Hey, I missed all of you! The main reason for the delay of two months was that I was reviewing all of the previous chapters. But Enough talking, let's go!
We had to decide quickly between running and fighting and in doubt as to what should be done in the face of that was completely unfavorable situation I looked at Luna, in deep of those beautiful eyes and she just nodded at me, and I immediately understood what we had to do.
Fight.
— You've tried to come here to be our executioners, but that's not exactly how this story will end. Come on! Come at once! — I screamed.
As if they had listened to my provocation, all those creatures came at the same time in our direction.
Among the great, small, intimidating, and strange, they made a bizarre choir composed of a mixture of sounds and grunts. At that moment, almost as telepathy, we both engaged in a combat strategy: Luna went to the right and started attacking them with the arrows of dark fire while I attacked them from the other side with physical force, so my friend could reach the creatures that surrounded us from above like vultures while I took care of those that were on the ground.
— God's Fist!
I shouted, punching that enormous creature in front of me who looked like a giant cockroach standing on both feet, three times my size but it was torn to pieces thanks to my divine power.
Then I felt an approach from behind, using my spiritual vision I could see that there were more than three creatures longing to attack me from behind with their gigantic claws.
I grabbed the compassion blade, turned my body and hit the leader of that bench on the right claw, but instead of there being a balanced shock between his claw and my blade, I felt my weapon cut that creature's claw as if it was made of plastic.
With that one already dead I advanced in the second and in the third and I cut their heads off at once, in a growing blow.
It's true that I hated having to do that to survive, killing was rude, it was a horrible thing to do and the irony was that I kind of listened to my Master giving me advice on how to conduct the fight, she sympathetically didn't care and even endorsed my attitudes.
But still, I couldn't predict what was to come.
Purple beings with peeled skin and appearances like pterodactyls came towards me in a band of five; before I thought of defending myself, I heard Luna scream:
— Arrow of Doom!
Quickly all the winged creatures were destroyed, with the arrows touching their bodies and crossing them as if they were nothing. In fact, it wasn't such a big group. Besides, we were both too strong for the level of those things, which were apparently sent by Natsuki, since the monsters were very reminiscent of the monster on the track to the Theatre.
After defeating all the creatures, we shouted in unison:
— Is that what you've been up to all this time?
— Wow, we said at the same time! — I exclaimed.
— I can read minds, dummy. Anyway, we need to go before more of these things come, we don't have time to waste!
We walked to the park passing by the bizarre buildings of the old city of Futeki, it was strange to think that the city was already some time ago a beautiful and peaceful place, where students lived their busy lives and everything was full of energy and joy.
But reality that presented itself in front of us was quite different, in the street we only met some weird creatures wandering aimlessly and as they didn't notice us, we decided to not waste time with them.
Our only goal was to find Natsuki as soon as possible.
For the second time, I saw that entrance to the theater trail that also served as a shortcut to the Futeki amusement park, things changed drastically from the first time I saw that half—open iron door, in that time I was weak and a total loser, and right there I swore that time would never come back, so, with that one certainty I asked Luna:
— Ready?
— Let's just... — Luna was still visibly worried about the surroundings and especially about the nightmare that was forming in front of all of us.
Then we ran along the trail of the park, heading north, passing very far from the Theatre that had been completely reconstructed with the force of the nightmare that was taking care to recover all the damage caused by the fights and explosions that happens in the city.
The marks were more in my mind than in that building, which seemed to have never known any damage.
Not long after, we were facing the entrance to the amusement park, which was just a rusty two—meters wide door that was also ajar, almost inviting us to our death, but I didn't find any trace of life with my spiritual vision beyond that door, but I well knew that the guardian could perfectly use a mental block to prevent me from seeing everything there beforehand clearly, all we could notice was that the place was simply horrendous, as if space had been abandoned for decades.
— My instructions before we go in, Ken: Stay on guard because from what I've seen these creatures usually attack by surprise, besides, we won't talk until we find the Guardian, until that we'll just communicate by signs... And most importantly: Avoid making any noise, we are in a war and our success here will tell whether we'll have a chance to escape this nightmare or whether we will be stuck in it forever, that is, there's no window for mistakes.
