“What the hell is happening?” One of the police officers in the butcher's shop inquired as he peered over his fallen comrade, hands trembling. The ring of them all drew their firearms and pointed directly at Luna yet she held a fearless smile and kept her eyes pinned on Kent. The crowd outside spread out but continued watching.

Kent pulled the trigger again and the tip of his barrel began to glow a soft green. When the weapon fired off, it recoiled normally but instead of blood splattering from the back of Luna's head, the officer immediately to Kent's right fell forward, a crimson puddle forming around him. Luna then started humming to herself and everyone but Kent relaxed slightly. “Don't drop your guard dumb asses! Keep your sights on her.”

“I...” one of them tried to respond. “I can't move it.” He explained with a great deal of effort. A vein in his forehead bulged and his face turned pink. His handgun shook within his grasp as his arms attempted to resist an unknown pull. Luna's humming progressively grew louder as her lips curled further. The officers all one by one pulled their hammers back and slowly turned their weapons around so that they were facing them. A bead of sweat dripped down the Chief's cheek as all of his subordinates placed their own barrels either in between their eyes or on their temples. “Please don't...” One of them mumbled, the words barely coming out. Luna's smile turned into a smirk and she fell silent, her humming replaced by a series of gunshots and loud thuds as corpses hit the floor.

Kent stared in shock for only a moment before pivoting on his heel and running straight out the front door. The mob screamed and tried to disperse but those that were forward most stopped dead in their tracks, clutching their throats. The remainder watched as they all turned pale and their skin wrinkled, leaving nothing but shrivelled husks that turned into grey dust. Kent tripped on his way out and flopped down like a starfish. He cried out as someone stomped down on his right hand then quickly bit his tongue and looked up. “Oh? Everyone is starting to run already? We've only just started.” Luna laughed and formed a fist. Half of the remaining civilians vanished within a crimson mist while the rest dropped onto their asses. The men put their arms up in front of their faces, the lone women crawled away on their backs, keeping an eye while those with crying children became shields for them. “What's this? Did they really think they could just come to watch an execution and not expect some form of retaliation?”

Kent gritted his teeth against the pain and somewhat confidently spat, “Just what are you?”

Luna focused her gaze on him, her eyes piercing through his soul. She removed her foot and grabbed him by one shoulder, forcing him onto his back hard enough to knock the wind out of him. “Everybody wants to know.” She mused and snapped her fingers. His arms moved on their own, forming a t-pose on the pavement and an immense force kept him pinned down. “I think you should be more concerned with what I'm going to do to you.” She told him and pressed a claw into his chest. He winced and she continued, “You beat them to death, didn't you? Did they scream in pain or seal their lips in a quiet resolve? Did they beg for mercy or search for a way out? Did they simply accept their fate or did they curse you with all their will?” She asked and held her face just above his.

“Mommy...” A nearby child whined loudly, spurring on a series of cries from the other kids present. They began a chorus of weeps, encouraging the scarce mothers to tighten their holds and hush them calmly.

Luna looked at all of them without lifting her head and her left eye twitched. “That's really annoying when you have heightened hearing.” She commented and was immediately surrounded by a scarlet cyclone of fire. It lasted for only a second and when it cleared, all that was left in front of the shop was Luna and Kent. “Peace and quiet has always been my preference.” She declared with a straight face. “No annoying brats to ruin things now.”

“You're a monster.” Kent mumbled, his voice caught in his throat.

