Meanwhile, as Frost pushed onwards to the northern front –

“Light? You mean the spark we can create? It’s easy! So easy! But um… how do I explain it to someone who doesn’t feel like they can understand it?”

– Jury and Galia were in the middle of trying to decipher how the Black Moons could use Light. This was during their last stages of preparation. Frost would be ready in the coming hours. She was already clashing with the Memento Mori Heart of the City according to a recent broadcast just 30 minutes ago.

The youthful Black Moon tapped her shoulder with an oversized nail, tipping her head left and right as she wondered how to explain her powers to them.

“A little bit of chaos and control is how I see it.” The Black Moon continued, but paused abruptly as she stared up at the two Beholders.

“Intriguing. Chaos and control. That hardly makes empirical sense as there is no way to test this, neither is there an appropriate theory behind the power of Light.” Galia fell into deep thought as she stuck out a hand, offering what one would assume to be a sacred item to the Black Moon.

However, the item in her palm was too small to be a weapon, and too colorful to be taken seriously. What she offered to the girl, whose eyes sparkled like a child’s, was a piece of chewy candy.

“Now you’re speaking our language!” The Black Moon hummed delightfully, gulping the candy like how a doe would feed from one’s hand. “Mmmm! Sweets! Tasty sweets!”

“Black Moons enjoy sweets as much as the Iron Stars do. I presume it comes from their lack of access to standard food. Beholder Jury.”

“Mhmph?” Jury muffledly spoke. Her mouth was stuffed with plain baguette, and she licked her fingers as crumbs ran down her hands. “I’m here.”

“Finish that unseasoned baguette and pay attention.”

All three of them were currently overseeing the burials of various Isolation Spheres and the Infusion Capsules. Each were separated about a kilometer apart, covering vast spaces of land that were guarded by black-coat Peace Flocks and the infamous, grey-cloaked war mongers of the 2nd Branch.

“The Head hasn’t taught you about the Light yet, has she?” Galia questioned. It was the nth time she had asked this over the course of their stay, and she did so whenever she witnessed the Black Moons conjuring that light at the tip of their fingers. “It looks like a broken halo. One fifth of it.”

“No clue at all.” Jury said. “The Black Moons don’t know much about it too, other than that they can use it. Maybe it’s like an ingrained thing that they don’t understand. Like how an animal breathes but can’t explain the process.” She suggested, causing the tiny Black Moon to happily nod.

“We don’t get it. We just know how to use it.” She giggled before pointing at Galia.

Galia was supposed to be overseeing the work done by her personnel, but she was far more intrigued by the light the Moon was able to produce. The same power that allowed them to form a piece of a halo above their heads or their fingertips could also be used by the Iron Stars.

But there was no explanation. The phenomenon allowed them to augment their powers, making them capable of dealing more damage than typical Moons.

“It’s futile asking us, Beholder Galia.” The Black Moon stood on her toes, staring deeply into Galia’s eyes with deep, dark orbs that held not even the faintest hint of light.

They were like cutouts in reality – a dark swirl of nothingness.

“We only know because we do. It’s something we can feel because of the nothingness we were imprisoned in. But we’re not the only ones who can do this. You’re the Colorless Incandescent. Wasn’t the Blue Dahlia able to do something similar? Isn’t that why she was so strong?”

“That was before she suffered from that degenerative disease.” Galia stated, dismissing the thought. “I am vaguely aware of it now in hindsight. Colors have been known to use a similar power. I did not know that the principle behind it was Light. I was the Colorless Incandescent not because I had a power like them. I was a smear that erased them. Not so different from the Blue Dahlia conceptually, although my old friend could erase concepts from the face of the world.”

“Like us. We can erase souls for good. That’s the same trait as the Soul Retainers. Or what’s left of them now. Isn’t there another Beholder that can do that? Take souls, consume them, destroy them – But that’s not because of this lovely power. You have to be really, really sane to use this power~!” The Moon waved her hands and thrust her nail into the air, creating a shockwave that travelled in a column.

Suddenly, a nearby Iron Star took notice and walked over. It was a woman in an elegant, combat-purposed dress. She had purple eyes and black hair with purple highlights underneath. Like the Black Moons, she was relatively short, unlike most people who were taller in this day and age.

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This was due to how ancient she was, as people in the past tended to be shorter.

“Doth this one irk thou?” She spoke in an old dialect. “Return her unto me for a price to sate this terrible ache of mine.”

Jury had no idea what they were talking about. Galia on the other hand fetched for something her Dimensional Storage and offered it to the Iron Star.

“This one thanks thee. Doth thou inquire about this ‘Light’ again?” She happily ate the sweet given to her by Galia as she placed a leather, gloved hand atop the head of the Black Moon. “Innocence, no? Tempered they are to a degree where chaos shall become rectified into a pint of sunshine. Methods are what thou can call a natural gift from the holy Nexus.”

Not all Iron Stars spoke like this, but it did show where and what era she came from. It was a pre-Advent of Civilization dialect, yet she appeared as youthful as someone in their early 30s.

This was because of the stasis many of the Iron Stars and Black Moons had entered for hundreds of years within the dark cube, the Ark of the Covenant. But in truth, it was also the strange ability of the Blessing to extend one’s natural lifespan. Regular Blessed could live for an additional 25 to 50 years, whereas Moons gained up to hundreds, with Stars potentially thousands if not more.

