Luna held her stance amidst the rubble of crumbled buildings. Her eyes scanned the surroundings, then settled on Azura as she quietly studied her opponent, formulating a plan. Azura twirled her swords with ease, a wicked glint in her eye as she slowly advanced toward Luna.

  “You’re so bold, Luna! That’s why I LOVE you! Tell ya what! Since I still want to be you, I’m not gonna burn you up! I’ll fight you at your level. Hahaha!” Azura wrapped herself in green Teal fire and charged.

  “Why?! I don’t understand you!” Luna parried her attacks and countered with her own.

  “If you suddenly woke up all alone, swimming through the same green energy you were made of, you’d want a real body and friends too!” Azura growled, locking swords with Luna.

  “But you’ve killed and hurt so many people! That’s so wrong, Azura!”

  “That’s why I’m going to be you! Everyone loves you! I knew from the day I saw your concert that if I could just be you, I could be the strongest and most loved person ever! Hahaha!”

  “That’s enough, Azura! I’m going to stop you!” Luna charged her katana with Teal energy. A green crescent-shaped beam erupted from her blade.

  Azura ducked under Luna’s attack. “Ooo! That looks fun!” She held one sword pointed down and the other pointed up, forming a mirrored angle across her chest. Azura’s twin blades pulsed with Teal energy. From her stance, she slashed downward and upward in a swift, X-shaped motion, releasing crescent-shaped beams that shot toward Luna.

  Luna and Azura’s battle unfolded as a dazzling display of light against the darkness. Flames danced around their bodies, while beams and fire attacks lit up the ruined plaza in bursts of color and heat. Luna shouted in fury at Azura, who attacked with relentless joy, feeding off the chaos.

  Luna’s flames burned wildly—just as they had during training with Rody—surging beyond her control and draining her stamina with each passing moment.

  Azura took advantage of Luna’s growing fatigue to gain the high ground. When Luna looked up, she saw her enemy standing atop one of the few intact buildings left in the plaza. Azura’s glowing, malevolent eyes shone brightly against the night sky.“I really love this Phalanx of yours, Luna!” She announced gleefully. Hundreds of Phalanx spears formed above Azura.

  “Stop using my mom and dad’s technique!” Luna lowered herself into a ready stance, tucking her katana to her side. She drew in a deep breath and began channeling as much energy as she could into the blade, its glow intensifying with every passing second.

  “Why dontcha make me! Blah! Hahaha,” Azura stuck out her tongue like a child. She thrust her hands forward, launching a barrage of Phalanx spears toward Luna.

  “I will!” Luna’s katana shone with Teal energy. “CRESCENT! MOON!” She slashes upward across her body. The stored-up energy exploded from Luna’s katana in a huge crescent, devouring the Phalanx spears and the building Azura stood on.

  As Luna reached the end of her swing, her flames sputtered out, drained by exhaustion. She sensed the danger too late, her body couldn’t move fast enough. A sharp pain tore through her, and she coughed up blood, collapsing to her hands and knees.

  Her hand instinctively pressed to her stomach where the pain burned hottest. She didn’t need to look, she could feel the warmth spreading beneath her fingers. She was bleeding.

  Luna looked up and saw the small Phalanx spear that had pierced her, now lodged in the ground just ahead. Its blade was stained with her blood, gleaming darkly in the dim light.

  “Aww, you’re bowing to your queen?!” Azura clasped her hands together close to her face. “Oooo, that’s a lot of blood! I didn’t think that little one behind you would cut clean through you! Hahaha!”

  What… do I do…? That was everything I had…

  Luna looked up, her vision wavering, to see Azura perched casually on a pile of rubble, grinning down at her with cruel satisfaction.

  “Ya knoooooow…” She began in a sing-songy fashion. “I can heal youuuu, if you just let me be you again! Hahaha! I’ll letcha think about it! Hahaha!”

  While Luna clutched her wound, lost in thought and wondering what she could do next, Rody reached the crash site of the gunship. The Teal shield that had been deployed to protect those inside flickered, then faded away.

