The strategic arrangements of the battle that followed weren’t something that the Seekers of Life and the other mercenaries in attendance could see through. The small contingents of Moonlit soldiers, along with the heavy support by more Moonlit troops stationed within the base itself, inflicted increasingly heavy casualties as the enemies charged.
Dia and the others sat on a building’s rooftop, watching intently as the battle continued to play out.
“The Dark’s forces aren’t responding with their own ranged attacks in order to close the distance,” Farah analysed calmly. “It seems that they are prioritising a melee battle where their numbers can be put to far greater use…”
“And also because the Dark didn’t bring much in the way of ranged support,” Dia muttered. It was fairly evident after a while; the only ranged attacks that the Dark could bring out were very strong ones. These attacks were the ones that had demolished the first outposts — the ones that Nero weren’t at, anyway — but other than that, there were very few instances of their main body attacking with mana from long range.
Part of that was definitely because most of the troops involved in this battle had only one mana circuit. The volume of mana pouring out from the Moonlit troops could be attributed to the weird weapons a few contingents were holding, and it also didn’t help that mortal siege engines were being employed liberally.
Thunderclaps exploded in her ears as the stronger combatants of both sides exchanged blows in the skies, their every strike digging up ravines. The Dark’s ground army, however, bore the most damage — the Moons had erected some “weak” barriers to prevent any collateral damage to their own people.
Bodies began to fall.
“And we’re all just standing around and doing absolutely nothing, as ordered by the Moons,” Schwarz muttered.
“It can’t be helped,” Dia replied, thinking about the irregular order for all mercenaries to not move on their spot. For some reason, the Moons had no intention of letting them and the other mercenaries to join the battle. Instead, they were to not do anything, and the prickling sensation at the back of her neck was enough to convince her that standing still was the best thing to do.
Her instincts were warning her, after all. That prickly sensation was a sign that someone incredible was targeting her, and by the nervous looks on the others’ face, they probably felt the same thing too. The only thing they could do was to stand here and provide commentary on the battle for some absurd reason.
“Maybe the Moons thought that there was a traitor or something?” Schwarz suggested. “I mean, the circumstances in which the expedition was wiped out was far too suspicious, and some of the mercenaries here did make it out of that disaster alive.”
Dia thought about the scene she had seen back when the Blue Moon was trying to feed her for some reason, and then nodded. The Moons themselves seemed to be unaware of the exact circumstances in which their expedition had been crushed. All she had seen was vast fields of dead bodies with shattered chests, and the Blue Moon’s words about how someone had scared the entire army to death.
However, while theoretically possible, everyone had agreed that there should still be a lot more survivors. After all, the issues with sight-based skills were very evident; in an army, save for the foremost ranks, the ones at the middle and rear wouldn’t have been able to see anything other than their fellow soldiers. Yet, nearly the entire force had been wiped out.
Were there spies?
“Well, we did say that for a single Absolute Terror to wipe out an entire force did sound unrealistic,” Risti muttered. “Unless, of course, Absolute Terror didn’t show up in front of the advancing army, but within it.”
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“Which would probably require a spy, right? Or a lot of luck,” Schwarz replied, repeating the same talking points everyone had been waving around regarding the defeat. It was, like many other stories, something that was as murky as the legend of Tot. Even the sharpest sword of wisdom wouldn’t be able to tear out the truth in any reasonable amount of time.
“The Moons definitely know more than what they told Dia, though,” Nero pointed out. “And it was us who assumed a lot of things.”
In their countermeasures against Absolute Terror, the Seekers of Life had made quite a few assumptions. This was now the time to see if these assumptions still held true, though.
“Hmm?” Dia tilted her head. She didn’t quite understand why her mind had thought that this was the time to see if…
Another explosion, a particularly large one this time, bloomed in the skies, and two figures fell apart. The shockwave from that last clash stirred up gales that halted the Dark’s advance, forcing Dia to pull out her sword and stab it into the ground beneath her. Blue light surged out of her, supporting everyone save for Nero and preventing them from falling over.
Her struggle lasted for five seconds. Fortunately, the rooftop she had stabbed proved to be more than sturdy enough, and the building didn’t collapse.
As the light died down, Farah said, “That’s…”
“One of the Lunar Lords?” Nero muttered. “I thought they were all in Istrel?”
“Maybe not,” Dia replied. “I mean, there’s one here right now.”
The two tremendously powerful beings stopped a moment later, in a movement so synchronised that it looked like a well-rehearsed swords dance, and then glared at each other. The world around them rippled, and two translucent blue spheres erupted from their bodies, expanding rapidly. Yet, despite their solid exterior, nothing seemed to change inside it, but oddly enough, both spheres seemed to clash against each other for some reason.
“What’s that?” Dia asked.
“…Septa-folders,” Nero replied, his voice filled with shock. “That’s…a Mana Domain. Both sides are going all out.”
“What’s a Mana Domain?” Schwarz asked. “Don’t leave us hanging here, Nero.”
“It’s…essentially, both of them have turned the area around them into a place where they alone are supreme,” Nero replied. “A normal person inside a Mana Domain will be at the mercy of the owner, who is essentially a god in that small territory.”
“What can the owner do?” Risti asked.
Nero raised an eyebrow upon noticing that it was Risti who had asked that question, and then said, “Anything. Of course, any interaction with the Mana Domain will deplete it of its mana. External attacks can damage it too and force it to shrink and eventually be depleted. However, as long as the Mana Domain is in effect—”
Both spheres shot at each other at a speed Dia had never seen before, leaving behind thunderclaps and shrieking gales in their wake.
“—they are literally invincible,” Nero completed his sentence.
The battle that was going on outside the wars slowed down as the two top combatants slammed their Mana Domains against each other. Two blue spheres tore through the battlefield, driving deep into the ground and causing far more damage to the Dark’s army than to the Moonlit one.
“That’s probably a really good argument why everyone should employ smaller armies,” Farah observed wryly.
The clash continued, but the Moons’ barrier had been shattered by the mad duel between both combatants. Dia couldn’t help but note that the Moons hadn’t reconstructed the barrier, and that fact wasn’t lost on both sides either. The advancing forces doubled down on their speed, but this time, a portion of troops had stayed behind to pepper the base itself with blue light.
Dirt flew as everyone ducked. A few unlucky buildings collapsed directly, and some of the siege engines that the Moonlit soldiers had been operating blew apart into twisted metal and wood. The enemy’s ranged attacks grew more accurate over the next minute, and before long, all the siege equipment that everyone had painstakingly brought back had been destroyed, their operators either cowering or killed.
Dia had seen people die, but…
This was the first time she’d seen casualties of war on such a scale.
At the same time, the first melee battles on the ground broke out. The orderly formations disintegrated into a huge mess moments later, as black and tri-coloured contingents wrestled badly. However, the latter were glimmering with a faint light, proof that their masters were empowering them, and the armies of the great Dark began to suffer disproportionate casualties.
“…It wasn’t all about numbers, is it?” Farah said, her eyes fixed on the glittering light.
“It’s about wearing down the Moons’ energy,” Dia replied. “Am I right?”
“Correct.” Nero took a deep breath. “I do not believe that any divinity can be defeated in a single decisive battle. It is better to just wear them down…like what the Dark is doing.”
“In exchange for lives?” Dia asked.
“Yes.” Nero looked at the mad battlefield and sighed. “…We should be on guard now. If there’s going to be any change, any twist…it’ll be now.”
“What do you mean by that?” Schwarz asked.
Nero simply raised a finger to his lips.