Even from afar, Gaius could sense that the Five Lands’ troops had ceased to approach, cowed by the vermilion light that was emanating out of the Zeroth Armament. Up close, he could sense the primordial energies of creation whirling around the metal frame, and the Abyss Sovereign finally understood what Zeroth Armaments truly were.

They were not just weapons. They were conduits of natural processes, capable of directing any and all energy in a way that the desired result will always be produced. It was something that had been veiled from him, but watching the Canvas of Memory crumble away as it executed its user’s will had granted him an incomparable insight into the item itself.

Fortunately, given that he would either be dead or guarding over a new world, there really wasn’t a need to apologise to the Lorenzes, and—

Gaius shook his head, before turning to look up at the madder-red sky. All under the crimson firmament would be effectively immune to any forms of attack upon the heart and soul. Although such a thing would prove to be a boon for the troops of the Five Lands, this was a necessary risk. The new world he envisioned could not be tainted at its root, or else it would not be all that different from Orb.

The effects of this Zeroth Release would not dissipate, as long as he continued to channel a fraction of his strength skywards. It wasn’t just him either; anyone could prolong the crimson sky by directing their power to the atmosphere itself.

Fortunately, at least, the troops of the Five Lands were more than suitably intimidated by this grand show of power. To them, the Abyss Sovereign had forcibly replaced the skies of Orb with his own for some nefarious reasons, and it would be prudent for them to assess the reasons behind this impossible act.

Gaius rolled his eyes and looked at the Cradle of Creation. The huge tower now looked like the lair of some evil god. Tinted with both black and red, and with menacing spikes to boot, the whole place practically screamed that its owner was an evil person through and through. The black shadows that continued to fly out of the Oblivion Portal just made the scene worse, but the aesthetics really couldn’t be helped.

Those spikes were actually the most energy-efficient form for defensive artefacts. It wasn’t his fault that they had to look this menacing. As for the grim-looking lanterns that were hung around the place, that was actually a scaled-up version of the Palisade.

They weren’t all that useful to him back then, but now that he had scaled it up and made thousands of them, those Abyss-brand Palisades should probably do something for him. Furthermore—

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Gaius let out a small sigh.

All these superfluous thoughts only popped up due to the influence of the crimson sky, but his mind was a bit too clear for his liking now. His plan, which had been reasoned through thoroughly, was fine as always, but Gaius really wanted to curl up like a shrimp whenever he thought about the Cradle’s aesthetics. He really couldn’t figure out what he was thinking back then when he designed the Cradle of Creation to look like a villain’s lair, instead of making it look like a holy city.

“I’m an idiot.”

“Yeah, we already knew that,” said Nexus, “but why did you suddenly bring that point up? Did you notice something odd in your plan?”

“No, the plan’s fine,” Gaius replied. “It’s just that this tower looks like a den of evil, rather than a sacrosanct place for the birth of a new world. If I had been a bit more scrupulous when it came to aesthetics…”

A bolt of black lightning tore through the sky at that moment, and Nexus glanced at it. “Yeah, I do get what you mean. Black lightning, a nasty looking tower with spikes and all, plus a shadowy army of personified madness. Very easy to look evil, even if you aren’t actually evil.”

“Right? Is it too late for me to change things around? I could add some golden light. Change the walls to white or something. Maybe try to make the black lightning into gold lightning,” Gaius murmured.

“Is it really a good time to think about random issues like this?” Nexus asked.

“Humour me,” Gaius replied. “Besides, the Five Lands aren’t advancing any further. The spectres are now staring at the Five Lands across the barriers they set up.”

“Hm. Well, adding a black and gold motif is just going to make you look like the Demon Sovereign,” Nexus replied. “And turning the whole thing gold is going to make it look like the Human God’s Divine Kingdom descended once more. Neither options are really good ones, if you ask me.”

“So there’s not really much I can do, then.” Gaius pondered over the issue of aesthetics for a moment, and then shrugged. “So be it. Right, Nexus. Begin to fire on the enemy troops. Not too heavy; just enough that their defences will be battered at and weakened the whole time. I want to see if they’re going to retreat or advance.”

“Yes, Master Gaius.”

The Cradle of Creation began to shake as the unmanned defences began to fire. To Gaius, it was a medium-sized barrage, but even a barrage of such thickness would deal considerable damage to a Demigod. Granted, the Cradle was attacking in all directions now, but it wasn’t like they were dealing with a Demigod yet.

Faint impacts rippled through Orb as the barrage of fire slammed into the defences the coalition fleet was projecting. The ships that came from the Southern Assembly weren’t reacting well to this sudden onslaught, but the same couldn’t be said for the north, whose ships were actually weaving in and out of the shots that came their way.

The fleet from the Mortal Light Dynasty was smaller in number, which meant that they had more space to dodge…theoretically, anyway. However, ships weren’t things that could be moved around on a whim — they were hulks of wood and metal, not highly mobile units.

His lips twitched as the sight of ships turning and twisting madly entered his mind.

Clearly, they were determined to advance.