The Simulacrum

Part 1

The Abyss was, as I had often noted in the past, a copy of Critias, the same as the Elysium. As far as topography was concerned, all the hills and shores were in the exact same place, not to mention the volcanic peak in the center of the landmass, but that didn't mean everything was exactly the same. Just like its Celestial counterpart and its mild Mediterranean climate, the weather patterns of the Abyss were also detached from the outside world.

One wouldn't expect that such a thing could change the landmarks of the island, but there was one major sticking point that couldn't be ignored: rainfall. A difference in location and intensity could (and in this case, did) change the course of rivers, as well as the best arable lands available for the inhabitants, two factors that greatly affected the locations of settlements, especially without long-distance trade routes being a concern.

What I was trying to say was that, despite Critias, the Abyss, and the Elysium looking pretty much the same from a satellite view, the population centers were at completely different places. More relevantly, the location of the capital of House Nergal was in the middle of freaking nowhere in 'realspace'.

"If I were planning to set an ambush, this would be a prime location for it," a certain Knight grumbled behind me as he cautiously eyed the surrounding woods through squinted eyelids.

"Nobody is going to ambush us here. Relax," I told Arnwald, to little effect.

"You have to admit that this area is rather suspicious," Morgana noted, sounding no less tense than the other Knight walking at her side.

"Uuu… The woods are creepy at night…"

"Do you think we're gonna see any deer? Or foxes?"

"With your luck, we're going to run into a whole lot of them."

"Dornt lag behin', Penny-gurl."

"I-I'm not! I'm bringing up the rear!"

In case the mess of voices behind me didn't make it abundantly clear yet, it wasn't just me and the Knights present. Far from it.

"I'm rather curious about this 'tunneling method' Leonard mentioned in the past. Do you think they'll allow us to study it?"

"I'm not sure. The denizens of the Abyss kept the process a secret for centuries."

"I'll ask, just in case."

"Rinne will scout the woods!"

"Wait, there's no reason to…! … Oh well, there she goes…"

"Is your company always so… chaotic?" our guide spoke up at the front, and it took me a second to realise she was talking to me.

Corbeau, our primary contact with the Nergals and Tracas Ashur, was casually leading us through the forest as if it was her backyard. That might not have been far from the truth, as she had to be familiar with the area by necessity. But to answer her question…

"This is pretty par for the course," I responded with quiet resignation as I glanced over my shoulder.

There were Knights, for a start. Not all of them; I gave Agrawain the day off, since I worked him pretty hard the day before, and Roland stayed at the base to take care of official business. That meant we had my alleged parents right behind me, while Penny and Duncan were at the very end of our little procession trekking through the woods. Rinne was running between the trees, making circles around us, while the rest of the group comprised of Lord Gulliver and Lord Taika, who were here in an official capacity, Snowy and Tajana in their formal-wear, Sebastian (for some unfathomable reason), and the childhood friend couple in the middle.

And those were just the 'important people', so to speak, as we also had an entire retinue of Ordo Draconis personnel, Kage ninjas, Praetorian Guards, and even Fauns surrounding us, outnumbering our in-group four-to-one. In comparison, only the Nergal agent/spy/thief woman was with us from their side, with the rest of the Abyssal delegation awaiting us at our destination. Which was in the middle of nowhere. Or did I mention that already?

Seriously though, getting here was a bit of a chore. It not only started with me having to shake off the collective cast's second attempt at convincing me out of going to the Abyss, but then it was followed by a three-hour-long car ride into the countryside. It was all in service of the script, because Phasing over to my destination (especially when it was supposed to be a clandestine entry-point between Critias and the Abyss I wasn't supposed to know about) would've raised too many red flags. What I didn't expect was that so many of my inner circle would insist on accompanying me, just in case.

The even more distressing part? This wasn't even all of them. Naoren, Yseult, my in-laws, Lord Ambrose, Sahi, and even the class rep tried to come along, but I managed to convince them to stay behind, because showing up with twenty people would've been just awkward. Though again, counting the guards and Fauns and ninjas in tow, there were already more than thirty of us present, but I digress.

"Leonard-dono!"

"Ack!"

Corbeau almost jumped back by reflex when Rinne landed in front of us, but Mountain Girl didn't pay her any heed and bowed to me.

"Rinne discovered minions of the underworld in the woods! Rinne asked them to identify themselves, but they fled. May Rinne pursue and emancipate them?"

"What?" came the understandable question from the woman next to us, so I gestured for her to calm down.

"She meant eviscerate," I told her, then turned back to our resident highly visible ninja. "Also, no. They're probably Nergal Fauns patrolling the area." I glanced back at Corbeau, looking for confirmation, and once she readjusted her glasses, she did so with a nod. Rinne, in turn, looked crestfallen. "That said, I'm glad to see that your teamwork skills are steadily improving. Good job."

Mountain Girl was stumped by the unexpected praise, but it was clear to see that made her feel better all the same, and she exclaimed, "Rinne is returning to duty!" as she leaped into the forest again, letting us continue on our way and leaving the Abyssal woman at my side completely stumped.

"What was that about?"

"Hm? Oh, just positive reinforcement. She would've normally chased your Fauns down to fight them instead of even thinking about asking for permission, so I'm just happy she's learning."

"… You're a strange man surrounded by even stranger fellows," she muttered in return, which was both rich coming from her and her lame femme-fatale impressions, as well as a rather questionable thing to say to someone they were asking for help. I couldn't be bothered to point that out, and then she sped up and walked a few paces ahead of me. "We're almost at the rendezvous point."

"I still don't like this…" Arnwald continued his unending grumbles, but I was already used to them, so I just ignored him and peered ahead in an attempt to find the destination. It wasn't hard.

"Welcome," Tracas greeted us in person, standing under the eaves of a small wooden cottage and wearing the same pin-stripe suit (including the fedora) as the first time we met in the restaurant. His surroundings were lit with a couple of torches sitting on long poles embedded into the ground, and based on the slightly acrid odour wafting about, they were using insect-repellent oil. I was curious enough to consider asking about it, but then the Ashur nobleman looked over our group and squinted hard as more and more of us came into view. At last, his eyes settled on me and he awkwardly tugged on his sleeves. "I was… under the impression that you'd be setting out alone."

"I will. They just came along to see me off."

"Is that so?"

My nonchalant response only made him more apprehensive, as if the idea that this whole group would come here just for that purpose was preposterous. Though again, from a common-sense point of view, maybe it was, so I let his demeanour slide and glanced around.

The small cottage was in the middle of a clearing and surrounded my multiple dirt footpaths extending into the woods. The torches only illuminated the building in the center, but we had a cloudless night, so visibility wasn't too bad. All in all, it was just a tad creepy, but if you added a nice bonfire and some 'greatest retro hits' music in the background, it might've served as a nice private party location.

"We'll secure the perimeter," Morgana declared as if it was non-negotiable, yet she still waited for me to nod before the Knights and our security detail spread out.

"That's wholly unnecessary…" Tracas attempted to interject, but it was too late by then, and so he let his hand down. "But you may do as you wish. Are you ready to leave?"

"Any time." In the meantime, Corbeau walked over to Tracas's side, so I turned to face both of them. Seeing that there weren't any other Abyssals in sight, I asked the obvious question that came to mind. "Is the tunnel already being prepared in a Purple— I mean, Restricted Space?"

They weren't surprised that I knew, and Tracas nodded in the affirmative.

"It's as you suspect. Since we couldn't be sure about your requirements, House Nergal is striving to make the gateway as wide as possible, so it may take a while longer."

The 'requirements' he mentioned were likely referring to the mechanics the Noble Houses used to get in and out of the pocket dimension. Doing so required a ritual to be performed on the outside, which linked the spot to one of the Mana Wells of the Abyss. By tunnelling from both sides at the same time, a small hole could be opened in the seal around the Abyss, but these were naturally unstable, and only a limited number of people could pass through them before they collapsed.

