Blood Moon Over the Festival
The night of the festival was dyed in blood. Moans replaced laughter, the metallic stench of blood swallowed the streets instead of lantern light, and the square that should have been packed with revelers echoed only with the heavy tread of soldiers' boots.
With that grim scene at their backs, a mother and child were sprinting down a gray path, chasing after something unseen.
“M-Mom…! Mom!”
The child clutching his mother’s hand suddenly skidded to a halt. His gaze was fixed blankly on the night sky.
“What’s wrong? We can’t stop. We have to keep moving.”
“Over there… the moon…” The boy pointed toward the distant heavens. “The moon is gone.”
“Khhk…!!!”
My esophagus felt like it was burning away. My skin was peeling off. Even my breath boiled in my lungs, choking me.
“Noriel! Oh no—!”
Whoosh! At Nephthea’s cry, a violent torrent of water slammed into my entire body.
—It didn’t go out.
“It… it won’t disappear?!”
Just as she said, the heat showed no sign of weakening. The pain wasn’t on the surface of my skin—it surged from beneath, like thousands of needles stabbing into me.
“Ugh… Ah, aah…”
So this was what it felt like to burn to death. The agony was so unbearable I nearly bit my tongue clean through, clenching my jaw—
“Please—!”
“Guh?!”
Splash. A clear, unknown liquid burst from my mouth, nose, and ears. For a second I thought I’d been submerged underwater. Even though I was on solid ground, the sensation was exactly like being plunged into the depths. It was nauseatingly painful, but the flames that had been roasting my flesh slowly began to die down.
The tug-of-war between two opposite torments gradually faded, and at last I could breathe properly again.
“Haaah! Aaaargh!!”
“A-are you all right?! This is all I can do right now…!”
It hurt. It hurt like hell. The fire might have been extinguished, but the burns it left behind hadn’t vanished. The scorched skin sent constant, lip-biting waves of agony through me. From my abdomen up through my chest and shoulders, the charred flesh throbbed with pain so intense it felt like the nerves themselves were screaming.
Authority. Experiencing it firsthand made the concept even more terrifying. A single fleeting moment of hatred had been enough to bring immediate punishment crashing down on me.
But why—
“—Why you survived. That’s what you’re wondering, isn’t it?”
As if she’d read my mind, Eunhwa’s voice reached me at that exact moment. She stood there, gazing down at me with great interest as I clutched my wounds and slumped on the ground.
“It’s the difference between knowing the law and not knowing it.”
“Difference…?”
She gave a light smile. It was an unpleasant one.
“Those who haven’t even touched the threshold of understanding an Authority fall straight into death. But those who have even glimpsed it are reflexively bounced back from the punishment. Even if it’s only a matter of a few seconds.”
So the moment I touched the Blood Fire, my unconscious had shaken it off.
“In other words, you must have witnessed Omnipotence at some point in the past.”
“…”
I deliberately ignored her conclusion and changed the subject.
“You’re… being awfully… kind with the explanations…!”
“Oh yes. Because now it’s confirmed that you are a Seer. How many people in this world do you think have ever understood that domain?”
She just wouldn’t shut up with her nonsense. I no longer felt like trading words with her at all. I already knew the appearance of Gluttony was their doing. Uncle’s death, the destruction of the village. The fact that I’d stepped into the gaze of an Authority was because that rage had brushed past me.
“Khh…”
I clenched my teeth hard enough to grind them, suppressing the burning pain. Then I laboriously picked up the shield I’d dropped and once again blocked her path.
“You’re still going to resist in that condition?”
“Haa… haa… what, should I just… roll over and die?”
Still, she wasn’t wrong. Continuing like this was clearly—
—Please buy us just a little more time.
“…??”
That was when it happened. A whisper like a small spirit brushing my ear. The voice sounded strangely like Nephthea’s.
I’m sorry. But just a little longer—if you can endure just a little longer, please.
Why was she apologizing? I was the one who had ordered her into this fight. I didn’t want to lose the possibility that was Nephthea here. I was fine with facing death myself. But if she were erased, could the world’s flow ever return to normal?
I don’t know what you were thinking when you gave me that advice, Noriel, but I will do my very best, so please—just a little longer—
“The woman behind you. She’s plotting something.”
“—!”
At some point Eunhwa’s gaze had pierced straight through Nephthea.
“It was strange from the beginning. Her level is far beneath what should even be an annoyance, yet she’s holding back an enormous amount of power. What are you scheming?”
