Chapter 50 – Luna

"Luna!"

Feeling that terrifying pressure again, Luna shifted her body. She quickly raised her tail in the direction of the beam in an attempt to stop it.

A huge layer of water rose around them before surrounding Luna's entire tail.

The next moment Kieran's vision was filled with that incandescent light as silence filled his mind.

Luna's moan of pain suddenly woke him up as the colors returned around him. He could see Luna's half-melted tail falling into the water.

"Lu... Luna!!"

His voice was shaking as he saw Luna using her body to protect him. Emotion welled up within him.

"Please stop! Leave me here!"

On the ship, Kade watched the whole scene with a cruel smile on his face.

"You really found a good beast, Kieran, to use her body to this extent to protect you."

The smile on his face grew with each passing second as he put his hand on the canon for the third time.

Luna's moans weakened, but she still wouldn't allow Kieran to move away from her.

A beam of light came to them again. Kieran gritted his teeth before lifting Shard of a Broken World in front of him, ready to do anything he could to try to stop that beam.

The water around them began to swirl, and a column of water rose near him, pushing him away from Luna and falling into the sea. At the same time, he heard a painful moan.

Another hole appeared on Luna's body as she began to sink into the sea.

"Luna!!"

Kieran's body shuddered with rage as he stared at the ship, his eyes falling on Kade, who was standing next to the cannon.

"I will kill you! You and your whole guild! I will kill you all!"

He screamed in rage at them, his eyes filled with blood.

"You won't get the chance, even if you were able to get some treasure from the secret realm. I don't care anymore. I'd rather see you die."

A mad look appeared on Kade's face. He again put his hand on the canon and aimed at Kieran.

"Die!!!"

The light beam approached Kieran quickly. He felt that he was going to die under this incandescent light when a shadow appeared in the water under his body.

Opening her mouth wide, Luna took Kieran inside before sinking back into the sea. The light beam pierced through the surface of the water, leaving a deep wound along her back.

Kade's face twisted as he saw Kieran flee away.

The members of the Thundershields guild watched Kade in silence, waiting for his next orders without daring to say a word.

Kade put away the X-521 cannon before turning to them.

"That crystal beast was already half dead after the third shot. It won't survive with all those wounds. Search in all the islands around until you find him!"

"Yes, Chief!"

***

Kieran was shaking violently inside Luna's mouth, but he felt no pain. His whole mind was occupied with the thought of Luna's injuries.

"Luna, spit me out! We need to heal your wounds quickly!"

"She won't listen to you," said Runihoril.

"Why?!"

"She is dying..."

His gaze abruptly changed, and his face darkened as he squeezed his hands so hard his fingernails pierced his palm letting blood drip down his fingers.

"It's... It's not possible..."

"I'm sorry, Kieran."

"Luna!!! Spit me out now! Lunaaaaa!!!"

No matter how many times he tried to call her, no answer came from Luna.

***

Three hours later, Kieran's voice had long gone hoarse from calling Luna name.

Suddenly a light shone on his face that made him close his eyes. Pushing him away with her tongue, Luna put him down on a rocky beach.

Opening his eyes again, he was kneeling on a rock. A shadow was cast over his body.

When he looked up, his face suddenly turned white. His body froze as if time had stopped around him. Only the sound of his heartbeat echoed in his head with each passing second.

"Lu...na..."

A hoarse voice came out of his mouth.

Luna’s body was stranded on the rocky beach. Several parts of her body had melted from Kade’s canon attacks, becoming unrecognizable.

*Ba..thump, Ba..thump*

The sound of a faint heartbeat could be heard coming from the gaping holes in her body. The rocks beneath her had long been dyed red from the blood flowing from her wounds.

Her eyes, which were once filled with life, were now empty. A soft moan came from her as the horn on her head began to glow white light before fading away.

Luna's heartbeat grew slower and slower until it gave way to a deafening silence.

A tear rolled down Kieran's cheek, and it was as if a dam broke at that moment.

"aa… AAAARRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

He caught its head in both hands before falling to the ground with a hoarse cry. The tears he had been holding back all this time began flowing out of him.

"AAAARRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

His body changed, taking the form of a lycan with a deformed body. He raised his upper body before clenching his fists and punching the rock beneath him again and again.

Images of Kade and his crew appeared in his mind like ghosts that haunted him as the scene of the light beam hitting Luna's body replayed endlessly before him.

"AAAARRRRHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! I WILL KILL YOU!!!! I WILL KILL ALL OF YOU!!!"

His hands were filled with blood, and his skin had been ripped off while his bones began to break under the power of his blows, but his body felt nothing. His heart was cold. He didn’t use any crystal essence to protect his body. All he wanted was to try to expel this helpless feeling from his mind that threatened to drive him crazy.

Each crystal beast that had been attracted by the smell of blood coming from Luna's body ran away in fear when they saw the power of his blows against the rock, none daring to approach him.

The area around him had gone blank as the only sound that could be heard was his bloody screams and the sound of his fists smashing against the rock again and again.