— Understood, Madame Warrior.
Luna gave me a shy smile; it was clear that this time she reacted better to my dull joke than the first time that she heard it.
She stepped forward and headed for the gate, sneaking out so as not to make any noise as she passed through the park entrance; as I was accompanying her, I couldn't help but notice how fearless that girl was and how naturally she had a leadership spirit, almost as genetic.
After I passed through the entrance gate of the park I saw that there was a large corridor that extended to our front that gave access to the central courtyard of the park, this corridor was covered with huge beams and simple tiles, made of some wood that I have no idea what it was, but the important thing was that we were looking for any sign outside the standard in that hostile environment.
Luna, who was standing in front of me, suddenly took a fright and took a few steps back and I went towards her in the quietest way I could to see what had happened to her.
She looked at me, making a sign with the arm of "Be careful" and then she showed what was bothering her, it was a hole in the park's grilled floor: A kind of black hole opened in the ground and the strangest thing was that it was not possible to see the end of it what didn't doesn't make any sense considering the geography of the place, because the plateau had its foundation in a hollow mountain where is the Underground and it not an infinite abyss.
I'm really a smart—ass looking for logic in a nightmare.
We passed by those cracks walking as carefully as possible and having the a perfect balance which was something very important, we also walked away a few meters of the other so that in case one fell, they won't pull the other into that abyss in a moment of despair.
One could die, but if both of us die would be the end of the war before it even started.
Finally, that hallway ended, and then we were facing the main courtyard of the park: There were several merry—go—rounds and attractions characteristic of small—town amusement parks that there was even a huge Ferris wheel.
From which everything was still illuminated by the "Red Light of the Nightmare" that left continuously from school and served as a awful reminder that we were probably being watched from afar, as if Corrupted was studying our skills and proficiencies for combat.
That huge open area left us completely vulnerable in all directions, which was not favorable at all. The noise of the nightmare light was the only sound emitted in the whole environment, so it was also possible to imagine that something was about to happen.
We were completely quiet, I looked further to our left and she, to the right. As soon as we exchanged glances, she just pointed with her arm in what direction I should go, we would check the entire perimeter in search of the guardian of the place.
— I guess you didn't bring me who I wanted to face, but you two serve to entertain me... Idiots...
A high—pitched voice echoed through the park, which was Natsuki's without any doubt, but she was still nowhere to be seen and from the sound and acoustics of the place it was impossible to know where she was.
If I were a mere mortal.
I closed my eyes to look for it through my extrasensory vision, that if there were no mental block in that courtyard, I'd be able to find it easily.
Luna had understood what I wanted to do and stood beside me, with her bow wielded, trying to cover as many angles as possible simultaneously.
— Try to find me… Idiots... — She was giggling like crazy.
When I searched through my special vision around the Ferris wheel, I finally saw her, at the top of the it, sitting there with her arms crossed. Nat was different from what I had expected that would be her appearance in the real world.
Although her height was the same and she was still wearing her school clothes, her face was completely pale, except for her black eyes that were bleeding non—stop.
I opened my eyes and pointed her, revealing the location of the guardian:
— There she is. On guard, Luna!
— Oh… I didn't expect you'd find me. — She said. — Well, it's a shame that this battle is over before it even starts… But before I kill you all I want to know your names!
Natsuki's confidence made us insecure, after all we couldn't predict where the attack would come from and it was strange that she didn't know who we were yet, all I knew was that she could invoke creatures with the power of her imagination but I was absolutely sure that there was more than it:
— My name is Ken... Natsuki, I'm the first player! And this is the end of this nightmare, you won't stop us from finding Corrupted!
— The first player? No... — She nodded negatively, dropping drops of blood from the top of the Ferris wheel. — I can't do what that voice in my head is saying... No...