Not only that, but the 'quality' of the people was also important; from what I learned from Snowy, it mostly came down to how much 'power' someone had, as vague as that metric was, and an Abyssal Noble had about as much weight in that system as a whole squad of Fauns. Of course, the bigger the tunnel, the longer it took to 'dig it out', and the higher the chances of being discovered in the process. The latter didn't matter all that much anymore though. I knew that the big one made by Crowey back during the school incident was on the larger side, because it had to ferry him, Josh, Snowy, and Brang's squad over, so I was curious how long this one would take.

"Can you give me a rough estimate for our departure?"

Tracas pointedly glanced at the woman by his side, and their eyes communicated something I couldn't quite decipher. Whatever it was, she ended up subtly rolling her eyes and giving us something resembling a curtsy.

"I'll go and ask."

She didn't mince her words and simply turned on her heel. It only took a few steps, plus making some fancy hand movements that resembled interpretive dance using only her upper body, and out popped a portal from thin air. It closely resembled the one the class rep made to enter into the Purple Zone around the school back during the aforementioned kidnapping incident, so the principles must've been the same.

It was strange that it's been so long since I'd last seen one of these, though to be fair, I had no use for them, and I usually wasn't around when others needed them to enter or exit a Purple Zone. In any case, Corbeau hopped into the shimmering hole in the air, and it closed right behind her.

There wasn't much novelty to see around the forest clearing, so the rest of my group was already starting to cluster behind me again. As such, I asked the last question I had in mind before I would inevitably get distracted.

"Is Fidèle also going to come with us?"

She was visibly shocked by the casual manner I addressed her, but he quickly stilled his face and told me, "The esteemed Matriarch of House Shamash already returned to her estate a few days ago."

"Really? A shame."

My stray comment made him look even more concerned, but I didn't have time to pay him any attention, since my group was already approaching me, just as I predicted.

First off, there was my Knightly retinue, led by Arnwald, and he tried his best to remain professional. It didn't stick for long. "We secured the area, My Liege…" he began, only to falter a mutter, "Leonard… no, son." He steeled his expression and stepped up to me. "I'm going to be perfectly honest with you. I still think that this is a terrible idea, and I implore you to reconsider."

"It's too late for second thoughts," Morgana chided him in a quiet voice, even tagging a barely audible 'dear' at the end of it for emphasis, but he remained adamant.

"At least let us come with you! With the forces present here, we could strike them before they could respond! Smash this civil war with one swift blow, and get home before they could even comprehend what happened!"

"Ah didnae expect anythin' less," Duncan muttered with a faint smile. "A gey Arnwald tactic, if a've ever heard yin."

The conversation was making the already tense Ashur noble at our side appear exponentially more fidgety, and he heaved an unsubtle sigh of relief when I shook my head.

"No. It's going to be both safer and more tactically advantageous if I do this alone."

"You can't know that, and if you get injured, or worse, then we—"

"The Squires are calling." The other senior Knight abruptly hooked her elbow around Arnwald's arm and pulled him away."

"W-Wait… Si— I mean, Morgana! We have to—!"

She didn't let him finish and dragged him along, prompting Duncan to let out a quiet guffaw. He then glanced at me and said, "Fur whit tis worth, guid luck doon thare. Nae that yi'll need it, bit ye ken?"

"Thanks. I'll be careful."

"Ye better. Dinnae mak' Penny-gurl greet."

"I'm not crying!" my sister protested from the back, flanked by Tajana and Snowy, and so the big guy hastily followed after the senior Knights, only to be replaced by the trio. "I promised I wouldn't complain, but… Uuu…"

"Don't worry, Kiddo. Everything will be fine."

For emphasis, I reached out to pat her head, and for once, she didn't shy away from my touch.

"Have you memorized everything?" the young spymaster asked in a low voice, as if trying to make sure Tracas wouldn't overhear her. Of course, since he was still standing next to me, he inevitably did, but let's not get bogged down in the silly details.

"Not everything, but the most important bits, and I stashed the rest of the notes in my storage."

For emphasis, I patted my belt, and Tajana exhaled a long breath, followed by a slightly sulky, "Please do so. My Lady worked hard on it. So did I, of course, but it was mainly her."

Thusly prompted, I turned to my other little sister, and Snowy tried her best to show me a smile.

"Good luck, Leo. And… stay safe."

Instead of an answer, I just reached out and rubbed her head as well. After all, humans evolved two hands so that we could headpat more than one little sister at once. Or at least that was my headcanon, and nobody could convince me otherwise.

"Don't fret too much, you two. You know me, right? I've got this under control."

"Y-Yes, I know, but…" Penny began, but then shut her eyes and repeated, "No nagging, no nagging…" in a barely audible voice.

Before long, the three of them wandered away… only to be immediately replaced by the two Magi of the group. What was this, a farewell conveyor belt?

"How long do you think you're going to stay in the Abyss?" Lord Taika asked, and unlike the rest, she didn't seem too worried about me. I chalked it up to having confidence in me, or at least my abilities, and shrugged.

"I'm coming back as soon as I get the job done."

"I think I'm obliged to tell you to be swift, but…"

"What she's trying to say…" Lord Gulliver, ever so laidback as usual, flashed a grin at me. "… is that staying in the Abyss is the perfect excuse to avoid the scrutiny of the Assembly, so nobody will blame you for taking your time until the storm blows over."

"You're not supposed to say that out loud," the female arch-mage hissed at her colleague, but he only turned his grin at her in response. At last, she rubbed her forehead and looked me in the eye. "His advice is not our official stance, but… if you're doing something, you need to do it right, and nobody is going to fault you for being too meticulous and careful, and if that takes a long time… Well…"

"I understand. Thank you for your concern."

We shared a look of common understanding, and then the three of us bid quiet farewells, with the lanky arch-mage going as far as to pat me on the shoulder as they left… only to be immediately replaced by the incognito dragon butler. Seriously, the way they were following one another was way too smooth. Did they practice this beforehand, or something?

Idle suspicions aside, Sebastian scanned the vicinity with his eyes before his gaze ultimately settled on me. It was that weird, almost grandfatherly look that used to give me the creeps in the past, but this time I was quite okay with it.

"My boy," he began, his voice sounding more tired than anything. "I'm going to be direct with you: make sure you come back safe and sound."

I responded with a nonchalant, "That's the plan," and a cheeky smile, and after a short spell of silence, the old butler exhaled a soft sigh and reached into his breast pocket.

"Here, take this."

I didn't know what to make of it for a moment, but on closer look, the thing in his hand turned out to be a small stainless steel hip flask, the kind one would see a hard-boiled detective or overworked office worker have on them in the movies, usually filled with hard liquor. It was also, unsurprisingly, slightly shimmering with colourless light.

"What's this?" Even as I asked, I accepted the flask and unscrewed its cap to take a whiff. "Tea?"

"It's a prized part of my collection," Sebastian explained in a voice that tried too hard to sound detached. "Its inner recesses are much larger than it seems from the outside, and it can maintain its contents in perfect temperature and quality for a long time." He paused for a beat, observing my reaction, then added, "I'm lending it to you."

"Lending? Not giving?"

"No. As I said, it's part of my collection, so… I expect that you return it in perfect condition."

It took me an embarrassingly long time to recognise this trope, but then I couldn't help but let my lips widen into a genuine smile.

"Thank you. I'll make sure to do so."

"I expect nothing less," the tsundere dragon noted, still trying to sound like this was just a random whim without any deeper meaning. It, of course, confused the Abyssal Noble standing by our side to no end, but by this point he should've gotten used to it.

Now that everyone else had said their piece, it was high time for the childhood friend couple to take their turn. Yet, despite the pattern and clear expectations, they broke the trend right at the end.

"Leo! Come here, quick!" Angie called me over while waving and arm over her head, and seeing that I Corbeau had yet to return and I had nothing better to do, I walked over without missing a beat.

"Is there a problem?"

"Not a problem…" Josh, standing next to his excited girlfriend with his arms crossed, began to answer, only for her to finish his sentence for him.

"It's hedgehogs!" Angie exclaimed with a squee and wildly gestured at the nearby underbrush. "Look! It's a whole family!"

