Everyone watched the crownless leader of the Five Lands face off with the similarly-uncrowned leader of the great gods with trepidation. Even the elemental great gods had taken the place of their familiar spirits, their radiant shadows watching the confrontation with rapt attention.

Aziz knew full well that the great gods were somewhat fearful of the Mortal Light Dynasty. It had a proven track record after all; the North had forced the Goddess of Wind into a standstill, crushing her troops with a military efficiency that no other continents had. Now that Pinnacle Kolya had publicly rebuffed the Human God’s suggestion of sweeping everything under the rug, while condemning him to boot, Aziz — and probably everyone else — was now wondering how the Human God would react.

Unlike the other great gods, the Preserver attended this Conference of the Four using the body of the Last Star, Nox. The poor fellow’s consciousness was either suppressed or extinguished, but for all intents and purposes, both words carried the same meaning for the Last Star. But whenever Aziz thought of how the bugger apparently attacked Ark City through Heritage Basestation, any trace of pity he might have held had vanished into thin air.

But the main point was that the Human God was less restrained than the radiant shadows here.

And it showed.

The silence had grown heavier and heavier for the past few minutes, with the two leaders locking eyes in silence, but the transient peace finally shattered when someone dropped to his knees.

The colonel felt it hit him a heartbeat later.

Nothing had changed, really. It was just that an imperative to prostrate to the golden figure had suddenly struck him, and within moments, everyone was grunting and making other noises. The urge to do so was overpowering, and if not for the fact that it was physically impossible to actually kneel on the spot, Aziz would have fallen to his knees already.

The others were reacting similarly, with their faces planted on the table in front of them. Only the Paragons of every delegation were still standing, but since the Republic’s delegation didn’t have a single Paragon…

Forcing his face up, Aziz glared at the Human God, who was giving off a sublime glow. He didn’t know what the Preserver was emanating, but it was probably something similar to Scorpio’s claims about Anren being able to bend others to his will.

“To think that you’d actually dare to do this in front of the strongest of the Five Lands here,” Kolya replied calmly. “I thought myself as overly cautious, but it seems that I was right after all. It’s lucky that we came prepared, eh?”

He snapped his fingers once, and over five hundred pieces of wood suddenly broke away from the tables in front of the audience seats. Each of them was shaped like a sword, and as Aziz looked at them, he instinctively understood that this was most likely an Ability of the Pinnacle’s.

“It’s an Engine that replicates one of the many abilities of Champion Octantis, excavated from a legacy site in the South some few hundred years ago,” Kolya said, a sunny smile on his face. “You should recognise it, no? It’s the Blades of Liberté. You gave her this ability to resist the Demon God’s encroachment, no? I’m just adding a new touch to it.”

A similarly-formless glow began to radiate off them, darkening into a black light a moment later. A screen of black light, one that looked absurdly familiar to Aziz had appeared, separating the audience from the central table.

The groans began to fade.

“So, you’ve learnt how to go against the great gods,” Anren said quietly. “Little wonder you invited even us to this Conference of the Four.”

“Relax, Preserver.” Kolya returned to his seat, clearly nonchalant about the fact that he was just a few metres away from the Human God. “We don’t have the ability to kill any of you yet. At most, we can but isolate. But as much as I look down and despise your actions, your forces and your personal strength are needed if we are to survive the demon invasion.”

He smiled. “And more importantly, the great gods are part of Orb too. Killing you guys will mean the extinction of several species. It will be a great ecological loss.”

“Are you comparing us to animals, by chance?” Anren replied. His face had a gentle expression on it.

“We are all animals, in the loosest sense of the word.” The Pinnacle smiled slowly. “Have you forgotten my origins? Science is far more developed on Earth than on Orb, and I know that the creation of this false Orb drew a lot of inspiration from its neighbouring worlds.”

“Hmph. You know far more than your appearance hints at,” the Human God replied. “Who is your backer? Are you someone allied to the Monarch of Shadows?”

“That’s a nostalgic title,” Kolya replied. “But I am always open to a more private discussion, if you so wish.”

The Preserver narrowed his eyes. “At what cost?”

“What do you think?”

“If you can capture my pseudo-familiar spirit, we’ll have another negotiation over this,” the Human God replied. “A great god does not lie. While he is at large, I will still support him.”

At those words, someone gripped Aziz’s arm tightly, and the colonel turned just in time to see the marshal nearly crush his wrist out of sheer excitement. With his free hand, Aziz smacked Marie’s head softly, and the marshal released him immediately.

The first words that came out, however, weren’t an apology.

“The Human God just backed down!” Marie hissed. “Do you see it?! Do you?!”

She returned to gripping his wrist again, and the colonel had to separate their hands once more.

“Yes, yes, I did,” Aziz replied back, rubbing his wrists. “I know it’s important, but you don’t need to break my wrist for it!”

“S-sorry.” Marie coughed twice, and then calmed herself down.

The colonel rubbed his wrist once more. It would get better after a day or two, but he too had been shocked when the Human God made some concessions to Pinnacle Kolya.

“Very well.” He nodded to Paragon Ying Xin, who had been watching the whole thing quietly, and said, “We’ll table this discussion until it’s the prescribed time. Let us return to the main topic, then. The rights of mortals.”