NMHA Ch 10 - Reality Check


While the bluntness of her admission to Masaomi had nearly cost Luna their sodas, what came after was a smooth enough explanation. After all, it does make a sort of sense that the being who the original brunette had sold her soul to would be beyond time, thus providing an avenue for 'visions'.

Still, the wary look he gave her upon being straightforward with the fact had the Devil reminding him that she could probably have come up.

The black-haired exorcist shook his head and exhaled at that. "Truth is often stranger than fiction, is that it?"

"I mean, the supernatural world's basically a hodgepodge of all mythos across all societies. Considering that, is it really that difficult to think that eldritch or conceptual entities exist?"

She could almost hear Masaomi damning her and her logic within the confines of his mind, even as he conceded the point.

That Lunarunn's lips kept twitching upward at his completely warranted reactions probably had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

Probably.

It was a leap of faith on her own end to confess to such an ability in the presence of the 'enemy'. Masaomi had quite a bit of ammunition to use against her now if she ended up turning on him for whatever reason, or vice-versa.

But, he did end up sticking up for her after Touji went and nearly blew her brains out, so he deserved the benefit of the doubt.

So it was with a sense of mutual determination to see their mission through that led the two back outside the fast food restaurant and onto the streets, where a smaller ward to simply muffle their conversation would suffice.

"Now that you're... refilled," he started, glancing back at the restaurant with a look of exasperation, "have you figured out anything about the Stray that's around these parts?"

"Well, I've managed to locate one of his hunting grounds, at least," came the brunette's reply as she looked around, taking in the sights of the city. "Ended up flying right in, didn't even notice until I realized nobody was around."

As her gaze met Masaomi's quizzical one, Lunarunn expounded further. "It was a bounded field of some sort, the kind used to filter people out based on certain conditions. Crude, but ultimately all that's necessary to make couples start disappearing."

"It sounds like the Stray has some knowledge in magic then."

"Some, but it is a Stray Rook. It probably only knows the bare minimum and put more effort into increasing its physical attributes. Rook pieces do enhance durability and raw strength over any other combat field, after all."

"If it's a Rook, then how did you plan to damage it?" Masaomi's eyes, which had since drifted from Lunarunn, returned to her once more as he asked that question. "I doubt exploding a car would be as effective against it as it would a pair of humans."

"I said I was sorry...!" she pouted before her expression grew serious again. "I do have a few attacks that could inflict some damage, though it's probably more a matter of doing that damage without killing Uvarys outright. If traditional methods of disabling the Stray fail, then having an exorcist on hand to weaken it with his holy sword is a good backup plan. Or even Plan A to be quite honest."

"And that would be my queue."

"Yep. You bring the shock, I bring the awe. I didn't exactly have someone on hand with access to an element anathema to Devils before, but may as well make use of said element now that I do. If what Touji's bullet did to me stands for anything, even getting grazed by a more concentrated attack would weaken the Stray a not insignificant amount."

Masaomi lifted a brow. "Convenient, that."

"I agree, which is why I'm only going to be a little pissy at my contractor for throwing me into Catholic-claimed territory rather than livid," Lunarunn replied cheerfully. "Though I have a feeling you being willing to help have something to do with that. So, thanks for being someone who's willing to listen."

The genuine comment caused the exorcist's ears to turn red and glance away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Just... doing what I became an exorcist to do. Protect the people, and fight evil."

She chuckled. "Hey, don't forget that 'evil' is subjective. I'm pretty sure Touji-san thinks I'm evil, after all, even if I'm equally sure I'm not. Protecting the people, though? That's a much more grounded in reality goal, and a noble one too, one we both can agree on."

The black-haired man couldn't exactly argue the point, so he changed the subject instead. "Back to the Stray though. So I take it the plan is to weaken it by making openings for me to strike?"

Lunarunn nodded. "I know I'm probably a lot more capable of taking a hit from a Rook than you can, so I'll draw its attention best I can while you extract your pound of flesh. Helps too that my abilities aren't just based on superheating the air."

