While I wanted to watch over Xinxin to make sure there weren’t any complications, there was a pressing matter that had to be resolved first.

A conference room in the depths of Alvheim.

Like before, it was a peace conference. But unlike before, there was a group of people that had, and yet had not, met each other.

Emperor Elio, the leader who united the splintered North under his own merits.

Demon Lord Krozma, who ruled over the southern Demon Realm and loved his children above all else.

Heavenly King Erik, recent successor to lead the Heaven-Seizing Dragon Sect in stead of the departed Wang Tian.

Elven King Aultry, the current guardian of Alvheim and first line of defense to those seeking Yggdrasil’s Heart.

And then there was me.

All of us were seated around a circular table, staring at each other.

A tense silence filled the room.

Seeing that no one was saying anything, I spoke up first. “I hope no one here is stupid enough to continue the war.”

Elio shook his head. “I didn’t intend to attack in the first place.”

Krozma scoffed. “That’s rich. Then why did you send people to attack my daughter during the ascension?”

“I never did that.” Elio frowned. “That was all the Goddess’s doing.”

“And you were working with that goddess to summon the Braves to attack, were you not?”

Elio kept a straight face and said, “It was inevitable. I had to go along with it to avoid suspicion. And if we’re talking about provocations, then were you not the one who sent two archfiends into my capital to cause a commotion?”

“You-!”

Aultry cleared his throat. “You two, please calm down. Whatever that you believe the other has done didn’t matter now.” He glanced over at Erik and said, “Heavenly King. What are your thoughts on the matter?”

Erik shook his head. “I defer to the Grandmaster on this matter.” Saying that, he looked to me.

“Is that so?” Aultry looked at me as well and said, “Mm. Then what do you say, young man that shares the appearance of my dear son-in-law?” Although his voice was bland, his eyes were sharp, showing he clearly didn’t approve of me.

But it didn’t matter.

Whether he cared for me or not, it didn’t change the truth. And that was-

“Time has collapsed.”

Aultry froze, rapidly blinking. “P-Pardon?”

Krozma narrowed his eyes and slammed his fist on the table. “You can’t expect me to believe this drivel!”

Elio shook his head. “I wouldn’t be too hasty, Oh Demon Lord. After all, I already killed you once.”

“What?”

Erik sighed. “Elio. Could you kindly not provoke the opposing party in this conference?”

“And would you kindly use my proper title, Heavenly King?”

“When you earn it.”

Elio shook his head.

“In any case.” I interrupted and said, “We need to clear up events. It seems that someone has intervened and forcibly fused multiple timelines together.”

Aultry nodded. “Indeed. ‘Someone’. Perhaps an immortal like yourself, no?”

Krozma frowned. “Immortal… Hm.” He surveyed me and then nodded. “You do seem powerful enough…”

I ignored the barbed reply and turned to Elio. “You’re the one I know, right?”

He nodded. “That is correct, Miss Faith’s teacher. And for the record, I never meant to attack the Demon Lord or invade the Demon Realm. Ah, Alvheim is a different story though. I admit that my actions did indeed lead to its fall.”

“Fall? Alvheim?” Aultry narrowed his eyes and said, “What do you mean, Emperor?”

“Well…” Elio frowned and said, “Seeing as you are still alive and well, King Aultry, it seemed that event never occurred. But in my time, the priests of that damned goddess received a Divine Oracle and instructed me to retrieve the Heart of Yggdrasil, or at the least raze Alvheim to the ground.”

Aultry’s eyes widened. “A Divine Oracle? From the goddess herself? Then… did she truly abandon us?”

Krozma frowned. “Impossible. The Goddess would never forsake her children that easily.”

Elio laughed. “You’d be surprised at how callous that Goddess can be. If it’s to amuse her or advance her ends, she doesn’t care one wit about the losses in the meanwhile.”

Erik nodded. “Indeed. My predecessor spoke as such. The Goddess reigning above is both cruel and cold.”

Krozma froze. “Even that old geezer said so…?”

I held up my hand. “Hold on. I want to make sure we’re talking about the same person here.”

Aultry shook his head. “What is there to talk about? If the Goddess truly abandoned us, then it would explain this distorted time.”

Krozma nodded. “Indeed. If she has decided this to be the end of days as prophesized-“

“And like I said, I want to make sure we’re on the same page.” I glanced over at Elio and said, “I think I know the answer… But that Goddess you mentioned. Is her name Serena?”

