The Acheron continued to speed up, its passengers blissfully unaware of the deadly strike the Demon God’s familiar spirit was preparing for them.

“Quinn…any suggestions?” Gemini’s voice, buffeted by the roaring air and affected by his intense fear, was weak and raspy.

The Champion Support Entity didn’t reply.

Gemini knew what that silence meant. It meant that, like him, Quinn was helpless too. The Constellation had a feeling that even if he activated Supernova, he wouldn’t be able to pull off what he did, back when Nox assaulted Heritage Basestation.

That was just how deadly this attack was.

For a moment, Gemini envied Degurechaff and the others inside the Acheron. It would seem that their last moments would not be marred with fear, which wasn’t a privilege he had. Forcing himself up, the Constellation began to gather whatever feeble qi he could muster, readying his activation of Supernova one last time.

It wasn’t going to work, but Gemini didn’t want to just die without putting up any resistance. He wasn’t going to give up just yet. Closing his eyes, he cast around for as much qi as possible, gathering them into his body and channelling them to his outstretched right hand.

The wind continued to howl and the Demigod’s preparations grew more and more complete, and yet, the Constellation had a feeling that he wouldn’t die just yet.

“Maybe. Maybe not,” a voice spoke beside him.

Time drew to a standstill at that moment as the colours of the world vanished, replaced by a monochrome duality. Gemini turned to look at the shadow that had appeared beside him, and even with its obscured figure, the Constellation knew which great god had appeared.

Hereward. The Sentinel of Space.

“What do you mean?” Gemini asked.

“Look.” The great god pointed to the ground. “Once, you did someone a favour. You protected her kinsmen as they fled from their homeland, taking on a great danger by yourself. You may have forgotten about it yourself, but that someone has never forgotten.”

Gemini’s heart skipped a beat. He knew who that person was. Exemplar Rilata, the strongest Exemplar in the Wildlands. In the fall of Ars, she had engaged one of the Demon God’s familiar spirits — a Demigod — and prevented her opposite number from chasing down and killing the hapless citizens of her tribe. Gemini had then chosen to escort those citizens, drawing away the Sages that left in pursuit.

“Why are you telling me this?” Gemini asked.

“To remind you about certain things,” the great god replied. “And to give you some advice.”

Gemini glanced at Exemplar Rilata, who was preparing her own mighty defences to give Gemini and the Acheron a chance of survival, and nodded his head respectfully. “I’m all ears.”

The great god’s smile was one of sympathy. “You have begun to understand many things in the past few years. The purpose of the Severing Cube. The compensation mechanisms of Orb and Earth. The foundations of Orb. My advice is this: do not forget those lessons. There are so many things I wish I could tell you, but I cannot. Not with the turning point this close at hand.”

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The Sentinel of Space vanished, and colour returned to the world. A heartbeat later, overwhelming power pulsed outwards from the area where Ark City used to be, and a purple-black beam, one that promised death and destruction, shot out, towards the Acheron.

“Benefactor,” a voice spoke in his ear. “You saved my kin once. Now, I return the favour.”

An enormous wall of energy abruptly manifested, around a hundred metres away from the Acheron, shrinking rapidly as it clashed against the Demigod’s attack. The ship shuddered as the shockwave from the resulting clash passed through it, and the lands below ruptured, melting away into magma shortly afterwards.

“Ready your Supernova!” Quinn hurriedly spoke. “That Exemplar alone cannot defend against that attack, but if you use it, everyone will survive! Don’t worry, I’ll control the output, so you won’t die from it this time!”

Gemini frowned. They had a fighting chance now, but if he were to use the Supernova, the Demon God would probably direct his attention over. Taking a deep breath, he said, “I was told—”

“I know. But I know what you saw just now,” Quinn replied. “You will regret it your whole life if anymore die.”

That was more than enough for Gemini. More importantly, he was right. Degurechaff was in too weak of a state to do anything, and Chamberlain couldn’t exit the Acheron right now without endangering the others onboard. Ignoring the advice Hereward had given some time ago was going to have consequences, but at the very least, none aboard the Acheron would die.

A cold determination ran through his veins as the Demigod’s attack finally shattered the wall of energy that had held it back. Like a snake, the beam of energy twisted and curved, following the earlier trajectory of the Acheron and closing on it rapidly.

Throwing all caution to the wind, qi erupted from Gemini’s outstretched right hand. At the same time, he reached out to the seed of light and power the Human God had granted him so many years ago.

“Skill: Supernova.”

And for the second time in his life, Gemini experienced the power of a Demigod. A blazing heat began to radiate from his chest, empowering the enormous barrier that Gemini was projecting. At the same time, his other Unique Skill activated, creating a resplendent cloak of starlight that supported him as he met the familiar spirit’s weakened attack head on.

For a moment, the brown and green land far below the Acheron was dyed with a dozen different colours, as his body and defence, a blazing red and orange, stonewalled the purple-black ray of energy.

His body shook from the sheer effort, the blood vessels on his right arm bursting upon first contact. The muscles and bones followed shortly afterwards; for some reason, the immutable properties his body should have as a result of the Champion Support System were no longer present.

Gritting his teeth, the Constellation continued to hold up against the terrible onslaught of energy, throwing everything else to the back of his mind. The clouds around the Acheron had scattered, and he could vaguely sense that the other Paragons were already aware of the clash behind the huge transport ship.

As the last of the purple-black energy scattered, the Constellation fell to his knees, the mighty barrier he created breaking apart at the same time. Degurechaff, who had forced himself to climb up during the soundless struggle, pulled Gemini back from the edge, a look of shock on his face.

“You…”

Gemini smiled weakly, but before he could say anything, a presence that dwarfed even that of the familiar spirit earlier appeared. High above the Acheron, in the skies beyond, two black eyes had opened, each one a pit of tar. The Constellation shuddered as an unpleasant chill flooded his nerves, before a searing pain on the back of his left hand drew his attention.

Three crossed lines, drawn in bold black ink, marked the back of his left hand. The two eyes closed a moment later, but his heart was now beating madly, over and over.

Forcing himself to sit properly, Gemini began to regulate the rampant energies in his body once more. It wasn’t the time to relax. Not yet.

Not with the Demon God’s attention on him.