On closer inspection, there were four hedgehogs there, a big one and four pups lazily walking by with nary a care about the hyper Celestial girl hopping around them. They didn't even ball up or anything; they just continued to idle around like everything was perfectly normal. It was probably because of her whole fairy-tale princess thing going on, with the singing and the friendly animals and everything. I still had no idea why that was a thing, but then again, I'd seen weirder things already.

Meanwhile, Josh slowly shook his head and then jerked it towards me.

"Aren't we here to send Leo off? You can play with the wildlife later."

"Boo! When am I ever going to get the opportunity to play with baby hedgehogs again?"

"She makes a good point," I jested, much to Angie's delight and Josh's annoyance.

"Whatever you say, man." Seeing her girlfriend return to pestering the remarkably chill little critters, he turned a critical eye to me. "Why are we even here?"

"… To bid farewell to me?"

"I mean, yes, that's technically true, but…" he glanced around and repeated the question, this time with extra emphasis. "Why are we here? For real. This isn't how you do things."

"Really? How do I do things then?"

"Unexpectedly, without telling anyone anything in advance, and only explaining things after the fact," he responded flatly, followed by a stifled groan. "Seriously, man. I know you. You're up to something, and you need us here to be… a witness or something, right? You actually have a completely different plan in mind, and this whole thing is like a big distraction, or whatever."

Look at that. Was Josh getting sharper, or was I getting more predictable? In any case, I sidled up to him and whispered, "You're not entirely wrong, but let's make sure this stays between the two of us."

"I knew it!" he hissed, yet he somehow sounded less anxious than just a moment ago. "I knew this was too simple and straightforward to be your Plan G, or whatever this is."

"What gave it away?" I whispered back, and after a long beat, he made an odd circular motion with his head.

"Judy and Elly aren't here. They didn't seem too worried about you leaving either, so I figured there was more to this than meets the eye."

Yep. Josh was definitely growing more discerning. That said, I was surprised that nobody else made a similar observation or had any suspicions. Or maybe they did, and they just kept it to themselves because of my status. In either case, Josh glanced at Angie and then back to me.

"You're not telling me what the real plan is, are you?"

"Nope."

This time, he didn't bother to stifle his groan.

"Figures."

"You know it, buddy." I considered ending the talk here, but that wasn't quite the right note to end on, so I added, "While I'm gone, you're in charge."

That made his eyebrows shoot up like they had rockets attached to them. He turned to face me and didn't even bother to keep his voice down when he blurted out, "Charge? In charge of what? I'm not in charge of anything!"

"Don't be daft. When I'm not around, you're the only person who can rein in Angie and Deus. They're in charge of the Elysium, and you're in charge of them; therefore, you're technically in charge of the Elysium altogether, so make sure nobody gets up something dumb or dangerous while I'm away."

"Oh, come on, man! You can't drop something like this on me at the last second! That's just vile!"

Instead of words, I just patted his back with a chuckle, and by the time I was done with that, Angie returned to our side.

"What? What did I miss?"

"Nothing. How are the hedgehogs?"

"Super-cute," she stated reflexively, then frowned. "Wait, are you changing the subject? Ammy told me to be on the lookout for that."

"It's just your imagination." While we were talking, I noticed a flash of light near the cottage. As expected, Corbeau was back and already whispering something to Tracas. If I were a betting man, I would've said it meant that there was some kind of change in the plans on their end, but before I could get to the bottom of that, I had to say my farewells. "I think my ride to the Abyss is almost ready. Stay good while I'm away, you hear?"

Josh only rolled his eyes, while Angie giggled, completely forgetting her previous objection. "Good luck, Leo! Oh, and Grandpa Deus said I should tell you that if you encounter Bel, make sure you f—" She stumbled over her words and hastily tried again. "Deck him in the schnoz! That's what he said!"

It obviously wasn't, but I nodded along anyway.

"I'll do. Anything else?"

"Oh, just the usual. Stay safe, don't do anything Judy would disapprove of, and bring souvenirs."

"Wow…" Josh mumbled, sounding genuinely bamboozled. "You really aren't worried about him the slightest."

"I mean, what's the point? It's Leo we're talking about, you know?"

For a long moment, it looked like Josh would counter Angie's flippant response with one of his own, but then he closed his mouth, crossed his arms again, and uttered a blasé, "Actually, that's fair. Never mind."

It was always either overblown worry or excessive confidence with my guys, no middle ground.

In any case, I returned to the side of the Abyssal envoys, and the words with which they welcomed me immediately confirmed my initial suspicions.

"There's a minor change in the schedule," Corbeau addressed me first.

"I was planning to return to the Abyss after the succession crisis was decisively resolved, yet the Lord of House Nergal empathically requested my presence," Tracas explained without even trying to hide his displeasure. "A small reception is going to be held in your honor, and I was asked to accompany you to their estate in an official capacity."

"I'm not one for such gatherings, but I suppose if we are to form an alliance, it's best that I show my face first," I stated as diplomatically as I could, and the Nergal liaison looked especially relieved by my response.

"The gateway is almost ready. Let us embark," Corbeau urged me, but I stopped her in her tracks by raising a palm.

"First things first," I started, then turned to the rest of the group and raised a hand over my hand. "I'm off, everyone! I'll be back before you know it!"

My reassurance wasn't entirely effective on everyone, but I got a whole lot of waves and even some cheers from the squires and the Fauns in the back. Before that could turn into anything bigger, I let my arm down, wrapped my phantom limbs around the Abyssal envoys by my side, and we all slipped into the Purple Zone, much to their surprise.

The place was the same as the 'outside', just brighter, due to the enormous, swirling oval portal bathing the entire clearing in an eerie blue-ish light. About half a dozen people were surrounding it; some Fauns, mostly Abyssals in charge of the opening and maintaining of the tunnel, and they looked rather startled by our sudden appearance.

"Lord Dunning? Why did you…?"

"Hush," I stopped Tracas from speaking and took out the metal flask that Sebastian gave me. "There is an order to all things, and this comes second."

Saying so, I unscrewed the cap and took a swig from the contents. It was hot, with a robust, malty aftertaste, and with just the right amount of sugar and lemon juice to suit my taste. An English Breakfast blend, probably Assam, I surmised. As always, the old dragon was the best when it came to brewing tea, and this was the best possible gift he could've given (or lent, same difference) to me at this time.

Nothing better than a warm, familiar drink to take the edge off the nervous jitters before the curtains rise to a grand performance.

Part 2

"Welcome to the Abyss, Lord Dunning." I was greeted by a rather unconvincingly amicable voice as soon as I stepped out of the magical portal tunnel thing, and when I didn't respond right away, it was followed up by a slightly anxious, "Or would you prefer to be addressed as Archon Polemos, instead?"

"Either works, just give me a second," I responded with a palm raised and another hand covering my eyes.

"Is everything all right?" a more familiar voice, coming from Corbeau at my side, made me glance at her, only to squint and return to massaging my eyeballs.

"Yes, I'll be fine in a moment."

I recognised that this wasn't exactly the most dignified way to make my first official appearance in the Abyss, but I couldn't exactly help it. Worse yet, this was something I'd done to myself.

Long story short, boring a tunnel through the seal around the Abyss required a metric crapton of power. That power came from the Mana Wells. Those, by definition, used ridiculous amounts of mana to push against said seal and thin it enough to allow the gateway made in the Purple Zone to 'poke through' and create a channel through which we could enter the Abyss. So far, nothing unexpected.

The part I didn't see coming was that all that mana was still inside the gateway, creating a sort of elevated ambient pressure to keep the tunnel from collapsing. It was kind of like the pressurised insides of a deep-sea submarine. This also explained why there was a limit on the people who could pass through; these passageways existed in a precarious balance maintained by the mana-pressure on the inside, and magical folks would naturally absorb ambient mana. The stronger the person in question, the more mana they would absorb, and the faster they would cause the pressure to drop, destabilising the tunnel.

