As she moved from point to point, the skies above her changed, and Dia began to ponder on what she was about to do. It was insane, strictly speaking, but the threat of Absolute Terror was too much for her to not take this chance. The enemy was definitely weaker than most of the combatants here, and with the Moons checking the Dark, this was a unique moment of vulnerability right here.

“Therefore,” Dia muttered, “I’ll need to take this chance.”

Did the Blue Moon figure out that she wouldn’t be that affected by Absolute Terror? How? Was this the role she had been given after their first meeting? How far had the Blue Moon planned? She had been badly affected by Black God’s Gaze, but this time…

Shaking her head, she forced down the many, many questions in her head. That blue light that had burst out of her earlier had come from the small coin the Blue Moon had given her back then. It seemed like a token of goodwill, and…well, it really was a token of goodwill. For some reason, it had helped her overcome the effects of feeling Absolute Terror’s presence, but her heart knew that if she looked directly at the target, even this token wouldn’t save her.

The result of all this, however, was that she was the only person who could take down the Bearer of Destiny now.

If she failed…

Not only did she need to think about the threat of Absolute Terror, but also the anger of the Blue Moon, whose plans currently rested solely on her. To date, the Seekers of Life had been living quite well; in fact, their time here had been quite relaxed. More than once, everyone had questioned this bit, but now, Dia was well aware that all their good treatment was contingent upon her performance here.

It could be said that the death of Absolute Terror was tied to their future prospects. If she killed him, the Moons may even release them from service and guarantee them peace from this war.

With mana and those thoughts supporting her, she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading west like her prey. After a while, she leapt off the last building, just in time to see a hooded person stride out of the breached western camps without any fear or caution.

A part of Dia told her that announcing her presence would be better, but she was someone who had learned that there was a time and place for everything. This was the Dark’s Bearer of Destiny; even without Absolute Terror, this person definitely had a bunch of trump cards. Her goal first was to get into close range and at least cripple, if not kill, this person outright.

Anything else could wait.

Keeping her footsteps light, she hurtled after her quarry soundlessly. Like a rabbit with a full meal, her target’s movements were flighty and careless, but…

She could feel heavy gazes from the heavens falling on her. The Dark and the Moons were looking at her, as the latter prevented the Dark from extending its divine protection to the careless quarry. She could briefly feel the Dark’s will reaching out to her, before the Moons cut the unspoken message off, and in that instant, the plot began to fall into place.

The Moons had been very deliberate in their movements. While they had suffered massive losses in the destruction of that expedition, they had managed to learn about a Dark-aligned Bearer of Destiny, as well as the Bearer’s Absolute skill. Maybe they even knew about it before the expedition, and used millions of people as bait. Nonetheless, the destruction of their main forces had been used to draw an equally large force into the base camp.

From there, tactics and strategy took precedence. The Moons, driven back by the opponent, was seemingly forced to pull out more reserve troops to create a temporary balance. However, ground preparations by the Moons meant that the reinforcements were in a good position to inflict losses and then to push back, so the Dark’s Bearer of Destiny came out to force mutual annihilation.

Therefore, in this campaign, the Dark had traded one army for two such armies, thereby maintaining their advantage. In addition, the Bearer of Destiny had managed to make it to the Moons’ base camp to do something.

Dia felt her head pound. This whole thing felt like a Moon Phase match or something.

More importantly, it also meant that if she didn’t kill the Bearer of Destiny now, the imbalance would be maintained. Some part of her mind told her that killing the Bearer of Destiny would balance out the scales quite splendidly, and the Dark’s ability to wage destructive wars like this would peter out.

With that conclusion in her head, Dia approached the hooded figure, who was returning without any care in the world. She could, to be honest, understand why that person was behaving that way. All threats had been neutralised. The Dark was holding back the Moons from killing on the spot.

And…from the annoying gait in which Absolute Terror walked, that person had definitely gotten something good too.

