The Trial of Aeons was probably the foundations of a legend, something that would be retold over and over again. Dia, who had read the Phase 3 mission, knew that this was probably the final task in recreating the world, and she couldn’t help but marvel at her presence here.
That said, there was something even more worth marvelling, and that was the fact that Holy Son Nero, the Holy Son of the Black God, a powerhouse of this era, was using the Trial of Aeons to court a person whose reputation far preceded her. That person in question just happened to be the final Bearer of Destiny of the great Dark, and most intriguing of all was her backstory…
Or that scythe spinning behind her. To be fair, Dia wasn’t sure what the answer was, but she couldn’t help but admire Nero’s bravery. In the first place, he dared to propose to someone whose face he could not see properly…but he had already come here after hearing after her exploits, so was that really a problem?
Chuckling inwardly, she glanced at Holy Daughter Clarissa, who had a motherly smile on her face as she took in the sights of Nero exchanging methods to contact the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny.
It was quite astounding, really, but she wasn’t going to say anything else.
Her mind continued to whirl, distracting her from the little fact that the small little ball was about to break free. She wasn’t interested in killing herself, and Dia definitely didn’t know why she was here in the first place, so the little ball had nothing to do with her.
Her job was to find the Omen, whatever that was.
Her gaze fell on the duo that was watching Nero and the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny. One of them looked really young — probably one of those Holy Sons that were around Nero’s age, but the second one was…
Mysterious.
And very dangerous. Simply looking at that person was enough to send tingles up her spine. While he wasn’t as overtly threatening as Emperor Grandis, who was in his full battle regalia — the history lessons she learned even had pictures of the legendary Emperor in his full splendour — that person…
She didn’t quite know how to put it. There was a callous air emanating from him, a supreme confidence that he could probably kill everyone presence if he really wanted to. It was the kind of confidence that she herself had, back when she was still at Lustre and training with the knights. None of the knights could hold a candle to her, and she was certain that it would be child’s play to subdue everyone in the training grounds.
Right here, right now, she could sense that very same thought from the incredibly relaxed posture that person was putting out. Like a person watching a bunch of ants, he seemed to not care about the world around him, confident in his ability to shatter any obstacle.
Considering that this was the Trial of Aeons, the gathering of the world’s strongest, this demeanour meant that either this fellow was insane, or was truly confident in crushing everything in his path.
It would be a good idea to not go near this guy at all, in other words.
Her eyes swivelled back to the small orb that was visibly glowing. The horrifying presence it was giving out made her avert her eyes from it, but there was something fatally attractive to her. It was as if something was compelling her to hold onto it, even if she had to die in the process.
It’s times like this when one must pull out their inner Claud and not seek death, right? Schwarz would probably say something similar too, and as for the others…
She shook her head and forced herself to examine just about literally anything else. The President of the Folders’ Association was actually standing next to Emperor Grandis, exchanging words with the legendary personage without drawing much fuss. Not too far from the Emperor was a man clad in black armour through and through, a mace in his hands. That fellow gave off an air of authority not too different from the Emperor, and there was a faint air of confidence in the way he leaned on his mace.
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It was nothing comparable to that person who was standing close to the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny, though.
The last person she looked at was the woman that was standing not too far from the man in black armour. Ice crystals shimmered around her faintly, and her exquisite features made even Dia herself a bit jealous. In fact, anyone would be jealous of her finely sculpted face and looks, but Dia could also tell that she was someone very, very used to authority.
Two people, their faces covered by a butterfly mask, stood to her left and right. Dia could not see their faces, but their bodies seemed to ripple with a gait that hinted at their owners’ ability to kill elegantly.
Dia felt a bit small after noting all these personages. Her identity as a duke’s daughter didn’t seem much here, and her mana circuits were pretty much nothing to look at either. A tetra-folder had no business being here, especially when there were a few shadowy presences that were radiating a massive oppression upon the world itself.
Indeed, the Chromatic Lords were probably these guys. Their features were completely indistinct; their entire bodies were grey in colour and lacking in any detail whatsoever. Where the word ‘Chromatic’ came from Dia had no idea, but there was definitely some irony in how they were being named.
At any rate, they seemed to be restrained in some way, so Dia wasn’t going to think too hard.
The world shook once a moment later, and Dia’s eyes turned back to the small orb. The rift that it had grown from had completely collapsed into it, and the thing was now shaking and gathering strength.
It would soon burst into motion, and the bloodbath would begin. Swords would break and corpses would litter the place…the battle that was going to happen in the next few minutes would engulf everyone in a maelstrom of life-reaping might. Dia could see the whole thing play out, and in such a scenario, there was but one winning move.
Dia turned to Clarissa. “We should stay away from this. Nero! Hurry over! Phase 3 is about to begin!”
The Holy Son of the Black God said a few more words, and then scuttled over to Dia, who raised her eyebrow. “Had fun?”
“Yeah, it was nice to meet someone my age…uh, no offence, Clarissa.” Nero rubbed his nose. “Anyway, I think we kinda hit it off.”
“Okay, but as I recall, the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny is from the Saran Supremacy, right? You need to cross an entire continent to meet her, or vice-versa,” Dia replied. “Even if you two intend to become a couple, there’s an entire ocean in the middle, not to mention that the divinities have worked their own powers too.”
“It’s fine. She’s really resourceful,” Nero replied. “For all you know, she might be joining us three days later.”
“Yeah, but the Thirteenth also happens to be the Dark’s last Bearer of Destiny.” Dia held her head. “Did you not think of that too? There’s gotta be a lot of people aiming for her life. All sorts of people.”
“That’s going to be true anywhere—”
“But the main conflict seems to be taking place in Grandis.” Dia sighed. “Clarissa, do something about this idiot, please.”
“It’s fine. True love will prevail!” The Holy Daughter of the White God rubbed her hands happily, the maternal look in her eyes growing stronger. “And isn’t this romantic?”
“Ugh.” Dia looked at Clarissa, who was a sword short of a scabbard, and then let out a small sigh. “Whatever. You deal with it yourself.”
She returned her attention back to the ball. “It’s starting.”
Those words seemed to trigger something, and the small globe abruptly shot out of its little notch. The restrained presences of everyone present promptly blossomed, growing into gigantic suns that threatened to scorch everything, but before they could fully release themselves, Dia felt her head go white.
Something incredible had descended upon the world itself, drowning out and stifling every other person in the venue. The mana circuits in Dia’s body ground to a halt a heartbeat later, her body freezing up under the sheer power that had just exploded in existence. The pressure pressing down on her was comparable or even worse than the Blue Moon or the Red God, and she could keenly feel death in the air.
Without a doubt, if the owner of this pressure wanted everyone here dead, they would all die.
Seconds ticked by in excruciating detail.
Mercifully enough, the pressure faded away ten seconds later. Multiple people slumped over at the same time, and Dia had to give it her all to remain standing.
In fact, she was only one of the ten people who were still on their feet. The rest had fallen over one way or another…but most importantly, that small orb had vanished.
Where did it go?