Made perfect sense in retrospect, but that was the hindsight speaking. At the time when I stepped through the gateway on the Purple Zone side, couldn't care less about any of this, because I just entered a tunnel full of hyper-concentrated mana. Which my senses always interpreted as wispy, colourless light. I wasn't expecting any of it, so I just casually walked inside, eyes wide open with curiosity, and got myself magically flash-banged for my trouble.

Of course, my extra-sensory perception had nothing to do with my eyeballs, as I could see it even while astra projecting during Far Sight, but my physical body was still reacting as if I did, and my eyes were tearing up like a whole army of ninjas were cutting onions around me.

It took me about half a minute to get my psycho-physiological reactions under control and properly behold the place around me. When Tracas told me there would be a 'small reception in my honour', I immediately resigned myself to one of those needlessly fancy high-society parties right out of a Victorian-style shoujo romance story. For once, I was pleasantly surprised.

The chamber around me was very much following the general aesthetics of the Abyss; dark stone walls, high vaulted ceilings supported by richly carved columns, and large stained-glass windows n all sides, with an especially large, circular rose-window dominating the wall behind us. I had no idea what they depicted, because it was dark outside due to the day-night cycle of the pocket dimension being synchronised to the outside world, the same as the Elysium. As for the inside, the reception hall was lit by three large wrought-iron chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, their orange light currently overshadowed by the bluish glow of the portal behind me.

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That aside, I could only see a couple dozen people at a quick glance. All of them were idling around either the small round tables holding the refreshments, or lining the edges of the long, gold-trimmed red carpet connecting the spot where we arrived to the arched doorway at the other end of the hall. About half of them were nobles and ladies dressed up for the occasion, while the rest were guards and soldiers, with the occasional Fauns here and there. That was a bit surprising, though not too much, considering that the Abyss was technically in the middle of a war. Heightened security was to be expected.

In any case, these were rookie numbers, but it all made sense in retrospect. Future-me would've probably informed me ahead of time if there was a huge party with hundreds of people in attendance… But then again, he didn't warn me about the magical tunnel-flash-bang either, so who the heck knew at this point?

"I'm fine now." I straightened my back and looked the man at the head of my welcoming committee in the eyes. "I had to restrain myself to ensure the pathway wouldn't collapse before we arrived, and it left me somewhat disoriented."

"Is that so?" Tracas muttered on one side, while Corbeau nervously swallowed. They were probably trying their best not to imagine what it would've been like if the tunnel caved in in on us.

"Yes, we have noticed that the gateway remained… remarkably stable," the man at the front stated in a neutral voice and subtly gestured to a group of simply dressed Abyssals to attend to the portal. Once they began their interpretive dance routine (which I presumed was the equivalent of the multi-instrumental malarkey of the Celestial portal-technicians), he turned to me again. "Please forgive me for the discourtesy of the late introduction, Lord Archon Polemos Dunning. I'm Belette Ugur Nergal, the patriarch of House Nergal. I welcome you to my land."

He didn't bother to bow, nod, or even offer a hand, so I didn't do so either and silently observed him for a while. The head of House Nergal was more than a head shorter than me, but he had a solid athletic build with wide shoulders accentuated by his fancy gothic-style outfit, all in black and dark reds and complete with a similarly coloured cape. His face was a bit angular, with shoulder-length platinum-white hair that was fashioned into that 'attractively unkempt' look and a matching goatee. Overall, he looked every bit the sinister power-hungry regent of a typical tabletop RPG campaign, but I digress.

"I'm flattered that you arranged this reception, but time is of the essence," I told him flatly. "I want to fulfil my promise and wrap everything up as soon as possible."

"Now, now, Lord Archon Polemos Dunning, I implore you to wait," Belette responded with his palms raised and a good-natured smile on his face. "At least until all the guests have arrived and can meet you in person."

"Is this really necessary?"

"Quite," he insisted, carefully straddling the line between friendly and imperious. "You can't imagine how many of my kinsmen, not to mention our guests and allies from the other Noble Houses, have awaited to meet the famous Peacemaker in the flesh. As the host, I strongly implore you to humor them."

"There goes that title again," I sighed, but the Nergal patriarch's attention was already on my two companions.

"Ah, it's good to see you again, Lord of Ashur."

"I'm not the head of my house yet, but—"

"Oh, don't put yourself down," Belette cut him off with a smile and patted his shoulder hard. "With the Lord Archon Peacemaker Polemos Dunning here, your ascension is but a formality, is it not?"

"I…"

The goateed man didn't wait for his response and pulled him along, even as his eyes were already on the woman at our side.

"Good work, as always."

"I live to serve, my Lord," she responded deferentially, much to the man's delight.

"Yes, indeed. Come, you two. Why don't we have a chat with some fine bourbon on the side? It's awfully hard to receive news from outside world nowadays."

"But what about… him?" Corbeau tried to protest while glancing at me, probably unsure how to address me after the patriarch insisted on including all my titles with my name.

"I say we should allow Lord Archon Peacemaker Polemos Dunning to mingle and receive some traditional Abyssal hospitality."

All that comment was missing was a wink in my direction. There wasn't any. As a matter of fact, Belette Nergal remained completely and utterly serious, and as much as he wanted to project a sense of laidback friendliness, his shifty eyes betrayed his act from the very start. Was subtlety a dead art nowadays? That would've normally annoyed the heck out of me, but this was entirely expected and within the plan, so I was only mildly miffed.

The trio conspicuously walked over to the nearest of the round tables scattered in the hall, specifically the one with nothing but bottles of alcohol on it, leaving me alone in front of the portal. At least until it suddenly popped out of existence, cutting down the ambient lighting to just the chandeliers above.

It was as if the closing of the gateway flipped a switch, and everyone suddenly focused their attention on me. If I weren't used to this kind of thing, it might've been daunting to receive all those gazes at once, but as is, I just sighed and walked forward with a 'Let's just get this over with' kind of mindset. It didn't take long for the first 'guest' to approach me.

"Good evening, Lord Archon Peacema—" a young lady, about the same age as my sisters, greeted me with a curtsy, but I stopped her before she could finish.

"Stop. Just Leonard will do. Polemos, if you insist."

"I-I wouldn't dare!" the girl sputtered in a fluster. "B-But I would be most flattered if I may address you as… erm… L-Lord Dunning?"

I continued to silently eye the girl for a bit longer. She had long purple hair and she was a bit on the lithe side, yet her demeanour kind of reminded me of Snowy's, so I couldn't just rudely bounce her off.

"That sounds fine," I compromised, and her expression eased up a bit. It didn't last for long though, as the moment it was seen that she cracked the ice, it was like the whole damn dam broke and the rest hurriedly approached me all at once.

"Lord Dunning! Is it true that you're here to end the war?"

"Can you tell us about the outside? Do people really have tiny computers in their pockets nowadays?"

"Don't crowd Lord Dunning like that! Don't you see you're inconveniencing him with your banal questions?" a young man with a pair of tiny horns on his forehead snapped at the rest, only to turn a (clearly fake) adoring smile my way. "Lord Dunning? Could you tell us how you united people on the surface? I'm sure it's a dashing and heroic story we'd all like to hear!"

After some shared glances, the rest of the group encircling me started clamouring for the same.

"Yes! That sounds very impressive!"

"Please, tell us! In great detail!"

"I-I'm sure Lord Dunning would love to boast about his great deeds…"

"Don't say 'boast'," another girl hissed. "He'll… um… regale us with his greatness, right?"

"Right!" the boisterous young man from before agreed, and they all stared at me full of anticipation.

In the meantime, all I could say was…

"Wow. I didn't expect it would be this bad…"

"E-Excuse me, Lord Dunning?" the girl from the start mumbled, visibly tense, so I reassured her with a wave of my hand.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking aloud, everything's fine."

That made her (and by extension, much of the rest of the group) exhale in relief. In the meantime, I quickly scanned the hall one more time. As expected, Belette, Tracas, and Corbeau were standing around the same table, glasses in hand and quietly discussing something. Similarly, the adults and guards all kept their distance from me, only sending the young ones to pester me.