“Giving them the choice to flee last time just turned into a pain in the ass. I'm not going to give them the option of attacking me in the back. In any sense, I already told you to worry about what I'm going to do to you.” She then drove her entire finger into his solar plexus. He tried to scream but no sound came. His shirt lit ablaze and burned away instantaneously as a red vein-like pattern spread throughout his torso. “You know, back when my parents still walked the Earth, they were rather ruthless people. My father specialized in fire, which was largely meant for destruction but also light which was mostly for defence and healing. My mother could alter reality to an extent, applying small degrees of change to certain spells. They mixed these elements together to create a series of curses meant specifically for torturing people.” Kent's eyes widened and he tried again to lift himself but the force relentlessly pushed him into the dirt. The veins began to form runes across his chest and running down his arms. Luna explained as they appeared one by one, “This one will prevent you from dying as long as I both remain conscious and have the mana to keep it running. This one will rapidly regenerate your wounds without relieving you of the pain so that it can be amplified indefinitely with every repetition. This one will prevent you from ever losing consciousness so that you don't pass out when it gets too intense. This one will increase your sensitivity to pain so that every action hurts about a hundred times more. This one will cause your blood to boil indefinitely so that even if I grow bored or need a break, you'll continue to suffer. Finally, this one will prevent you from screaming so that I don't get a headache. On the outside, you'll be nothing more than a crash test dummy, but on the inside, you'll be begging for death's sweet release until the end of time.” She then closed her eyes and smiled again with her head canted. “Doesn't that sound like fun? Looky here, they're all set and ready to go. Shall we do a test run?” She chuckled and stood up. The force holding him down condensed, only pinning him by the wrists and ankles. Luna pressed her fingers together, backed up a step, and punched her claws directly into Kent's femur, breaking through the bone like it was cardboard. His body convulsed violently as though he was trying to break free from his restraints repeatedly but no sound left his lips. The shakes became more intense when Luna pulled her hand out of the wound and the chunks of bone that followed hovered in the air momentarily. They then flew back into the wound which sealed itself in a matter of seconds. Luna clapped her hands together and exclaimed, “It would seem everything is working just as planned.”

Her expression became increasingly mischievous as a long shadow was cast over her eyes. “Shall we get started then?” She asked and grabbed him by the throat. The invisible bindings on his limbs were removed and she lifted him into the air before throwing him into a nearby vehicle. The impact dented its door in and knocked it up on to two wheels temporarily. Before it could fall back down again, Luna jabbed her fist into his stomach, knocking the car onto its side with him laying on top of it. Luna grabbed him by the ankle, pulled him off, and slammed him into the ground first then tossed him into a nearby truck some feet away. He bounced off of it and she quickly caught up, grabbing him by the shoulders so that he stayed upright on his feet. She then jabbed him several times in the stomach then swiped at his jaw, knocking it clear off of his face with a bloody splatter. She drove her heel into his knee cap, forcing his knee to bend backward. She reeled back and struck it again in the same spot, tearing his leg into two pieces followed by a double roundhouse. The first cut through his shoulder like a blade, dropping his arm to the ground and the second turned his head into a red mist as well as sending his body rolling across the road. Luna stopped for a spell, waiting as all of his injuries healed themselves. “Oi,” She called out and crossed her arms, “You're still feeling this right? It'd be a waste of time and effort if it turned out you weren't actually suffering.” He neither moved nor spoke so Luna sighed and walked up beside him. His eyes turned to look at her, tears streaming down his cheeks. Luna scratched her chin, “I think it's working. I wonder what will happen if I turn it up a notch.” Kent's eyebrows raised and he twitched but immediately went still. As Luna scanned the area she thought aloud, “Even just moving with those curses active will be torture in of itself. Now, is there anything here that would make this more interesting. Ah,” She put a fist into her palm then snapped her fingers. Kent's arms were forced above his head which were then impaled by an ebony rod, holding them in place. Two nearby ropes flew to them and first wrapped themselves around his ankles then to the hitches of nearby trucks which aligned themselves on either side of him, facing opposite directions. “I heard they used to use bulls for this back in the day. This seems much more practical at the moment though.” Luna continued as everything finished moving into place and Kent's eyes became more glossy. “Don't give me that look. You beat an innocent man and woman to death. You don't get to get off easy.” She scowled and snapped her fingers again. The engines of the two trucks roared to life and began crawling forward in their respective directions. The ropes were pulled taught and the Chief's legs started to spread apart. Luna put a finger on her chin again, “I wonder if I should remove the final curse for a moment, just to make sure he's actually feeling the pain. My ears might bleed if I do though. What a bother.” By the time she finished her thought, Kent's legs were already pulled to their limit. Luna watched expectantly as first his pants ripped down the seams, followed by a second rip which was accompanied by a crimson splatter. His eyes became bloodshot and his body shook from the strain. After only a few seconds, his right leg was torn off of his body entirely. Several more later, his hands were ripped through the ebony rod and his body was dragged along the pavement by the rope that was still attached to one of him.