Even if a lot of it is based on manipulating it.

"What are your abilities, anyway?" Masaomi glanced at his current companion, his brow quirking up. "They certainly don't line up with what I would expect from a Devil, and I'm pretty sure you don't have Phenex heritage so that makes your blowing up our car even more strange."

"You know, I've been working on them for years now, and I still haven't fully figured that out."

"That... does not inspire a lot of confidence, Lunarunn-san."

She looked away with an embarrassed flush, mind whirling to come up with a good counterpoint to the deadpan. "Ah... ha ha... uh... I-I'd say otherwise! Only reason I'm not a High-Class Devil's because I'm not part of any peerage, basically. Combat-wise, I've been told by a... pretty reliable source that I'm able to hold my own well in that power bracket. Sooooo... if I'm able to get that far without really understanding my powers, then imagine just how much more I can grow once I do!"

The exorcist supposed that was one way to look at the mystery surrounding Lunarunn's powers. Though not knowing the full extent of the Devil's abilities definitely did not sit well with him. The black-haired man wondered idly if that was his training speaking, or if it was simply a touch of anxiety surrounding the coming fight.

Another thought came to mind. "How are we supposed to locate Uvarys anyway? You said you found one of his hunting fields. That does not mean there are no others, or that he may have gone to ground."

Luna's gaze looked down at the ground, brow furrowing and lips pursing. She took a moment to speak again. "Well... I do have an idea or two."

The hesitation in her voice was pretty obvious. "I take it I'm not going to like them?"

She glanced back up and shrugged. "One of those ideas is a little iffy, but the other has merit. If we're able to figure out the specific demonic signature of Uvarys, we may be able to track him down by following the trail. Only problem is, I'm still not particularly sure how to do that."

"So for that to work, we'd have to sit in the Bounded Field for who knows how long while you learn how to notice a trail?"

"Mhm. The other idea I had is to make him come to us."

"The 'iffy' one?"

"Yep. You know how the Stray tends to go after couples, right?"

"Right, and?" Then realization struck. "Oh."

She made a half-smile half-grimace. "Yep. Something tells me that if we go with that path, we won't have to find the Stray; he'll come straight for us."

"That sounds... blasphemous, to say the least."

"Yep."

"There are so many ways that could go wrong."

"Yyyyep."

"To say nothing of what would happen if there were so much as rumors of this being real rather than a trap for that Stray!"

The irony that Masaomi would get killed for that very same reason was not lost on the brunette.

So her smile-grimace only widened. "Yyyyyyyeeeeeeeep."

With a pop at the end, of course, for good measure.

He stared at her, expression a fixture of exasperation, suspicion, and after a moment outraged realization.

"Wait, was that why you were practically all over me back at the beachside!?"

"No, I was hungry. I'm not myself when I'm hungry." Luna dropped her face to say that with such a blank face, that the non-sequitur had equal chance of being utter truth or utter malarkey.

The expression that her comment was met with was so completely dead that it took all her willpower to not break out laughing, say the final line of the Snicker's catchphrase, or do both. Though from the looks of it, he already knew.

Somehow that just made it all the funnier.


Masaomi had no idea how Luna managed to convince him to go along with this asinine plan of her's. By all accounts, he should have shut her down right off the bat. Even if it simplified the process of finding the Stray, there were so many variables that could turn things sour for them both in the future that he was outright astonished she even offered the second idea in the first place.

A 'little iffy'? Try completely - pardon to Him - goddamn insane!

It wasn't anything about the idea itself. Had they not been on opposing factions, the exorcist may not even have been against the idea. The brunette whose hand - and wow it was soft - was in his as they strolled through the bounded field, the magical barrier sending a familiar tingle down his back as the duo entered the woods, certainly wasn't a bad option. She was witty, nice, friendly, and had an incredible body, so she ended up ticking a lot of boxes...

Hmm...

