It was Bernibus' turn to sneer, and he did, raising the skin above his
teeth and scowling fiercely at the King. "What is it that we have worked
for all of our lives? Do you still not understand? You and Wagner plot
to return the world to its former glory, each by his own way, but take a
look around you. The trees on Daem are taller and stronger than any
known before, the grasses are thicker and livelier, the waters are purer
and cleaner, the wind is fresher. You know no suffering. The prophecy
had nothing to do with you, and nothing at all to do with the
restoration of the world! Can you not see that what you have is far more
than you have need of, that there is no desire left unfilled in your
lives, except that of ultimate power? This world does not need to be
restored. Only your hearts have need of that.

"The prophecy was given for the Munams, who were left stranded here in
this desert wasteland, while across the ocean they could see the great
paradise of Daem, the great paradise that you took for granted. There is
to be no restoration of Daem to its original form, but a restoration of
the Munams to Daem. You struggle to restore Daem, but have no compassion
for the suffering of humanity across the sea. You are the fools, not me,
and you are the ones who have brought us all to the very brink of
destruction, to the ice ages which you have tried so hard to prevent. Do
you not see that Daem is already the paradise, that the only thing that
it needs for completion is the residence of the Munams? Jehu is not our
kinsman redeemer at all, he is theirs." Here Bernibus seemed to lose his
anger and passion and become meek once more, saying humbly, "You have
destroyed the life of one whom I held more dear than myself, but that is
past, and I will not destroy us all for vengeance.

"Zards, Canitaurs, and Munams, hear me now and listen to my words," he
continued, speaking to the amassed groups of the armies that had been