As the effects of the explosion settled, Alex used his eyes to look at the direction of the blast, just to see if he could see something right now that will indicate the death of his attackers.

After a few seconds of staring, Alex frowned as he saw a spherical object flying away from the crater and up to the sky.

Even if he was looking at it from a far away distance, Alex was sure that the spherical object that he saw was some kind of flying vehicle.

As he saw this flying vehicle disappear among the clouds, Alex could not help but grit his teeth, realizing that his attackers had just escaped.

"Hm…. Since this Traveler group bolted to the skies when they were attacked, it's highly likely that this group is allied with the Celestials…" Alex thought to himself as he cupped his chin. "Hmm... now this just gets more interesting..."

As he reached this conclusion, Alex could only do nothing but scratch the back of his head, as he realized that he had to be careful of aerial attacks from now on.

"Now that those guys have been dealt with… it's time to talk to our second guest." Alex muttered as he stared at the Lion, who was now standing still in place.

Nero, who was standing calmly on top of the Lion, leapt down from this massive Titan towards the ground.

A plethora of symbols then appeared, slowing down Nero's fall.

At the moment that Nero's feet touched the ground, Queen Mother's body blurred, and before anyone can realize it, she suddenly appeared right in front of Nero, with her fists curled in a threatening fashion.

"Don't take a step forward, or I will command the Brain Eater to consume you brain." Queen Mother said as she gave Nero and intimidating stare. "Just try it, and you won't see yourself dying."

"…" Nero obediently stopped in his tracks, with his arms hanging nonchalantly on his sides.

After seeing that Nero followed her advice, Queen Mother looked back at Alex, as if the saw trying to get his consent to talk.

Alex gave Queen Mother a nod back, which prompted Queen Mother to continue talking.

"You… why are you here?" Queen Mother asked Nero as her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "And why did you bring this Titan with you? Are you trying to intimidate us?"

"I have no such plans like that, Queen Mother." Nero replied eloquently, as if he was not afraid of Queen Mother's ability to kill him quickly. "I have no choice but to do this."

"You have no choice?" Queen Mother almost growled at Nero as she restrained herself from attacking him. "Didn't you hear what my companion told to you last time? You're supposed to stay with the Symbolists and wait for our orders!"

"I have been following that, but right now, I-"

"You say that you understand it, yet you actually show yourself here, which directly contradicts what we wanted you to do!" Queen Mother hissed as she started to clench her fists.

"Ah!" Nero then started to clutch his head and scream in pain.

"It was a good thing you did not try to attack us earlier, because if you did, then the Brain Eater inside you will instantly kill you." Queen Mother said as she continued on clenching her fist. "Now, tell me why you are here. If you give us the wrong answer, then I won't hesitate to kill you right here!"

"I-I-I had to do it because we Symbolists needed to team up with you!" Nero managed to said through his gritted teeth. "We could not just be left behind by the Celestials and the Devourers!"

"Elaborate." Queen Mother said as she slowly unclenched her fists. "What would the other two factions do that will force you to approach us?"

As Queen Mother unclenched her fist, the agonized expression on Nero's face disappeared, prompting him to sigh in relief.

He took two more seconds to compose himself before the started talking.

"3 days ago, some of our spies managed to discover that the Celestial Faction allied themselves with an extremely powerful group of people." Nero said as he started to stand up shakily. "This group of people had a diverse array of abilities, and they used it to gain the approval of most of the Celestials. Nobody knew where this group of people came from, or on how they were even able to ally themselves with the Celestials. The only thing that we are sure off is that the leader of the Celestials had some kind of agreement with them now. As for what the agreement was, even our spies are not sure of that."

Seeing that Queen Mother did not interrupt him, Nero let out a breath as he continued talking.

"As for the Devourers, we managed to discover that they actually hired a mercenary team weeks ago, which they used to assassinate various members of the Celestial and the Symbolist Faction. Just like the ones that allied with the Celestials, this mercenary team also had diverse abilities, most notably their ability to cause explosions. They were not that closely allied, but the lure of the money offered by the Devourers seemed to have kept this mercenary team with them."

"…"

Alex, who was listening intently to what Nero just said, could not help but nod his head as he realized what is happening right now.

"So, the other Travelers decided to ally with the Factions in this world…" Alex thought to himself as he tilted his head. "From what I can deduce from Nero's words, the Traveler Team that attacked me earlier was the one allied with the Celestials. As for the Traveler Team that tried to assassinate Nero at the City of Marshes, they are most likely the mercenary team that worked with the Devourers…"

After reaching this conclusion, Alex looked at Nero's serious face, as he decided to continue listening on him.

"Why do you even care if those two factions allied themselves with those groups?" Queen Mother said as she continued giving Nero a wary stare. "Is there something special with those alliances?"

"There is!" Nero almost shouted out as he tried to stop himself from jumping up. "According to our spies, both of these groups told the Celestials and the Devourers that they have a way to end the Calamities for good. And surprisingly, both of these Factions seems to have believed them!"

"!!!"

To say that Alex was surprised right now was an understatement.

"Alina, is this guy telling the truth?" Alex asked Alina as he swiveled his head to look at her.

"He's telling the truth." Alina replied as she narrowed her eyes. "However, I can feel that he is still hiding something from us…"

"You. Tell me how those groups managed to convince other factions to ally with them." Alex said to Nero as he gave him a blank stare. "Did your spies manage to know something about that?"

"I apologize, but there is nothing that our spies have managed to see." Nero replied hurriedly as he shook his head. "They… were strictly serious about that information…"

"Truth."

"Tsk. Okay I get it." This time around, Alex decided that he should be the one to take reigns in the conversation with Nero. "So, I take it that you went here to offer an alliance with us?"

"Exactly!" Nero nodded his head quickly as if it was about to fall off. "I told some of the Symbolists that you were the ones who saved me from the assassination attempt, and I told them that you were similar to the teams that allied with the Celestials and the Devourers."

"You did what?"

"Once I told them that, I said that it will be better for us Symbolists to ally with you." Nero said as he ignored Alex's slowly reddening face. "To my relief, they agreed, and they loaned me this Titan as my carriage. I then went to this place riding this Titan, and what happened after that were the ones that you saw earlier."

"…." Alex went silent for a few seconds before he managed to open his mouth.

"You're not scheming something to free yourself from us, right?" Alex asked Nero as he stared at him balefully. "Answer that question with a yes or no!"

"No!"

"He's telling the truth." Alina murmured helpfully in the background.

"Were your Symbolist friends planning on doing something nefarious with us, or are they really sincere on allying with us?" Alex asked Nero as he snapped his fingers. "Answer that truthfully too!"

"They really want to ally with you!" Nero said as he gritted his teeth. "They were afraid of what the other two factions will do, so they decided to believe in me and in your group!"

"He's… telling the truth."

"Ah fine then! We'll join you towards your friends!" Alex blurted out as he let out a sigh. "Just make sure that your Symbolist friends are not lying to you. Because if they are… There is a chance the Three Factions will become Two Factions by the end of this day! Do you understand that?"

"I understand."

"Good! Now take me to your leader!