The Republic’s Minister of State was visibly surprised when Gemini, Lila and Aria knocked on her office door. The three of them had directly teleported over to the command ship where Minister Pauline was working at, before asking around politely about her current location.

“Demon Sovereign Asteria.” She drummed her fingers on her desk. “This is a very unexpected visit. You should have sent a calling card, since I might not have been here in my office.”

“I am told that you are a workaholic,” Gemini replied. “And given my powers, looking for you wasn’t all that hard.”

Minister Pauline eyed him, which was quite the brave act in his book. “I am not sure which is more disturbing, to be honest. And this must be…hmm. Looks like the rumours are true, Demon Sovereign Gemini.”

“Gemini will do, really.”

“So, you’re bringing your wife and your child along.” The minister extended a finger to Aria, who held it enthusiastically, before letting the finger go. “Not for any official purpose, then. Are you planning to take a break in my nation?”

Gemini exchanged a glance with Lila.

“Looks like I got it right. What about…” Her face twisted. “Great gods. Are they already out and moving around in Orb?”

“Yes, but what’s with that very peculiar reaction?” Gemini asked.

“The last time I hosted a bunch of familiar spirits, they ended up wrecking an entire street. In my capital city.” Minister Pauline held her head. “You two shouldn’t be a problem, but the other great gods?”

She took a deep breath. “Well, did they say where they were headed to?”

“Nope.”

The minister took another deep breath. “Joy. Well, as long as they don’t do anything in my nation, I’m happy. As for you…you two should have some common sense, no? Please don’t break a building or something.”

Aria, who was staring awfully intently at the minister’s finger, gurgled happily.

“She speaks for us,” Gemini added.

Minister Pauline shot him a look that asked if he was messing with her, and then sighed. “Well, please do not attempt to counterfeit our currency. I’ll fund your little trip, so please don’t do anything funny there, okay?”

“This is too kind of you—”

“The great gods don’t really know anything about money,” the minister replied. “And there’s nothing like bandits or monsters in the Republic, so the only way you guys can get money would be through working or more sordid means. Since you three are on a leisure trip, the former is entirely out. I am a hundred percent certain that you three won’t have any money.”

“That is a very astute analysis, yes.” Gemini cleared his throat. “We won’t stand on courtesy, then.”

“Good.” Pauline handed over five notes. “Here you go. Hundred-gold notes. More than enough to try out every single famed dish in the Republic, and then some.”

“Thank you,” said Gemini, before handing the notes over to Lila. “You’re so kind.”

“Just don’t go breaking something, okay? Five hundred gold is pocket change compared to the cost of rebuilding a street,” Pauline replied. “Seriously.”

“We’ll stick your instructions very thoroughly, then,” Gemini replied.

“It’s great that you came to me first,” Pauline replied. “Thank you for taking into account our feelings.”

After exchanging a few more words, the three of them left Pauline’s office. A few curious eyes fell on them…or rather, Aria, who was currently sitting on Gemini’s shoulders. He couldn’t quite blame them, since babies were just about the last thing one would associate with a military ship.

“Alright, let’s head over to the Republic,” said Gemini.

The others nodded, and darkness flashed through their vision. The hustle and bustle of city life filled their ears a moment later, and he looked around in satisfaction. There was nothing more enlivening than seeing people carrying about their daily lives for him; Gemini had seen more than enough wars for the rest of his presumably eternal existence.

“Ah. Life.”

“You sound very different.” Lila noted.

“I’m no longer human. Things change once in a while. In the past, I was swept away by promised glories and shows of power. Military parades, the thrill of being saluted at by over a hundred thousand soldiers. Today, I find myself longing for peaceful scenes like this.” Gemini smiled. “It’s a testament to the huge changes that I’ve experienced, right?”

Lila chuckled, before rubbing his head. “Yes. I was from Ars, remember? Most of my childhood was spent in watching the primal demons siege my home. Scenes like this were rare. Even in Ark City, most of our time were spent in guarding against the primal demons.”

“It’s different now, though.”

“Yes,” Lila replied. “We’re attacking something that has the possibility to be a threat. To date, the Abyss Sovereign has never attacked us. The only reason why the great gods are hostile to him is because of the risks posed, right?”

Gemini nodded.

“…Is it not possible to work together with the Abyss Sovereign? To help remove this risk?”

“Even if we work together with the Demon Sovereign, we can never fully eliminate the risks,” Gemini replied. “That’s more than enough for Hereward to go on the offensive. If, by the smallest of chances, Orb truly is unlucky…that would be it. There’ll be no second chances.”

He paused. “The Abyss Sovereign is opening up a new dimension. Creating a new space, a new world. It’s different from simply making a planet. If anything happens, Orb will probably be destroyed through and through. It’s a pity, but I truly liked his ideals.”

“That’s just how it is, huh.”

“Yeap.”

As Aria rested her little chin on his head, Gemini couldn’t help but sigh. Despite his thoughts, the Abyss Sovereign was a mighty foe. Even with the incredible artefacts of the North, he couldn’t help but feel worried. The enemy’s will — the source of his incredible powers was growing stronger by the passing minute. Would they truly be able to stop the Abyss Sovereign?

And would he truly want to stop the birth of Celestia?

Gemini didn’t know.

