Skullius sighed.
He should have expected it, in all honesty.
He was so stumped that he simply released one exasperated breath.
Well, to be fair, the fact that TITEMIUS was antagonistic to VOW and Serenity was no secret, but to hear that Serenity had actually been running from Void and TITEMIUS at that point was definitely a surprise.
Void was an entity that encompassed the entire reality. To think she would require aid where intelligence, no, rather, cunning and wit was required, was rather strange.
Skullius massaged his temple.
So TITEMIUS was smart?
So smart that, according to VOW, he had been imprisoned in so corner of reality by the other Prival Deities.
'What is up with this guy?' Skullius thought.
To Serenity though, he said "TITEMIUS, huh? You allowed to sign a contract with him while bearing all this? Wait. Doesn't that an you already trust enough to know I won't work against you?"
"In a way. But as I said, more assurance isn't a bad thing. The wider reality is nothing like Aigas. Everything is constantly changing very rapidly," said Serenity.
Skullius nodded.
"What's the deal with TITEMIUS then? Why is he helping Void in attacking you? I don't understand. Heck, why is Void after you anyway? Maybe I can understand why Void would be after you now, since I learned sothing that I shouldn't have, but what about back then? Why would she be interesting in destroying you when you hadn't even breached the restriction against having your own bearer yet? I know there are so things you won't share, but can you at least fit these pieces to the puzzle for ?"
Serenity's answer ca at once.
"Just because she is my sister doesn't an she only bears good intent towards ," she said. "Our story about triumphing over extinction was a sound, pretty tale before, but it quickly darkened, Skullius. I can't share those intimate details."
Skullius seethed.
"Fine, fine. Then tell about why and how you made to be a weapon against Void. Were you waiting for to awaken sothing that would counter Void's powers all this ti? What is the Greater Cosmic Law that Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz is aiming for?"
At this point, the Hybrid Warmoth didn't care if he overwheld Serenity with questions. He was sick of the secrets.
Sila watched on, curious. He had been silent all along, but not because he had nothing to say. Being a part of the Hybrid Luman and then a part of Hybrid Warmoth had helped him appreciate the entity known as Skullius a lot.
He had witnessed it when Skullius was driven to the breaking point by Elita and Kintar. His fury represented an evolution, and the sa was happening now. With his frustration at Serenity, Sila waited to see how else Skullius would grow - what conclusions he would co
to.
"As you know, Null Life and Voided Death are extrely different. Even the Essences embody opposite traits. Null Life Essence is serene, silent, calm, but Voided Death Essence is violent, unruly and lively. Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for to relate to Voided Death and for Void to relate to what Null Life Essence. Even the ways we implented our strengths and set restrictions for ourselves is terribly different, Skullius," she said.
"Void expanded her body into the wider reality and I shrunk mine and my potential to the point where technically, it doesn't exist. Don't let my previous comnts make you think that Void is stupid. In terms of bookish brilliance, she was the smartest of us all. I think that was why she opted to smother the whole of reality when she ascended. She wanted to know it all. To be it all. I couldn't relate. I tried to study how she developed Voided Death a while ago, but found that it was difficult. I was eager, and that forced an enmity to spark between and Void. What is happening now is a product of that mistake I made. In the end, with Void after , I had to devise a ans to counter her, as you said."
Skullius cursed.
Just how many layers were there to this story?
When he imagined what, or rather, who he thought Serenity to be when he first t her, he could only mock his past self.
She was not that at all.
She was soone who wanted to flee from this reality.
She was a greedy sister who ssed things up with her siblings.
She was soone with an enemy in a Prival Deity.
She was soone with great ambitions that could inconvenience others.
But she was also soone who wanted peace.
"Damn it, Serenity! Where do you place exactly? The parts missing from this story of yours are what's causing all this confusion in ," Skullius said. And indeed, he was deeply confused. "Perhaps that's for the best. Just as mortals get extra layers of existence when they ascend to Divinity, they beco more complex, Skullius. You shouldn't try to understand . Not yet," the Existential Parallel said. "You shouldn't try to understand the Greater Cosmic Lawl yet either. It's not sothing you can comprehend. I will only say, I did intend for it to happen, but I was prepared to wait for a very long ti, even with the threat of my punishnt for creating you. I can't decipher what Void is, but you can. You did. Through [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus], you managed to do what I couldn't. That's what the Null Verse is supposed to be - Endless Evolution."
Skullius frowned.