“Light to me is a power drawn from the Nexus. Our Black Moons merely reflect it upon ourselves, we who shan’t generate it due to our nature as ‘Iron’ Stars. What light comes from a candle with no flame? Yet, it is possible for humankind to generate it. The Seers of Evelyn couldst, but they are far few between.”

It wasn’t until Michaela utilized Absolution that Beholders like Galia recognized that it had been used by people before, but nowhere near to the same level. Namely, this only came from the Iron Stars and the Black Moons, but surprisingly also from the now near-extinct Seers of Evelyn.

But Galia did not know if she could call that similar to Absolution in the first place. It made her question just what allowed it, and if it could even be taught. This introduced yet another problem.

“To summarize, you don’t know the principle behind how you can use that power. It emanates from the Nexus and is generated by a Black Moon. The Arbiter… could shatter reality with it. But for them, it allows them to erase the soul of another.”

Galia barely whispered the last few phrases to herself. It irked her that the conjuration of Light had no real theory behind it, aside from ‘chaos’, which she associated with emotional turbulence.

Yet she did not see this from the Black Moons…

“Ehehehe. I wanna nail another impure heart on a pike~ They don’t deserve to live alongside us~ Then maybe we can start cleaning up the rest of Grandis, one village at a time!”

… On second thought, it was clear that they were unstable.

But Galia preferred to call them ‘innocent’, in the sense that they saw themselves as the absolute right in this world. The Black Moons and the Iron Stars were an authority that could cleanse impurities as they saw fit, to the point where they banished entire civilizations to the Subderma Layer in the past.

It went without saying that their ability to conjure Light further entrenched this dangerous belief.

Galia was unusually talkative. She even let loose a short sigh before she extended a hand. Suddenly, a woman dressed in a black, feathery coat nearly identical to Frost’s Coat of Prejudice appeared holding a cylindrical container.

It was black and had purple glyph etched into it. The person who held it was a woman with dark, short hair that barely fell past her ears. She wore multiple earrings and CognitO Transmitters and Receivers – far too many than the amount of personnel she commanded under her wing.

“Will it be served hot today? The beans are freshly grounded by yours truly.” Simonia, the First Apostle of Galia, asked. Her eyes were as bleak as the Black Moon’s, but they held just a tiny ounce of light if one searched hard enough.

Her voice was baritone, and like Galia, she spoke archaically.

“Today is much too warm for something hot. A cold brew can help ease your mind before we head into war. A warm beverage contrasts their cold blood far too much. Take this instead, O’ Galia. It will soothe your soul well.”

Another woman appeared and held an identical item. Steam did not emanate from the top of the object unlike the other one, and the woman in question wore the same coat as Simonia, except that it was grey.

Her grey, long, shaggy hair was like the fur of a beast. Despite it looking so unkempt, it was smooth to the touch, but it did not bounce freely like normal hair. She was tall, and staring from those silver strands were crimson eyes. Her brown skin seemed to enhance the light of her eyes as she scathingly stared at the 1st Apostle.

Instead of a plethora of ear piercings, she wore many rings on both hands. They were not decorated with jewels, but were instead enhanced by Demonic, Elven, Human, Dwarven and Dragonian glyphs – all separated on each carpal.

Despite appearing human, her hair made it seem like she had horns, giving her the immediate impression of a Demon.

The one sole earring she did wear, however, was in the shape of an ‘X’.

This was the Second Apostle of Galia, Andra, and she was a blood-related sister of the 1st Apostle.

Galia smiled at them both and spoke:

“Pour both. I’ll enjoy both brews to pass the time. How are the arrangements?”

“The mountain path is unoccupied. One third of the 1st Branch is prepared to descend as needed. The other two thirds consist of my Justicers and our Peace Flocks. We’ll be assaulting through the western entry and on the shores.” The 1st Apostle answered, detailing her numbers which were only a thousand strong.

“We’re embarking on a similar path, but we intend to push and assist the Moons in any way we can. The Hyperlink is connected to the Nexus and the 6th Branch. Reinforcements will be able to stream in without issue. The 6th Branch and the Nexus is prepared to receive the injured as they arrive.”

The 2nd Apostle grinned at Jury. It was the first time they had met, but the Apostle looked at her like they had seen each other before.

“Hora Therapeutics will be ready to treat the injured.” Jury confirmed. The Hyperlink Crystal was stationed far behind the front lines and was sealed in a heavily constructed pyramid. “Hundreds of Healers will gain a lot of experience this way too.”

The pyramid was made from the same dark grey, slate-like materials used to create the walls that contained the Corrupted in the Sites, which meant that they could easily prevent up to Monsoon Corrupted from damaging them.

“Many levels can be gained this way. I’m considering sending my platoon to their deaths.” The 2nd Apostle said, laughing immediately afterwards. “Don’t take me so seriously. The only ones that’ll be dying are our enemies. A pure, blanket of grey, followed by droplets of red. So beautiful.”

She pointed at her eyes and smiled again at Jury.

“Have we met before?” Jury wondered why she was so interested in her. It was not just her, but the 1st Apostle was also oddly infatuated with her.