  Suddenly, the side door blew off its hinges, flying past Rody, and Misaki, wounded but determined, leapt out into the open.

  “Vivian! Add your explosion ability to my arrow!”

  “R-Right! S-sorry!” Vivian rushed over to Misaki’s side.

  Misaki formed her red Teal fire bow and raised it high into the sky. She growled through clenched teeth as she channeled every ounce of power she had into the arrow, Vivian doing the same beside her. Misaki’s hand quivered from the strain of pulling the bowstring back with all her strength. The arrow burned like a wildfire, blazing bright against the night.

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  “I told you! YOU’RE GOING TO PAY FOR CASSIE! STUPID WORM!” she screamed, launching the arrow across the sky.

  Her body gave out the moment it flew. She collapsed—but Stefan was already behind her, catching her gently and making sure her hood was pulled up to cover her face.

  He contacted Luna on the Comm Channel.

  Luna heard Stefan’s voice over the Comm Channel. “Luna, take cover now!” Wincing in pain, she leapt behind a pile of rubble, using it for cover.

  Azura hummed to herself, seemingly unfazed, until a distant shout caught her attention. She turned toward the sound, giving Luna just enough time to slip into cover.

  “Cyclops?” Azura muttered, confused, right before Misaki’s arrow exploded in her face.

  The rubble shielded Luna from the worst of Misaki’s explosive attack. She leaned her head against the cover, clutching her wound with a trembling hand. As she caught her breath, her eyes scanned the battlefield, catching glimpses of Misaki’s red flames flickering in the distance.

  And then she remembered—what Rody had told her during training.“Another path…”

  “Luna! There’s an airstrike on the way! Misaki’s attack should buy you enough time to get out of there! The others are still alive, I’ll meet up with you, hurry!” Rody implored.

  “No Rody… The bombs they will use are terrible… parts of the city will be uninhabitable…” Luna looked up at the moon. “I know what to do now. You and Stefan get the air strike called off. I’m going to finish Azura.”

  “I’m going to go get you if you aren’t going to run!”

  “Thanks to you, Rody, it’ll be over before you get here,” Luna said confidently and turned off the Comm Channel. She stood up to find Azura in the same spot, regenerating herself.

  “You’re right, Luna, let’s finish this before Rody gets here. I want the Dragon Queen of the Saurids, Luna, to greet him! Come, my darlings!” Azura wrapped herself in green Teal flames as dozens of her Saurids returned from defeating what was left of the military forces. “It’s our time to rule this world! Hahaha!”

  Azura’s creatures swarmed Luna from all directions. I can’t fight angry like Misaki, it doesn’t suit me. I can’t fight like my usually happy self at a time like this… But maybe I can fight like Mom and Dad did. Luna looked up at the moon again and then back at her attackers. “To protect people and the ones I love!”

  Luna ignited her Teal flames, now burning with a radiant lunar blue. With each slash of her katana, she unleashed crescent-shaped beams that tore through the Saurids, cutting them down and clearing a path straight to Azura.

  In an instant, she snapped her fingers, and the remaining creatures were engulfed in blue fire, reduced to ash.

  Azura raised her swords to block, but Luna’s blade cut through both of them with ease.

  “How did y-” Azura opened her mouth to shout, but Luna silenced her with a swift roundhouse kick, sending her crashing into a nearby wall.

  Moments later, Azura emerged from the settling dust, growling, her body now wrapped in raging red Teal flames.

  . “You should be bleeding out by now!”

  “It hurt, but I cauterized the wound.” Luna showed Azura.

  Azura formed two new blades and attacked. “Hahaha! You’re just full of tricks! I love it!”

  Luna sliced through Azura’s swords and cut off her limbs. Twice, after being cut open, Azura tried to coil around Luna’s neck in her serpent form, but each time, Luna grabbed her and hurled her away.

  Whenever Luna sliced her into pieces, Azura simply regenerated, forging new swords from her flames as her body reformed. “Mmm! Cut me more! You’ll never get rid of me! I’ll just keep coming back! Hahaha!”