Right, Devil. Creatures built for sin, only makes sense that she's got looks and charisma in spades. Can't forget that. Already it was worrying just how easily she was able to sway him. Like the sway of her...

'...Ahem. Impure thoughts, Masaomi, you know better than to let them take the wheel.'

Er, that is to say, make him laugh. She had a rather sharp sense of humor, and many of the zings she made were pretty clever, like the Catholic priest one when Touji and Masaomi had first spoken to her.

Was it heretical to be amused by such blasphemy? Oh most certainly, but nobody was perfect and Masaomi was rather content with black humor being one of his allowed vices.

Honestly, it was almost a shame that even being friends was out of the question considering how strained the ceasefire between the three factions was, Masaomi was coming to the conclusion that he rather enjoyed her company.

At least, when she wasn't making him wish he had something strong to drink on hand.

"So wait, you're saying you ran into a fence going nearly fifty kilometers per hour, got launched from your bike as if it were a catapult, flipped who knows how many times, nearly slammed crotch-first into a tree, and somehow all you ended up with was a scraped elbow, a couple small bruises, and met your coworkers for dinner not even fifteen minutes afterward?" He stared bug-eyed at the Devil, who was currently grinning with a nod as the exorcist summed up her story. "Are you sure you were a normal human even back then?"

"Normal as normal can be," she shot back, breaking out into a chuckle. "I was rather surprised by it myself. A group of tourists who saw it all happen even said that I could have gotten myself a job as a stunt double had anyone in the film industry seen it."

"I'm surprised you didn't go for it."

"You kidding? I had noooo interest in sticking my neck out like that for a living. Coming into the supernatural world's changed that, but I can't deny I preferred a more peaceful existence back when I was human. Plus, I was going through some... troubles, with friends at the time."

Masaomi's brow furrowed at that. "...And have you spoken to them since you... had the whole Reincarnation thing happen?"

The smile on Lunarunn froze, then slowly slid off, turning into a frown as she looked away.

"...Can't say I have. How could I explain, well, my being in an entirely new body?"

To say nothing of the fact that she'd been reincarnated in the past where her friends were but infants. Or that she was an entirely different gender.

"Ah." At that, the black-haired exorcist fell silent, noting that he'd touched a potentially sore point. "...Sorry. I hadn't thought of that."

"It's alright." The sting in Luna's heart at the reminder begged to differ, but she knew that Masaomi meant no harm in his question. "Mnh, even if I do miss them, at least I know they're doing just fine."

"...At least you've been able to make new friends...?" he hedged, only to shut his mouth at the tightening to one side of Luna's lips.

"...Only a few," the brunette finally admitted after several seconds of silence. "Though they're usually so busy that my time with them's short, and even then it's... complicated."

The exorcist rolled his jaw within his mouth as he chewed on that information, coming to a conclusion after another handful of seconds in silence. "You're lonely."

The brunette suddenly seemed rather self-conscious of the physical contact they bore to try and lure out the Stray, pulling that hand away to stare at it. An expression of melancholy suffused her features.

"I-" she started, before stiffening up. The melancholy was, not washed away, but rather pushed down, as the Devil noted something more pressing than her mental well-being. "I guess I am, but let's shelve that for another time. The wildlife's gone quiet."

Masaomi blinked, realizing that the evening ambiance had become muted as Luna warned, instincts snapping into place as he squared his stance and placed a hand on on his hip where his light saber was. The Devil beside him spread her stance as well, wings not a viable option in woodlands as her arms spread, ready to start casting at a moment's notice.

The two stood like that for a time, prepared for the Rook to come crashing in. Yet, as the long seconds ticked on, the tense atmosphere did not erupt into open conflict.

That the wildlife remained silent still ragged on Luna's senses, even as the exorcist started to relax his stance.

Finally, the brunette started to do the same, and decided to speak up. "Hm. Could have swor-"

Her expression immediately turned thunderous as she spun around and threw a hand forward, a spinning sphere of compressed winds streaking forward to slam against a descending attack, expanding and rupturing yet damaging only the wood that was coming down on her and Masaomi both.

