smirked while watching Colyrine struggle.

Another chimed in with a teasing grin, “Maybe we should leash her too, just in case.”

Colyrine’s face turned crimson with frustration. “You think this will hold me? Ohhh Just wait until I get out of this!” She squirmed hard against the chains.

The girls of Squad 6 exchanged glances with amusement. "Sure, take your time,” one of them taunted while twirling her sword in her hand.

Despite her fury, Colyrine couldn’t break free. Tayona, watching from the distance sighed with relief after she finished healing the rest of the injured squad members. “Just hold her there while the Captain and Lieutenant take out the big dogs.”

Near the jagged edge of the mountain peak, Hyorine’s sword clashed against Cerebro’s massive claws. Cerebro’s hulking form loomed over her. His lips pulled back in a snarl and in just a moment, he summoned his sands, swirling them around like a storm ready to consume her. Hyorine countered with her Lunar Starlight, releasing a crescent wave of silvery energy that pierced the sands and sailed towards him.

The crescent collided with his claws, but Cerebro merely grunted. He dug his feet into the ground and overpowered the wave with brute strength. The energy shattered into sparks around him.

“Pathetic,” he growled with disdain. “You weren’t a match for me before. Do you really think trying again will change anything?” His sand whipped violently around him, threatening to swallow her whole.

Hyorine’s grip on her sword tightened. She exhaled slowly before speaking. “You’re right,” she admitted with a steady tone. “I wasn’t a match for you before. But tell me…” She raised her head from looking down and gave him a serious gaze. “Do you know all there is to know about the moon?”

Cerebro’s face faltered with confusion flickering in his gaze for the briefest moment.

Hyorine grew more confident. Her sword began to hum with energy. “The moon has phases, Cerebro. It cycles, it changes, and each phase brings something different. The crescent moon you’ve seen before? That was just the beginning.”

Her blade glowed brighter. “What you don’t understand… is that just because you saw me at one phase doesn’t mean you’ve seen everything I can do. “She arced her sword high above her head and then shouted, “Sword Magic, Level 2: Lunar Lunarise”

Instantly, the silvery glow of her sword intensified into a brilliant, radiant light which blinded them in its intensity. It pulsed with the energy of the moon at its peak. The crescent charm on her hilt vibrated violently as if feeding on the moon's hidden might. A swirling vortex of moonlight enveloped her blade which grew larger with every second.

Cerebro watched Hyorine with curiosity. Her Mystcry level hadn’t surged as he’d expected. It was almost as if she was merely showcasing a flashy display—like a peacock trying to impress a crowd while forgetting it could’t fly. He growled and directed the swirling sands around him to target her from multiple angles. The grains spiraled toward like a storm intent on swallowing her whole.

Hyorine stood her ground. The spotlight of moonlight now expanded and moved to cover. As Cerebro's sand approached the light, it began to dissipate in the pull of her radiant energy.

“This is the second phase: Waxing Crescent,” she stated firmly. “Once the moon has re-emerged with new energy, it’s the perfect time to set new intentions for myself.”

While speaking, small orbs of luminous energy began to appear around her which flickered like stars in the night sky. Cerebro’s eyes widened in surprise. He suddenly realized the intensity of her power. It was steadily rising so suddenly.

Hyorine lifted her chin. “Now it’s time for the dream to come true. You will vanish under the night’s sky.”

With that, she launched herself forward. Her sword sliced forward with the lunar orbs dancing around her body.

Cerebro staggered back. “What is this?!”

“Just a glimpse of what the moon can truly do!” Hyorine shouted. When she closed the distance between them, she unleashed the lunar orbs, sending them spiraling towards him like a shower of meteors. Each orb exploded on contact.

Cerebro quickly enveloped himself in a swirling cocoon of sand to absorb the impact of the lunar orbs crashing against him. The energy collided with the grains, generating bursts of light and sound that resonated across the battlefield.

“Damn it!” he growled, with frustration seeping into his tone. He clawed the ground and summoned more sand to shift beneath their feet. The grains formed a tumultuous wave that was ready to surge toward Hyorine the moment he raised his arm.

The spotlight shifted away from her and now focused instead on Cerebro while Hyorine moved ahead. Cerebro's instincts kicked in. This was familiar territory. The last time he had captured her, her powers had stalled completely. If he could be faster this time, if he could catch her off-guard before she gained any momentum, he might finally put an end to this foolishness.