  Luna furiously slashed Azura into pieces. “Dragon’s Blast!” Luna aimed her palm at Azura, and a huge flaming blast of blue fire exploded from her hand. Luna sheathed her katana and waited.

  “What’s the matter, Luna?” Azura regenerated herself. “Getting tired? Hahahaha!”

  Luna crossed her arms, unimpressed. “I’m waiting for you to fight me at my level…”

  Azura let out an angry shout and charged at Luna, slashing wildly with her swords. Luna gave ground, allowing the strikes to come. She moved with precision, dodging, blocking, and waiting for the right moment.

  The two blurred across the battlefield, their movements fast and relentless. Red and blue flames clashed in every direction, lighting up the ruins in a chaotic dance of fire and fury.

  Luna slowly shifted back onto the offensive, her movements steady and focused. When Azura overextended and missed a sword strike, Luna seized the opening, grabbing her by the head and slamming her face into a wall.

  For the first time, Azura’s breathing grew heavier, her manic laughter fading between gasps.

  She lunged again, slashing both blades downward, but Luna raised her forearm and blocked the strike. With a surge of energy, the blades shattered on impact.

  Azura shouted in frustration. “AAAHHH! If you won’t give up, then I’ll turn everyone you love to ash! HAHAHA!” Her flames burned dozens of feet in the air, growing hotter and out of control.

  The initial burst knocked Luna back. “No, you’re not!” Luna wrapped herself in her lunar blue flames and pressed forward, fighting through the relentless pressure of Azura’s firestorm. Several times, the sheer force of the flames pushed her back, searing the air around her, but each time, she gritted her teeth and pushed forward, struggling through the inferno.

  “Looks like you’re out of time! Hahaha!” Azura motioned with her head to the jets just over the horizon.

  C’mon Luna! You have to get through! Luna used her last Teal crystals to form a sturdy platform planted in the ground. After pushing forward as far as she could, she allowed the pressure of Azura’s flame to knock her back.

  Using her momentum and the strength in her legs, Luna launched herself off the platform she had created. She tackled Azura mid-laugh, and the two tumbled, grappling fiercely as they fought to get back to their feet.

  “Enough, Azura!” Luna shouted.

  Face to face, she kicked Azura’s legs out from under her. With one hand on Azura’s face, she slammed her into the ground with such force that Azura’s flames extinguished instantly. Before she could rise again, Luna drove her foot down, stomping on Azura’s neck.

  Azura’s eyes widened as Luna continued to press on her throat. “Wait! W-wait! I-I’ll stop, just let me go!”

  Luna shook her head slowly as her blue flames grew to the size Azura’s were. “No… I can’t do that…”

  “Why!? I just wanted to be you!” Azura cried and squirmed frantically.

  “Because now it’s my turn to protect Byzantia! I’m Luna Cortez! The Lunar Dragon! Guardian of Byzantia!” Luna clenched her fists by her side and shouted. Luna’s blue flames roared to life, illuminating the night sky and consuming everything around her in a brilliant blaze. Beneath her boot, Azura writhed in agony until the flames overtook her completely, burning her away into nothing.

  Luna extinguished her flames, and the southern part of the city sank back into darkness. As the last light faded, she spotted jets approaching in the distance, but her strength gave out, and she dropped to her knees, utterly exhausted.“Please tell me I wasn’t too late…”

  “Luna!” Rody rushed to her side and pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her as he began to cool her down with the Frost of Teal. “I’ll encase us in ice! Hold on!”

  “Wait, Rody…” Luna sighed in relief as she saw jets peel off. “We did it!” She threw her arms around him cheerfully.

  “You guys look awfully close!” Stefan joked, carrying Misaki on his back. Vivian helped Cassius walk as they joined the others.

  “Mom was able to get the airstrike called off—just in time,” she said. “She’s sending transport for us.”

  Together, they found a place to sit and rest, surrounded by the quiet aftermath of the battle. As they waited to be picked up, they exchanged tired smiles and congratulated each other on their hard-fought victory.