“Maybe I should have removed the curse after all. That wasn't very exciting.” Luna stated in a bored tone and swiped her claws through the air. The rope was cut and both vehicles were left to roll out on their own. Kent's body began the regeneration process and Luna squatted beside his head. “Hello? You're still feeling all this right?” She paused for a spell, as though expecting him to actually answer. “I wonder if the pain is so intense, it's killed his other senses so that he's still feeling the pain, but not comprehending what's actually happening to him.” She waited a moment longer and leaned over his face. “Oi, where does your family live?” She asked and his eyes slowly turned to look at her but he otherwise didn't react. Luna wrapped her arms around her knees. “Won't say, huh? Or is it that you can't say anymore? Well, whatever.” She stood up, put her hands on her hips, and faced the city. “I know that they live somewhere within the town, so I'll just burn it all down.” She raised a hand into the air, two fingers pressed together. Roughly ten metres above her head, a crimson ball of fire formed and rapidly grew in size becoming comparable to a common corner store.

At that moment, her ear twitched and she instinctively side-stepped causing the fireball to disappear. A purple, slightly jagged arrow passed by her cheek from behind and punctured the concrete in front of her. She clicked her tongue in frustration and put her hands on her hips again, peering over her shoulder. “Seriously, you can be one fucking annoying cock- I mean bloodsucker.”

“Impressive.” A pale man stated from down the street, a bow with purple limbs made of ice and a shadowy string out in front of him. His hand was still pulled back beside his ear from when he loosed his attack. “What kind of senses do you have that you can dodge an arrow that doesn't even make a sound?”

“Don't patronize me, Styx.” Luna chuckled and turned to face him. “A demi-human's ability to detect murderous intent far exceeds that of a normal human's. You may as well have just done a cannonball into a lake just a few feet away from me. With all that,” She squinted her eyes at him, “It really did feel like you were trying to kill me just then.”

“You're certainly not winning any prizes in solving riddles quickly.” He stated and relaxed his stance. “I guess Stella was right. You do act like your mother when you get excited. Your father would have condemned him to Wrath's world long before now instead of playing with his food. It was much rarer for Lilly to get angry but when she did, it was like watching a child tear off an insect's wings for entertainment. You're a lot more talkative like that as well.”

Luna shrugged her shoulders and snapped her fingers. Kent's body was engulfed in crimson flames and vanished without a trace. “I can get more creative with his torture in there anyway so it isn't a terrible loss for me. Is this going to take much longer? I would like to go send his family there as well.”

“You have no reason too. You've already claimed far too many innocent lives, you don't need to spill more blood.”

“If bringing your kids to watch a man and woman get brutally executed for the sake of framing somebody else is what you call innocent, I'd hate to see what you consider to be criminal. It's not like you actually care about what happened to them anyway.” Styx then squinted at her and she continued. “You want to kill me because of a 'what-if' and are pretending you've got a better reason for doing so. Just so you're aware, Dad stopped counting how many times you threatened to eliminate him after thirty-six.”

“I see.” Styx sighed and looked into the sky. There's still another half an hour or so before the sun sets. He thought to himself and recalled his strategy meeting with Shaffra before coming. “Lilly's strength was independent on the time of day but Cain's fluctuated.” He explained. “While the sun was high, his magic was not only incredibly powerful, but he regenerated mana quicker than he could use it. While the moon was high, however, his mana regeneration was basically zero and his spells were at best half as powerful. His stamina, though, was nearly infinite and his prowess as a warrior was beyond cheating.”

“So,” Shaffra chimed in, “It can be assumed that for roughly twenty hours in a day, he was effectively invincible if his weaknesses weren't exploited.”

“Right. While the moon or sun was high, he was strong, but when both were low, his power was staunched. During dawn and dusk, his mana and stamina regeneration was non-existent and his abilities were extremely weakened. At best he was comparable to a skilled human and took careful measures to keep anyone from finding out.”

