After that simple yet mystifying statement, the three of them joined a different queue, which had been set aside for people of importance. Importance here, however, was relative, which meant that only people like Minister Pauline was allowed through the express queue. The general queue was manned by a bunch of tired soldiers, who were processing entry and checking that nothing dangerous was being brought inside the tent.

“Still,” said Aziz, “what’s the point of checking whether these people are Knights or not?”

Pauline cast an aside glance at those manning the booth. “It’s simple, really. This new world the Abyss Sovereign intends on creating is inimical to people like you and me — Knights and semi-divinities who have consolidated power one way or another. However, it disproportionately benefits the mortals, the weaker ones. Therefore, it is unlikely that the former group would try to do anything to the War Council and the military, since they’re the ones with most to lose.”

“On the part of the mortals,” said Marie, “few know the truth behind this utopia-in-making. The Five Lands has disseminated ample information pertinent to the theoretical risk the creation of this new world poses to Orb, choosing to focus on that above anything else.”

“That’s it?” Aziz asked. “I had expected the War Council to discredit whatever world the Abyss Sovereign intends on cooking up, though.”

“Hard to, when even the great gods can only guess. There isn’t much information for us to analyse at this moment, but simply knowing the barebones of this new world is enough for the War Council and the governments of the Five Lands to sit up in alarm,” Marie replied, before glancing at Pauline. “Isn’t that right, minister?”

“Stop trying to rehash knowledge to show off, my marshal.” Pauline rolled her eyes. “Yes. This new world would almost certainly pull out the carpet from everyone’s feet, if it ever comes to pass. The people at the bottom would jump ship immediately, especially since there’s no longer any chance of becoming a Knight.”

Aziz blinked. “No longer any chance? What’s going on?”

“Will-carving is impossible now,” Marie replied. “Ever since that tower appeared in the Central Circle, no new Knights and semi-divinities have appeared. Those that used to be on the doorstep have reported the sudden inability to connect to Podia.”

“Podia, huh.” Podia was a world of the mind, where will-carving took place. Aziz had gone there just once before, to recite his vows and become a Knight. “It’s now inaccessible?”

“To be more precise,” Pauline replied, “the signs of that one’s will was ready have entirely vanished. Headaches, echoes, hallucinations…all these have vanished. The timing in which Podia ceased to be accessible is too close to this festival of creation for it to be a coincidence.”

“The Abyss Sovereign somehow did this?” Aziz muttered. “Is this even possible? How is this even possible?”

“We don’t know,” Marie replied, “but we must accept this as reality for now. There’s now an incredible divide between mortals and semi-divinities, with us Knights on the latter camp.”

“Which is why we must defeat the Abyss Sovereign and reopen the path to power,” Pauline replied.

Before Aziz or Marie could say anything in response, they arrived at the entrance. There wasn’t much in the way of checks, and after ascertaining that there was nothing wrong with their identities, the three of them were waved through.

“The VIP area looks a lot less VIP than usual,” Aziz quipped as they made their way to the seats allocated to the three of them. The tent was enormous, with a makeshift stage at the area furthest from the entrance. Their current seats, which were for really important people, were close to the stage, cordoned off from the general area with some literal red tape.

“Yeah,” Marie replied. “Can’t make it too blatant, since everyone here is important in one way or another. This demarcation is pretty much for the heads of the Five Lands; if we weren’t following Pauline, we would have to join the others there.”

Exchanging a few more words of meaningless conversation, the three of them leaned back and waited for the briefing to start. After ten minutes, the last of the stragglers outside skittled into the tent, and the drumbeat, which had maintained a steady cadence for the past few minutes, came to a halt.

“Ladies, gentlemen, thank you for coming at such a short notice.” Pinnacle Kolya rippled into view on the makeshift stage, dressed in a tuxedo. His medium-sized frame didn’t seem like much, but Aziz had seen him take action once before, during the Conference of the Four. “For those who don’t know me — which can be rather unlikely — I am Pinnacle Kolya, ruler of the Mortal Light Dynasty. Today’s briefing will talk about the enemy’s force disposition.”

He inclined his head slightly. “My troops took nearly a month to ready the Skyclad Observer against our unknown enemy, so do pardon us for our tardiness. Either way, however, we have confirmed the current state of the Central Circle.”

A woman with red flaming hair, wearing a twilight gown, appeared beside Kolya. “I am Oracle Galina. Kolya here isn’t much of an expert in looking at things, which is why I’m taking over this tiresome joke. Jokes aside, however, we have managed to produce an…image. Of the enemy stronghold.”

“Enemy, eh?” Aziz muttered.

“What’s wrong with that term?” Marie asked.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Aziz whispered back. “They don’t want to give a name. The War Council intends to control the discourse of this entire war. Those sneaky bastards — sorry, minister, not referring to you — do not want the general public to learn about the purpose of this new world.”

“No offence taken,” Pauline replied. “But yes, as a government, having my people abruptly travel to another world somehow is not what I want to see.”

Aziz was silent for a moment. He knew that there were probably baser thoughts and desires that even Pauline had considered. For instance, the fact that if the commonfolk were to all vanish, the luxurious lives the powerful once lived would be gone forever.

The end goal of the Abyss Sovereign was to apparently deliver the commonfolk to a utopia of his creation. He knew this much, at least. The only question was how.

An image appeared on stage. “This image is the only one we have been able to see of the Central Circle so far.”

Aziz felt his heart skip a beat as he took in the details. “What the…”