Seconds of silence followed; we were all in extreme doubt. That's exactly what I feared the most: that the guardians were just being manipulated all that time and that I was forced to kill them because Corrupted probably wanted to delay us, which leads to the conclusion that she was accumulating power somewhere, getting ready for war.
She should have known about our intentions by now, but anyway, it's all speculation.
Natsuki then spoke again in possession of a distorted voice, which tore our hearing, completely different from before:
— It was a good attempt, nothing more expected of the servant of compassion to do that... Always trying to talk to your enemies for a bloodless exit, but now it's useless. You two will never make it to school, this park will be your grave! — She joined the two hands in a sign and sentenced. – You all will be buried!
The bars in the center of the courtyard opened little by little, moving from the middle of the courtyard to the edges, that cascade effect would cause the floor to swallow us up in a few seconds. Thinking fast, I held Luna by her arm, and we moved away from the center of the park, stepping with maximum force against the ground to generate a strong enough impulse to get us out of that situation.
As I returned to the entrance hallway, I realized that the ground was crumbling on that side as well, so I grabbed her harder and used the force of divine impulse to and flew towards the roof of the building.
For a few seconds, I couldn't hear or think of anything specific, other than hoping that the strength of the jump would be enough to take us to the top of the construction. Realizing that we had succeeded and that the dangers had only just begun, Luna said:
— For God's sake! That was close, Ken, watch out!
Immediately I turned back and visualized an immense curtain of fire heading towards us. Nat didn't want to give us any space to react, her idea seemed to finish the battle quickly, seeing that I tried to take the lead to protect my friend, however she herself pulled me back and said:
— Dark's True Path: Absorption
The curtain of fire was absorbed by Luna and I could not help but be impressed by her inexplicable and impressive powers. However, with no time for us to think about the next step the guardian had simply appeared in front of Luna on an absurdly fast teleport, I was a little far away from both, about five meters so I wouldn't be able to help in time, yet I was pulling in that direction.
It was like everything was in slow motion.
Luna didn't seem to expect that sudden movement, so the guardian said, completely euphoric:
— Impressive, but insufficient, you dummy! Now I'll send you into oblivion! Be buried and die!
Without thinking twice, I took a stronger impulse to jump towards the guardian, but what had happened before I could execute that plan surprised me in a way that even scared me and was proof that my friend would never cease to surprise me: Luna closed her eyes, took the guardian by the neck and turned her body on her own axle and threw her towards the Ferris wheel as if the villain were a simple plastic doll.
Luna really had a tremendous force and then she said:
— Dark's True path: Retribution!
My friend could absorb spells from the fire element and throw them back to her opponent: I barely had a chance to do anything to help her, I could only admire the big fire curtain thrown at the guardian shortly after she collided with the Ferris wheel.
Then, the fire consumed the construction next to all the buildings in the park in a large explosion.
After the smoke went down, Natsuki reappeared in the courtyard of the park, which was completely on fire and the floor had returned to normal. I could see that she was visibly injured, her body was full of light burns and she was extremely anger.
— You guys destroyed my park! Now you'll see my fury, you bastards!
Nat pointed her finger in the direction of the sky and conjured up her most powerful ability:
— Summoning technique: Amalgamation of chaos!
A dark cloud was formed around the guardian and from it arose a deformed creature made of the purest dark energy, it was a kind of two—headed dragon and red eyes, but nothing drew more attention than its colossal height of over twenty meters. In addition, the guardian was standing under the monster's right head, with full control of the creature.
From then on, the battle would be serious.
— Destroy them, my dragon!
The dragon roared and fired torrents of dark energy in our direction. Luna was staring at that creature of the nightmare, said to me as if she had just come out of a trance:
— Let's separate our attacks. You can't face it head on, because this kind of chaotic energy I can't absorb so we must distract it and attack from several points at once.
I couldn't help but admire the calm that girl had, but it was no time for that. Then I simply jumped to the left toward the courtyard floor as Luna absorbed the remaining flames (the one she used to strike Nat last before) from the taller buildings so she could walk the towers and get closer to the creature's head.
