Chapter 1592: Usurper! (2)
(A/N: Flashback.)
After Darwel and Skullius shared intimate passion...
"Can we not... Can we not talk about the souls right now?" Skullius sighed heavily before turning to Sila. "So there. The children have been born. Sure, they aren’t nearly as many as promised, but they should serve for this alliance, right?"
The former Tower General felt uncomfortable with all this, but he didn’t dare show it in order to spare his pride. A humming noise erupted from his entire body. It wasn’t his own. The voice that came from his flesh was also not his own.
<Very well.> Luserus said. <I’d be a fool to not accept the terms, I suppose. Though, given this great battle you’ve teased, I might as well be a fool to be joining Aigas at a time like this. Ha. I never imagined us, or rather, you speaking amicably with me. I expected that arrogant bastard who demanded three wishes from me.>
"Things change," said Skullius with a sigh.
Sila’s body was an amalgamation of a lot of things, some of which were absorbed through the Blessing Skullius had received from Luserus himself: Grace Monolith of the Eminent.
In Opungale, while possessed by Fulgardt’s WILLS, Skullius had interacted with Luserus through an old shrine that the Luminants who lived among the Sif had made in order to commune with their creator – Luserus. This same shrine had been absorbed into the Preeminent Attegoth, which later became the Stolen Angel – Sila’s body. Indeed, the shrine’s properties were not dead.
Suzamete (inhabiting the body of a Fruit Bearer) was among the two (or rather, three), and she had helped Sila use the shrine’s properties as a channel to draw forth Luserus for this meeting.
<I wonder, though> said Luserus. <Why aren’t you so keen on seeing the children? Why did this... vessel I’m speaking through have to escort me to the children’s mother while you stayed here looking quite disgruntled?>
Suzamete turned to Skullius. She wasn’t sure she expected him to answer the question.
Skullius frowned. "Why don’t we get to business? We don’t have a lot of time."
<Fine. Fine. I’m being too nosy.> said Luserus with a chuckle. <You want my help against Fulgardt. That much I’d love to do, but I would appreciate some layout of a detailed plan. In my current, starved state, I’m no match for him. Do you know what I’ve had to do in order to not starve – to avoid Corruption? I’ve had to feed off of dying worlds ransacked by Fiends and Liches. I’m barely at half my usual strength. If I had gone with conventions and used my actual body to create that paradise for my old children... I shudder to think where I’d be now.>
"Don’t worry," said Skullius reassuringly. "All I need from you is one thing. If I can manage to pull that off in battle against Fulgardt, I’ll feel better about my chances. They’ll be a lot of variables moving around, but I can’t leave it all up to chance."
<I’m listening.>
"I have a power – a Territory, if you’re familiar with the term – that allows me to hijack an entire world and use it all for my benefit, but because of restrictions I’ve placed on myself, I can’t access it for a certain amount of time. For all intents and purposes, it will be sealed." Skullius explained. "I’m not entirely sure if this will have repercussions or not, but it’s worth trying. Using the Andori I have to activate in order to use this Territory leaves me wide open as a trade-off for the power I gain. Against Fulgardt, that’s a death sentence. So, I need you, Luserus, to forcibly expel this Territory out of me, so I can survive that window of weakness."
<Forcibly? I don’t doubt that it can be done, but the thing is, I’m not entirely familiar with the domestic power system here. Wouldn’t having her do it be more efficient?>
The her in question, Suzamete, had something to say regarding all this.
<I have my hands full with keeping Aigas from collapsing. There’s going to be a terrible battle here – battles, even. I couldn’t spare more effort for this, especially when considering that I’m going to have to donate Amras as well.> She turned to Skullius. <Though, I must say, I doubt Luserus’ tinkering will be enough for this. Your... other body is a result of Fundamental Barter and some of your anomalous powers. What if the Territory collapses upon being expelled? It very well could resist your attempts to draw it out since you’re technically violating your own rules.>
"I’ve already thought about that. I just need to superimpose my Imperial Territory on Kenno’s Territory. He made a bunch of Creeds earlier in order to meld my powers with his Territory during that battle against the Doom Knight. He’ll show up with that damned future self of mine. Whenever that will be."