---

Interregnum, the Republic’s capital city, was so modern that Gemini couldn’t help but think about places like New York or London. Tall buildings dotted the area, what seemed like cars were travelling on the recently built main roads, and most telling of all, huge billboards had been stuck on buildings.

…To call them billboards was probably a bit off, though. They were pretty much television screens, or as Orb called them, giant Displays. Ads ran on them every so often, but their main focus was the ongoing attack on the Central Circle. Videos of the massive assault force surging across the seas were being played, and Gemini could feel the emotions of the watching crowds rise and fall as waves of spectres were felled by superior firepower.

“They sure know how to twist the truth,” Lila noted sadly.

“Auh…”

Gemini stared at his daughter, who shouldn’t have been able to chime in with such accurate emotions, and then rubbed her head. “That’s what all governments learn to do, in the end. They can’t report massive losses, nor can they actually inform the public about what they’re truly fighting for. They can only appeal to nationalism and patriotic fervour to maintain the practices that sustain their expedition.”

With a bitter smile twisting his lips, he continued on. “After all, the Five Lands had been beaten back in their invasion of the Wildlands. Although few — in relative comparison to the Demon God’s initial invasion — died, the austerity measures that were set in place to fund this war had required lots of political capital.”

“Which is why they’re stoking up fear and passion now,” Lila murmured. “I see. At some point, though, it’s going to crumble from the inside. The bubble has to pop someday, right? And when it does…”

Gemini glanced northwards, where an imposing presence hung in the sky. It radiated both peace and tranquillity, while extending an invitation to anyone who looked at it.

He could spot streaks of white, faint and blurred from distance, arcing into the shadowy reflection of Celestia. Fortunately, very few of these streaks were actually coming from the Republic; most of these streaks were actually originating from the Southern Assembly.

It was probably their comeuppance. Gemini’s judgement about the Southern Assembly was naturally very unbiased, totally objective and devoid of any thoughts about his personal history, but he couldn’t help but think that they probably had it coming.

“You have a rather evil smile on your face,” Lila noted.

“I do?” Gemini asked. “Come now, dear, why would I have such a face on?” Gemini chuckled. “Right, Aria?”

“Auh? Buh.”

“Ooh, a new sound.” Gemini rubbed her cheeks. “Maybe you might be able to vocalise a sound that starts with C next, yeah?”

Aria tilted her head. “Buh!”

“Shouldn’t it be time for her to call ‘papa’ and ‘mama’?” Lila looked on, worried. “Let’s get her to call us more often, okay? I’ll be a bit heartbroken if her first words aren’t ‘papa’ or ‘mama’.”

Gemini tried to imagine that scene, and then laughed. “Well, you do you. Right, Aria?”

A little noise came from Aria by way of reply.

With that little incident over, Gemini continued to stroll around aimlessly with his family. They had just walked past a delicious-looking cake shop when a newsstand appeared in his vision, and the Demon Sovereign directed his feet over to check on the latest news.

Lila froze at the headlines, and then shook her head sadly. “Really?”

Gemini shrugged. “The true propaganda war has begun, if nothing else. This headline is bull, and the Republic has to know that. ‘Abyss Sovereign unveils weapon to destroy Orb’. ‘An unrealistic utopia — experts opine on why it’s impossible’. ‘The end is coming, unless we unite to stop it’. ‘Hero turned villain: the Lost Star’s descent into madness’.”

As he continued to flip through the newspapers, Gemini noted that the Republic had picked up some points the great gods had raised yesterday. In fact, some sentences were directly quoted, but considering the fact that Hereward and company were already intending to discredit the Abyss Sovereign’s grand undertaking, it was simply a natural development.

What wasn’t a natural development, however, was how the media picked up those prejudiced quotes and ran away with it. While amusing, it was also a stark reminder to Gemini that it was very easy to vilify any given person at any point in time. For some reason, the Abyss Sovereign’s personal history had been dug up, but since there wasn’t much of it to begin with, ridiculous conspiracy theories had popped up.

For instance, there was one about how the Abyss Sovereign was orchestrating the deaths of many Assembly prodigies, by supporting a band of bandits that had somehow managed to trouble both the Assembly and the Republic for years.

In fact, that particular newspaper had even dug out classified terms like ‘Intersection’ and ‘Harvesters’, a bunch of top-secret initiatives from Ark City.

“Ah, how nostalgic,” Gemini murmured.

“What’s nostalgic about this particular newspaper?” Lila asked curiously.

“Look! I haven’t heard the word ‘Intersection’ for a long time, especially as the name of a place,” Gemini replied. “Man, this brings me back. If we don’t count the time I spent with you, my stint as a guard of the Intersection was probably the best days of my life. Peace, tranquillity…”

“Oh, so that’s what they’re referring to,” Lila replied, before frowning. “But how did they come across those terms?”

She peered at the article in question. “Wow, this article does seem a bit legitimate. There’s an interview with someone who claims to be the boss’ underling and all too.”

“Pfft.” Gemini read the article. “Nah, no one’s going to believe it. The boss is called ‘Tetsu’; that’s more of an Eastern Territories name. Why would someone from the Eastern Territories be here? And as a bandit boss no less?”

“Oh…”

“They should at least do proper research,” Gemini muttered. “How fake.”