“What would you like in return?” I asked Hydra, who so graciously allowed me to host the summit in the water faction of the spirit world.

She placed a finger to her lips mischievously, “I’ll have to think about it.” The edges of her lips curled up and she held me by the hand to lead me around, “This is the most scenic place in the water faction.”

We floated over a beautiful part of the ocean. Its rich azure waters were tainted with a slight hue of green, making it hard to really place a colour to it. In the distance was the beginning of land where many of the water spirits that didn’t need water to breathe dwelled. In the night a mesmerising aurora would dancing in the skies amongst the diamonds from above.

With a few other clones and some earth manipulation, I began constructing the building for the summit, which housed dozens of rooms for living quarters, bath rooms, saunas, personal washrooms, lounge areas, games rooms, and just about all the other unnecessary bells and whistles that a luxurious lifestyle came with. There would be a personal servant for every room, except the washrooms of course. After a few days of brainstorming, transmutation, and an ungodly amount of earth manipulation, I had everything completed.

Finally, the day was upon me. I rose early at sunrise, had breakfast, and simply meditated, choosing to clear my mind instead of bogging myself down. Before I left, I played a little with Tacari and his mana wolf; it was bigger than a normal wolf now. Celosia joined in, and Aviana couldn’t care less and chose to sleep. She reminded me of certain someone in his younger days.

The meeting room for the summit all had comfortable seating, writing utensils, paper, and some fancy but practical tables. One section of the room would be dedicated to a particular world, and each table in that section would be dedicated to a particular faction, and that faction would have a chair in the middle with the name of the leader of said faction. For example, King Maxwell would have to enter the Methelia section, and sit at the table which had his personal chair next to it. I had ushers take care of it all. And before you ask, yes, all these servants were simply my clones.

I stood dead centre, having each faction leader stand as I introduced them.

Firstly, the residents of the spirit world, the draconic spirit lords, Kor’zha, Tarit, our landlady, Hydra, and of course, despite her age, I still chose to include Celosia. Gale took good care of her and even played with her so she wouldn’t be bored. Excluding her because of her age ran across my mind, but I still had to respect the fact that she was indeed the avatar of fire. If she so chose, she could engulf this entire place.

I then moved onto the lords of the spirit void, Qora, Hethekk the Scryer, Vena, and the leader of all spirits, Arcana.

After the spirit lords were the king and queen of Methelia, Farron and Donna Maxwell, as well as their trusty advisor, Felix Aristotle. Kira, an Apostle of the Crescent moon, would also sit at the table for Methelia’s royalty because she was not in any particular faction. The tables that the heads of state sat at would also double for those in attendance who wasn’t a member of a faction.

The Order of Mages was next, comprising of Dawn, Pyro, and Volt. The entire council was there, unfortunately, I knew not the names of the other councilmen, but they totalled seven.

Next would be the Ingen tribe and their seven mystics led by Neth and Sek’hana, chieftain and former chieftain respectively.

Ulanos’ Sword Sovereign, Solomon Belgrave, was next. He was accompanied by an advisor and a bodyguard. Although, I guaranteed everyone’s safety.

It was time to switch worlds now. Pargat, the world of the warlocks, was now in my crosshair. I introduced the empress, Reylin, who was joined with an advisor. I’d imagine the former Grandmaster Warlock needn’t any protection from a bodyguard.

The young prodigy, Dillon, represented the Order of Warlocks as the new Grandmaster Warlock and had only Miranda with him. They sure were a good team. The lot of attendees were quite surprised that a kid so young would lead an order of magic users. He was even younger than me when I did it.

The world of Yunaris would surface next, and they had quite the line-up of individuals. Wharton, the emperor we’d only just met and convinced, kept his word and showed up. It was hard to imagine the head of state passing up the information that would be divulged in a meeting where First Flight was invited. He was joined by his commander, and Nine Skies’ IU and EU leaders.

In First Flight, Yunaris’ strongest guild, was Freya, Scadia, and Phil, who were all led by Scarlet.

North Sun and Onyx Heart were there, as well as every single guild in Yunaris. Each of those guilds had at least three people in them. Yunaris was many, but understandably, they would play the biggest part in my plans. I had to accommodate them.

The driving force behind me even starting this week-long meeting was Drak’ka. She stood proudly, but her size compared to that of Zernac the Calamitous, Yraz the Tormented, and her pet hound, was, unconvincing. Unfortunately, the world of T’Ghuuz had to be represented by the Darkness faction only. The other factions either had no interest or was too scattered to have proper leadership to represent them.

After the demons were the elves of Tyrr. Their head of state, a rather solemn and stoic man draped in emerald robes was one of unnerving silence. Despite his silence, his presence was still clearly felt. Elves were naturally peaceful people, but I’d bet things were as peaceful as they were because of his no-nonsense attitude. His subordinates weren’t as hellbent on morals and etiquette as he seemed to be, but they too gave off an aura of dignity.

