The moon took one look at the world around him and saw none of the beauty he was promised. The beautiful things soured in his mind, for they were only a mask to hide the ugliness of strife, starvation, and cruelty. -The Legend of the Darkened Moon

  Lin’s blood froze in his veins. The man in front of him looked like Yoru, but the chilling smile bespoke of a madness behind his eyes that he’d never seen before in his friend. Even in Yoru’s fight against Shen Tori, where he’d called upon the Darkened Moon’s powers of erasure to wipe his enemy from the face of the earth, he never looked like this. For the first time, Lin could see exactly how Yoru and the Darkened Moon were the same person, and that terrified him beyond words.

  On instinct, he began to fall to his knees. After all, how could he, a mere Gold, stand up against one of the Five Demons of Devastation? However, before he could fall more than an inch, Satoro’s hand caught his arm.

  “Don’t yield to this,” he said firmly. “This is not Xiao-ru.”

  Now, Lin was well and truly trapped. One Demon ordered him to kneel, while another told him to keep standing. Instinct pulled him in too many directions until Xinya’s hand curled into his.

  “This is the villain of the story, isn’t it?” she murmured. Lin just nodded.

  The Darkened Moon surveyed the empty square. From the windows of the nearby shops, a few brave yokai peeked out between the curtains and slats to see what was going on, but no one dared step into the blistering light save for Lin, Xinya, and Satoro.

  “Well, isn’t this a rather sorry turnout for my return?” he mused. “Has it really been so long that the world has forgotten my name?” He sighed and shook his head in mock disappointment. “The Ascendents of this age must be truly supreme if turning a third of the continent into a silver wasteland doesn’t even make the footnotes.”

  “Eh, I could’ve done better,” Satoro mused, stepping forward to single himself out. He twirled Heixin lazily in one hand. “But, then again, anything you can do, I can do better while drunk.”

  To Lin’s surprise, no recognition flickered through the Darkened Moon’s eyes. Instead, he narrowed them, singling out the cultivator who was brazen enough to insult him.

  “You are foolish, indeed, to mock me.”

  “Nah, not foolish. Just well informed.” Even as he spoke, Satoro cast a glance at Lin. It seemed he, too, noticed the lack of recognition.

  Qi swirled around the Darkened Moon as he lowered his chin and glared daggers into the arrogant oni. If looks could kill, and if Satoro could be killed, then he’d have been ripped to shreds on the spot.

  “How do you figure that?” continued the Darkened Moon. Though his voice was even, it held a dangerous edge. Any minute, he’d lose his temper, and all hell would break loose.

  “Because I know a Lunar Pipsqueak when I see one,” Satoro spat with all the hostility of a blade. The Darkened Moon flinched, even taking a single step back from the man he now thoroughly recognized as the Oni Prince.

  “You are dead. How are you not dead!?”

  Satoro rolled his eyes. “Oh please, did you really believe the rumors that I took my own life? Like I’m even capable of killing myself. You, of all people, should know that I am eternal, whether we like it or not.”

  In an instant, the Darkened Moon drew Eclipse from its sheath and rushed toward his most hated enemy. Satoro was ready. He sprinted forward, meeting the Darkened Moon half-way. Sparks flew as Heixin and Eclipse crashed into each other.

  “I’m going to enjoy burying you at long last, Prince Kaishin!”

  “Again with the surname? Are you really so obsessed with me that you memorized every detail about me?” Satoro grimaced as he pushed back against Eclipse.

  Lin would have laughed if the situation weren’t so dire. As it was, the Darkened Moon didn’t react to the verbal jab, instead breaking away from their locked weapons to regroup. Rather than giving Satoro the same time to regroup, though, he struck again immediately. Heixin flashed, but this time, it was as if the Darkened Moon knew where the blade would travel and had ducked under in plenty of time to avoid its black blade.

  He's using Flash Forward, Lin realized, his hopes sinking. The technique that was such a boon to them in everyday life was now being used against them. How could they win against an enemy that knew their every move ten steps before they thought to make it?