"Have we… offended Lord Dunning?" another girl, this one about Elly's build and height but with strawberry pink hair, asked while cutely tapping her index fingers together, clearly looking for a reaction.

"No, nothing of the sort," I responded sharply and continued to observe the situation as impartially as possible.

The main discrepancy that caught my attention had to do with the difference in appearances. Namely, the fact that all of the adults in the back (both the 'nobles' and their 'guards') were fairly average looking. By the Simulacrum's standards, at the very least, meaning they were 'just' placeholder attractive.

In comparison, the 'youngsters' surrounding me were considerably more well-defined. Not to a main-character degree, to stay with our usual classification, but they all had unique hairstyles, hair colours, and defining features to make them stand out from the crowd. Not just that, but the girls were unusually cute and graceful, and even the guys looked like bishounen types from the cover of a shoujo romance manga.

"In that case…" One of the aforementioned guys, a rather effeminate-looking fellow with delicate features and long cyan hair, smiled at me provocatively. "Since Lord Dunning doesn't seem to boast about his great accomplishment, may we enquire about something less… political?"

"As in?" I asked back with a brow raised high, and I kid not, he did that 'fox-eyes' thing, where he smiled at me while narrowing his eyes into slits. I didn't even think that was possible without being drawn… or very Asian, but I would rather not wade down into that rabbit hole.

"Pardon the personal question," he began, trying to sound reserved, but then he immediately shifted to provocative again. "Is it true that you have multiple wives?"

"Fiancées, yes," I corrected him, but it only threw fuel onto the fire of everyone else's interest.

"It's true?"

"How many wives do you plan to have?"

"So the rumors were right all along?" another girl, this one with fiery red hair done up into two large buns, blurted out while covering her mouth with a colourful hand-fan. "I wonder who's going to be the lucky one this time?"

"I don't follow. What rumours?"

My question made everyone fall silent for a moment, but then the first girl, the one who kind of reminded me of Snowy, hesitantly spoke up.

"It… It's said that wherever Lord Dunning goes, he seduces women in power, and that's how he keeps uniting the warring powers of the outer world."

"… Excuse me? What kind of rumour is that?"

"Is it wrong?" the cyan-haired guy from before spoke up again, still doing the whole fox-eyes thing like it was perfectly natural. "They say you've united the dragonbloods with the dragon hunters through marriage, and that an entire clan of shadow-warriors from the far east have pledged themselves to your cause after you were seen spending quality time with their lady-on-command at night."

"Oh, my…!" the girl with the hand-fan exclaimed with a swoon.

"Ah… And I've heard that the new leader of our Celestial cousins is a young girl," the foxy guy continued unabated. "Coincidentally, soon after she was seen with Lord Dunning in public, the Celestial Realm ceased all hostilities with the outside world. Coincidence?"

"No, but the order of events is wrong."

They apparently couldn't hear me right, because everyone was already too caught up in the gossip.

"Lord Dunning is definitely a man among men!"

"I wonder if he's here to choose another wife…"

"No, I'm… Listen to me!" My attempt to interrupt them fell on deaf ears, as they barrelled on, completely ignoring me. Which was both annoying and blatant, but not as irritating as their random speculations.

"W-Who among us could stand a chance?" one of the girls whispered shyly while also fluttering her eyelashes at me, but the first guy, the non-foxy-one, let out a scoff.

"For someone of Lord Dunning's standing, it should be at least a direct descendant of one of the Noble bloodlines."

"So, one of the Noble Ones?"

"Or their direct blood relatives?" the pink-haired girl from before posited, causing the chief troublemaker to let out a delighted huff.

"Now that you mention it," fox-eyes raised his voice, and as he did, his smile widened even further. "Isn't the estranged sister of the Lord of Inanna living under the same roof with Lord Dunning?"

"H-How scandalous!" the reserved purple-haired girl muttered while hiding her flushed face behind her hands.

"Listen, you're completely misunderstanding and misconstruing the situation," I cut in, trying to remain as calm and civil as I could. "She's my sister."

My words caused the circle around me to fall silent, only for one of the guys to declare, apropos of nothing, "I respect Lord Dunning's preferences."

I was just about to snap at him, but then the whole conversation came to a sudden halt when the entire building shook, causing the chandeliers overhead to swing left and right. Then, just as everyone finished paling, there was an ear-piercing cacophony of shattering glass and metal as the large tinted rose window exploded into a million pieces.

By the time I glanced over, there was already a hole in the middle, and I just barely caught a large ball of black haze coming to an abrupt halt in the air, just over the spot where the portal used to be. The middle of the ball flashed in a deep crimson-orange light, and it rapidly unfolded, revealing a human figure held aloft by two large bat-like wings made of the same dark fog.

Her white hair and elegant gothic dress billowed behind her as her eyes frantically scanned the hall, and as soon as our gazes met, Fidèle Basmu Shamash abruptly produced a giant black scythe (the fantasy weapon kind, not the farming implement) and cried out, "Look out! It's a trap!"

Her sudden appearance and words made everyone in the chamber freeze up, but as for me…

"Oh, thank god the plot is here. This was just starting to get really awkward…"

Part 3

Phew. Okay, so… I know this is a very dramatic situation, with the exploded stained-glass window and the startled guests and the allegedly-vampire lady floating above us with her billowing black dress and wings and everything, but I just couldn't help it. Doing so would've been going against my core values and everything that made me, well… me.

As such, as much as it might've been inappropriate and pedantic and maybe even a bit petty, but I just had to ask: Why. A. Bloody. Scythe. Of. All. Things?!

Okay, let's keep calm. Take a step back, and a deep breath, and look at this logically. Scythes look impressive. Cool, even. Not to mention, it has all the imagery related to the grim reaper and whatnot going for them as well, but even so… that's not a weapon. That's a farming implement.

Sure, it was better than nothing, and I've heard that peasant levies used them in wars in the Middle Ages (though those had the blades modified to point forward, so they were effectively just big, clumsy spears), but look at that thing! It was bigger than her! And what the heck was up with the curve of that blade? And those jagged edges? And, and…

Scythes were already pretty damn unwieldy by default, because the edge points inwards, so one had to effectively pull their opponents towards themselves to cut them, but then those spikes and crap would've made that even harder! And it was enormous! Sure, it was probably magical, or made of magic, seeing that she conjured it out of thin air, so maybe it was lighter than it looked, but bloody hell! Even I would've found it hard to swing that thing, and I was almost two heads taller than her!

Not that I would ever be caught dead doing something like that. I mean, if it was an absolute life-or-death situation, I might consider using one to defend myself, but if it was only mildly dangerous… Eh, I probably wouldn't risk losing an eye over it, but anything less than that, and that scythe could go rot in a gutter for all I cared.

Anyhow, rant over. It felt nice to let out some steam like that, but there were more important things requiring my attention. Such as the whole 'the matriarch of another Noble House burst through the window screaming bloody murder' thing. Or betrayal. Not much of a difference here.

"Ah, Fidèle! I didn't expect you'd get here so soon!" the head of House Nergal called out amidst the falling glass shards, acting like there was nothing out of the ordinary. His smile was inscrutable under his goatee, but despite his laidback reaction, the way his eyes shook told me he wasn't expecting something like this. Despite that, he kept up the act and made an elegant welcoming gesture towards the winged woman looming over us. "Nevertheless, allow me to extend a warm welcome to—"

She didn't wait for him to finish and descended upon him like a black and white comet, her scythe flashing red for a blink of an eye before impact. There was a crash and a tremor and some more magical flashes, and before you could spell 'sesquipedalophobia', she gracefully landed next to me and brandished her scythe, and… Bloody hell, it looked even worse up close, and…

(No, Leo! Stop it! You already got it out of your system, so just ignore it!)

After scolding myself like that, I exhaled hard and glanced a bit to the left, where Belette Nergal was dusting off some debris from his shoulder with a cocky smirk on his face. Despite his outward attitude, he must've felt threatened, because he shifted into his Abyssal form, and it was quite a peculiar one.