Representing the five big families were Rizt, the head bitch in charge of most of what the elven population learnt as magic. Cey, the friendliest soul in the heavens graced us with a great beaming smile when I introduced him. Morhiggan, like the elven leader, remained serious and stoic. Tuvos, the tenacious head of trade was a nervous wreck in front of the big boys and girls of the different worlds. I’d love for her and Anjali to have a cup of tea together one day. Genuk, the biggest potion manufacturer to exist seemed exhausted. Of them all, he probably had the toughest job meeting deadlines and such.

Finally, it was time for Hyzek and Umbral to be introduced. Hejra Telonis, paladin of Telon, stood next to her sister, Herona, and an advisor. Hell, each of the paladins had an advisor. The brawny Geon, paladin of Geona stood with his chest puffed out, proud and adamant. Edgar Ansullar, standing adjacent to his wife, Chelleze, was humble yet firm. Paladin of Quinnoq, Quinn, stood gracefully, his movements reminding me of a gentle morning breeze. And last of the holy warriors were the paladin of Yularel, Yula, who seemed rather young to take on the mantle.

In Umbral’s camp, floated Madam and Mister Jelly. I had yet to speak to her after rescuing Mister Jelly. Leo, Hyzek’s only beacon, represented the Jellys as their spokesman. They were the largest creatures here, and certainly a sight to behold.

“Spirits, humans, elves, orcs, demons, and jellyfishes, I welcome you all to this summit,” I began. “I thank you for clearing your schedules and finding time to attend. For those who don’t know me, I am Eric Archibald, the successor to the great witch, Emily Crescent, guardian of worlds, keeper of life and death. It was her duty to maintain balance throughout and amongst the worlds, your worlds, and that duty has been passed onto me. Before we begin, know that, from this period on, and thereafter, I will be a neutral party to all worlds, and will not prioritise one over the other based on personal beliefs.” I gave some time for them to breathe.

“Now, let me get straight to the point of why we’re all gathered here.” I raised fingers, “In approximately three years from now, a great evil is expected to descend upon one of our worlds. That great evil’s name is Apollyon. Based on two parties in this summit, this demon, unlike the ones in our presence, is suspected of having the will and power great enough to totally wipe out life as we know it from all our worlds. The purpose of this summit is to form a coalition of worlds and unite our powers together, to form an unbeatable whole, so that we may thwart the creature’s efforts and preserve life in our worlds, our homes.” I cast eyes on every person in the room, “Let me make this clear. There is no concrete evidence of this coming to pass. It is only speculation. However, the sources are reliable, and it would be unwise for me not to make the proper precautions. With that being said, this should be a forum where forwardness and openness are encouraged. In the first three days of the summit, you may cast your opinions and thoughts out at me; you may ask questions and make your accusations. However, keep your disrespect and insults towards me and no one else. I will have no one, no matter who you are, insult another in this summit.

On the fourth day, only those who wish to devise tactics should be here. We will then begin discussing strategies and everything I have planned thus far for the coalition. On the seventh day, only those who are willing to make the pledge will be allowed to join this coalition. It is irreversible. Leaders, I hope that you allow your subordinates to put forth as many questions as they’d like. Now then, by a raise of hands, please direct your questions to me, should you have any.”

A few seconds passed on in silence, and Dillon raised his hand. How was it that the youngest person here had the biggest balls?

“Yes?” I gave him the floor.

“Let’s say this Apollyon does appear,” his tiny voice went through the magical construct enchanted to propel your voice equally toward everyone in the room, “how do we get the bulk of our soldiers to its location? I find it difficult to believe you alone would transport the hundreds of thousands – no – the millions of soldiers needed to take down the threat.”

“Transport of personnel, equipment, and supplies will be conducted by myself and at least forty-five of my clones, as well as world-traversing magical constructs made by a party in this summit. Even then, I reckon the effort won’t be enough, and we won’t be able to place those magical constructs everywhere, so we would have to focus on areas with the highest population density like towns and cities.”

“How long will it take to build these magical constructs?” Dillon put forth another question.

“If built by the original creator, it should take about one month to build a unit. If built by me, it should take a maximum of two days. However, I can’t be sure about my schedule once the ball’s rolling. But fear not, all major cities in all territories that have pledged their allegiance will have at least one.”

Dillon nodded, satisfied by my answer.

The elven leader, Beaumont, raised his hand next, “These magical constructs provide transport to other worlds,” he said, knowing fully well the elves were responsible for it, “how will you ensure no world here invades any other?” My clone then translated for those who didn’t understand the language.

