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“You have my apologies, King Leon,” Nara said as he fell in beside Leon. “Such a display was unbecoming of any man, let alone a Prince.”

Leon glanced back at Tir. As a ninth-tier mage, his face was largely healed, though there was still a distant, haunted look in his green and purple eyes, and the light that they usually softly shone with had dimmed.

“Was all that necessary?” he asked the Azurian Prince. “I don’t need to remind you of the position we find ourselves in. Fighting amongst ourselves will avail us of nothing.”

“Thus, my apology,” Nara replied. “Tir’Anu’s crimes are great, and had he not been exiled for life, he would’ve been put to death once his crimes became publicly known.”

“What did he do, exactly?” Leon inquired.

Nara grimaced. “Tir’Anu was a close friend of my father. When my father acceded to the throne, he gave certain positions of great power and honor to his friends.”

Leon deeply frowned. That sounded like a system ripe for exploitation, but he didn’t feel the need to interrupt Nara to bleat about good governmental administrative practices.

“Tir’Anu assumed the office of First Minister,” Nara continued. “He was, in a very real way, limited in power only by the King himself. Only by my father…” Nara trailed off, a look crossing his face that suggested to Leon that Ard’Khil was no great fetter at all, and that Nara was deeply regretful about it. “Tir’Anu… had a vision for the future of the Blue Sky, and did many terrible things to try and see that vision come to fruition.”

“What kind of vision was this?” Leon asked.

Nara glared over his shoulder at Tir before replying, “He wanted a more centralized administration, with less power handed to regional governors and institutions. Free cities had their charters revoked, administrative boundaries were redrawn, autonomous regions were forced to accept great central control and adopt standardized governmental administrative structures, and perhaps most consequential of all, all of our client states were forcibly annexed, bringing the Kingdom of the Blue Sky into direct contact with unfriendly foreign actors. This led to war, and due to Tir’Anu’s actions, there was no shortage of traitors and defectors amidst our ranks. This led him to pursue purges that escalated in scope. After a few years, the wars came to their ends, almost all simply returning the borders to the status quo, but Tir’Anu’s purges continued. More than a hundred thousand were directly executed by Tir’Anu’s enforcers, and rarely in simple, straightforward manners—crucifixion, burnings, beheadings; all in public, all to send a message. The targets weren’t that discriminate, either, with entire families put to death for the actions of individuals.”

“This state of affairs didn’t last, though,” Leon pointed out.

“It lasted far longer than it ever should’ve been allowed,” Nara responded. “It should never have been allowed in the first place. There are better, more discreet ways of dealing with dissenters that don’t involve making them martyrs.”

Leon’s lips twitched upward in a shallow smile with that quiet admission.

“Harsh measures ought to be indulged sparingly, and with discretion,” Nara added. “Slaughtering people and destroying the structures they had used to govern themselves for millennia only destabilized the Blue Sky and left us vulnerable to our neighbors.”

It was Leon’s turn to glance back at Tir, and though he didn’t approve of this conduct, he still looked back with far less judgment than Nara had. What was done was done, and it seemed Tir had been punished for it, so he hadn’t much to add.

“Eventually, the uproar and protests against this state of affairs grew so great that it even reached my father’s ears,” Nara concluded. “Though it pained him to banish his friend, it was all he could do; everyone else was calling for Tir’Anu’s head. Exile was the only way to save his life, so that’s how my father decided to punish his First Minister.”

“You sound like you disagree,” Leon observed.

Nara scowled. “Putting Tir’Anu to death then would’ve saved the Blue Sky much pain immediately after his exile. People were angry they didn’t get the blood they demanded. Riots filled the Kingdom, and our foreign enemies stoked the fires of division. The Blue Sky survived this turmoil, but all that strife was unnecessary and ill-conceived.”

Leon briefly thought of Iron-Striker and nodded in understanding. “People tend to resist when their traditions are challenged,” he said.

Nara hummed in agreement.

“Are you going to be all right, then?” Leon asked. “I still need to get to the center of the plane… At least, that’s the only thing that I can think of to do. The fate of Arkhnavi hangs in the balance, and the last thing I want is for two ninth-tier mages who should be fighting against this crisis to instead fight against each other.”

“Valiant Ashatar gave him the courage to face death, but Strong Ashagon kept him from raising a hand in his own defense,” Nara stated. “There was no fight.”

“I’m not going to argue over semantics,” Leon shot back with some irritation.

“I’ll ensure my people remain focused on the task at hand,” Nara promised. “We won’t succumb to such distractions again. Once this crisis passes, then we can revisit other issues.”

