The Guardian Barracks was brighter than the streets of Interregnum when Aziz arrived. Tens of people were flying over too, and the rooftop of the building was full of staff to regulate the landings. As the two of them drew close, Aziz could feel incredible amounts of power emanating outwards, as if the Demigods of the Five Lands weren’t holding themselves back.

Intimidated, Aziz and Marie followed the line obediently. The others didn’t dare to do anything stupid too, and for a moment, the animosity that had flared up over the course of the invasion was covered over.

As the small crowd flooded into the top floor of the largely empty Guardian Barracks, all kinds of chatter flooded into his ears.

“What’s with this meeting?”

“I heard that it’s some big event. Did the Western Holdings march on the North or something?”

“Truly, stupid brains are smaller, to accommodate more water in their heads.”

“What’s that, you disgusting dogman?”

Before the situation could escalate, Marie waded into the mess and pulled away the beastfolk officer. “Major Xi. Calm down.”

“Marshal?”

Aziz caught up to her a moment later. “Oh. It’s you, Major Xi. I didn’t know that you had the habit of dissing someone this badly. What did the poor sod do to you at all?”

“A habit gained from sitting at the frontlines for too long. Stupid suggestions should be met with stupid retorts,” the major replied. “Not my fault if he can’t even think things properly, no?”

“You’re not helping the unity of the Five Lands at all like this,” Marshal Marie rebuked him. “Apologise or something, before a diplomatic rift occurs. It would be a problem if we—”

“Never mind. He’s run off in fear,” said Aziz, indicating the Assembly officer, who had made a break for it shortly after Marie’s arrival on the scene. It would seem that the marshal now carried quite the reputation.

“Huh. He’s scared of you,” Major Xi observed.

“Hard not to,” said Aziz, “considering that Marie just broke the bones of some human supremacist a few days back in the arena. Did you not hear about it?”

“Really? What happened?”

“Oh, it went like this…”

Marie’s face grew redder and redder as Aziz explained the circumstances behind the duel. It was the standard bullying incident, as usual, but since the higher-ups couldn’t come to an agreement peaceably, Marie had taken things into her own hands to administer justice. As for what the other side thought about Marie’s brand of justice…no one from the Republic cared all that much about that.

That said, the duel a few days ago, as well as the result, had further inflamed tensions. Not just between the Republic and the Assembly, but also between beastfolk and humans in general.

Aziz cut off his recounting as everyone filed into an auditorium. It wasn’t all that large, nor was it lavishly decorated, but Aziz found himself struck dumb anyway.

And for good reason.

Taking the spotlight, in the centre of the stage, were the Demigods of the Five Lands…as well as what could only be Demigods of the Wildlands. To his surprise, all of them looked like chums with each other, as gods as Demigods alike crossed racial and power lines to make conversation with each other.

It wasn’t just them too. The political leaders of the Five Lands were also on stage, chatting away with each other. Their hands, however, were gesturing madly, hinting at the real nature of the conversations going on at the stage.

Normally, this would have been a lovely sight for the peace-loving Aziz, but given the nature of this conference, this sight could be nothing but alarming. The fact that these boundaries, which hadn’t been crossed much in the invasion of the Wildlands, were so permeable today could only mean one thing.

A true disaster was bearing down on them.

Even the great gods hadn’t been this eager to take part in the discussions when the War Council talked about fending off the demon invasions. Granted, the invasion from the Wildlands was unexpected and far too early, but that little caveat should not detract from just how unprecedented this show of sincere cooperation was.

Marie let out a low hiss. “Something really bad has happened.”

“Yes,” Aziz replied. “A huge crisis. Some enormous piece of bad news.”

“The Demon Sovereign, then,” Major Xi noted. “There should be no other reason behind this…unity. Even we weren’t this united when fending off the demons back then.”

“Not to mention that both the gods and the demons are here in person,” Marie pointed out. “And they’re sharing chatter over…food. And drinks.”

Aziz eyed the stage, and then nodded slowly. “Startling sight, it is. Fortunately, they haven’t gotten around to playing board games with each other yet, because I suspect such a sight would blow everyone’s minds.”

Settling into unoccupied seats, Aziz stifled a yawn and made himself comfortable. It wasn’t hard, considering the top floor of the Guardian Barracks was built with what he called ‘low-key luxury’ in mind. In fact, he was beginning to feel sleepy.

“Hey.” Marie poked him in the ribs. “Don’t go falling asleep. I know it’s been a long day and the chairs are comfortable, but falling asleep is a no—”

She yawned, and Aziz glared at her. It was hard not to fall asleep when everyone around him was tired and sleepy, especially since yawns were contagious. Simply sitting on this comfortable chair was numbing his nerves, and his struggles were weakening by the second.

“Ladies, gentlemen.” Queen Hyperion’s voice spread through the auditorium. “Thank you for coming at such a short notice. As you might have guessed, the purpose of this meeting is to convey a set of bad news to everyone present.”

She paused. “In accordance with Wartime Resolutions 17A and 20C, it is my obligation to inform everyone present that we are faced by an existential threat that surpasses that of the Demon Sovereign, and that we are going to mobilise for a second war.”

“Existential threat?”

“Surpasses that of the Demon Sovereign?”

Aziz and the others, however, simply chose to look at Queen Hyperion, the fatigue in their faces completely gone.

They didn’t like where this was going.