Chapter Twenty-Eight:
“The Fall of Luna Bay”
The howl echoed across the battlefield, a primal call that cut through the chaos like a blade. John’s head snapped toward the cliffs, where the Yama-Okami reinforcements loomed, their massive wolves poised at the precipice, eyes glowing like embers in the dark. The moment stretched, a fragile heartbeat of hope in a night drowning in ruin—then the riders surged forward.
The wolves descended with the fury of an avalanche, their riders’ weapons gleaming as they crashed into the corrupted ranks. Blades sang through the air. Fangs tore through flesh. Arcane arrows rained from above, streaking through the battlefield in burning arcs. The Kitsune mages from Kagemura wove spells that ignited the darkness and summoned illusionary figures, casting their spectral flames over the tide of corruption.
And yet, Vassoth stood at the center, unmoved. His ember-like eyes narrowed beneath the twisted metal of his helm. With a slow, deliberate motion, he raised his corrupted spear and drove it into the earth.
The world convulsed.
A shockwave of black energy pulsed outward, sending defenders sprawling. The very ground beneath them cracked, veins of corruption snaking through the battlefield, devouring everything in their wake.
John barely had time to react before the wave hit him. His limbs felt heavier, the corruption gnawing at the edges of his vision.
“Hold the line!” Elder Warabi’s voice rang out over the din, her blade cutting through the darkness. “Do not let them break us!”
John gritted his teeth, tightening his grip on the Twin Fangs. No. This wasn’t where they fell. He forced himself forward, muscles screaming in protest as he lunged for Vassoth.
Akira moved beside him, his katana flashing as he parried an incoming attack. “We can’t fight him like this! Not in his domain!”
Yumi sprinted past, her Obsidian Claws igniting with Foxfire as she weaved through the battlefield. “Then we take his domain away from him!”
John saw her plan too late. She leapt toward Vassoth’s spear, aiming to sever it from the ground—but the corrupted lord moved faster.
With a snarl, Vassoth swung his weapon in a wide arc. Dark energy laced through the motion, a wave of destruction that forced Yumi to twist mid-air, barely avoiding the brunt of the attack. She hit the ground hard, rolling to lessen the impact, but her health bar still dipped. [Yumi: -70 HP.]
“Enough of these games,” Vassoth intoned, his voice reverberating through the air like a death knell. He stepped forward, his presence alone forcing the battlefield to shift. “This world belongs to Lord Sterling now. You cannot stop what has already begun.”
John met his gaze, muscles tensed. “Then we’ll die trying.”
Without another word, he charged.
The battlefield ignited.
Akira followed a breath behind him, his katana flashing as he struck with precision, his tanto still sheathed. Rai flanked right, her war fan a blur of steel and wind. Yumi darted left, her Obsidian Claws burning in the dark. The Nekomijin warriors, Kimiko and Hideo, fought just ahead, their twin styles of combat creating a lethal dance—Kimiko with her twin daggers, striking like a shadow, Hideo with his flaming spear, carving through the corrupted ranks.
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Beside them, the Yama-Okami twins, Takeshi and Kaori, fought with terrifying synchronicity. Takeshi’s greatsword cleaved through enemies in wide, sweeping arcs, while Kaori weaved between the chaos, her dual sabers flashing as she parried and countered every strike that came her way.
Vassoth met them with terrifying ease.
His spear lashed out, each strike carrying the weight of the abyss. The ground beneath them fractured with every impact. He caught John’s blades on the haft of his weapon, twisting violently to throw him off balance. Akira ducked under a counterstrike, his blade carving a deep gash along Vassoth’s side—[Vassoth: -150 HP, Bleeding Applied]—but the corrupted lord barely reacted.
Rai’s war fan sliced upward, wind magic coiling around her strikes. The attack barely phased him.
Kimiko lunged low, her daggers flashing as she struck at the seams in Vassoth’s armor. Hideo followed up immediately, his spear igniting as he drove it into the weakened spot.
Takeshi roared, bringing his greatsword down in a devastating overhead strike. Kaori moved in tandem, her blades slicing in rapid succession, each cut perfectly timed.
John regained his footing, forcing himself back into the fray. He activated [Foxfire Barrage], his blades moving in a relentless flurry. Sparks flew as steel clashed against corruption-forged metal. Vassoth staggered—not from the attack, but as if something was watching him. His molten eyes flickered, narrowing on John, and for the briefest of moments, recognition flared in their depths. It was not fear, nor pain, but something deeper—a ghost of the past clawing its way to the surface.
“No...” Vassoth’s voice dropped to something almost human, almost shaken. “Not you. Not again.”
John had no time to question it. He pressed forward, Twin Fangs igniting once more.
Then John saw it.
The elders on the battlefield had begun their chant.
Okami, Kitsune, and Nekomijin voices intertwined, their power weaving through the air like threads of light. The corruption in the ground resisted, writhing like a living thing, but the elders’ magic pressed on. The battlefield itself seemed to tremble, as if struggling between two forces—the abyss and the will of those who refused to kneel.
Vassoth’s head snapped toward them. “You dare—?”
John took his opening. His Twin Fangs burned with an intensity that made even the corruption recoil, the spectral flames refusing to be consumed.
He lunged, his Twin Fangs wreathed in spectral fire. The first strike found its mark, embedding deep into Vassoth’s shoulder. The second followed, carving downward in a jagged arc. [Vassoth: -200 HP, Defense Temporarily Lowered.]
Vassoth roared, his corrupted aura flaring. The battlefield shuddered beneath the sheer force of his presence as his spear slammed into the ground again.
The corruption itself exploded outward, jagged tendrils of abyssal energy whipping through the ranks. Warriors were thrown aside, some outright consumed by the darkness.
Lightning split the sky, illuminating the battlefield in stark, unnatural light. The ground cracked open, revealing a swirling void beneath.
Yumi barely had time to react before the energy lashed across her midsection, sending her tumbling. [Yumi: -120 HP, Critical Condition.]
She gasped, struggling to rise, but her limbs refused to obey.
John’s eyes locked onto her form just as Vassoth stepped forward, his spear dripping with abyssal power.
"Fall back to Kagemura!" John shouted, voice raw with urgency. "Now!"
The defenders broke away, scrambling toward their mounts as the corruption surged behind them.
John twisted in the saddle of his wolf, scanning the battlefield—not for Kaori, but for Yumi.
He spotted her a short distance away, barely pushing herself upright. Blood streaked her face, her breaths ragged.
Gritting his teeth, he spurred his wolf forward. John rode hard, twisting in the saddle as he reached out.
Yumi barely managed to lift her gaze before his hand caught hers, yanking her up and behind him in one swift motion.She gasped, weakly gripping his armor as the wolves surged into retreat.
And in the distance, Vassoth’s laughter slithered through the air—cold and knowing. “Run, fools. Run to your last refuge. Sterling’s kingdom rises, and I shall pave the way with your bones.”
Luna Bay was gone.
[Quest Failed: Defend Luna Bay.]