Cerebro launched his wave of sand upwards on Hyorine but she jumped up and unleashed a flurry of lunar orbs with each one bursting like a star against his sand armor. He growled louder. The more he focused on defending, the more he felt the pressure of her light creeping in. He couldn’t take any more damage but he also had to catch Hyorine.

“Just wait until I—” he started to snarl, but Hyorine interrupted him.

“Didn’t I warn you not to get caught in that spotlight? This is the second time now…”

With a swift motion, she called out, “Lunar Eclipse!”

Cerebro’s eyes widened in horror. He looked down at his feet and sure enough, the spotlight had made it’s way under it. He soon felt the sands around him pulse with a strange energy, and before he could react, a dark aura enveloped him. The shadows closed in, and he found himself immobilized.

He felt the familiar all-consuming darkness wash over him. Cerebro’s heart raced. He struggled to think of a way to escape, but nothing came to mind. All that surrounded him was an abyss that seemed to pull him deeper into despair.

Cerebro let out a scream of agony. The dark energy began to tear at his very essence. A towering pillar of black energy shot up from the ground, enveloping him in its grasp. It pulsed and crackled, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.

While the battle of dreams raged on, Muffet and Yokuni faced each other. Yokuni's bare hands glided effortlessly through the air to deflect Muffet's deadly strikes with a fluid grace. Each clash of steel against flesh rang out like a bell in the heart of the storm.

“Not bad, Yokuni,” Muffet said with a grin dancing on her lips. She parried a thrust from Yokuni. “I’ve seen stronger opponents, but there's a certain… finesse to your style. It’s almost charming.”

Yokuni's gaze flickered momentarily to the battlefield beyond. Her eyes caught the scene of despair surrounding Cerebr. Colyrine, once a flurry of wild energy lay restrained with struggles silenced by the mocking laughter of Squad 6. The sight brought a heavy sigh from Yokuni's lips.

“Perhaps I was a bit too greedy tonight,” she murmured. “But nonetheless, everything can be… fixed.” She shifted her focus back to Muffet. The corners of her mouth twitched into a grim smile. “And it all starts with your defeat.”

Muffet feigned a yawn. “So, after you take me down, I suppose you’ll be taking that Divine Blade you got to your ‘Master Trom’?” She tilted her head slightly with an eyebrow raised and a grin still attached to her face.

“Of course,” Yokuni replied with resolute edge. “Trombone sees what I see in this world. It’s a place where humanity has painted the Senodokidatsu as evil monsters, when the truth is, they are the real monsters. They created this whole scheme simply based on how something looks.” Her eyes blazed with conviction.

Muffet’s smile faded slightly. “That’s a bold claim, isn’t it? Maybe you’re right about that, but do you know if that’s truly the way things are?”

Yokuni stepped forward. “There are no shades of gray when it comes to protecting my own. Iv’e seen the dirty human’s filth with my own eyes.”

“Well, unfortunately for you, Yokuni,” Muffet retorted sharply, “you just happened to run into someone who doesn’t care too much about that. The way I see it, my enemy is my enemy, and that includes anyone who sides with that monster Trom.”

Yokuni’s face hardened. “I know. After all, Trombone was the one who killed your sister.”

Muffet's eyes narrowed. A shadow crossed her face. “Of course you know about that… you must have been around them long enough.” For a fleeting moment, her demeanor shifted to solemnity before the familiar eerie smile returned. “But tonight, I’m getting that Divine Blade from you, though don’t feel too bad when I put you on ice. I’ll make a beautiful sculpture of ice out of you, Lycan Queen.”

Yokuni’s gaze darkened. “Muffet, I will make an exception. I don’t intend to just ‘end’ you.” A grin crept across her face. “You’ve messed up.”

The air crackled between them. Muffet’s laughter echoed through the chaos “Let’s see if your statement can hold up under the weight of my ice!”

With ferosity, she slashed at Yokuni but the lady remained still. Soon, a smirk flickered across her face. Muffet caught the expression just as Yokuni vanished from her line of sight.

In the blink of an eye, Yokuni reappeared on the other side of Muffet. Muffet's icy slash met only empty air. The power behind it sent a cold gust through the battlefield.

Yokuni held out her hand with her palm facing upwards and like a puzzle putting itself together, a sword began to form within her grasp.

Muffet spun around in surprise. “What—?”

“It’s time I got started dismantling you, Muffet,” Yokuni declared.