“That was one hell of a dream,” Gemini muttered, as darkness fell. The Constellation, however, was smiling somewhat. It was a long time since he could have a good fight without having any scruples whatsoever, since it was a dream in the end.

“Indeed,” said another voice.

“It’s been sometime since…” Gemini’s voice trailed off, and at that exact moment, the world around him changed into a familiar-looking study. “Who are you?”

“You already have the answer, so why ask?” A voice came from behind Gemini, who turned around to see someone. Hereward, the Sentinel of Space, was laying out a little table with some tea and snacks, his deep grey eyes hiding various things.

“Last I checked, your Divine Kingdom was just a table and chair in a world of grey,” Gemini replied. “Did you hire some people to spruce up your place? Or do gods have their own landscaping team?”

“Neither,” Hereward replied, gesturing for Gemini to take a seat. “I just regained quite a bit of power, that is all.”

“Do gods have the ability to gain power like that?” Gemini asked.

“Only if it returns to them,” Hereward replied. “The intrinsic nature of gods formed from a Bounded Presence is a fixed amount of power. Earth’s Newton once said that energy cannot be destroyed or created, just transferred or changed from one form to another. The same rule applies here.”

Gemini thought about qi, and then rolled his eyes. “Doesn’t seem that way.”

“Oh, but it is,” Hereward replied lightly. “You’re just merely absorbing it from another source and releasing it as your own. The environment, your body…even your soul. And from a Knight onwards, you have even more reserves that you just didn’t know existed.”

“Even more reserves?” Gemini asked.

“You’ve already met it,” Hereward replied. “But let me not spoil the fun.”

“Bummer.” The Constellation leaned back on his chair and took a sip of tea. “So, what’s the special occasion? You don’t go pulling people out of dreams randomly, do you?”

“Maybe I do, and maybe I don’t. But my purpose today here is to simply chat,” Hereward replied. “And give you some suggestions, while I’m at it. I suppose you’d want some news, so let me start with the biggest blow you’ll ever receive.”

“Bad news?”

“We all want to hear bad news first, no?” Hereward replied. “With the exception of Scorpio, who has dispersed his own powers, all the other Constellations are dead, killed by someone you should find quite familiar.”

The teacup in Gemini’s hand trembled madly. “Dead?”

“Yes.” The great god placed his own cup down and leaned back.

“Who did it?”

“The same one who killed you,” Hereward replied. “The Phantom Blade, a young woman who claims to have done it to save the world. Her story is long and complicated, and as to the details…”

He shook his head.

“Details?” Gemini asked.

“Let’s see…does dying for the greater good sound palatable to you?” Hereward asked, his eyes alight with a gleam. “If someone were to kill you, in order to prevent a huge disaster from rising, would you stand by and let that happen?”

“Kill me?” The Constellation narrowed his eyes. “And I’m important how?”

“You are the last vessel of the Human God’s power,” Hereward replied. “Imagine if the Demon God got his hands on you and injected his own powers inside. What monster would that produce?”

“Is that even possible?”

“My thoughts exactly. But on the off-chance something monstrous really appears…that off-chance is why the Phantom Blade is going around and killing the Constellations. Fortunately, everyone assumes that her mission has succeeded. You are the only one left, and with a bit of luck, no one’s going to come find you, Demon God or otherwise.” The Sentinel of Space sipped from his cup. “But in case something happens…”

He grinned and tossed a wooden cube over. “This might help you.”

Gemini caught the wooden cube and eyed it closely. “This, a simple wooden cube, without any mystical properties whatsoever, might help me?”

“It’s called the Severing Cube,” Hereward replied. “You might find it useful, and it has a life-saving function too. There’ll be a small price to pay, but what’s pain when compared to everyone’s survival?”

“You just don’t want to say anything else, do you?” Gemini asked.

“There’s enough singularities in this world already. I see no need to add another one. Do not underestimate the effect of a single spoken word by us gods, especially those who remain in the Divine Realm,” Hereward said, a small smirk on his face. “Since I haven’t descended, I can be considered to be an existence that has some influence on fate itself. I must guard my words properly.”

“Say that to the other great gods, I dare you,” Gemini retorted.

“And seem like a snob? No thank you. I’m happy where I am now,” Hereward replied. “A word of advice for you, however. Now that the Demon God has his attention on your homeland, you should not use any Skill you got from the Human God, unique or otherwise. Got it?”

Before the Constellation could respond, Hereward’s Divine Kingdom began to fade into the background, and a warm, fluffy feeling enveloped Gemini. Everything faded away into an illusion, and within moments, a wave of comfort had numbed his mind. His thoughts ground to a halt, leaving on the memories of the night’s dream behind.