“Isn’t it clear what we should do with this one?” Sandoval was the first to spit venom against me.

“I am against such a resolution,” Tobias intervened, going against Sandoval’s implied proposal of disposing of me.

“Listen, Miller, he is an existence Mother abhors: he must be purged”

“I will eventually solve this problem,” I interjected with a cold voice. My words contained a subtle resolution, one the man facing me would find utterly displeasing.

Sandoval opened his eyes wide. “You dare…” he muttered, glaring at me and grinding his teeth. He brought his hand to his side, ready to draw his sword, but a few stern words from Tobias stopped him.

“It’s courtesy not to engage in any hostility during such meetings, and yet you show your insolence. Behave”

“This fiend dared to…”

“Yes, yes, we all heard him declaring he will eventually slay the Mother you worship. But as you already know, we do not care,” Mia injected herself into the conversation. She had her amiable smile still plastered on her face, but her words were sharp.

Sandoval’s eyes were reduced to two thin slits, but he ultimately retracted his hand under the pressure of the two opponents. One thing was clear: Alexander Sandoval was one of the major authorities in this world, but he wasn’t liked by his colleagues.

Sandoval turned to Sloan, the only other person present who didn’t seem to find his presence a bother.

“Amina, you agree with me, right? We mustn't let him leave this place alive!” Sandoval barked.

He obtained a scoff in response.

“Don’t yell,” she sent him a glare.

Her actions caught my curiosity. I imagined she would back him up taking into account our history of hostilities, but her behaviour suggested otherwise. She approached me until we were only a step apart. She towered over me, so I had to look upward to meet her eyes.

“You are dangerous,” she started talking.

“Yes,” I confirmed.

“You are the first one to reach maturity this quickly”

“So I heard”

“You are certainly going to become a Legion”

“It is my intent”

“So let me ask you a question. Do you still abide by the words you said that day?”

I thought back to our first meeting. Her almost killing me and declaring me a threat to the order of this world. Me declaring I would be the one to save it.

“Not completely,” I responded.

“What?” her voice became razor sharp.

“If necessary, the Genai Monarch will be killed, but I may have found a different solution,” I explained myself better. If what had happened with the genai I had recently encountered could be replicated, there may be a chance to free the world from the shackles they had forced upon this world without unnecessary bloodshed.

“And after that, what will you do?”

“I will most likely travel the Otherlands”

Sloan's expression relaxed at my final words. She seemed finally convinced of something.

“Fine. From this day onwards, we are not enemies anymore,” she finally declared in a loud voice.

“Let’s not antagonise each other,” she added quietly.

I couldn’t deny my surprise. I didn’t understand how a short word exchange could dissipate all the hostilities between us, especially after all the problems her subjects had created for the reborn Gamma Perimeter all these years.

Nevertheless, I nodded in response. It was unexpected, but if it meant the Gamma would finally be free from the buzzing flies that came from the Beta, I would accept immediately. It was the quickest and surest way to relieve some burden from Faye’s back and make her life easier. But if Faye wanted me to, although I doubted she would, in the future I would seek revenge for the sleep she had lost due to Sloan’s past pettiness towards me.

“WHAT?!” Sandoval’s voice suddenly thundered. His aura exploded from his body, shattering the ground beneath his feet and levitating debris all around him.

“You were asked not to yell,” Mia muttered with a frown.

Sandoval didn’t heed her words and directly addressed Sloan.

“Amina Sloan, what are your intentions?! He is an enemy of the Chosen One, how can you take his side?!”

“It’s as you say. He is an enemy of the Chosen One. But his words say he is not my enemy, and they ring true. That is enough for me,” Sloan explained, her words devoid of any emotion.

“You… I can’t accept this!”

Mia’s clap resounded in our ears.

“Oh, but that doesn’t actually matter, does it? We already reached a consensus,” she spoke playfully.

Sandoval gritted his teeth. Then, he started to laugh.

“I knew your kind would lead this world to doom. What could I have expected from those who got away from Mother’s embrace?”

He continued to laugh for a while, but he suddenly turned serious and his voice became poisonous.

“This means war,” he declared icily.

The surrounding air turned heavy in a split second, and the temperature seemed to drop immediately. The demeanour of every single person present turned grave.

“I’ll give you a single chance to retract your declaration,” Tobias spoke.

“I cannot,” Sandoval remained firm in his position. He wore his helm, in preparation for the seemingly unavoidable confrontation.

“Wait. There is no need to act like this, we are not children,” Mia tried to intervene, but nobody lent her an ear.

“I won’t take a side,” Sloan declared her abstention. We might not be enemies anymore, but this didn’t mean we had suddenly become friends.

But all of my attention was on Tobias. He wasn’t looking at the one who had threatened violence, but at me. There was a soft smile on his face as he intently looked at me, waiting for my reaction. It was clear that what was happening was highly amusing to him.

This was the moment he had been waiting for since he had met me. The start of the final confrontation between the two ‘suns’ he had been keeping his sight oe. But it still wasn’t the right time, and he knew that. There were still things I needed to do and from Tobias’ eyes, he wanted to see what I would come up with.

Nevertheless, the solution to this conundrum was quite straightforward.

“One year,” I finally broke the silence.

“What?” Sandoval reacted, taken aback.

“I will come to you in one year,” I further explained.

I saw Tobias smile.

“It’s an excellent resolution,” - “Yeah, it’s clear it cannot be avoided. Let’s do it in one year, at least we will have the time to secure the children,” - “I don’t care. Only one of the two is needed alive,” Tobias, Mia and Sloan spoke at the same time.

Sandoval flinched. The resolution had been made. He was now alone. Although he had bravely declared war, he had clearly done so as he believed that nobody would actually take an active stance. It was implied the war would have been between him and me only, and it was indeed like that, but not exactly how he had envisioned it.

Trembling in rage, but resigned, he swiftly turned around and left the area, but not before cursing at me. He ran quickly, although not as quickly as the others would be able to do, leaving behind him only a big cloud of dust.

Tobias waved his hand, immediately dispersing the dust. The three remaining people looked at each other. They yelled loudly so that even the disappearing Sandoval could hear them.

“John Doe is henceforth recognized as Patriarch of the Gamma Perimeter. This is now resolved”

“Exactly one year from now, Patriarch Doe and Patriarch Sandoval will fight each other in single combat at the doors of the Epsilon Perimeter. This is now resolved.”

“The victor of the battle will have absolute authority on the defeated and on all that is under him. No one else will intervene”

“This is now resolved”