“Can you see it?” Nero whispered. “That red light that carries divinity.”

“I’m not sure if we should even call it divinity, if the user was going to use a whole bunch of people to fuel whatever he wants to call down,” Dia replied. “What’s going on anyway? What is that person trying to with so much lifeforce?”

“Did you not see it before?” Nero asked. “The Moon Emissary, the Dark Herald…”

“A representative of the Red God. Maybe one of the Red God’s familiar spirits,” Nero replied. “I’m not sure what to think about it, to be honest. Why now? This land is dominated by the Moons. A familiar spirit would simply be extinguished by the Moons, no matter what happens.”

“Maybe it’s the act of summoning itself,” Risti replied. “I mean, everyone would be able to feel it, right?”

“What, do you think this is a heist?” Nero laughed. “A timely distraction to make off with some grand treasure? Even if it’s true, I’ll be predisposed to assume that the Moons are the entity being burgled…but do they have anything that can be stolen in the first place?”

“Maybe their light, heh.”

“Alright, enough screwing around.” Nero readied some mana and peeked out of the tree once more. “We need to be ready. We’ve foiled the basis of his summoning, and when the cost of summoning without a sacrifice bites back, he’ll be vulnerable and close to death.”

Everyone else nodded, weapons and mana at the ready.

Minutes ticked by in silence as the red glow intensified. Dia could make out someone chanting, but the words were too indistinct for her to actually make sense of the whole thing. What she could hear, however, were words spoken in a perfect cadence, increasing in crescendo and intensity.

Thunder rumbled, and Dia found herself tensing up. Something intense was building up, a pressure so intense that she could feel it in her bones.

A mighty roar burst out a few seconds later, and the intense presence burst out, increasing by an entire order of magnitude in that very instant. Dia’s vision turned white, but before it could devolve any further, the imposing existence crumbled away.

The mighty roar weakened at the same time, and the red light died out.

“Now!” Nero shot out of the tree, mana blazing all around him. Dia and the others followed suit, but before they could close in on their weakened target, a shimmering grey light blocked their path. It was the same shade of shimmering grey as the dome above, and Nero’s attack simply bounced off the grey light. The grey wall extended rapidly, turning into a dome that sheltered their target.

“Moons.” Nero drew out a blazing sword and hacked it downwards, only for the blade to bounce off again. “What manner of trickery is this?”

“There’s a reason why it’s an Absolute skill,” Dia replied, before alarm bells rang in her head. Her sword flickered out a moment later, cutting down a bunch of masked fellows that had jumped out from the sides. Count Daybreak’s surprised squeals only came after she disposed of his would-be assassins, who had appeared at a timing so appropriate that only Dia herself had managed to react in time.

Nero glanced back a moment later, and then hardened his eyes at the corpses lying around Dia, which turned into fragments of mana a few seconds later. His eyes flickered towards Dia, but she was already on guard, and Nero turned back to the small dome.

A set of mad laughs, interspersed with painful coughs, came from the dome itself. “Looks like they weren't enough. Tch. Don’t worry, though. Don’t think you’ve won. While I’m here, you won’t be able to sleep easy. I’ll slaughter everyone here sooner or later.”

At those words, Nero smashed the dome again, with a club this time, and then took a few steps back. “This thing…is it unbreakable? Even with a full-force blow from all my mana circuits, it’s not even cracking. Where is the energy needed to offset this attack coming from?”

“Up there.” Risti pointed a finger. “I don’t know how this works, but the dome above is weakening. There’s probably some special modification that allows this Absolute skill to create a derivative and power it. Didn’t they say that the Absolute skill has multiple effects?”

“You sure know a lot, missy,” said the person inside the dome. “Save your efforts, though. I’m running…and I’ll be back.”

The sound of tearing paper filled the night sky, and the dome disintegrated. A torn piece of paper fluttered by, leaving behind an empty spot that was drenched in blood.

Nero walked over immediately and ground his feet against something on the ground, squishing whatever it was into pieces. Dia wasn’t sure what was up with that, but she wasn’t in too good of a condition to ask either.

That thought faded away as Risti pulled out wads of cotton and dabbed the bloodstained ground with it. “Well, he’s hurt, that’s for sure.”