‘Assuming it will pass,’ Leon thought. Going up against a Primal Devil was hardly a winning strategy, but there simply wasn’t any other choice if they wanted to survive. Still, their chances of success were long, in his estimation, though he clamped down on those thoughts. Instead, he filled his mind with thoughts of his wives, the family he hoped to build, the Kingdom he hoped to rule for millennia more, and so much more. ‘I will return home,’ he thought with grim determination before turning his attention back to Nara.

“Let’s focus on the here and now, then,” he said. “What more can you tell me of Iluva and Naxor Amis? Or that cultist that tried to bribe us?”

“Of Iluva and that cultist, I don’t have much to add, may Wise Farangeun forgive my inadequacies. Of the city, though, I do know some things, thanks to the report of a diplomat who was visiting the city at the time of the first ritual.”

Leon’s ears perked up and he focused as much attention as he felt he could spare on Nara.

“On a day like any other, the ground suddenly shook and cracked,” Nara recited almost like he were reading a book rather than relaying how a city had been destroyed and an apocalypse had begun. “The sky darkened with clouds as thick and dark as Strong Ashagon’s beard, depriving the city and its hinterland of the light of Bright Lucaelior. A bright purple light was seen filling the air, after which a thick black fog descended upon the city. Those who breathed in the fog were afflicted with waking nightmares, driving them murderously mad, and they took their madness out on each other. And whenever someone fell, their bodies blackened and joined the fight again. The diplomat who relayed these happenings didn’t stick around long enough to see what happened next, but I would assume that events continued to deteriorate, if the city before us now is any indication…”

Leon stared ahead at the broken city and silently agreed. Most of the city was lost, having been made of much less sturdy materials that had long since rotted away, but the most grandiose and well-built districts were still around, though they all bore the signs of destruction by magic, human hands, or beasts’ claws rather than only by decay.

“Strange we haven’t been attacked yet,” Nara added. “I’d say the gods walk with us, but they haven’t shown such favor in recent years, and I don’t see much reason for them to start now.”

Leon almost made a joke about his presence incurring some divine favor but thought better of it and kept his mouth shut. Given the situation, he thought the joke might be in poor taste.

“I find this lack of violence disturbing, too,” Leon said. “Tirae—Tir’Anu and I made it a few streets into Yu Nok Tor before the city’s resident monsters started trying to kill us, though, so keep an eye out.”

“My army was always challenged on our approach,” Nara replied. “Approaching a city like this… May the brothers of war watch over us.”

“You haven’t ventured into any cities since that last battle?” Leon asked.

A dark look crossed Nara’s face and Leon mentally cringed for bringing up the disastrous loss Ard’Nara’s Kingdom suffered. His uncle died in that battle, a man who Leon thought may have usurped Ard’Nara’s position, if his succeeding Ard’Khil was any indication, so Leon could understand if there were many conflicting emotions that his newest traveling companion felt about that battle.

“No,” Nara said before Leon could say anything more. “Iluva was insistent that we make haste to Naxor Amis, and heading through any cities would’ve only slowed us down and drawn attention to ourselves.”

“Yes, and as I recall, you said he got violent when you asked why he wanted to see Naxor Amis.”

“He did.”

“Interesting that he didn’t lie, though. In your position, I wouldn’t appreciate the attempt on my life, but I would at least be thankful for his being direct.”

“I didn’t feel much gratitude with his blade against my throat.”

Leon nodded in acknowledgment. There was more he felt like he could say; however, they’d reached the surviving outer districts of Naxor Amis, and the looming ruins and the threats they contained stilled his tongue.

The shadows in the city were deep and dark, and as Leon and his team spilled out onto the dusty streets, his eyes darted back and forth, searching for any motion, any indication that they weren’t alone.

He was greeted by nothing but silence and a strange sense of peace. It felt wrong, like something was building in the background, but Leon couldn’t sense anything in the environment that might support that feeling, leading him to conclude that he was just being paranoid. He even sent a few lightning bolts through his head to make sure he was thinking clearly, but he still felt paranoid afterward, so he could only assume that the constant darkness was starting to get to him.

Increasing his paranoia and just about making him jump out of his skin, a voice, light as a feather, reached his ears from seemingly all around him.

“Don’t trust him…”

He couldn’t tell if the voice was male or female, but it was certainly creepy as all the hells.

“Shiiiit,” Mari whispered, while Leon and Nara exchanged looks.

“The people in the central crystal,” Nara identified.

“I heard those in Yu Nok Tor, too,” Leon said.

“They’re still alive and reaching out to us. We’d do well to heed their words for the gods may speak through them.”

