Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Breaking Chasm #59…

"It's an honour to meet you. I've met Voided Death Users before and all manner of Undeath creatures, but you… you are the first of your kind."

Skullius reluctantly shook the hand of a particularly large, intimidating armoured figure. As soon as Gylliard took off, the man had stalked up to Skullius and introduced himself with a firm voice.

General Antioch, was his name. Two large black wings could be seen on either of his helm's flanks, noting his rank, which was one level higher than Subossais'. (Black for Generals, red for Warlords). The difference was astronomical and haunting. Skullius could tell just from the way the surrounding air behaved around Antioch.

"Well met," he said.

"I hope you'll honour me with a duel in the future," said Antioch, his voice projecting vigor. Skullius got the impression that he would have gladly fought him now if it were appropriate.

Then again, murder-hungry monsters were not exactly a scarce commodity in the Aspire to Divine, Skullius knew.

"When the moment calls for it," said Skullius with a plain nod.

The response seemed to satisfy Antioch immensely.

The Warlords began leading the Stellars away one by one. Dragon and Shidao engaged in one last staring contest before parting ways, and the serpentine Stellar Head sought one with Skullius as well, but the Hybrid didn't reciprocate. He didn't find any of the Stellars as interesting as they seemed to find him.

…With the sole exception of one, of course: the angry woman. Skullius only got the pleasure of staring at her back for a brief moment before she and her entourage were warped away by their Warlord. They flew as a stream of dull blue towards a destination beyond one of the worlds closer to the citadel.

Skullius' mind didn't linger on the secrets behind the woman's potent fury. He found himself appraising the Monosphere more thoroughly as Subossais beckoned him and his subordinates. The collections of worlds were rather neatly placed, he had to say. It didn't seem implausible that they had been arranged that way, given what he'd seen the Aspire to Divine to be capable of so far.

Other than the worlds, Skullius could see other citadels, strongholds and lively residences – tens of thousands of them – in the distance, floating over, under, and in the middle of clusters of resplendent worlds.

'Hmm. They sure take advantage of the airspace here. Is there even anything below this Sector?' Skullius thought. 'I did find it odd that they termed everything beyond the Obscurosphere as spheres as well. Maybe that's only true for higher quality Breaking Chasms.'

The matter of light within the spheres had also vexed him. He remembered the glow he saw in the Quadrosphere. Contrasting it against the powerful giant of light he could see far into the distance here in the Monosphere, he surmised that each sphere had its own sun. This one was prettier, richer, and many times bigger than anything else in sight. It was different from the false suns one saw within worlds that Deities created.

"Skullius," said Uyuniya, brows furrowed. "Do you feel that sensation too? Like… we're being watched?"

"Yeah," said Skullius, and he noted that everyone else could feel it. It was a smidgeon of the other reason why they were looking so shrunken. To the mortals, the sensation was heavy and piercing, weighing on them like mountains, he imagined. It was only a mild inconvenience to him, though.

Curiously enough, Skullius only began feeling it after Gylliard took off.

'I wonder if it'll persist even in our lodging.'

Speaking of that, Skullius hastened his steps and was soon walking beside Subossais on the wide street, passing intersections where armoured figures of lesser rank were either carrying curious materials or marching in orderly file.

"Why don't you warp us to our lodging with your Tors Lampion?" he probed. "You only used it once."

Subossais sighed audibly and restrained himself. "Unlike Grand General Gylliard, I can't use it as freely. There's protocol for usage and landing."

As it happened, they were approaching a large, spherical platform down the street with a Runic mark resembling one of the many Skullius had seen inside Subossais' Tors Lampion.

"I see," said the Hybrid. "I'm floored."

"I bet," Subossais scoffed. "Goes to show that talent and prodigious power aren't all that matters. Exposure and experience trump all, don't you think?"

"Can't argue with that," said Skullius, barely registering Subossais' subtle insult. "That does remind me. Gylliard didn't—"

"Grand General Gylliard," corrected Subossais with a hiss.

"Right, right. Grand General Gylliard – what a mouthful – didn't get to tell me how you measure the accompanying attribute to Tach. Sthen, I believe it was called," said Skullius.

Subossais unclasped the Tors Lampion from his waist as they reached the spherical port.

"Not sure what good it will do to explain this if you aren't well versed in the particulars of the |Greater Cosmic Law|, but sure. I'll only explain it once, though, so listen carefully," he said. "It's measured in five tiers of the Observed Calamity Scale from 1 to 5, or more aptly, Immors, Eklhesh, Conste, Litte and Heide in that order, from weakest to strongest."

"We measure physical strength by how much of a certain aspect of the Cosmic Law an individual is able to tear apart with their bare hands. Immors is the easiest on a general baseline, and Heide is the toughest – unreasonably so."

"Oh…"

Skullius was floored once again.

Measuring strength based on how much one could rip through the law with their bare hands? That was far from what he had expected.

At once, he recalled how he was currently unable to even wield certain aspects of the law because of his physical limitations with his Default Body. Heck, he wasn't even able to reach the woven Conste freezing his Doom Factor's countdown. What did that mean about his ranking with the Hybrid Warmoth body?

'And how strong does that make Gylliard, Navvexr and Thyrgga?'

Never had there been a question that both excited and frightened Skullius.

As he sank into thought, Subossais called, "Tors!" and the group was whisked towards their destination, arriving before Skullius could try and gauge his worth according to the Observed Calamity Scale.

"This is the Sanguine Suite," said Subossais as they emerged on a platform similar to the one they had launched from.

And sanguine was the colossal palace that stood a couple hundred meters ahead, indeed. It floated in the sky on a thin foundation of stone, a passable grace to it; the sun's glow, now closer than before, gave the metallic shell of the exterior that grace.

"You'll be sharing this accommodation with someone else, but rest assured, there's ample space. Do as you please," said Subossais, after leading Skullius a few meters from the landing platform and gazing at the Sanguine Suite.

Amras flared from him suddenly, high-quality Amras. A second later, an untamed rush of colour twisted and contorted beside him, creating an armoured figure just like the ones Skullius had faced earlier.

"He will be your escort. I will return to serve as your guide personally when it's your turn to speak with the Sovereign General. In the meantime," Subossais said, sounding a bit smug, "I advise that you apply your freedom with caution. You never know who is watching."

With that, Subossais backpedaled back onto the port with the grace befitting a Warlord. He and Skullius locked eyes for a moment before the light of the Tors Lampion whisked him away.

"Follow me." A high, passionless voice said, promptly after.

The armoured figure Subossais had left behind led the way towards the Sanguine Suite.

But there was no welcome for the Stark-Soul Order.

They reached the doors to the magnificent palace, and their escort opened them with all the haste of a grave keeper opening a tomb.

All the while, Skullius was reflecting on Subossais' words and his convenient self-dismissal, leaving them with this downgrade of an escort.

Everything pointed towards the truth, everything Paliothese had warned against.

'I can't afford to underestimate them on any level, it seems,' thought the Hybrid.

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