At that moment, we noticed that the creature would have no problem dealing with our separate attacks, after all the creature could see in almost all directions thanks to its two heads. However, there was a blind spot about thirty degrees behind its body.
That's where Luna was trying to go.
Returning to reality, that dragon fired another ball of dark energy towards me, then, tired of being a mere supporting actor in the fight, I turned my body and said, pointing my blade at that monster:
— Judgement!
The ray of light that came out of my weapon dispersed the chaotic energy in various directions and caused direct damage to its head, causing the creature to suffer a slight imbalance, distracting enough not to notice Luna approaching the blind spot.
— Your chance, Luna, hit this thing!
Luna had climbed the tower of the park and was at the height of the creature's head, where the guardian was, however, Luna was still too far to jump. So, I kept hitting the creature with my blows underneath and running from all the onslaughts, as if I was playing with that thing, since my blows didn't do much damage to it.
Although that dragon was extremely powerful, it was too slow to react.
Seeing that Luna was trying to put together some strategy and given the fact that I wouldn't be able to communicate with her at that moment, I decided to advance the creature with my rapid impulse to hit it directly rather than just attack from afar.
I jumped towards the creature, preparing to punch it with all my might, I felt that I could destroy the whole city with the power that emanated from me.
— We're gonna escape this nightmare! — I screamed when I was close enough.
As the creature was distracted by Luna's proximity, I had an open field to punch it in its energy center. The details escaped my mind after I hit that thing, I just heard a blast of energy and feeling that I was using all my strength for that moment, our freedom was all that mattered and I didn't even care if I was going to destroy the whole city with that impact, I couldn't believe I had gotten so strong.
But when I opened my eyes, I saw that the creature had only been moved a few meters forward and hadn't suffered anything, it was as if it had absorbed all my energy. In the end, I was completely wrong... My strength was just an illusion... I fell to the ground without being able to project my arms forward, it was a ridiculous fall, but it wouldn't be fatal at all, after all the regenerative powers of the Goddess of compassion are incomparable, but my strength… It wasn't enough to defeat the creature.
— Fool! Brute force can't get through chaotic energy! Now, die! — The guardian said, on top of her dragon.
At that moment, I couldn't move my left hand or my right leg.
— You're a shame, Ken. — I heard the Goddess say inside my mind.
— Maybe you're right, except that's not what's gonna make me give up. Luna needs my help and I won't leave her alone!
— Looks like you've forgotten about Naomi, huh? — She said giggling.
— Stop it, I'll show you that I can indeed destroy this chaotic armor that the dragon has, it won't be one failure that will make me give up this battle...
At that moment I stood up and saw Luna silently throwing black chains from her body towards the ground, she was up to something and I understood that she would need a distraction to make up her plan and I felt that had to be my role, because Luna was much stronger than I was.
— Divine recovery! — I said closing my left fist.
The healing was instantaneous, and all my wounds were healed at the same instant. Even though I had just recovered that newer power, Natsuki wouldn't let me have space to think, which seemed to be a characteristic of her.
She pressured her enemies to the maximum, to make them make hasty decisions.
At that moment, she screamed loud and clear, already getting angry with me:
— Chaotic devastation!
A great energy belt of chaos came towards me, they were multiple shots, the intention was to prevent me from fleeing there, because the attack closed all the escape routes.
Before I could defend myself from that attack, my friend conjured up the magic she was probably preparing since the battle had begun:
— Dark's True Path: Shallow Grave!
The chains she threw on the ground joined together and tied the creature completely, and burned all the "armor" of solid energy that surrounded that thing, then the guardian, noticing that it was completely locked up got angry and bent:
— What's that? I can't move!
— Ken! Now!
By how Luna looked like, she wouldn't be able to hold the creature for long, so I needed to make a quick decision and try to execute that creature with something stronger than my past punch. I confess that my confidence was extremely low, after committing a colossal flaw like before.
It didn't matter.