"Piss," she swore silently, even as Masaomi leaped back into a stance that the Devil was pretty sure was related somehow to Iaijutsu. Taking the brief lull before things got heated, Lunarunn took in the appearance of their target.

Standing at half again the height of a usual man, Uvarys was a stereotypical Rook in that he was a veritable wall of muscles, shaggy and muddy hair down to his neck. Lacking a shirt and bearing only a loincloth to cover his unmentionables, his only equipment appeared to be a tree trunk crudely fashioned into a club, now buzzed to a stump thanks to Lunarunn's rapid attack. He seemed to be looking at the remaining trunk with surprise, not having expected the female to be the one to keep alert between the two.

In all honesty, he seemed more ogre than man, down to the upward facing fangs that jutted out from his lower jaw. Perhaps a mutation from going Stray in addition to the height gain?

Regardless, Luna was silently thanking her general unease in tense scenarios like the lack of animal noises in the wild. It probably saved her and Masaomi's hides.

Even so, the fact that the Stray had managed to so silently sneak up on them both just put the Devil more at unease. That suggested Uvarys had been developing a skillset beyond what had been reported in the database.

"Careful. If someone as big as him's managed to sneak up on us, then clearly he's got something up his sleeve," the brunette warned Masaomi in a whisper. His eyes shifted to her briefly enough to give a tiny nod, before returning to the Stray Rook.

"Mmmm." The Rook hummed, a deep, deep rumble, with an extra tone to it as if distorted, looking between the club and the duo again before tossing the remaining stump to the side. "You are no normal couple. The... aura, from you. And the robes on the other. Devil, and Exorcist. Yet you are not killing each other. Curious."

Surprisingly intelligent words from a rather brutish creature with brutish intentions, Luna decided. "Pure coincidence that we ended up having similar goals, but the enemy of my enemy is my friend, yes?"

"Pah. A Devil is a Devil is a Devil. No matter the shape, size, or status, we're all the same. At least I am honest about my desires." Sunken black eyes bored into Luna's, giving her a reminder that Uvarys was a more 'troublesome' Stray for a reason. There was a cunning there that made the brunette shiver. Was that nervousness though, or anticipation...? "Though... you are not wholly Devil. No... something is different."

The Rook almost seemed curious, though what curiosity he may have felt was clearly overshadowed by a sense of necessity. "No matter. I can tell clear as day why you are here."

"To be fair, you have been killing innocent couples out of spite for the King who NTR'd you. Obviously some reprisal was due."

Masaomi clearly recognized that particular term, and shot his companion a look of slightly amused disgust.

Uvarys wasn't quite as knowledgeable, but picked up on the meaning all the same, slamming one hand on his chest as his face contorted into a rictus of rage. "I pledged my soul to that conniving bitch, I swore to stand by her side if only to protect what she held dear! And what did she do? She led me on, had me kill those I had once called friends in her name to prove my love and loyalty, and what was my reward? She tossed me aside like trash and spread her legs for some whoreson with a pretty face and fancy name!"

"...That definitely didn't come up in the info repository." Still, considering what she'd heard about the First Batch and the Kings of that time, Lunarunn supposed that sort of behavior was par for the course.

"Devil society's as much about collective image as it is about personal image," the Stray growled, hand dropping back to his side. "Of course you would only receive the sterilized synopsis."

"That doesn't excuse the fact that you've been preying on innocent people, murdering couples for the simple fact that they had what you didn't." The exorcist's blade of light ignited. "Regardless of what turned you to this, your actions are completely unjustified!"

"So they are," he admitted, with a nonchalance. "But I already consigned my soul to the depths of Hell itself and received nothing but despair. Since I'm a Devil, a monster, now anyway, why not... revel, in it?"

For a moment within Lunarunn's mind, the towering Stray was replaced by a much smaller, but far more dangerous, individual, who also spouted drivel about Devils being evil creatures who must seek mayhem.

