The sun was setting by the time Gaius reached Seireiden. Thankfully, his Climate Control ability, from the Stellar Core, had made the trip more bearable than anyone flying around under the hot sun had any right to have, but his skin was somewhat darker by the time he appeared above the city of Seireiden, Mi-Zu’s capital.

It didn’t take long for him to locate Sundown Residences. The small garden was blooming with flowers…and a few life-sized statues of people from all walks of life and age. These statues were most likely Nakama’s work, and Gaius spent a minute or two to appreciate them, before heading into Sundown itself.

He couldn’t help but feel slightly rueful about these sculptures. Were it not for the fact that these sculptures were clearly made of wood, anyone walking past them would have taken them as the real article and then flee from Sundown out of fear. He examined these sculptures once again, and then felt pride at the fact that his little sister had found a stable source of income.

Marching up to the door, Gaius knocked on it. He could hear two voices — Isabelle’s and Nakama’s — call out in surprise, and then the door swung open a second later.

“Isabelle.”

“Mas— Gaius.”

The boy smiled. “I’m back.”

Isabelle smiled, and then yelled into the residence, “He’s back!”

Hurried footfalls echoed throughout the house, and then a little cannonball hurtled into Gaius, who caught it with expert ease.

Hmm. Maybe little’s not the right word. She’s grown…an inch or two taller, I think. Must be all that food. Nakama’s height had caught up to Gaius’ own, who immediately recalled that girls had a growth spurt earlier than their male counterparts. He was now only a quarter of a head taller…and given that he was using his own head as a reference, it wasn’t particularly reassuring.

“Where’s Nexus?”

“Did someone call?” A wooden head popped out from Nakama’s tunic pocket. “Oh! Welcome home, Master Gaius.”

“I see you’ve taken my order seriously.” Gaius flashed a thumbs up. He turned to Nakama. “Did Nexus disturb you when you were at school?”

She shook her head. “Nexus is really intelligent! He helps me when I can’t answer the teacher’s questions! Especially for math. And science. And…”

“Is there anything you’re not good at?” Gaius asked.

“Nope.” The sculpture nodded its head sagely. “I am the culmination of Orb’s wisdom and knowledge, and that of Earth’s. There’s a reason why it’s called the Library of Ancients. Though, I must say…it was fun wrecking the bell curve in Kishi Gakuen.”

“Have some shame, Nexus. You’re literally bullying children at this point.” Gaius rolled his eyes. “Well, I suppose it’s for Nakama’s good. You can’t really say no to her, if she asks for an answer to a question. Right?”

Nakama widened her eyes in a show of innocence, an act that provoked laughter from Isabelle and Gaius. After a few minutes of playing around, Gaius stepped into Sundown and made his way towards the living room. It was as neat as it was when Gaius left, a testament to probably the housekeeper, and after looking around aimlessly for a few seconds, the boy relaxed on a chair.

Nexus joined him a while later. “From the looks of it, you’ve already recovered. I was watching the battle against the Lifespring’s forces, but the battlefront was too large for me to find you. And when I finally did, you were blasting away with a weapon of mass destruction.”

“Not just recovered,” said Gaius. He took out a small box. “I got another Crystal of True Restoration too. As well as two Engines.”

“The people over at the frontlines were that generous? Or did you just do an obscenely good job?”

“I like to think it’s the latter. But that’s not important.” Gaius took out the latest spoils he’d obtained after fighting off his latest assassin. “Someone ambushed me right when I was returning to Mi-Zu with the Blink ability. She wanted the Apex Engine, and then attacked me again after I refused to hand it over. So I beat her back, and—”

“Get to the point.”

“Her armour managed to hold out against the Terminus,” Gaius replied, somewhat irritated. “I shaved some bits of her armour away, and it’s made of some material that I cannot recognise at all. Therefore, I brought it back to you.”

“Hmm.” The wooden sculpture floated onto the table, and then approached one of the metal bits, picking it up to examine it closely. It stared at the black shard for a moment, and then flipped it around to look at the other side.

“So?”

“Mm. Interesting…this is…” Nexus looked at Gaius. “I’ve never seen this metal before. I’ve no such record in Orb’s history, which means that this metal is probably a product of classified research from one of Orb’s nations, or it’s an innovation from Earth that you don’t know about.”

“That’s possible,” Gaius said. “I am by no means an expert in metal, after all. But are you able to reverse-engineer this product?”

“Probably. But you mentioned that you were attacked by someone who knew your current position? What other details can you tell me?” Nexus prompted. “Might be useful in determining the origins of this metal.”

“Hmm. Oh, one thing stood out — she had something like an intelligent artefact acting as her support. It could apparently measure someone’s threat level, although it wasn’t working well on me.” Gaius continued to think, and then said, “Oh, and I couldn’t tell what her cultivation realm was like, either. Her attacks were dangerous if it connected, but none of them could overpower the Terminus.”

“If they could, the Terminus wouldn’t be a Zeroth Armament,” Nexus muttered.

“A Zeroth Armament? What’s that?”

“Ah.” Nexus tilted its head. “Come to think of it, I never did fully explain what the Terminus was, did I? It’s a weapon made of true silver; the substance that allows any weapon imbued with it to pierce a snowpyre’s skin by disintegrating whatever energy it comes into contact with.”

Gaius thought back to the moment when the energy blades his would-be robber had used, when it shattered, and nodded in understanding.

“Likewise,” said Nexus, “any weapon that has been reinforced with energy of any kind would revert to its original state too. Barriers won’t last a moment, either. I told you — this is the best weapon an assassin can have.”

“Anyone, actually.” Gaius picked up a fragment of the mystery metal. “But if her armour could somewhat resist the Terminus…”

“Exactly. It’s a worthy research topic.” Nexus nodded. “A Zeroth Armament is a top-class weapon, but what sets it apart from normal weapons is that it functions as an artefact too. The use of the artefact is known as the Zeroth Release, and enables the user to unleash an incredible attack at great cost.”

“So…”

“You permanently destroyed part of Orb back then,” Nexus concluded grimly. “Mark my words. The gods will not let this go.”

“Even if I didn’t mean to?”

“Yes.”

With these words, the two fell silent, the conversation over. Gaius was reclining backwards on his chair, thinking through Nexus’ words, while the sculpture continued to probe the fragments of metal he’d brought back. Time passed in such a manner, and before long, it was time for dinner.