On Skyfall Star, Rog was saying his final goodbye to Mondo.

Everything had come to an end.

All the questions he’d once wanted to ask were gone now, and all that was left condensed into one sentence:
“…Will we ever meet again?”

Mondo, now in human form, stood across from him. His eyes rested on the Four Pillar Tower standing tall on the cliff in the distance, his expression serene and unburdened. “All the primal beasts have returned to the Divine Domain. This universe will be fine.”

With the galaxy finally settling and all the major races developing in stability, creatures like the primal beasts—walking anomalies who shattered balance simply by existing—no longer had a place here. It was better for everyone.

Rog understood the unspoken part of that thought. He took a deep breath. “No matter what, thank you—for looking after the brothers all these years. You’ll always be our commander. Also… Baihe Star. Xia Zie’s living there now. If you ever get the chance… drop by. If it’s convenient.”

Mondo blinked, then smiled. “I will. Baihe Star is…” A look of nostalgia softened his features. “My second home.”

Rog caught the gleam in his eyes—something the Mondo from before would never have shown. And suddenly, he remembered the very first time he met him. A stranger had arrived on Baihe Star, alone, bloodied, clearly not from around here. The sheer chaos his appearance caused on that remote planet hadn’t faded from Rog’s memory.

Back then, Rog and Xia Zie were just regular patrol officers on Baihe Star, still green, not yet seasoned by the galaxy. They’d been ordered to apprehend the suspicious outsider.

They lost. Completely.

In that moment, two frogs from the bottom of a well got their first glimpse of the galaxy’s vastness and danger. Just one stare from those crimson-glowing eyes had nearly robbed them of the will to lift their weapons. And just as they thought they were about to die, the man had frozen, eyes locked on the ceremonial platform in the distance.

—Now that he thought about it, that day had been Baihe’s Primordial Festival. And during that year’s celebration, the one impersonated on the platform had been none other than the war god.

It wasn’t until now, after everything, that Rog finally understood—
Why that unstoppable, blood-drenched man had suddenly looked hollow, crumbling in silence.
Why he had stopped so abruptly, like something had soothed him—why that pain-filled peace, half-smile, half-grief, had crossed his face.

It had all been foreshadowed from the very beginning.

Rog beamed brightly at the man he had followed for so long. “Seriously, commander—don’t go losing track of your god again, alright? If you end up bawling like you did the first time we met, I’ll be the one dying of secondhand embarrassment!”

Mondo’s expression froze, then his eyes narrowed, and his smile took on a dangerous curve. “Yo, look at you, mouthing off after just a few days. Getting cocky, are we?”

Rog grinned sheepishly. “I just realized—you being mad really does sound like the war god. But I’ve met the war god now, so nope—you don’t scare me anymore.”

“You little brat.” Mondo reached out and ruffled his hair roughly, ignoring Rog’s struggle, just like he used to back in the army.

—He didn’t just resemble the war god.

—He had slowly become him.

…Though now that Hexin was back, maybe some things really did need to change. Like his catchphrase “yo.” It was kind of punch-worthy when spoken out loud, honestly. Kept making people want to deck him for no reason. Why the hell did Hexin like it so much?

“Bye, Mondo! Take care out there! You have to come back, got it?!” Rog stood on the mountaintop, arms flailing toward the sky.

Above him, the black dragon that Mondo had become soared in wide arcs before suddenly diving. With a thunderous cry, he swooped down and hooked the chain binding the Four Pillar Tower to the mountain, tearing the entire tower from its foundation.

A rift tore open in the void—and without hesitation, the black dragon surged into it, tower in tow. His sweeping tail lashed through the air, stirring the trees below into a rolling storm of green.

Rog watched that figure vanish into the void until the spatial rift sealed shut behind him.

—The stray dog had finally found its one true home. No matter the mountains or rivers ahead, now it would travel with a god. Take care.

•  

Some days later, in the Divine Domain—

The rebuilding efforts had grown fervent, especially after the primal beasts joined in.

The Four Pillar Tower from Skyfall Star had been returned by Mondo, restored to its old familiar spot. Inside, the four great stone pillars were now glowing—and every name etched into them was lit.

Hexin stood atop a massive rock, watching the sky and land teem with life. It was almost hard to believe that not long ago, this entire place had been nothing but desolate ruin.

In the north, the sea had regained its clarity thanks to the return of the sea-based primal beasts. You could spot all kinds of colossal creatures leaping from the waves at any moment. The sky echoed with distant howls, and flickers of wings darted through the clouds. Glints of armoured scales shimmered in the sunlight, vanishing before the eye could catch them.

The earth-bound primal beasts were tirelessly digging, shaping a massive underground hive. Every now and then, Hexin would feel the ground quake, and soon after, another mountain would collapse—or be relocated entirely.

This land, his land as the war god, was slowly becoming what he remembered.

He recalled the system message he’d received yesterday. Seemed like it was about time.

[Faith level has reached a new cap. Would you like to unlock a new character card?]

Unlike before, Hexin now had the choice to decline. With just the sun god and war god identities, he could still earn plenty of faith—it was only a matter of time. But after some thought, he decided to take a look.

He secretly hoped for a light-aligned g odthis time. Something like a god of renewal, maybe one who could breathe life back into barren lands. Ideally… someone without a tangled mess of drama.

“Confirm.”

That little thrill—like pulling a rare gacha—ran through him. As his voice fell, a panel only he could see materialized in the air, and a new card began to take shape.

Hexin noticed immediately—this one was bigger. Nearly twice the size of the war god or sun god cards.

A hunch tugged at the back of his mind.

“…No way…”

In the next second, blinding light burst outward and then scattered. The floating card snapped into focus—unfolding into a vivid image:

The card was dark overall, split in half by a mirrored surface of water—sky above, water below.

