Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"You think it's actually an intruder trying to feel out the Obscurosphere?" said one sentry.

"Probably," replied the other. "I'm more concerned with whether or not they know how the Obscurosphere interacts with foreign matter. If they do, we might want to engage as quickly as possible."

"…Right."

It was a beacon, no doubt, the mass of purple light throbbing a thousand kilometers away from the two Deities' post. The instant it had appeared, they had sought a directive from Grand General Gylliard on how to handle it. The response was for them to remain on standby and report any changes.

"Are we understaffed because of Stellars? I know that pretty much all of them are coming, but the least Gylliard could have done was send reinforcements. If this happens to be the precursor of some attack from a high-ranking Treasure…"

"I'm sure they apportioned our units accordingly. Besides, the landing port was established not too far from here. If anything happens, the response will be quick. We probably won't even need to send out a signal, especially if Gylliard is welcoming some of the Stellars personally."

"That'll be the day. You think he and Navvexr would do that grunt work themselves?"

"…Probably not. Definitely not."

The two Deities went silent, observing the purple light. Their station, a collection of three large metallic sheds, was held up by something that looked quite like a cloud. From the position of the purple beacon, it was impossible to see, as it was masked by the Obscurosphere, the immense natural space that preceded Breaking Chasm #59.

Obscurospheres were one of the reasons why Breaking Chasms were so hard to discover. They hid them very well, despite their immense size. When one was found and inhabited, skilled masters could augment or even alter the effects of the Obscurosphere around it, however. The one around Breaking Chasm #59 alerted high command when any kind of foreign matter got too close and swiftly pulled it in at violent speeds into the Quadrosphere – the outermost, habitable region of the Breaking Chasm. It was the first spot of land one would meet upon encroaching on #59.

"Oh, I almost forgot. You didn't get to buy that new Vessel, did you? Haha, you're going to rot in this outdated shell."

The other Deity clicked his tongue, looking at his fake body. "I was short a few credits. I'd like to see you save up enough for a new Vessel. Though, I guess you did manage to buy a good set of armour. That's a Pseudo-Void rank one, right? It's barely indistinguishable from the last."

"But it still looks great, doesn't it?" The one Deity grinned and checked his gear, eyes glowing. "I'm looking forward to that new set they are making. They were going to give it to everyone eventually, right? Apparently, it's supposed to rival any Treas—"

"Hold on. Look!"

The Deity who had been called to focus turned just in time to see the purple light explode in silent showers that withered into the great darkness, leaving in their place an island-sized flying vessel that looked much like an island, but with wings and a cityscape reaching out from above it.

The vessel had only just lost its momentum after striding at high speed to reach this location. Now, it stood completely still.

"So, it was a beacon," said one of the Deities while signaling his superiors with the complicated bracer around his arm. It had circles of Runic symbols floating over its glowing face.

"That's a Void rank flying Treasure," analyzed the other sentry. "Who do you reckon would be riding such a cheap, tiny thing if they're targeting us?"

"You'll get your answer if you focus. Right on top. There's someone there."

"Huh?"

Sure enough, someone was standing on one of the tallest wooden buildings on the top of the vessel – a Divine adorning a jacket of midnight black mist that sometimes shimmered with traces of puce and turquoise.

"…We're going to have to go all out," said one of the Deities, suddenly serious.

"Yeah," said the other, and he readied every weapon in his arsenal while his partner mobilized the defenses installed on their station.

***

Skullius watched on, contemplating in silence.

Despite having finally reached his destination, his mind still lingered on the conversation he'd been forced to have with Uyuniya and Elita. Before, he'd said he would help the two reach Zelozeld and had even acknowledged that they were in a bit of a rush.

…But now, present circumstances had steered him further and further away from that. Delivering the news had not been easy.

I'm sorry. I underestimated the sheer number of occurrences that could derail my initial intentions, Skullius had said to the two women.

He'd seen the frustration in Uyuniya's eyes, even though she didn't voice it. It was one thing for Kintar to be the one to cause a slight delay. But for Skullius to explain that there was a bigger, longer endeavor he had to pursue even beyond that, one that involved the Primeval Deities no less…

We'll be entering a space likely filled to the brim with all manner of flying vessels soon. I'll find you a suitable one and even provide an escort. With luck, maybe I'll meet you on Zelozeld after I'm done with #59, he'd said, which pacified the princess somewhat.

…But Elita seemed to grow restless instead.

You're taking on too much, Skullius, she'd warned. I understand that your powers are immense, and you feel like you can handle everything now – the burden of any sin and the condemnation by any power, even the Primeval Deities – but this is too much. If you keep this up—

You're mistaken, Skullius had said to her. Somehow, the fact that she misunderstood his intentions infuriated him. Taking on too much? I've taken on a position that very few have taken on before. Whether I like it or not, I have to live up to it. That's why I'm accepting every challenge and evaluating how it serves me. None of this is nearly enough to measure up to my position as an Authority yet. Besides…

Skullius didn't tell Elita, but he was banking on using influence in his favour. When the grace of the Adaptor Gene was finally revealed, Skullius would need to be ready. In order to bear the influence he would capture from that, he needed to be able to handle everything an Authority was supposed to.

Besides, in spite of what everyone thought – that they were using him, toying with him, using him as a pawn – they were delivering him to the resources he needed. They would soon see the end fruit.

Thus, Skullius focused fully on the target ahead. Because of Boron, the concept of Obscurospheres was not new to him. He knew that just up ahead, there was probably one of thousands of secure sentry stations that he could not see. That much was said to be the same for every Breaking Chasm inhabited by the Aspire to Divine.

It was likely huge too, bigger than Amanas, which meant a stronger defense.

'I'll need to breach it and get past the Obscurosphere. Doing it in one shot would buy me a bit more time before their reinforcements arrive, I imagine,' Skullius thought, and he leapt off Amanas and into the great void.

To pull off a swift attack that covered a super-wide range, Skullius elected to use one of his new abilities.

In and Mu manifested, creating a circle of impunity around the Null Devil King that grew wider, and wider, and wider, and…

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