After making a few more pleasantries, Gaius left the Pagoda, Paragon Ying Xin in tow. He sighed. “So…that’s it, I guess.”

“Yes. I forgot to mention this, but Jing Xian managed to stave off death. He woke up a day ago, and wants to relay his thanks to you,” said the Paragon. “Thank you for saving him.”

Gaius mulled over her words for a moment, and then remembered the few people that had managed to escape from Conrah’s encirclement a month ago, when Gaius fired off another amped up shot from the Moonshot. At such a range, he couldn’t tell who it was, but that was better than nothing. Now that he had news that someone else had made it out, Gaius felt his heart lighten somewhat.

“That’s good news.” Gaius smiled. “Is he going to return to the front lines?”

“Not for the time being. He’s too injured right now.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s been nagging me to let him return back to the battlefield, so I’m refraining from hospital visits right now.”

“Overly eager, eh?”

“Feng-Lang is his birthplace, and mine too.” A sad smile appeared on her face. “We will fight to save it, even at the cost of our lives. Those people who charged into the fray at Eo-Seu, despite the overwhelming number of enemies…they just wanted to buy time for their families. There was no sentiment of heroism or honour in their actions.”

She looked at the azure sky, whose colour had been deepening steadily for the past one month. Gaius had heard many things regarding this phenomenon, but the theory that had been bandied around the most was that this was proof of Conrah’s spreading influence upon the Eastern Territories. Brave scouts had done survey flights over the conquered Eo-Seu, and over a hundred blue towers had been erected there.

More disturbingly was the presence of what looked like people there. From afar, these scouts could see humans and a whole assortment of beastfolk going about their everyday life there, a discovery that had rocked the entire Eastern Territories when news broke. Whispers that the people who had died on Eo-Seu had been resurrected and given form once more were rife in the frontlines.

And if that was true…Gaius could very well imagine facing the people who’d once fought alongside him. That thought was by no means a comforting one.

Gaius took a deep breath. “You should just stick him in the backlines or something. If you’ve heard the rumours about Eo-Seu…”

She grimaced. “You’ve heard about it too? The Plenum is very concerned about the reported sightings by the scouts, and familiar-face encounters by our elites.”

“Familiar-face encounters?”

“That’s the term we use when our elites encounter someone they think they know on the battlefield,” Ying Xin replied. “Once one reaches the realm of a Knight, their fighting styles are usually diverse and unique enough to be identified. Some of our own Knights are reporting encounters with foes who use incredibly similar fighting methods to those who have died.”

“And coupled with the scouts…” Gaius’ voice trailed off.

The Paragon nodded. “Many people, both our ground troops and our elites, are beginning to believe that the God of Water is resurrecting the fallen, to build a nation of his own. Which, when considering the fact that he is literally expanding his Divine Kingdom, is not much of a stretch.”

“Resurrection? Is that possible?”

“Only in the First Age of Gods.”

“We’ve added a ‘First’ onto the term now, have we?” Gaius rolled his eyes. The Age of Gods referred to the era of the Cardinal Champions, a term he learnt in his spare time while pouring over books.

“For people who dislike the modification of that term, we have an alternative — we’re also calling the era right now the Second Coming of the Gods. Use whichever you like.” The Paragon raised her hand to cover her smile.

“Second Coming, whatever. But this whole schtick of resurrection will have an impact on our morale, if nothing else.”

“Yes. No desertions yet, thankfully. It was an inspired move for us to take recordings of the Lifespring’s forces massacring the civilians in the opening invasion of Eo-Seu.” The light in Paragon Ying Xin’s eyes weakened slightly. “Although it would have been far more acceptable if that didn’t happen at all.”

Gaius shook his head. He turned his attention to the two boxes he’d kept earlier —he didn’t know what to say to these words.

“Ah, yes. The Engines you brought.” Paragon Ying Xin glanced at them. “The details of their abilities are inside. I’ll give you an overview, though. Other than the standard Flight and Sigil Manifestation, the Apex has an assortment of abilities that enhance close combat, so give it to someone with talent in that area. For the Saviour, it helps with healing its user and other people within sight, so give it to someone who prefers staying behind.”

“That’s quite a cohesive theme.”

“Yeah, these two were part of the same batch. The other three Engines…one was designed to help assassins, another for long-ranged attackers, and the final one somehow managed to gain a mind-related ability to provoke others, while providing incredible defence.” She frowned. “I think the creator of these Engines called it the LOL series or something.”

“I wonder what that referenced…” Gaius rubbed his head. The acronym sounded rather familiar, but after a few minutes of fruitless recollection, he gave up. “Alright. I’ll be leaving, then.”

“Yes. Stay safe out there.” The Paragon nodded. “Thanks to you, we’ve managed to stabilise the frontlines. As for what happens in the future…if anything happens to us here, please, protect Mi-Zu.”

“Don’t worry.” Deep down, however, Gaius wasn’t sure if he would stay. He felt no loyalty to any nation on Orb — what he simply wanted was a safe place for him and Nakama to stay in while living a normal life. Nexus had told him that he would be hunted down by the great gods when he used the Terminus back then, but nothing of that sort had happened thus far.

He wasn’t sure what to think about the whole thing.

“Have a safe flight, then.” Paragon Ying Xin, who wasn’t aware of his inner thoughts, inclined her head towards Gaius, a gesture that the boy mimicked a second later, before taking off.

There was a marker he’d left at the shores of Mi-Zu with his Astral Wind, but Gaius wasn’t keen on warping away in plain sight. Only after making sure that he was over five kilometres above ground did he reach out for it. Darkness fell as the sensation of being squeezed through a tube assailed the boy. The discomfort lasted for what felt like ten seconds, before he felt solid ground under his feet again.

“I’m back…not so back, but yes,” Gaius murmured to himself.

A tingling feeling ran down the back of his neck, and the boy threw himself forward. Something whistled past his ear as Gaius smoothly transitioned into a roll, stopping it a second later to look at the direction in which the attack came from.

“Random encounter…key item located.” A robotic voice spoke in the direction he was looking at. “Threat evaluation…not registering on sensors.”

“Thank you.” Someone stepped out from underneath the shade of a huge sakura tree. A person, clad in a form-fitting suit of black, with purple streaks, glanced at him, long hair dancing in the sea breeze. A helmet of sorts adorned the head, with only red lights in the place of its eyes. “Hand over the Apex, and I won’t kill you.”

Gaius frowned. There were too many uncertainties and questions, the first one of which being the fact that this teleportation marker was obviously a secret. “Who are you?”

“Me?” The person asked. “None of your business.”

Gaius was silent for a moment. “And you’re ambushing a child…why?”

“Because you have something I need.”

“You’re not the only one who needs that,” Gaius replied.

At these words, the person withdrew a blade of energy and pointed it at Gaius. “So be it.”