For a start, most of his outfit was gone, and he grew a solid head taller. Or maybe it was just the two large bull horns jutting out of his head. On the same note, his legs changed as well, and they now ended in a pair of huge hooves. In contrast, his bare upper body had long, shaggy dark fur, especially around his neck and chest, reminding me of a lion's mane. Overall, it was a form that was closer to Crowy's than Snowy's, and while I already knew that these transformations were as influenced by self-image as they were by lineage, I couldn't help but find it intriguing all the same.

Oh, and on a side note: while most of his clothes were gone, due to the way Abyssal and Celestial Barriers worked, his pants over the knee remained mostly intact. I was pretty sure that was a trope, but based on the already established metaphysics of these things, it shouldn't have worked. Maybe I should ask The Man about it the next time we meet, I pondered as I continued to listen.

"Lady Shamash, please put away your weapon and listen." Tracas stepped forward with his arms held out, as if he was physically trying to get between the two Lords, all the while still hiding behind Belette.

This was the first time I'd seen him in his Abyssal form, and maybe because his House was closer to Celestials, but he had a considerably less monstrous appearance. In fact, aside from the feathered black wings on his back and the smooth, curved horns on his head, he looked the same as usual, and since he wasn't directly hit by anyone, his clothes weren't completely shredded by his Barrier and were only a bit tattered.

"Silence, traitor!" the incensed woman on my side hissed at him and twirled her scythe over her head, then threateningly jabbed it towards the direction of the bullish man.

…

Except she was pointing at him with the blunt side of the blade, which was specifically the part that wasn't particularly threatening, so…

"Since when?" Her follow-up question jolted me out of my thoughts before I could start on another tangent. She also focused past Belette, her thundering eyes fully locked onto the black winged man and, to a lesser degree, the woman behind him. "Since when were you colluding with House Inanna? Were you in their service all along?"

"Please, don't jump to conclusions," the Ashur noble pleaded, while the head of House Nergal continued to feign civility while theatrically rubbing his wrists, as if he just finished a workout routine.

"I recommend that you try and listen to him first. You may just learn something interesting today."

Her glare turned even more cutting, but then she addressed me next, without taking his eyes off those three for a second.

"Listen, Lord Leonard. I don't know the full extent of their betrayal, but we need to leave. The way they attempted to surround you with young Seducers implies their goal was to distract you while they completed the seal around this building to trap you inside. I suspect Bel of the Abyss and his herald are already on their way here."

"Well, that's a peculiar plan," I grumbled under my breath, but then the whole sentence registered and my eyes were automatically drawn to the group that was pestering me until just a minute ago. "Wait. Are they all Seducers?"

"… You haven't noticed?"

"I'm mostly immune to their tricks, so no, I haven't."

Even while saying so, I couldn't help but wonder where they found so many of them. Weren't Seducers supposed to be extremely rare? Did House Nergal just naturally have more of them due to some quirk of their bloodline? Or maybe they 'borrowed' all the Seducers they could for this plan, meaning the other Noble Houses were also in on the plan. I wasn't entirely clear on that last bit, because future-me was keeping the details of his side of the plan under wraps even at this stage, meaning I still wasn't one hundred percent sure just how many unwitting stage hands we had in this performance.

"Is that so? Such wasted effort…" Belette Nergal responded to my previous words with a disinterested shrug, then took a step to the side to let Tracas take center stage. Reluctantly, if I may add, but he did so all the same.

"Before anything else, let us disperse the misunderstandings between us. First and foremost, I have to confess that I've been cooperating with the Lord of Inanna indeed, but I assure you that it was with the best of intentions."

I could practically hear the Shamash matriarch's teeth groan from gritting them so hard, so I put a hand on her shoulder before she could argue with him. That startled her a bit, though it was nothing compared to the words with which I followed up the gesture.

"Let him finish. I'm curious about how he'll try to justify this."

The Lord of Nergal flashed a grin that showed off his pointy canines and said, "A most wise course of action, Lord Archon Dun—"

"On the other hand, use that ridiculous way to address me again, and we're leaving."

My sharp response made him bite back the end of the sentence, and while his mouth was still set in an amicable smile, his eyes told a different story.

More importantly, Tracas looked a bit hesitant, as if he was simultaneously self-conscious and yet champing at the bit to reveal his ploy. He was our side-villain for the day, after all, meaning it was common courtesy to let him monologue a bit. I gestured for him to get on with it, and he eventually crossed his arms in a pose that was trying to exude confidence.

"While on the surface, I admit that it must appear that I have colluded with the enemy and sold you out, you should be well aware that politics are rarely so simple." He paused and unfolded one of his arms, his hand raised like he was holding an invisible goblet. "This war was a mistake. It is terrible for business, and no matter which side triumphs in the end, the power balance between the Noble Houses will be irrevocably broken. As such, it's in everyone's best interest to end the hostilities and keep the waste of time, manpower, and assets to a minimum. I believe we can all agree on this point?"

That wasn't aimed at us, but at the whole hall, and there were sounds of sycophantic accord coming from all around, which made me realise one more thing: despite Fidèle's dynamic entry, all the guests were still around. Not just that, but the guards were doing their jobs and trying to form a protective wall to separate us from them. Of course, getting them out of the crossfire would've been more logical, but we needed an audience, so this worked out fine too.

Anyhow, once he was satisfied with the amount of audible agreement coming his way, the winged Abyssal man crossed his arms again and exhaled a low hum.

"Certainly, receiving aid from the outside world helps to alleviate the short-term economic concerns of the Noble Alliance, but we all understand that it's as much as the Lord Dunning and his Draconic Federation can provide us. Without military support, the brunt of the fighting will continue to fall upon our shoulders, a state of affairs that I found less than acceptable. Of course, there's one major military asset that could easily turn the tide of this war." He suddenly pointed at me. Not in a casual way, but more like how a spiky-haired attorney would do so while shouting 'Objection!' from the top of his lungs. "Lord Dunning, the only peer of the Emperor, and the only man the Lord of Inanna is wary of."

"So you deceived me, and the rest of the Noble Alliance, just to force Lord Dunning into direct conflict with them?" the Shamas matriarch hissed, her voice audibly trembling with barely contained rage.

"Precisely. It was the only reasonable solution to our conundrum." This time, Tracas Ashur spread his arms wide, as if trying to show off his tattered suit. "Now, there are only three possible outcomes left. Either Lord Dunning defeats the Emperor and his Herald, putting an end to this war with it, or his defeat spurs the forces of the surface to commit their military might to our cause. Either way, the victory of the Noble alliance would be secured." He paused and levelled a calm gaze at me. "Alternatively, on the off-chance that you both fail and the forces of the surface still refuse to leverage their power, it would be a clear sign that the war is unwinnable, and it would open up the avenues for a peace treaty." He faced the Shamash matriarch next, and he somehow looked more nervous than when he was talking to me. Probably because I didn't have a weapon in hand. "Do you understand now? This is the optimal solution for the good of all!"

His words were followed by a long beat of silence, and despite her posture being clearly uncomfortable, Fidèle didn't let her weapon down, and instead cooly stated, "And it also seems to be one where you would benefit, no matter the outcome. Tell me, Tracas; did the Lord of Inanna promise you House Ashur in return for your betrayal? Or was it just the head of the heir? In either case, no matter who arises triumphant at the end, you will remain a traitor…" Her words trailed off, and she glanced at the big, furry Abyssal idling by Tracas's side. "Was it you, Belette? Is this another one of your games?"

"I have no idea what you could possibly mean by that, Fidèle," the Lord of Nergal responded with a knowing smirk, and I couldn't help but notice that he was glancing at the main entrance again.

She gritted her teeth again, but instead of snapping at him, she glanced over her shoulder and spoke to me.

"Are you satisfied now, Lord Leonard?"

"More or less." I paused long enough to nod in the direction of the two transformed Abyssal men, and added, "As far as justifications for nefarious plans go, I give it a seven. Decent hustle, but the self-righteous angle was a bit trite."

