After stewing on the words that Weiwu had said for a few minutes, which sounded like a really personal attack for some inane reason, Gaius entered the lodgings arranged for him and beckoned the Chanter of Innocents to follow. The inside of the little house was orders of magnitude more opulent than his little hut at City No.2558, and his apprentice was fast asleep in a room of his very own.

Taking a seat to pour some tea out for Weiwu and himself — Gaius had picked up the habit of drinking tea two years ago — the two of them watched a steady column of steam rise up from their handle-less cups.

The boy, who had half-closed his eyelids, was the first one to move. Picking up his own cup, he took a small sip of tea, letting the little mouthful swirl around his mouth for a moment. The unnatural fatigue and inattention he’d experienced earlier had vanished entirely, and Weiwu definitely knew what was up with that.

Swallowing the small mouthful of tea, Gaius glanced at the great god. “Earlier, you mentioned that Aldnath’s Divine Kingdom was active here. What’s that got to do with the fatigue I felt?”

“I’m not sure what exactly happened,” said the Chanter of Innocents, “but the only reason why I dropped by at this time of night was because I felt a great god manifest their Divine Kingdom in here. Fortunately, Aldnath wasn’t intending to destroy Cybral, but I was startled nonetheless.”

Okay, never mind.

Gaius took another sip of tea and began to think through Weiwu’s words with his eyes closed. He knew that the Dragon of Time was different from the other great gods that had descended — Aldnath didn’t have a territory of his own. For some time, Gaius had assumed that the Eternal Cadence didn’t have a Divine Kingdom of his own, but if the great god could actually manifest a Divine Kingdom...

A vague memory, one that could fully explain the whole thing, seemed to float to the forefront of his mind, but before Gaius could grab it, it slipped away. Like a fish aware of a fisherman’s nasty moments, that fleeting memory eluded all further attempts of capture, and it didn’t take long for the boy to give up.

Rubbing his head, Gaius opened his eyes and groaned.

“Something wrong?”

“I had something on my mind, and then it vanished.” Gaius shook his head twice. Taking a deep breath, he glanced at the great god, who was enjoying his own tea, and then said, “What exactly is a Divine Kingdom?”

The great god paused. “What’s your conception of a Divine Kingdom, to begin with?”

Gaius pondered for a few seconds. “It’s something like a Demigod’s Divine Territory, or a Paragon’s Dominion. In it, the owner of the Divine Kingdom is omnipotent.”

“And yet, it is different,” said Weiwu. “Right? How does it differ? Don’t think through it, just use your instincts.”

“Err…” Gaius thought back to when the great gods first descended onto Orb, and then felt the escaped memory swim past his mind once more. “They…require a lot of energy. Power.”

He took a deep breath. The memory of Nexus telling him about the current state of the great gods returned a moment later, and the anxiousness that had been nibbling at him faded away. “It’s not just that. There are three forms of the great gods. The first one was when they could hold their Divine Kingdom within their very body. The second was when they were forced to materialise it in a higher dimension. The third…is when they are forced to place it somewhere.”

“Seems like you have a well-informed teacher,” said Weiwu. “Let me give you another question. Which category does the Eternal Cadence fall into?”

Gaius paused. “The third one?”

“You think that only because Aldnath descended like the great gods before him,” said the great god. “If he does fall in the third category, where, then is his Divine Kingdom?”

“With h-him…” Gaius’ reply was automatic. His vision shifted to that of his suddenly-full teacup, and he looked back up at Weiwu in shock. “He was able to bring it around…and into Cybral. In that case, he doesn’t fall in the second or the third category — it’s the first.”

“Yes. And?”

“That means that the Eternal Cadence still has a great deal of divinity, even more so than perhaps the Sentinel of Space, who hasn’t been forced to descend yet…” Gaius exhaled slowly.

“See? Not so hard if you work it out slowly, right?” The great god took a sip from his own cup.

Gaius stole a glance at the Chanter of Innocents. “And you’re in the same state too.”

“That is correct,” he replied. “Although, in my case, it’s because I’m not a great god birthed from a Bounded Presence. My divinity is solely sustained by the continuous operation of Orb’s reincarnation cycle. In another time, whatever remnant stray energies the cycle’s operation gave off would have been split amongst the slumbering gods of the original Orb, but they all belong to me now.”

A murky light coloured his eyes, and he chuckled. “I grow ponderous about my impending end, which has been brought forward by far too much.”

“For some reason, I had a feeling that things were going this way long ago.” Gaius inclined his head slowly at the great god. “I cannot help but admire your silent acceptance of the new state of affairs, though, despite the fact that it’s at my expense. A shame about your plans and mine, though.”

“Plans and war never coexist,” he replied. “That is the nature of the world. In the past three years, more and more semi-divinities have appeared. And a good few are as suicidally curious as the people who venture into the shadows of Heritage and the true world. I foresee this number to increase over the next year and beyond.”

“Please do put your affairs in order,” said the great god, “I fear my time is running out. It is regrettable that I have not lived my life to the fullest, but duty is as duty commands. Whatever time you have left as a mortal of Orb, do cherish it.”

Weiwu raised his right hand. With a little effort, the disguise that had surrounded it shattered, revealing a set of wispy and translucent fingers. “In many senses, I have shackled you with the burden of Orb’s future. I shall endeavour to give you as many days as possible. But there is simply too much desperation and fear in the world.”

The great god finished off his cup of tea, before vanishing into a wisp of smoke. Gaius stared thoughtfully at the empty teacup, before bringing it over to the sink.