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Well, are you sure you weren’t sent to die here?

“Pardon..?” A small murmur emerged from Joseph's mouth. Somehow that was the most shocking thing for him today.

“What?” Luna continued to berate him. “Do you think your life is worth keeping around for another ten, twenty years?”

“But–I’m not like yo–”

“Not like me?” Said Luna in a cold rage. “Yes, that is correct. You are definitely not like me. You never have been.”

He began to smile nervously. Was this ghost forgiving him? Sparing him?

“Even at your best, the only thing you were better at was sucking up to those who stood above us–”

“–But.”

Her head looked around their surroundings, looking at each of the bodies that were dead or unconscious and dying.

“Is that really enough to keep you around?”

Luna took another step forward, intensifying her Moonlight.

“With today’s failures, the city is safe; what is the church supposed to do? Besides, letting go of a shiny pawn. I mean, what will they lose out on? They still have your sister.”

[Did Joseph do something to you?] (Syrus)

[No, but he is someone I knew, someone who was at least in a similar situation to me and has chosen to participate in the atrocities today.] (Luna)

[Why are you so sure he has chosen to do so?] Syrus asked. She wasn’t defending the grown man; if anything, she was enjoying the beatdown, but she was trying to pick at Luna’s past a bit. Because the conflict was inevitable, any information was valuable.

[I’m not completely sure, and probably wrong. In the past he never would’ve accepted a forced request without his sister, that was the one thing he was stubborn about, but it's been ten years…] (Luna)

Luna wasn’t sure. How could she? Ten years was a long time.

“You–!” For the first time, he spoke with rage.

His injured body tried to stand up, and Luna allowed it.

He flung his arm up and fired a beam of light at Luna, and it faded away as it collided with Luna’s Moonlight armour.

“That was your best shot?”

“ARGH!” Luna summoned more spears and stabbed them into all his limbs.

[What is exactly happening with the two of your attacks?] (Syrus)

[The biggest weakness of basic combative light magic for defensive and offensive purposes isactually other forms of light magic, including similar variants.] (Luna)

Luna explained the basic light spell would pass through another basic light spell without resistance. There were ways around this, by making the spells more complex and not just simple light constructs. This meant that Luna’s star bomb wouldn’t be able to pass through the shield because it had too much normal mana and Moonlight mana following in different directions inside it.

The moment Joseph created his barrier, Luna was met with shock and disappointment. From the training at the church, while they would not be expected to fight other light attribute users, they were made aware of the dangers, and there was also the fact that more advanced barriers were able to naturally counter the main weaknesses. But all Joseph managed to do was just a large version of the basic light barrier spell.

[I understand… So, he is just a lazy bastard?] (Syrus)

[Well..! Luna has mentioned before about being blocked from reading. Maybe he was the same?] (Eva)

Eva’s concerns were mostly because she couldn’t believe someone who reached the status of a saint could be so lazy they couldn’t learn slightly advanced spells. Her perspective was seriously blinded by Luna, the only person she knew who had held that title, and she was a very smart and wise person in her eyes.

[Thanks…] Luna ended up feeling a bomb of praise accidentally sent from Eva. [But, in his case, it was disinterest or laziness. I guess it depends on your perspective.]

Luna taunted Joseph again. “Maybe if it was your sister that attack could’ve done something–”

[...Luna, I don’t have much more time.] (Eva)

[Thank you, Lilly, for everything. I will finish this up quickly.] (Luna)

“–But you were never her.”

“Ergh!” He cried in pain.

“Well, don’t worry.” Luna crouched down to his eye level. “I won’t be killing you.”

“Then… what else are you going to do?”

“Nothing.” Luna stood up and clapped her hands without making a sound.

She turned around and slowly walked away.

“WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO!”

“As I said… nothing.” With a flash of Moonlight, Eliana vanished.

Joseph lay there for a moment, surrounded by corpses. It took him a while to get up and heal himself.

Far away a little later after their vanishing act.

Eva’s transformation ended.

Black hair that faded into white, but with front crimson bangs. Her hair was currently long, so they had to cut it after growing it. Her light reddish-brown eyes refocused as they slowly recovered.

Eva did push herself to keep up the complete transformation for as long as she did.

Luna realised Eva’s plea was one made at the end of her ropes, so she chose to end it quickly.

[...Are you sure it was the right decision to let him go?] (Syrus)

[No.] (Luna)

She was conflicted about the decision from the start; each option had its positives and negatives.

Luna's reasoning for letting Joseph go was a simple one; it was the threat she even brought up: what would happen if Joseph died here? If he went missing and died around the city? Whether it be blaming Arisea Station or announcing that demons had invaded and killed him there, they would use whatever pretence they had to corner the city. They could do this without his death, but from what Luna knew of the upper echelons of the church, they liked to have indisputable evidence of their claim, so nothing besides the best would do.

[...How about… letting them know you are alive?] (Eva)

[Or a ghost, pretty sure Joseph believed you to be a ghost.] (Syrus)

[I am fine with that.] (Luna)

That was one choice Luna was happy with.

[If they even choose to believe Joseph. Then they will simply believe I’ve come back from the dead alive or as a ghost, or a demon was manipulating Joseph’s mind. All fine options. The important fact is that our true appearance, or a similar one, wasn’t used.] (Luna)