The first sign of the great gods’ arrival was Aria’s little gurgling, which had somehow entered Gemini’s ears before he registered the descent of the other great gods. Fortunately, he and Hereward had informed Eliza about their impending arrival some time ago, which was why there wasn’t any alarm whatsoever.

As for how Aria was able to detect their arrival, Gemini had no clue. It was very possible that she just made that sound for the heck of it, and the two elemental gods happened to appear a second later. Babies were pretty much agents of chaos, so there was no telling what the correct answer was.

“Auh?” Aria, who was sitting on Lila’s lap, tilted her head at Gemini, having noticed his complex gaze. She made another little gurgle, and then pointed at Gemini, prompting Lila to sit closer to him.

Rubbing her head, Gemini glanced at Hereward, who was also understandably confused about Aria’s little gurgle earlier. The great god shrugged. “Don’t ask. I also have no idea how, or if we’re just all imagining things. Anyway, we’ll be heading into battle soon, along with Ark City. What will you have your family do?”

“I’ll settle Lila and Aria into the Wildlands once more,” Gemini replied. “I’m not sure why Ark City itself isn’t evacuating its civilians or something, so I’m somewhat worried. Are they really that confident in this thing’s armour?”

“Well, bringing a mobile city that doubles as a fortress to take on the Central Continent might be the only way to actually get past the Abyss Sovereign’s thorough defences,” Hereward replied. “I suspect that’s the prevailing logic right now, which is why the other nations are bending over backwards to meet every demand that has been made of them by Ark City.”

“That’s stupid. There’s civilians in here,” Gemini replied. “Still…Ark City is going to provide support fire from afar, though. Like the Locomotives, right?”

“Presumably so.”

Gemini fell silent. The North’s Locomotives were preparing for three months of extended operations, which was why they hadn’t taken to the battlefront yet. The initial naval approach had been stalled without the incredible covering fire of the North’s Locomotives, but as to why the other nations started the approach anyway was a very good question.

“Hmm. They probably wanted to prove that the Mortal Light Dynasty’s help wasn’t really needed, right?” Gemini mused out loud.

The radiant shadow that represented Hereward flickered twice, and he nodded slowly. “It’s obvious that the prestige generated by this war will have a great impact on a layman assessment of the Five Lands’ relative strength. They’re making some rather solid assumptions too.”

“What assumptions?”

“First, the military strength of the Five Lands, as a whole, will be greatly diminished,” Hereward replied. “The first battle just proved that point even more. A reasonable extrapolation, based off the revealed defences of the Central Circle so far, tells me that most of the North’s Locomotive fleet would be destroyed or crippled over the course of this conflict.”

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“And if you could come up with it, despite not being there in person, the rest of the nations would think the same, no?” Gemini folded his arms. “What’s the second?”

“The second would be that the prospect of conflict will become unpalatable to the world at large. Two mobilisations of such scale have brought untold suffering to the populace of the five nations; a third one would likely lead to multiple grassroot uprisings,” Hereward replied. “The nation least affected by this should be Ark City or the North, but since the latter is bound to play a leading role, the rest of the Five Lands intend to suppress their brilliance by striking first and accusing the North of inactivity later.”

“What happened to not wanting war?” Gemini muttered.

“It’s to avert war. By engendering hostility to the North, which is somehow slow to offer help despite its vast advantages, the rest of the nations make it such that their populace would not roll over and submit to any invasion easily.” Hereward clicked his teeth. “After all, due to the North’s slowness, over thirty thousand people died in the opening invasion.”

“That’s dumb.”

“Who said politics weren’t dumb?” Hereward replied. “From up high, it’s clear that these petty moves are the best options for the other nations, even if they have to kill their own people for it. They’re scared, really. But if they can avert war and bring about a period of cooperation and amity, what’s a few thousand lives to those at the top?”

“…This is a really horrible world, isn’t it?”

“Why else would the Abyss Sovereign seek to remove the concept of competition? In a limitless world, struggling for resources is sub-optimal, compared to cooperation.” The Sentinel of Space shrugged. “An admirable effort. Unfortunately, I have too many doubts about this utopia of his, or else I would have joined his side instead.”

“A limitless world, yes. Are we talking about an impossibly huge planet?” Gemini folded his arms. “Just doesn’t make sense, no matter what.”

They had covered this topic quite a few times, but the most likely possibility was that the Abyss Sovereign had a different idea for the concept of ‘limitless’. Maybe it wasn’t land, but something else.

“A utopia, eh?” Hereward mulled over the word for a few seconds. “What exactly is a utopia anyway?”

“A place where…” Gemini paused. “All your needs and wants are satisfied.”

He shook. “Hereward. This world seed that the Abyss Sovereign is growing…what’s the world inside like? You told me that the world inside was quite similar to Earth, but what does that exactly mean?”

“Well, there’s no concept of cultivation there, to begin with. Most items there are powered by electricity; to you, it would look more modern than Orb in general.” Hereward tapped the table contemplatively. “But what are you getting at?”

“I’m not sure,” Gemini replied. “But were there any quirks about that world that stood out?”

“I didn’t really pay attention, though. I stuck my familiar spirit in there long ago, but something happened and it got stuck inside there. I’m not sure how it’s doing now, but it should still be alive.”

“Can you contact it?” Gemini asked.

“I wish I could, but I can’t. Not anymore,” Hereward replied. “Disappointing, I know, but that’s just how it is nowadays.”

“Very well.” Gemini glanced at the front door, and then got up. “If nothing else, this is indeed a good note to end this depressing conversation.”

“Don’t worry,” said Hereward. “Liamar and Thasvia won’t laugh at this house.”

Gemini glanced at Lila, who had fallen asleep at some point in time, and found it a pity that she didn’t hear Hereward just now.

“Auh!”

“Oh, you wanna come along to greet the others?” Gemini chuckled. “Alright. Upsy-daisy…”