Atop a black mountain range that was faintly illuminated by gold light stood a cottage, which was presently full of low groans. A toddler crawled around a small mess that was lying in the middle of the room, her curious eyes betraying hints of uncertainty and worry.

Gemini, who was the precisely the person that was lying down, tilted his head up to look at Aria, who had plopped down in front of him. “Hey, champion. Papa’s alright.”

“Buh?” Aria tugged at his nose. “Paba.”

“Not the nose, dear. Maybe the hair?” Gemini tried to shake his head, but his body was burning up. He was the Demon Sovereign, someone who could rival the great gods — and was arguably one — but that battle with the fellow who apparently slew the Human God had taken the life out of him. There was something…absolute about Gaius, in the few exchanges he had. Even when he made use of his true powers, Gemini could not even manipulate the future of that guy.

Like a steel rod that was rammed down into a river or something.

The rushing rivers of fate had nothing on that fellow.

Aria crawled even closer, before making some happy sounds and rolling on his back. Normally, something like that wouldn’t trouble him at all, but the Demon Sovereign was currently undergoing what seemed to be muscle pains.

As for why he was suffering from these muscle pains, that was a very good question. In that first place, Gemini wasn’t quite sure what he was. The bodies of Orb’s great gods probably worked on an entirely different basis compared that that of a human’s, but Gemini didn’t even know his body was that of a great god’s or of a human.

Life was tough for people like him.

“Come now, Aria, don’t disturb papa.” Lila, who had been preparing some warm tea earlier, popped onto the scene and lifted Aria from Gemini’s back. “Feeling better? Do you need a rub?”

“I’m not sure if it’s going to work, but yes please.” Gemini tried to move, but the only thing he accomplished was his right leg twitching. Since there was no way he could drink his tea normally, the only thing Gemini could do was to pluck out every last drop from the cup with his mind.

A mass of clear red-brown juice rose from the cup, and liquid streamed out of the floating mass, arcing into his mouth. Aria, who was watching the whole thing, clapped her hands happily and tried to reach out to the surreal sight, but Lila wasn’t going to let her touch the warm mass of tea.

As Lila lectured Aria gently on why touching hot things were bad, Gemini felt some life return to his parched tongue. The semblance of life invigorated him enough to start his self-reflection on the battle earlier; he had returned to the cottage in a faint daze after that incredible battle.

“Can a mortal be this precise?” Gemini asked abruptly, having finished the mass of floating tea. “His skill at arms was all but perfect.”

“Is he even a mortal, by the loosest sense of the word?” Lila replied, before looking at the cup. “Also, should I just bring the whole teapot over? A cup doesn’t seem to be that useful for you…”

“Or you could just feed me.”

“Aria’s going to cry if I do that,” Lila replied. “Apparently, I’m only allowed to feed her and no one else.”

“How do you know that for certain?” Gemini asked. “I don’t think there are any toddlers around us save for her, right?”

“Back in the new Ark City, there was one time when a friend of mine asked me to babysit for a day. The two babies got along well, but when I wanted to feed my friend’s baby, Aria began to cry,” Lila replied.

“Aria got jealous?” Despite himself, Gemini couldn’t help but widen his eyes. “That’s…impressive. She’s not even a full year old yet, but she already can get jealous. How clever of her!”

“Should you really be saying that?” Lila asked. “Well, I can try feeding you tea. Maybe she’ll understand that the unique circumstances you’re afflicted by right now and not cry.”

“…Let’s not risk that, shall we?” Gemini groaned and tried to get up. He had been lying in the middle of the cottage for around thirty minutes — any longer, and the title of Demon Sovereign would be ruined at his hands.

Probably. Or did he already ruin it the moment he flopped onto the ground like some puppet?

“Oh well. Come on, let me help you up…” Putting aside the cup in her hands, Lila pulled Gemini up slowly, before popping Aria into his laps. His daughter looked up at him, before prodding his torso.

A sharp jolt of pain ran through Gemini, and it was all he could do to not scream out loud. That battle with that odd Demigod had actually done more damage to him than his prolonged battle with the Sentinel of Space…although the him back then had far greater control over Divine Will than the Gemini now.

Cold sweat broke out of his skin, and a clammy sensation assailed his mind. By the time he regained control of his body, Lila had already noticed the abnormality.

“Looks like your opponent was far tougher than you thought.”

“Yeah,” Gemini muttered. “If the others didn’t help, he might have actually given me the good old one-two.”

“So?” Lila asked. “How did you manage to defeat him?”

“Everyone ganged up on him enough. If I didn’t try to break him mentally earlier, he wouldn’t have given up this easily…”

“You just said something disturbing, didn’t you?” Lila asked.

“The ‘break him mentally’ bit? Well, if I were to put it in a more acceptable manner…I showed him the error of his ways and got him to back off,” Gemini replied. “He then requested a fight. However, since he had started the battle from an inferior psychological standpoint, it was natural for him to lose…well, he nearly won, though.”

“Sounds like a difficult opponent,” Lila muttered.

“He was a difficult opponent. I had the advantage of replaying the fight over and over, and the only thing I could do was to create some distance after he charged at me,” Gemini replied. “I’m glad he’s not going to show up here anymore.”

“How do you know that?”

“He found a new goal or something,” Gemini replied.

“And what goal is it?”

“Beats me.”

Aria gurgled at his flippant words, and the Demon Sovereign rubbed her head. “Right, Pai-Relix is heading over. Mind laying out the dinner table for her?”