Krozma scoffed. “Of course it is Serena. What other-?”

“Serena?” Elio blinked. “No… She called herself Celeste.”

That time the Demon Lord blinked. Rounding on Elio he said, “Celeste? What drivel are you talking about this time?”

Elio frowned. “What are you on? Who is Serena?”

Aultry tilted his head and carefully said, “Serena is the Goddess of this world, Asifant. The one who created the heavens, earth, and cosmos… Judging from your expression, that’s not who you have in mind?”

Elio shook his head. “No. Celeste is the Goddess of Beauty and the ruler of a ruined cosmos. She descended on this world to regain her strength and so granted me the power to unite the Northern Realm… And I take it that none of you have heard of her either.”

The Heavenly King frowned. “I know not her name, but the goddess you speak of, Elio, does sound similar to the one that my predecessor spoke of in the past…”

Krozma scoffed. “Leave it to you humans to create a goddess and besmirch the true goddess’s name.”

Elio stood up. “Do not mock me, Demon Lord. That accursed goddess may not be the one of this world, but her strength and divinity is real.” He clenched his hands and said, “That witch kidnapped my younger sister to serve as her apostle and shackled me with a curse to not act against her. Don’t you dare try to insinuate that it was a mere lie.”

“That is exactly what a human-“

“Quiet.” I glared at Krozma.

He looked back and scoffed, crossing his arms.

I turned back to Elio and said, “What do you mean by your younger sister serving as that goddess’s apostle?”

It was similar. A clue.

Elio sat back down, nodding. “I already mentioned a portion of it to Miss Faith, but my sister and I are descendants of the Brave Kimura and the Divine Dragon Tiamat's daughter, Kisara.” His face filled with regret and he said, “I made a deal with that Goddess to stop the wars in the north. But afterwards, during my coronation, my sister, Stella, vanished. Not only that, but nobody could recall anything about her. It was only later when the priests moved to summon the Braves and that damned goddess descended in the form of my sister did I realize what happened.”

My frown deepened.

Krozma spoke up. “…If that is your situation, Emperor, than I can empathize. However, it does not excuse your actions.”

“And I do not expect to be excused,” Elio said. “But more importantly…” He frowned. “The goddess of this world is Serena? In that case, why did she not intervene when a foreign goddess appeared?”

“That’s… true?“ Aultry muttered and placed a hand on his chin. “Lady Serena descended to congratulate us on Aria’s birth… and yet she did nothing to stop these events.”

Erik crossed his arms. “Could it be that this foreign goddess has usurped this world’s natural goddess’s divinity?”

“Impossible.” Aultry immediately shook his head. “Though a goddess of creation, we have a clear record of her combat prowess. After all, half of the creatures of catastrophe sealed within the Lost Woods were done so when she descended after all other measures had failed.”

“Then…”

The four leaders continued to brainstorm, talking amongst themselves.

While they did that, I contemplated Elio’s revelations and all that I experienced since arriving in this world.

After mulling over everything, a hypothesis came to mind.

At the beginning, I thought Serena was just a bipolar and crazy goddess. But…

“Could it be that they’re merged divinities?”

A silence hung in the room.

Aultry was the first to respond. “That… is quite possible…”

Elio slowly nodded. “It would explain why this Serena did not intervene. Maybe she’s being possessed?”

There were still more questions that needed to be answered… but none of us seemed to have any real leads.

After a while, Aultry sighed and said, “Let us call the meeting there. It would appear that we all have much to consider.”

Krozma nodded. “If there really is a foreign goddess tampering with Lady Serena, then it’s our duty to aid her.”

Erik stood up. “I will depart first. If time has truly sundered as Grandmaster supposed then I will need to confirm the situation back at the Sun Kingdom.”

Elio frowned. “Right. I should make sure that those guys at the capital aren’t doing anything crazy either.”

Krozma glanced at Aultry and said, “Do you have time, Aultry?”

“I do.” He glanced at me and said, “I don’t suppose you need any assistance finding a place for the night, oh great Grandmaster Immortal?”

The sarcasm practically dripped off his tongue.

Even so, I knew why he felt that way, so I shook my head. “I can find my way out.”

He nodded.

Like that, the impromptu meeting between leaders ended.