“…”
Nephthea gave no answer. For some reason she had squeezed her eyes shut and simply held her staff high, maintaining her silence. I had no idea what she was preparing. But if Eunhwa turned her attention to Nephthea, the situation would spiral into the worst possible outcome.
I ground my teeth and forced out a mocking laugh.
“What, are you upset now that it’s two against one? For someone with such a loose tongue, your resolve seems pretty weak too.”
“…I see. It appears I’ve let unnecessary spirit take root.”
She’d taken the bait. But the aura surrounding Eunhwa instantly sank. Right after, my eyes were involuntarily drawn upward. The air around us seemed to be dyed the color of blood—an illusion that struck me.
“Then I’ll simply crush it myself.”
Boom!
Eunhwa’s form vanished from sight as if evaporating. At the same time, the outer walls of the surrounding buildings exploded violently—
Kwaaaang!
Rumble!!
“—!”
The building behind me split cleanly in two, and massive chunks of debris came crashing down. They landed precisely between me and Nephthea, cutting us off.
“Wait…?! Noriel—!”
Before her cry could finish, the collapsed stone completely blocked my view and the space between us. The next attack came immediately.
Shiiiing!
The speed was on another level from before. The sound of air being torn apart and the sight of her appearing before my eyes happened almost simultaneously.
Kaaaaang!!
“Khk!!”
The impact that rode across the shield was heavy enough to nearly snap my arm. The moment I barely endured it and drew breath, my eyes met Eunhwa’s twilight-colored pupils.
“Bind.”
—Ping.
Dozens of blood droplets rose from my body into the air. They hovered for the briefest instant—
Splat—! Then they shot forward and brutally pierced my left calf.
“Ugh…!”
My stance collapsed instinctively. Eunhwa slipped into the gap on my right and snatched my shield-bearing wrist, yanking it upward. My torso was now completely exposed before her.
“Is that all?”
Thud!
Crack.
Her knee drove into my side, shattering my ribs.
“Guh…!”
The pain was on par with when I’d been sent flying earlier. This time, because she held my wrist, my body couldn’t fly away. The full force of the impact crushed into me.
Grab—!
With trembling fingers I reached out and seized her wrist in return, clinging desperately.
“Hmm.”
She looked down at me quietly.
“Are you stalling for reinforcements?”
“Khhk… and you’re… playing along even though you know…?”
“It was a whim. I wanted to see a Seer’s desperate struggle once. But it’s disappointing. Far below expectations.”
Sorry for being so pathetic. Eunhwa continued calmly.
“As planned. I’ll erase you properly now and move on to the next.”
“?”
Next?
“The places Gluttony failed to devour. The foreseen trajectory must be completed after all.”
It didn’t take long to understand what she meant. What she intended to do.
“…Olpia Village.”
“Yes. That is what it is called.”
Dohesi.
…She keeps crossing the line.
“You fucking bastard.”
“!”
Grab—!
It was pure reflex. My hand shot out on its own. My grip closed around Eunhwa’s throat.
Fwoosh.
Flames once again tore at my body, burning me. Yet the hand choking her only tightened, veins bulging.
I wanted to rip that filthy mouth of hers apart first.
“You… piece… of… shit…!”
“Oh? What could possibly make you this impatient?”
Even while I strangled her, her twilight eyes shone brighter, completely unmoved.
“It is nothing more than a child’s futile thrashing.”
Tap.
She lightly brushed my hand away. Then she dropped her stance extremely low. At the same time her leg whipped around like a lash, smashing into my ankle.
“Kh?!”
I immediately collapsed sideways. My vision dropped as I slammed into the ground. The following wave of danger hit me. I tried to push off the earth and rise—
“How dull.”
Eunhwa had already gripped her sword hilt with both hands and raised the blade high overhead.
Slaaaash!
What scattered next was a vivid spray of blood. The blood-red sword energy tore deep across my chest, ripping away flesh.
“Gaaah!!”
“—?! Noriel! Oh no…!!”
From behind, Nephthea finally clambered over the debris.
“Spout—!”
The moment she saw my burning body, she urgently raised her staff.
“Enough.”
Clang!
Eunhwa kicked the shield that had been lying on the ground. The massive lump of iron flew like a cannonball and pierced straight through Nephthea’s shoulder.
“Kyaaaah—?!”
A piercing scream. Her staff clattered to the ground as Nephthea collapsed with it.
An overwhelming gap in power. Once she got serious, she ended the situation without even changing expression.
“Cough… haa… haa…!”
“You extinguished it again. Quite resourceful.”
The flames that had been devouring my body dramatically subsided. Even as she fell, Nephthea had somehow squeezed out one last spell to crush the fire. But the wound that had split my chest open was beyond saving.