"You had it all planned out, huh?"
"Loosely," she said, and she suddenly turned solemn. "I grew a bit impatient along the way. If not you, I had hoped that the Canon n would do it. I watched as they hatched plans and abilities to escape the Null Verse. I had hoped... But that wasn't needed after all."
Skullius reeled.
The Canon n?
They were the only Null Lifeforms to escape the Null Verse (barring the potential truth in the fact that the Warmoth could have done that also). They were apparently beings corrupted by a Null Terror like the Full Deck Bone Tender, and their powers, which essentially warped reality, had allowed them to escape.
They had been countered before they could cause chaos in the wider reality though, according to the guidance field.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.1101.)
"You let them leave?" Skullius asked, but there was no judgnt in his voice. He sensed the desperation in this act of Serenity's even though it was from many Consternals ago. "I see." Skullius said nothing more as they drifted off. Again, he thought to the Warmoth.
If Treasures didn't exist in the Null Verse, did the ones in the Warmoth's Treasury co from the wider reality or did the Warmoth obtain inspiration from the wider reality to create his own Pri and Wicked Treasures?
Eiher, this ant that Warmoth must have interacted with the wider reality, did it not?
But Skullius couldn't be too sure.
It was a long trip to wherever the Nullmancer Serenity knew lived. Skullius had lost the appetite to ask about him. He had deeper things to digest for the ti being.
No one spoke in the group even as so of the most interesting sights blasted them in the
face, literally. A sea floating in the vacuum of space, migrating from east to west didn't manage to get a peep out of anyone. It changed its state when it t the group, becoming billions of fragnts of ice that avoided each of them. It was only when the group had passed that the ice turned back to liquid.
The next super bizarre thing to confront the group also went unentertained.
It was like a spinning hurricane of light, titanic in size and frozen in place. It spun endlessly, mightily, but despite that, the strength of its pull was rather dismal. It was no wonder that nothing could be seen trapped within it or around its impressive range.
Weaver would have explained what it was, but the atmosphere seed to call for silence still.
He respected that.
Serenity was the first to break the silence when they were approaching so kind of cluster of
stars. The stars turned out to not be the stars one would assu they were. They were colossal, blinking lights - products of intense elents. They swam in the pretty stardust, sotis revolving around giant pagodas standing still, rooted in space at great intervals
within the cluster.
"This is the Spellwelt Pseudo Cluster. It's one of the most dangerous places in the Null Verse. At least it was when I was last here," Serenity said.
Skullius made to respond to her by asking what the padogas were, but he spotted sothing far, far in the distance, larger than anything in sight.
It was like a massive piece of cloth as big as a world, partly obscured by the giants of light and
colourful stardusts.
Skullius could see where it began, far above, but not where it ended below. There were things written across it, but he couldn't see, and he presud that it was too far to appraise with his
guidance field.
"What's that?" he asked Serenity as they flew over beside another one of the great padogas. It spotted tal locks to its multiple doors.
"Oh, said Serenity, "That's the Universal Purge Banner. I'm sure you're acquainted with it."
...!!!
Skullius was bewildered.
The Universal Purge Banner.
'It's an actual, physical thing?!' he exclaid inwardly.
He hadn't thought it was a literal banner floating through the Null Verse. Apparently - according to what he had read from the guidance field - the Universal Purge Banner was a list of the most dangerous creatures in the Null Verse.
"This is one of the reasons why the Spellwelt Cluster is especially dangerous. Every so often, one of the creatures listed on the Banner will co and try to erase its na from it. The
creatures that live in those padogas are responsible for the Banner. They update it when
needed and manage dealings with the bounty hunters who co to collect rewards for
knocking off a na from the Banner."
Skullius turned pale.
"Hey, hey, wait. It's not just nas found on that Banner. Aren't there entire races listed there
as well?" he asked.
He rembered so of the races of creatures he had received as evolutionary options last ti, such as the Adamantite Beetle.
"Yes," said Serenity. "There are hunters who eliminate whole races here. It's common."
Skullius felt a chill crawl up his spine.
That was crazy! ....But then it hit him.
He turned to Serenity.
"The individual we are here to see..." he began.
"He was a hunter who retired to beco a manager of the Banner," Serenity answered. "He
has quite the reputation. I'm not sure if he is still alive though."
[Author's Note]
We will hitting another mini-arc with the Unlimited Stars. This one is shorter than Yuyui's
arc, trust.
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