The first thing that Dia saw in the uncompromising darkness was a yellow globe of light. It looked familiar to her for some reason, and as small specks of starlight appeared in her vision, a small realisation struck her.
That yellow ball of fire…was a sun, suspended in the middle of a ring. The outer side of the ring was shimmering with a faint silver light, while the interior of the ring had splotches of blue and green.
“This ring…” Dia sucked in a breath. “Was it in the records?”
“No.” Schwarz’s voice trembled. “But if this ring surrounds the sun, and is something made by human hands…”
“That’s impressive alright.” Nero took in the sight. “That said, I finally understand why no one can write down or convey the information they saw here. If I’m not wrong, this ring…no, the information transmitted to us right now is information that cannot be reproduced at all. We can see it in this vision, but nowhere else.”
“What?” Dia looked at him. “Why?”
“…Presumably because this information literally cannot exist in the outside world. Any attempts to convey it will probably end up badly.” He paused. “A true secret. Dia, you wondered why the five grand skies sent you here to see this, right? It’s probably because they only knew the outline, the structure. They did not know the reason behind its destruction, because no one could articulate it out.”
Dia thought about it, and then frowned. “But the Authority system is controlled by the five grand skies, right?”
“The Authority system is…” Nero fell silent. “How do I put this? Hmm. It’s as if the five grand skies took the lower levels of the system and artificially controlled and divided it. That’s why there are flaws here and there, see?”
“…How do you know that?” Schwarz asked.
“My Lord told me, naturally. Incidentally, He also made use of those flaws to impart me a lot of knowledge,” Nero replied. “More import…huh. Something’s happening. Look at the silver…fish-things.”
Dia returned her attention to the huge ring and the sun, and her eyes fixated on the metallic, fish-like things that had appeared all around the ring. Blue light flashed hundreds of times every second, and with each flash, a metal fish would ripple into existence.
Intuitively, Dia understood that each of these fishes were probably far larger up close, and there was a huge threat radiating off these things, whatever they were. In fact, she had a hunch that one of these fishes would be able to give she and the others a good fight…and there was a huge sea of them right now.
She rubbed her head, and then noticed a small red dot blinking. The little dot in question sat at the top right of her vision, and the words ‘Live Broadcast’ was written underneath it.
Dia, however, didn’t know what a Live Broadcast was, and she didn’t have the time to worry about these things either. Her vantage point continued to move closer and closer, allowing her to see more and more things in greater detail.
Without warning, the metal fishes drifted, and the huge mass of silver writhed. Little cylinder-like things popped out of those fishes, adding to the ordered chaos, and before long, a silver sphere that rivalled the sun in the middle of the ring appeared. Only small gaps remained, adding some…artistic depth to the sphere.
“What are they doing?” Nero asked.
“Turning into a ball?” Schwarz replied.
“Don’t answer my question with your question, thank you very much. And I see that they’re turning into a ball. I’m asking why they’re doing it, right? You’re a bartender. Get my hint.”
“The fact that I answered your question in a literal manner should tell you that I’m not sure about the answer, right?” Schwarz let out a sigh. “Anyway, what do you think, Dia? Those things definitely are built for war, and you’re a double who was trained to fight. You must have a better idea.”
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“What kind of reasoning is that?” Dia muttered, before focusing on the silver fishes. “And no, I can’t tell either. I don’t even know what these things can do, save for the sense of intense danger I can sense from them. We can only wat—”
A tremor seized the world, sending shockwaves through the dark night, the stars beyond, and everything else in between. White light surged out of the small gaps within the solid sphere, and in that instant, seven-coloured lights poured out of the silver fishes and the cylinders it had released.
A layer of shadow materialised in front of Dia and the others, and the blinding lights that were now clashing against each other dimmed rapidly. The scene seemed to shift at this moment, as three impossible existences made themselves known in her senses. Dia felt her heartbeat turn irregular as the three figures, figures that should have been infinitely small, yet magnified, took form in her mind’s eye. Blood rushed in her ears, and an old, forgotten dream seemed to rear in the depths of her memories.