She readied another bootleg Rasengan, nose twitching as a small twinge of pain echoed through her head. "Why even bother talking to us, then? Why not get straight to the killing?"

"Hah. Would you believe me if I said it was for the same reason you have been so chummy with an exorcist of all people? It has been far too long since I have had a genuine conversation, after all. Much too many humans lose all sense of reason when they see the creature I have become. For this, at least, you have my gratitude."

At the brunette's furrowing brow, the Stray continued, now taking ponderous steps to circle the two. "Hmhmhm. And to converse with someone like me, no less. A Reincarnated Devil who bends knee to no King. And yet, is no Stray, unlike me. Then there is the matter of your aura..."

Her aura? What the hell was he on about?

"You do not know?" Uvarys paused, examining Lunarunn again before he decided against explaining what he meant. "Hm, I suppose not. No matter."

He paused again, before speaking again. "Though this... has been rather enjoyable. It is surprising how much a simple talk can break tedium. Even as a Devil I still seek contact, it seems."

The Stray's eyes seemed to be clouding over a little, on closer inspection. "Yes... perhaps. Perhaps this need not end in bloodshed. Perhaps, perhaps if I were to have someone to talk to, to share in the experiences of the day, perhaps then I could let the exorcist go."

At that, Luna quirked a small smile. "I'm afraid I'll have to turn your offer down, Uvarys. I did come here with a purpose after all, and I've gone through a lot to even get here to begin with."

That stopped the Stray Rook short, only to cause him to chuckle, darkly, self-deprecatingly. "Hmhmhm. Of course. Who am I to think that this could go any other way. You're absolutely right. Even if you are like me you are still a Devil. There's only two ways this could end; with your corpses at my feet, or mine at yours. It's simply the way of the world."

That he knew of, at least.

"Or, you could just come quietly," the brunette suggested. "Times have changed since you went Stray. Devils have changed, if not as fast as humans. But they are changing; if you turn yourself into my custody, I promise that I will argue for leniency in your punishment. You could come out not needing to run any more."

The Stray paused again, looking back at Lunarunn with a look that bordered on surprise.

She looked back, daring to hope that she might be able to solve this without conflict.

Finally, the Rook looked back in the direction he was facing before.

"Devils are Devils are Devils, even if they change they are Devils still," Uvarys repeated, stopping by another tree. His expression grew blank.

"But to even suggest you have influence to do so for my sake. Ha. Ha ha ha. What a joke. What is so different about you, that you end up in such good graces? Is it your appearance? Is it your name? Is it just dumb luck?"

A dark miasma began to form around the Stray, as his hand rested against a tree, and caused it to splinter as the hand started gripping.

"Ha ha... ha ha... hahahahahahahahaha!"

The manic laughter of the Rook portended the tree he was holding being hurled at Luna and Masaomi, the former quickly slicing it in two with a quick downward slash of the wind orb to prevent any impact with the latter simply stepping into Lunarunn's blind spot to achieve the same effect, the separated trunks crashing to the ground.

"I've been given hope by a woman before only for it to be stripped away. I know better than to think you're any different!"

Luna grit her teeth and shut her eyes, seeing that her words had clearly caused the opposite intended effect and only incensed the Stray further.

She breathed in...

Breathed out...

"...Then I'm sorry for what this has to come to."

Masaomi took that as his cue to attack, rushing in with blade of light in hand as he slashed at the ogre-like Stray. While the exorcist was fast, faster than the Stray despite his human body, the Stray was quick enough to avoid the attack that was clearly an element not unlike poison to Devils like him, buying enough distance to eventually parry the blade with a tree branch ripped from one of the nearby wooden emplacements.

The black-haired man frowned, but didn't let up his attack, constantly getting back into Uvarys's reach to take advantage of his smaller frame. Against such foes, to let them determine the flow of battle was death, especially as one good hit would likely pulverize him.

