Gemini had always been the most eccentric of the 12 Constellations.

Unlike each who had a set personality, they had two.

Gemini was Duality.

Hot and Cold. Light and Dark. Good and Evil. They bordered on polarizing concepts and personalities.

And so, it only made sense that they would choose someone who embodied that very concept.

"I don't particularly like you, but… you are certainly appealing."

"Haha! Don't be so mean! You're gonna scare her!"

The two sides of the Gemini Constellation conversed, one laughing and one simply maintaining an unamused expression.

It felt odd that they were one and the same, but who could ever comprehend matters that related to the Boundless ones?

"I-I see. Thank you for the honor…" Even Lemi, despite being relieved that she was also chosen, felt a little awkward addressing the two personalities.

Which of the two was she supposed to look at first? How was she meant to address them? It felt too weird for her, but she did her best not to say anything about that.

She simply bowed and smiled respectfully, hoping that would be enough.

Thankfully, it was.

The Gemini Constellation soon began to argue between themselves, causing them to completely ignore her at that point.

'I don't even know if I should be happy or not…' Her thoughts trailed.

'At the very least, I managed to land one. That's what matters! There's no way he'll think I slacked off now!'

Even at this moment, Lemi couldn't help but think about Jared and how he would be pretty impressed by her achievement.

'I didn't fall behind my peers! That's what matters most.'

And even now, with the mission about to begin, she was determined to give it her all.

********

After the Selection Process was finalized, the Constellations began their Bonding with the respective Hosts they chose.

As a result, the Constellation Realm experienced a surge of interlocking energies.

The mortals became a part of the Constellations, and vice versa—initiating a link that transcended the bounds of concepts.

All of this, within a single moment.

"It is done." Aquarius declared, standing ahead of the rest of her siblings to represent them.

Before her, and the other Constellations, we're the eleven who would now represent them in order to defeat their world's ultimate evil.

"Serah Crimson. Kuzon Midas. Edward Karl Leon. Aloe Vida. Lemi Vindiel. Jerry Keller. Beruel. Aurora Vindiel. Maria Helmsworth. Anabelle Frederick. And… Ciara Epilson…" She began, her voice echoing with authority and admonition.

"… Existence is relying on you."

It was still unknown what Legris' endgame was, but the nature of his power and non-existence made him a threat to anything that existed.

He could not be allowed to remain.

"We wish you all good fortune."

As the group of eleven bowed before the Constellations, they all had the same burning expressions in their eyes.

The look of resolve.

On this very day… at this very moment… the final battle to determine the fate of everything was to be held.

Who would win? Who would lose?

No one knew for sure.

However…

"We will win." Said Kuzon as he looked at the rest of his allies.

Everyone nodded in confirmation.

Whether or not they believed in the certainty of Kuzon's words was one thing, but they all shared one thing that drove them forward.

The one thing that made them move forward despite the deaths of their comrades and the despair that was most likely waiting for them.

… A fear of what would happen if they lost.

And so, like a chorus—an exaltation of the soul—everyone repeated the same thoughts deep in their hearts.

"We have to win."

*********

The cocoon of darkness occupied an entire universe.I think you should take a look at

It was a mass of nothingness.

The blackness was tightly knitted together, leaving no space exposed.

Unlike the Nether Hive, it was incomparable in size or density.

But, most importantly, it did not leak out any remnant energy—or the inverse.

Instead, like a solid block of darkness, it sat within a universe, its massive frame taking in everything.

"It's huge." Kuzon commented as he watched it from afar.

Everyone else stood behind him, except for Serah and Edward who were in his unit.

"No. It's beyond huge. This is phenomenal."

Ana was currently wearing her goggles, and they were glowing as intensely as she was glaring at the sphere.

"The good news is that it doesn't seem to be leaking any of that Inverse Energy that Legris has, so it should be safe to approach it." She added, flexing her glasses a little.

"Everything seems to be concentrated on the interior. The external walls just serve as a shell. That means we should be able to destroy it with enough force, right?" Lemi added, to which Ana nodded slightly.Despite the good news, her worried expression remained.

"The problem has to do with what comes next. If we break the shell, we have to think about the contents that will spill out."

In essence, all of the Inverse Energy being stored within the massive cocoon.

"I can't help but think of this like a bomb. One of this size should be able to consume tons of universes if its contents leak out." Ana muttered to herself.

If they were to break the shell and interrupt Legris' plan, then they risked the very worlds they were trying to protect.

"Not necessarily." Lemi spoke up, her tone slightly more optimistic than the situation at hand demanded.

As expected, all eyes instantly shifted to her.

"We could ask the Constellations to cut off this Universe from every other Branch. By isolating it, even if the bomb goes off, it has no other universe to infect."

A small smile formed on Ana's face as she heard Lemi's suggestion.

"Pruning it off, eh? That's a solid plan."

All that was left was confirmation from the Constellations that they could indeed do that.

~Leave that to us, then. Once you destroy the shell, we'll prune out the universe.~

Once everyone collectively heard Aquarius' voice, they nodded in optimism.

"It's going to be especially dangerous for the team responsible for destroying the cocoon." Ana shifted her gaze to Kuzon, Serah, and Edward.

"You three should immediately teleport the moment you land the dealing strike."

~There's no need. I'll personally draw them out once they're done with the task. All you need to do is focus all your energy on the objective.~

Once again, Aquarius' voice rang out.

"Well, that makes this so much easier." Edward grinned, though nervousness tugged at a corner of his mind.

"We just have to give it everything we have." Serah smiled.

"So the plan has been established. We advance to destroy the cocoon. The rest of you hold back Ciel and Stefan, or whatever other challenge Legris has put in place to stall us. And once the job is done, we all get teleported away by the Constellations while the affected area quickly gets pruned."

After saying all that, Kuzon smirked.

"Pretty straightforward, right?"

As simple as all of that sounded, everyone recognized how immensely difficult it was going to be.

Nothing ever really went according to plan, and there was no guarantee that this would be an exception.

"Now then…" Kuzon, as well as everyone else, turned to face their objective with pure focus.

"… Let us begin!"

*

*

*

[A/N]

Thanks for reading, everyone!

The final showdown is about to commence. This should be fun!

Discord Link: https://discord.gg/yMPNRURZJh

Ko-Fi Link: https://ko-fi.com/magecrafter