Ouch, tough question there, buddy! But expected… “I’ve thought of several ways to prevent that, and the most secure, is to simply leave a clone of mine at each magical construct. However, realistically speaking, I’d most likely be unable to commit a clone to each one. Instead of relying on my clones, I could simply allow only trustworthy individuals to activate the magical construct. The leaders of each faction would have to know who to trust. Let me make this clear, to all of you,” I breathed, “in order for there to be an attempted invasion from one world to another, or one faction to another, the ones responsible would be those in the alliance in the first place. Should there ever come a time where an invasion is attempted, I will severely cripple that faction or world’s forces, leaving them defenceless. By that time, if the invader is invaded, it will be of no concern to the coalition or me, because that world or faction will be excommunicated. To put it simply, if you attack an ally, you will be beaten and left for dead.”

Volt’s hand raised next, “There’s bound to be differences in each group’s level of strength and power. It would be unfair to for one group to have a riskier part to play than other groups. How will you address which group does what?”

I waited until my clone with world magic from Jynnak repeated the question for translation’s sake. “I see why you’d be concerned. Unfortunately, I haven’t much control over this. One group’s strength will compensate for another’s weakness. For example, even if it means everyone sharing the same level of risk, I would still never put a marksman on the front lines. It just isn’t practical. Each person’s position will be dictated by what they are good at. Does that answer your question?”

Pyro raised his hand before Volt could even answer, “And what of those sharing the same type of combat style but on different levels? Will you give the marksman with bad aim the same responsibility as the marksman with good aim?”

“Good question. Yes and no. Should two people of similar combat style but different levels of proficiency work together, the more difficult task would be given to the one who’s more reliable. From world to world, faction to faction, person to person, levels of power will certainly be a big issue. I plan to engage the entire coalition in a two-year training regimen to analyse each groups levels of power, their strength, and weed out their weakness as much as possible. It will also allow a much greater synergy from person to person. At the end of the training, there should be a much smaller gap in concerns to power.”

Dawn then had a question for me. They sure were friends to ask questions one after the other like that. “Should Apollyon be as powerful as we imagine him to be, powerful enough for the likes of us to gather here, then there would surely be death and injury. Combat medics, as far as I know, are a rare thing, what measures have you put in place to minimise injuries and deal with the injured?”

“There will be a squad of people solely responsible for extracting the injured from the battlefield. The injured will be moved out of harm’s way and placed in the care of medics. The medics will be equipped with magical constructs, pills and potions, and the ability to prolong fatal wounds so that they are no longer fatal. If the supplies, which are responsible for healing the injured, are diminished, the medics will then rely on their own magic to heal the injured. To minimise injury in the first place, every single soldier on the front line will be outfitted with an enchanted set of armour to suit their combat style. As far as enchanted items go, they will be distributed as much as possible. Unfortunately, we only have one enchanter for the entire coalition; not everyone will earn the privilege of donning enchanted items.”

“And what of the medics’ safety?” she asked. Indeed, if our healers couldn’t heal, that’d be a problem.

I summoned Apothea, “The medics will be protected by this being, Apothea. In the entire coalition, healers will be the most protected asset.”

Herona Telonis, the holy warrior who romanticised magic, posed an interesting question. “What if the creature doesn’t appear? What do we do then?”

“We can return here and discuss that when the time comes. You may choose to keep in touch with whomever you want; but the specifics of this would have to be discussed to ensure fair play.”

Multiple other questions bombarded me. Finally, the meeting for the first day was over, and everyone could relax until tomorrow morning. Well, everyone except me; I still had to serve my guests and organise what’s been discussed for the day.

A knocking was heard on my door late into the night. I released the magical lock from it and used void to open it and there stood Dawn. She sashayed inside, whimsically sitting on my desk with a promiscuous look in her eyes.

I put my documents down and stood up, making my way over to her and simply hugging her tightly. “Dawn, I love you.”

She giggled, her ticklish breath touching onto the edge of my ear, “I love you too Eric, but I was going for the playful and sexy wife trope, you know.”

“Y-yeah, sorry,” I said, letting her go. “It feels like it’s been so long since everything started, but it’s like I still can’t see the end of it.”

She lifted my chin up and cleared the tear gathering. She was about to say something, but instead simply embraced me. What a warm feeling. I knew for a fact everything wouldn’t be okay, but every now and then I felt like I needed this to remind me that it was also okay that I couldn’t do everything perfectly. Contradictorily, it made me resolve to seek perfection in my pursuits; her smile was worth it. Honestly, part of me truly felt like abandoning this entire thing and bust my brain training religiously for the next three years and becoming something that was fallible only by the gods themselves and August. Then again, part of me felt like doing all of this was somehow investing in the futures of people like Dawn.