I ran at full speed towards the dragon, jumped as high as possible and came over the creature, I'd hit the guardian directly on the head, so that it'd be fatal and without that defense shield any more to frustrate my plans I felt that I'd be able to bury that guardian once and for all. Then, when I came close it in my fall, I punched the dragon infinitely stronger than the first one:
— Compassion Fourth Movement: Worlds Collide!
A large explosion occurred, causing the park to be completely erased from the history of the city. In a mixture of compassionate energy and dark fire, it was a blow of energy that was possible to see that from anywhere in the city.
[...]
After the dust had completely abated, Luna and Ken were sitting on the ground, completely exhausted, in the face of all the difficulty that had been the battle with the guardian. Speaking of Natsuki, her body was on the ground melting into black ashes as her open eyes glimpsed the last ray of light until she disappeared completely.
— Unbelievable, where did you learn these things, Luna?
— My eyes help me to predict my opponent's movements, and that guardian wasn't as strong or as fast as the others should be. She was trying to throw me an eye curse, known as the "World of Nightmares"; my answer to that was to twist her arm and throw her away before the curse was thrown...
— I'm not talking about that. — Ken stood up and pulled Luna by the arm, in a gesture to help her get up. – I'm talking about the chains, I only saw you prepare that thing from afar, but I didn't understand how that managed to break the guardian's defenses…
Luna laughed and explained to Ken, completely proud of her accomplishments. For the first time, she was flattered by something Ken had told her, after all he had always been very cold to her:
— Well, those chains are forged from my imagination. They hold black fire imbued with them and can burn anything I want, including the creature's armor... The only limitation is that this technique cannot be used to kill, so I needed you to finish it. When I saw you punching the dragon right in the face for the first time, I noticed that the creature's defenses had to be broken down with magic first and not with physical force and...
— Did you see that? Oh... Of course, you did. I felt like a real idiot, going with no plan, just trusting that I'd defeat the creature using brute force. — Ken closed his fists and looked away from Luna.
The warrior girl felt frustration in her friend immediately, she didn't know what she could do or say to make him feel better. Several possibilities of words to support him passed through her mind, however none seemed convincing enough, not least because she had never had friends in her life before.
It was a challenging task.
In one act she offered her hand for Ken to hold on his hand, without even saying a word:
— What's that means? — Ken had been taken by that sudden attitude.
— Hey. It's okay, we're together here, just don't forget it. It doesn't matter who will be the leader or find the best strategy, what matters is the victory in this war, our freedom comes first than anything else. There's just one more guardian left, let's go!
Even if they were holding their hands facing each other, they were distant. Ken couldn't stop thinking about the love of his past and in the same time Luna didn't know how to express her feelings.
Anyway, it was a beautiful scene, for a few seconds the two of them felt safe and the exchange of glances between them said more than a million words. It was as if a bond was being born between the two.
Bonds of War.
That little moment was interrupted by a sound like of an atomic bomb coming from the school's direction.
— The light of the nightmare... It's intensifying! — Ken said, letting go of Luna's hand, upsetting her, because she was liking it a lot.
— Yes. She is.
— What is it, Luna? That could be terrible! Why are you so calm?
— It's nothing. That light does just that and I can already imagine why...
What Luna already knew is that the nightmare is capable of automatically recreating itself after a damage of great proportions and to do so, energy was released into the clouds by a rain that came in drops of blood that would reconstruct all the damage, so that the nightmare could only be destroyed if whoever controls it was killed before... In other words, there was no point in destroying Futeki Mountain or destroying the school at the base of the punch.
Brute force didn't work in the red world.
— What the fuck, is raining blood?! — Ken asked scared, watching his shirt get completely soaked in mere seconds.
— Yes... You never seen that before? Soon the park will regenerate... It's a reminder that if we do not defeat Corrupted Monika everything will always regenerate again and again. So, we must hurry.
The rain filled the crater and in a matter of seconds, all the buildings and the Ferris wheel returned to their "normal" form just as if absolutely nothing had happened. And when the reconstruction was over, the silence was absolute.
The calmness was false, but the two young warriors knew that they had to go to the next goal: to look for the last guardian.