  Satoro grunted as Eclipse cut cleanly through his side. He shifted his stance immediately, trying to swipe at his assailant as he retreated, but the Darkened Moon was ready for that, too.

  The two Demons backed apart, the bout over. Each one studied the other. Satoro was bleeding from a gash in his side that would have been lethal to anyone else, but his qi was swiftly mending the injury. Hope sparked in Lin. If anyone could beat the advantage of Flash Forward, it was the man who didn’t care if he was injured or not. The real challenge would be returning the blows, but at least Satoro couldn’t be cut down as easily as Lin would have been. Eventually, the Darkened Moon had to slip up, right?

  “You’ve gotten soft,” the Darkened Moon taunted. “You never would have let that blow pass before.”

  “Yeah, well, I guess I’m just a little more of a masochist now.” Satoro was already moving by the time he was done speaking. He gripped his blade, lowering the blade in an obvious attempt to strike at the moon artist’s feet.

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  However, at the last second, he switched his grip, flinging high in the air. It hung there for a long second before splitting into a dozen qi copies which shimmered for a moment before streaking towards the earth like a dozen deadly thorns. The technique was different in style from Heaven’s Rain, one of Yoru’s favorite techniques, but the similarity was clear, and Lin wondered if the Heaven’s Blade Sect had been inspired by watching the Oni Prince when developing one of their signature techniques.

  But, even that wasn’t enough. When the dust settled, the Darkened Moon was not within the radius of Satoro’s technique. Instead, moon qi shimmered, revealing him to be several yards away. He reached out his hand, and several silver blades surged, ready to-

  The Darkened Moon cried out in pain, and the disks that were preparing to slice Satoro in half shattered and their qi dispersed on the wind. He clutched his hand, which was bleeding profusely from a long cut that had emerged, seemingly from nowhere, up his arm to his shoulder.

  A high-pitched trill indicated the source of the attack. A green dart flitted across the space between Satoro and the Darkened Moon, before slowing and hovering in the air between them. A flurry of emotion washed over the face that was both Yoru’s and not.

  “Chiho…after all this time?” For a moment, Lin thought the Darkened Moon looked just like Yoru. The madness faded from his eyes, leaving him looking lost and confused. “You…why? Why would you-”

  Intense trilling cut him off, and he listened carefully. Lin knew that the jade crane didn’t speak in words so much as feelings, and that Yoru was the only one attuned enough to its wishes to understand. However, in that moment, even he could feel the desperation in Chiho’s tones. That pin loved Yoru more than anything else in the world. That it raised its qi against him spoke far louder than any words could.

  “You…even you turn against me?” The Darkened Moon trembled in rage and pain. “Fine. I sacrifice everything, even my own humanity for you and your master, and this is how I’m treated?!” The madness returned to his eyes, this time fueled by the pain in his heart.

  Chiho darted forward, kicking up a furious wind as it did. The Darkened Moon ducked, only narrowly dodging the pin before it spun around and raked a trail of blood across his shoulder and chest. A bloody hand lashed out, followed by a shrill trill as Chiho was snatched right out of the air. The Darkened Moon held it with a shaking grip that would have crushed a less potent artifact.

  “If this is how you really feel, then so be it,” he hissed. “If you want so badly to side with your master, then you’ll share in his fate!” With a furious howl, he hurled the pin in the direction of the armillary. A shockwave rippled over the battlefield as the jade crane was buried full shaft in the heart of the Sword Saint’s statue.

  “Chiho!” Xinya shouted. She tried to dart forward, but Lin caught her arm before she did. With a trembling grasp, he pulled the little girl close before darting backwards into the crowd.

  The real Yoru would never have tried to hurt Chiho, no matter the transgression. This monster before them was an imposter, and one that wielded all of Yoru’s considerable strength. If even Chiho wasn’t safe from his rage, then what might he do to Lin and Xinya?

  “Lin, we have to help Chiho!” the girl protested. “We have to help Yoru!”

