Even the four-coloured sky couldn’t block out the distinctive orange-red sunrise, a sight that made the boy smile for some reason when he woke up from a restless sleep. To Gaius, it was proof that despite the overwhelming might of the gods, some things were still unchangeable…even though some rational part of him helpfully informed the boy that the assumptions behind that sentiment were flawed.

Gaius sat around for a few minutes, before getting up to make the bed. After straightening the blanket that the boy had abused for the last few hours, a bell rang.

“Room service!”

Gaius looked at the bed, and got up to open the door. A woman, dressed in a plait dress, pushed a small cart in, unloaded the two plates it contained onto the crystalline table in the lounge, and left.

Sniffing at the aroma expectantly, the boy started stuffing his face with some bacon and ham, marvelling at the soundproofing the suite had — when he opened the door earlier, a veritable amount of noise had flooded into his auditory canals. The boy polished off the plate rapidly, and with the suite’s key in hand, left the room.

After booking out of the inn, the boy took to the skies again. The small group that he’d spotted last night, the ones who were a few seconds late to spend their night in a suite, were walking out of a stable as Gaius took off. Straw and hair were mixed together, and from the looks of it, this bunch hadn’t had any food last night either.

Better luck next time, I guess. Gaius cricked his neck as the scenery turned to a blur, with the land below him turning into an expanse of blue as he crossed the ocean once more. The blue, however, turned darker and darker as he continued to fly towards Eo-Seu, and as another landmass appeared in his vision, Gaius could faintly feel four or so presences emanating from it.

Without a doubt, these presences had to be Paragons. Each of them was boldly declaring their existence, a beacon of resistance that held fast against the rising tide. As Gaius got closer, his heart chilled. He could now see why these Paragons had to be so ostentatious.

A veritable sea of soldiers, each of them clad in azure plate mail from head to toe, was facing off against a defensive line created by the residents of Eo-Seu and various armed groups. From his vantage point, Gaius could see the massive army occupying a good sixty percent of Eo-Seu itself, and the towers that Nexus had warned him about were alight with pale blue flames. And most importantly…a battle was already going on.

The faceless soldiers in blue were falling in droves as they continued to charge at the defensive lines. Like the battle he’d observed back in the Southern Continent, the Eastern Territories was using the same tactics as that of the Republic…and in some aspects, the East was more terrifying. A solid wave of fliers — two to three thousand each — was hovering above the defence lines, laying down fire as and when needed, while what looked like automatic versions of the Straight Shot had been set up at key points.

Explosions at the rear of the enemy horde turned hundreds of the Lifespring's troops into corpses — which vanished every two minutes or so with a flash of blue light.

Far behind the defensive lines were over sixty artillery guns. Gaius had seen them before, back in the Battle of Centoria. Granted, they looked less refined than their Northern counterparts, but at a pace of three rounds every minute, the entire group of artillery were inflicting immense casualties on Conrah’s troops.

The battle on the ground was at a stalemate.

But that didn’t hold true for the air. Squires equipped with a Dynamo were a flexible force, but they ultimately were a supporting force for the true aerial battles. Small squads of Knights were engaging their azure counterparts, and the kill-death ratios weren’t as skewed as they were on the ground.

Gaius picked up his pace, before anything unforeseen happened in the air. A landing zone had been set up for any newcomers, from what he could see on the banner. A few people were already there, registering and then taking off to join one of the Paragons or simply heading into the air to take part in the ongoing fight directly.

With a small puff, Gaius landed on the designated area, and walked up to one of the many counters available.

“Thank you for coming,” said the clerk, who did a double take when he saw how small Gaius was. “Wait, you’re a child?”

“What of it?” Gaius asked. He floated into the air as a means of demonstration, and took out the leaflet. “There was nothing here that told me children couldn’t take part.”

“True, but…” The clerk took out a piece of paper. “Damn these Dynamos. Damn the whole of the North. Now even kids can fly. And take part in fights.”

Gaius took the paper and scribbled his name. “Anything else?”

“Yeah, take this artefact too. It’ll record your participation.” The clerk sighed. “Don’t go dying out there, kiddo. Your family’s going to be real sad if you do. Remember to flee if the battle turns against you, and stick with your buddy.”

“Buddy?”

“Yeah.” The clerk pointed at the fliers above the defence lines. “Buddy system’s been in place to prevent casualties from exhaustion.”

“I think you got it wrong,” Gaius said. “I’m not joining the Squires there. I’m participating in that battle.”

Gaius pointed at the aerial battlefield. Now that he was in close proximity, it was evident that the elites on both sides were fighting at a far higher altitude.

“…You’re insane.”

“Maybe. But I have reasons.” Gaius pointed at the card-like artefact. “Does this work too, up there?”

“Yes, but—”

“Excellent.” Gaius, cutting off the clerk’s words, streaked upwards, towards the now-predominantly blue skies. Wind whistled in his ears, and the boy narrowed his eyes, knives in hand. He had the feeling that killing these soldiers…wouldn’t be a problem for his psyche.

A small smile appeared on his face as he shot towards his chosen target.