“I can’t say that this is a good idea.” Nero, who had been staying up all night to talk to Kemata, folded his arms. “The two of us walking into Moon territory will just provoke the Moons, even if we’re in a ceasefire right now.”

Dia glanced at the Holy Son of the Black God, who was busy arguing with Schwarz and Risti, and then poured out some water to make herself feel more awake. Everyone had returned to their own small rooms made by barriers last night, and while she had a good rest, it was not that different from their usual sleeping methods when travelling.

A soft bed would be nice, at least. Unfortunately, Risti was still using the guestroom, so no one else got to sleep on a nice soft bed. Yawning once, she turned to the sausages that were roasting over the fire and speared one with some mana.

Farah bobbed her head at her as Dia walked over to the fire. Their discussion last night was quite fruitful, with the only exception of Nero and Kemata. Schwarz and Risti wanted the two of them to come along to the Lustre Dukedom; the Moons were unlikely to allow the Red God or His devotees to walk around inside…

However, one could also argue that such a thing would apply to the Dark’s flipping Bearer of Destiny. Of course, since everyone was currently united against the Omen, the Moons and the great Dark apparently had no plans to off their counterpart’s last Bearer of Destiny, but the same couldn’t be said for the Coloured Gods.

Schwarz and Risti, therefore, believed that the Moons would provide protection for Kemata until the Omen was killed. Considering that the Omen was the legendary Thief of Time, however, the chances of that happening anytime in the next century or so was probably as high as her breakfast’s chances of survival.

Maybe a bit lower.

The two of them chomped on the sausages in silence, thereby proving that Tot wasn’t going to be caught anytime soon.

“What do you think?” Farah asked, reaching out for her fourth sausage.

“I think you should stop eating and leave some for the others,” Dia replied, before taking her own fourth sausage.

“I’m sure we ate the same number, though,” Farah replied. “Anyway, what do you think? Should Nero and Kemata go with us, or should they stay here instead?”

Dia opened her mouth, and then realised that she had no answer for this question. Both arguments made sense, and they were close enough to the Moons that they could theoretically respond to any attempt by the Red God to capture Kemata. More importantly, the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny had also said that she could request for aid at any time.

For some reason, Dia had the feeling that she was standing on the crossroads of destiny. It was an absurd feeling…or maybe not, considering that it was a Bearer of Destiny they were talking about, and Dia couldn’t help but feel a bit frightened at the many possible consequences.

“I think…” Dia frowned. “I think we should let them stay here instead. It’s Nero and Kemata’s will, after all, and we need to respect that. Besides, even if the Moons and the Dark are in a ceasefire, it’s really too disrespectful to have the enemy walk around…”

She looked at the others, who had heard her words, and before long, the discussion came to an end. Schwarz and Risti had made the two lovebirds promise to never step out of this stronghold, and to have the Dark ready to provide assistance at any moment.

Dia clapped her hands twice as the four of them ended the discussion. “Alright, now that this is over, you guys better finish up the breakfast.”

“Yeah, got it.” Risti rolled over to the fire. “Hmm. Were there only this many sausages?”

“Obviously not. These two just took more than their fair share,” Schwarz replied. “Anyway, Nero, you should take this key. It’s for the case I carry my booze in. Normally, I wouldn’t leave it behind, but I can’t have you guys stepping out of the house to buy drinks, can we?”

He tossed a key over. “After this, we’ll set up even more defences…you two also have life-saving cards, right? Don’t be stingy with them if the Red God shows up.”

“Got it,” Nero replied.

The scythe that seemed to follow Kemata around everywhere did a cartwheel, and Kemata nodded once. “Understood.”

Watching the two of them feed each other so blatantly was not helpful to Dia’s psyche, so she got up and returned to her small room made from barriers — it had lasted the whole time somehow — and checked her equipment. Her weapon hadn’t fully transformed into a soulbound weapon yet; it was an endeavour that took time.

Paradoxically, her strength had grown faster than it took the time for her sword’s hilt to be bound to her soul, but a weapon was still deadly, even with mana in the picture.

“Barriers, important skillsticks, the random skills that Claud gave me, artefacts…and most importantly, more lifestyle artefacts.” Dia patted her backpack once, and then checked it for any defects too. It would be a problem if a strap snapped or there was a hole.

