Claud shivered as Lesser Half — apparently, the word ‘the’ wasn’t needed here — spoke to them the way anyone else would do. It didn’t feel right, for some reason. He had envisioned the Lesser Half to be a supreme entity that spoke in a manner that defied conventional reason and everything, so to hear a void with innumerable cubes talk to him normally was very surprising.

Lily nudged his ribs, and Claud jumped.

“Yes, we actually came to…ask for your help,” Claud replied. “In exchange for something I think you will definitely be interested to know.”

The endless void shivered as a single cube floated to the forefront. Claud couldn’t wrap his head around Lesser Half’s appearance. He looked like a rip in reality itself, a self-contained rip that seemed to contain all creation. If Lesser Half truly manifested in this world, what would he be? Was he the void? Or was he the cubes?

“Something I’ll be interested to know?”

“Lord Lesser Half,” Claud began, “I believe you have the ability to discern truth from lies. Therefore, I will say something that I believe most people will get mad at me for, and—”

“Go ahead.” A touch of interest filled these two words. “What do you have to say that will make me want to help you with your troubles?”

Claud took a deep breath, while Lily touched his shoulder to lend him some support. “In the not so distant future, in the great war between divinities, the Blue Moon of Wisdom, the Red God, the Blue God, the Violet Goddess and you will fall to a human combatant.”

The shadows writhed, and Dust burst out. “Claud! What are you—”

“It is fine. Sooth, Dust.” The endless void rippled once. “He is telling the truth in this regard. You offer me a way out of this future you saw? I presume…in the Second Tutorial, yes? For you mana-users, this is a possible way of seeing the future…but yours is particularly exquisite, it will seem.”

Claud felt a shiver run down his spine, and he inclined his head. “So…it’s really the future?”

“You are not sure yourself, and yet you dare ask me.” The black rip in reality shivered once, radiating waves of amusement. “You are indeed intriguing. But fear not. Futures that appear in the Second and Third Tutorial are…just possibilities, unlike the past. They are not wholly deterministic, insofar as you act to avert them. Your presence here today proves it.”

“Thank you for enlightening me,” Claud replied. “But…what are these futures, exactly?”

“Your peers think of them as bubbles, fleeting dreams of resolve and will. In fact, these are futures that would have come to pass had the person in question not become a tetra-folder or a septa-folder,” Lesser Half replied. “That is my understanding, at least. But again, your dream is particularly exquisite, for someone who is not a Bearer of Destiny. Intriguing.”

Claud lowered his head. “Thank you.”

“Relief. I see. That future scares you, does it not? It is intimately related to you. You value what you will lose, and that drive pushes you to me. Interestingly enough, this is the first time I have heard about my death, because it is an action I cannot even fathom happening.”

Claud fervently agreed in silence. Even if the Frozen Emperor was a nine-folder, how did he defeat and kill Lesser Half? The Lesser Half of the great Dark looked like a bloody rift that had infinite cubes inside. What did the him back then do? How did he even accomplish that?

“I will protect you. But from what?”

He froze. Claud hadn’t expected Lesser Half to actually decipher the details of his request this thoroughly, and for a moment, Claud wondered if he was in danger. However, now that he had taken this step, there was no going back.

Taking a deep breath, Claud looked at Lesser Half. “The Red God.”

“Precision…that is a tough enemy.” Lesser Half rippled once, and Dust’s kneeing form vanished into the mist. “Precision is a very troublesome foe. We call him the God of Precision, but I would rather identify him as Coincidence. Even for me, Precision is a formidable foe that can slip through the cracks of fate and weave them in his favour.”

Keeping his tongue still, Claud looked at the deep, endless void that resided on the throne.

“Do you know what will happen?” Lesser Half asked.

Claud shook his head.

“A historical event of the future you saw, then. One shrouded in mystery and uncertainty,” Lesser Half pondered.

Lily’s hand tightened slightly as Lesser Half spoke his thoughts out loud for their benefits. It definitely served as a demonstration of the divinity’s abilities and wit, if nothing else, and Claud felt himself relax. Fortunately, he hadn’t had the hubris to try and deceive Lesser Half; he hadn’t spoken all that much and most of the details had already been revealed.

Given that Lesser Half also had the ability to discern lies…

“Don’t be that nervous, Mister Primus.” Lesser Half reclined on the throne — somehow — and sent out a reassuring pulse. “I understand that this is probably a last resort for you, especially since I am Lesser Half of the Great Dark. I am, in all approximations, a peer of the Moons…and we have not been active in this world for hundreds of millennia. I can imagine the stories about us, and the orthodoxy of the Moons. That you came to me despite everything proves that the future you saw is so unbearable that you are willing to make me notice you, bait me with details that could very well have enraged someone, and then make a trade with me, Lesser Half. I am, functionally speaking, wholly impressed at your bravery, recklessness and drive.”

He paused. “And that is why the two of you can stand here before me and hear my words without going insane. My sister and I have existed since the dawn of time, but few have shown such determination and courage.”

Lily’s grip tightened further.

“Thank you,” Claud replied.

“I will help you, not because I will die, but because I find you intriguing.” A chuckle reverberated from the endless void. “At your time of your greatest need, if destiny has not diverged sufficiently to stop Precision from attacking either of you, I will descend and stop him personally. This, I promise.”

As those words echoed over and over in his head, Claud felt his vision spin. The shadows melded and whirled, and before long, he was standing right outside the throne room. Lily was still clutching his shoulder, and Dust was still kneeling by the side.

“We’re…out.”

“Happens.” Dust got up from her kneeling position, before looking at Claud and Lily. “You two…are really gutsy.”

“You are very gutsy, yes.” Lily turned to Claud, an aggrieved expression on her face. “Why didn’t you tell me you were planning on doing this? I thought you had some grand plan or something. You’re supposed to be paranoid and cautious, right?”

Claud looked at her, and then at Dust. “I suppose I’ve never told anyone this before. However, there might be a time when no amount of paranoia and caution can adequately protect you. What is needed, then, is courage and sincerity.”

He paused. “I judged that this was one such extraordinary time, that’s all. It was a risk worth taking, all things considered.”

“…Next time, run through the plan with me first,” Lily replied, flicking his forehead. “Don’t go surprising everyone with stunts like this! You even frightened Dust just now, did you know that?”

“S-sorry.” Claud turned to Dust. “I apologise for alarming you this badly.”

“It’s fine. I’ve never seen my master this interested…now I want to know what you saw in your Second Tutorial too,” Dust replied.

“It’s a secret,” Claud replied. “And that was pretty much the main point of it.”

“Your beliefs did not collapse?” Dust asked.

Claud tilted his head, and then remembered that his Second Tutorial was slightly different due to his Absolute Skill. If he didn’t remember it wrongly, the original Second Tutorial targeted the will and the spirit. The anomaly of his Absolute Skill had overridden that, so he couldn’t quite really answer her question.

“Alright, so you passed without actually confronting the main problem. I’m speechless.” Dust sighed.

“Well, now that you know how I faked my way through, maybe you can give Lily some advice. I don’t know what to tell her,” Claud replied.

“Sure, sure. We’ll talk over lunch. I’m sure Countess Lostfon has cooked up a spread for us…well, she’ll leave some scraps for us and keep the real deal for her family, but the scraps are tasty,” Dust replied.

“…Aren’t you a Dark Herald?” Lily asked.

“And isn’t Lesser Half in this palace?”

“Well, I feel bad for inconveniencing them…”

Claud didn’t quite know how to rebut that statement.