After sending away the Exemplars and Demigods with the battle plan he and Hereward had agreed on, Gemini looked down and examined the power swirling around him. It was the sole reason why the others had listened to him, since it was proof that he was a great god through and through.

Divinity. The power of the gods. Unlike other forms of energy, it was a true application of one’s Will, capitalised. It wasn’t a mere infusion of one’s desires into the energy around them, it was the product of a resolve sharpened to the point that it could generate power. The more one honed their resolve, the greater the divinity they gained.

As Gemini continued to call on his Will, he started to understand why the great gods generally didn’t exert their powers to shape the world. Divinity, while nearly omnipotent, was a double-edged knife. The more one created, the more impersonal they became.

It was entirely possible that the end result of over-creating divinity was to become a manifestation of natural laws; an impersonal, conceptual force that encouraged and governed one ideal in particular. No matter how Gemini looked at it, such a fate could only be a sad one.

As a result, the Demon God, who had slumbered for a hundred thousand years for the sole desire of justice, didn’t have much of a personality left. Only in his final moments, when the flame of his will burned the brightest, did the nameless great god recall his true desire. That accounted for why he was willing to turn his children insane.

…That was his own personal interpretation of divinity, anyway. The other gods probably had their own take on it, and that was fine. Either way, however, Gemini wasn’t going to rely on his divinity much. Right now, he was expending the divinity that had been produced when the Demon God’s powers fused with the Human God’s. There was more than enough for him to do whatever he liked, but since he wasn’t planning on annihilating the Five Lands’ military…

The black and gold power gathered into a small point in his palm. It was ready to be used anytime; the moment Lila and Quinn were done settling their business…

It was probably the most wasteful and intense application of divinity in the past hundred thousand years, but this divinity wasn’t really his to begin with anyway. The reservoir of divinity within his body was still growing without his input; this process would only stop when the Human God’s power and the Demon God’s own stopped reacting to each other.

Like chemicals.

After spending a minute or two in creating more delightful metaphors, Gemini returned his attention to the two, who were now speaking to Demigod Eliza in private. He could sense that the Demigod was already capable of honing her will, but unlike the great gods, she didn’t have a Bounded Presence. He had a feeling that the moment she advanced, whatever ideal, promise or vow she had made would take over her psyche.

The flaws in her soul — the vows she had made — would consume her entirely, wiping her personality out. Was that why she chose to never advance? A warning, born from her own instinct?

Gemini didn’t know, but he was beginning to understand the final fate of the Demigods who chose to continue on their flawed path. They would never become a great god like him or the others; they would become a natural principle of the world, destroying the other components that made up their identity.

He pondered on that sad fate for a while.

Being a great god had its perks, but it also came with an uncomfortable level of understanding. If he had a choice, Gemini would rather choose to never know all these things.

Shaking his head, he decided not to think about depressing truths. For now, he was going to enjoy his reunion with Lila.

“Done?” Gemini asked.

“Yes,” Quinn’s voice echoed in reply. “Your warning has been issued to Ark City.”

Gemini naturally knew that, since he was currently looking down at them, but he didn’t see the need to diss Quinn. From the looks of it, his desire to avert a Third Extermination had a profound impact on Demigod Eliza. He couldn’t hear her thoughts, but the complex expression on her face was quite indicative of the sympathy she felt.

“Alright. You two just stand still.” Gemini felt his heartbeat speed up. “I’m going to bring you over to where I am now.”

“Wait—”

Gemini, who did not want to experience any further delays, sent out the divinity in his hand. Punching a hole through space, he fortified the channel created with a second, equally wasteful expenditure of divinity, before bringing the two over to his Divine Kingdom.

Diverting Quinn to a side room, he took a deep breath and brought Lila to his current location.

Amidst the howling winds, a familiar figure appeared.

Lila.

The two stared at each other for a moment, before Lila reached out for his face. “Is that…really you? Gemini?”

The Demon Sovereign had been preparing for this moment ever since he returned to Orb, but at the critical juncture, his ability to speak deserted him. Something had stuck in his throat, preventing him from voicing anything. It didn’t make sense. How could something be stuck in a god’s throat?

Evidently, common sense and godhood meant nothing in the face of his turbulent emotions.

“I—”

Before he could say anything else, Lila placed the bundle in her hand down onto a table, before barrelling into his arms. For all his power, for all his might, there was nothing Gemini could do to stop her charge, and what felt like a small train bowled his body over.

Wiping his eyes, which had been blurred over by tears, he looked up to see Lila, who was sitting on his chest.

“Idiot,” Lila whispered. “Don’t do that again.”

Gemini nodded mutely.

“Welcome back.”

The lump in his throat vanished, and Gemini smiled. “Yes. I’m back.”