“I wonder what the two of them are doing now,” Dia muttered to herself, thinking about the two who had apparently started a small shop selling random things in Vacuos. What did it feel like to have one’s lifeforce hollowed out? Dia had a feeling that the way Lily described things was not enough to—

“Enough, me.” Dia took a deep breath. “No point scaring myself.”

Sitting down on a stack of barriers, which had served as her bed, Dia focused on her body and continued to draw her fifth mana circuit. It was nearing completion at a rate she had never thought possible; the Blue Moon’s gift of increasing her Mana Control Proficiency had done her a massive favour through and though. In fact, none of the others had reached a Mana Circuit Superimposition of 4.2, but Dia herself was already at 4.91.

Her growth rate was incredible, and—

Two faces came to mind a moment later, and Dia suddenly felt that her achievement was nothing much. Those two at Vacuos were both hexa-folders, and one of them had even tried to scale the Third Tutorial. Compared to the two of them, Dia felt like a student or something.

Somewhat demoralised, Dia continued to build her fifth mana circuit. Now that she was incredibly close to completion, being careful was the way to go, even with her incredible Mana Control Proficiency. It would be nice if she became a penta-folder before everyone left for Lustre…but what was most surprising was how she had only spent less than a week of concerted effort to get this far.

After all, not much time had passed since her visit to the Celestia Ruins.

Without warning, a thunderclap detonated over Monsville, and Dia ceased her actions at once. She glanced upwards, and then frowned. Something was distinctly off with that thunderclap — she could feel it in her veins — and after a few seconds, she headed out.

The morning sky had turned red. A bloody lightning bolt hung in the red sky, in a shade of red so bright that it seemed divine when compared to the surroundings. The red sphere that had hung in the sky ever since the Trial of Aeons was far larger right now, and Dia could even see cracks on it.

Everyone else had obviously noticed these changes too.

“…Looks like the Red God had no intention to wait at all,” Dia muttered, her voice beginning to crack. The pressure that usually came with the divinities was absent, but the fear that the entire sight conjured up in her heart was incredible.

Her body glowed faintly as the fear mounted, and the abnormal build-up of terror melted away.

“…Only me?” Dia whispered, before walking over to the others. Her sword hissed as she unsheathed it, and she placed herself in front of the others, who had been immobilised in various poses. None of them could move under the divine presence of the Red God; only she could move freely.

It was definitely not a good sign.

Her heart continued to beat madly as she took up a guarding position, but something told Dia that the Red God probably couldn’t swagger around for that long. A price had to be paid, and this was still Moon territory…

She took a deep breath. A part of her lucid mind told her that she just needed to resist whatever came next for a long enough period of time, and while her mana wasn’t much to look at, the same couldn’t be said for her skills.

After all, not too long ago, the Sixth Bearer of Destiny had fallen to her skills.

“I must be crazy,” Dia murmured, before looking at the others, who were paralyzed or something. The faint glow around her body allowed her to keep moving, however, as if she was destined to protect them.

“Interesting.” A voice rumbled from high above. The others let out various grunts and screams as blood spurted out from their ears, and Dia frowned. Even with the protection of her Salvation Star passive skill, the pressure emanated by the red globe was so solid she couldn’t shrug it off entirely.

“Do you think you can stand against me?”

Red pulsed once, and Dia felt her body grow heavier. Her joints and muscles trembled, and she sank to the ground slowly…but she was still standing upright.

“Stand aside and hand the Bearer over. No one else will be harmed,” the voice rumbled.

“Can’t,” Dia replied, raising her blade. “That’s Nero’s lover. He’ll be sad, see?”

“And you think your resistance will make a difference?” As those words rumbled out, the various artefacts that protected the house malfunctioned in various ways, and the barriers winked out of existence.

“Sword Roar, activate!” Dia swung her glowing blade skywards, but before the skill could fully activate, the metal blade snapped halfway through the arc, and her skill winked out.

“Foolish.”

“…So, you think you can invalidate all my skills, eh?” Dia looked up at the red lightning bolt and the sphere that looked down on her. Something seemed to bubble up in the pit of her stomach, and she sneered at the skies.

Claud would probably scold her for antagonising a Coloured God, but she was beyond this now.

“Then invalidate this,” Dia spat. “Skill: Perfect Domain of Swords.”

The world around her rippled.