Suzamete was quite impressed. She saw the feasibility in Skullius’ plan, if he executed it flawlessly. Perhaps luring the Territory out of him like a fish and then trapping it in a net with an affinity for his powers (Kenno’s Territory) could work. It was a risk – a gamble. Beyond that, though, for Suzamete it was rather funny discussing the warped power system of Aigas with someone who wasn’t her peers.
Luserus, on the other hand, was struggling to keep up.
<Hmm. Divines aren’t born equal indeed. I wish I was pulling off moves like these in my youth as a Divine.> he said. <I understand this bit about the... Territory itself, but how exactly does it seize hold of an entire world with Deities governing it? And how exactly does this affect me? My other boon from this alliance is becoming a permanent Deity of Aigas, is it not?>
Skullius nodded while Sila shifted uncomfortably.
"It is. After you help me expel the Territory, that’s when Suzamete will give you the invitation to meld into Aigas," he said. "And yes, my Territory has its limitations. To draw out its maximum potential, I need to have some kind of cordial dealing with one Deity on the world I expel it on. In this case, I have the two of you. It will be smooth sailing. After this, you can leave Aigas and its well-being to me." He turned to Suzamete. "Got it?"
She gave a mysterious pause before speaking.
<Very well. But all this hinges on whether you can seal Fulgardt here or not, right?>
"Yeah. It does." Skullius clenched his fist so hard blood leaked from it.
***
Present time.
...!!!
Boron, Suzamete and Quintess were shaken.
Nearly 40% of their total Amras reserves were stolen almost immediately as the Imperial Territory established itself.
No Imaginary GeoScape was established, but the colours of the world changed. Suddenly, it felt as though moving wantonly was tantamount to suicide.
The night on Aigas was suddenly a collage of brooding greys and hopeful whites. It was as though some queer artist had dipped his enormous brush in white and grey paint and splashed both colours at random over Aigas. The abstract strokes were very slowly revolving around the world, touching anything with a stake in existence – material or immaterial. Notably, though, 60% of the colour was the broody grey hue, and there was something sinister about it.
Boron narrowed his eyes at the source of all this.
<No wonder. A curious anomaly.> he thought. <Alas, the one she wants is...>
Fulgardt too was staring at the source of the Imperial Territory, his lip raised in annoyance.
The origin of the bright and dark colours scrolling across everything in the world, was not Skullius, but a peculiar structure behind him.
It was akin to a masterpiece in sculpting and colossal in size.
Its outermost layer was a set of eight golden white wings made of some glossy steel, spinning in a clockwise motion around the entire sculpture. The middlemost layer contained similarly large and glossy wings, only they were black, and revolving in an anti-clockwise fashion. The innermost layer housed what looked like a small island that issued a subdued light. It was peppered with sparkling sands, beautiful palm trees, and among them, a vibrant humanoid form could be seen.
It was Kenno. The Unlimited Star, frozen in agony was the centre of the sculpture. The centre of the Territory’s activation.
Skullius wasn’t sure how long he would last like this, but he would be grateful if the Unlimited Star lasted even for a minute.
’Let’s not waste his agony, then,’ he thought and made another complex gesture with all four of his free hands.
The Deific Usurper required a prompt to begin its assault, just like any other Territory, but in its case, the prompt awakened each and every single one of the benefits it had to offer its user, even...
[You are using a special type of Territory, ’Deific Usurper’!]
[Your physical attributes increase in proportion to the amount of Amras you have siphoned]
[You received 30% of the total Amras reserves stolen from Deities of Aigas]
Just as unfathomable power began writhing inside Skullius’ body, he gave Deific Usurper the go-ahead to make use of its automatic Primary assault function.
The dreary greys and hopeful whites slowly scrolling harmlessly over everything were not an aesthetic choice.
Quintess was the first one to get a taste.
A grey blotch was scrolling over his arm in that instant when suddenly...
BZZZZT!
Dark Ju`wtte – Benighted Ju`wtte – suddenly exploded from his colossal arm, lighting it up like a lantern and making it detonate with all the aggression of a collapsing star!