“The two diversions are closing in on the Cradle of Creation.” Thasvia reported, the air around here ablaze with an emerald light. She was currently tracking the approach of the two diversions, making use of the omnipresent air to provide information for the other five attackers. “Over…eight and a half million spectres are chasing them.”

“Eight and a half million?”

“The number’s increasing as we speak,” Thasvia replied. “They’re…busy fighting. For the first twenty minutes, the way ahead of both diversions were clear, but they’re now bogged down by huge numbers in their way too.”

Gemini clenched his fist. This was proof that they would have failed had they all just charged as one body, since the sheer weight of numbers would exhaust them before they even arrived at the Cradle of Creation. Without a Dominion to summon, without a Divine Territory, Paragons and Demigods alike would be forced to cleave through enemy after enemy.

And it wasn’t like the enemy had their own Paragons and Demigods either.

“So many spectres,” Gemini muttered.

“If we had fire support from the North’s Locomotives, this wouldn’t have been a problem,” Queen Hyperion replied. “As expected of the kid who avoided my assassins.”

“Your assassins?”

“Yeah.” Queen Hyperion shrugged. “Nothing much to hide at this point. He and his wife dropped by the Western Holdings to talk to one of my courtiers, but he had the gall to refuse my offer. Before I could do anything, however, he had left my territory, vanishing into thin air.”

“Don’t even talk about it,” Archduchess Gaia muttered. “You should thank me, really. If I hadn’t delayed those assassins, the entire Western Holdings might have been destroyed.”

“What’s with that smug look on your face?” Queen Hyperion asked. “You think I didn’t know you were the culprit behind the delay?”

“Were you really going to kill the person who had murdered the Human God? Or were you intending to hold his beloved hostage and work out something from there?” The archduchess sighed. “Well, that’s all water under the bridge now. Nothing happened, and that’s good enough. Thankfully, I could read you like a book.”

The two Demigods rolled their eyes at each other, and despite everything Gemini found himself somewhat amused. The two top experts of the Western Holdings actually had their own little beefs with each other, with one clearly acting as a restraining bolt over the other.

A distant rumble, one more heart-stirring than the weakening explosions that Gemini heard the whole time, shook the continent. However, since none of them dared to use their Divine Sense to sweep through the continent, the only thing they could do was to turn to Thasvia, who had a sombre expression.

“One of my familiar spirits self-detonated to clear the path.” She took a deep breath. “Doesn’t seem to have done much, though. The gap is already closing.”

Another thunderclap followed, a thunderclap that was also infused with the same soul-stirring quality. In those moments, Gemini could see a woman raising a sword up high. A piercing star formed at the tip of her weapon, and with a mighty roar, she plunged into the enemy ranks and turned into a small sun, obliterating everything around her.

“Visions…” Demigod Xie Baole, who had been mediating the whole time, frowned. “Disruptive. This old man doesn’t like them.”

“It’s not our working,” Hereward replied, before looking up. “It’s from the red firmament. The Zeroth Release of that nameless artefact. It’s…transmitting the last moments of everyone who falls to those under its crimson light, apparently.”

“…Why would the Abyss Sovereign do something like this?” the old man muttered. “More importantly, when was this function activated? Gods. If it was activated recently, that can only mean…”

“Good question,” Hereward replied. “There’s, however, no point in praying to us gods that this function was activated a week or so ago. We can’t really influence that part.”

“You should stop praying, old man. I stopped praying to the gods long ago,” Queen Hyperion replied. “Now, people pray to me. And Gaia. The North doesn’t give two hoots about you guys either, other than wanting you guys to lie down on a lab table for dissection or something. You should consider getting those at the East to pray to you too, once you have time. Better yourself than rickety old relics.”

“…Is the stress getting to you?” Thasvia asked, tilting her head.

“My apologies.” Queen Hyperion lowered her head slightly, before taking a deep breath. “Yes, I’m nervous. Scared. Look at it from my point of view; I haven’t fought properly for millennia. Been sitting on my throne and sleeping most of the time.”

“The same goes for us, really,” Hereward replied. “My first warmup was with the Demon Sovereign, while the others were busy with the Demon God himself. You could tell from the dismal results that we really aren’t ready for battle or anything.”

“Yeah, you guys were weak,” Gemini replied.

“Hey.”

“What?” The Demon Sovereign raised an eyebrow at the Sentinel of Space. “You guys lost a four-on-one battle, and then you got thrashed by someone, even though you had ten times my divinity back then. Right now, I think I could beat you up handily.”

“Pfft. You, now? You can’t even use your…” Hereward trailed away. “Oh. Well. That might actually be true, if we’re fighting here.”

“The me right now probably can’t win in a battle of Divine Will, but I sure as hell can wallop you until you call me grandpa or something,” Gemini replied, a malicious grin on his face.

The grin faded a moment later. “Yeah. If I’m not wrong…I’ll probably be the one facing off against the Abyss Sovereign. Like a fated battle or something. That’s how I see it.”

“That’s almost a—”

“Enough talking.” Thasvia’s voice cut in, swift and curt. “Prepare to move out. The middle portion has been cleared out entirely. Don’t be distracted by those last memories.”

Everyone nodded.

“One minute, then,” said Hereward. “Prepare yourself. This will be the final battle for Orb’s future.”

Divinity began to gather around everyone.