“Listen up, everyone!” Standing atop a small, wooden stage specially prepared for the occasion, Ation did his best to hype the entrance of the star of the show. “Regarding our situation, I think everyone is already aware. While it’s not certain yet, all the evidence proves that we were forced against the natural flow of time!”

Shouting to the gathering of the entire Gener clan that was affected by the fissure in the world’s structure, Ation tightened clenched his jaws. Even for him, it wasn’t easy to openly confirm everyone’s greatest worry.

“As such, we are back in the world where great spirits have yet to regain their freedom!” Plunging the mood of the entire crowd to the lowest it could get, Ation pursed his lips again. Only after the murmur of whispers and small shouts of shock died down, did the high officer of the clan offer some hope.

“That’s why, our great leader and commander, will now address the current direction of our clan.” Even though Al could handle doing the entire thing by himself, by splitting the bad and good messages and using different people to convey it, the crowd already reacted in a different way as to what Ation initially expected.

‘It’s hard to admit, but their methods are actually quite smart…’ Casting a quick glance at the duo observing the events from the back, Ation shook his head. Walking down the stage, he noticed Al’s movement… just a bit too late to react.

“You did a good job.” Smacking his loyal friend in the back, Al smiled when he saw air escaping from Ation’s mouth. As brutal as this expression of friendly skinship was, there was a reason behind this aggressive affirmation. “Now let me do the rest.”

Jumping on top of the stage, Al looked down at the massive crowd gathered below. ‘To think that so many went through those fissures,’ not even attempting to count the heads of his people, Al took a breath before staring right ahead.

“Brothers, sisters. I’m not here to talk about what happened. That I don’t really know yet.” Hiding the vengeful spirit of annoyance deep in his soul, Al focused on the words he was supposed to say. ‘Acting like a marionette feels awful, but I guess that’s the best solution for now.’ Despite all the doubts the leader of the Gener clan had about this entire situation, he knew just how important it was to keep the unity of the clan right now.

Even if he was about to break the news that would shock all his brethren.

“What I know though, is that whining and complaining about our situation won’t change a thing. There is one thing that might do just that thought.” Releasing an exhausted sigh, Al gestured at two of his personal guards.

With a little bit of struggling, two of the burly men carried the leader of the enemy clan to the stage. ‘He fought fiercely, but when he realized what was going on around…’ Looking at the man, Al involuntarily squinted his eyes. ‘Damn those guys, if they didn’t ask about him…’ Tightening his lips a bit, Al swallowed all his grief along with his saliva.

“Right now, we are back to the world where we are oppressed. What might be even worse, we might be in times before our clan appeared, before even the oldest of our legends came to be.” Shaking his head for a moment, Al lowered it down. Pressured by the responsibility of his decision, even such a great man could waver.

“Brothers, sisters…” Supporting his forehead with his hand, Al attempted to break free from his burden. “Right now, those guys are our closest family in the entire world. I believe we can no longer afford to naively slaughter each other for some scraps of land… Especially when all the land around is no longer ours for grab.”

Pulling out his knife, Al raised his head. Turning to the side, he approached the man bound with thick ropes. Somewhere in his middle twenties, the leader of the enemy clan didn’t have the aura of a seasoned warrior… Because a different type of air surrounded him.

Then, AL cut the man’s ropes, setting him free.

“This man is not even an officer. He just happened to assume that role right before we appeared in this world.” As little as everyone knew about this specific guy,  just the exploit of raising in the ranks through honest effort and dedication was enough to win a bit of sympathy in the eyes of Al’s clansmen.

“Right now, he is of the highest rank among all our enemies that survived the battle. He is also the one who helped us to bring an end to that pointless hostility.” Speaking only the facts about the man’s action, Al distanced himself a bit to give the man some space. Being just as clueless about the entire scene as everybody watching from below, his clear eyes constantly followed each of Al’s movements.

“I’m not asking anyone to forget about all the blood our clans spilled against each other.” Stepping forward, Al’s tone changed a bit. “I’m not asking anyone to love them as your kin either. We don’t need to even like each other.” Lowering his head, Al took a breath to calm himself down.

“Allow me to introduce one of our few friends that we encountered recently. Just like we were thrown into our past, the same happened to them. I urge you, listen to their words.” Finishing his part of the show with a confident, determined voice, Al suddenly turned around before walking off and then jumping down from the stage.