Long ago, when Dia was a child, she had a certain nightmare. It was a nightmare where she had turned into something the size of a thumb, and everything else was its usual size. When her family walked around in this nightmare, the world would shake and tremble, and her younger self would cower and squat on the ground.
It was a childish nightmare, and yet, in this place, Dia once again relived that nightmare once more. There, in the middle of the collapsing silver sphere, were three beings that dwarfed all other existence, standing proudly as the centre of the world. The person in the middle, one that she could vaguely tell had a smaller stature, seemed to be like her father in that nightmare of hers, the person that would close the room’s door…
For a moment, the urge to flee seized her, but a part of her mind remained sane and thinking. The resulting clash made her body twitch once, but fortunately, the sane part of her had remained in control.
It didn’t end there, however.
A freezing chill flooded Dia’s veins a moment later as her eyes fell on the smaller figure that stood in the middle, and in that instant, a vast understanding poured into her mind. The feeling of enmity and anger that she felt in her heart was directed that the thing the person in the centre represented, and with an awful, sinking feeling, Dia finally understood how Celestia had been destroyed.
That person in the middle was Celestia’s Omen. Celestia itself had been destroyed by the Omen, without the protection of a cycle or something.
The silver fishes continued to launch a barrage of lights at the three beings that had shattered most of the enclosure. All sorts of energy rained down incessantly, but the three existences didn’t seem to be flustered by the attack at all.
Another tremor shook the world, and the silver fishes simply winked out of existence. The lights that they had released continued onwards, unaware that their sources had vanished, before breaking apart harmlessly.
The Omen and his — the Omen looked like a man to Dia — companions turned to the gigantic ring. The world seemed to slow as the Omen raised a finger and pointed it at the sun. Rings of fiery might surged out of the yellow sphere immediately, and its light began to dim. At the same time, the ring around it fractured, collapsing into itself a moment later.
“…Moons,” Schwarz whispered.
“Are you seeing this?” Dia asked, directing her question to the five grand skies.
It was good that the five grand skies didn’t reply, since Dia was already frightened enough.
As the ring crumbled away, something seemed to resonate in Dia’s chest, and a golden blip surged out of the ring, flying away into the boundless dark. The person that Dia had marked as the Omen made a move a heartbeat later, reappearing in the path of the golden light.
That light…
Dia felt her head turn blank as the Salvation Star of Celestia winked out like a small flame, before a piercing agony struck her. In that instant, nine different memories seemed to unravel in her mind’s eye, overlapping against each other. Each memory involved a different Salvation Star, a different place, but the same thing would play out over and over again.
The Omen would always succeed. His hand would plunge into the chest of the Salvation Star, dig out a small orb, and then crush it cruelly.
Celestia’s destruction would follow shortly afterwards.
As those memories receded, Dia broke out of her stupor and looked at the scene once more. The sun in the middle was now darkening visibly, and the sea of stars that once illuminated the darkness were winking out. A terrible gale picked up, and something darker than black began to intrude on the world.
A sickly, ill feeling of absolute incongruity crawled up Dia’s spine as the yellow sun died out entirely, and with a small jolt, she sensed the purest energies of Limbo rear their heads.
“That’s…”
Nero nodded at her subtly, but before she could turn back, her vision clouded over with darkness. The blindness lasted for a moment, before colour returned to the world, and the crystalline door appeared in front of them once more.
A cold dampness clung onto Dia’s back, and she took in a deep breath. “Come on. We’re all alive. Let’s enter.”
As she pushed the door open, Dia couldn’t help but think about something. Wouldn’t it be a bit awkward if a team wanted to leave, only to see a bunch of mercenaries standing at the door?
“…Yeah. We’re all alive. That’s the only thing that matters.” Schwarz looked at the mercenaries that were already inside, nodded at them once, and then said, “Let’s start poking around the place, shall we?”