The city had begun to breathe differently under the Red Moon's gaze. Streets twisted and folded over themselves, buildings hung impossibly in the sky, and crimson rivers reflected fragments of time that hadn't yet happened. Adrian stepped cautiously onto a cracked bridge, the air thick with sulfur and the faint metallic scent of blood, his chest marked with a glowing sigil that pulsed in rhythm with his heartbeat. The vessel's power inside him surged—hungry, insistent. Every step he took threatened to pull him into the Red Moon's nightmarish illusions.
Time fractured around him. A market square flickered, showing him visions of people he once knew—friends corrupted into monstrous forms. He clenched his fists, teeth gritted.
"You can't hold it forever," a voice whispered from all directions. It was the Red Moon itself. Adrian could feel its tendrils probing, twisting memories, desires, and fears. He stumbled, visions colliding: a childhood friend's laughter bleeding into screams of torment, his own reflection in the broken glass of a storefront morphing into a grotesque, smiling monster.
A shadow moved faster than his eyes could track. Kael appeared beside him, white hair catching the Red Moon's glow. Crysmal's wings unfurled behind him, massive and trembling, echoing the instability of the world around them.
"Adrian," Kael's voice was calm but firm, a contrast to the chaos. "Focus. The Red Moon is trying to break you—don't give it that satisfaction."
Adrian's hands were trembling, the sigil on his chest glowing brighter, pulsing like a second heartbeat. "I… I can't…" he gasped. Images of Elira flickered before him, trapped in some crimson altar, her essence fading with each second. He could feel the Autumn Cult's ritual gnawing at her life, each pulse echoing in his chest.
Crysmal's roar reverberated through the fractured streets, wings flaring wildly. Tears streaked the dragon's massive face, each drop igniting a small burst of time distortion around them. The city buckled, and a cluster of phobia-monsters materialized from the fractures—half-child, half-shadow, eyes wide with predatory glee.
Kael moved first, white swords appearing from thin air, arcs of light slicing through the monsters. "Adrian, control it—control yourself! If you lose focus, you'll feed the Red Moon!"
Adrian took a shuddering breath and reached inward, the lust-driven energy of the vessel responding to his pain and desire. He pushed forward, manifesting shards of crimson power, cutting through the phobia-monsters, but each strike came with a cost. The city around him flickered violently. A lamppost stretched into infinity, a shop sign froze mid-fall, and every alley seemed to loop back on itself. Time itself had fractured, and the Red Moon laughed in silence.
Then a chill ran down Kael's spine. "Father…" he whispered.
The Devil appeared—a dark silhouette, eyes burning like molten silver. He stepped across a street that didn't exist, the bricks folding beneath his feet as though reality itself obeyed him. "Kael," he said softly, almost affectionately, "I've come to see how much you've… risen."
Kael's stance stiffened, swords raising. "You won't take me. Not today."
The Devil smiled, stepping closer. Time collapsed around his movements—he appeared in three places at once, striking with impossible precision. Kael blocked, parried, and countered, but the city's instability was as much an enemy as his father. A wall folded into itself mid-strike, a river of blood rushing backward in impossible arcs, and Crysmal screamed in distress.
Adrian's attention wavered. He glimpsed Elira again, her form tied to an altar made of red crystal that pulsed with the energy of the Red Moon. The Autumn Cult chanted around her, their voices stretching and twisting across time, amplifying the moon's power. One of them, a masked figure, turned toward him. Adrian's chest burned violently; the vessel's power surged, but the Red Moon pushed back, clawing at his mind, whispering temptations and doubts.
"Fight, Adrian," Kael shouted over the din of folding streets and exploding shadows. "You must reach her! Don't let them take her!"
Adrian's hands glowed crimson, power spilling out in arcs. He struck, shattering the illusions between him and Elira. For a moment, her eyes met his, wide and terrified—but still alive. He felt a surge of hope, quickly crushed by the Red Moon's counterattack. Shadows formed into a massive figure—a monstrous amalgam of every fear and lust Adrian had ever suppressed. It lunged, knocking him back, embedding shards of time-corrupted reality into the ground.
Crysmal flared, wings striking the phobia-beast, but the creature split into two, then four. The city shook, buildings flickering, and Adrian's sigil blazed, resonating with each pulse of the Red Moon.
From the chaos, Lucien emerged, his eyes alight with cruel curiosity. "Ah… the vessel is finally showing its colors," he sneered. He moved with predatory grace, using fractured time to attack Adrian's mind as much as his body, whispering doubt: Kael can't save you. Elira will die. You'll feed the Red Moon instead of stopping it.
Ash appeared next, crystallized weapons forming in his hands. His attacks were precise, targeting Adrian's weaknesses, his emotions, his guilt, his fears. And Morwen Asterfall hovered above, Autumn cult robes flowing unnaturally, casting temporal illusions that folded the battlefield into recursive loops. Elira's form flickered with each step, almost disappearing entirely.
Adrian gritted his teeth and focused. He drew from the depths of his lust-driven power, manifesting a barrier of light around himself. The Red Moon screamed internally, its whispers becoming shrill. With every pulse, he struck at the phobia-monsters, at the illusions, at the fractures of time itself.
Kael fought desperately against his father, swords clashing in sparks of pure white energy. Crysmal's emotional cries rumbled through the battlefield, creating pockets of instability that worked both for and against them.
Time folded completely. One moment, Adrian was on the bridge; the next, he was inside the crimson river, fighting against currents that carried shards of memories and fears. Another moment, he was within the Autumn Cult's ritual circle, reaching for Elira's fading hand.
"Adrian!" Kael's voice anchored him, piercing the Red Moon's illusions. With a surge, he crossed the temporal gaps, touching Elira's hand. Her body shimmered, fragile but alive. Together, they broke part of the ritual circle, scattering the cultists in disoriented chunks of time.
The Devil roared, furious, striking Kael hard. But Kael's resolve burned brighter; every hit he took, every step backward, was an anchor for Adrian. He shouted, not in despair, but defiance: "Rise up!"
Adrian's power surged in resonance. The Red Moon's influence faltered as the vessel's energy aligned with Kael's anchor, creating a temporary safe zone amidst the chaos. Phobia-monsters dissolved, time loops stabilized slightly, and the city, though fractured, no longer threatened to consume them entirely.
Lucien and Ash, frustrated, retreated into fractured alleys, eyes still burning with malice. Morwen's chants slowed as her temporal illusions faltered. And Elira, trembling but alive, clung to Adrian.
Crysmal landed heavily, wings folded, shaking, tears streaking the ground. "I… I'm okay," the dragon whimpered, uncertain if the battlefield had ended or if it was merely a pause.
Adrian exhaled, exhaustion burning every muscle, every nerve. He looked at Kael, who had narrowly avoided a fatal strike from the Devil. The father and son faced each other, neither yielding, the city around them still flickering between reality and nightmare.
"We survived… for now," Adrian muttered, chest still marked with the glowing vessel sigil. But the Red Moon still pulsed, still watching, still whispering.
Kael's eyes met his, unwavering. "This is only the beginning. Time is fractured, the city is collapsing, and the Red Moon will not forgive. But we fight. Together."
And above them, the Red Moon hung heavy in the sky, crimson and sentient, casting long shadows that promised horrors yet to come.