Was this… the limit?
I let my steaming body drop heavily onto the ground. The vast night sky filled my vision.
Surge—
Huh?
…Ah.
“You’re not going to struggle anymore?”
“…”
As I swallowed back the blood rising in my throat, Eunhwa’s footsteps approached again. She looked down at me coldly and leveled her blade.
“Pathetic tricks. Cunning schemes. Pray desperately and squeeze out every last drop. That is how the weak thrash about.”
She really never shuts that mouth.
“Cough… can’t you stop… spouting bullshit…?”
“Seer, you are no different.”
“…Maybe. I thought I was… pretty desperate… but I guess this is my limit.”
Even as I spoke, the pain kept rising. Yet a faint smile slipped out anyway. My trembling eyes no longer looked at Eunhwa. They simply gazed up at the distant sky.
“You really are a funny bastard, you know.”
“?”
“You talk so much about the heavens, yet you don’t even pay attention to what’s right above you.”
“—!”
The moment Eunhwa heard me, she reflexively looked up. Above our heads. A colossal mass floated over the village. A gigantic sphere of water, so enormous it had swallowed even the moon that had risen to its zenith, was looking down at us. The sky’s ocean, shimmering blue with captured moonlight, had inverted the night sky itself.
Her voice leaked out thinly.
“…How, from within the domain of Authority—?”
“Who knows. Looks like that person was more capable than you thought.”
The moment the words left my mouth, a shout rang out from afar. It was Nephthea, barely standing while clutching her bleeding shoulder.
“Hngh…! Evacuation—everyone’s out!! Noriel!!!”
Nephthea couldn’t understand it.
The moment the enemy launched her surprise attack, the words the man beside her had whispered were like a riddle.
I’ll hold the front.
Lady Nephthea, please just endure and resist.
Above all, no matter what happens, you must not harbor any emotion.
Don’t attack the enemy? What on earth did that mean?
But the longer their standoff lasted, the more she began to guess at the meaning behind those words. The charred corpses she had seen on the way here. The man who continued to endure while his body burned to an appalling degree. The enemy must be activating her ability through some bizarre condition that didn’t require line of sight.
Magic was directly tied to imagination and senses. If she unconsciously set the target of her magic on the enemy, she would clearly be violating the man’s warning.
That was why Nephthea had suppressed her fear and closed her eyes. She had sent tiny water wisps behind her to evacuate the residents who hadn’t managed to flee the area. At the same time, she had condensed her magic in the distant sky far beyond the attacker’s notice.
To abandon one’s own field of vision in the middle of a battlefield. The only reason she could do such a thing was because the man named Noriel had firmly promised to protect the front.
They had only known each other for two days. To place such heavy trust in him seemed insane at first glance. And yet—
—I don’t want to lose you here either. Please, promise me.
Water mages could see through everything reflected in their sight. Even the inner heart of a human being. What had been contained in that man’s eyes was pure sincerity without a single speck of falsehood. The only other person who had ever shown her such resolute sincerity was the Queen who had taken her in.
Why had he offered such sincerity to someone he had only just met? She couldn’t fathom the reason. Perhaps it was the strange feeling she got every time she spoke with him—something distinctly different from other people.
The mission I must bear.
What she had to do was answer that sincerity. And to risk her life to protect the peace of the Allied Kingdom for the Queen who had given her a home.
—
“Hngh…! Evacuation—everyone’s out!! Noriel!!!”
She had been waiting for this moment. Until every condition was met. She must not target the enemy before her. In that case, she simply had to submerge the entire radius.
The target wasn’t that person. The distant target of this magic was herself alone. This way, she wouldn’t be violating the man’s advice.
The cry Nephthea squeezed out echoed immediately.
“—Noriel!!!”
Tap—!
Nephthea ran toward the man, pouring out the last of her strength. The moment she reached him she threw her arms around him and pulled him tightly against her chest.
“?! Nephthea?!”
The recoil sent them both tumbling backward. At the same time, a wall of water unfolded over them, enclosing only the two of them. A defensive spell. The smaller the range, the greater its density became.
“—! I won’t let you—!”
The enemy’s blade came slashing down instantly, determined to cut the situation short. Nephthea squeezed her eyes shut and shouted the final incantation that would decide everything.
A paper-thin distance. A gamble measured in instants. The slightest misalignment would bring death.
“Fall—!!!”
The colossal miracle of water that had swallowed even the moon. It was as if another sky itself was collapsing.
Followed by a deafening roar that erased every other sound in the area.
The vast ocean of the sky came crashing down toward the earth that day.