Chapter 269: Air Righting

"Edmond." Lucen’s voice rang in Ed’s ear, secretly. "Tell the kid to use whatever items you and Samuel gave him for emergencies."

"I tried to talk to him, but he didn’t listen."

Ed blinked, recalling everything he’d given Moon. "We didn’t give him anything like that." His voice rang back in Lucen’s ears.

"What?" Lucen didn’t believe him. "You must have given him something, Edmond; this isn’t the time to mess around."

"We really didn’t. I left something that has yet to be found, but even if he did, it isn’t an overpowered cheat item that would bring him victory," Ed once again retorted.

"How could you do this?" Lucen sounded infuriated, though his face was calm as he watched the screen.

"Well, I had something to give him, but it found another owner," Ed said innocently. "I had no choice at the time."

It was true; Ed had something to give Moon, but it ended up with someone else. He was afraid Moon would either go crazy with it and abuse it, or get too proud and never use it at the cost of his life.

Ed didn’t know how to deal with Moon, so he gave him what he thought was necessary or possibly needed.

"What about your arts, Samuel’s... anything?" Lucen didn’t give up.

"Are you really unaware?" Ed asked skeptically. "That precious Symbiotic Spark is a scam; he only got 4 Echo value, external never flowing."

Listening to this, Lucen took a few steps back and slowly sat down. He didn’t say a word for a short while.

"I was only joking..." he said in a tired tone, pointing at his mockery of Moon’s Echo being crippled.

"Lucen, he still has that Universal Armor, but I don’t think he’ll use it now," Ed followed.

Lucen’s eyes lit up again. "Why not?"

"Didn’t you see that believer drop his sword?" Ed asked. "I’m glad he didn’t do the same, trying to turn this into a fistfight."

Lucen rubbed his temples; his mind raced, trying to find a way out of this situation.

"Just leave him be; don’t interrupt him now and let him figure something out," Ed advised. "If a quest was issued, don’t interrupt him with the sudden screen either."

"The administrator already issued the quest," Lucen confirmed Ed’s assumption. "I’ll keep it for now, only showing it for rewards; if he survives, that is."

"Make sure you give him something good," Ed reminded. "Worth the hassle of—"

"AH FUCK!" That one came out loud. Ed stood and came closer to the screen.

Moon was cornered, with the only way out being the worst possible decision to make.

On the castle walls, Gustav was scanning the battlefield with the long scope placed there. He was also concerned about the well-being of the king of the faction and key to their winning or losing alike.

Last time Gustav checked, Moon was speaking with Enzo; no fighting had taken place, only after a few minutes.

"LADY TALIA," he said in panic, running with the scope detached to where Talia was, "SIR MOON IS IN DANGER!"

For a long second, Talia’s mind couldn’t comprehend what she was exactly hearing.

She snatched the scope and took a look; for a few heartbeats, she didn’t understand what her eyes were seeing.

Right now, Moon wasn’t even touching the ground, but—

He was rolling midair, without descending.

To those watching from such a distance, they couldn’t see the wind current, nor the sand. To them, it looked like Moon was a toy twisting in the air with a few broken strings.

And for the first time since the beginning of the war, since her ascension, and possibly her entire life.

Talia stood unable to make a decision.

Should she leave the battlefield command and go to help him? But would she even make it in time?

If she did, would she be able to help in a situation she couldn’t understand, or...

Maybe that was what Enzo was aiming for.

She lowered the scope, and once she did, she noticed something else.

A figure clad in black was moving on the midsection of the mountain pass’s upper rocky side, running to where Moon was.

She recognized her right away.

Alma.

Talia’s mind raced, unable to decide...

What should she do now, and what would result in more harm than good?

—A moment ago.

The wind ribbon was full of rough sand and pebbles, flowing fast enough to mince people if touched without any form of defence.

Moon’s adaptive action turned it into an outright weapon.

The wind widened, before shrinking around Moon’s body.

Aligning with the upper part around Moon’s head and torso, flowing back to the soldier’s legs, and the lower part around Moon’s lower body, flowing up to the soldier’s upper body.

Covering both of them at the same time in the same exact way, but for completely different purposes.

The soldier brought forth his open hand and closed it into a fist.

It did what it was meant to do exactly... Tighten and kill.

At that moment, Moon didn’t need an explanation or to observe; he had no choice but to make the worst possible decision.

For it was the only way he could live and see the next attack.

Moon reluctantly stepped on his Echo, sending himself upward before the grinder closed on him.

Upward, where there was no way for him to run.

The soldier changed his hand gesture upward, and the wind changed shape, going after Moon.

He once again tried to yank his wrist and bring back Liquid Mountain, but it only flew along the wind current.

With no other choice, Moon unsheathed the knife on his chest.

With a little Spark Echo on his weapons and legs, Moon began to navigate his way down that didn’t seem to come close no matter what he did.

Moon stabbed his weapons at the current to redirect himself while bearing the recoil in his joints; his face under the helmet looked contorted, completely crumpled.

The soldier didn’t spare any effort changing the flow and the angle of the wind current to throw Moon off balance.

Yet, for some reason.

Moon would always correct himself every time, not losing his sense of gravity.

The current expanded to cover his entire body from the right completely before starting to tighten around him once again.

Moon brought out his Echo again, and instead of stepping on it, this time, he smashed it into his own chest.

"Omph!" Sending him out of the encirclement again.

In the Control Centre, Lucen watched intently before his voice rang in Ed’s ears once again.

"You didn’t tell me he had made a contract with Mishu," he said sternly.

"He did?" Ed asked back, surprised.

"You don’t know?" Lucen’s voice questioned.

"Never made a contract my entire life; how would I know?" Ed said before asking back the same question, "You never had a contract either; how do you know?"

Contracts with any non-human form in the Tower weren’t common; some would seek them their entire lives while others would be chosen for many in a short span of time.

For that reason, some factions and clans were built around their potential of establishing contracts, while others would hunt Astral Beasts and contract them instead.

Though the nature of the contract differed.

Lucen’s gaze was glued on Moon, correcting himself one time after another.

"Seeing in the dark was one thing; I thought it was something you guys did. But this isn’t something you can do; you can’t give him a new sense that doesn’t exist, Edmond."

Lucen paused for a second. "This is without a doubt Feline Air-Righting."