“The Fourth Bearer of Destiny, come out!” Supreme Saran smashed the mace in his hand, his face covered with anger. “Come out and meet your death! If you do not face me, history books will record how your loved ones died the most horrible of deaths!”

Silence was the only reply, and Dia nibbled on a sandwich. Somehow, the Fourth Bearer of Destiny had managed to hide for nearly all seven days. The Trial of Aeons was ending soon, and everyone else was now completely desperate at how someone had apparently hogged a total of 25000 years’ worth of lifeforce.

More importantly, however, was that there were insane benefits in hogging the rewards. The Phase 3 rewards also included three Aeon Folds for every 10% of personal mission contribution; at this rate, the Fourth Bearer of Destiny would monopolise every single droplet of lifeforce and contribution.

Just how did the Fourth Bearer of Destiny do it? Dia couldn’t even conceive of a method in which he managed to evade detection for seven days in a row, despite everyone collaborating on the third day onwards to look for him. Even if there was indeed some skill that allowed one to hide their presence — Dia could faintly remember Claud saving her from assassins back then with one such skillstick — one would need over three hundred such skill media to actually last this long.

It was completely inconceivable.

“That makes it the sixth time,” Clarissa yawned. “Thanks for guarding me, by the way. I haven’t had a good rest for a long time.”

Dia nodded. “You are very welcome. Truly, I am very certain that the Fourth Bearer is the Thief of Time now.”

“What makes you say that?” Clarissa asked.

“The dude just stole 25000 years of lifespan from under the noses of Emperor Grandis, Supreme Saran and First Lady Cecily, not to mention the other supremely strong powerhouses in presence,” Dia replied. “In fact, even staunch enemies have unified in the face of this blatant theft. The two Chromatic Lords have stopped fighting…”

“An astute observation. I foresee an era in which the Thief of Time becomes public enemy number one, chased down by the full forces of all three continents.” Clarissa chuckled. “Congratulations, Dia. It seems that your master will be acquitted of whatever bullcrap charges that were brought up against her back then. You will soon be able to return to her palace…as a tetra-folder, though.”

She licked her lips. “I can see the princess’ surprised mug now. I bet she’s going to remember all the times she ordered you around when she sees you in the future.”

Dia nibbled on her sandwich, and with a cautious tone, said, “She’ll be happy and nothing else, I assure you.”

“Really? That’s boring…” Clarissa looked at Dia’s sandwich. “Right, where did that come from?”

“Made it two hours ago.” Dia glanced at Nero and Kemata, who were actually fast asleep on each other’s backs. Seven days together had bound them quite close together, and if her ears didn’t deceive her, the two of them were even planning to be engaged soon. It was unbelievable…or maybe not.

Dia didn’t particularly care about things like these, after all.

After offering a sandwich to Clarissa, the two of them fell silent once more. The bigshots were using a myriad of skills in order to drive out the Fourth Bearer of Destiny, and they looked really impressive too. For instance, Emperor Grandis was using a bunch of skills that released white light and an ominous sound of rattling chains — the White God’s skills, which were focused on karma, was currently being put to the test.

Supreme Saran was surrounded with blue light, his brutish exterior now replaced by a set of distant eyes that peered in what seemed like blue fog. First Lady Cecily, who had reappeared after a suspicious absence, was following red blips of light around.

“They’re using the skills of the Coloured Gods, huh.” Dia finished off her sandwich. “Right, wouldn’t Emperor Grandis blame you if you don’t do anything?”

“I’m well within my rights to say no. I’m a bloody penta-folder. If the Fourth Bearer of Destiny wants to kill me, I may as well just lie down and let him stab me. It’ll be less painful that way,” Clarissa replied.

Dia found herself lost for words at that blunt reply. However, at this rate, the Fourth Bearer of Destiny really would become a deca-folder. If the Thief of Time really became someone of such stature…how many vaults would be sucked dry in a day?

After wishing a few times that Tot would go after Ruler Istrel’s treasury, she picked up her teacup and sipped from it. “So you’re not going to try at all?”

