A Tale of the Sun and the Moon

“Get up, soldier”

A beautiful girl said cheerfully, the moonlight shining upon her like a spotlight, making her green eyes sparkle in majestic contrast to her messy, night-dark short hair. She wore a blue-and-white top and tight blue pants.

The sound of leather boots echoed through the room as she began walking toward a man lying face-down on the hard stone floor a few meters away from her.

She slowly leaned forward until she was almost at eye level with the ragged, breathless man. He was trying to push himself up, but struggling. He had the same hair and eye color as hers, except for one purple eye marked by a scar running through it. His clothes were torn, and exhaustion filled his eyes.

Her expression slowly shifted into one of concern.

“How are you feeling?”

The man was having trouble breathing, sweat drops were popping out of his forehead and dripping through his nose as he attempted to look up at the girl. He then took a moment to catch his breath and sit himself up.

A terrifying sight surrounded him: a room littered with charred corpses, scattered embers glowing faintly among them while boiling pools of blood filled the gaps between the bodies. Now more visible, the man had a muscular, well-defined physique. His chest and stomach were exposed through his torn black shirt, revealing carefully sculpted muscles.His shirt was simple and elastic, tightly outlining the contours of his physique despite being torn apart.

He wore loose white pants that allowed unrestricted movement while remaining tight enough around the ankles to avoid becoming a liability in close combat or grappling exchanges.

Barefoot, he sat against the cold stone floor while struggling to recover his breath.

He met the girl’s gaze at eye level and spoke in a gentle voice, almost concerned despite the obvious pain hidden behind his wide smile.

“You know me. I’m fine.”

Tears welled up in the girl’s eyes as she saw right through his lies.

“I really hope so.”

Her expression slowly twisted into something haunting, her eyes beginning to glow red.

“Because you’re not done yet.”

As the girl finished speaking, three cambiotes hiding among the corpses suddenly charged toward the man, who was still sitting on the ground.

Cambiotes were a fearsome hellspawn race, with sharp canines, blue skin, long claws, and pointed ears. Artificially created by an Elder Demon eons ago to serve as living weapons, a single cambiote was enough to tip the scales of a national war.

As they closed in, the man prepared himself and swiftly kicked the first cambiote in the knee. The movement was fast and precise, too fast for the creature to react. Blood burst from the wound as fragments of bone tore through the skin.

He then grabbed the second cambiote by the arm and spun him around before hurling him into the third. The opening gave him enough time to finish off the wounded one.

He walked toward the injured cambiote, only to realize its leg was already almost fully healed. One of the perks of being a cambiote was their absurd regenerative ability.

The creature lunged at him, trying to tear open his chest with its claws, but the man swiftly dodged the attack and grabbed its arm, pinning it to the ground in one fluid motion.

Hissssss—

A sharp sound filled the room, like pressurized air violently escaping from a ruptured pipe.

Then came the explosion.

FWOOOSH!

Violent blue flames engulfed the man, swirling wildly around his body. The sheer pressure of the fire lifted his hair and clothes as the chamber trembled beneath the heat.

The cambiote beneath him began struggling violently, desperately trying to break free, but the flames quickly spread across its body. Within seconds, the creature was charred beyond recognition, the life fading from its body as a few spasms sealed its fate.

The man rose to his feet. The flames still surrounded him, though they were far less violent now. His stare had become intimidating, and his glowing purple eye shone brightly through the dark. He glanced around the room, his gaze eventually meeting the remaining two cambiotes.

They seemed completely unfazed by the horrific sight and charged at him once again.

With a swift motion, the man leapt forward, sliding his legs around one cambiote’s head while pulling one of its arms into a flying arm lock. As they both fell, he used his only free arm to grab the last cambiote by the throat and slam its face into one of the boiling pools of blood, suffocating it.

Deep cuts and scratches opened across the man’s body as the cambiotes desperately clawed for freedom.

Hissssss—

Once again, the sound deafened the room.

The flames around the man erupted violently once more.

By the time both cambiotes finally stopped moving, the fight was over.

The flames slowly began to fade away, and the man collapsed onto the floor in exhaustion.

The glow in his purple eye slowly faded.

The night sky was beautiful.

The walls and floor were made of dark blue stone, while the ceiling displayed a breathtaking view of the moonlit sky, filled with countless stars.

If only this view weren’t fake.

The silence was broken by the sound of footsteps as the girl slowly approached him.

“Cyrus.”

He let out a whisper beneath his breath.

“Luna.”

— Year two hundred and seventy ( Twelve years before the cambiote fight ) —

A sparse forest stretched as far as the eye could see, bathed in warm sunlight. Birds chirped peacefully while green grass and colorful flowers formed a vibrant natural carpet.

A group of four adventurers rested beneath the shade of the trees. Two men were packing up the party’s camping equipment while a short-haired girl practiced shadowboxing beneath the sun. Nearby, a tall blonde woman remained asleep inside one of the sleeping bags.

Everything had already been packed except for the sleeping bag.

One of the men looked toward the other.

“Hey, Magnus. It’s your turn to wake Rebeca up.”

Magnus carried a staff across his back. He had long brown hair and tired-looking eyes. Standing at around one hundred ninety centimeters tall, his body looked frail and weak. His skin had a smooth light-brown complexion, almost unnaturally well cared for, giving him the appearance of someone from noble birth.

“Cyrus, please… don’t do this to me.”

