The sound of metal dissipated, replaced by the crackle of the freshly lit cigarette. The red moon, suspended in the sky like a bloodshot eye, bathed the square in a sickly scarlet hue. The air was heavy, loaded with the smell of ozone, gunpowder, and the blood that trickled from the wounded in the crowd.
Tobi took a long drag, the momentary pleasure on his face contrasting with the devastation around him. Zack's clone, with a gentle smile, nodded in acknowledgment. It was an absurd truce, a brief respite of humanity in the middle of a carnage between brothers.
"What were you going to do with that baby, Tobi?" Zack asked, his voice low but firm. The smile had vanished, replaced by the cold determination of the Hunter. "There's no point in lying anymore."
Tobi slowly exhaled the smoke, watching it mingle with the mist rising from the damp ground. "I told you at the bar, it would be inevitable. We would have to fight to the death. Remember our promise?"
"Yes," Zack replied, a faint smile returning to his face, but not reaching his eyes. "Not on the face, to preserve the burial. We need to look good for the ceremony."
"Yes!" A genuine smile formed between the two, a ghost of lost brotherhood.
Tobi continued, his voice returning to a casual, cruel tone. "This baby was requested by the King. He was born in the Golden Empire. I hired the 'gentlemen' and the couple who cared for and guarded him. The reality is they were infiltrated agents of the Polyhedron Empire."
Zack questioned, fury growing in his chest. "If you made an agreement to kill all the black eyes and hunt them, why are you at war? The King is crazy, he wants to start a war! He no longer has the disposable armies of black eyes. Now they'll have to use people with blue and green eyes to fight."
Tobi spat on the ground, the sound dry and disdainful. "What a beautiful irony. Disgusting pigs are what every country deserves."
"How did you find out about this boy?" Zack pressed. "The Golden Empire is the only one no one has ever invaded or entered." Zack knew that even he, at his peak, couldn't invade that place. Not even the strongest beasts of the Void ever came close to that kingdom.
Tobi smiled, a dangerous glint in his blue eyes. "Did you forget, Zack? I'm the perfect person for this. No one can sense my presence, not even you can, and that makes me perfect for infiltration. I'll show you what it's like to fight someone whose presence doesn't exist."
In the blink of an eye, Tobi disappeared.
Zack desperately tried to find him, but his aura had been erased, his presence vanished. Zack knew this was a real problem. He tried to look everywhere, but Tobi's silence was absolute.
Zack's clone stood in defense mode, behind the original, awaiting Tobi's action.
"Shit!" Zack thought, the frustration evident. "I hate when he uses this overpowered ability. Calm down... he needs to be nearby to hurt me. I'll use a wave of energy around me to hit him."
A pulse of energy began to form around Zack. The damage would be area-wide, and everything around would be affected. Tobi couldn't dodge.
But before Zack could complete the action, Tobi's voice echoed throughout the area, coming from nowhere.
**"Level 2 Technique - Butcher!"**
Tobi descended, spinning the scythe like a saw, striking Zack's lightning defense. If it weren't for it, Zack would be dead. Sparks of black and gold lightning scattered, accompanied by the screeching sound of metal against energy.
Tobi gave Zack no time to think of the next action. In fact, he didn't even give Zack's clone time to react. From all sides, Tobi's scythe attacked, gradually breaking Zack's defense. He was fast; before Zack could even counterattack, Tobi would disappear.
Zack's instinct was scrambled. The lightning defense didn't sense Tobi's presence. Zack's clone received several blows all over his body, cutting arms, legs, and face. The clone didn't bleed; it was just a dark smoke coming out of the wound.
"Shit! I need to do something soon, he's going to kill me... Bastard, he's everywhere..." Zack searched his memories, recalling something from childhood, a game of hide-and-seek where Tobi always won.
Zack plunged his sword into the ground and joined his hands, closing his eyes.
*Calm... calm... he... needs...*
**"NOW!!"** Zack shouted, a savage smile on his face.
Tobi reappeared like a hurricane and sliced the neck of Zack's clone. "Now only the real one is left." Tobi was confident. But before disappearing again, he looked back and saw Zack's clone still standing, even without a head. Quickly, he looked at Zack and noticed the smile on his face.
**"Explosion!!!!"**
Zack's clone self-destructed, hitting Tobi's back and Zack himself. It was an explosion that extended for three hundred meters. A suicidal act by Zack, just to hit Tobi.
The hole in the square was enormous. Craters rose high, falling onto the crowd. Many who were in a trance managed to get out and flee the scene; others were caught by the attack and turned to dust. Some were hit by stones and debris from houses.
The baby was completely protected. Zack, at the moment of the explosion, transferred his lightning defense to the baby's dome, reinforcing the protection and preventing harm to the child.
---
On the other side of the city, in an attic, Orpheus was treating Mira and Lyra. Both were alive and being carefully tended to. Orpheus used healing scrolls and his aura to transfer energy to both. Mira was in a coma, and Lyra was sleeping.
The floor shook violently. Orpheus tried to hold the equipment that kept his allies alive, as well as holding the two so they wouldn't fall to the floor. The buzzing sound was loud.
A mirror was in front of Orpheus. His tired eye and his body begged for sleep. "Master, I hope you are well. I am praying for your protection."
---
Returning to the fight.
From the smoke that hung over the ground, Tobi emerged with his face and half his body burned. The damage was severe and brutal. From above, Zack was falling, jumping over the high stones, heading toward Tobi.
Zack was not wearing his long black coat. His body was exposed, without any protection, only wearing black pants, boots, and the sword in his hand. His chest, belly, arms, and back were all wounded. The scars from several past fights were clear, a map of pain and survival.
"You thought I would die!" Zack shouted, his voice hoarse. "You thought this attack would affect me so much!" "The Black Moon is on my side!" "She asks for blood, she protects me, guides me, unites me."
The red moon was bright. The Red Continent was anointed by the light, the only place on the planet where the light reached the ground, besides being the only one able to see the moon with the naked eye.
Far away, the Lake of Black Stones, which received the moonlight and turned its waters dark red, trembled. Small animals watched the red moon as they hunted, fed, drank water. The moon was the compass, the perfect ecosystem that kept all plants and animals alive on the Red Continent.
A flock of birds flew over the lake toward the moon, their eyes fixed on the red light that created their orientation.
Suddenly, the color of the moon began to darken, little by little. The birds became disoriented, the animals confused. Predators lost their prey, the prey fled. The moon seemed to be taken over by a black eclipse.
*Darkness...**Fear...**Death...*
"Do you really think I'll give up like this!" Zack's voice was a primal roar. "Black Moon screams my name!"
**Level 5 Technique: Lunar Eclipse!**
The light that reached Tobi's eyes turned black.
Tobi felt what it was like to be in a world of black eyes. His body trembled, his legs gave way.
"Level 5?! How did you get that power!!"
The world fell silent. Only the sound of Tobi's heart beating uncontrollably echoed in the void. The Lunar Eclipse had arrived.
**END OF CHAPTER.**