Thunderbolt Battalion, a force of experienced, deadly fighters, was once again on the move. Their mission was to escort a group of diplomats into the World’s End chasm, where the God of Fire, Liamar, was awaiting their arrival. To the onlookers who knew little about such matters, such an assignment might seem prestigious, but to Captain Aziz, this was an assignment he would love to cast aside.

The reason?

The diplomats’ requests. Evidently, the rumours about The Thunderbolt Battalion had permeated the entire Southern Continent, which naturally meant that these esteemed dignitaries were incredibly curious about the escorts. Most of these dignitaries were Squires, so they were interested to see how people on the same cultivation realm were able to fight with such deadliness.

Which was why half of Alpha Company was executing flight formations and manoeuvres, their focus on precision and unity. After months of arduous training, each company, which was around a hundred and sixty strong, could lay down incredibly accurate support fire while moving at top speed. They had been a valuable asset against the Southern Assembly and later the God of Fire, and from the looks of it, these diplomats wanted to have such an experience themselves.

Aziz’s face darkened as he saw one of them approach Beta Company’s commander. The diplomat in question had a book in his hand, and evidently, he wanted to record something down for…the sake of writing a novel, if the captain’s ears heard it right. He sighed. If you’re so interested, why not enter the recruitment drive for Stardust Battalion? It’s a new troop, perfect for you to join and learn from.

The other diplomats weren’t any better, to the point that a particular young man was trying to pick a fight with Charlie Company’s vice-commander. Since most of Thunderbolt Battalion’s troops didn’t have much of a cultivation — they too were Squires — someone probably got the idea of challenging them in the hopes of having something to brag with when they got back. Captain Aziz had no idea how such a person could enter the diplomatic corps of the Southern Assembly, but that was that.

Fortunately, the diplomats from the Republic were far tamer, although he wasn’t too sure whether writing a book about the Republic’s sharpest spear was a good thing or not, for obvious reasons. After watching Charlie Company’s Commander Augustus beat down the diplomat with overwhelming ease, the small convoy with a huge escort continued on its journey.

World’s End looked the same as ever. Bleak, lifeless, full of eroded, grassless land…it was not a place where a fledging civilisation had any hope of surviving. Red towers dotted the landscape — these Projection Spires, as they were officially called — were spaced evenly to form a grid-like pattern. These Projection Spires, however, were inactive, evident from the fact that none of them were alight and shooting out fireballs at the convoy passing through them.

These anti-air weapons were incredibly deadly. Against a single Projection Spire, a novice flier could dodge their shots with impunity, but from the Republic’s prior probes, these towers had an incredible attack and detection range. Simply going beyond the chasm that divided World’s End from the Southern landmass would see over fifty Projection Spires light up and shoot at you…and something was actually controlling these defences.

A Lord, out of sheer pride and idiocy, had tried to venture into the Worldshaper’s territory some weeks back. Captain Aziz, who was in a command centre of sorts with Colonel Marie at that time, had watched as the shots began to corner the increasingly-fearful Lord. Within three minutes, nothing was left of the “brave” explorer, after over thirty fireballs slammed into his cornered body.

It was, decidedly speaking, a horrible way to die. And a darn good reason to not do anything bordering on rude while they were on the way to the meet the Worldshaper. Captain Aziz had the feeling that if these Spires were to light up around now, there would only be charred human and beastfolk flesh after a minute or so.

The slow trek continued. World’s End was an incredibly plain place, especially after Ark City teleported away entirely, which was a reason why the powers-that-be in the Southern Continent were more than happy to give it to the Worldshaper. The armistice and subsequent negotiations would most likely be successful — Liamar had stopped showing any form of aggression once the last two elemental gods descended.

On the way, they passed by bands of men and women in red clothes. Other than that, they looked very much like humans. Their presence was intriguing, and Colonel Marie, who was overseeing the entire escort party, even landed and approached these people in an attempt to interact with them. Most of these people in red left the moment Marie appeared, but one of them had stayed, babbling in a language Aziz couldn’t recognise.

Colonel Marie was equally stymied, but after handing over a small strip of jerky, the woman in red clutched the colonel’s hand in what looked like a show of happiness.

“Curiouser and curiouser!” Colonel Marie murmured, when she flitted over to the captain’s side. “What make you of these people? Are they truly alive, like you suspected?”

“Probably,” replied Captain Aziz, “given that they were clearly able of independent thought. But as to whether they are in fact mortal is another question altogether. But we can, at least, assume that they’re people following the God of Fire. We should not provoke them, or give them cause for alarm.”

“Indeed.” The colonel took out a Radio artefact and spoke into it, ordering the company commanders to make sure that their men don’t disturb the lives of these people. She looked back up into the skies, where over fifteen Projection Spires were in view, and said, “After all, if we anger the Worldshaper, I have little doubt about our fate.”

Captain Aziz shuddered. Being burnt alive was a horrible way to go, as far as deaths went.

“I suppose I can conduct investigations after we obtain permission from their ruler,” Marie murmured. “The more interactions the nations of the Southern Continent have with each other, the lower the possibility of conflict.”

“Your investigation would be…to put it mildly, an arduous one. This place is devoid of anything capable of supporting life, Ma’am.”

“Anything for science, dear Aziz.” The colonel smiled. “And wouldn’t it be fascinating if we are able to discover how these people managed to live off the land? Maybe this power is related to the Cardinal Champions. We can’t miss out on it.”

“Yeah, yeah. You’re the commander, you make the decisions. Just don’t turn us into fried meat, and I’m happy.” Captain Aziz rolled his eyes. “Let’s pick up the pace. We’re almost there.”