Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1409: Complexities



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 some corner of reality by the other Primeval Deities.

'What is up with this guy?' Skullius thought.

To Serenity though, he said "TITEMIUS, huh? You allowed me to sign a contract with him while bearing all this? Wait. Doesn't that mean you already trust me 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 something 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 some things you won't share, but can you at least fit these pieces to the puzzle for me?"

Serenity's answer came at once.

"Just because she is my sister doesn't mean she only bears good intent towards me," 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 me about why and how you made me to be a weapon against Void. Were you waiting for me to awaken something that would counter Void's powers all this time? What is the Greater Cosmic Law that Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz is aiming for?"

At this point, the Hybrid Warmoth didn't care if he overwhelmed 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 same was happening now. With his frustration at Serenity, Sila waited to see how else Skullius would grow - what conclusions he would come

to.

"As you know, Null Life and Voided Death are extremely 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 me to relate to Voided Death and for Void to relate to what Null Life Essence. Even the ways we implemented 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 comments 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 me and Void. What is happening now is a product of that mistake I made. In the end, with Void after me, I had to devise a means 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 met her, he could only mock his past self.

She was not that at all.

She was someone who wanted to flee from this reality.

She was a greedy sister who messed things up with her siblings.

She was someone with an enemy in a Primeval Deity.

She was someone with great ambitions that could inconvenience others.

But she was also someone 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 me," 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 become more complex, Skullius. You shouldn't try to understand me. Not yet," the Existential Parallel said. "You shouldn't try to understand the Greater Cosmic Lawl yet either. It's not something you can comprehend. I will only say, I did intend for it to happen, but I was prepared to wait for a very long time, even with the threat of my punishment 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 Men 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 Men?

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 judgment 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 come from the wider reality or did the Warmoth obtain inspiration from the wider reality to create his own Prime and Wicked Treasures?

Eiher, this meant 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 time being.

No one spoke in the group even as some 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 met the group, becoming billions of fragments 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 seemed to call for silence still.

He respected that.

Serenity was the first to break the silence when they were approaching some kind of cluster of

stars. The stars turned out to not be the stars one would assume they were. They were colossal, blinking lights - products of intense elements. They swam in the pretty stardust, sometimes 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 something 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 presumed 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 metal 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 exclaimed 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 come and try to erase its name 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 come to collect rewards for

knocking off a name from the Banner."

Skullius turned pale.

"Hey, hey, wait. It's not just names found on that Banner. Aren't there entire races listed there

as well?" he asked.

He remembered some of the races of creatures he had received as evolutionary options last time, 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 become 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.