— What are the directions, Ken?
— North, near the school. There are no creatures in the way, but...
— But? What's going on?
Ken couldn't believe what he was seeing with his clairvoyant powers: An apartment in that direction had a kind of black hole that twisted the entire neighborhood of other houses. Inside the apartment, there was a shadow, which was supposed to be the last living guardian.
— She, uh... She literally converted her sadness into power. I can barely stare at that area for a long time...
— Depressing powers. — Luna said, laughing discreetly. — She's the last...
— Yes, the last one. After she we'll face corrupted, I hope to have help from Naomi when this moment comes, since she's also struggling to escape the nightmare...
Luna felt something bad in her heart, as if she had been crushed by pins and needles; hearing Naomi's name made her nervous, but she tried to disguise the feeling, staying quiet as the two walked towards the apartment where the last guardian was.
The path was simple, only ten blocks north. It was dangerously close to the School and they both imagined that there would be a big trap when they arrived, because had been a long time since they had seen Corrupted.
"Of course, we're close to find Corrupted..." Thought Luna, feeling her heart racing with terror.
By the third block, all the buildings were completely altered, illuminated by the nightmare light and the reflection of red clouds, the architecture of all the buildings resembled the Gothic style and nothing like the traditional Japanese of the city originally.
It was as if, with each recovery from the nightmare, the city became more distant from being what it was in the past.
— That's not Futeki anymore... Looks like some town in a horror tale, look at the height of those buildings. — Ken said, concluding the obvious.
— I've never seen that kind of building before, I think that corrupted is slowly pushing this world further and further away from reality itself, something's happening to this place... What if... — Luna put her hands in her mouth for the simple fact that thought ran through her mind.
— Luna? Is everything okay? What did you think?
— Of course, she wants us to defeat the guardians, they're not protecting the school, they're delaying us... For some reason, Corrupted wants time to do something… She should be hiding in the school to accumulate power...
— Oh... Makes sense, I was thinking of something like that, too. So, we need to overcome this obstacles ASAP, because if we interrupt the Corrupted's plan before she completes it, maybe we can escape from this world...
And so, the two of them followed the other blocks without exchanging words. While Ken was worried about threats around and possible traps, Luna couldn't stop thinking about what she would do when the two of them met Naomi.
She simply imagined a multitude of scenarios and what she was most convinced of being plausible was that when Ken and Naomi saw each other again, their love will rise again and she would be forgotten.
"I should accept this once and for all." — Luna thought, closing her fists.
On the sixth block, an explosion more intense than the earlier one echoed through the city and a visible shock wave started from the direction of the apartment, lifting the buildings and houses to the skies as if the buildings were just toys.
— But what's going on? — Ken raised his arm, conjuring up the protective shield.
— Let me help you. — Luna leaned her hand on the Ken's shoulder and said: — Dark's True Path: Cocoon of fire.
A dark green energy shield wrapped in flames rose, protecting both from that insane shock wave. For a few seconds, they held the shield that deviated and burned the red energy that flowed through the city.
When the noise stopped, they lowered the shield and saw the city destroyed, the buildings didn't even exist anymore and so they could see a shadow, far away, which was probably the source of that explosion.
— Is that Corrupted? — The two said exactly at the same time.
— We need to confirm if it is, I've the impression that it isn't the thing that is causing all this. — Ken said, lowering his hand.
— Let's be careful then, there's no way we can hide so let's approach slowly and ask some questions first, but be prepared for combat or by some trap coming from another side... Do you understand?
— Got it.
As they approached, the shadow was taking shape, and in a certain distance they could distinguish that she was clearly a tall woman, wrapped in scarlet energy. It was also visible that her hair was long, So, that girl wasn't Sayori, the last guardian.
Realizing that, when they reached a hundred meters from the epicenter of the explosion, Luna warned that woman in a tone of order:
— It's not Sayori and for that long hair it's the Corrupted Monika... We're finally face to face with her... We're gonna attack in 3 and...
