The chaos that followed after that divine might vanished turned everything into a mess, but Dia was already thinking through the experiences earlier. Now that her mind was working properly once more, Dia couldn’t help but note that the pressure she had sensed was eerily familiar to the presence emanating from that gigantic lance that had sailed through the skies a few days ago.

And...

There was a new rectangle in her vision, one dyed in so many colours.

The Omen’s power fills the world…

Did this refer to the divine might that had paralysed everyone earlier? Or was it one of the Bearers of Destiny who had used their own Absolute skills in return? Dia couldn’t tell which was the correct answer, and it also didn’t help that everyone had descended into chaos.

“The Cosmic Egg is gone!”

The small crowd seethed and boiled as that shout echoed into the sky, and Dia found herself forced to drive her own mana circuits as everyone else drove their own, and for a moment, it felt like conflict would break out at any given moment.

“Damn.” Clarissa reached out and grabbed her hand, before pulling Nero over. The three of them retreated rapidly to the edge of the platform, and Dia activated a whole bunch of barriers to protect the three of them.

“Lady Kemata!” Nero shouted. “Good luck! You’re free to take shelter with us if you want to!”

The scythe whirling behind the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny paused, and she nodded once at Nero. The way she did it was so deliberate, so clear, that Dia was certain that good old Nero had gained her favour or approval. It was a good thing, from her point of view, although she really wanted to question that feasibility of such a relationship.

“Meh.” Dia looked at Nero. “I am not sure how this relationship is going to play out now. We’re still part of the Moons’ camp.”

“Eh, it’ll be fine.” Nero rubbed his hands. “Besides, there are no eternal enemies or allies. Besides, I am not part of the Moons’ camp. The Moons have no claim on me, only on my membership as part of the Seekers. And…now that things have come to this, there is a significant chance that both sides must hold back.”

“Things have come to this?” Dia repeated. “What do you mean?”

“Funny things have happened in Phase 1 and 2. In Phase 1, there were supposed to be two separate Aeon Bridges built — don’t look at me like that, I also don’t know why the Bearers of Destiny became builders of bridges — but the two bridges became one. Kemata believes that what should have been separate — the Moons and the Dark — will be forcibly merged in the next world.” Nero tapped his head. “No one knows what’s going on, but everyone seems to think that this must mean that the Moons and the Dark will be bound together as a single entity…”

“So if one side dies, the other goes with it?” Clarissa had an odd look on her face. “What, like those weird birds that only ever have one partner?”

“Probably.” Nero had a smug look on his face. “I foresee that the Moons will not want either Bearer of Destiny to die now, but…well, that just leaves the question that is the other Coloured Gods.”

“The White God and the Black God are not really part of this, right?” Dia asked. “But what would it seem like if the Black God’s Holy Son became the romantic partner of the Dark’s last Bearer of Destiny?”

“I don’t know, but I think we might find out soon enough. Besi—”

Deafening, metallic shrieks interrupted his words a moment later, and the world shook as white sparks of light shot up to the skies. Two shadowy figures — Chromatic Lords, they had to be — rose up to the heavens rapidly, exchanging strikes at blinding speeds. Dia could see the trajectory of every swing for the first ten seconds, before the augmentation of their mana turned the whole affair into two steel storms hacking at each other.

“They can leave the platform?” Dia muttered, before turning around to look at the dizzying sight of the world below. She reached out her hand experimentally, and a frown appeared on her face.

“The Cosmic Egg! Look for it first! The person must have turned invisible or something!”

Nine pulses of light erupted from Emperor Grandis a moment later, and the halos behind him began to whirl. “Everyone present. This seat has something to say.”

Dia paused. She had never heard the Emperor speak without the veneer of ceremony, so despite herself and her choices, she turned to look at Emperor Grandis. Nero, who had seen him but once during the ascension of Duke Istrel to Ruler Istrel, also gave the legendary Emperor some of his attention, and Clarissa made a noise in her throat.

“You two seem quite fascinated by the Emperor.”

“Well, he’s the Emperor…” Dia made a face at her. “But you don’t sound that interested, though?”

“The Emperor likes to drink, hates womanisers and has a weird penchant for doing weird good deeds incognito. He’s as normal as anyone else, in my opinion.”

Dia was of the opinion that someone as special as the Holy Daughter of the White God didn’t really have a good metric of what exactly normal entailed, but she wasn’t going to screw herself over either. If she didn’t speak, no one would think of her as a mute person…and the mouth was often the source of calamity.

In this case, said calamity would be the Holy Daughter of the White God, so it was very much worth it to just shut up and move on with life.

“Our first goal is to locate the Cosmic Egg,” Emperor Grandis began. “For starters, let us count the Bearers of Destiny present. For some reason, I believe there are only six Bearers of Destiny, when my people tell me that there were seven just minutes ago.”

A hushed silence, broken only by the whirling storms of metal from up high, fell.

“Therefore,” Emperor Grandis continued, “this seat believes that the missing Bearer of Destiny is in possession of the Cosmic Egg. We can start by rooting him out.”

Without warning, the nine halos released another pulse of light. The pulse of light expanded rapidly, before splashing onto an invisible barrier all around the platform. The light continued to dye the invisible barrier, creating what looked like a weird cylinder that extended towards the sky forever.

“This,” Emperor Grandis intoned, “is the search area.”

Dia looked around at the Bearers of Destiny present, and then felt her heart grow cold as she realised that the supremely confident Bearer of Destiny had vanished. That person had been standing next to the Seventh Bearer of Destiny right before the Cosmic Egg started flying around, but now, he was completely gone.

Was that Bearer of Destiny the Omen? Dia didn’t know, but she was confident that the missing Bearer of Destiny was definitely holding on to a certain Cosmic Egg right now. That said, saying those words out loud for anyone to hear was suicidal — she did not want to piss off someone who looked supremely confident in their ability to obliterate everyone else present.

There was also a very high chance that everyone else was already making their guesses too, so…

“It is him, in that case. That person who launched the intruder just enough to let that person into the Cosmic Egg…” Emperor Grandis let out a low laugh. “Truly, a person who lives up to his title. Were this a different time, this seat would have offered him a place in my court.”

“Grandis.” An insidious voice rang out. “As expected of how one criminal would recognise another.”

Dia glanced at the person that had been positively identified as Supreme Saran. Given what she knew about the Minor Supreme’s actions, she didn’t really have much of a good opinion of his progenitor either, so her brows furrowed slightly at those words.

“This seat would call that talent, Saran.”

A snort rang out. “A thieving rat can only be a talent in your court.”

“A folk hero will suffice as well,” Grandis replied. “The Fourth Bearer of Destiny, yes? I believe the Fourth is the folk hero that has been making waves in my empire for some time. The Thief of Time, here…well, at least he lives up to his name. But it’s time to crack a legend.”

“…The Thief of Time,” Nero muttered. “Well. At least the Emperor thinks that’s the case too.”

“Wouldn’t it be more absurd if he thought otherwise?” Clarissa folded her arms. “Last I recall, it seems that an unknown Bearer of Destiny executed Absolute Domination, yes? And that incident seemed to coincide with Tot’s own appearances…”

Dia nodded, and then felt a small fire kindle itself to life in her heart. If Emperor Grandis recognised Tot’s strength, then the chances of him pardoning the guards on duty back then would be far higher, right?

She looked at the Emperor again, and her eyes fell on the nine halos whirling around him.

Those things were up to no good.