“It’s here,” Claud whispered, looking up at the two moons that hung in the sky. They were at the highest point of their journey, but the light that they were radiating was now muted an incredible shadow.

It was as if something had painted everything around him with shadow. The colours in the world had taken on a dark slant, and Claud could see the shadows trembling visibly, gaining a touch of life. At the same time, he tried to recall anything he knew about the great Dark, especially from the Second Tutorial.

“Yeah.” Lily stood up and headed to the window, prompting Claud to follow suit. Outside the inn, on the roads below, he could see the little toddlers forming up into squads, and then marching off towards the city square.

“D’aww, they’re just tripping over each other.” Lily shook her head. “Even when they’re trying to act like soldiers, I can’t help but think about little kids holding hands and going to another classroom.”

Claud tried not to smile. “We’re talking about the descent of a divinity, and the congregation of the great Dark’s people. Only you would describe them as little kids moving from classroom to classroom. I mean, you aren’t wrong, but still, it’s a bit weird to hear you put it that way.”

The dark night above seemed to ripple, and the image of the five skies above seemed to grow a little stronger. Claud could see their silhouette growing stronger and firmer for every passing second. The sky seemed to grow a little lower, a little closer, and he shivered.

“Will the sky fall one day?” Lily muttered. “It feels so much closer. And the five grand skies…they’re more and more visible now.”

“The Moons will follow soon, I think.” Claud looked at the city square. He could feel a build-up of power over there, a power that was both terrifying and overpowering. He could not even begin to muster up thoughts of resistance against that outburst of might, even as a tetra-folder.

Lily took a deep breath. “Let’s go up to the roof.”

“Are you sure?” Claud asked. He didn’t particularly want to leave the room, even though he knew that the safety he derived from the four walls was just an illusion. If the being appearing in the city square really wanted to blow up the inn, these flimsy walls would give way like wet paper.

“Oh, come on. I know you’re worried, but unless we flee, there’s nothing we can actually even consider doing here.” Lily pointed out of the window. “Let’s go out and get a better look. We’re here, in Lostfon City. Nothing’s going to happen to us…and you can use your concealment skill, right?”

“I’m using a skill against the descending great Dark.” Claud rubbed his nose. “Not too sure what to think of that.”

“Do you really think the great Dark is going to descend here?” Lily asked. “There’s a build-up of power, but the stronghold of the great Dark is in Voidum, not Nihila. The great Dark will descend there first. I’m sure the emanation of power we’re feeling here is a bunch of Dark Heralds.”

Claud pondered over her words. He had a feeling that he was missing something, but Lily made absolute sense in her rebuttal right now. Still, the great Dark probably wouldn’t attack people for random reasons, especially when they were still on a hearts and minds campaign.

Right?

“Still, can’t we just use the Second Shadow?” Claud asked. “We have a whole bunch of them. It’s safer that way.”

“But we can’t talk if we’re using them…and besides, the Second Shadow materialises in a shadow. Did you forget why we stopped using them after a while?” Lily asked.

“Oh, right. We were treated as uh…weird shadows that couldn’t speak.” Claud folded his arms. “Fine, let’s take a walk around town directly.”

The Second Shadow probably had lots of uses, but the ones he could think of right now, given the current circumstances, probably wasn’t very useful. It was a shame, but other than using them as long-range communication devices, he really couldn’t think of any other good uses right now.

Holding Lily’s hand, Claud pulled out a Presence Nullification skillstrip and tore it apart. With a cloak of energy shrouding their presence, the two of them left the room, making their way downstairs.

The inn itself was more crowded than Claud had ever seen it before, and yet, it was uncharacteristically silent. He recognised most of these people by sight; most of them were travellers who had been trapped in the city or were forced to stop due to the ongoing war taking place in Vacuos County. While Vacuos had a neutral territory where conflict was banned, this was ultimately something forced through by Duchess Lacuna.

Would an order from a human hold in the face of divinities? Only a fool would think so.

The travellers here had gathered in the inn, demonstrating the natural human tendency to band together in the face of danger and uncertainty. It was one of the best life-saving instincts that living beings had, and Claud felt a bit stupid at the fact that the two of them were about to ignore their gut and check out the city square, where something big was clearly brewing.