“…What.”

“Okay, forget I asked.”

The search continued to intensify, but fortunately enough, there was a clear mandate to not ask the weaker fellows to actually contribute to the search. Of course, there was probably the expectation that these slackers wouldn’t have a share of the goodies…but at this rate, there weren’t going to be any goodies at all.

Nero made a little yawn, and then woke up blearily. “What’s the noise?”

“They’re just shaking the whole place now,” Dia replied. “To be honest, though, I think the Thief of Time’s going to get away scot-free. Let’s call it a day and go home. Can we leave the Trial early? I want to hurry back to my companions.”

“Well, we don’t need to wait all that much anyway.” Clarissa clicked her tongue. “Still, if I can find out how the Thief of Time did this…”

Over the last four days, after everyone returned to their senses and stopped the pointless fighting, investigations had been carried out with all their might. The top aides of the Big Three had interrogated everyone present a few times over, and then verified that it was indeed the Fourth Bearer of Destiny that had vanished with the Cosmic Egg. After that, detailed searches, which largely encompassed random sweeps across the platform and then into the sky, proceeded.

The desperation that everyone who had a chance now felt had ballooned over time, so much so that people were now breaking out their trump cards. The Chromatic Lords were scouring the airspace with skills that Dia didn’t even recognise at all, looking for any hint of the enemy. The sovereigns of the three continents had also pulled out skillsticks that recorded the Coloured Gods’ skills.

All that, and there was nothing to show for it.

“I can see why you find that tempting, but the Trial’s almost over, isn’t it?” Dia shook her head. “They should have taken out their trump cards from the beginning…right, do you guys know which Coloured God the Fourth is aligned with?”

“…I’m not sure,” Clarissa muttered. “Kemata, are you awake?”

The scythe hovering close to Nero and the Thirteenth Bearer of Destiny spun once, and a small yawn leaked out. Dia watched with a small smile as she stirred gently, and with what seemed like a Moon-worthy amount of effort, Kemata rubbed her eyes.

“Mmm…question? Query?”

Nero paused for a moment. “Oh, what Coloured God did the Fourth say he represented?”

Kemata let out another yawn. “Extra. Expected thirteen. Total fourteen. Query and response: none. Assumption of either the Black God or the White God sending out representatives.”

Nero blinked once, and then rubbed his head. “Yeah, not happening. So…one of them is not aligned with the Coloured Gods or either power, and that’s the so-called Omen, yes?”

Dia nodded. “That’s definitely it. A traitor or something.”

One reason why the Fourth Bearer of Destiny had been presumed as their enemy was due to his behaviour in the Trial of Aeons, specifically Phase 2. Dia had learned that the Fourth Bearer of Destiny was the first one to allow someone through, some intruder or whatever. While it didn’t seem like a big deal, especially since he had held out for seven days alone, a lot of people had come to the conclusion that he had faced the enemy alone to allow it through without drawing suspicion.

When coupled with the mention of the adversary in the ranks of the Absolute — that term had appeared in everyone’s eyes through a message when Dia appeared — it was quite “clear” who the Fourth Bearer of Destiny was, especially after what happened in Phase 2.

The Fourth Bearer of Destiny, the Thief of Time (to be confirmed), was the adversary mentioned in everyone’s Moonlit or Shadowed Victory missions. Killing him would add a substantial amount of personal mission contribution to both missions, entitling them to a huge chunk of lifeforce.

Of course, the fact that the Fourth also had the Cosmic Egg right now just inflamed the entire scenario. Once the Trial of Aeons was over, Dia had a feeling that everyone would be heading over to Grandis to take a shot at finding the Thief of Time…

The search intensified as the minutes passed, and eventually, a blip of light appeared from nowhere. Everyone turned to it as the small Cosmic Egg, shimmering with a prismatic radiance, returned to its original position, and a new set of words appeared in Dia’s eyes.

[ has failed.]

[ has failed.]

The world around Dia began to come apart a moment later.

[End of Book 11: Aeons Arise]