"Lyra, I choose you!" Cipher shouted, extending his arm forward.
The Moonlight Maiden wondered what the meaning of this was. Was he bluffing? She needed to capture him quickly before he could disappear again like before.
Just as she was closing the distance, she sensed something and quickly stepped back a few paces.
She observed Cipher’s hand, which was now letting out an immense aura. She wondered what that was. Even she felt danger emanating from it.
Lyra appeared before Cipher.
What’s that? A monster summon? the Moonlight Maiden wondered. Did he practice beast taming methods? No wonder he had such a powerful spiritual sea. But this beast...
Lyra smacked Cipher on the head.
"I’m not a pet you can just summon," she said.
"Ahem, I know. I was just playing with you," he said, rubbing his head.
Lyra then turned to look at the Moonlight Maiden. The two stared at each other for a brief moment.
Then they both vanished.
A thunderous clash erupted above the sect, causing the entire mountain to shake. Disciples stumbled. Buildings trembled. Cracks spiderwebbed across stone walls.
"The world of SSS-Ranks is really different," Cipher said, looking up through the cave walls using Wallhack. He could see the two figures colliding in the sky, each exchange sending shockwaves rippling outward.
He extended his hand and released Maya from his spiritual sea.
"Whoa, I’m out," she said, stumbling slightly as she materialized.
She looked around at the stone chamber. "What is this place?"
She then felt the ground shaking beneath her feet. Cracks began spreading across the walls.
"Is someone fighting?" she asked.
"Yeah," he said.
"Wanna go check it out?" he asked.
"Yes!" She jumped excitedly, and the two left the cave.
Now outside, they could finally take in the battle in full view. High above, two figures clashed repeatedly, each collision releasing insane bursts of energy.
"Isn’t that your friend?" Maya asked, observing the two exchanging blows.
Cipher was surprised she could even make out their figures with how fast they were moving, given how low her agility stat was. He guessed she was probably using mana manipulation to enhance her perception.
"Yeah," he responded.
"Should we go help her?" she asked.
"No need," Cipher said.
At that moment, the two women parted, now hovering several feet apart in the sky.
"You’re quite strong," the Moonlight Maiden said, breathing heavily. Her robes were disheveled, and a thin sheen of sweat covered her brow.
"You’re not so bad yourself," Lyra responded casually, looking completely unbothered.
The Moonlight Maiden’s gaze drifted downward. "Is he your disciple?" she asked, looking at Cipher.
Cipher noticed the gaze and waved at her.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Lyra responded.
The Moonlight Maiden sighed, closing her fan with a soft click.
"Now I understand why he wasn’t willing to take me as his master," she said.
...
A while later.
The Moonlight Maiden and Lyra sat opposite each other at a low table, elegantly drinking tea as if the previous fight hadn’t happened.
Maya and Cipher sat on the ground nearby.
Cipher scratched his head. "Why do I feel like I suddenly became a side character?" he murmured.
"What’s a side character?" Maya asked.
"Umm, well... a person who is resourceful," he said.
"I’m resourceful. Am I a side character?" she asked.
"Will you two shut up!" Lyra shouted.
The two instantly went quiet.
"Ahem." Lyra cleared her throat and turned back to the Moonlight Maiden. "As I was saying... I’m sorry for taking your manuals. I’ve just never encountered such a world before and wanted to study your teachings."
She tried to hide her embarrassment. It hurt her pride to admit to thieving, but it hurt even more to not take accountability for her actions.
"Ahaha, I understand, fellow Daoist," the Moonlight Maiden said with a gracious smile. "Do you still have the manuals? My disciples really need them. If you wish to exchange understanding, I can prepare something far more advanced than those low-level manuals."
Lyra paused.
"Umm... they burned down together with my house," she said.
The Moonlight Maiden just stared at her without a word.
A few seconds passed.
Then she smiled. "I understand. It happens."
She took a sip of her tea before continuing. "If I may ask, why did you come back here if not to return the manuals?"
Lyra set down her cup. "I killed the Crimson Demon who was after my disciple. We were then chased by a powerful individual, and thus we ran away. This was the furthest place we could think of."
"The Crimson Demon?" The Moonlight Maiden’s composure cracked. Her eyes widened in shock.
She actually killed the Crimson Demon?
The Evil God had ten demons under him, and the Crimson Demon was among the strongest. Although they were in the same realm, not even she thought she could defeat it.
She glanced at Lyra. But from what she had felt during their earlier sparring - where Lyra wasn’t even serious - she was indeed strong enough to beat the Crimson Demon.
No, wait. That wasn’t the issue here.
"This is bad," she said, beginning to panic.
"Is there a problem?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah. A big one," she said. "You see, there was an agreement between..."
Before she could even finish explaining, a booming voice spread across the entire world. It resonated through the heavens, echoing across every mountain, every sect, every village.
"HUMANS. YOU HAVE GONE BACK ON YOUR WORD. THE AGREEMENT IS NULL AND VOID."
The voice paused, letting the weight of those words sink in.
"I HEREBY DECLARE THE START OF THE WAR BETWEEN HUMANS AND DEMONS."
...
The Moonlight Maiden’s face had gone pale.
"Is it really that bad?" Lyra asked, observing her panicked expression.
The Moonlight Maiden took a breath, composing herself. "You might not understand since you aren’t from this world."
She paused, studying Lyra carefully. "Do you know about the loops?"
Lyra nodded.
"Of course someone as strong as you would," the Moonlight Maiden said. She set down her teacup, her expression growing grave.
"Our world was invaded by an entity calling itself the Evil God. When they first arrived, all the top experts of our world confronted them. We fought until we all died."
She looked down at the table.
"But something strange happened. Every time we died, we would return to the past."
Maya and Cipher listened intently.
"We kept returning to the past and fighting for our world. Over and over again. But eventually, we realized that this power wasn’t free. It was eroding our souls. Slowly. With each loop, we lost a little more of ourselves."
Her hands tightened.
"Many experts died permanently. Their souls simply couldn’t take it anymore. But it wasn’t just on our end. Even among the demons, the number of high-level experts dwindled."
"It was then that both sides made an agreement. We would not fight immediately at the start of each loop. Instead, we would give each other three years to prepare and recover our souls. That way, we wouldn’t all die permanently from constantly battling on sight."
Lyra raised an eyebrow. "Why would the demons agree to that?"
"To be honest, I don’t know," the Moonlight Maiden admitted. "Perhaps they were also scared. Even after the humans were gone, they might still keep looking and die permanently. None of us truly understand how the looping works."
She stared into her tea, her reflection rippling on the surface.
"But looking at how quickly he declared war just now... Without even making any demands..."
Her voice lowered.
"Perhaps he has already discovered the secret to breaking out of the loop. And your killing the Crimson Demon just gave him a convenient excuse."
Lyra’s eyes widened. "A way to break the loop?"
"I’m just guessing," the Moonlight Maiden said. "But it would explain his confidence."
She rose to her feet, smoothing out her robes.
"That being said, I need to start preparing my sect to face the demons."