“So, this is the sight you wanted us to see.” Aziz, who was standing on the S.S Anne’s upper decks, watched as the North’s fleet of Locomotives stationed themselves above the sky. Under the afternoon sun, these metal hulks were dazzling, but more importantly, the colonel could feel a sense of profound relief sweep through not just the command ship he was on, but also the entire allied force.

The sturdiest of reinforcements had arrived.

Furthermore, the North’s Locomotives now numbered sixty of them, nearly double the number that had executed the Demon God not too long ago. Split into groups of ten, the imposing fleet of Locomotives distributed themselves evenly above the allied fleet, casting soothing shadows upon the seas.

Marie let out a low whistle. “That’s a lot of Locomotives. Word has it that the minimum number of soldiers needed to staff a Locomotive is a thousand…in that case, just how many troops did the North mobilise for this expedition?”

“Forty thousand troops dispatched from the dynasty itself, plus a minimum of sixty thousand soldiers,” said Aziz.

“More than that,” said Marie. “If they could send sixty Locomotives to cover the other nations, how many Locomotives were dispatched to protect their own fleet?”

Paragon Ying Xin made a small noise in her throat. “With this many Locomotives, the North…well, it seems that a new age has begun.”

She paused. “I get a feeling I said that when I first saw Thunderbolt slice through the Lifespring’s troops a few years back, though. Rolls off my tongue too easily. Or was it when I first saw how the North turned our Display into something really useful? I’m not sure.”

“Conflict drives innovation,” said Aziz. “We’ve made incredible strides forward in the past two decades. When the Second Extermination first started, we were still using swords, spears and infantry charges. Today, virtually every nation has swapped out the old tools for Straight Shots and Palisades. They also have an air force, or are at least in the middle of developing one.”

“These innovations do seem a bit unnatural,” said Paragon Ying Xin.

“Well, if you take a look at the innovators, I think you might find the shadow of otherworlders,” Marie replied. “The Champions, the Constellations, the less-famous otherworlders…all these people helped, one way or another, in pushing our doctrines forward.”

“Really?” Aziz asked, curious. “Never heard anyone mention these things before.”

“Because there’s not much proof,” Marie replied. “If I’m not wrong, the Mortal Light Dynasty probably has a lot more otherworlders working in their ranks. Just the Oracle and the Pinnacle alone shouldn’t be able to create such…results.”

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She lowered her words. “I bet there’s also an otherworlder in the Republic’s State Council too.”

“You make them sound like cabbages or something,” Aziz muttered. “But what makes you say that?”

“Instinct?” Marie asked. “The Republic of Francois…well, I was doing some digging around, and the name of our state is actually not in English, the language of the Champions.”

“I also got that feeling too,” said Paragon Ying Xin. “It’s the same feeling I get when I compare the three names of the landmasses in the East. Eo-Seu, Feng-Lang, and Mi-Zu…they don’t quite sound the same either. This difference is due to the presence of otherworlders, but since I get the same hunch from your Republic, I can’t help but feel that there’s another language involved…”

The colonel tore his eyes away from the group of ten Locomotives that had taken up positions above the S.S Anne and the ships in her battlegroup. He still couldn’t quite believe that the people responsible for naming the Republic had the same origins as the people who made those Locomotives. It seemed odd, since politics and artificing didn’t exactly have overlapping skillsets, but…

Maybe he was just being close-minded.

Tossing aside that random thought, the colonel turned to Ying Xin, who had decided to lean on a railing for some reason.

“Paragon Ying Xin, with the arrival of the North, is it really alright for you to be here? I mean, we are picking up speed now. It wouldn’t take all that long before we pass through that area, right?” Aziz asked, pointing at the wall of shattered space around the Central Circle. Due to that wall, the Central Circle’s defences were unable to do any real harm to them, but once they got past it…

“No worries. I’ve been assigned to the Anne Battlegroup, along with Minister Pauline and a few other Paragons. The War Council is trying to maximise fighting strength; there’s no way I’m going to be put with people from the Assembly,” Ying Xin replied.

“In that case…the Assembly’s Paragons must have been assigned with those from the West,” Marie noted. “Well, all the best to these feudalistic nations. I guess it’s fitting for antiquated systems to work together, right?”

“Whoa, I sense some baggage there,” said Aziz.

“I’m too old and jaded to actually hold on to said baggage, though,” Marie replied.

“As we grow older, we realise that not all things need to be resolved or addressed.” Ying Xin chuckled. “Anyway, it’s a bit bold of you to assume that this wall is going to stay up.”

“It isn’t?” Marie asked.

“It isn’t,” the Paragon replied. “The Locomotives can’t cross this wall, and the Central Circle is quite huge. There’s quite a bit of distance to cover to even reach that ominous tower in the centre.”

“…Right.” Aziz took in a long breath. “Right. We don’t just need to make it to the Central Circle, we also need to push into enemy territory. How did I forget?”

“Because we were all somehow misled into thinking that we just needed to make landfall?” Marie asked. “The way they put it, we just needed to obtain a good foothold.”

“I can’t say much about what the great gods have in mind, but obtaining a foothold’s where the Locomotives come in. We’ll lay waste to everything within a fifty-kilometre region and earn some breathing room,” said Paragon Ying Xin. “The Abyss Sovereign’s idea of how much destruction each Locomotive can deal is outdated knowledge; we can catch him by surprise that way. We’ll be able to put an end to all these.”

“And usher in a new era?” Marie asked.

“An era of world peace,” the Paragon replied. “Yes. I look forward to it.”

Her words, however, felt a bit hollow.