Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1404: Measure of Time



Susu'k was the giant Strawler that lived on the Third Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher. He was very knowledgeable about everything to do with the Warmoth and his three separate spaces. He was also quite knowledgeable about Divine things. He was the one who had explained how the Broader Existence worked to Skullius after his ascension.

In truth, the Hybrid Warmoth had almost forgotten that he existed.

"He's right," Serenity said, confirming what the disembodied voice of the Strawler had said. "It is a bumpy trip, but it takes a shorter while than the direct route I usually use. I had to make it harder even for myself to get through for security's sake."

Skullius considered this, but he found it really hard to understand. So the mechanism between the Null Verse and the Warmoth's own inventions were similar. Did that mean that Serenity had some degree of control over the Empyrean Bosom, Pestilent Vault and the Treasury?

Skullius didn't think it likely. As far as he knew, Serenity had been surprised by the Warmoth's domains, quite like him.

"Susu'k," he said. "Did the keys to the Bosom, the Vault and the Treasury exist back when your previous master was here?"

"Yes, but my master did not use them. He simply used Ju`wtte. They are meant to be used by those who can't wield the perfect merigold Ju`wtte," the Strawler replied.

'I see.'

Skullius imagined this feat as something truly profound. If the three domains of the Warmoth were something far different from mere alternate dimensions located within the Null Verse itself, then every time the Warmoth left the Null Verse for his domains or vice versa, then he was essentially exercising the same level of skill Serenity did when going back and forth between the wider reality and the Null Verse!

Skullius was sure of it.

"Shall we get going?" said Serenity.

"Yes," replied Skullius and he urged on Sila, Weaver and Araeyn. Right then, he almost felt the longing oozing from Susu'k. Unfortunately, the Strawler couldn't leave the Empyrean Hatcher. His influence was only centred around the three domains of the Warmoth.

Beyond that, Skullius wasn't used to him as a surbodinate. He was kind of glad he didn't have to let the Strawler tag along.

Serenity released a stream of thin, fickle Null Life Essence that latched onto Skullius, Sila, Weaver and Araeyn. It felt like a soft hand touching their very souls. (Though, Araeyn, and Weaver didn't have souls, of course. Sila as well.)

"Hang on. The initial effect might be rather... alarming," Serenity warned.

Almost immediately after she said it, it happened.

Skullius was indeed alarmed, as was Sila.

Suddenly, the whole world seemed to shatter into tiny fragments and then these fragments duplicated without end and pelted them at speeds none of them but Serenity could comprehend. For souls used to getting assaulted unexpectedly, like Skullius, it was almost impossible to not react defensively.

Skullius had guarded himself with Null Life Essence, expecting immense pain and hurt.

But the fragments pelting him did not cause him any harm. They simply phased through him. His entire view was filled with these odd fragments. They streaked from beyond like millions if not billions of starlights, shimmering and shining as they fell on them.

If Skullius hadn't had his fair share of experiences with existential dread, he might have been compelled to give in to despair at the infinite (?) space expanding ahead of him.

'Hmm. This is quite smooth. What did Susu'k mean by rolling down a h-'

Just as Skullius questioned it, the boundless space shook vehemently, and suddenly, Skullius was tumbling against a texture he couldn't feel or comprehend. He was spinning, he was whirling, he was rolling. The experience lasted for what could have been at least five minutes before he was once again flying through the starlights that passed through him as though he were a ghost.

"W-What was that?!" he screamed at Serenity, staggered, puzzled and dizzy. He couldn't even pinpoint where she was, or even Sila or Weaver or Araeyn for that matter.

"It won't do you much good to know that now," Serenity explained from an infinite number of directions. "There are foundations of reality itself that you are yet to familiarise yourself with. Don't bother with them."

"Alright. If you say so..." Skullius said. He felt the mortal reaction to try and puke, but his body wasn't built to accommodate such functions. Slowly, he recovered from the bumps but more soon rocked him to oblivion. By the end of the third, Skullius felt like his great Divine senses were useless. He wasn't sure if the starlights striking futilely at him were even the true form of this space they were traversing. They were probably only what he could see.

Araeyn and Sila were doing much worse than Skullius. Sila had lost consciousness multiple times. Araeyn had grown paler than he normally was. At the rate he was going, he would become a saint in colour alone.

Weaver was completely fine.

As the time passed, Skullius was compelled to fill it with questions, starting with something he'd wanted to learn for a while now.

"What are Consterns and Consternals? I've been hearing and seeing these terms often, starting with my first set of contracts, with D'JORRO. I get that they are some measure of time, but what do they mean exactly?"

Indeed, Skullius had heard these terms thrown around a lot. His new Exotic Parlous Nature even incorporated one of these metrics of time in its effects.

"I thought you might have already figured it out," said Serenity, her figure lost among the starlights to Skullius. "Consterns refer to the life span of a living individual - a Divine individual - and Consternals are the measurement of time adopted by the wider reality. Well, time is just a fragment of Consternals, really. One Consternal is equivalent to twelve hours in terms of worldly time."

Skullius had just begun to process all this when he bombarded by another bump. By the time it was over, he almost felt what Serenity explained to him slip from his mind.

After gathering his wits, he finally found the question he wanted to ask.

"The Consternal part is reasonable. But why is the lifespan of Divines measured? What's the point of measuring it if they are immortal?"

Serenity didn't answer immediately. This gave Skullius a feeling of foreboding. He realised as he asked that it was indeed very, very weird for there to be a measurement of time for lifespan when it came to Divines.

When Serenity finally answered him, Skullius had begun dreading getting the solution to his

question.

"Because for regular Divines, a Divine life isn't infinite."