As the Marsh of Remembrance appeared all around Dia, lightning split apart the skies, and rain began to fall. Webs of azure sparks danced throughout the firmament, existing only for fleeting moments, before fading away in the backdrop of the night sky. Radiant rectangles appeared in Dia’s vision a moment later, and she looked at the acknowledgement of her complete mission.
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[You have obtained the skill,
[Skill: Aeon Fold
Skill effects: For every level of
Additional comments: Killing other holders of
Thunderclaps shook the world again, and Dia watched in silence as the skies above roiled with electrifying might. The five grand skies — were they preparing to act against the Celestia Ruins now? Or did they have other plans in mind?
The sky continued to seethe, and Dia felt her mana circuits stir. A heavy sense of weakness filled her veins as an infinite presence pressed down on the area, and she let out a weak moan.
“What’s going on?” Schwarz asked, his voice weak.
“I don’t know, but we should get out of here!” Mana burst out of Nero’s frame, sweeping everyone up in a tide of blue mana. With another shout, the wave of mana carried everyone away, and the debilitating sense of weakness lightened as they fled from the centre of the marsh.
“We’ll head to the Lacuna Dukedom first,” Nero said, his words punctured with pants and huffs. “The pressure pressing down on this place is incredible. Can you feel the repulsion itself? It’s as if the world no longer wants the ruins to exist. It’s the same pressure one would feel…”
He shook his head, before lowering the burden on his shoulder and tossing it into the tide of mana. Schwarz did the same, much to Sara’s horror, but the Blessed of the Blue God wasn’t going to raise any complaints right now.
“I must be really unlucky,” Sara muttered. “Now we have this disaster…are they fine?”
“They’re still fine,” Nero replied. “Still, why do you call yourself unlucky? You look very fine to me.”
“I went to Celestia a year ago. We found a bunch of good stuff, but we couldn’t leave afterwards because Greater Half had surrounded the place. We had to stay here and sell our stuff for some essential supplies until Greater Dark left, but right when we set foot here again, I was ordered to return back to the…”
Her face flickered. “Oh dear. I forgot why we couldn’t leave.”
“Oh dear?” Nero looked at her. “Why couldn’t you leave? What happened?”
“Oh no. The reason my Lord ordered me to stay in the Celestia Ruins was due to the death of his Bearer of Destiny, his Holy Daughter. Something about needing me to stay out of the main world to prevent bad things. But if I’m here now…”
Nero’s face shifted. “Crap.”
The world quivered once as those words left her mouth, and the sea of lightning high above dissipated. At the same time, Sara’s presence seemed to bloom, creating pulses in the air around her, and the mana supporting everyone began to vanish.
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“What’s going on?” Farah asked. “And those guys! Catch them!”’
Dia wheeled around on her left heel and caught one of the unconscious fellows before he could kiss a rock. Setting Sara’s companion down gently, she turned back to the Blessed of the Blue God, who was rising from the ground, suspended by an energy she had only sensed when in the Blue Moon’s presence.
“Divinity…Nero?”
“Yes, it’s divinity.” Nero paused. “It seems that Sara’s return here has upset a very delicate balance the weakened Blue God had created.”
Blue light glowed from the heavens a moment later, creating a divine image high in the sky. At first glance, it looked like a spider’s web to Dia, but her understanding of the divine symbol that represented the Blue God continued to shift back and forth, from a web to that of a spoked will. The gigantic symbol that represented the God of Inevitability covered the entire sky, stretching out towards the horizon itself, and in that moment, Dia felt trapped by some invisible force.
“The God of Inevitability governs a portion of fate.” Nero’s voice rang out in the silence. “All roads lead to the same destination. The web of fate encapsulates all. This is the holy symbol of the Blue God, the God of Inevitability, Fatum. And yet…”
The symbol felt incomplete to Dia, something that Nero definitely never failed to pick up on. Sara’s words echoed in her head a moment later — the Blue God’s Bearer of Destiny had fallen, and that had prompted the Blue God to order his Blessed to return to Celestia.
“Why would the Blue God order his Blessed to return to Celestia?” Schwarz asked, articulating the question Dia had in mind.
“Every Blessed is a formidable existence that needs to be maintained,” Nero replied. “Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but the Blue God’s Bearer of Destiny died. I can’t explain any further than that, but I’m sure you guys can liken it to a shop with cash flow problems and said shop trying to not pay their employees.”
“Holy Son Nero, I’m afraid likening my Lord’s problems to a shop…”
“Eh, He won’t mind,” Nero replied. “Anyway, you should just stand still and receive your pay.”
As blue light continued to pour down on Sara, the holy symbol that hung in the sky began to dim. Dia, who had been looking up the whole time, felt the incongruity in her heart intensify as what seemed to be black cracks ran across the spoked wheel.
“…The holy symbol is breaking up.”
“Let’s hope that isn’t the case,” Nero replied. “The holy symbol of the gods are…a reflection of their current state. If it cracks, it means that the owner has perished.”
The terrifying cracks ceased to advance after a while, but the weight pressing down on Dia seemed to increase. The river of light that was crashing onto Sara dried up like a stream in a drought, but the intense amounts of mana that the Blessed of the Blue God was exuding was palpable.
Schwarz let out a low whistle. “Would you look at that? That presence is…very similar to Nero’s right now. Dude, where’s your Second Tutorial?”
“No need for one,” Nero replied. “She’s a Blessed of the Blue God. Anyway, I suppose you got your rewards…let’s return before anything else weird happens.”
Dia looked up at the sky again, where the white moon hung. The web of lightning that had been menacing the ruins earlier hadn’t returned, and as everyone started their manawalk, she couldn’t help but think that something had screwed the five grand skies over.
The world turned into a small blur as everyone charged towards neutral territory. The Marsh of Remembrance was actually in the territory of the great Dark, and no one wanted to stay here any longer than necessary. However, the divine phenomena that had occurred here over and over again definitely drew the Dark’s attention, and maybe that of the Moons’ too.
There was no telling what would happen next, so getting out of here was a top priority now. With two burdens, however, the task was a little harder, and Dia found herself alternating with Nero to carry one of the unconscious fellows.
“This guy should lose some weight,” Dia complained. “Or gain some. He’s heavy enough to feel uncomfortable, but not heavy enough to serve as a weight for weight training. How unfortunate.”
“For you or for him?” Nero asked. “Dude was knocked out and badly injured. I think your complaints about his weight are incredibly trivial in comparison, really.”
“Yeah, but we’re the ones carrying him right now…”
Dia glanced back as she skirted around a rock. Indeed, the terrifying sea of lightning that was poised to strike the ruins didn’t seem to be returning anytime soon, and—
The dimmed, cracked holy symbol released a blinding pulse at that moment, and the night sky lit up once more. This time, instead of a river of blue light, the skies themselves turned into what seemed like a net, and the holy symbol began to condense.
Clearly, the surprises of this night weren’t going to end just yet.
“What now?” Schwarz asked. “What’s this supposed to be now?”
The dim holy symbol lit up as it shrank, and the sky-spanning shape condensed into a ball that made Dia’s eyes sting just by laying eyes on it.
“Look away,” Nero warned. “…And be prepared, everyone. It seems that one of the Third Godsfall’s legendary characters is about to make an appearance.”
Something clicked in Dia’s mind at that moment. “The Blue God is descending onto the world itself?”
“Seems like it.” Nero looked at the blue orb in the sky. “And perhaps, the Blue God isn’t alone.”
Another ripple shook the world, and a familiar red light entered Dia’s vision.