“Meanwhile we vampires are weaker during the day but we aren't subject to the same hard timings. Cain would have to wait for the sun or moon to be fully visible, and completely out of luck during a new moon. We, on the other hand, simply are at our strongest once the sun goes down. Our powers get progressively stronger as the sun gets weaker. All that being said though, Luna isn't Cain. We don't know how her abilities react to the solar or lunar cycle.”

“Idel said before that at the very least, her primary magic is Lunar which he said was basically fire magic but influenced by the moon instead of the sun. With her nature as a wolf, she's definitely at her strongest during nightfall. I doubt she gets any improvements during the day.”

“Neither do we.”

“Yes, but as the sun sets, we'll get stronger while she won't. Our best bet would be to fight her while the sun is setting, before the moon rises. Given that she'll likely be boosted by the Ríastrad regardless of when we fight her though, I'd like to have a contingency plan in place. To that end, I'll fight her alone. Meanwhile, I want you to keep some distance but stay up high. If I take too long, you can use your shadow magic to conceal the moon. I'll keep her attention on me so that she can't cancel out your spell.”

Shaffra nodded. “That's probably the safest bet.”

Styx folded one arm across his chest and then rested his other elbow on top of it. “She doesn't seem to have fallen into a fighting style of her own yet. Given that she learned how to fight from someone taught by her parents and has further enhanced her knowledge through her father's memories, she still clings heavily to clones of their abilities. Between those two though, they generally had five styles. Cain was fond of crushing his opponent's strengths, so he alternated between two foundations. Against a mage or a heavy hitter, he'd block all their blows and hit them even harder with his own technique. He'd obliterate them with magic if it was a mage or cleave them in two if it was a warrior. When fighting someone who considered themselves to be agile though, he'd out maneuver them, dodging all their attacks and then finishing them with a swift blow to a weak spot. When he got serious, he'd enhance his weapons with spells, strike with colossal blows and dance around his enemies. Lilly stuck almost religiously to warping the space around her and her opponents, relying mostly on hitting them in the back with their own attacks or slicing them in two by slashing reality itself. Their most dangerous style was when they fought side by side. It was almost like fighting both of them in one body but split in two. They could be fighting two separate enemies but both knew exactly what was going on with the other in real-time. From a spectators standpoint, it would look like two independent battles but in actuality, Cain would be dodging his opponent while simultaneously attacking his wife's in the back and vice-versa.”

“I can't fathom fighting like that. Even if they could see what the other could, keeping track of both would be absurd.”

“Thankfully for us, it should be impossible for Luna to pull off anything like that and not just because she only has one body. While the Ríastrad is active, she can disable any utility magic at will and can't use her own at all. If she can't warp reality, she can't use that technique or Lilly's style. She doesn't seem to have any defensive magic either, so I doubt she'd be able to mimic Cain's first methodology. That leaves either his second, his third, or his last resort which I think is the most likely. Once Cain activated the Ríastrad, his fighting became beast-like and reckless. He'd throw away all shreds of defence and mercilessly cut away at his foe until either one of them fell.”

Styx looked back down at Luna and thought to himself, I said that, but her personality after awakening is frighteningly similar to her mother's. Will that make it harder because she may not fight as recklessly as I originally thought, or will that make it easier because she may try and use magic that simply won't work as she is?

Luna tapped her foot on the ground. “So, got your strategy figured out yet? If this is going to take much longer, I'm just going to leave you behind and go hunting down some prey until something more amusing comes up.”

Styx tightened his grip on his bow. “You would have been wise to attack while I was lost in thought.”

“Huh? Are you senile? I'd only take an opening like that if you were actually a threat.”

“Excuse me?”

“'Excuse me?', my ass. You're an assassin who already made his presence known. If you want to strike me down, you should have put more effort into actually doing so when my back was turned. Besides,” She extended her right hand out to her side, a stream of crimson flames bellowing from it. She closed her hand around them and they dispersed, revealing a curved sword that was black as midnight. “I already know that you prefer the bow because you're absolute shit in hand to hand.”

