“Senator Alexandre and Major Degurechaff have already taken their positions in the formation?”

“Yes, Master Gaius.”

Gaius frowned. He didn’t like the idea of leaving Nakama here, while he ran off to Heritage to defend the passageway there. Even though logic told him that she would be safe here, in the tents, the little boy couldn’t help but feel worried. He bit his lips for the twenty-first time in the past forty-five minutes.

Going through all the equipment he was going to bring into Heritage one last time, Gaius finally made a decision. He squatted down, so that he was eye-to-eye with Nakama, and said, “Nakama, you’ll stay here. Don’t run around, and make sure Nexus is always by your side. If anything happens, he’ll bring you over to a safe place.”

“Master Gaius, I only have enough power right now to transport one person over to the Library.”

“What of it?” Gaius replied, his words dismissive. “I can fly. But she can’t.”

The wooden sculpture was quiet for a moment, and then nodded decisively. “Orders received, Master Gaius.”

“Excellent. Keep an eye out, and get her out if the camp’s defences are on the brink of failing. Don’t make a mistake.” Gaius hung two Palisades on his tunic and walked out of the tent. He glanced at the nearly emptied tent once last time, and broke into a sprint. The air around him had some viscous property, and the little boy slowed down visibly, exhausted.

“Nexus,” said Gaius, “what’s with this pressure?”

“It’s a natural suppression that people with a lower cultivation realm experience when confronted by people with stronger ones,” replied Nexus. “You saw it in the war, didn’t you? What the Human God did — the moment when time seemed to stand still — was this phenomenon, amplified and taken to the apex. The greater the gap, the more surreal the result.”

Gaius thought back to the Paragons he’d seen fighting in the Battle for Empyria and Centoria. Space had been warped around them, but he’d chalked that down to some glamour that was used to make them seem more impressive.

“So those ripples I saw in the air, through the Map of Stars…”

“Correct,” said Nexus. “You weren’t on the field, but the power that Lords and above exude are able to influence the space around them to a certain extent.”

“I can’t just dash at people stronger than me randomly then.” Gaius slowed down to a jog. “It seems that I can’t exactly unleash my own power to counter this weird slowing effect either.”

“Not until you understand it, that’s for sure.”

The ground shuddered again as the group of Paragons above fired off another volley of shots. The violet barrier rippled a couple of times, but that was it. There was no visible damage, and Gaius felt a surge of confidence in his decision to leave Nakama in the tent. He wasn’t sure how this barrier worked, but from the looks of it, it was strong enough to fend off the hostiles for the time being.

Until…

Gaius thought back to the letter…the orders from the Congress that Nalus had passed to him. They were planning to finish their evacuation — everyone here would be teleported to the Wildlands, to regroup with the first group of beastfolk who’d escaped the Five Lands as the Second Extermination drew to a close. Ark City was on the verge of success when the Paragons from the Alliance showed up and attacked.

What bad timing. The little boy could only curse at this random, illogical turn of events. The Alliance never even batted an eyelid when the Southern Continent attacked the beastfolk, so their attack now wasn’t really going to make any sense now. The Paragons sent here could have been better used to chase down the remnants of the Southern Continent, after all.

The more he thought about it, the more illogical it felt. Scowling, Gaius pulled himself over to the Wooden Pavilion that housed the entry point to Heritage, and threw himself inside the swirling azure rift. The pressure bearing down on him subsided immediately as the world changed.

The regular explosions that he’d grown used to as he made his way to Heritage’s entry point was immediately replaced by chatter and the sounds of metal hammering on metal. As his vision turned clear once more, the sight of men and women alike carrying construction materials entered his eyes.

Blinking a few times, Gaius watched Mai and her group walk past him, the entire lot bearing thick planks of metal on their back, before dropping them onto the group and wiping off some sweat.

“What’s going on, Mai?”

“Lecturer, you don’t know?”

“I only received orders to defend the passageway leading back to the camp,” replied the little lecturer. “These things make it far easier to carry out my orders, though.”

“We’ve been hard at work since yesterday,” the rabbit-eared girl replied miserably. “Orders from above told us to create a fortress to defend this spot; we’ve managed to erect tall walls, buildings and gates in accordance with a generic fortress layout. We were about to enclose the passageway too — any later and you’d have arrived in a room of metal instead.”

“You haven’t heard about what’s going on in Heritage Basestation at all?”

“No, did something happen?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. The place is under attack by a group of Paragons as we speak. A barrier’s stonewalling their entire effort so far, and —”

“Under attack?!” Mai interrupted, her words so loud that everyone in the vicinity froze and turned to her. “Oh, crap.”

Gaius slapped his forehead as murmurs spread rapidly, and within a minute or so, everyone who should have been hard at work was gathering around Mai. “You’ve done it again.”

The little boy rolled his eyes and took out the envelope that Nalus had entrusted him with. There were three separate instructions on it, and the second one was what he was ordered to say to the Harvesters building up defences in Heritage now.

He didn’t want to say it like this, however, but by the looks of it, Gaius had no choice. Leaping into the sky gently, Gaius hovered above the assembled crowd and took out the piece of paper.

“Harvesters. Heritage Basestation is under attack by the Paragons of the East-West Alliance. Right now, the situation is stable — but it won’t be for everyone present in the next few hours,” said Gaius. He looked around at the silent crowd and continued. “A contingent of young elites like you is headed towards us. They intend to use the entry point to Heritage Basestation to sabotage our defences. If we are to escape, we must defend this place with all our might.”

The little boy folded up the piece of paper, and placed it back in the envelope. “That’s the official script. Here’s the unofficial one. Right now, the defences shrouding Heritage Basestation are manned by every single elite we are able to muster. Which means that they can’t move, and are largely defenceless. It’s up to us to make sure that nothing happens to them. Got it?”

As the last echoes of his words dissipated, every Harvester assembled roared back in affirmation. There were too many different words for him to pick out separately, but the little boy could understand the gist of it.

He raised his fist. “Let’s teach them who the true elites are!”

There was another roar, and the crowd split up, resuming their duties with renewed fervour.