Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1655: Beyonders (5)

Deities had Broader Existences so rich that solid masses of matter developed within them called Fated Reefs. These masses could be used for a range of purposes, but the primary use was for establishing worlds in as unstable a plane as the great void. But before then, a Deity had to mark the space they intended to use.

Boron had just done that. Out of everyone here, his authority as a Divine in Ascension was now unmatched. Not even Quintess could challenge him when he marked the Hatcher, nor when he expelled his Fated Reef.

The sea-like aesthetic of the Second Layer of the Hatcher was overtaken immediately. Suddenly – and silently – a ragged block of what looked like blue quartz forced itself into the space. Everyone was forced onto it without exception.

For Skullius, this was such a jarring development because of the silence Fulgardt had imposed. Prior to the Fated Reef’s appearance, he was struggling with yet another predicament sponsored by his stubborn new Apostle.

He’d been distracted. From the bowl that was Tycha’s head – held up two of its arms – a face had emerged, stirring from the substance inside. Skullius had finally realized the nature of this substance.

’Focused Null Life Ota!’ It looked different from what he imagined it would be outside the body.

But that was hardly the greatest surprise. What followed made Skullius wonder if the prerequisite to owning this new Apostle of his – where he was required to be able to use Focused Null Life Ota – was a bigger deal than he’d thought.

A thread of Tycha’s Focused Null Life Ota swam towards his head and caused him a thunderous headache. And then a voice called to him, vivid in his head despite the silence commanding the outside world.

You are too young... too unknowing for this stage. Let me in... and I will end it all. I am gracious enough to ask first...

Skullius ground his teeth. His head pounded with each word Tycha spoke. It was agonizing.

And Tycha repeated the same words again and again and again and again. Its words seemed to make purchase in Skullius, forcing more and more of its Focused Null Life Ota into him. Perhaps with enough of it inside the Sovereign, he would lose control to the Apostle entirely.

’Too unknowing, huh? Even Araeyn has never dared to say something like that to me,’ Skullius raged from within. He stretched his hand forward, and a blank scroll appeared before him. He had a few tricks up his sleeve.

...But then chaos was brewing from the outside.

Boron mobilized his Fated Reef efficiently. He worked so fast that neither Quintess nor Fulgardt could have reacted appropriately.

A tide of some foaming golden-brown liquid blasted – silently – out of his body in all directions. It was a Realm rank Exotic Parlous Nature.

Boron’s intention wasn’t to mark the Hatcher and create a world on it. No. Fated Reefs could be branded with Exotic Parlous Natures to make them (the Parlous Natures) stronger. As one would suspect, it worked just like Boron had hoped. The liquid Parlous Nature was empowered to an absurd degree.

...And then Boron dumped his Void rank halberd in it. Just then, the liquid was liquid no more. It was now a tide of miniature Void rank halberds, all with the capacity to turn even Deities into stone if they hit!

...!!!!

A string of panic caught the targets – Skullius, Fulgardt, and Quintess.

Quintess, livid with both grief and inspiration, condensed his Amras once more and used Zu’sse Fel Conch!

His invisible Amras made a shield around him so potent that it forced the tide of halberds to stop just an inch from his body. But the pressure kept mounting, and the halberds did not cease. Were they infinite?

Fulgardt also had a means of avoidance.

The darkness devours.

Darkness covered him from all sides in a blanket and devoured each of the halberds as they came. It was unknown where they went, but one thing was for certain: even the darkness did not have an infinite appetite.

’I just need to hold for four seconds and then I’ll be able to use Fatal Embrace again on this eyesore,’ Fulgardt reassured himself. It was true indeed.

But then there was Skullius.

The Sovereign was in the most desperate situation.

His response was limited by Tycha. Indeed, he had drawn a blank scroll in order to be inspired by the properties of the Second Layer of the Hatcher, but...

You mean to find a means to subdue me, do you? You are... naïve and unknowing...

As the words rang in his head, Skullius felt his hand freeze. Tycha had already gained control of it.

...And now the tide of certain death was coming.

’Flesh this!’ Skullius thought, sweating. ’You’re earning your keep one way or another!’

His other hands were already moving. The Sovereign couldn’t move from his spot, but could Tycha? Swinging his gladius and wakizashi behind him, Skullius forced the Apostle in front of him to take the full brunt of the incoming attack!

’Sorry to break it to you, but I’m not like other Nullmancers! If I die, you’re going down with me, sockethole!’

It was true, indeed, and Tycha must have realized it. The Apostle saw the incoming tide... and acted.

Its reaction was the swiftest of all, and most jarring. In one fragment of a nanosecond, it summoned a gigantic sheet of paper, creased and white. In the next, the sheet folded around all the incoming halberds, crumpled, and vanished into thin air, leaving the distance between it and Boron empty.

...

...

Even Skullius was stumped.

The collective confusion everyone around him shared almost seemed to pause time.

Susu’k grabbed ahold of that moment.

"Master. I may have a way for you to solve everything," said the Strawler. Skullius would have given him all his attention right then, but...

The Silence finally faltered... and Boron laughed aloud.

<Fun, indeed!> he cried and then suddenly, he bolted through the maelstrom of halberds still bounding towards Quintess.

As he surged, all the halberds tore away from Fulgardt and whichever direction they had been spilling and hurtled towards Quintess as well, mounting the pressure on him significantly.

<This is a field for those with freedom and faith on their side, Parrhaya!> he declared, phasing through the halberds to reach Quintess’ position. His Amras raced over his outline, thicker than any Fulgardt or Skullius had ever seen. <This is my simple dream: to be larger than life itself, beyond reproach! To be Primeval and self-sufficient! With Direction by my side, not even grief will hold me!>

Boron went for a straight punch, and for an instant, his Amras condensed beyond the usual. It turned thinner than air, and with the combined might of his halberds pressuring Quintess... he finally managed to land a clean hit.

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[Author’s Note]

Tycha is not the new Apostle’s name. It’s more like a moniker that means the same thing as ’Six-handled Chariot of Probable Royalty’.