After rubbing Aria’s cheeks twice to reassure her he would be coming back, Gemini hugged Lila at the door.

“Don’t do anything stupid, okay?” Lila asked. “You love to do that. Stop it.”

Gemini nodded. “My life is not my own anymore.”

“That’s what you told me before you decided to stay behind,” Lila replied. “I’m sorry if I cannot exactly believe you when you say those words. They sound very ominous to me.”

“Uhh.” The Demon Sovereign rubbed his nose. “How about…you cook me some pizza, Ark City-style, at around dinnertime? I’ll be back before you know it.”

“That’s better,” Lila replied. “Alright, pizza it is!”

“Auh!”

The two of them turned to look at Aria, who was now clutching onto the bars of her cot. She hadn’t responded much when Gemini moved to rub her cheeks, but now that he was really on the verge of leaving…

Gemini smiled and entered the house once more. As the shadowy man behind the Wildlands Council, he didn’t see the need to actually participate in the peace conference proper, and as the Demon Sovereign, he had the prerogative of being fashionably late. He had entrusted the entire flow to the Demigods of the Wildlands, who were far more qualified as statesmen and stateswomen than him, a forcibly-elevated half-baked great god.

Picking up Aria, he brought her over to the door. His wee daughter could, if his senses weren’t deceiving him, actually sense that today was going to be a very important day for everyone. She wasn’t one to cry much, but as he popped her back down on her cot, Aria began to cry.

“Come now, Aria.” Gemini rubbed her head as Lila walked over. “Don’t cry. Papa’s subordinates are just going to restore peace to the world. I’ll just be hanging at the back and doing nothing.”

Wiping her tiny tears with Lila, the two mollified the bawling Aria, but the Demon Sovereign could spot a tear or two on Lila’s face too. It was truly a case of ‘Like mother, like daughter’, if nothing else.

He rubbed cheeks with Aria once more, and then strode out of the door. Gemini knew that if he were to stay for another second, he would lose the courage to leave. By all indications, this shouldn’t be a problem for the Demigods at the peace conference, but Gemini was done leaving anything to chance.

The Second Extermination was horrible enough.

Constellation Gemini would do anything to prevent the Third Extermination, even if he had to fight the Five Lands and his former homeland to do so.

His heart trembling, Gemini took one more step forward, and the entire world changed. The translucent black dome was now so close that he could touch it — he was at the very borders of the Wildlands now.

“Demigods of the Wildlands Council,” Gemini murmured, willing his voice to reach each and every demon in the world, “commence the peace conference. Let us end this eternal conflict.”

“This is Pai-Relix. I hear and obey. We will…”

“This is Pur-Sandai. Your will is my command. We will…”

“I am Za-Tia. I shall see your will through. We will…”

With them at the lead, tens of voices combined together, forming an otherworldly chorus whose words were individually indistinguishable. Their wills melding together, Gemini ignored the words and reached out to these earnest resolutions, joining his own voice at their closing statement.

“We will end this war.” Gemini clenched his fist, prompting black and gold lightning to split the skies, visible even from within the black dome. “Go forth, protectors of all that is beautiful. Bring me the peace we have desired.”

A single presence bloomed, and then four others followed suit. Racing out of the black dome, these enormous presences approached the middle of the landbridge that linked the two worlds, where they sat down and waited. The remaining Demigods took up positions within the black dome, ready to sortie if anything happened.

In his mind’s eye, Gemini could see the Five Lands respond in kind. Four huge presences, with two of them particularly brilliant in nature, soared over and took their own place at the huge round table in the middle. Like the Wildlands, their Paragons also took up position on the other side of the Great Divide, ready to move at a moment’s notice.

The largest of all was Demigod Eliza, who was clearly the leader of this delegation. To her left was another Demigod, whose power was so close to that of Eliza’s that they looked like two twin suns. For a moment, Gemini had the premonition that the two of them, combined, could hold up against his own powers for at least three weeks — and the possibility of him losing was fairly huge.

“The strongest Demigods of the Five Lands,” Gemini murmured. “I knew that Eliza was this overpowered, but who knew that there was another such person?”

His attention shifted over to the other two presences. The first one was the withered Demigod, Xie Baole. His presence was far weaker than Eliza, but there was no point comparing anyone to her to begin with.

The last one was a…

“Huh. A Paragon.” Gemini narrowed his eyes. His face looked very familiar — he had a feeling that a photo or two had been hanging around in either the Holy Temple or the Southern Assembly. For him to be at the negotiating table, that fellow had to have a very high status, at least.

After brooding over the issue of that fellow’s identity for a moment, Gemini connected to the senses of Pur-Sandai, who instantly let him in without any hesitation. His vision changed, but the first thing Gemini had to do was to stifle any laughter.

Pur-Sandai was so short that he was actually sitting on some books.

Ignoring that absolutely adorable fact with some difficulty, Gemini cleared his mind and turned his attention back to the opening courtesies — the Demigods were introducing themselves.

