It had been three days since Dia and Risti set off for Nachtville, and as the Moons began to rise, the silhouette of a city crawled up from the ground. It went without saying that this was a welcome sight for her; travelling on foot, even when mana-walking, was by no means preferable to more relaxing activities like sitting on a chair and reading random things.
The two had gotten to know each other better over the past few days, but most of their interaction was mostly talking about nature. Unlike Dia, Risti was more than happy to run around the woods and inspect any interesting flora and fauna she saw. In the process, Dia had also familiarised herself with some basic plants that were actually edible even when uncooked.
Uncooked edibles weren't something she hoped to ever consume in her life, but Dia had committed that information to her mind anyway. The Experiential Potions she had ingested was more attuned to the ideals of adequate preparation and supplies, so there was very little information on procuring emergency supplies from the wilderness.
Given the way her life had changed in the past month or so, she wouldn't be surprised if she found herself out in the wild without any source of food. Anything was apparently possible, and she didn't want to lose her life because she didn't know what plants to nibble at.
"Looks like we're finally here!" Risti, who was peering at a crushed flower earlier, did a little jig. "Finally. I can't wait to have a proper bed and everything!"
Dia nodded fervently. The two of them had been sleeping on trees the entire journey. While that was the safest option, it also meant that they woke up with sore, aching backs. Sleeping on soil or soft vegetation would have been a far better course of action, but neither of them deemed the slight comfort an adequate reward for taking the risk of sleeping on the ground.
A bed sounded like paradise to her right now.
The Moons continued to climb, and as the two closed in on the city walls of Nachtville, the world around them was blanketed by an ominous red light. Percuti, the red moon of strife, was exerting its full might on the world today.
"How many times has this sight appeared?" Dia frowned. Single Moons were supposed to be very rare, so the fact that such an astrological phenomenon had occurred over and over again within a short span of time was really disturbing.
"Three in the past two months," Risti replied. "For Percuti alone. If we take into account the other Moons, as well as Lunar Harmony…"
"Is it an omen of things to come?" Dia wondered out loud.
"Probably. A war between three dukedoms is about to break out. Maybe that's the reason why the Moons are behaving oddly," Risti replied.
"It's true that an inter-dukedom war is a huge event," Dia replied, "but is it so huge that the entirety of Grandis is affected by it? It shouldn't affect Nihila and Voidum, right?"
Risti pondered over her words for a moment, and then furrowed her brows. "Maybe it's something entirely different, then. I don't know, really. Maybe the Chromatic Lords are fighting or something?"
"The Moons affect and are affected by mortal moira," Dia mused out loud. "You might be right. Still, I wonder what kind of event must occur for Percuti to be shining alone this many times. Maybe one of the Coloured Gods insulted another?"
"That's something that is indeed worthy of a red moon, but…" Risti shook her head. "Come on. I don't feel safe right now. Do you have some mana? Let's rush over as quickly as possible."
"We shouldn't rush there," Dia replied. "It would be a problem if we arrived at a killer-stalked town without much mana left."
"But…"
"No buts." Dia shook her head. "Withstand your fear. Keep moving normally. My trainers, those who taught me how to use a sword long ago, said that one should never enter or exit a place when they're at their weakest."
"Well, if the trainers of the princess' body double said that…"
That wasn't the reasoning Dia wanted to hear from Risti, but the outcome was still the same. Patting her on the back silently, the two continued to trudge onwards to Nachtville.
The apprehension within Dia mounted as they drew close to the small town. She didn't quite understand why the feeling of a predator eyeing them intensified for every step they took, but Dia didn't have any choice in the matter. They had to enter the town, no matter what, but that thought didn't stop her from wiping off beads of cold sweat that had popped up on her forehead.
An audible gulp broke Dia's reverie, and she looked up to see Risti's face. Even under the red light of Percuti, she could tell that Risti's face was abnormally pale, and her body was trembling visibly.
"Are you…also feeling fear?" Dia asked.
Risti nodded silently, and her steps faltered. At the same time, an intense chill assaulted Dia's own mind, as if a giant monster with multiple mana circuits had abruptly appeared in front of her to give her a good look. Her movements were also beginning to falter, but before her muscles could freeze up entirely, she grabbed Risti and activated every single defensive artefact on her body.
Light rippled as a solid bulwark formed around them. Unlike Claud, she had only purchased barrier artefacts, but together, they were enough to provide comprehensive cover. Without skipping a beat, she began to infuse mana into those artefacts, willing her mind to overcome the intense, foreign terror bubbling up inside her.
"Take a deep breath and calm down," Dia forced out. "I believe we're under attack. This fear is probably from a skill or an artefact."
Risti trembled, but she obeyed her words anyway. The sounds of deep breathing soon filled the air, a sound that Dia herself found calming. The terror was still gnawing away at her mind, but she now at least had the awareness to look at her surroundings.
They were still a few kilometres away from the city walls. That said, since Dia had no idea what kind of skill had been used on the two of them, it would be foolish to make any assumptions. Of course, it was reasonable to assume that the source of their terror was the city of Nachtville itself, given that the abnormality had set in, but…
Taking a deep breath, Dia forced herself to keep an eye out on the surroundings. Most artefacts and skills lasted for thirty minutes, tops. This abnormal fear would probably pass soon, at which point Dia would forge onwards.
However, if whatever skill or artefact that was behind her fear deactivated in around thirty minutes from now, it could only mean that it had been activated in response to their approach. It went without saying that the user was almost certainly the person they were looking for, the murderer behind the scenes.
In silence, the two of them forced themselves to remain calm. More than once, Dia found herself on the verge of breaking out into a panicked escape, only to come to her senses when Risti touched her shoulder. Other times, she found herself pulling Risti back, when the latter was on the verge of leaving the defensive boundary she had set up.
Percuti continued to rise. Time seemed to coalesce into a gluey mess, and before long, Dia had forgotten how much time had passed. After what felt like an eternity, the fear that had paralysed them both faded away, and the first thing Dia did was to drop on the ground and pant heavily.
Taking deep breaths, she rolled onto her back. Her skin was covered by a sheen of clammy sweat, while Risti looked like some skin product had been applied on her face liberally.
"That was definitely a skill," Dia muttered, after a few minutes.
"Was it activated in response to our approach?" Risti asked. "Or…"
Dia looked at Risti evenly. She had also considered the same thing as Dia herself, which spoke volumes about her wits. Granted, she probably didn't have the luxury of training under masters of the sword, but…
"Why are you staring at me in such a weird way?" Risti asked.
"No, I'm just impressed that you thought of that bit," Dia replied. "But I lost track of time…"
"You might have lost track of time, but your artefacts didn't." Risti sat up and examined the rippling air around them, reaching out a hand.
Barely seconds after making contact, the defences around them vanished with a pop, and both of them narrowed their eyes. Dia had activated those artefacts shortly after she noticed the abnormality, but the fear had been present sometime before then.
"Looks like someone is indeed trying to scare us off…or worse," Dia noted grimly. Her heart palpitated a moment later. "Something might have happened in the town too. Let's go."
Risti took a deep breath and nodded. Dia took the lead, heading towards the city gates, which now seemed like the maw of a monster.