Luna didn't remain idle either, running to the side with wings spread and leaving a shimmering trail as she moved to flank the Rook, kicking up dirt with her wind orb to draw the Rook's attention. As that attempt failed, she opted to hurl the wind orb instead, forcing Uvarys to duck as the sphere quietly whirred over the brute's head only to explode into a cacophony of sharp hisses as it tore into the forest ambiance.

While the brunette's attack failed to harm the Stray, Masaomi took the opportunity for what it was and dashed in to score a smoking gash along the side.

Uvarys roared with pain, a sound Luna was sympathetic to thanks to her own experience with such an element. It was bad enough that she slowed briefly, wincing at the agonized noise.

A mistake, as the Stray Rook's resulting wild swing managed to clip Masaomi and send him flying. A briefly alarmed Lunarunn found herself quickly relieved in that he managed to land on his feet by twisting himself in midair.

But even so he staggered backward, guard lowered as the black-haired man struggled to regain his footing. And unlike Luna, Uvarys was much more inclined to follow up on an attack, rushing forward with a remarkable speed for someone of his bulk, arm drawn back for a windup punch to remove Masaomi from the equation.

"Oh no you don't!"

The brunette made a claw with her hand in the Stray's direction and then yanked it back, a similar pull happening in the back of her mind alongside the burst of air that blew the ogre-like Devil back in her direction. While his increased bulk kept Uvarys from flying straight at her, it wasn't quite enough to keep the Rook from staggering backward to regain his own balance.

Ultimately, that was all Masaomi needed, sending Luna a brief nod of thanks before pulling out... a bible and a wicker cross? Was that stored in his cloak?

Right, exorcist. Lightsabers and light guns are cool and all, but holy exorcisms oft used scripture for a reason.

"********************!"

That is, to make use of the Divine System built to protect humans.

Lunarunn could have sworn he'd said something, probably a quotation of the scriptures. In fact, she was sure she heard it. Yet, even as she struggled to wrap her mind around whatever it was that the black-haired man said, the dull pain there bloomed into something far more potent, driving the idea of interpretation away to prevent further suffering.

Even if Luna's headache was amplified to a pounding migraine by Masaomi's words, the exorcist's chant had a much more prominent effect on the Stray.

Uvarys himself roared again, staggering back further as the arm closest to Masaomi erupted with white fire, dying down moments later as the impetus for their appearance, the wicker cross, erupted with the same flames and turned to ash.

That was not to say the damage wasn't significant though; even from her distance away Luna could see that Uvarys's arm was twitching, as though suffering from nerve damage, and the skin was flaking away to raw red beneath.

It was strange though. Normally the Divine System only caused headaches and a weakening of one's demonic abilities, not actual burns and memory purges of the verses themselves.

Or perhaps... was that wicker cross Masaomi had used some sort of talisman, a sanctified tool of some sort to boost the effects of the chant?

Whatever the case, Luna decided she'd need to try and build up a tolerance for the holy element. She was not keen on having her memory tampered with in the slightest, even by something as pervasive as the Divine System.

Between the brunette and the Stray, the latter was quicker to recover from Masaomi's short exorcist chant, enraged even further by the elemental stigma that had ravaged his arm if but briefly. Even if it was twitching, there was still enough strength there to grab on to another tree trunk and yank it out of the ground with a growl.

By the time the pounding in Lunarunn's head devolved to a manageable level, she saw the exorcist dodging frantically as Uvarys swung his makeshift weapon at his target again and again, and even as the shimmers from her path solidified, sharpened, and shot forth in a rain of projectiles, Masaomi had to throw an arm up to block a sweep of the trunk.

Even from a distance she could hear the snap, and see how his arm was now leaking red as bits of white broke through skin, though it saved his ribcage from being crushed as he went flying and slammed back-first into a tree with a scream. He fell to the ground, and even if he stirred he didn't rise again.

"SHIT! MASAOMI!"

Nothing seemed to be going to plan. Luna knew that plans didn't survive first contact with the enemy, but this... this definitely was going south.