“Tough talk for someone who can only use borrowed powers.” He shot back. At that moment, Luna ducked and a shadowy limb passed over her head. She jumped into the middle of the street, her smirk unfaltering. Even when caught in a conversation with me, she still dodges what should be a completely undetectable attack. It'll be torture if this carries over into nightfall when her enhanced perception is already a pain to deal with. The sun is still too high in the sky for me to fight at my fullest but if I wait any longer she'll go on a rampage.

“Looks like you're finally ready to go.” She mused and grasped the hilt of her weapon with both hands. Styx quickly loosed an icy arrow at her which she effortlessly dodged. His body collapsed into shadow and the surrounding shade launched a barrage of spikes at Luna from all directions. She dodged each one in turn and Styx reappeared on one of the nearby rooftops. He took another shot at her and his position kept rapidly moving from rooftop to rooftop, angle to angle. Luna sidestepped, ducked under and swatted volley after volley, laughing all the while. In time, her sword was coated in a scarlet blaze and she swept in a circle around her. The ring of fire spread out quickly, engulfing the entire street.

Styx jumped over the attack, landed on the pavement several metres away, and back-peddled another handful. As he drew his next arrow, multiple frozen lances formed around him, their tips all pointed towards Luna. When he released, all of them went straight for her. She grinned and blew in their direction creating a wall of fire that turned them into steam. She then charged straight through it, her sword pulled back behind her, ready to cleave Styx in two. His body began to collapse so Luna increased her speed, only to have a light blue light appear underneath her when she got just in front of him. There was a flash, and she was encompassed in a small glacier. Styx lowered his guard and sighed, “I don't mean to embarrass you quite so much, but it's dangerous to let you warm up.”

Suddenly, a hand grabbed him by the throat and pulled him towards the ice. He focused his attention again to find Luna hitting her forehead into his and she spat, “Who's embarrassing who?” As she spoke, a lime green ember flew out of her mouth and Styx tried to throw himself to the side and collapse. The street was flooded in lime green flames and Styx, all but his left arm, reformed just above it. His right dangled beside him and he squinted his eyes as the bones and muscles in his destroyed shoulder began growing outward, replacing the missing limb. When the blaze cleared, he saw Luna still leaning her head, one arm, and a fraction of her torso out of the glacier. He noted that her left eye was closed and the remainder of her body passed through the clump like it wasn't there. When she had fully freed herself, she opened her left eye again and the flames surrounding her body once more turned blood-red.

I was under the impression that she couldn't cast utility magic at all while using the Ríastrad. Styx pondered. One of the general rules of magic is that spells can't be used anywhere that the mage can't see. A trap spell could detonate regardless but the caster would still have to physically see the location he intends to set it up at. Perhaps this means that she can only cancel utility magic that the Ríastrad can see. “That's a dirty trick.” He yelled out.

“I don't want to hear that from you.” Luna replied and closed her eye again. Styx flinched then jumped backward, a gash appearing in his chest, and Luna materializing where he had just been standing. She opened her eye again and kicked him under the chin, propelling him into the sky where she made a sweep with her sword, releasing another bout of flames. Styx swiped the air with his hand, creating a shield of ice then faded into shadow again. He popped into an alleyway, inspected the half of his arm that had regenerated, dropped his bow, and pulled a dagger out from a sheath on the back of his hip.

He quickly ran back out onto the road and following a crunch, he fell face-first onto the pavement, a black short sword sticking out of the back of his head. A woman from out of his view explained, “It's really handy that vampires become completely paralyzed when they have something rammed into their brain. Getting the drop on a prick like you would be annoying in a one on one, but like this, it was child's play.” A leather glove dropped in front of his face and someone forcefully tilted his head upward. “Let's call this one a win for the trickster.” They chuckled and dropped him.

“...Rotten bird brain...” Styx groaned into the earth.

Luna descended to the ground and inquired, “Stella?”

The Raven ran up in front of her and cupped Luna's face in her hands. “Are you all right?”

“I'm fine. Where's Aileen?”

