Bro, I'm not an Undead!

As soon as they poured back into Suzamete's domain, Grim fell face first at the Deitess' feet and groaned. Jiggorrhax was more graceful. He shifted into his humanoid form and landed beside the Unlimited Star.

"You lasted a whole lot longer than last time, even if you had help to maintain your form," he said while flexing his arms. He wasn't yet used to this smaller, more compact body.

Grim turned himself over. He did feel a lot better than last time, when he was literally bleeding out of every orifice on his face right after he transformed back into his human form. The agony was real though. It felt like every tendon in his body was on fire while every born he owned was being boiled in oil.

"That's not a mark for my improvement now, is it? I really feel death trying to snatch me," he said with difficulty.

<Skullius will help you reach Divinity, and then you won't have to worry about the strain.> Suzamete told him.

"I was hoping it wouldn't have to come to that," Grim said and he struggled to sit up straight. "That's a longer-term goal than what I have in mind. I want to get back into the action now and help the others."

Jiggorrhax shook his head. "Not in your state. You need to rest."

Grim turned mutinous. The fact that Granted Restoration couldn't heal him from the after effects of using King of Unforgiving Impermanence hurt him the most. There was no way to circumvent them.

<You don't need to feel like you have something to prove. If it's any consolation, Yuyui will be here with you. I don't plan on releasing her either until she's ready.> said Suzamete.

Grim turned to the subject in question.

Yuyui was seated some distance away from the Deitess of the Sky, her eyes closed as she focused on something deep within her.

Ever since she discovered the real purpose of Nitros for humans, Sif and Giants, she had felt her soul throbbing and thrumming, but eager for more. It wanted to be fed to bursting with Nitros, even though Yuyui's current Stage (Incandescent) didn't support it. The lime-haired girl was preparing her soul at present. She was looking for that tender balance for her soul that would allow her to start cultivating her strength the proper way.

Suzamete had told her that this was the last chance she had to explore this if she was going to be leaving Aigas with Skullius afterwards.

Seeing how focused Yuyui was on her task made Grim rein in his tumbling emotions. He drew a breath.

"Alright. I'll wait," he said, however begrudgingly.

Suzamete smiled, even if the Unlimited Star didn't notice it. It amused her to no end how fierce-willed Skullius' subordinates were.

She looked down into Aigas. Everything was set.

Would Skullius show the same unyielding fierce will against his enemies? She didn't know, and she was a little glad about that.

***

As the drapes of time were pulled together and forced out of existence by one of Aigas' Rules, several figures flew out of them like burning stars, and landed in Maqi, one after the other.

Fulgardt, Rias, Nigerra and the eight members of the Order of the Trodden Rose soon walked out from the craters they had made, piercing through dust and smoke.

"About time," said Fulgardt as he wiped some dirt from his cloak.

Rias looked up. "They are really gone. Interesting."

Nigerra and her folk were decked in passive Territories. They should have been pulled back to their time just now, but Fulgardt helped them resist Aigas' Rules with dark marks that circled their wrists. He and them had an arrangement, after all.

"What now?" Nigerra asked the two men, her hand on her waist.

Fulgardt gave her a side glance. "Now… Everything begins."

Right after he said it, the Immoral vanished abruptly, as though something quick had yanked him out of sight. To Nigerra and the others, it seemed as though he'd done so on his own, but only Rias knew the truth.

"Ha. Just as he said would happen."

Nigerra made to give the EverSword heir a questioning look, but a jarring light that sprang from the distance stole her attention. Right at the Central Boundary of Aigas, an unending barrier, brimming with a silvery hue rose to touch the tattered skies above. It was intricate and runic in nature – by no means ordinary.

Naturally, it split Aigas in two, and as Rias guessed from what Fulgardt had told him earlier, it was meant to separate them.

The young man chuckled.

'A battle on a deserted Aigas. It's almost poetic.'

"Well, this is a development. It seems you were prepared for it, but didn't bother to warn us," Nigerra said to him.

Rias didn't reply. Instead, he looked ahead. He sensed the palpitations in space before it was wrenched opened up, revealing a swarm of enemies.

Of them all, only three stood out like sore thumbs, and they happened to lead the rest.

One was a man made entirely out of luminous vines woven together. He had orange eyes, pale gold hair, and a suit of armour that resembled a knight's, dark silver, and lustreless.

Another was a very tall woman with fair skin, russet hair, and an odd set of eyes. Over a strange set of white, tight-fitting leather armour, she wore an ethereal cloak that looked more like something that would cause a nasty plague, greenish and vile. It danced about slowly, serenely.

The last of the three was a very short woman who was hovering in the air. She had dark blue hair made into a bowl cut, and oval-shaped eyes. Her suit of armour, equipped with a cape, was black with generous depictions of stars that were constantly on the move. Her little hands were behind her back as she gave Rias and company a bright smile.

"Hello there," she said. "I've been dying to meet you. Well, dying to kill you, really. When I do, I can finally rub it in my master's face that I defeated you while he failed. That would be hilarious, don't you think?"

Sila facepalmed and Uyuniya let out a sigh.

Unbelievable.

At the question, Rias responded by scoffing and waving a hand in the air. Sparks of red blossomed for but a second, and from them, a mask, green, shiny and rough, dropped into his palm. Without a moment wasted, the young EverSword heir donned this mask, and his Amras flew out in a frightening torrent that rose into the sky.

"The only thing that will be funny is to watch you eat your words, dwarf," he said.

Kintar couldn't have been happier that he called her that.

"Is that so?" she said beaming, and the guidance field chimed in her vision.

From the blue, the diminutive Unlimited Star started to grow… taller. Sila and Uyuniya watched in awe. This hadn't been in the memo.

[You have chosen to release your Limited Mythos Form.]

[Congratulations! You have endured a total of 65 hours and 10 minutes with your Limited Mythos Form active]

[Calculating…]

[Calculating…]

[An all-encompassing 17x boon to all individual Stats and Skills has been applied!]

…

***

Meanwhile, Fulgardt was forcibly warped onto Edagon. Like Rias had said, this didn't come as a surprise to him. He looked rather unbothered. Even the barrier that appeared at the Central Boundary was well within his expectations.

Fulgardt had appeared at the foot of a great mountain piercing through the clouds in the sky. Indeed, at the top was one of the many civilizations of the Giants. He gave it a look, pondering over its emptiness. It had been clear of inhabitants since thousands of years ago, he knew.

A moment later, he felt space churn, and a familiar figure appeared a distance from him. Unlike him, it didn't wear of cloak of darkness, but one made of clouds.

Fulgardt smirked.

"Is this really the best you could think of, brat?" he said.

Skullius sighed exasperatedly.

"You know, I'm really getting tired of you calling me that," he said before pointing at himself. "I'm way older than you, sockethole. Show your elders some fleshing respect."