“What are you two doing?” Count Daybreak, who had been watching the entire thing in silence, finally spoke up.

“I’m gathering blood samples that we might be able to use to track down the enemy. Nero’s taking care of a trap of sorts,” Risti replied. “Anyway, we’re going to track this guy down. The enemy has a very troublesome ability. For now, it seems that the Absolute skill the enemy has creates an impenetrable dome that provides a measure of defence for the user within the dome itself.”

Risti continued to gather more blood samples, while Nero squished every last bit of white slime into pieces, gathering them into a pile to burn. “And when that secondary defence is destroyed, the Absolute Entrapment weakens.”

“Does that mean that the Absolute Entrapment might have an infinite duration?” Dia wondered. “That its weakness is the user?”

“We don’t have enough information on it, sadly.” Nero looked around the place. “At least we’re safe, though. And whatever plans the asshole had for the evening has been put to a stop.”

“But that’s just it,” said Dia, looking around the place. She could keenly feel the touch of death lingering around the area, a clammy feeling that had a nature that was the complete opposite of the remaining divinity that the fellow had exuded not too long ago. “The enemy could return and do that again, over and over. And this time, we might not even be there.”

“What should I do?” Count Daybreak muttered. “The enemy isn’t lying. He could return at any moment. I…don’t know what to do.”

Dia looked at the distraught count. Perhaps, if Claud or Lily were here, they might have thought up of some very solid plans to protect everyone, and—

“Artefacts,” Dia whispered. “We can use artefacts to protect your people. Didn’t Nero do the same? This teleportation method can be fended off by a barrier. If we need to deal with mental afflictions that might lull people into a sense of security, regular activations of artefacts that can use Cleanse on a large scale. Step up on security, consolidate living areas, and keep regular checks on disappearances.”

Count Daybreak looked at Dia. “Are…you…a professional?”

Dia shuffled her feet. “Nope. The true professionals fell in love and ran off, leaving us behind to deal with the mess. I’m sure the two of them would probably have better ideas than those I gave.”

“It’s a pretty good start.” Nero bobbed his head. “Don’t look down on yourself. I think all this time you spent at the guardroom has been rather useful…”

“What would you know?” Dia eyed the Holy Son. “You’ve been slacking off the whole time.”

“Hey, I was busy observing things,” Nero replied.

“And nibbling on food,” Dia replied.

“While bugging Schwarz for ultra-pure water,” Risti added. “If you’re actually observing us, that’s really impressive, considering the amount of alcohol you pour into your system on a daily basis over and over.”

“Alright, enough of the insult sessions.” Nero shook his head, before looking at the sword in his hand and the club in his other. “Still, that thing really is hard. I can’t even put a dent in it. How unfair.”

He swung his sword a few times, a displeased expression on his face. “Why do people get such a strong skill like this?”

“Well,” said Risti, “these skills can’t be transcribed onto a skillstrip.”

“And they take up two skillslots,” Dia added. “Stop thinking about what you have and what you might not have. Anyway, we’re done here for now. You should return and send out search squads to look for any other anomalies like this, and then put an end to them.”

“Wait, are you talking to me?” Count Daybreak asked.

Dia blinked, and then glared at the count, who had apparently forgotten about his responsibilities and domain. “Obviously. Go and do your damn work, Count Daybreak. And don’t forget our payment and everything. You should beef up your security more. How did you not realise the need to beef up your defences and protection from the very start?”

“I didn’t think anyone was going to target Daybreak County,” the count replied. “You know, after the disaster that happened not too long ago, I didn’t think anyone would care about this place. I was going to wait it out, especially since the Moons were ruling this place now. But…”

“It’s not fool-proof, apparently,” Nero completed.

Dia shook her head. It was too foolish to assume that everything was alright; even Licencia had beefed up security by a few magnitudes after the great Dark descended. Licencia was now a pain in the ass to enter and leave without the right permits; Count Nightfall was scared that the Moons would try to go against their word and had taken countless preparations.

Risti clapped her hands. “Let’s return. You have enough time to prepare for his next visit.”

“…I suppose we should indeed rest.”