WHU – The Return
Morning light filtered through the fractured skyline.
Sebastian walked back into WHU in silence.
Dust still clung to his coat. The air around him felt… thinner.
Asher was the first to step forward.
"Did you stop him?"
Sebastian's answer was calm.
"No. He stopped himself."
Wang immediately activated a holographic projection. Lunar energy readings from the previous night filled the room.
"He disengaged the moment lunar resonance dropped," Wang said. "That confirms it. His power output declines with the Moon's phase."
Lina crossed her arms.
"So he has a weakness."
Sebastian nodded slowly.
"Yes. But he won't fight recklessly. He'll return tonight."
The room fell quiet.
Wang zoomed into a specific energy cluster.
"His Dominion radiates from a core point — center mass. If that nucleus destabilizes, the entire gravitational structure may collapse."
Asher looked at Sebastian.
"So what's the plan?"
Sebastian's eyes hardened.
"Tonight… I force him to go all out."
Evening
The sky darkened once more.
The Moon rose — brighter than the night before.
Sebastian stood alone in the ruined battlefield.
Wind moved through broken stone.
Then—
The air bent.
Cassiel descended again, silver-black energy spiraling around him.
"You returned," Cassiel said calmly.
"This ends tonight," Sebastian replied.
Cassiel gave a faint smile.
"This time… you are not fighting only me."
Sebastian's eyes narrowed.
The Mountain
Far from the battlefield—
On a distant mountain ridge—
Asher felt it first.
A second lunar resonance.
He turned sharply.
A girl stood at the summit.
Silver hair flowing in the wind. Eyes reflecting the Moon itself.
Her hands were raised toward the sky.
Energy streamed downward like threads of light.
Asher's heart pounded.
"She's amplifying him…"
The girl whispered softly:
"Lunar Convergence."
Moonlight condensed into a focused beam and shot toward Cassiel.
His aura doubled instantly.
The Battle Begins
Sebastian activated Zero Field.
But this time—
The lunar wave did not vanish completely.
It weakened.
But it remained.
Cassiel extended his hand.
"New ability: Graviton Collapse."
The ground beneath Sebastian imploded inward.
Gravity multiplied violently.
Zero Field expanded outward to resist.
Sebastian gritted his teeth.
"Limit Break — Zero Expansion!"
A thirty-meter radius sphere formed around him.
The pressure reduced.
But not entirely.
Cassiel moved forward, forming a silver spear in his grasp.
"Lunar Spear: Final Descent."
He threw it.
Sebastian dodged at the last second.
The spear struck the earth and detonated, carving a massive crater.
At WHU, alarms blared.
Wang shouted:
"He's receiving external amplification!"
Asher activated comms immediately.
"Sebastian! There's someone on the mountain! A girl — she's channeling lunar energy into him!"
Sebastian understood instantly.
"So that's it…"
Cassiel's voice echoed.
"You are not fighting alone."
Sebastian's Evolution
Sebastian inhaled slowly.
Zero Field began to shift.
Instead of expanding—
It condensed.
Compressed.
Intensified.
A dense black sphere formed tightly around him.
"Zero Core."
This was different.
Now energy was not simply erased.
It was absorbed.
A dark orbit formed around Sebastian's body.
Cassiel attacked again.
The lunar spear struck Zero Core—
And dissolved.
Its energy pulled inward.
Absorbed.
For a split second, Sebastian's eyes flashed black.
Cassiel's gaze sharpened.
"You are assimilating my energy?"
Sebastian's voice was steady.
"I'm returning it to nothing."
Escalation
Cassiel's expression changed.
"Eclipse Dominion — Phase Two."
The Moon partially darkened.
On the mountain, the girl intensified her channeling.
Lunar energy poured down like a storm.
Sebastian charged forward.
Close combat erupted.
Gravity bursts shattered the ground.
Zero Core absorbed wave after wave.
But black fractures began forming along Sebastian's veins.
Cassiel noticed.
"You cannot sustain that power for long."
Sebastian wiped blood from his lip.
"And you can't fight alone."
Cassiel remained silent.
Because he knew—
This battlefield now had two fronts.
Cataclysm
The Moon burned brighter.
The girl's energy surged again.
Asher clenched his fists on the mountain path.
"I have to stop her…"
On the battlefield—
Sebastian and Cassiel moved simultaneously.
Black and silver light collided.
The sky cracked open.
Shockwaves rippled across the horizon.
Neither stepped back.
Neither yielded.
This was no longer a duel.
It was war.
And it had only begun.