“Why would that be the case?” Marie asked. “We’ve thought the same thing back then, when we had the Conference of the Four and the War Council. But look at the result. There’s nothing to show for it.”

“You might not see the reason now, but you can feel it, right? A visceral understanding that this…foe is different. In the past, we were prepared. Ready. The North had Locomotives, and the Heaven-cleaving Fortress stood vigil. The great gods were ready to fight,” Pauline replied.

“What’s the difference between now and then?” Aziz asked. “What, the Drums of Order? We’re also preparing and readying ourselves.”

“It’s different. This crisis was not something we could see. The great gods tell us that our preparations were inadequate, and that the enemy is a being that shouldn’t have existed. Forced together by an abject fear, we have moved together with an unprecedented unity,” Pauline replied.

Aziz thought about it for a moment. From what he could tell, the Republic’s Minister of State was claiming that the unexpectedness of this new Abyss Sovereign and the threat it posed was why Orb had been forced to band together.

“What, like there’s no time to consider political benefits and whatnot?” Aziz asked.

“In a sense, I guess,” Pauline replied. “The enemy appeared in the middle of the Five Lands, but we aren’t enjoying the homefield advantage. No, the enemy is. We need to invade the ex-stronghold of the Holy Temple to stop this festival of creation, but our failure to do anything meaningful in the Wildlands is a stark reminder that we need to work together.”

“I’m quite sure it’s also a reminder about the importance of air cover, though,” Aziz replied. “If we had the Locomotives—”

“The Demon Sovereign would have been forced to reveal himself and destroy a whole bunch of them,” Pauline completed. “A sane Demon Sovereign, one whose judgement was not clouded. The easy victory the North scored would not repeat itself, not with such a precedent. With such high expectations, one or two failures would be enough to tear apart the War Council.”

“You’re saying that it was destined to fail?”

“The equivalent of a great god engaging in guerrilla warfare against the Five Lands, or even actually respecting the threat the Five Lands pose, is more than enough reason to say that,” Pauline replied, her left hand playing with the armrest. “Containment was one thing, but utter eradication was a dream that could only be possible if the Demon Sovereign had been sealed away.”

“In other words, it was a pipe dream through and through.”

“Given the fact that the Demon Sovereign was very much alive and well, yes,” Pauline concluded. “But since we were deluded, we immediately saw every other nation as a rival jostling for territory, laying the stage for future conflicts. There’s no benefit here, however. Either we succeed, or we die. That’s more than enough to be candid, open and frank with each other.”

Aziz couldn’t think of a reply to that.

“It’s not just that, is it?” Marie asked. “The second reason why peace would follow is because there won’t be much of an army left, no? This fortress in the middle of the Five Lands will almost certainly kill just about everyone who attacks it. It’s not a battlefield for us, but it is the battlefield we must enter.”

“Yes,” Pauline admitted, her face lined with fatigue. “That’s why I moved the First Aerial into the rear echelon. You and your soldiers have done too much. If the Demon Sovereign had intended to kill everyone back then…”

“But no one could have known that,” Marie replied. “Besides, isn’t handing out preferential treatment unfair to the others?”

“Unfair, yes,” Pauline replied. “But none will gainsay your achievements. The two of you have done more than enough, and if your unit were to be slaughtered, morale will drop drastically. It’s been my wish to keep you guys away from danger for a long time.”

Aziz felt a gentle warmth burn in his heart. “Thank you.”

“Thanking me…how ludicrous. I’ve sent thousands to their death without blinking. To take down the Abyss Sovereign, to prevent the possibility of any undue accidents.” Pauline clicked her tongue. “But if I am to be honest with the two of you, most of us here are fighting simply to maintain our current, arguably exploitative, way of life. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

With that, she fell silent. Aziz could also sense that she wasn’t in the mood for any further conversation, so he didn’t speak up any further and simply listened to the briefing. They were now talking about the fixed defences that had been identified so far. However, since these defences had been essentially constructed out of pure energy, everyone admitted that using conventional formulas to calculate range and lethality was a moot point.

In other words, the latter half of the whole thing was worthless, and as everyone got up to leave, Aziz felt that the expedition to subjugate the Abyss Sovereign was going to end badly.

“Me too,” Marie muttered. “We’re all going to die or something, I guess. What kind of risk to Orb are we talking about anyway? They’re always harping on them, to the point that we’re all worrying if the world would snap into two or if the ocean would rise.”

“But there’s just no concrete proof,” Aziz replied. “We don’t know what’s going to happen, and we’re just taking the higher-ups at their word. What if there’s actually no risk or an incredibly low risk, and we’re just being used?”

“Pauline did admit that a good number of them didn’t like the new world the Abyss Sovereign was creating,” Marie replied. “In fact, if news about what the Abyss Sovereign was creating spread out, it’s quite possible that the Five Lands’ foot soldiers would simply mutiny on the spot.”

“Yeah. But that could also be a red herring the Abyss Sovereign cast out,” Aziz replied. “What if he intended to make some crazy hell and toss us inside? Spreading this news out—”

“Impossible,” Marie replied. “The great gods would have told us that outright, if that was the case. They didn’t lie, precisely to help us know what the Five Lands was up against. If the masses found about this lie…”

Pauline chuckled, surprising the two of them. “The whole world would sink into chaos. Even now, all kinds of rumours are flying, precisely to prevent a defection. Either way, however, once the world learns the truth…”

She shook her head. “I’ll need to make a move first. Be well, the two of you.”

Without giving them any chance to respond, the Republic’s Minister of State walked away from them, heading deep into the ocean of tents. As she walked away, Aziz stared at Pauline’s shrinking silhouette, and felt sorrow well up in him.

For some reason, her shrinking silhouette seemed unbearably lonely.