Hexagons of red, blue and yellow light appeared in Claud's vision as he and Lily charged northwards. He only had a single moment to take in that stupendous sight, before the tri-coloured wall shattered into pieces, broken by the sheer force of his charge.
With that, Claud left the former Umbra Sovereignty for the first time in his life, the awesome shockwaves of the attack he'd just launched shaking his innards the whole time. Behind him, however, the all-encompassing light of destruction continued to wreak havoc on the immense prairies that separated Licencia and the Daybreak County, and his heart jerked once as a set of bloody notifications appeared in his vision.
Lily, who was holding onto him with a set of scrunched-up eyes, shook once too, and Claud didn't need to think hard to know why.
"Claud…" Lily murmured, her hug tightening. "There was…"
"Yeah." Claud took a deep breath. "A Bearer of Destiny there too. Little wonder I felt so scared, so jittery. So, this is the reason why I would regret things. But have you figured out the nature of the skill I used to annihilate the enemy?"
"Lily nodded. "Yeap. That was intense."
"Yeah." Claud rubbed her head. "And—"
His words cut off as another set of screens appeared in his vision.
[
[Results: Grade 1]
[Calling upon a transcendent fury, you unleashed an infinite might upon the Fourteenth Bearer of Destiny and an Emissary of the Moons. Your singular blow will pass on into the annals of history as an attack like no other, and for that, you have been awarded 80% of her lifespan.]
[FiBoD:A??? has absorbed one Fragment of Fate. Evolution requirements: 2/2]
[Personal Quest:
"Lily?" Claud called out, his eyes still fixed on the azure rectangles before him. "I'm not sure if you can hear this, so brace yourself somewhat."
"Okay."
"Do you know what a quest or a mission is?"
Lily shook violently, and Claud held her tight. He had heard about the time Dia and Risti's aunt exchanged words, and she had apparently been afflicted with an intense headache when she learned about some secrets. Dia chose not to disclose these secrets, citing the horrible pain that she felt when those words entered her mind.
"I do know what a quest is," said Lily, holding on to his hand. "Don't worry, my head isn't in pain. It's just…I didn't expect those words to come from you. A quest…is something personal. What you believe in. To fight for it."
She looked away. "It's a crystallisation of your obsessions."
"Great. It seems that every single Bearer of Destiny might just be an obsession of mine, then, if we go down by this established pattern," Claud replied. He didn't want to ask why Lily knew such a thing, and simply pressed on by saying, "I just received a…notification. That I completed a quest, when I unleashed that attack."
He paused. "Right. Did that attack scare you? Do I no longer seem human?"
"Huh?" Lily tilted her head. "It was pretty and awesome. Maybe someone on the receiving end would fear you, but me? I'm not going to be afraid. I'll be sleeping peacefully every night, knowing that you'll be able to overturn the earth if you really wanted to."
"You aren't going to ask about what I just did?"
"I can guess," Lily replied brightly. "And I don't care."
The two of them chuckled, and in silent accord, looked back at the Istrel Sovereignty. The giant breach in the tri-coloured wall of honeycombs had been repaired in a few short minutes after Claud forcefully breached it, leaving no evidence that it had been destroyed before. Once again, the sovereignty had been severed from the world, locking down the people inside.
"It's up to them now," said Lily. "You've done everything you could."
"I know. Thanks, Lily." Claud tweaked her nose. "You're the best. Give me a kiss?"
Lily blushed. "Not now. It's unsafe to do that while flying."
"Oh. Right." Claud looked around the place. There were a few things he wanted to check, like the odd personal quest that had been unlocked and his lifespan, but these things could wait. The only thing that caught his eye was how the fairly full hourglass at the top let of his vision was now half-empty.
Clearly, the death of yet another Moon-aligned Bearer of Destiny had expedited things. Claud had the feeling that the world would change irrevocably if the last Moon-aligned Bearer of Destiny were to perish, but he knew that this was information he couldn't relay to Lily just yet.
