The amalgam was stunned. This was the last thing he had been expecting to see.
He instantly recognised this form of Serenity's from when she had erged to stand against the newly evolved High Lich Somanda back then, before he had split himself in two.
Her appearance first filled him with dread as he wondered what could have happened for her to leave Skullius and rush to him. She hadn't shown up when he achieved his third evolution, which had convinced him that in addition to the rits of Patronage Ranks in the guidance field, she too was limited to the original body, Skullius.
But now...
Serenity's fla-like body hovered over the ebony waters and drew closer to the amalgam. Benzard couldn't see her, but he did notice the odd rippling of the ocean's surface.
Serenity appraised the amalgam's form.
Of course, she understood just how it was ford.
It was astounding just how much innovation and inspiration Replicus had drawn to achieve this. After all, it wasn't a simple sh of him and his Apostles.
She then looked at the corpse Vohnvolt was holding and though Vohnvolt couldn't see it, a smile blood on her 'face'. A wave of relief pushed her concerns away.
As Skullius was the one she had chosen to bear her powers, she could feel everything about him, even the fluctuations of his soul.
Right now, Serenity couldn't help but be pleased at the tremors of sorrow running through the amalgam.
He was grieving for this woman in his hands, and it wasn't because Somanda's curse triggered his lost mories, transposing his sentint onto a ghost of soone who didn't exist anymore.
No.
The amalgam was truly grieving a loss.
He felt sorry.
He felt sad.
'Thank goodness...'
Seeing this assured Serenity that she had been right.
Skullius and Replicus were two different individuals right now.
The forr, in his current state, would never have been so depressed about the death of soone who held no real value to him. He wouldn't even mourn the death of a useful asset for that matter.
But Replicus, evidently, could and would.
He was the truest expression of the man Serenity had charged with her powers months ago. This was who he was at his core.
He could save himself.
Serenity stared into the amalgam's sockets for a little while before turning her head to the pulsing force of Undeath in the sky.
'So that's who Somanda ant back then?' she thought.
She sensed fierce power from the necromancer in the sky, and from the looks of the collection of people here, it was evident that said fierce power wasn't easy to break.
Serenity scowled.
'He is quite powerful, but I sense a decline in his powers. He must be heavily injured. At his current level, he is probably weaker than Skullius is currently, but the gap is likely to widen in Skullius' favour given what he is currently doing.'
It pained Serenity to admit it, but Skullius had only continued to grow stronger after leaving Opungale.
This especially didn't bode well when considering that she needed Replicus to save him. Yet...
Quickly, she turned back to the amalgam.
"You have to evolve right now," she said simply.
Vohnvolt looked at her.
It didn't take a critical analysis to understand her intent and worse yet, the subtle desperation in her voice.
"He's that much stronger, huh?" he said.
Serenity's body floated lower.
"You knew?" she asked.
"I've known for a while."
Benzard was confused by what Vohnvolt said and had been about to ask what he was talking about, when he noticed that it had nothing to do with him.
Serenity's hands cradled the sides of Vohnvolt's face.
"Yes. The influence driving him is rather strong, as is the ambition that guides him. He is preparing for you," she said to him. "I was able to escape from him as soon as you reached the requirent for evolution to the Fourth Tier. This is it. This is what I promised. You need to evolve. The power you will obtain will turn the tables drastically. It will be much different from the previous evolutions."
Vohnvolt remained silent for a mont before storing Allora's corpse.
He looked up at the whirling Undead.
He was wary that he and everyone else were giving Actuass ti to recover, but at the mont, it was certain that no one possessed the ability to kill him.
It was a collective effort that would take him down, but given how estranged the combatants left on this battlefield were, it might as well be suicide if they leapt in without proper
coordination.
Vohnvolt summoned the guidance field.
[You have broken past many hurdles and reached LV80. You are now able to evolve into the Fourth Tier of Power. Do you accept?]
"Yes," he said.
However...
[Unable to evolve. Please deactivate 'Bringer of All']
[Unable to evolve. Please deactivate 'Bringer of All']
'What?'
The amalgam's socket fla burned bright with frustration.
Serenity shared the sa sentint.
What was with this?
Was it because the process would be too complex with three bodies mixed in one?
But then, why was this notification pertaining to Replicus' progression specifically?
Serenity scoffed and looked up into the sky.
She didn't do it to take a gander at the broken ceiling of Aigas, however.
She looked past the nded blue and into the void that existed around Aigas. She then proceeded to look further past it until her vision stabbed irritatingly at a certain entity who was forced to look back at her.
No words were spoken between the two, but a conversation was held nonetheless.
'Why are you being difficult now of all tis, Wyrrim?' Serenity said.
'What are you talking about? He just needs to disentangle himself and he can evolve,' the
other entity said.
'Why not just allow him to evolve without the extra conditions? Don't tell you are finding it difficult to manage how strong he should beco if he evolves while being rged with his Apostles. When did the Voice of Worlds beco so lazy? Isn't this in your job specification?' 'Lazy? Lazy?! Have you any idea how many entities I am currently dealing with? How many calculations I have to do every day? Spare , Serenity!'
Serenity frowned.
Just as she was about to continue haggling, however...
"It's alright. I can wait a bit longer," Vohnvolt suddenly said, drawing back Serenity's focus.
He didn't know that Serenity had just had a short exchange with a being he was familiar with right now, but he had probed himself, wondering if he should deactivate [Bringer of All] as
the guidance field dictated.
He decided against it.
"I can't give up the benefits Red Rage's [Blessing of Serenity] is giving right now. There
are multiple things I am in the process of learning from the slew of abilities I received in this form. If I can learn to utilise them without needing to assu the [Bringer of All] form, it
would be a win," he said, surprising Serenity.
"Really?"
She was skeptical... until she looked deeper into his body.
Indeed, the amalgam was doing a lot at the mont, thanks to his thought phantoms. He was
abusing Red Rage's ability to learn things quickly.
But how much would this add on to his strength, really?
Serenity wasn't sure.
The amalgam stepped forward.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing," he said after noticing Serenity's silence.
"Very well," the entity said and she rapidly filtered into his body.
In the sky, Actuass' hazel eye had been paying close attention to the figure of Serenity.
As a trickle of pale, lilac blood fell from its corner, he instantly realised that this whole
conflict was going to end in the next few minutes.
No, he had to end it then, while he still could.
'The last hurdle ended being much steeper than I had expected,' Actuass thought with a dull
chuckle.
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