Quinn and Pai-Relix hurried off once Gemini made that declaration. With those words of his, the nature of this war would drastically change. It would be a full-out reversal — the demons would neutralise the enemy presence entirely. Everyone would do their hardest to stop the conflict from escalating; the Demigods would disarm the enemy.

From there on, a few people would be released to convey their demand to negotiate. The true enemy of the Five Lands, the threat that had menaced them, had been defeated. Without the Demon God, there was no reason for the demons to attack.

The Five Lands just hadn’t yet recognised that.

“Has it started?” Lila asked, walking into the room with a platter of sandwiches. Gemini willed one to float over, a sight that made Aria babble once more.

The Demon Sovereign glanced at Aria, who was trying to get out of her chair. It was a chair built for babies, something that Gemini had created from his memories from Earth.

“Papa’s going to work soon, Aria.” Gemini reached out and rubbed her head. “Me, the Demigod uncles and aunties, everyone’s who patted your head or held your hand before. We’ll be fighting once more. But we have no choice. They must see our resolve.”

“Auh?”

“Ahaha. Of course you wouldn’t understand.” Gemini closed his eyes. Enduring Peace was bound to stir up a huge response from the Five Lands. To them, the demons were making the largest movement ever since the Demon God was killed.

They would be prepared.

“Now, why would she understand?” Her cheerful words deepened into that of worry a moment later. “When are you leaving?”

“I’m staying as a reserve power, along with a select cadre of Demigods,” Gemini replied. “I cannot reveal myself to the Five Lands for now. I will not risk them turning on Ark City. Not yet. If the Five Lands ever find out that the Constellation Gemini is behind the demons’ defence, the situation would blow up. I must ensure that Ark City will not be affected.”

“But—”

“The same goes for you too. The Ars Tribe, or whatever remains of it, are still in the Five Lands. They might use them to threaten you,” Gemini replied, his mind whirling madly. “And I am best suited as a final trump card.”

“Stop talking about yourself in such an impersonal matter,” Lila replied. “You’re a person, not a tool. Look! Aria’s pouting too!”

“Sometimes, I feel that she can understand my words,” Gemini commented. Poking Aria’s puffed-up cheeks, he sighed. “This fake peace will be destroyed. The Five Lands will be reminded about the follies involved in attacking an entire continent. The world would change.”

“It’s been changing wildly for the past few years,” Lila replied. “But It’s good. You’re now the one making these changes, instead of reacting to other changes. You’re in control. Not some abstract fate. Not some route someone else has laid out for you.”

“No more things that we can’t fight.” Gemini smiled. “I think that’s what almost everyone wants, right? The ability to protect their tiny world. We haven’t had the ability to do that for a long time. No one’s in control.”

She nodded.

Gemini swallowed the remaining bits of the sandwich that were floating in front of him, before commanding another such sandwich to drift over. Tearing through it with both divinity and the power of his mouth, the Demon Sovereign let out a contented sigh.

“Alright, that’s the final bit of happiness for me now.” Gemini closed his eyes. “Make sure Aria doesn’t do anything funny to me, alright? I’m going to start extending my senses.”

“Her bites don’t hurt anyway, so I don’t really see the issue.” Lila grinned, before lifting Aria up. “Papa’s scared of your bites, do you know that?”

“Auh!” Aria nodded her head…probably, anyway. Aria liked to nod her head whenever someone spoke to her in such a way.

Either that, or she actually understood. There were a few things that the Demon Sovereign didn’t understand, and how babies thought were one of them.

“Papa’s going off to work, so don’t bite me, okay? I won’t be able to respond to you too, so…sorry about that.” Gemini let out a small sigh and rubbed Aria’s nose. Her little face scrunched up a moment later, but she didn’t start bawling.

“Auh…”

“Sorry, Lila. I’ll have to trouble you to take care of me this once.” Gemini closed his eyes. The sensation of the chair he was sitting on melted away, and before long, he found himself staring down from up high. He could see the entire Wildlands from that particular point of view.

The various camps of the Five Lands’ troops were visible…but they were rather hard to see. Due to his policy of making sure that the enemy troops weren’t comfortable, Gemini had gotten his Demigods to systematically destroy every single building they spotted in those camps.

It was so successful that the soldiers of the Five Lands were now used to sleeping on hard rock. They probably didn’t want to provoke his Demigods into attacking once more, thereby running the risk of suffering unwanted injuries and casualties.

“Hmm.” Gemini scrutinised the soldiers in his vision. Most of them were lethargic, their eyes dim. This was to be expected; these men and women had been starved of food for quite a long time. The only reason why they were still barely hanging on was because Gemini didn’t want to kill them off by starvation. Allowing a few convoys through would entice the don’t-haves into attacking them, thereby intensifying their internal conflict.

What drew his attention the most, however, was the tightening noose made by his forces. There were a few minutes left before Enduring Peace would begin.

Steeling his mind, Gemini took a deep breath. Once the trigger was pulled, the burning embers would rekindle once more.

Would the Five Lands listen to his overture? Or interpret his act as one of war?

Gemini didn’t know, but if he didn’t take that step forward, no one ever would.

Exhaling slowly, he reached out to the Demigods. “To all forces. Commence Operation Enduring Peace.”