Skullius had only ever used the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher once, and that was after he had beaten Caxellac and finally explored everything that ca with the Warmoth’s Progeny race.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.1163.)
The Second Layer was like an ocean, littered with creatures made and sustained by Ju`wtte. To traverse it, one needed to bear through the tense, liquid-like space, which grew denser the higher they rose. It was extrely spacious, augnted by so obscure power to be boundless.
Of course, the most outstanding feature of this place was the scrolls – an absurd number of them could be seen once you swam high enough. They unraveled and presented themselves to those who were admitted into the Second Layer, so empty and so rich with extraordinary secrets. Those that were empty would compel the user to scribble onto them any idea, and the more the user wrote, the more they grew to understand said idea, expanding on it damn near infinitely.
This was how Skullius had used this place last ti. He’d written about Maximum Catalyst and ended up creating different skills tied to the concept, such as [Maximum Constant], [Maximum Impact], and [Maximum Reach].
But at that ti, Skullius hadn’t been able to reach the higher scrolls, the ones brimming with energy, color, inspiration, and ideas beyond his wildest beliefs; they could only be handled by Divines and Deities. They were, in fact, the Warmoth’s true legacy – them and whatever was on the Third Layer. (Susu’k had cast Skullius out of it back then.)
Now, three Deities, a half-anomaly, an Apostle, and the successor of the Warmoth beco Divine, had entered the Second Layer. They were all burning with greed.
They all realized that the place was rich with the Litte, an aspect of the |Greater Cosmic Law| drawing from the Absolute Sun!
This was how the Warmoth had expanded on ideas he’d seen from other lifeforms in the Null Verse – the Levin of the Penetrators into Ju`wtte; the hidden libraries of the Mavericks into his own three unreachable dinsions – and how he, as Future Skullius knew, was able to glimpse outside the Null Verse into the wider reality!
...But then the six in the Second Layer right now were greedily absorbing the Warmoth’s legacy, disregarding his strict rules. Their minds raced, passively boosted by the abundant Litte. It was as though the Acceleration was happening all over again.
KAKAKAKAAAAAA!
The sound ca from Skullius’ sixth Apostle. The creature churned when t with Litte. To its ancient fibres, this sensation was...familiar.
[You have created a calamitous abomination, the Six-Handled Chariot of Probable Royalty, ’Tycha’!]
[...Good luck]
The thing was stationed behind a dazed Skullius, twice as large as he was, half as pretty. It was half a torso, rounded but humanoid. It must have been made of a particularly shiny kind of athyst, with six, freakishly long arms, four of which were pointing in four different directions. The rest held up the Apostle’s head, or what would have counted as one. Over the stump of its neck was a floating lotus-shaped bowl filled with a substance sowhere between liquid and gas. It was a miracle how the hands holding it up hadn’t dropped it with all the chaos.
The substance in the bowl hissed, rose out of the bowl, and ford a vague human face. The face turned to Skullius, considered him for a few seconds, and then disappeared.
...But Skullius hadn’t seen that. He was busy enduring the rush of Litte as well as...
’Damn you, Fulgardt...!’
He wasn’t talking about the impossible feat Fulgardt had accomplished – breaching into the Bosom – or the fact that what followed was going to be a terrible disaster. No. Skullius quickly ca to terms with that because of Litte. What baffled him was sothing else – a dare of insulting magnitudes.
’You’re pulling the sa trick on again?!’ he thought. ’Where did you seal your soul this ti, Fulgardt?!’
And indeed, perhaps because the Second Layer of the Hatcher allowed him that much freedom with whoever dared enter it, or perhaps because of Litte, Skullius could sense the intricate composition of everyone around him (except for their Broader Existences, of course). Boron, Listafelle, Quintess... They all had souls.
But not Fulgardt. He’d stripped himself of it in order to get rid of the nasty limitation Skullius had imposed on him (where he couldn’t leave Aigas).
’I didn’t cut corners with that. You’re on a ti limit, aren’t you still? You won’t be free forever!’ Skullius knew it. He’d had help creating that trap. It wouldn’t be long before Fulgardt was forced back to Aigas.
If Fulgardt was worried about this ti limit, he didn’t show it. Behind his Bare Guise, he was a happy man – a free man.
Quintess was recovering.
Listafelle was mobilizing.
And...
"Master!" Susu’k’s voice rang in Skullius’ head. "Forgive my failures! There is a pressing matter – sothing you should know about one of your enemies!"
"What?!" rattled Skullius.
"The instant he appeared here, all the mortals you had saved earlier... their faith changed."
"Faith? What do you an? Who are you talking about?"
"I an to say, he stole their beliefs – their devotion! Their faith is strengthening him!"
But Skullius didn’t understand. He didn’t have ti to do so. After all, Boron, Quintess, and Listafelle went berserk.
Deific Amras and Zu’sse saturated the Second Layer of Hatcher right as the hole that had been made into the egg-shaped building was repaired. It was a wonder how the whole thing remained standing when the Deities were going all out.
Skullius was pressed between the surging powers, but the single drop of Focused Null Life Ota he had generated allowed him to withstand it all with barely any added damage. (He was still recovering from the clash he had with Quintess earlier.)
...But then there was Fulgardt.
The violent forces thrashed the Immoral’s body, yet he didn’t flinch. Instead, he raised his hand and made a simple, but familiar gesture.
...!!!
"I’m borrowing your move, brat..." he said calmly, suppressing his wild joy.
Skullius nearly had a stroke.
’That’s...’
Indeed, it was.
Amras flew out of the Immoral, laced with Voided Death, and he chanted (just for the sake of it):
"Majestic Territory Expulsion, Desne of Maximum Fatality!"
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