Paragon Saito left the small group after a few more pleasantries. From his words, Gaius could tell that the old man had no intention of croaking before Operation Spring Fury, the first and only offensive that would decide the fate of the Eastern Territories. He could, for some reason, feel Saito’s tenacity in clinging onto life — and glimpse the visceral pain of his struggle in doing so.

This is a rather neat thing to have, but I’ll have to stay out of nursing homes and whatnot if I didn’t want to be overly affected by my emotions. Gaius shook his head. He didn't know when this new awareness regarding the lifeforce of other people had appeared, but since he’d only gained such an insight when talking to the dying Tsurugi, it was hard for him to pin down the timing.

In fact, it might have been something he might have had from the beginning. Gaius entertained that notion for a moment, and then put it aside. Paragon Ying Xin and the two from the Republic were discussing methods to observe Gaius while he was on the battlefield, something that directly alarmed him.

“Hold on a moment,” said the boy. “The two of you just want to see how I create such an attack, right? I can do it now if you want me to.”

“Are you sure?” Ying Xin asked. “Your right hand isn’t in tiptop condition now. It’ll be better if you don’t strain your hand for a demonstration.”

“There’s a difference,” Gaius replied. “I can draw the sigils slower. Most sigils take around thirty minutes to expire — that’s more than enough time for me to draw them at a leisurely pace.”

“I-is that so?” The Paragon asked.

“Better that than letting them accompany me into a place where I’m routinely attacked by Lords,” said Gaius. “I’m still surprised that a Paragon hasn’t shown up with the losses I’m inflicting on the enemy, but knowing my luck, the day these two shows up at my side is the day they meet a hostile Paragon.”

“Have a bit more confidence in your luck, Gaius,” said Ying Xin. “You aren’t an unlucky person, in my opinion.”

Gaius rolled his eyes and motioned towards Marie and Aziz. “Fine, let me rephrase it. With you two at my side, I’ll have to defend you when the big shots arrive. If I don’t, two important people from the Republic will probably get killed. But if I do, the chances of me revealing some openings drastically increases. Neither of them are good outcomes.”

“Put that way…I can’t put it past the Lifespring to pull out such a despicable move,” the Paragon agreed. “Fine. We’ll just do a demonstration today.”

“Thank you for coming around to my point of view.” Gaius turned to Marie. “It’s not that I’m looking down on you, but me being alone when I attack has a great deal of strategic benefits.”

He narrowed his eyes slightly as his former instructors processed his words. Eventually, with a hint of reluctance, the two nodded.

Gaius relaxed. “Thank you. With that out of the way, let’s begin the demonstration. Paragon Ying Xin, if you can get us a venue…?”

“Done.” She smiled. “Combat Zone Charlie-Three will be cleared for use in a few minutes or so.”

“Charlie-Three…” Marie muttered. “The same place where Gaius attacked earlier on, isn’t it? I remember hearing about it.”

“Your memory is really good,” Gaius replied, a small smile on his face. “I’ve a direct line to Command, and they issue a warning a few seconds before I fire. In the past, my attacks were used only in the opening and closing of a battle, but now I fire on their orders, instead of my own judgement.”

“A warning…” Marie muttered. “Aziz, your take?”

“Friendly fire must have occurred before,” said the colonel. “Otherwise, such a rule wouldn’t have happened. We should take a few notes about this.”

“Rules are written in blood…but in my case, it’s foresight.” Gaius shook his head. “I’m not sure who penned it, but when I returned to the frontlines, new rules had been penned up. These rules increased my flexibility, but I now attack on HQ’s orders.”

“Oh, you can be sure friendly fire had occurred,” said Paragon Ying Xin. “Not by you, but by your emulators. After you left the front, your…fans decided to try attacking in the middle of battle. Some shots landed on friendlies. Ten-odd Knights died from their allies. It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

“Fans…” Gaius thought back to the people who had long-ranged artefacts like him, as well as their own sigils to stack, and then nodded. “Is that the reason why I don’t see any of them now?”

“Well, you know how bureaucracy drives people away. And the Lifespring made it a point to send Lords after anyone who tried to follow your example,” said Ying Xin. “So, you’re once again the only person capable of such attacks on the battlefield.”

“A disturbingly effective tactic,” Gaius muttered.

“Isn’t it?” The Paragon shook her head. “Well, Charlie-Three should be open for use now. Let’s do the demonstration at that area before a training troop takes it from us.”

The others nodded, and took to the skies, following behind the Paragon as she led the way to Gaius’ usual spot.

“Come to think of it,” said Paragon Ying Xin, “what does Charlie even mean? The North sent something they called a standardised international alphabet, and it’s been incredibly useful so far, but what does it mean?”

Her question was directed at Marie, and with a small jolt, Gaius realised that the Paragon was aware that Marie and Aziz had been to the North, during the battle of Centoria. It seemed that his hypothesis — that these two had been responsible for the sweeping changes in the South’s military — was far more accurate than he’d expected.

“I’ve no idea either,” said Marie. “I asked Igor, who was our guide there about it, and he said that it was something the current Pinnacle brought up.”

“Ah, the otherworlder,” said Paragon Ying Xin.

“Seems to be an open secret by now, doesn’t it?” Marie replied, a smile on her face.

“It’s convenient having them,” Paragon Ying Xin said. “Anything odd can be attributed to them — we don’t even need to think too much!”

Hang on, that sounds familiar… Gaius noted wryly.

The surroundings blended and melded into a indistinguishable patch of colour as the group sped up.