“Four years…” Gaius murmured. Like everyone else in the Mortal Light Dynasty right now, he was watching a live…broadcast of what was happening above the Eastern Territories right now. It was around dinnertime for them, but whatever that was going on above the East just now was around midnight.

Despite the orange sky, the moment in which the Human God and the Chanter of Innocents fought against each other had been felt in the North. Their mansion had shuddered slightly, and a few bottles fell over when the two great gods began to clash. The reporter had it worse; he or she had been sent flying when the two began their fight. Simply watching the screen tumble madly had been enough to make Nakama somewhat nauseous, and Gaius had to cover her eyes until the sudden intervention by what looked like the Lifespring’s murderers.

The following minute of blinding white light had added nothing of value either, other than reaffirming Gaius’ desire of getting something like sunglasses. Isabelle too, had brought up similar sentiments when Gaius voiced his words out loud.

“This is history in the making,” said Isabelle. After making sure that the screen on the wall wasn’t showing anything else, she leaned back. “Simply watching these two great gods can be incredibly tiring, for some reason.”

“It’s their nature. A suppression from facing a superior lifeform, and in the Human God’s case, the overwhelming pressure from facing one’s progenitor,” said Nexus. “In fact, without proper preparation, even approaching the great gods can be very taxing on one’s health. And if they are ready for a fight…hohoho.”

“Go on,” said Gaius. “Don’t leave us hanging, yea?”

“It’s hard to describe it. Imagine the feeling of facing a Demigod, and then increase that by two or three orders of magnitude. They should give you a rough sensing of their coercive might alone,” said the artificial intelligence. “Few have the ability to even stand in their presence, and in their Divine Kingdom…”

“The five figures who appeared earlier can withstand that?” Gaius shook his head. “Incredible.”

“I suspect that the boundary they called up, the translucent pillar we could barely see, has something to do with it,” said Nexus. “In fact, it seems to be a recent development, or else we’ll have seen more instances of Demigods falling. The most recent one was twelve years ago, but this…countermeasure didn’t appear back then.”

“So, it’s a new weapon against the great gods and their familiar spirits,” said Gaius. “Who would make such a thing, and why?”

“Considering that the past decade was made up of the Second Extermination, it’s not too hard to think about it,” Nexus replied. “The Mortal Light Dynasty and its ideology has become popular as a result, which is why no nation interfered when it invaded the Holy Temple and massacred the hardliners there.”

“But this new development will give the Mortal Light Dynasty an even bigger edge,” said Gaius. “Would the other nations…”

“Only time will tell, I’m afraid.”

“Especially given the demon threat,” said Isabelle, who was now wiping Nakama’s mouth. The little girl was quite the messy eater at times, and when combined with her appetite, the corner of her lips could get quite dirty. Gaius watched as the little girl pouted and struggled, but her caretaker, who was a Knight, wasn’t having any of it.

After Nakama’s mouth was clean, Gaius said, “What’s the chances of the North helping out with the demon invasion?”

“You’d have to ask the Pinnacle for that, I’m afraid. Whether they want to help or not is a question I don’t have the answer to,” said Isabelle. “You must remember that the North views the gods as a threat to free will. Even if the two worked together…well, I wouldn’t put it past the North to backstab the Human God once the Demon God is close to be driven back.”

“Or vice-versa, eh?” Gaius rubbed his nose. “The human heart is fickle…”

“So, now that we have a four-year deadline, what do you intend to do?” Isabelle asked.

“Me? We’ll start by going back to your family. Nakama wants to meet her new, uh, family, and it’ll be nice for her to get loved by not just you and me for once,” said Gaius. “Then I’ll settle some things in Heritage — I heard something like a robber band, and I want to demand patent compensation from them — and maybe check up on the toymaker who has been hitting the news lately.”

“Thank you,” said Isabelle.

“Think little of it,” said Gaius. “But I might be spending some time in Heritage, so after we make our greetings, I’ll leave Nakama with you before I go off to settle my affairs. And after that…well, we’ll return to the North for some quality, uninterrupted schooling.”

Nakama perked her ears up at those words. “School?”

“Yeap.” Gaius nodded. “And I’ll be there for you this time! No more running to fight some random battles, or disappearing…I too think I should spend some time in school.”

To be honest, the boy had a feeling that he was never schooled, even back on Earth. His memories were still a mess, and other than involuntary flashbacks, Gaius had almost forgotten about his own origin. He enjoyed this life on Orb very much — he had a family, far less responsibilities than his old life…and of course, he could fly here.

“You, schooling?” Isabelle held back a smile. “I would love to see that. Are you going to bring Nexus along too?”

Gaius cupped his chin. “The prospect of being a top student with all the attendant fame and respect does sound nice, especially if I can relax while doing it.”

“You’re really considering it?” Nexus asked. “Well…I suppose I could do with a fresh new experience. Sure, I went to school with Nakama before, but if you wanted to dominate the examinations…I think it’ll be quite fun.”

“You too?” Isabelle shook her head, before giggling. “I should continue my further studies here, then. If I recall, Nexus has multiple…uh, selves.”

The three looked at each other, and then laughed.

Gaius stopped his laughter, and said, “Alright, let’s prepare for the trip south first, and then we’ll take it from there.”

Picking up his own plate, Gaius walked into the kitchen. Tomorrow was going to be a long day, and he wanted to sleep early. If he didn’t set an example, Nakama would be too excited to even sleep at all.

After spending a few minutes to freshen up, the boy tossed himself onto the bed.

Lead by example…even if I don’t need to sleep at all.