Lunar Gods

We leave the lunar fortress.

Nebula closes her eyes, muttering a spell. Her book glows green, and something seems to be approaching. Not just the ground, everything begins to shake slightly.

Nebula opens her eyes and takes a deep breath.

Nebula: "He's coming."

Miguel: "The Moon God? Was it so easy to call him?"

Nebula: "The book did most of the work. I just used it."

Sun: "To be honest, I'm new to this too. I came up with the concept for the Moon God, but I never actually designed it. I was in the middle of it when I was teleported here."

Miguel: "You know how strong he is, at least?"

Sun: "Strong enough to kill us all with a single attack."

Miguel: "Eh?"

Sun: "But don't worry, I'll try to get his attention since I'm immortal."

The tremors intensify. Something begins to appear in space, above the moon. The "sky" begins to shatter, revealing a large green eye.

The fragmentation increases until two more identical eyes emerge. The rift is horizontal, so there is one eye in each corner and one in the middle.

Sun: "Alright, don't stay behind me. Try to stay as far away from each other as possible."

I fly toward the creature. One of its eyes fires a laser, which I block with my shield and advance. I pierce the eye with my spear, dealing light damage. Then I hurl the spear at the other eye and leap away with a blast.

My explosions are weaker since we're in space... I need to master true fire.

The eyes release guided projectiles, which explode on contact with the ground, creating huge craters.

Nebula casts a meteor shower with her new book, along with thousands of true ice shards. Miguel brandishes his whip, targeting the eye with all his summons at once. Sand tornadoes, lightning bolts, ice fragments, everything he's mastered so far. Then, he flies away, untouched by Nebula's attacks.

As the meteors strike the eye, I increase their firepower, unleashing nuclear explosions, destroying the lunar landscape. I also launch a massive beam of sunlight from above and another from my Excalibur, increasing their intensity until the entire creature is engulfed in flames.

Suddenly, a green laser hits me, pushing me kilometers away. I block it with my shield before flying off the moon and then dashing back to the battlefield. I keep my foot on the ground to stay in place and distract the eyes. I notice Nebula glowing pink and kneeling.

Sister! What happened? Are you okay?

The book... it says that the only way to defeat the Moon God... is to drain its power...

You can't do that yet! We need to get stronger first and then leave so we can come back later!

Miguel flies around and distracts the god with his summons.

Sun, I... the book is calling for me... if we leave, the Moon God will unleash calamity upon our planet...

No, that... just try to survive, okay?! We will get stronger in this battle anyway!

Miguel's ethereal worm attacks the eyes and bites them. They turn their attention to Nebula. She begins to glow more intensely.

Nebula, what are you doing?! Get out of there!

I can't go against its will... it's controlling my magic...

The three eyes focus fire on her. I step forward just in time and block the beams with my shield. They grow stronger and stronger, until my shield begins to crack. The ethereal worm flies in front of the attack and blocks it with its body.

However, since it has no immunity to knockback, it ends up being pushed toward us. Miguel steps between us and holds the worm. His sand warrior and his wife also help hold the worm down. It begins to disintegrate.

I try to grab Nebula's arm to get out of the way, but the pink aura shocks me.

Sun: "Miguel, get out of here!"

Miguel: "I can't control that creature... and I can't move, or you'll both die."

Sun: "I can protect her!"

Miguel: "Even if you resurrect, she will be hit after you die. Go, this is your only chance."

Sun: "No..."

I look at Nebula. She's staring at the ground, distracted. Her book begins to float and points at the Moon God, ready to cast a spell.

Miguel: "Go... save your sister..."

I put Nebula on my back and run away.

Sun: "I'm sorry."

The laser disintegrates Miguel and his summons. My back burns with Nebula's aura, but I manage to put her down before I pass out.

I wake up to see Nebula floating with her book, draining the Moon God's power. He fires lasers at her, but her aura protects her. After a while, the creature closes the dimensional rift and escapes.

Sun: "Nebula..."

She holds her face in both hands, the skin cracking and a pink light shooting through it. She turns her face upward and screams. Her eyes and mouth fire lasers.

The rays spread through space, disintegrating stars in their path.

What the hell...?

Sun: "Nebula! Can you hear me?"

She looks at me, both eyes glowing pink and purple, like the cosmic panorama. He points her hand at me and releases pink explosive orbs.

They're too fast for me to dodge. As they hit, I die instantly. But then I'm back where I was. I fly toward her, now able to easily create fire in space.

I punch her in the face, my hand burning.

Sun: "Nebula! Wake up!"

She grabs me by the neck and kills me instantly.

I wake up.

Sun: "Sister, listen to me, please!"

She points her palm at me again and releases a laser beam, vaporizing me.

I can't withstand any of her attacks! I just have to die some more...

I wake up.

Sun: "Do you not remember me? I'm Sun, your brother!"

She pulls me in with her hand, grabs my face and disintegrates me.

This is not working...

I wake up and raise my Excalibur, a ray of sunlight strikes her from above. She's unfazed. She raises her hand and unleashes a shower of meteors. They're so fast that I'm instantly struck.

I wake up. The meteors are still falling.

I wake up. They've stopped. But some of them missed the moon and are now headed toward the planet. While I'm distracted by them, Nebula vaporizes me with a laser.

I wake up. A mass extinction event happens as the meteors destroy part of the planet. I'm floating in space, since a good portion of the moon has been destroyed.

Sun: "Nebula, listen to me! I'm Tokita, your creator!"

She hesitates for a second, then obliterates me with a blue star.

I wake up.

Sun: "I know you're there! The book is controlling you!"

A magical red fist strikes me from above.

What is going on? Why am I not getting stronger...? Or am I...?

I wake up.

Sun: "One of the main goals of the Moon Cult is to find potential vessels for the Moon God. They are using you!"

Sensing she's going to kill me again, I fly away so she doesn't target the planet. She follows me with her eyes, doing nothing.

Sun: "You have to fight it! Otherwise the gods will kill you!"

She points her palm at me. I embrace death once more. However, she doesn't attack. Her eyes and mouth twitch in conflict.

Nebula: "Sun..."

Sun: "Yes, it's me! Please, listen to your heart..."

Nebula: "My brother..."

She holds her head with her free hand, in pain. The one pointing at me fires a laser. Somehow, I manage to dodge it in time.

How did I...

The ray opens a dimensional rift, damaging space. Then, it begins to shrink and return to normal.

I fly over to her and place my hand on her shoulder. My hand burns a little, but not enough to hurt.

So I'm getting stronger! That means her attacks are getting stronger too, that's why she kills me instantly!

She tries to punch me. I dodge it easily.

But her cosmic aura isn't really her attack, so I can stay close to her now.

I hug her.

Sun: "Listen to your heart, sister. I am here for you."

Her eyes water.

Nebula: "Brother..."

She hugs me. I'm instantly vaporized. However, I don't pass out or anything this time. I keep hugging her.

Sun: "We've been through a lot together, huh? Especially you. I have been enjoying myself since I got here."

Nebula: "Brother, I... I'm so sorry..."

Sun: "It's okay. I'll never leave you again."

Nebula: "I... I've been trying to find you this whole time... I've died so many times..."

Sun: "What...?"

Nebula: "Every time I died, I came back before my death, like you..."

Sun: "Huh...?"

Suddenly, a small laser beam pierces her head, killing her. Anima floats beside us, pointing her finger at her emotionlessly.