As it turned out, these four people could absolutely represent the four continents. That Paragon there was actually the Mortal Light Dynasty’s Pinnacle Kolya, and as Gemini focused on the North’s ruler, the target of his observation gazed back evenly.

“Pur-Sandai…who is that in your eyes?”

Gemini, Pur-Sandai, and the other Demigods jumped.

Pinnacle Kolya narrowed his eyes. “I can see an immense will in your eyes, one that does not belong to you. Is someone eavesdropping on this conference? Are you intending to break faith with us?”

Gemini felt his physical eyelids twitch. How did this Paragon notice something that the Demigods didn’t?

“That intense will you see in Pur-Sandai’s eyes is a cautionary measure on our side,” Pai-Relix replied smoothly. “We have stepped out of the Wildlands with virtually no weapons or equipment; the same cannot be said for your group. I will not conceal this from everyone present — that will in his eyes is our final deterrent from treachery. If it triggers, everyone here will not like the result.”

The Demigods from the Five Lands glanced at each other, and then at their armour and weapons. Gemini nodded approvingly. Pai-Relix had turned their precautions onto themselves, which was one hell of a save. Making a mental note to let Aria hug her for an hour or so after this conference was over, Gemini began to regulate his will, keeping it constant to prevent the Five Lands’ Demigods from noticing anything odd.

If they were to extend their senses now, all they would notice was an unusually even will. They were going to be suspicious at how unnatural this evenness was, but a few clues sprinkled here and there would divert their attention well.

After the two sides messed around by exchanging some pleasantries, Pai-Relix took the lead and moved the conversation onwards.

“Demigods of the Five Lands, I trust you have heard our earnest wish to negotiate, no?”

The four nodded, before shifting their gaze to Pinnacle Kolya.

“Yes,” the Pinnacle replied. “We…have felt your sincerity in that regard. My heartfelt thanks for treating our soldiers humanely; our interviews with the returned captives tell us that you provide more food than they eat in the camps.”

“This war…is not something we desire,” said Pur-Sandai. “The Demon God has fallen. There is no reason for us to take revenge for a period of mutual injustice. What we want most now is to live in peace and clarity. That is all.”

Pinnacle Kolya looked around at the other Demigods. “Reparations, however, must be made. Demons are immortal, but I cannot say the same about humans and beastfolk.”

“That is to be expected,” Los-Ajax replied. “We are here precisely to discuss the terms of reparations. The loss of life is to be mourned, and we are more than willing to compensate the families of the dead.”

“We will proceed with that as the baseline, then.” Pinnacle Kolya’s face flickered. “Releasing your captives was a masterful move, if nothing else. The public wants nothing else but peace, after hearing about the constant mercy that the Wildlands showed to our troops.”

It was a surprisingly candid admission. Why did Pinnacle Kolya reveal this truth to the opposing side this easily? Was he not aware that he had ceded the initiative to the demons?

Pai-Relix stared at Pinnacle Kolya and nodded heavily. “We will not step out of the Wildlands, if possible. However, it will be open to all…refugees, if they so wish. May your own wars be as merciful as our conduct was.”

Gemini blinked, and a stray thought strand spun into overdrive. Within seconds, he understood what his closest aide was getting at — the Five Lands, in the end, had failed to unite against a common enemy, since their common enemy had no intention of actually providing material to anger the opposing side.

As a result, the Five Lands would soon pay the ultimate price.

After all, more lives had been claimed from infighting within the allied forces than the invasion of the Wildlands. The only thing that was keeping this situation from boiling over were the demons, but the Wildlands weren’t keen on a war. Coupled with the experiences of the troops sent in, it could only mean that the War Council were facing pressures to end this Third Extermination before it could even begin properly.

“A formal treaty to end this war, then. The great gods will enforce this,” Pinnacle Kolya murmured. “Is that fine?”

“No issue there.”

“Very well. Let us get started on negotiating the actual terms of the peace treaty.” He glanced at the Demigod sitting to the left of Eliza. “Queen Hyperion?”

The Demigod nodded, and five stacks of papers flew over to Gemini’s Demigods. “Those are the initial terms we are looking at. Most of them deal with resource compensation, as well as the establishment of the landbridge as a demilitarised zone.”

Gemini found himself zoning out as both sides began to haggle. The Demon Sovereign didn’t really care about the resources that the Wildlands had to send over, since they were all about metals and ores. What the Wildlands needed most was more food and basic necessities — tools of war were redundant while he was present.

He didn’t want to blow his own trumpet, but the Demon Sovereign was reasonably certain that he was undefeatable within the Wildlands. Furthermore, the longer he lived, the greater his understanding about what being a great god meant.

The Wildlands didn’t need to be militarily strong while he and the black dome lived. They had so much structural advantages that simple artefacts like Straight Shots and Palisades would turn them into a military without equal.

After all, nothing could compare to an immortal army…or a half-immortal one, anyway.

Withdrawing his senses, Gemini’s awareness returned to his own body. It would seem that this unimaginably long conflict was about to come to an end.

Whatever happened to the Five Lands next was none of his business.