She didn't lose her cool. To do so in a deteriorating situation was to invite utter defeat - and in this case death - and as far as Luna didn't want to die.

But neither did she want Masaomi to end up getting killed or permanently crippled because she was too slow on the draw, too inexperienced. That he got a compound fracture from that blow however meant that she was on a clock.

While the projectile rain didn't do much to the Stray, mostly turning him into a pincushion briefly before dissipating, it did manage to get his attention, seeing as the exorcist had become a nonfactor.

"Hmph. Concern for a human? How much of that is real?" he rumbled, as he rumbled his way toward the other Devil.

"All of it, fucker!" Luna snarled, perhaps losing her cool a teeny bit as she charged toward Uvarys, spawning much larger blades of wind behind her and slamming against the tree trunk in a single, concentrated blow. "He put more than you know on the line to help me out here, no way in hell am I going to let you kill him for it!"

Something blurred. Luna realized it was Uvarys's other fist. She probably should have seen that coming.

Something gave. That, was probably her stomach and lower ribs.

Something blew by her. That could be the wind from when she went flying.

Something cracked. That... might have been her skull.

The next thing the brunette knew, she was laying on the ground, wings withdrawn, hardly able to breathe through the haze of pain, vision swimming even if the Stray above her gazed back down and spoke.

"I know enough." For a moment, was that a glimpse of solemnity amidst the rage? But an instant later, enough to make Luna doubt the emotion was there to begin with, it vanished. "But I never mentioned anything about you having any say in it."

A demented smirk grew across his expression, turning around to walk over to his other fallen opponent. "Perhaps I'll let you live long enough to see his head burst like a watermelon? Maybe then you'll feel the despair I did that time. Or are you just upset that I broke your toy?"

And there was the sick joy that Luna knew had consumed the Stray Devil, having buried the more human emotion that may not have actually been there.

She knew Strays were monsters, but this... this was just twisted. This was what Strays became when they lost themselves to their Id?

Discipline, determination, killing intent, muscle memory, instinct.

Luna had training, but she never truly fought in a life or death situation before.

Now she was in one, and found herself wanting in those critical aspects of combat.

Right now, she was just a girl, facing a blooded killer. Her mind turned to those horror movies where the women did practically nothing but scream and run.

It was a sickening realization, but Luna felt a lot like those women seemed at that point in time.

...But then...

Something clicked.

She had something else to draw on to act, instead of just fear, since her body refused to answer her logical commands.

The righteous fury that had filled her at seeing someone she had started to see as an acquaintance - maybe even friend? - be so brutally knocked aside answered her instinctual call, blotting out the ache in her head and the chill that grasped her heart.

And that fury demanded she act, as Uvarys reared back to strike again.

"Masaomi is not a toy!" the brunette roared back, something hot running down her cheeks as she rolled to the side. She found herself back on her feet immediately, lunging forth with a fist calling upon sharpened winds as the Stray was only pulling back, scoring a number of ugly gashes in his side that spat blood even as he was tossed away by the force of the blow.

It was surprising. Despite the heat of the emotion that engulfed her now, there was a coldly analytical part of her mind that stood out and took command of the flow of her Id, her Sin, her Wrath. She burned, but she didn't burn out of control.

Passion plus calculation equals focused action.

She wasn't sure what was different now compared to when her anger flared in that spar against Sirzechs and Okita, but whatever it was, Luna leaned into it with every fiber of her self.

"He's a living, breathing human being, just like you were! Just like I was!"

A pulse in her head rang, not painful but rather telling, as Uvarys was blasted to the side by an unseen force, the only warning being the howling winds that preceded the impact.

"He has hopes, dreams, and goals, and a life ahead of him to live!"

Even in the heat of pitched combat, something tangentially related slid into place. It finally clicked, after years of being stonewalled.

'Ulan. I think, I think I'm starting to get it now.'

