CHAPTER 656: [BLOOD MOON WAR] [1] WHERE OR WHEN?

"Ugh... Ephera... Stay—No!!"

My voice turned hoarse as I jerked upright, hand flailing into the empty air. My fingers reached out instinctively—grasping at a presence that was no longer there, and maybe never was.

My chest heaved as I sucked in gulps of air, my skin drenched in sweat and clinging uncomfortably to my clothes. The heat radiating off my body was unnatural, like I’d just run a marathon straight out of hell.

"What... what the hell was that..." I whispered to no one, blinking rapidly as the remnants of a dream I couldn’t quite grasp faded into the back of my mind.

A dream? No—it was more than that.

It had felt real. Too real.

A memory, maybe?

But it wasn’t one I recognized. Or maybe... maybe I’d just forgotten it.

I looked down at my hand, still trembling faintly in front of me. I could almost feel her fingers wrapped in mine—slender, warm, comforting.

"Ephera..."

I bit my lower lip hard until the pain grounded me again. Slowly, I closed my hand into a tight fist, then let it fall to my lap with a sigh.

That’s when I saw it.

The moon.

Hanging in the sky like a wound torn open in the bright sky. It wasn’t silver or pale blue like usual—it was red. Not just tinged with crimson around the edges like it gets during an eclipse.

No, this moon was blood.

"What...?"

I stared up, my grogginess quickly being replaced by dread. I had seen it red before... but not like this. Not like it had been dipped in fresh gore.

"Wait!" I sat up fast, heart lurching as my memory caught up. "Cain..."

That bastard.

The last thing I remembered was that blinding silver light that shot toward us. Me and Alicia. It swallowed everything.

"Alicia?!" I shouted, panic seizing me. I twisted my head left, then right—looking for any sign of her.

We had been standing together. I was practically glued to her side—arms wrapped around her.

So where the hell was she now?

I scrambled to my feet. The terrain was arid—parched and lifeless. A desert, but not the kind with rolling golden dunes. This place was grim—flat, grayish-brown earth, baked dry and split open like dead skin. Off in the distance, a forest loomed. Sparse, dark, and uninviting, but it was the only sign of anything living.

I started moving toward it, half-stumbling, dragging my sore body through the dust. "Alicia!" I called again, louder this time.

Something felt off.

Cain had said he wanted Alicia for something. I hadn’t been able to figure out what, but the way he’d said it...

If he wanted her alive, then maybe he didn’t kill her. But he also said he wanted me dead—he could’ve finished me off while I was out cold.

Which meant either he was interrupted... or maybe... he didn’t end up in the same place.

But what about Alicia?

We were practically clinging to each other when the light hit. We should’ve been sent to the same place, right?

"Wait..." I froze mid-step and sniffed the air.

A strange instinct flared in me.

Blood.

Not just any blood.

Alicia’s blood.

After tasting her blood once, it felt like it had registered in my senses.

"Alicia..." I whispered, then broke into a sprint.

Exhaustion be damned—I forced my legs to move. My limbs screamed in protest, lungs burning, but I didn’t stop.

Please be okay.

I can’t take another death. Not again.

When I got close to the forest, I stomped hard against the ground, using the last of my strength to propel myself forward in a burst of speed. I vanished from where I stood and reappeared near a pond that shimmered under the cursed red moon.

That’s when I saw her.

"Alicia...?"

She was there—half-submerged in the pond, her back to me, golden-blond hair soaked and loose down her back. The usual tight ponytail was gone, replaced by a waterfall of gold glinting slightly because of the sun.

She turned toward me, eyes wide in shock. Water dripped down her bare shoulders. One hand clutched something like a sponge mid-motion, halted halfway through washing herself.

The curves of her figure was now visible because of her motion, her growing breasts slightly hidden as well.

For a second, neither of us moved.

Alicia’s mouth opened as if to say something, then closed again. Then—realizing the situation—she gasped and crouched deeper into the water with a sharp splash, barely keeping her head above the surface.

"G–Go away!!"

I blinked, stunned. My brain short-circuited, not quite sure how to process what I was seeing.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, my voice as confused as I felt.

Alicia’s cheeks flushed a deep red as she glared at me with narrowed eyes. "Cleaning myself you stupid Senior!! Now leave!"

"Cleaning yourself? In a pond? Peacefully?" I asked, utterly dumbfounded. I stared at her like she’d grown another head. "Do you seriously think we’re on some kind of field trip or something?"

I gestured around us—the barren desert, the blood-red moon, the complete lack of, well... everything that resembled civilization.

This girl. Did she really understand what just happened?

"And you just left me there? Alone? Lying unconscious in the dirt like some corpse, rotting away under that damn sky?" I added, voice rising as the sting of betrayal slipped through.

