Traversing the spatial passage that led to the Library of Ancients was no different from stepping across the door, unlike previous iterations of long-range travel. With Nexus’ help, Gaius had completely eliminated the conceptual distance between the Cradle of Creation and the Library of Ancients, eliminating the possibility of being intercepted by the likes of Hereward mid-travel.

A faint chill covered Gaius’ skin as he stepped into the Library of Ancients, Isabelle by his side.

“It’s been some time…”

“No, not really,” Nexus piped up. “However, it has been some time since anyone has been able to ascend in the hierarchy of life. No new Knights, Lords, Paragons and Demigods have appeared, ever since you took in the Crying Abyss for yourself.”

“Wait, they’re both events that started one month ago, so why do you make such a distinction?”

“Because you’ve been popping back — mmm!” Before Nexus could complete his sentence, Gaius grabbed him with his left hand and stopped him from speaking.

“What was that?” Isabelle asked.

“I don’t know,” Gaius replied innocently, his left hand vibrating madly. Isabelle would get angry if she knew that he had been sending out his will to check on the kids every so often without telling her. Nexus, as the custodian of the Library, had obviously noticed his traces inside, but there were some things that should have been better left unsaid.

Fortunately, before Isabelle could press the topic, two sets of footfalls echoed out, and Gaius found himself bracing for impact as two kids slammed into him.

Prying Nakama off him, he stared at her. “You’re supposed to be the older one, so why are you still playing at cannonballs?”

“Why not?” Nakama asked. “You can catch me easily, right?”

Her bright eyes made it hard for Gaius to rebuke her, so he decided to peel La-Ti off him. The little guy had thrown a little tantrum when Gaius conveyed the news of Weiwu’s passing to him — the Chanter of Innocents was someone dear to his heart — but the little fellow had clearly thought it through after a while.

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean you should make it a habit,” Gaius replied. “What if I was carrying something like a vase or some fragile item? You’ll hurt yourself and everything.”

“I’m too strong for that,” Nakama replied, “it won’t affect me!”

“Now that’s just plain old overconfidence...right, where’s Xanadu?” Gaius peered at the empty hallway behind the two kids. “You didn’t bully her or something did you?”

“No, she’s just assembling some artefact,” Nakama replied. “She seems bored nowadays, though. Ran through all the books here without putting even a single one down!”

Considering her origins, Gaius could understand why Xanadu was such an avid reader. Of course, it didn’t help that she had a fellow book bug called Isabelle beside her, but the amount she spent reading was a testament to how much she wanted to understand the world called Orb.

And perhaps, to understand the world before it faded away or entered a new, brilliant age. Gaius had planned the next five months well — if Orb were to stand a chance, working together without withholding any secrets and reservations would be the only way the rest of the world could take him down. In fact, if his observations didn’t prove him wrong, the demons had also been mobilised…probably, anyway.

Either way, by the end of the six months, Orb would have been too interconnected to be able to break away satisfactorily. At the same time, the losses he would inflict on the combined forces of the Five Lands would be so severe that war would become a fantasy for the next few generations. Even if they somehow managed to interrupt the creation of Celestia, the Five Lands would no longer be able to wage war. At the same time, he had severed the path to becoming a Knight and a semi-divinity, since his death would necessarily mean the end of the Crying Abyss too.

Individual might would no longer be the key enabler behind the social injustices that the weak faced. It would be possible for them to band together and overwhelm oppressors.

“Artefacts, eh? Maybe we should also work on distributing knowledge of these things to everyone or something,” Gaius mused.

Surrounded by the others, he went to the Map Room. Ever since the Map of Stars was disabled, it had turned into the living room for everyone. Eating, playing, making random artefacts…all sorts of activities went on inside the Map Room. It was a pity that neither of the two could go to school, not with the Festival of Creation underway no.

“Gaius.” A white-haired woman looked up and nodded at him as he entered. “Your return is as noisy as usual. Anything interesting outside? I’ve heard about your plan, and it seems like you shouldn’t have time to come back here and everything.”

“No, they’re still preparing,” Gaius replied. “From what I can tell, they’re holding nothing back this time around — they’re doing multinational drills with the North at the helm.”

“Nervous?

“Maybe. Who’s to say? But I do have these Locomotives as my first target. The only reason why the Wildlands was able to last this long was because no one could fly in there, save for Demigods.” The Abyss Sovereign grinned. “If I were to create a similar field…I wonder how they would react.”

“Tried and tested strategy, then.”

“Yes. The strongest of the Five Lands rely heavily on mobile warfare, and…wait. Let’s not talk about boring things like this,” Gaius replied. “Thank you for looking after the kids.”

“No problem.”

It didn’t take long before Nakama and La-Ti dragged him over to play one of the many board games he’d brought back from Flynn a long time ago, and as little soldiers — the ones that had abruptly gained sentience some time back — carried small cakes over to them, Gaius couldn’t help but think of a bygone time in which he felt no responsibility to the common folk of Orb.

“Alright,” said Isabelle, “don’t go bullying Gaius too much. Okay?”

That last statement felt very ominous, for some reason.