  “I don’t know how, meimei.” He couldn’t stop trembling. There really was a monster out there, and it took all his strength to keep his wits about him for Xinya’s sake.

  Yet, despite it all, his heart ached. Everything inside him agreed with Xinya. Yoru needed help, but where could Lin even start? He was nothing compared to the brilliance of the Lunar Prince. Yoru fought with the ferocity of a dragon and the cunning of a fox. Compared to that, Lin was just an ordinary cultivator from a small fishing town. He could stand against giant moths and cult leaders, but against Yoru, he didn’t stand a chance.

  Back in the street, Satoro was not ready to give up. He hurled Heixin at the Darkened Moon, only to watch it fly wide. It was not the Oni Prince’s only weapon. He bared his claws, taking the fight directly to his junior.

  He wasn’t the only one either. A flash of crimson flame colored the grass below them as a ball of flame crashed into the scene. Both the Darkened Moon and the Oni Prince were consumed by fire and smoke before a third, ghostly figure joined in the battle. Lin only barely caught a glimpse of blurred crescent insignias before they disappeared into the flames. The battle was fierce, if the cries of frustration from the Darkened Moon were anything to go by.

  “Enough!” a flash of light and qi cut through the flames, turning them voidlight blue for a brief moment before they died. Satoro was bleeding again from a variety of cuts and burns that made the normally beautiful oni look haggard. Next to him, faring much better, was the blurred outline of a shade.

  Lin hoped dearly that the real Yoru couldn’t see the world around him in that moment. The Moon Guard, Hua Zhen, had joined the fight. Recalling just how badly Yoru regretted the warrior’s death thirty thousand years ago, Lin wasn’t sure he’d be able to recover from having to kill his shade, too.

  “I grow tired of these games,” the Darkened Moon growled.

  “Who’s playing?” retorted the Oni Prince, earning him a swift disk of moonlight to the leg to his impertinence. He grimaced but held his ground.

  “I do not know who you are,” the Moon Guard’s whisper carried clearly throughout the battle, “But, something within me tells me you must be brought down.”

  He lunged at the Darkened Moon, and Satoro joined the assault. Together, they were a furious whirlwind of steel and qi. The Moon Guard wielded his sword in one hand and a crimson flower made of pure fire in the other. He flung the flower forward with deadly force.

  The Darkened Moon twisted out of the flower’s path, only to find himself directly in Satoro’s way. Heixin whistled through the air towards him, but he was still quick. Heixin sparked against Eclipse as the two Demons clashed once again. But, this time, Satoro wasn’t the only enemy for the Dark Moon to worry about.

  Black Blood hit the ground. The two masters had successfully backed him into a corner, and this was their reward. However, Lin didn’t have the time to cheer. As the blow landed, the Darkened Moon cried out in fury, breaking his clash with Satoro and regrouping for only a brief moment.

  “Ancient wretches!” he seethed, waving a hand. Qi surged, and Lin recognized the technique only moments before a silver beam -- the same one that erased Shen Tori from existence -- streaked towards the Moon Guard.

  “Move!” shouted Satoro. Time seemed to slow, as the Oni Prince threw himself into the Moon Guard, shoving the shade aside with all the force he could muster. The Demon of Tragedy bore the full force of the blast, his qi flaring bright jade to combat the corrosive beam of moon qi.

  Nearby, the Moon Guard was fading. His body grew more blurred as it became clear that he’d been clipped by the blast. His qi warbled dangerously before he seemed to take a deep, meditative breath. With a hand gesture, his entire form dispersed into a cloud of black qi which seeped into the ground. Whether he lived or not was unclear to Lin. What was clear was that he was out of the fight for a while.

  Wood snapped as the beam blasted Satoro back into a nearby shop. Lin didn’t get a chance to see how he fared. If his body was still intact, he’d consider it a miracle of Satoro’s own path.

  Moments later, the building collapsed in on itself. The Darkened Moon took a deep breath, and the injuries he sustained were erased by his qi.

  Lin sighed. All hope was truly lost.