“That’s about it.” Hereward folded his arms. “Does everyone here understand? This is no time for petty quarrels. We — us gods, the Five Lands and the Wildlands — must unite as one and march upon the Central Circle post-haste. Time is not on our side, and our opponent is mighty, even by our standards.”

Thasvia nodded slowly. “So, so and so. The Abyss Sovereign was a pawn of fate, designed to check the Demon Sovereign’s power. The latter, however, due to the Phantom Blade and her posse’s influence, proved to be far weaker, while the former veered out of destiny’s control.”

The members of the peace conference stared at each other, and Gemini felt the urge to guffaw. Somehow, these people had managed to reach an unstable unity in the time it took for the Stabiliser to conclude his explanation, which was probably a minor miracle or something.

Demons, beastfolk and humans were discussing amongst themselves, disregarding the fact that there were massive divisions between these groups, with no heed for national and racial loyalties.

On the surface, at least.

Demigod Eliza raised her hand. “Point, O Stabiliser. Who is the Abyss Sovereign? Or rather, who is the person behind this festival or creation?”

“Impossible to tell,” Hereward replied. “For now, anyway. Is that important?”

“To build a psychological profile,” the Demigod replied.

“Why,” said Queen Hyperion, “would the Abyss Sovereign conduct such an undertaking? The creation of a utopia that only the weak lower classes would desire has no value, materially speaking. It is pointless in design and serves no purpose, save to stoke one’s pride.”

“That’s what you think,” Kolya replied. “Queen Hyperion, with all due respect, someone who subscribes to antiquated notions of bloodline and maintains their stranglehold on power via force isn’t probably the best person to pass judgement on this issue. No offence, really.”

“Pinnacle Kolya…”

The Pinnacle glanced at the ruler of the Western Holdings. “You disagree? Would you like me to prove my point? I believe you might change your mind after I send my fleet to circle your fief once.”

“You dare threaten me?”

“Shut it, Queen Hyperion. Believe me, if I really wanted to, you would not be standing here today,” said Pinnacle Kolya. “Your military refuses to modernise, your government refuses to modernise, and even you yourself doesn’t want to modernise. It would be a piece of cake for me to raze your nation to the ground, if I didn’t care for the millions of farmers your nation unjustly exploits.”

“Quite a sharp tongue, little boy.”

“Are we playing the age card now, granny?”

A wave of power surged out from Demigod Eliza. “Enough, the two of you. There’s no point in fighting over these issues. It is both irrelevant and—”

“Demigod Eliza,” said Kolya, cutting off her words, “can you speak for both the Southern Assembly and the Republic in that? The Queen of the Western Holdings disdains a utopia for the weak and downtrodden. The Republic is precisely that.”

Gemini rolled his eyes. With that little exchange, he had to do a minor revision to his assessment of the Five Lands. Not only were there racial and historical rifts, there were also ideological and class divisions. The same thought was apparently flitting through the minds of the demons, who were watching them with an equally entertained manner.

“Sooth, children of Orb.” Hereward’s presence spread out, wrapping around everyone. “Divided we fall. There is a very good reason why the invasion of the Wildlands failed so catastrophically. If my brother hadn’t deigned to show mercy, blood would have run in rivets.”

His words struck everyone dumb for a few seconds, before Demigod Eliza turned to Pai-Relix.

“Right,” said Eliza. “What’s up with the Demon Sovereign? You lot sure didn’t mention him in the negotiations, no? Isn’t this strategic deception?”

She turned to Gemini a moment later, a small smile on her face. To everyone else, it was probably a humourless smile, but the Demon Sovereign could see the same sorrow she had back then, when he stayed back to sever the passage between the Wildlands and the Five Lands.

“The Lord has no desire to play politics. He is…a recluse, the final defence of the Wildlands and nothing else,” Pai-Relix replied.

“Not as an instrument of war?” Queen Hyperion asked, a mocking smile on her face. “Do you really think we’ll buy that?”

“I don’t care whether you buy that or not,” Gemini replied, lacing his words with a hint of danger. “Nothing should have dragged me out of my retirement.”

“Retire—what?”

“In fact,” Gemini continued on, ignoring the Queen’s surprised outburst, “if not for Hereward’s plea, I would have stayed in my little cottage and ignored whatever that was going on here. After all, as a great god, whatever changes that happen to Orb will have little direct effect on me. Furthermore, I find this utopia in the making to be agreeable; I only moved because of the massive risks that accompany this festival.”

“I will guarantee, with my name, that Ge—Asteria has no intention of anything else other than a lazy retirement.” Hereward glanced at the demons. “My apologies, but your lord really just wants to rest.”

The piercing gazes of the other demons were too hard for Gemini to bear, so he decided to shift slightly away from their line of sight. Fortunately, there was a convenient obstacle called Hereward he could make use of, and within moments, he was out of his ex-subjects’ sight.

The other great gods radiated a sense of amusement, if only briefly, before Hereward cleared his throat. “Back to the issue at present. Therefore, unless you want to brave the risks that come when the festival completes, muster your forces and prepare to fight.”

“Nice and all,” said Xie Baole, who had been silent the whole time, “but are we going to enlist the help of the Wildlands too?”

The conference venue fell silent.

“I believe that’s for the best,” said Hereward. “After all, none of you would be at ease if the Wildlands are—”

“No,” Gemini interrupted. “They are not. I will represent their contributions here. The ladies and gentlemen of the Five Lands make a good point. And I have no intention of letting my people become cannon fodder.”

He glanced at Hereward. “Is that acceptable?”

Hereward turned to look at the other great gods, and in that moment, massive amounts of information that were compressed in a manner similar to the Demon God’s little inheritance, flowed back and forth.

“Yes,” Hereward replied.

“Good.” Gemini turned to Pai-Relix and the others. “You guys can go back and oversee the reconstruction. Your work is done here. Thank you for your hard work.”

With a single gesture, the five demons vanished, and Gemini let out a small sigh. “Done. You can take over now, Hereward.”