In his place, Markus appeared.

“Everyone, we don’t need to become friends overnight. We don’t need to be allies. But we do need to work together.” Speaking in a calm voice, Markus used a simple spell to transmit it to every single clansman below the stage. “In other words,” turning to the side, Markus looked at the enemy leader in captivity, “the entirety of Gener clan declares a war on you. A war, over who will be able to produce more weapons, who will bring more food, and create greater fortresses. We challenge you to a fight, at who will be better at killing the celestials and contribute more to freeing the great spirits with our very own hands!”

Starting with a calm, peaceful voice, Markus gradually built up the emotion behind his words, shouting the last sentence from the very bottom of his lungs. “We won’t fight, but we will compete. Yet, when a time of trials will come, we will stand as one to face it.”

Standing on top of the stage, Markus breathed rapidly. This moment was the pinnacle of the show he planned. This was his only chance to prove his worth to that Al man. ‘Still, it’s hard to believe we would meet the General. It’s funny how his name turned into a common word in our times, though.’ Smiling towards his own thoughts, Markus looked for a reaction from the young leader in front.

“We… I accept this challenge. But I need to ask, what times did you come from?” Suddenly changing the topic like that, the young leader passed the first small test that Markus prepared. With only one, a short mention of their circumstances, Al prepared the bait. And now Markus was going to pull it without any hesitation!

“For us, you guys are the legendary founders. The clans that took over and shaped the world after the ancients, the celestials, were struck by the apocalypse.” Only a few who were actually smart would understand those words. For a simple muscle brain, those words were too complicated to add together. But those people didn’t matter. And those who did understood the message behind Markus’ words.

“We know everything. Compared to you, we are almost like Gods. We come from the pinnacle our civilization achieved, we come from the times when the world no longer has any question for us.” Raising his hand, Markus used a simple spell to invoke an ember of flame. Once enough of his mana gathered, he tightened his fist before throwing the condensed ember forward.

“Move away.” With a stern tone, Markus managed to send waves through the crowd. While no one attempted to escape in panic, people were clearly wary of this strange flame. By the time it slowly fell to the ground, a circle around three meters wide appeared around its landing spot.

SWOOSH!

As if the ember suddenly turned into an inexhaustible source of flames, a pillar of blaze rose up to the skies. Yet, before anyone could react, it suddenly shrunk all the way down, stopping only when the flames turned around a half of a man’s height.

“Those flames will continue to burn forever unless someone will intentionally extinguish them.” Pointing his hand at the flames, Markus breathed with relief. ‘So I was right!’ Earlier, he could conduct any tests to confirm his hypothesis due to their relatively flashy nature. But from the looks of it, this world really operated along with the same rules as before!

“I know it doesn’t look impressive, but let me ask you one thing. How many men did your clan usually send to collect the firewood, just so you wouldn’t freeze to death or let you cook your meals?” Given how low the technological awareness of those ancestors of theirs was, Markus had trouble coming up with a way to convey its power. In the end, rather than relying on science itself, he still had to use the magic to explain it.

“With fewer men working to get the wood to burn, more men can go and hunt.” Placing his hands behind his back, Markus looked down at the crowd. As expected, while some appeared to be already on the verge of sweet dreams, others paid their utmost attention to every word he said. “But what if we can make hunting easier as well? With more men and more time, we can train. We can get richer. We can beat the celestials in a way they won’t expect.”

Stepping one step forward, Markus’s eyes fired up. “We can carve a piece of this world for ourselves. If the spirits are still enslaved, we will free them ourselves.” Suddenly calming down, Markus stole a glance at Yelna,  who silently watched the events from afar.

“Now,” once again starting with his calm voice, Markus’ aura suddenly exploded. Allowing all of the killing intent he obtained on his journeys to rage freely, Markus pulled all stops on his might, “WHAT SAY YOU?!” Instantly turning his words into a shout, Markus brought his fist up.

“AYE!” The entirety of the crowd instantly responded. Trickled gently by the rallying tactical spell Markus used with the last of his strength, a sea of fists rose above, almost to the level of the stage.

But his job wasn’t over yet. Turning to the side, Markus moved towards the leader of the other clan.. Stopping right in front of his face, he asked softly. “What say you?”