She didn't comment on my laidback tone, but instead shifted her posture and held the blade of her scythe low, like a farmer just getting ready to cut down some grass.

"In that case, I recommend we break out of this trap now and bring news of this betrayal to the rest of the Noble Alliance, before our enemies arrive."

"Oh, Fidèle," the Nergal patriarch cut in with a shake of his head. "You're still laboring under two major misunderstandings."

For emphasis, or maybe just to look cool, he raised one hairy arm over his head, and as he did so, all the broken stained-glass shards and metal scaffoldings began to rise into the air and rapidly reassemble themselves into the shattered rose window.

"You see, you were already too late the moment you showed your face. The entire building is already completely enclosed by multiple layers of wards. I'm afraid you'll find that breaking out of here is going to pose a much greater challenge than breaking in."

"Oh, classy," I noted absently, followed by a provocative jerk of my head. "Okay, I bite. What's the second one?"

Not bothered by my interjection at all, Belette waited for the window to fully restore itself before making a light clap and gesturing towards the large doors at the other end of the hall.

"It's the fact that the Emperor and his Herald are already here."

That was the cue, and the last syllable barely left his mouth by the time the aforementioned doors were violently swung open, and in walked Crowy, his eyes aglow with purple light while his similarly tinted hair and black cape kept billowing behind him with every step. His mere presence filled the hall with an oppressing pressure, no doubt because of all the mana he was dumping into the air, and the guests and guards retreated as far to the back of the chamber as possible.

And of course…

"Great show! I love it!" There was future-me, in his full Bel getup, casually wandering in with a large paper bag in hand. Our eyes met, and he cheerfully yelled, "Polemos, dearest of all my enemies! You should've told me you're coming over; I would've cleared up the place beforehand!" He then inclined the bag towards me, revealing its content. "Popcorn?"

Shaking my head, I reached into my breast pocket and took a swig of my emergency tea flask instead, much to everyone's utter (and reasonable) bafflement before I put it away and, with the same motion, retrieved Teeny from my storage enchantment.

All the actors were here, all the props were in place, we had an audience, and my mouth was no longer dry. In other words, everything was in place. Act two, here we go.

Part 4

When looking in from some kind of omniscient third-person viewpoint, this situation would've probably appeared pretty contrived. Bel's sudden raids, my bull-headed decision to come here alone, the immediate betrayal and everyone showing up here at once were both rapid and forceful developments that just conveniently pushed the plot along. In a way, that analysis was almost spot-on. After all, this entire situation and everything leading up to it was set up and crafted by me; both the present and future versions included.

Future-me coached Crowy, managed the civil war from the shadows, and he was not only the one responsible for indirectly planting this whole setup into the minds of Tracas and the Nergal patriarch, he was also responsible for getting Fidèle involved through indirect means. Everyone present here had a part to play in the performance, and so far, things were mostly following the script. I say 'mostly', because I couldn't remember the Shamash matriarch being part of this particular scene, but future-me wasn't surprised by her presence, so he must've known ahead of time.

Which, once again, made sense considering he was future-me. He probably didn't tell me so that I would have a genuine reaction to her dynamic entry, I surmised. That's the kind of thing I had done in the past, keeping the gang in the dark about certain things so that their responses would appear authentic to the onlookers. In that light, it was clear I was doing the same thing to myself. Not that it made me feel any better about it, but that wasn't important right now.

First off, I adopted a neutral stance, holding Teeny high in a loose grip. Not too aggressive, not fully defensive, ready to parry high or low as necessary. Not that I would've had to do either of that yet, but appearances were important. Yet, before I could engage in any kind of banter with Bel, I was addressed by someone else.

"We meet again, Leonard Dunning." Crowy was effectively growling at me while he talked, and when he flexed his hand, it caused his aura to flare up. Incidentally, it also made his hair and eyes glow brighter and his cape billow. As far as villain theatrics were concerned, he was hitting all the high notes all right. More importantly, he glared at me and declared, "I will repay you tenfold for the humiliation of that day!"

"Oh, come on, Crowy. Don't be like that," I responded by reflex and circled Teeny's point his way. "It was freely given, and I'm not so small-minded to expect anything in return. In fact, you can ask me any time, and I can give you more."

"I see that your insufferable personality hasn't changed since the last time we met."

"You, on the other hand, changed quite a bit," I quipped back with a friendly smile. "I see that you successfully embraced your childhood wonder. I bet deep down you always wanted to be a dinosaur in a children's show. Or maybe a fast-food mascot? Oh, wait! Silly me! I should've realized right away, with the cape and everything: you're currently channelling your inner purple vampire count!" Quickly clearing my throat, I adopted a silly Bela Lugosi impression. "It's one, two, three! Third time's the charm. Ha. Ha. Ha."

"You miserable…!"

Crowy continued to growl at me, but I paid more attention to the woman hissing behind me.

"Lord Leonard! What are you doing?"

"Psychological warfare," I answered off-handedly, but before I could say anything else, I could hear some static on my communications enchantment, so I focused ahead again.

"Hey, Polemos! Stop heckling my Herald!" Bel exclaimed with flamboyant indignation, followed by a forceful pat on the man's back that almost made him lose his balance. "I'm the only one who's allowed to do that!"

Simultaneously, while he was speaking, I received a message in the same, robotic voice as usual, saying, "{Scene 1-A, start,}" inside my head. I exhaled hard and lowered my weapon a bit.

"You put quite a lot of effort into this charade, didn't you, Bel?"

"Au contraire, my dear Polemos," future-me answered without missing a beat and took a couple of measured steps towards me, leaving Crowy behind. "You walked right into this one without me having to do much at all! It was very helpful of you, I say." He paused for a second before crossing one arm across his chest and tapping the forehead of his mask with the forefinger of the other hand. "Were you really so worried for the safety of Deus and your little empire of bohemian wackadoos, I wonder? Or maybe, just maybe…" He slowly dragged his finger down the mask, and when it reached his chin, he curiously cocked his head to the side. "Were you so confident in your abilities that you never considered that a trap could pose a threat to you?"

Our back-and-forth was drawing all the attention in the room, as intended, and while Crowy in particular looked like he really wanted to get a piece of me, he didn't dare to act out of line with Bel in the room, it seemed. Anyhow, it was my turn.

"I could ask the same of you, Bel." I fell silent for a meaningful beat and slowly swept my gaze across the hall. "If you want to kill me, you'll need more than this."

"Ah, confidence it is!" Future-me exclaimed with glee, only to suddenly shift both his body language and his tone on a dime, sounding about as growly and vicious as Crowy ever was. "Allow me to disabuse you of that notion."

I held my breath as he slowly raised the same glowed hand that poked his mask, followed by a long and suspenseful beat that crescendoed in the crisp and altogether too loud sound of his fingers snapping. I simultaneously exhaled and theatrically staggered back. Not to an overdramatic degree; just enough so that even the people in the back could see my body language. I mimed shock and surprise, and after counting to three, I snapped at future-me with a glare.

"What did you do?"

"Polemos, Polemos, Polemos…" he responded with the familiar words from the script and a voice dripping with malice. "Did you honestly believe I wouldn't be able to unweave your spell and make it my own? You called it 'spatial saturation', I think? It's a clever little trick. Crude, but clever. I also couldn't help but notice that whenever you used it to interfere with my abilities, you were unable to use yours as well. So, I wondered; couldn't I use this to my advantage to lay a trap?" He spread his arms, for dramatic flair, and exclaimed. "Now, it's your turn to be on the receiving end of it! Let's see how long your confidence will last, when…" Then, as if popping a bubble, his threatening grand villain tone evaporated, and he ran back with comically over-exaggerated motions and slipped behind Crowy. "… my Herald will kick your ass!"

The whiplash was massive enough to make even the previous silent peanut gallery erupt with noise, but none was more startled by the man himself.

"My Emperor? Weren't you going to…?"

"Don't be daft!" future-me retorted while poking his head out from behind him. "I just told you that I can't use all my powers while holding him down. Why would I fight him head-on with a handicap when I have you here?"