Keeping her breathing still, she closed in on her target’s back and raised her blade. Before she could bring it down, however, the world turned dark for a moment, and her quarry stiffened in fear. Shadow, a pale, ephemeral shadow, guided Absolute Terror’s movements for a moment, pulling out a blade in a swift movement to intercept Dia’s own attack.

Thunderclaps followed, and the darkness that had clouded the world vanished in that instant. The small shadow that had enabled Dia’s target to block that sneak attack evaporated at the same time, but even then, Dia had begun the battle with a massive advantage.

Her opponent staggered backwards, creating a huge opening that Dia couldn’t miss. Whirling on her left heel, Dia slashed upwards and to the right. Her target rippled backwards — Dia had felt the use of a skill — but that lifesaving skill was just enough to rip away her target’s outer clothes, destroying the hood and robe that had obscured that person’s identity.

A moment of shock followed later, as a young man fell on his back. He couldn’t have been any younger than Nero, and for a moment, Dia couldn’t help but wonder what the world was coming too.

Why would destiny itself fall on a young man who barely had his own views of the world? Nonetheless, Dia knew that her target was dangerous — she could see three mana circuits light up on his skin — and she kicked off the ground, creating tremors in her wake.

His blade shot up a moment later, but the movement was so amateurish that Dia simply sent it flying with a flick of her sword. A second slash followed, but that movement had diverted her own posture enough that she only managed to take off his sword arm.

“Don’t kill me!” the young man screamed. Fear clouded his eyes, the same fear that Dia had seen in the others. It was heartrending, but…

She didn’t have a choice in this matter either.

Dia ignored his plea, thinking about the people who had fallen prey to that atrocious, horrifying skill. The fact that a young man could and would use such a skill, one more targeted at killing than even her own skills without any restraint or caution, was enough to propel her into action.

Even if she wanted to show mercy, she couldn’t too. The Moons were banking on this insane gambit to balance the scales. If she failed here, the Dark would send in another army.

Silver tore through the air as she brought her sword down, but another shadow blocked her blade. The casual swipe from that shadow blasted her back, and dirt flew as she dug deep into the soil.

Her eyes looked at the newcomer, a woman shrouded in shadow.

“…Sorry. But he cannot die here.”

Dia looked at the shadow, and then at the young man. “He killed your own people.”

“It is war. There is no choice.” The shadow replied. Behind the shadow, Dia could see the fear and malice on the young man’s face, one that promised to kill all she cared about the next time his Absolute skill was up. She could taste a practiced malice, something that shouldn’t have appeared on a person so young.

Did she misread his age? Or was this malice something that came with Absolute Terror? How did the knowledge that he had the ability to kill indiscriminately shape his mind?

Dia didn’t know the answer to that, but she did know what she had to do, if everyone had to be protected. Her grip on her sword’s pommel tightened, but her next words were calm. “Yes, it is. Therefore, he must die here. For me, and for everyone else.”

She looked at the shadow calmly, and then whispered a skill. “Perfect Domain of Swords, activate.”

Mana whirled out her a moment later, forming a translucent sphere at her chest. It expanded rapidly, engulfing her, Absolute Terror and his saviour all in a single instant. A green hill, with blue skies as its backdrop, filled her vision, and Dia looked at her stupefied opponents.

She couldn’t blame them, either.

Her evolved skill, Perfect Domain of Swords, had never been used save for the first time she learned it. She did know one thing, however — like the young man’s Absolute skill, this too was a forbidden skill — it was a skill of mass murder.

The mix of emotions in her chest right now was too complicated for her to piece out together, but Dia knew that the man before her could have been her future, if she hadn’t had the guidance of her family.

She was beginning to see another reason behind why she had been so…proactive in dealing with Absolute Terror and Absolute Confinement back then. Looking at them made her think that she was looking into a mirror of alternate possibilities, that she could have been one such person running around the continent, manipulated by higher powers and moulded into a tool of war and atrocity.

“I’m sorry,” Dia whispered.

Innumerable swords rippled into existence all around the young man, stabbing forward with an executioner’s mercy.