Cyrus stood around one hundred eighty centimeters tall and had a lean, muscular body covered in scars and calluses. His pale skin looked thick and rough, shaped by years of battle.

A playful grin spread across Cyrus’ face as he mocked Magnus.

“Naaah, you’ve got this. Besides, Luna needs more sparring, so I’m gonna be busy.”

Cyrus leaned the bags against a tree before walking toward Luna.

The scenery was beautiful.

Luna’s hair swayed softly as she practiced the movements Cyrus had taught her. She had tanned skin and a lean, athletic body. Sweat flew from her skin as her movements became increasingly intense.

Surrounded by tall grass and flowers, she looked almost like a goddess of the woods.

The moment she sensed Cyrus approaching, she immediately stopped training. Her round face brightened with excitement, and she ran toward him with a smile.

“Hy captain. What took you so long? Let’s spar. I’m already warmed up.”

She started throwing rapid punches into the air in front of him in an exaggeratedly goofy way.

Playing along with the joke, Cyrus quickly raised his hands in surrender.

“I seriously don’t know how you wake up with so much energy.”

Luna pouted.

“It’s not like you’d know, with your condition and all.”

He scratched the back of his head and replied awkwardly,

“Well, it’s not like I don’t have any point of reference. Magnus only talks to us after drinking those bitter seeds he loves so much, and Rebeca is always looking for an excuse to sleep.”

Luna immediately shot back,

“That’s because all of you are weird, and I’m the only sane person here. Now hurry up and spar with me before I cool down from all this talking.”

Cyrus’ expression turned serious as he clenched his fists and assumed a fighting stance.

Luna mirrored him.

“Now that’s more like it.”

Back near the trees, Magnus was still trying to wake Rebeca up. Frustration was evident in his dark blue eyes as he poked her with his staff.

“Come on, they’re about to start sparring. You know you need to get up. We’re never gonna make it to the tower at this pace.”

Rebeca immediately started throwing a tantrum.

“Just wake me up when they’re done. We’re not leaving until then anyway, so leave me alooooone…”

She was drooling and stumbling over her words.

Suddenly, Magnus remembered the tea leaves stashed inside one of his robe’s sleeve pockets.

His grand black and white robe with dark-blue details had been crafted by incredibly talented artisans. It looked imposing despite being surprisingly light, filled with hidden pockets and comfortable enough to sleep in.

“I can make you some sweet tea with honey if you wake up now.”

In one swift motion, Rebeca jumped out of the sleeping bag, revealing her voluptuous figure before promptly sitting down with a wide grin across her face.

Magnus paused for a moment.

We really need to stock up on tea leaves, or she’s going to become unbearable.

Magnus carefully filled a bowl with water before grabbing his staff.

It was an extraordinary weapon: twisted wood spiraled from top to bottom, forming a vortex-like shape that provided a natural grip. At the top, the wooden spiral opened up to support a black gemstone.

With a quick upward and downward motion of the staff, a dim glow began shining from the gem.

The water immediately started boiling.

Magnus attentively prepared the tea for Rebeca while the ground around them trembled violently. Ice shards and leaves scattered onto him, but he seemed completely unfazed.

In the distance, two loud voices argued.

“I told you a thousand times not to use your Seals during sparring!”

“But then I’d never stand a chance against you! Do you want an unfair fight?”

“That’s not the point of sparring. You’ll never become a better fighter like this.”

“Too bad, because I’m not a fighter Now focus on the fight!”

Magnus, now finishing the tea, poured it into a cup and shared a glance with Rebeca, who also seemed entirely unfazed by the chaos around them.

Those lovebirds are at it again.

Back at the sparring grounds, the scenery had completely changed.

The once beautiful field of tall grass and flowers had turned into scorched earth. Stone pillars, ice shards, embers, and broken wood were scattered all around Cyrus and Luna.

A glow emerged from Luna’s back, forming the rough shape of a tree with six branches, each ending in a glowing circle.

“Luna, we should stop. We’re drawing too much attention.”

Luna pouted and stomped her foot.

“You always do this. Whenever I’m close to winning, you call off the fight.”

Cyrus grinned and mocked her.

“It’s not like you can win anyway.”

Luna’s eyes began to shine.

One of the six branches behind her glowed with greater intensity. She stomped the ground, and circles beneath both her and Cyrus began rising upward, forming rapidly moving stone pillars.

The two pillars rushed toward each other at tremendous speed.

Two more circles lit up on Luna’s back. A sharp icicle formed around her fist while her skin hardened into steel. She pointed the icy spike toward Cyrus’ chest as the pillars rapidly closed in, now almost forming a semicircle around them.

Right before impact, Cyrus leapt upward, landing directly above the collision point between the pillars.

Luna was now trapped inside the stone structure.

Cyrus gathered his strength, widened his stance, and punched downward.

THUMP!

Luna was launched from the top of the semicircle and slammed directly into the ground, forming a small crater beneath her.

Cyrus wasted no time and sat beside Luna, who was struggling to get back up.

He spoke in a teasingly instructional tone.

“Want to hear some notes?”

They exchanged an intense glance, their eyes filled with complicated emotions.

Silence settled around them as they suddenly realized just how close their faces were.

The moment was abruptly interrupted by Rebeca waving at them from afar.

“Lovebirds! Heeeeeey! You guys were so loud you attracted company!”

Cyrus’ eyes immediately shifted away from Luna as he scanned the horizon.

Between the trees, countless shadows could be seen marching toward them.

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