Dia and Risti had suffered from a pounding headache when the latter's aunt revealed some secrets. Claud, however, had a feeling that Lily would be killed on the spot if he revealed the secrets of the three alignments the Bearers of Destiny fell into.
"That hourglass," Lily muttered. "It's half-empty now. Did the passing of the Fourteenth have something to do with it?"
Claud simply hugged her tighter in reply. Lily, to her credit, simply hugged back and stopped her questions.
"There, there," Lily muttered. "I'm here, okay? Don't be scared."
"…That's not why I hugged you, but you can spoil me more," Claud replied. "Anyway, we should get to Lostfon as soon as possible. I'm not sure what the aftermath of my attack will be like, and I don't have any artefacts that could protect me from skills related to karma, so we should hide in a nice, crowded place."
"It's a pity we never did go to Lustre," Lily replied. "And…I don't know when we'll be back either. If we break down that barrier once more, they'll definitely chase us down, right?"
"If 'they' refers to the remaining six Moon Emissaries, you'd be absolutely right," Claud answered. "But with some luck, the moonlight barrier will disintegrate when the great Dark falls, so…"
"I'm quite sure the great Dark's going to be really dangerous too." Lily tugged his ears lightly. "Will my beloved hero save us from them too?"
"Yeah." Claud smiled. "Count on it. I'll save you and the others, if push comes to shove. I…don't have many people dear to me, so I must protect my small world with all the fangs I can muster."
"…Thanks."
"What are you thanking me for?" Claud asked. "Like it or not, our futures are intertwined now. And…I should be thanking you. Or else I'll be in Lostfon all by my lonesome or something. Now that we're killed off a Bearer of Destiny that's presumably a buddy of the Moons, as well as a Moon Emissary too, we'll never be able to live in peace in the Istrel Sovereignty."
"Both of us, yes." Lily tilted her head backwards and tried to look arrogant. "We're so badass, the Moons now feel like killing us."
"I wonder if they'll let it go if I told them that it's their fault for settling here," Claud wondered.
"Probably not," Lily replied. "And I'm never gambling again. We'll be unlucky for a very long time."
"Unlucky?" Something seemed to ripple in Claud's mind, and a cool shiver ran down his back. The feeling that he had overlooked something strengthened rapidly, and a heartbeat later, Claud made a wry smile and shook his head. "Maybe not."
"What do you mean?" Lily asked, tilting her head. "Did you not flee because you were scared of the Moons hunting you down? They govern many things, and one of them is luck. If they wanted to target you…"
"Yeah." Claud gulped. "Well. Um. We should find some nice place to sit down at first. Let's land or something, and…well, I'll tell you something."
"Hmm?"
It didn't take long for them to find a nice clearing. The two of them sat on the same rock, and Claud took the chance to hold her hand once more. He didn't know if Lily would smack him on the head or call a moratorium on skinship once he told her about his honest mistake.
He had, after all, forgotten a particular skill that had appeared on his status not too long ago. In his defence, he was scared witless and jittery, and the skill hadn't appeared on his status for a significant amount of time, but…he did have a certain skill that could protect him.
Omen.
"Lily, don't get mad at me," Claud began slowly, "but I actually have a passive skill that…shields me from prophecy and divination."
Lily's lovely eyes froze, and Claud could see her mind churning rapidly. "Eh?"
"Yeah…"
She ran her hand through her violet hair. "In that case, did we just flee from home for nothing?"
Nodding once, Claud lowered his head. "I'm sorry. I only obtained that passive skill not too long ago, and—"
"And you weren't in the right state of mind either." Lily shifted closer to him, comforting him with her warmth. "I forgive you. And…well, I always wanted to check out the Celestia Ruins, so it should be fine, right?"
Claud twitched once, and then smiled. There was no need for thanks here, or anything pointless. Instead, he raised her hand and placed his lips on it, before hugging her once more.
"Shall we go, then?" Lily asked. "To Lostfon?"
"Yes." Claud broke the hug and held her hand. "Onwards, to Lostfon!"
[End of Book 5: Moonlit Tides and Darkened Seas]