— Don't even think about it, we need to know who that person is and attacking her isn't the best way to deal with it, I don't detect the energy of that monster in her. — Ken pointed to Luna firmly, as if he was sure that it wasn't Corrupted.
— You think that's Naomi, right? Well, let's get closer then. But if you're wrong, I'll never follow your orders again, understand?
The boy didn't understand the warrior's sudden change of tone, it was possible to feel hatred in her words, but he didn't pay attention to it and just nodded and them got closer to that woman.
Close enough, about 100 feet from that woman. Ken recognized her immediately:
— It's you, Naomi, I knew...
The girl had her back to Ken and Luna, and her hair and body shape wouldn't let her lie, that was Naomi. Finally, the two of them would see each other again after the disagreement in the theater.
She turned around.
Naomi's eyes were no longer of an emerald color, but of a scarlet like the light of the nightmare. Seeing that difference, Luna pulled Ken over the shoulder, fearing that girl would be the Corrupted Monika… Disguising herself to attack them after gaining the trust of the two young warriors:
— Ken! I finally found you... Hey… Who the hell are you?
Naomi couldn't help but feel her blood rising when she saw her beloved of the past walking with another girl. But Luna thought the same way, it was possible to almost see a black aura forming between them.
Strangeness,
Resentment,
Hatred.
The warrior girl saw in those eyes of Naomi the destruction of all her people, for times and times she saw red eyes like those bringing the night to her world and transforming her entire existence into a hell and an unjust struggle for survival.
Throughout her life, Luna had seen several of her friends killed by those eyes, including the person who was with her when she passed by the Futeki Theater.
— I'm Luna. I'm the guardian of the representative of the Goddess of Compassion of this world for the war against the nightmare, I'm from the underground...
— I got the key to the underground, but I don't know if it'll help them. — She said taking the key out of her pants pocket and offering it to the duo.
"Representative of the Goddess". Naomi thought, remembering something.
— Don't accept that, Ken... We can't trust her like this, she could very well be Corrupted and...
— But you can't see? She's Naomi! — Ken responded.
— That's what she wants you to think, you idiot! — Luna couldn't stand it and said it aloud and still pointing her finger at the young woman with the scarlet eyes.
— Calm down people, I know you're suspicious, but I'm not on the side of Corrupted and I'm not her!
The atmosphere of tension between the three was so great that no one dared to get close, and the boy was between the two sides, there were good reasons to believe that the girl was Naomi, but there were many others to imagine it was a trap.
Trying to get out of that impasse he took the initiative, taking steps towards Naomi, asking:
— We'll give you the benefit of the doubt and...
— Ken! — Luna interrupted.
— Relax, I know what I'm doing. Well, anyway... Your eyes are different than the last time I saw you, and I can feel a dark aura coming from you... We'll give you the chance to prove you're not Corrupted, if you fail to do so we'll consider you the villain of this place and we'll kill you right here...
Naomi remained silent for a few seconds, she'd never seen the person she loved like that, suspicious of her and treating her like a real stranger.
"Does he love this girl now?" Naomi thought quickly.
— Okay, I'll prove I'm not her. Take a good look at my eyes...
— Don't do it, Ken! She's an impostor, don't trust her!
— Luna. Please, I said I'll give the benefit of the doubt...
— Why are you so stupid with that sentimentality?
— There are things you'll never understand. — Ken sentenced.
With that, Luna took two steps back and let go of the boy's shoulder, from that moment on she understood once and for all that she didn't have and would never have a place in his heart and that one way or another he would always be running after Naomi.
"I shouldn't have had any faith, he loves this girl to the point of fully trusting her like that, for no apparent rational reason. Is that what love is?" — Luna wondered in silence.
— Well, Ken. I know that a lot has happened in these two years and especially in this period within we're in this infernal world. I know that you've no reason to trust me, but I want you to look into my eyes and hear the story I've to tell. Are you ready?
— Yes, I am. — Ken said.
Luna was just sitting back and refused to listen at first, but soon everyone would know the story of the latest events that Naomi experienced.