Seconds earlier...
"There are two options, master," said Susu’k as the fighting above thundered, turning more vicious. "I’d advise you to pick only one. My previous master may be dead, but his will still thrives. This is still his domain, and even if it’s you, he might not tolerate the excessive breaking of the rules he set in place."
Skullius frowned. All this didn’t surprise him one bit. His trip to the Null Verse earlier had yielded the finding that the Warmoth had intricately woven the chanisms of the Bosom, the Vault, and the Treasury based on the unique composition of the Null Verse; Serenity’s Treasure did, after all, whisk the very essence of every creature ever birthed within it into what was known as the Cycle. Skullius even surmised that the Warmoth was likely to respawn in the Bosom one day.
’Fine. What are these options and how can they benefit ?’
Susu’k was brisk with his explanation.
"A fair warning: the first is quicker, but dangerous, while the second is slow, but safe," he said, his voice quivering in a way Skullius didn’t quite like. "If you wish to imdiately restrain your Apostle, you can blast a hole through the Second Layer to reach the Third. I not-so-fondly rember ejecting you out of that Layer back then – I apologise again – but I had good reason for it. The remnants of my previous master are stowed away in there. His imnse and precious presence can be accessed only by you and . If you can appeal to it, there’s a fair chance that it will instantly bring your new Apostle to heel."
’Or kill , right? It doesn’t sound like the Warmoth’s will is friendly.’
Susu’k’s silence confird it, much to Skullius’ cursing.
"Alternatively, I can open a path to the Warmoth’s Treasury, or more specifically, the Timould Mirror Box. I imagine you’ve wondered how that place is able to bend, accelerate, slow, and harmonise ti, right?" said the Strawler.
Skullius had wondered about this but had chosen not to fret over it. All he’d needed back when he forced himself and his subordinates through a hellish training arc in that damned place was progress.
’I might have a guess, but how is it able to temper with ti?’
"There is a power that Serenity used to establish Null Life and the Null Verse – a powerful, all-encompassing law. It is divided into individual parts with corresponding functions. My previous master harnessed bits of that power and used them to establish his three dinsions and further study it. The Timould Mirror Box functions through a portion of this powerful law called Conste, as my master once said – power over ti and its variations."
"I already sense from you so comprehension of another part of the law. If you’re brisk enough, while also exploiting the powers of this Layer, you might be able to use Conste to accelerate the ti around you by five asly minutes."
Skullius’ eyes widened. It hardly shook him that Susu’k was now apprised of the workings of his War Body – especially the ti-limit. He must have inferred as much as they communicated through his (Skullius’) mind to better understand what his master needed.
What truly shook Skullius was that it was possible for him to learn how to manipulate ti, or better yet, Consternals. He never did forget how Future Skullius had shown him the physical representation of Consternals in the great void earlier. Such power...
It would be hard, no doubt. Very hard. But Skullius had already grasped a bit of Litte with the help of Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz, a Parlous Nature whose purpose was to obtain the powers of the |Greater Cosmic Law|.
For Skullius, there was barely a need to contemplate which of the two choices to pick.
He had already rejected the goodwill of the Warmoth twice – once by rejecting a Supre skill that would allow him access to more of the Warmoth’s powerset, and twice by rejecting the great suit of armour that had been stowed away in the Warmoth’s Treasury.
Thus, Skullius rejected the direct help of the Warmoth again. He wouldn’t beg for the bastard’s powers.
It was a gamble, as was attempting to comprehend Conste in a re second. If he was late, either Boron, Quintess, or Fulgardt would kill him.
However...
’It’s just five asly minutes...’ he told himself, and he released the War Body, allowing Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz to embrace him.
At the sa ti, Susu’k opened a gateway to the Timould Mirror Box.
***
Present ti...
The burst of Conste Skullius tapped into hardly lasted for two seconds, but he got it. It then raged uncontrollably across the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher, swiping past the Deities and Fulgardt so immaculately that they didn’t realize it when it affected them.
...But Skullius was in his elent. It had been an imperfect process, but it worked.
[Congratulations! You have successfully cheated your way into bypassing the limitations of the War Body!]
[’Second Phase War Body’ enabled]
[Conditional limits have been erased]
[The restrictions on your race, ’Nullinity’s Herald’ are lifted]
[Immortal Physique has been restored]
[All extraneous techniques have been restored]
[Miniature Warti Guidance System comnces installation in the Omniscient Thought Cracker]
[...]
[Miniature Warti Guidance System installed]
[You now have access to the ’Three Great Revelations’]
...
[’Sovereign’s Authority: Storm Baker’ has been established in the skies. Do you wish to retrieve it?]
"Yes," was Skullius’ swift answer.
The clouds billowing above suddenly opened up, and a storm of dark and bright Ju’wtte poured from them, landing right between Skullius’ free palms. His wakizashi, gladius, and bow were gone. They were unnecessary now, as sothing far more potent than they were was here.
It was a spear that eclipsed Skullius in height by two ters, with a haft so dark it might have been torn from Void’s body. It had a four-dinsional quality, like the spine around Skullius’ waist. Its head was a two-pronged fork. Both parts of it wound around each other like a screw before eting to form a sharp point. They glead with scarlet and gold, their properties and texture unclear.
Storm Baker was the spear’s na.
Skullius stroked the haft... and a shocking amount of Amras funneled into him violently. It was of a much higher quality than that which he had in his Default Body: Beginner Star Affluent Amras. Only Deities were known to naturally progress into this quality of Amras. But even they wouldn’t begin their journey through Deity-hood with 76 million of units of it like Skullius!
Indeed, the Sovereign of Refined Anarchy was loaded. Storm Baker ca with this quirk... along with one other.
As everyone above him gawked in utter shock, Skullius turned to Tycha. The Apostle’s face – suspended above its bowl of a head – had turned stern as it stared at him. It said and did nothing.
’Ha. You won’t interfere with now, but you’re also not submissive. Interesting,’ Skullius thought. He would attend to that later. For now...
He brandished the large spear before him.
’Co at , you socketholes...’ he said.
...And his enemies did.
Storm Baker gave them no choice.
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