"I—I tried to wake you!" Alicia fired back, but I could see her biting back guilt cutely. "You wouldn’t wake up no matter what I did! A–And I felt too sweaty! Now just—turn around...Senior."

She quickly spun herself around, submerging up to her neck again with a splash of indignation.

I let out a slow breath, trying not to laugh at how furious—and embarrassed—she was. My gaze dropped down to myself, and I realized I was still in the tattered hospital robe they’d thrown on me earlier. It was damp with sweat, torn in places, and barely hanging on. My feet were bare, scratched from the rough ground.

Honestly, I looked like a mess.

Might as well clean myself up too.

Without a word, I began to peel the robe off.

"W–What are you doing?!" Alicia shouted, her voice shrill as she heard the rustling of fabric behind her.

"Joining you," I said simply, stepping into the pond. The cool water embraced me instantly, soothing my aching muscles and the heat burning under my skin. "Relax. I’m not looking at you."

I turned my back to her, letting the silence settle as we both adjusted to the... awkwardness.

Eventually, Alicia calmed down, though I could feel her still glaring at the back of my head. She kept her distance, but at least she wasn’t screaming anymore.

"Where do you think we are?" I asked after a while, eyes lifting toward the strange sky.

It looked like midday—bright and clear overhead—but the moon still hung there, glowing crimson like some malevolent sun. It was both beautiful and terrifying.

Alicia hesitated before answering. "Cain... he said he would meet you again. Five hundred years ago... in the past."

I fell silent.

The only sounds were her quiet breaths, the soft movement of her sponge brushing against her skin, and the occasional trickle of water running down her body. Every little sound echoed unnaturally and weirdly.

"This is so lewd..." I muttered under my breath before I could stop myself.

"...!"

Alicia froze.

Then—with a splash—her sponge soared through the air and smacked me in the back of the head.

"Ouch."

She stomped through the water toward the edge, cheeks burning so brightly they could’ve challenged the moon. With a flick of her fingers, she summoned a towel and wrapped it tightly around herself like armor.

She shot me one final, furious glare before storming off through the trees without another word.

I watched her go, a small, amused smile tugging at my lips.

But as soon as she vanished into the woods... that smile faded.

The forest was quiet again.

Too quiet.

No breeze, no birds, not even the rustle of leaves. Just stillness.

Usually by now, I would’ve heard a voice—sarcastic, teasing, always present.

Cleenah.

"Cleenah," I called out softly. "You there?"

Nothing answered.

No snide comment.

No presence.

Nothing.

Just the distant echo of my own voice being swallowed by the void between the trees.

I clenched my fist and drove it into the water.

-SPLASH!

The ripples shot out like shockwaves.

I gritted my teeth, pain flashing across my face as everything in me twisted—grief, anger, helplessness. It was too much. Too many losses. Too much being taken away.

Anger burned behind my eyes.

Anger at Cain.

Anger at this broken world.

Anger at myself—for not being able to protect anything that mattered.

I stayed there for a while—half-submerged in the cool, still water—letting my anger ebb away.

It wasn’t immediate. It never was.

But after a few minutes of just existing—of listening to the water ripple gently around me and the windless silence pressing in from the forest—I finally felt like I had a grip on my emotions again.

With a slow sigh, I stood up and stepped out of the pond, the water cascading down my body in rivulets.

Thankfully, when I checked, my spatial ring was still on my finger. It pulsed faintly with mana as I activated it and reached inside, searching through my stored items.

A moment later, I pulled out a piece of clothing I hadn’t worn at all.

A black hoodie.

It looked completely out of place here—something from another world, another life. Hoodies weren’t exactly the height of fashion in Sancta Vedelia. In fact, I couldn’t remember seeing a single person wearing one in this world. This was a cloth from Earth.

Still, I smiled softly as I looked at it.

It reminded me of her.

Ephera had given me a hoodie just like this once—a simple gift, nothing fancy, but something she had picked out for me with care. She’d said it suited me. That it made me look ’cooler’ than usual.

Well, her definition of cool was quite unique.

I slipped it on slowly.

Then I pulled on a pair of dark pants and laced up my black boots, making sure everything fit snugly. When I was done, I reached up and gathered my white hair—still damp—tying it back loosely to keep it out of my face.

Looking down at myself, I realized... if it weren’t for my hair, I could’ve passed for any normal guy from Earth. A face in the crowd. Unremarkable. Someone you’d walk past without a second glance.

It was strange how something as simple as a hoodie could make me feel more like myself than anything else in this world ever had.

I closed my eyes for a moment, breathing in deep—trying to anchor myself. I couldn’t sort it all out—not yet—but at least I could try to move forward.

I opened back my eyes.

Time to find Alicia.