Maiden Of The Splitting Moon

Ming Yue looked up at the skies and watched the Idol of Chaos as it floated idly in the sky. It wasn\'t on the side of the village but where the battlefield was on the other side. It just stared down with black and white eyes. 

In its monstrous form, the dark gold skin, the four arms, the four wings, and its rat-like face, it just looked down. 

There was none of that rage or savagery in its face, nothing compared to when they fought. And even though it did nothing, it was an ominous sight. 

The darkened clouds behind it flashed with lightning, a contrast to the liveliness of the sunny skies in the village. 

"What is it doing here?" 

The young woman muttered as she walked out of the village and towards the battlefield, standing just on the edge of the border. As Ming Yue looked at it, her eyes moved from the Idol to the clouds. 

The flashing grew stronger before lightning struck down, cracking the ground and charring it black. More and more lightning came, booming like powerful drums. It caused her heart to pump and her blood to rush. 

Suddenly, she felt something in her hand and looked down, seeing Blood Moon gripped tightly. 

"What is it trying to make me do? Fight it?" she thought. 

When she looked up, her eyes widened in shock as the Idol of Chaos charged down, brandishing a weapon in each arm. 

"Wha-"

Without any time to think, she unsheathed her sword, holding it up just as the Idol came down. 

Their blades met, producing a loud clang and a shockwave. 

Ming Yue took a step back but stood her ground as she pushed forward, gritting her teeth. 

"Like I will let you enter this place!" 

She shouted out, shoving the Idol of Chaos back before charging forward. As it retreated into the battlefield, Ming Yue followed it closely, bombarding it with Storm Lances and Wind Needles. 

But this enemy wasn\'t so easily beaten. 

Beating its four wings, the Idol of Chaos shot backward, widening the gap between them before rising up and vanishing into the skies. The next moment, the clouds flashed and thundered before lightning coursed down like pillars, decimating the lifeless ground beneath them. 

It was a scene she knew all too well. 

But there was feeling within her, an ominous feeling as if she knew what was going to happen. And yet, she did not dare think of it. Unfortunately, there was no point in thinking it, not when it happened right in front of her eyes. 

Above her, there was a particular light obscured by the clouds but Ming Yue knew. 

It was gathering power, enough power to utterly obliterate the shadow of her village. 

"No..."

She retreated immediately, flying back to protect her village, fragments of those she cared for, who she used to be. And the moment she turned, that growing light flashed before a pillar of lightning came down, several times thicker and denser than the previous ones. 

"Hurry! I have to make it!\'

Ming Yue flew back at her top speed, trying to best that of lightning itself. She had to be quicker, she had to make it back. 

But her heart dropped as she watched the lightning come.

"I\'m not going to make it."

As quick as she was, she wasn\'t fast enough. However, her eyes were still full of determination!

Brandishing her sword, she gathered her energy, condensing it into the blade. 

"Even if I\'m not faster than that, I just need to be quick enough!" she thought. 

"Waning Moon."

Ming Yue swung out, releasing a giant, iridescent crescent slash that flew off. Her eyes were on it as she clenched her jaws, focusing on controlling the attack. 

It was fast, much faster than her or the lightning. In a fraction of a second, it flew just above the village to which Ming Yue put her hand out and pointed up. 

"Turn!" she cried out. 

And this flying crescent followed dutifully, turning upwards at the pillar of lightning and cutting through. It continued to soar up, splitting the pillar in half! 

But the higher it flew, the weaker it became and the harder it was for Ming Yue to keep it going. Slowly but surely it grew smaller and small before that unending pillar of lightning enveloped it in its power. 

And with nothing in its way, the pillar of lightning came down upon her village, destroying it without any hesitation. 

Ming Yue watched as her home vanished from her sight. She stood in the air, looking at this blinding pillar until it finally ended. And her home was all but gone, turned into nothing but dust. She descended, landing on the ground before walking towards the desolate place. 

And the Idol of Chaos never returned. 

Quietly, the young woman walked and knelt in front of her village, dragging her fingers through the ashes. A gentle wind came behind her, blowing it all away as the once vibrant and lush forest transformed into that of a dead and abandoned land.

It was the same as the battlefield, empty and lifeless. 

Ming Yue just watched it unfold quietly, her heart was still. There were no tears, her body did not quake, and her fingers didn\'t tremble. She was neither sad nor angry at this. Rather, she felt nothing. 

"What does this mean? What happened to me?" she thought to herself. 

She too had realized this. Two great events in her life, the destruction of her home and the battle with an almighty being happen before her, and yet at its conclusion, she had no reaction to it. Not even a feeling of defeat for being unable to save her village.

She felt empty inside and that was something she knew wasn\'t right. But ming Yue couldn\'t wrap her head around it. 

"What is the point of this? What does it mean? What is this trial supposed to do? How am I to pass it?" 

All she had were questions and soon enough, there was frustration in her eyes. 

"I shouldn\'t feel empty but I do. How do I fix this? What do I even do?" 

She just sat there silently, a feeling of helplessness overcame her. And then this cold landscape began to vanish before her, turning into motes of light before enveloping her just like that white light from before. 

Her eyes fluttered open as she was greeted by the gentle rays of the rising sun. A bit of warmth came about her as she looked off into the distance for a few moments. 

Ming Yue then looked away, instead, looking at her surroundings to which her eyes widened in alarm. 

"Ah, this time was really bad, wasn\'t it?" she muttered to herself. 

Where she was positioned, Ming Yue was far from the house so that she wouldn\'t disturb Hongyu. She was also far from the trees so that if she were to strike out, they wouldn\'t be destroyed as well. At its worst, she had cut the grass or a few leaves, mostly just shaking and writhing. 

But this time, it was different, it was worse. 

The grass around her was gone, cut to bits. But that wasn\'t all, Ming Yue looked in one particular direction where a section of the trees had fallen, cut in half by a single attack. 

"Must\'ve been when I used Waning Moon", she thought. 

But this result was alarming for her. The further and further she goes into this trial, those dreams. The worse her behavior will become until even the house would be in danger and she didn\'t want that to happen. 

"I have to find a way to fix this... but how?" 

As she stood up and dusted her clothes, she felt something and immediately looked in a different direction. But that feeling suddenly disappeared. 

"Was I just imagining things?"