As the simple one-liner echoed throughout the whole world, Hereward took a single step forward. His body, now shimmering with a silvery-grey light, pulsed once, and Gemini found his eyes inexorably drawn towards the great god. It wasn’t just him either — the gigantic fleet of ships, the far smaller fleet of Locomotives, the Knights and semi-divinities standing guard in mid-air — all eyes turned to look at the Sentinel of Space.

In that little moment frozen in time, Gemini understood who Hereward was. Right now, he was not the Sentinel of Space. Hereward had somehow returned to his former role in its entirety; he was currently Orb’s God of Creation. The being who created the foundations of the current Orb; the existence that stood above all else prior to the descent of Tiadall and Pabar.

Hereward, Orb’s God of Creation.

“My will guides me.”

The surging light ebbed away, and the spatial isolation that had surrounded the Central Circle vanished, as if it had never existed before. Hereward’s transformation ended at the same time, but Gemini could now sense a profound fatigue radiating outwards from his peer, who was holding on to his chest.

“It is…far easier to destroy, than to create.” Hereward straightened his body with much difficulty. “And I am the Stabiliser, above all. To preserve and to repair — that is my path. It has served me well, but it too has limited me in other ways.”

“That explains why you’re so weak at fighting,” Gemini noted.

Before Hereward could protest, thousands of thunderclaps bellowed out into Orb, melding into a thunderous roar that swept through the Never-ending Ocean. The ships and the Locomotives had belched out gigantic swaths of fire and smoke, sending out a vermilion tsunami that surged towards the Central Circle.

The tumultuous first volley of artillery shells had been fired off with sublime coordination, their tracers now creating a solid dome of crimson radiance as they arced towards the Central Circle. A terrific shockwave shook the Never-ending Ocean once more as a second volley followed, and then a third.

“This much firepower…”

After the fifth volley of coordinated fire, the guns fell silent. The North’s Locomotive lit up, projecting thick measures as distant thunder echoed from the Central Circle. At the same time, the massive naval fleet picked up speed, charging towards the Central Circle with reckless abandon.

“Let me give them a hand,” Thasvia murmured.

Wind howled around her finger, and the raging waves that had threatened to block the hectic, insane approach of Orb’s fleet far below her stilled immediately. The Breath-maker had forcibly stilled the raging seas with a single gesture, and Gemini nodded slowly.

Thasvia had calmed the waters around their area of approach with her specialty. It looked easy, but Gemini knew that the only way he could do something similar would be to expend quite a bit of his divinity, which was dangerous in more ways than one.

Gemini was still currently relying on the reserves of divinity left behind by the Demon God, as well as the divinity that was still being produced from the interaction between the Human God and the Demon God’s remaining power. Once these were expended, however…

Taking a deep breath, Gemini forced out some divinity, which coiled around his right index finger as the first volley of artillery fire drew close to their destination. Everyone else followed suit, preparing to strike the moment there was an opening.

There had to be a barrier, after—

“Eh?”

The crimson tide crashed onto the shores of the Central Circle, inundating the pitch-black buildings in an ocean of fire and bloody death. Walls and towers crumbled away, vanishing visibly as the first volley tore down the defences of the Central Circle.

“There’s no barrier?” Hereward asked.

The following volleys of artillery fire continued to crash down onto the ruined shores of the Central Circle, clearing out a huge swath of glassy land. The intense bombardment had reduced everything into dust, with the incredible temperatures involved turning both soil and sand into shiny glass.

Within the imposing defences of the Central Circle, there was now a large opening. The Locomotives of the North, which had been escorting the fleet, abruptly sped up, and the shimmering barriers that had been projected at their front turned into a solid block of prismatic radiance.

Locomotives shook as they took on the artillery fire that had came from the Central Circle, but other than creating some black clouds, nothing else happened. Not even a single Locomotive had—

One of those metallic hulks spat out smoke, splitting off into the east a second later. The rest, however, continued on their approach, and gunfire began to spill out from their underbellies as they closed in onto the Central Circle. Smaller, more controlled explosions tore down the ridiculously compact defences in the outer areas of the Central Circle, while the Locomotives’ main guns began to target the most obvious targets — the taller than usual towers.

“Seems like the Abyss Sovereign has finally reacted,” Hereward muttered, as a sea of black silhouettes, enough to blot out the horizon itself, took to the skies. “We must have attacked at a rather bad timing; up until now, any attempts to fight back was probably automated.”

“Looks like the Five Lands got lucky here, then,” said Thasvia.

“Lucky they might be, but we better intervene now,” said Hereward. “Draw out the battle and stop the Abyss Sovereign from crushing these Locomotives.”

Without waiting for Gemini or Thasvia’s agreement, the Sentinel of Space gestured once, and the scenery. The area beneath Gemini, which was once an ocean and a vast expanse of ships, was now a huge tract of glassy soil.

Hereward had brought them into the Central Circle’s upper airzone with a single move, providing Gemini a close-up view of the maddened spectres charging at them and at the North’s Locomotives.

“Before you do that next time,” said Gemini, generating a sword in his right hand, “give us some warning next time!”

“I’ll think about it,” said Hereward, before raising a finger to point at the approaching spectres. “But first…”