Beneath a sky heavy with storm clouds, one figure lay sideways atop the surface of the water. Silken hair unravelled in curling strands across the ripples, and pale fingertips gently traced circles into the liquid, setting off faint, widening rings.

Below, within the silent, bottomless waters, another figure floated upward. Robes billowed like flowers or mist beneath the surface, soft and weightless. One hand reached upward—meeting the other’s through the barrier of water, fingertip to fingertip.

The one above wore a gentle smile. The one below had eyes veiled in a dreamlike haze. Through the thin layer of water, they gazed at each other—two blurred shadows set against an ominous backdrop, like ghosts of a dream at the end of the world.

They shared no words, but something passed between them. A connection invisible to all but themselves—simultaneously distant and intimate, parted yet entwined.

And when someone tried to focus on their features—to really see them—they’d find themselves utterly unable to describe a single detail. Because the very moment their eyes passed over that scene, a shock would strike directly at their soul, blanking their thoughts, leaving only one trembling conclusion—

That was beauty beyond limits. Something so impossibly dreamlike, no imagination could reach it—something that even the soul could not fully process.

And that feeling… wasn’t wrong.

Hexin let out a long breath, his expression complicated as he stared at the two newly-unlocked supreme g cards.

“god of Dreams and god of Beauty… it’s actually these twin gods…”

The massive image split cleanly in two along the mirrored waterline, transforming into two standard-sized character cards before him. The figure on the water’s surface was the god of Beauty—the elder brother of the twin gods. The figure beneath the water was the god of Dreams—the younger twin.

Two cards at once. Hexin muttered, “Aren’t I only supposed to unlock one role at a time?”

The system responded:
[That’s true in theory. But if a setting exists that overrides the rule, the rule breaks. If the host looks closely, you’ll see that only the [god of Beauty] is fully unlocked. The [god of Dreams] is still in a half-sealed, unawakened state.]

Sure enough, the dream god’s card was grayed out—half-transparent.

Hexin immediately remembered a lore entry from god of gods about this unique twin pair.

“The god of Dreams—an existence who slumbers in the crevice between reality and dreams. When there are signs of his awakening, his twin responds to the call of their shared soul, descending to his side to light the lantern and guide him, so he doesn’t lose himself in the endless dreamscape.”

“So actually,” Hexin said, “what I really drew was the god of Dreams—and the god of Beauty got linked in because of their shared setting.”

[Exactly.]

That confirmation made Hexin yell internally—a new faction has arrived!

Unlike the sun god and war god, these new gods were born of the Abyss. In god of gods, all gods were loosely grouped into four factions: Divine Domain, Abyss, Underworld, and Others. The Abyss, like the Divine Domain, was a pocket space floating in the depths of the universe—a breeding ground for countless anomalies and gods. Often called the cradle of evil gods, its aesthetic was dark and shrouded in mystery.

Abyssal gods rarely left their domain and seldom involved themselves in divine affairs. They were reclusive—alien. And the few who did emerge were immensely powerful and always trouble. Most of the major chapter bosses in the series came from the Abyss.

Only three Abyssal gods managed to survive all that chaos, make peace with the world, and ascend to the rank of supreme god.

They were the god of Chaos, the god of Beauty, and the god of Dreams—three brothers. The dependable eldest and the twin younger ones. Too bad Hexin hadn’t drawn the chaos god yet… otherwise the family reunion would be complete. (Get out.)

Another famous Abyss-born twin set was the god of Calamity and the god of Ferocity. They weren’t supreme gods, but they had… a history with the beauty-dream twins. Let’s just say, twin vs twin, any matchup between them was instant drama fuel. The entanglement was… complicated.

It was almost guaranteed that once Hexin started using these two cards, he’d be seeing them soon.

But that was a problem for later. Right now, the god of Dreams—unlike the others—came with a built-in questline: Awaken him.

The dream god’s slumbering location was hidden to all, even to his twin. But while asleep, he’d send out a sliver of consciousness into the world—like a probe, like a dream’s eye. This sliver would wander reality, experience life, like a god descending into the mortal realm to undergo tribulation, and eventually, return to full divinity—waking from a great dream.

Now that Hexin had drawn the dream god’s card, it was up to him to awaken him.

He thought it over, then tucked both cards away for the moment.

In the days that followed, he made arrangements across the Divine Domain. He spoke with the celestials and the primal beasts separately, telling them he’d be heading out for a while.

“Where are you going?” they asked, full of concern but not doubt. His recent presence had eased the tension of reunion. At most, they were simply curious.

Hexin thought for a moment. “Dual-wielding gods. Down to earth. Tribulation run.”

Everyone: “…?”

After his farewells, Hexin didn’t actually leave the Divine Domain. Instead, he found a quiet corner—and activated the god of Dreams card.

The moment the card fused with his body, his surroundings changed.

At the same time, the sound of frantic footsteps echoed in his ears. People were shouting, their voices sharp with alarm:

“…This time the purge unit’s led by a celestial! They’ve already found our base! Move the test subjects now!!”

“Prioritize data samples above 3S-class! Lock down all area valves!”

“Get the escape ships prepped—launch smoke screens and scatter in multiple directions!”

…So noisy.

Hexin opened his eyes amidst the chaos—and realized he was submerged in water. Or rather, inside a vessel filled with it.

This setup… felt a little familiar.

So where exactly had the dream god’s fragment ended up?

Just as Hexin was trying to piece together the plot like a script from god of gods, a man in a white lab coat hurried past the vessel—then froze when he caught sight of Hexin’s open eyes.

The man blinked. Stared. And then—

The papers in his hands spilled everywhere.

“…Impossible…” he stammered, voice shaking. “Test Subject K3… wasn’t it already confirmed dead?!”