As the Stray charged back in, Luna ducked to the side of his rabbit punch and sliced open his other, uncut side with a blade of wind formed around her hand before twisting around even more than she thought she could have to piston-kick Uvarys into a tree. That was a foot boosted by raging winds... and he flew into another tree, then another, then another.

That was the same blast she used to send her mother careening so far into the air, wasn't it?

"I don't care if you hate Devils for what they did to you! Seek to burn them all to the ground if you want!"

'What you are. What you stand for. What you've given me.'

Both her arms lifted up, then swung down to their other side, summoning a deluge of air needles to once again turn Uvarys into a pincushion, this time drawing a satisfying amount of blood in the process.

"But to take it out on innocent people?! TO BECOME THE VERY PERSON WHO RUINED YOU?!"

'I think I get it. I think I've found the answer to your riddle.'

Luna blasted forward again, the very sky carrying her to her foe, the air itself convinced that it was but a transport for the brunette at this point in time.

"That hypocrisy, that blatant acceptance of the monster you've become..."

'The question is... will you already know?'

Once again, she weaved between the Stray's attacks, sweeping behind to cut his tendons at the knees before leaping into the air.

"To gleefully inherit that seed of evil from your King..."

'That I know now, at least on some level, that you are...'

She dove down now, to land the finishing blow on the forcefully-prostrated Rook. The Rook in turn swung one of his meaty arms toward the bodyjumper, from whom droplets of red streamed, streaks of red to match the streaks going down each side of her face.

"HOW CAN YOU HAVE GIVEN UP ON THE MAN YOU WERE?!"

The world stilled.

Then it tilted.

Then it blurred.

Her body hit something tough, but with some give to it. Softer than she expected, actually. Same with whatever it was she was resting on.

"Why...?"

'...did you not accept my hand? My plea?'

Lunarunn's vision was going gray, the pounding in her head faint now. Oh. There was the soil. And was that the end of a robe?

Huh. Looked a lot like Masaomi's. Did he get back up?

No, he was still down for the count.

That was alright.

He did good.

He did his part.

He was still alive.

Speaking of which, was the Stray?

She still had a mission to fulfill after all.

...The other Devil remained still. There was something else in his eyes now.

Emptiness.

Oh.

Huh.

Did she do that?

Was he dead?

She really hoped... he wasn't... dead...

The world went dark.


A/N:

Is this a bit late? Yeah, it is.

Has it been nearly two weeks since I last posted a chapter? Mhm.

Do I have an explanation? I would hope so.

Will I explain it? Of course I will.

So what kept me from posting? Well, first off is that fighting scenes are something of an acquired skill. I know I've done my fair share of RP in the past, but even then there's a marked difference in a scene between a fight and a conversation. It's even more prominent in single storytelling. Also, school's been brutal, and it's been reflecting in my grades, so I've been needing to put more time into that. But, here it is.

Anyway, I know these past couple weeks have been irregular, but normally Thursdays are a pretty good time to expect a chapter from yours truly. If college doesn't come knocking with a shank in hand again, which, considering this is my (supposedly) last term, is probably more likely to happen than not.

In any case, I'm not leaving this story hanging by a long shot, so even if I vanish for a little while the show ain't over until I say it is!

Hopefully y'all enjoyed the chapter, with the fights, the fleshing out of side characters, the integration of old Devilkind wounds into lore, and Luna's resultant epiphany.

And thanks to those of you making suggestions in the comments box! I hadn't thought about Luna making illusory copies to fight their originals, and while that's not exactly going to be in her repertoire, there should be something similar she can pull off that's similar but unique and interesting. I would think so at least, and hope that others think the same.

As for the story pic thing, that's also an option if nothing else comes up, but ultimately I'd like to get something a little more custom-made for NMHA than a waifu generator. I appreciate the suggestion though!

So, Chile arc done. Now what's left is the ramifications of what went down. That means a bit more information on what exactly Luna can do, and her actually going back to the Underworld. She ain't happy with Ajuka, that's for sure.

Tempura Wizard out!