“Even if not, their own words are enough.”

Nara grunted in agreement, and the group pressed forward at a fairly slow pace. They passed by quaint buildings and townhouses, all in advanced states of disrepair, with great piles of ash and dust everywhere. The paced street was cracked and extremely uneven, like an earthquake had rocked the city and pushed one half of it several feet higher than the other. It didn’t impede their progress at all, but Leon considered it another sign of just what kind of power had rocked the city when the Primal Devil’s ritual was conducted.

As they passed a small square with several stone benches, a figure wreathed in darkness appeared, though Leon hardly even noticed until the figure moved. When it did, he drew his blade and assumed an aggressive posture, silver-blue lightning crackling along his body. At the same time, Nara brandished Cloud Piercer, Mari activated her suit’s wrist blades, and Tir’Anu, despite his extremely subdued demeanor since the reveal of his identity, brought up his fists that glowed with power.

Leon recognized the figure as the cultist who’d contacted them twice now. He aimed the tip of Iron Pride at the figure and let a tiny bolt of lightning erupt from it, and he wasn’t surprised at all to see it pass harmlessly through the figure and splash across a bench behind him.

“Not taking any chances, huh?” he said, his frustration bringing out a bit more of an accent in his azurian than usual.

The figure seemed to coldly regard him, staring at him for a long moment before turning slightly to address the group as a whole. When the figure spoke, they did with quiet confidence, as well as thoroughly androgynous tones.

“Welcome to Naxor Amis,” they said. “My city. The site of the greatest triumph of the true gods.”

“Surrender immediately, or I shall send you to meet the judgment of Just Helior,” Nara declared.

“The false gods hold no power here,” the figure replied. Leon could almost see them smiling despite their cloak of darkness obscuring their body just in the way they tilted their head. “They never held power here, despite what we told ourselves. Contrast that with what my gods have wrought. Look around you; can you see its majesty?”

The figure raised their arms and indicated the ruins around them.

“All I see is death and the graves of the innocent, sent to the Red-Eyed One too soon,” Nara growled.

“A simplistic and surface-level take—just what I would expect from a member of the Blue Sky’s Royal Family,” the figure icily replied. “I would encourage you to look past appearances, to see what I see. Peace, harmony, a return to the purest state that the universe can exist in. With the gods, all of life, no matter how low or high, can finally be made equal, can finally achieve complete connection, can finally achieve perfect understanding of each other and our place in existence! The people of this city live on in peace and balance!”

“If ya call this peace, like, what the fuck would ya call war?” Mari said in a low tone, seemingly only as an aside not meant to actually receive an answer.

And yet, an answer of a sort was what she received.

“There is no pain here; no suffering, no death, no strife. The city knows peace for the first time since mankind settled here.”

“Ya just killed everyone, fuck nugget! Ya can’t do that and call it ‘peace’ and ‘harmony’ and other fuckin’ words like that!”

“What should I call it, if not what it is?” the figure asked. They didn’t wait for an answer, turning instead to again address the group as a whole. “All that you desire you shall find in the arms of the true gods. Please, I invite you further into my city. Take in the sights and the atmosphere. Once you’re ready, let us converse in the heart of Naxor Amis. You all remember my offers; you need only tell me your decision then.”

With that, the figure seemed to dissolve away, like steam. Leon hardly felt their magical presence even as they used their darkness magic.

Once the figure was gone, Leon asked Nara, “Have any other cultists spoken like this when you encountered them?”

“No, We killed all we came across, and those who surrendered were later put to death. My uncle refused to let them live, and I fully embrace that part of his legacy. Send all cultists into the arms of the Red-Eyed One; that’s my motto.”

“Then let’s find this one and do just that,” Leon said. “No matter what, we can at least say that the guy’s lying through his teeth—assuming he even has any. The people trapped in the central crystal are clearly still conscious and capable of feeling pain…”

Leon’s group pressed on, pushing deeper and deeper into Naxor Amis. The figure did not materialize again, nor did any other sign of dark monsters in the city. Leon’s tension only ratcheted up higher despite this peace and apparent follow-through on an invitation. He could only envision it as a stalling tactic, a way to get him and his team to halt, putting them at the greater mercy of whatever dark entities the cultist may conjure once fighting inevitably began.

With determination to find that figure and destroy them, Leon led the way through the city toward the source of the glowing purple light in the distance, surrounded by numerous high rises. And through all of this, Tir’Anu didn’t say a word, though he kept pace with the rest of the team. He simply maintained a stony silence as they bore witness to the broken and horrific peace that the cultists had brought to Naxor Amis.