Bro, I'm not an Undead!

'Is that really…?'

The voice was a little different, but it was definitely a variant of VOW's voice!

'Did the Aspire to Divine find some way to imbue the guidance field into their technology?' Skullius thought, his intrigue soaring. 'Incredible!'

When he thought about it, the idea, however absurd, wasn't so strange. Many beings could manipulate the guidance field to suit their whims. Fulgardt had been able to do it, and now, Skullius could do it also, but his low Patronage Rank dictated his limits. Yet, even then, he had managed to isolate a unique function of the guidance field for himself, the Miniature Wartime Guidance System that he acquired access to with the Second Phase of the War Body.

'The Runes… The light…' he thought and looked at Gylliard.

There was no doubt about it. Gylliard had invented the Tors Lampion and the Tors Gate. His mastery of Runes was godlike. Perhaps for him, imbuing the guidance field into complex machinery was simply… child's play.

[Tors Gate Fully Charged!]

The voice came again, robust. Gylliard continued tinkering with the operating screen.

[Locking in, Monosphere, Sector SEPT (A) Negative…]

[Target Locked]

[Calibrating Observed Calamity Scale (OC)…]

[Please select the desired TACH Protocol Range]

Gylliard pulled his Tors Lampion from the socket and clasped it back on his waist. The glow from it was noticeably weaker, though.

With a thoughtful look on his face, he tapped the operating screen and then said:

"Let's pick up the pace. High-end OC9 should do."

[High-end OC9 has been selected]

[…]

[Estimated recoil buffer time… 00:00:01:00]

[Estimated arrival time… 00:00:05:03]

[Please wait…]

As a countdown began on the operation screen, Gylliard flashed out of the Tors Gate and began instructing one of the armoured figures again. When the figure nodded in acknowledgement, Gylliard swiftly returned to Skullius' side.

"You've never seen the guidance field used in this manner, I presume?" he asked.

"No."

Gylliard smiled. "It doesn't seem entirely surprising to you, though."

To that, Skullius simply shrugged.

"I wonder," said Gylliard, crossing his arms, "seeing as you possess powers beyond what most of us understand, how much do you know about the Observed Calamity Scale?"

"Of that… absolutely nothing. But I'm guessing it's the way you measure strength here?"

"That would be putting it lightly. We don't simply measure physical attributes. We measure their limits in accordance with the calculable dimensions of our Reality," said Gylliard. "There are three main universal ways Divines measure power – all kinds of it within a single living body: the Standard Unit System, the guidance field itself, and this… the Observed Calamity Scale."

Elita perked up.

At once, she recalled the trials Future Skullius went through while fighting Nunax. His and the Corrupted Deity's strength was measured through the Standard Unit System back then.

"The Observed Calamity focuses on two aspects. Tach, which in layman's terms would be speed, and Sthen, which could be defined as strength. Tach is measured from a baseline of OC1, 100 times the speed of light, and from there, multipliers of ten define each subsequent stage up to OC10."

"Of course, the Observed in Observed Calamity Scale means these are limits so far observed from Divine beings within Reality. All of them can be achieved."

While the Stars and Troops calculated these limits and gaped, shocked that moving at billions of times the speed of light was possible for any one being, Skullius… scratched his chin.

"I see," he said. "What about Sthen?"

[Recoil buffer complete!]

[Beginning Passenger Transmutation!]

[…]

[TACH Protocol, OC9 Traversal in 3…2…1]

…!!!

It hardly felt real.

The uniform, square scales in the Tors Gate shone with a fiercer, gloomy radiance at once, powerful Runes throbbing within each of them.

…And then the group was off. Sector TIU (B) Negative was gone, and all around them, a kaleidoscopic view entirely disinterested in being understood raced along and around the Stellars, the Stars, and Troops. It was as though they were in a protective bubble that shielded them from the chaos, allowing for sound, sight, and smell.

The Tors Gate was designed to make any kind of travel palatable for groups of individuals of varying scales, even mortals. It would keep them all safe and sound while delivering them to their destination.

…Even if they were moving at more than thirty billion times the speed of light.

Breaking Chasms were often about a few hundred thousand light-years wide, depending on their quality. Size was everything, as it guaranteed the quality of resources you would find within.

Breaking Chasm #59 was around 700,000 light years, 300,000 light years short of being considered an anomaly even among Breaking Chasms. While traversing the great distance to its core at high speeds was efficient and safe with Gylliard's mechanisms, transmutation was required.

Being able to muster the power of such absurd speed on your own was one thing, and achieving ultra-luminal speed via an external stimulus was another. To minimize the risks of mishaps during traversal, everyone who used the Tors Gate had their bodies and souls tampered. For the duration of the ride to their destination, they became akin to wraiths. Their bodies became translucent and quivered like static. Most matter they encountered while moving at the absurd speed wouldn't compromise their safety in this form – even the ones invisible to Deific eyes.

Again, Skullius felt restricted. He couldn't move a muscle no matter how much strength he mustered. This was one way he was unwilling to cooperate with and compromise with the Aspire to Divine. However…

'Everyone else isn't struggling.'

And indeed, a distance behind him, the Stellar Heads were calm, even though they were in the same situation.

Dragon.

Shidao.

The furious woman.

The giant with the chains.

The man-faced serpent.

Everyone.

They trusted the Aspire to Divine that much?

'No. I guess Gylliard and the others are just as restricted as we are.'

And sure enough, the Grand General, Subossais, and the rest were transmuted as well, translucent and finicky like static.

…But then Gylliard reached for something in one of the pouches on his waist, drew it to his nose, took a long whiff, and ignited one of its ends by running a finger against it at light speed. Slowly, he plugged his mouth with the cylindrical thing, sucked in, and expelled smoke.

"Tastes sweeter than I thought," he said, almost solemnly.

---

[Author's Note]

From here onwards, assume that all minutes, hours, and days are noted in terms of Consternals. I would love to invent a new time system and employ it in the novel, but with everything that's already going on, I don't think it's necessary.

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