Day 368 - 5:42 PM - Balong, Pucakwangi, Pati Regency, Central Java, Indonesia
While Mark's battle had just begun, the people left behind on Mountain Back were in utter confusion.
It was because the soldiers who went to search for survivors from the main camp returned in such a peculiar manner. They were in such a hurry that they did not feel like trained soldiers but panicking civilians.
Those who approached the soldiers who had already returned immediately asked what happened. However, the answers were vague as they only replied with the sky turning night and a sudden attack from men who hovered in the sky.
But as General Wijaya and Spera finally returned, they immediately closed the portal.
It immediately occurred to them that someone was missing.
"Spera. Where's Master?"
Aephelia asked Spera, who could only sigh after receiving such a question.
The members of Mark's group also approached with the same question in mind.
However, the person who should be the one to ask the question first was not around. When Spera looked around the surroundings, she found the person in question.
Mei, however, was not anywhere near Spera and the others. She was quite a distance away, looking at the western horizon with clasped hands on her chest. It seemed that she already received a message from Mark through their rings.
Seeing Mei's behavior, Spera finally answered.
"The Deity and the Goddess before appeared. They are still fighting, so I don't think they would be the problem."
General Wijaya also had the same answer to the leaders of the survivor groups with them. However, unlike the General, Spera had more information.
"Shin also appeared along with someone else."
Spera added.
"Shin?" Emika could not help but exclaim. "If it's just Shin, there should be no problem, right?"
"If it's Shin, yes," Spera showed a conflicted expression. "But the Shin now isn't the Shin we know. It's... It's The Great One."
Silence befell the group after Spera's words.
Hannah, Elise, Felicia, and Louis were not yet members of Mark's base when the fight against The Great One occurred. However, after arriving at the Mountain Base, they had no choice but to know the story after seeing the aftermath of the battle. After hearing Spera mention that infamous name, they could not help but feel the seriousness of the situation.
"Hey? Who is that with the arrogant-sounding name?"
The childish voice of Kana, the bubbly, blue-haired girl from the 3rd Wave, entered the ears of the members of Evernight. Instead of joining her groupmates to ask General Wijaya, she joined this crowd for some reason.
However, no one questioned her odd behavior due to the situation.
"Another Deity," Spera frankly answered. "Someone stronger and more violent than the one we met in that underground cathedral."
"Hueh?!"
Kana was shocked, speechless. It seemed that despite her bubbliness, she understood the danger.
"Then Mark left there with those dangerous people?"
Kana asked, and everyone could only display the look of dismay.
"Shoul-Should I go there and help?"
Amihan voiced out.
However, the one to answer her question was Mei, who finally walked to join the crowd.
"Stay here, Amihan. Gege said that you need to protect this place."
It seemed that Mei was also against Mark's orders since Amihan would be helpful in his current situation. However, she decided to follow his words.
"Then, what are we going to do? Are we just going to wait?"
Elise voiced out, worried about her Elder Brother.
"If we can only see what was happening there..."
Hannah murmured loud enough for everyone to hear.
"THAT'S IT!"
Then, in the blink of an eye, there was only darkness. The dark mist formed a sphere larger than the meteor before. All the flames that entered the mist sphere vanished without a trace as if the flames were being eaten by the mist.
The mist sphere then expanded, more than quadruple in size, even forcing the hovering man to retreat. In the blink of an eye, all the lights in the area vanished as if they never existed. The marble-sized flames and the traces of fire spread by the explosions disappeared.
And as if it reached its maximum expansion, the mist sphere began to contract. It unstably shrunk and expanded. It was like a raging force of nature trying to break out after being forcefully put under control.
The mist sphere then vanished, revealing the winged silhouette once again.
After exchanging that terrifying round, the two silhouettes hovered in the air, seemingly staring at each other.
"What are we even watching..."
Estia of the 3rd Wave could not help but voice out after seeing the inhuman battle happening in the video. It was not only her thoughts, as everyone watching was the same.
Among the Indonesian spectators, three people had a different reaction.
Dr. Willis was really excited by what they were watching. It was not surprising, considering his profession and personality.
The other one was Devon, who watched the video feed with interest. He sure was quite interested in Val'Flora's client.
Last was Limabela. She stared at the two silhouettes in the video, remembering her prophetic visions. The figures of darkness and flames in her visions were perfectly overlapping with the ones she was currently watching.
It was clear to Limabela that the realization of her visions was coming closer and closer. And it was not a good thing.
The worst thing for Limabela was the fact that her visions stopped after the last one during the time they were still spreading the badges to unmask the [Face Wearers]. It was as if the future had been cut off for her... for everyone.
Limabela could not understand what was happening. It was making her more and more uneasy and unstable about the current situation.
"Limabela, are you okay?" The timid Livia asked Limabela in worry. "You look really pale right now."
"You should rest..." Nelia also chimed in. "You've been taking care of Luna without proper sleep."
Bajing and Edge also agreed with Nelia's suggestion.
However, Limabela shook her head.
"I'm fine. Don't worry."
"You're clearly not," Nelia sighed. "But if you insist... Just don't say we did not warn you if you suddenly collapsed."
Limabela gave he friends a nod and focused on the video feed once again. It was because some change was happening amidst the battle.
Without warning, the video suddenly brightened. The night-like darkness vanished, replaced by the light of the sky amidst sunset.
Looking at that scene, it was clear what happened.
The Night Goddess fled once again. And all that was left were four silhouettes in the sky, with one facing the other three.
Was it a good thing that the Night Goddes escaped? After all, the Deity of Soul Sacrifice failed to catch his creation once again. And if they wanted to catch the Night Goddess, they had to chase after her.
The enemies might choose to just leave.
But when everyone thought that the fight could end here...
"WHA-?!!"
"What!"
"NO WAY!"
A commotion broke out among everyone watching the battle.
It was because everything suddenly went dark. It was still sunset. But all of a sudden, it became night.
With their legs shaking, the survivors tried to deny the reality before their eyes.
However, the members of Evernight had already begun retrieving the drone and their equipment.
CRASH!
With a loud sound, something crashed not too far from them.
"Get ready for battle!"
It was the first time they all heard Mei shout and take the leadership of the group.