Crowy couldn't quite find the words to respond. Meanwhile, I let out a long and somewhat relieved breath. This was one of the most crucial scenes of this entire performance. Simply put, my Phasing ability was way, way too overpowered, both from a common sense and a narrative standpoint. Being able to freely disengage from any fight or move to any previously marked person, regardless of the distance or circumstances was, in one word… neat. If you were me, that is.

From the point of a narrative scenario, it was an absolute nightmare. How was there supposed to be a tense, nail-biting clash of supernatural proportions when one side could just leave any time they were at a disadvantage? Most fight scenes, at least the ones that weren't decided by shooting coloured magic beams at each other, hinged on mobility and positioning, but the concept of 'having the high ground' completely lost its meaning when someone could just teleport wherever and whenever all willy-nilly.

Again, from my perspective, there was no problem with that. It was extremely useful and convenient, and it saved my skin countless times. So what if it broke all the usual shounen battle tropes? It was none of my problem… until very recently, that is.

The truth of the matter was that I kind of boxed myself into a corner with this one. So long as I could Phase freely, building meaningful stakes was ridiculously hard, both in terms of drama and combat. Take this scenario, for example. Since I could Phase away at any time, this trap was entirely meaningless from the get-go, because I wasn't trapped. I could leave whenever I wanted. The same went for future-me; since we established that Bel can teleport around, there was no way to trap him either. It wasn't even one of those 'unstoppable spear meets invincible shield' paradoxes, but more like 'two invincible shields that don't even have to clash unless they want to'.

Therefore, as much as I hated to do it, I had no choice but to nerf myself, and this was the thing we came up with: by giving Bel the same 'ability' that I had (at least as far as everyone else was concerned), it could be used to stop my Phasing, therefore 'closing the trap' and raising the narrative stakes. It also hit another bird with the same stone, which was going to be important later, but as far as the current scene was concerned, it was vital to establish it in order to make the following events easier to digest for the witnesses.

Speaking of which, I glanced at the woman next to me and whispered over my shoulder.

"The situation just got exponentially more perilous. Can I trust you to hold down this side while I deal with Bel?"

"Are you referring to Lord Belette and Sir Tracas?" She didn't wait for me to respond and hefted her oversized scythe. "We won't know for sure until I try."

"Just occupy their attention until I find an opening," I told her curtly and flourished my spear. "It won't take long."

I would've been lying if I said I wasn't at least a little bit worried about her, but again, future-me didn't give me any extra instructions, so I presumed that things were still on the rails. Speaking of which.

"{Scene 2-A?}" I messaged over, and I got an immediate reply.

"{Affirmative.}"

Since we were on the same page, I began to walk towards Crowy and future-me with measured steps.

"I loathe to admit that I was caught off-guard, but I don't think it makes that big of a difference." I pointed the spear tip at them and lowered my center of gravity in preparation for a lunge. "That just means I now have another incentive to take you down today."

"Heh. We'll see about that!" future-me guffawed and pushed his esteemed 'Herald' forth. "Go, Crowy! I choose you!"

"{Syncing. One.}"

That was the message I was waiting for, and I immediately sprang forth with a wordless "{One,}" delivered through the communications enchantment. My stab was fast and steady, sailing over Crowy's left shoulder and aimed directly at Bel's face.

Of course, since we synced our timing beforehand, he deftly got out of the way and ducked to the side with dance-like steps. Crowy didn't stay still either, as his hand lashed out towards me with a sort of black, viscous aura trailing his fingertips like a blob of ink being drawn on the air. It wasn't stationary either, and it moved like a whip to follow the arc of his hand movement.

He wasn't fast enough, and unlike with future-me, his attack was not only clearly telegraphed, but my sixth sense was able to pick it up without any problem, and so I could leave some of the mental processing related to dodging to it while I focused on the choreography.

"{Syncing. Two,}" I conveyed through the enchantment while simultaneously pulling my weapon back and ducking under the incoming magic attack.

I didn't move past Crowy though, but instead I set my foot hard and pivoted. Future me also repositioned himself, so that now we were on the left and right of the Abyssal guy, and as soon as I got the green light in the form of a mechanical '{Two,}' I launched another stab right through the billowing cape between us.

This time, there was an impact as future-me parried the speartip, pushing the shaft to the side and effectively tearing the cape off the bastard's shoulders. It caused him to stagger and lean forward a bit, which was precisely the position future-me told me he would take.

"{Syncing…}" came the next message, and after a short beat, there was a slightly more forceful, "{Three!}"

I immediately shifted Teeny into its short sword form, disentangling it from the torn cape, and I grabbed Crowy's shoulder, using him as a prop to leap over him. Of course, doing that by myself would've been tricky, even with physical enhancements, but when he realised what I was doing, Crowy let out a low roar, his purple aura surged again, and the explosive force allowed me to essentially jump over his head.

I twisted my body mid-air and then sent a curt "{Three!}" to future-me just before I swung my sword, allowing him to slip under it without any harm. It wasn't strictly necessary, but I still landed into a roll for dramatic effect, and as soon as I came to a halt in a low crouching position, I shifted Teeny back to spear form and lunged forward again, like a bolt from a crossbow aimed squarely at future-me.

Of course, Crowy was between us, and he reacted just as future-me said he would, conjuring a relatively small hexagonal shield to stop my attack while already making complicated finger-motions with his other hand, probably to create another offensive spell. I would've said that I was surprised that he didn't shift to his Abyssal form yet, but then again, I wasn't, because future-me told me he wouldn't.

Future knowledge is such a bullshit advantage.

Anyhow, I pretended to hesitate for a moment, and then I changed the trajectory of the spear tip downward, planting it into the ground. Crowy must've thought I made a mistake, because he triumphantly snarled at me and swept his hand horizontally, releasing a wave of purple flames. It probably disappointed him greatly that I wasn't in the way anymore, as I used my spear kind of like a vaulting pole to push myself over his head. Then, while still in the air, I pulled the weapon after me, and as it glanced off the shield on the upwards stroke, it gave me a bit of a spin.

Holding my breath, I waited for the signal of "{Syncing, four!}" coming my way before pulling in my limbs to increase the speed of my rotation while simultaneously extending the spear out. It was a very silly, very Penny-like attack, but it was big and flashy, and that was the kind of thing we needed right now, so I swallowed my pride and did it anyway. I only made a single revolution, and when I landed on the other side, I did so with a mana-infused slam of my weapon that dug a deep gash into the polished stone floor.

"{Request: Interface:Teeny would like to request Archon Polemos to refrain from engaging in acts that may negatively affect the structural integrity of—}"

"Ouch, Polemos!" future-me's voice drowned out Teeny's complaints. He was standing ramrod straight on his tiptoes after dodging out of the way of the incoming spear, the toecaps of his shoes sitting right next to the furrow on the floor. Once we made eye contact, he dropped down onto his heels and hopped to the side, just as I pulled my weapon back. "That was dangerous! It's almost like you want to kill me, or something!"

"Do I?" I asked back tauntingly while using the opportunity to glance at the other group, and… surprisingly, they were still only just arguing with each other, no fighting. Maybe Belette and Tracas wanted to straddle the line a bit longer, until the victor was decided here.

"Can you?" future-me asked back with glee.

"Do you want to find out?"

"Do I ever?"

"Then how about you stop hiding behind your Herald?"

"I'm not hiding. It's called tactical positioning," he retorted with a mock posh British accent, and it was at this point that we were interrupted by a loud bellow.

"STOP IGNORING ME!"

That was followed by an enormous flash of purple light and a small hurricane's worth of similarly tinted smoky winds kicking up nearby.

"{Right on schedule,}" came the message from future-me, just as the light-show reached its peak and revealed a bigger, hairier, and hornier Crowy in the center of the purple storm.

"{Phase Two?}" I asked back, and then…

"I'LL RIP YOU TO SHREDS AND FEED YOUR MISERABLE ENTRAILS TO THE RATS!"

Future me let out a soft chuckle, and responded with a still mechanical yet somehow flagrantly mischievous, "{Yep. Phase Two.}"