“That took far longer that I would have liked it to be,” Gaius muttered.

The fellow doing the unwrapping was apparently high on drugs or something now; with a flourish, he withdrew out a sleek silver flair. “And this…is it! Behold, the next generation Displays! Their sleek silver frame is a far better improvement over the previous drab brown ones, and it is, apparently, made of true silver!”

Small gasps ran around the theatre, and Gaius turned to the Pinnacle. “You used true silver for the frame?”

“Hey, if your weapon gets to be made out of true silver, I don’t see why high-end artefacts can’t be,” Kolya replied. “And in times of emergency, it can also function as a weapon.”

Speechless, Gaius turned back to look at the stage, where the…unwrapper was now looking up what true silver was.

“Ah ha. Found it. Ahem. True silver is a layman term to refer to some element that has its name scrubbed from the database. It is primarily used to create an item whose name has also been blanked out, and is said to be the main material behind the — oh, this isn’t blanked out — Lost Star’s main weapon. Properties — unbreakable, something I can’t read, even more things I can’t read and…”

The unwrapper cleared his throat. “Alright. Basically, the construction of the Display M3 is top secret.”

Everyone laughed.

“Get real!”

“Do your job, unwrapper! Do it properly, or I won’t tip you!”

“Not tipping you!”

The guy on stage looked around and rolled his eyes. “I’m serious. Monocle Online’s encyclopaedia, the one on the Internet, has an entry on true silver that’s blanked out this way. If I’m lying, I’ll eat this table. Go check it!”

Gaius turned to Kolya again. “What’s the point of telling others that the frame’s made of true silver if you’re going to hide details about it?”

“That’s not his fault,” said Galina. “We have strict laws on ensuring that all material used when making commercial items is to be documented.”

“Is there really a point in following this law for the Display?” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Well, it is your nation, so I’m not going to care too much. At least you don’t make exceptions…”

“As everyone knows, one of the main selling points of the next-gen Displays is the inclusion of an intelligent artefact within these babies!” The unwrapper played around with the artefact, and the screen lit up. “We’ll be showing off how the assistant works!”

Tapping the Display lightly, the unwrapper said, “I’ll give some background to our lovely assistant while the Display’s booting up. This person here, uhh, is the Phantom Blade.”

He paused. “Hmm, this name sounds familiar. Ahem. She was part of the group who was sent here by the gods, in order to kill the Constellations to prevent the rise of the Demon Sovereign Asteria.”

“Well, he does seem to have forgotten all about Xanadu,” Gaius murmured. “And from the looks of it, so did everyone else.”

“There’s a puppeteer playing us all here,” Kolya said, having apparently worked out a little deal with the beaming Nakama. “One of the great gods, who apparently has a reason to make sure that Xanadu perishes. Without such a puppeteer, the Five Lands would not have forgotten about such a person that quickly.”

“Indeed, that is the case,” a familiar voice spoke from the corner of the room.

Gaius turned to look at the shrouded newcomer, matching the presence he was feeling now to the one he’d felt during the Conference of the Four. “You’re…Queen Hyperion?”

“The one and only. Kolya, Kolya…do you also believe my words?”

“I’ve invited you here for the battle of our lives,” said the Pinnacle. “And you still think that I don’t trust your words? Queen Hyperion, you’re the foremost expert on the Oblivion Portal. If you say someone’s tainted…well, that someone probably is.”

“It just happens to be so much more dangerous in this case,” said Queen Hyperion. “Which is why I’m not alone.”

Another shadow stepped into the light. “Archduchess Gaia, at your service. Please pardon us for masking ourselves. The great gods must not know that we’ve stepped out of our nation, or else the men guarding the Oblivion Portal will be in danger.”

“Of course,” said Pinnacle Kolya. “No offence taken. After all, you two aren’t the only ones who are concealing your presence either.”

“Oh?” Queen Hyperion’s voice floated out. “You look very normal to me.”

Kolya chuckled, but he didn’t elaborate on his words. “This will be a surprise.”

Gaius narrowed his eyes. “Kolya. What is going on?”

“Long story. But to sum it up, Queen Hyperion suspects that there’s a great god who has been inflicted with a fell madness. The same power that radiates from the Oblivion Portal.” The Pinnacle drew out a sword. “And the master of the familiar spirit who attacked the Unity.”

Gaius nodded his head slowly. “The Human God.”

He closed his eyes for a moment. That undulating madness he’d felt from the familiar spirit was something he was quite familiar with; it was a lower derivation of the Crying Abyss’ chaotic will. Back then, he’d assumed that the familiar spirit had given in to the abyss within, but now…well, he was beginning to understand the words that Weiwu said, long ago.

“Why would he do such a thing?” Gaius asked.

“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” said Queen Hyperion. “Men at the end of their lives, who are unable to ascend in the hierarchy of life, often make a last attempt to break into the Oblivion Portal. Why can’t a great god do that?”

“Unfortunately,” said Archduchess Gaia, “it would seem that the Human God did exactly that fifteen years ago. While a familiar spirit of his rampaged through the East, the Preserver slipped into the West and touched the Oblivion Portal. What he saw we know not, but shortly afterwards, the Second Extermination began. We theorise that he slips between insanity and sobriety every so often, but no matter what state he is in, he will not let go of a target.”

“Which, in this case, is Xanadu.” The usual twinkle in Kolya’s eyes winked out. “Her death, for some reason, is instrumental to the Human God’s plans. And therefore, we will prevent it.”

The two shadows stepped back for a moment. “Grave threats await us, even if we triumph in the war to come.”

“No rest for the wicked, eh?” The Pinnacle sighed, turning to look at the ongoing event below. “Alright. Gaius, you should get the others to leave now.”

Galina nodded. “Our target will arrive in five minutes.”

Nakama and Isabelle, who had been silent until now, nodded.

Grabbing his hand, a small flame burned in Nakama’s eyes, while La-Ti made a fist pump. “Don’t lose!”

“Dinner tonight’s going to be sausages,” said Isabelle. “Make you come back before it gets cold.”

Gaius grunted. “I’ll be back before you know it. And why is everyone assuming that I’m going to join in?”

“You’re not?” everyone asked.

Do you have some misconceptions about me? Shaking his head, Gaius found it odd that he was abnormally calm, but when he thought about it, Gaius understood why an instant later.

It was a rather simple answer, really.

No one would threaten his family and get away with it…even if the opponent was the Human God.

“Alright, you two should go first,” said Gaius. “Make sure that the sausages are grilled with butter and cheese. I’ll be back.”