[Liem nods absently, thinking about the city where he grew up, when Paul mentions his travels. Oppara always seemed to him like, if not the heart of the world, then at least the heart of Taldor—the largest and oldest city in the entire country, mysterious and thriving even for all its flaws. He'd spent many unhappy years there, but plenty of relatively content ones too. He'd never dreamed when he left it on the princess's instructions that it would be destroyed before he could return.]

It isn't really meant to be, is it?

[He glances over at Paul, pensive.]

This world is a battleground. If we succeed, and Creation is destroyed, it will cease to exist along with everything else.