“She had me go on ahead since I was faster, she'll be here shortly though. Are you sure you're feeling all right? There's nothing... funny going on in your head?”

Luna paused for a second and began to say, “Nothing feels different-”

“What are you doing Luna?” Fearg growled in her ears and a pulse ran through her veins, causing her to body to tense up and keel over slightly.

“Luna?” Stella called out hurriedly and grabbed her by both shoulders.

“We had a deal Luna.” Fearg continued to shout. “Why can I still smell humans in the distance?”

Luna tried to cover her eye with her free hand but her arm wouldn't move so through clenched teeth she declared, “I'll get there when I get there. I'm talking to Stella right now.”

“Not good enough. She's an obstacle in our path and obstacles need to be removed.”

“Luna-” Stella cried out then interrupted herself with a cough. A warm liquid splashed onto Luna's shoulder and a red streak ran down Stella's chin, starting at the corner of her mouth.

“Stella...” Luna mumbled nervously and slowly looked down to find her hand still wrapped around the hilt of her sword which had been stabbed into Stella, just below her chest.

Both of them fell onto their knees and Luna kept deathly still. Stella coughed up another spurt of blood then formed a weak smile while slowly lifting her hand up. She stroked Luna's cheek softly who continued to stare, wide-eyed, unable to react. “It's not... your fault.” Stella spat and fell forward, her head landing on Luna's shoulder, eyes still open.

Clang!

“That could have been a real mess.” Styx declared and picked himself up off the ground while a skeleton beside him kicked Stella's sword away. He glared at Luna and Stella then commented, “No one to blame but yourself dumb ass.” Five spikes of ice formed in the air behind him and he put his hands in his pockets. The spikes launched towards the pair at a blinding speed but Luna didn't bother trying to dodge. She wrapped her arms around Stella, her thoughts scrambled.

A second passed but instead of feeling cold or pain, Luna heard a thud and hesitantly turned her head. Beside her, Aileen dropped into a kneeling position, arms out wide. Five red circles formed on her torso and rapidly expanded. She closed her eyes and smiled at Luna before falling forward, the five ice spikes sticking out of her back.

Styx clicked his tongue. “Stop getting in the way.” And another set began to form.

“Luna! Stella! Aileen!” Idel yelled as he came into view, Nao flying just behind him.

Styx peered at them and scowled, “More? I should have frozen-” He paused as Idel and Nao suddenly stopped moving and the world turned black and white.

Something sharp was pressed into his chest and when he blinked, Luna was standing in front of him. He blinked once more and all of a sudden they were standing in the middle of the road instead of just in front of the alleyway, his back to the city. Luna's hair as well as her tail grew longer and turned black like her sword. Her right iris turned emerald green and three layers of runes circled the inner perimeter as opposed to just one. The outer two turned clockwise while the middle turned counter-clockwise. Her skin turned scarlet and horns extended from under her ears. She looked up at Styx with eyes devoid of pupils, her teeth clenched and she screamed, “Shut up!” Styx recoiled as his field of view was filled with nothing but the colour red.

Idel and Nao both halted as the ground shook like an extreme earthquake. When it stopped, neither one immediately commented on the scene before them. Nao flew to Stella's and Aileen's sides without detour and Idel stood beside a normal silver-haired Luna, who only watched her feet sit on the street. Without looking at her, Idel ordered Nao, “Take them with us. We might be able to treat them better there than here.” He then put a hand on Luna's shoulder who didn't react to his presence. “We should go.” He stated in a calm tone. “Someone will be coming to investigate this later, whether it be humans or the high heavens.”

Luna lifted her head slightly, her left eye closed. She peered out in front of her through fallen strands of hair at the bottomless pit that extended out as far as the eye could see. “Yeah.” She whispered, turned around, and slowly began walking back home.

Idel let out a deep breath and grumbled to himself, “I'd forgotten just how terrifying the Ríastrad can be when fuelled by the present users own thirst for vengeance. To think that within minutes of her awakening, she would erase an entire city in an instant.” He then turned to follow Luna while saying to Nao, “Let's go.”