He took in the sight of worried people slowly, and then exhaled once. The safe thing to do would be to huddle down here, but Lily wasn’t wrong. Given what the two of them knew about the dire future that had been painted out, going out for some intelligence was the only correct option here. Even if they didn’t get anything, exposing themselves to the awesome might of the great Dark was a good first step.

After all, Claud needed to acclimatise himself to the impossible might of the great Dark, and the same went for Lily.

“Now that I think about it,” said Claud, “it’s something along the lines of do it once and good, and we’ll be fine.”

“Hmm?”

“I’m thinking that we should take this chance to get used to moving under such pressure. It’s almost certainly psychological, so if we get used to this, we’ll be able to put up some resistance if the gods, the Moons and the Dark attack us.”

“When, not if,” Lily corrected. “Like it or not, I’m sure we’re going to get involved one way or another. And…to be honest, do you not have any thoughts? So far, you’ve been dragged into this. You’ve been responding to all these events. Do you not want to truly do something for yourself? I know the two of us don’t really have much in the way of goals, but we’re just like drifting sand right now.”

“I just want to protect you and the others,” Claud replied.

“But you’re protecting passively,” Lily pointed out. “The best way to protect is to grow stronger. That’s why I’ve never slacked off. But you’ve been slacking off for some time. It’s as if you don’t dare to move on to the fifth, sixth and seventh mana circuit.”

“I don’t want to leave you behind,” Claud replied. “I can sense that you’re under pressure because of me. If I go on…”

“Do I look like a weakling to you? Besides, it’s not that I’m untalented. It’s just that you have too many factors in your favour. I bet the others are even worse off than me.” Lily grinned. “At most, just hug me whenever I’m drawing my mana circuits. That’ll do. And of course, don’t look at any other woman!”

“I’ll do that,” Claud replied, before pausing for a moment. He looked up at the night sky, where enormous waves of darkness were roiling from the north, from the Voidum Sovereignty. “Yeah…I suppose I can’t slack off. I’ll also need to actively shape the destiny I desire.”

Lily looked up into the sky a moment later. “The great Dark’s main body, maybe. Or whatever passes for its main body. It’s descending in Voidum…come on, Claud. We need to continue to the city square. We need to see if there’s anything we can learn, as well as get used to the overwhelming pressure.”

She raised her left hand, which was also trembling, and then grimaced. “I’m a coward, aren’t I?”

“That makes the two of us.” Claud grasped her trembling hand and placed it on his chest. “My heart feels like it’s about to burst.”

“I suppose I’m the braver one then,” Lily replied with a grin. “Feel it for yourself!”

The two of them compared heartbeats as they walked towards the city square, joining the little squads of shadows that were heading there too. Most of the squads filled with little Shadow babies were trying their darndest to move like a military squad, which would have broken Claud’s heart if not for how…adorable they were at failing.

“Were they always this…uh, uncoordinated?” Claud asked. “I remember seeing them as a lot more orderly. They look like new soldiers or something.”

“Hmm…” Lily tilted her head. “I think so too, but how did they devolve this quickly? Did their time here awaken them to their childhood instincts? Why would that be the case?”

A bunch of memories, mostly involving other people feeding these little fellows treats and sweet food, flooded Claud’s brain, and his mouth twisted into a grin. “It’s due to everyone spoiling them, I think. I’m still not sure why they dispatched toddlers to roam the city, but we managed to spoil them so badly that they’re not really interested in military discipline anymore.”

“Good. Children should enjoy their childhood,” Lily replied. “Wanna have some fun?”

“Fun?”

Pulling Claud to one of the little squads heading to the city square, Lily placed three sweets on the ground, in an area the squad would pass through. Immediately afterwards, a toddler veered off course and picked up the sweets, before unwrapping them and popping the little shiny things into its mouth.

“Pfft.”

The little fellow, however, seemed to have forgotten about heading to the city square after eating the sweet, instead choosing to sit down on a nearby bench.

“Uh, I think you just broke something,” Claud noted. “Don’t touch him! We’ll be forced out of Presence Nullification if you do!”

“What do we do, then?” Lily asked. “Do we just leave the little guy here?”

“They’re capable of dazing for hours on end. I’m sure he’ll be perfectly fine,” Claud replied. “Uh, we’ll just check on him after we return.”

“I suppose that’s the only way…come on, let’s go.” Lily took one more look at the absent-minded little Shadowed One, and then pulled him in the direction of the city square.

There were more important fish to fry, after all.