Chapter 1591: Usurper! (1)
Fulgardt found himself back on Aigas, back on Edagon. The world hardly looked like a place living beings could thrive in anymore. The skies were cracked, the waters were turning black and the air had thinned to the point of extinction. Mana was running thin as well, along with the Rules which weakened further and further the more Boron clashed with Quintess and Listafelle.
Dreadful winds blew freely everywhere while portions of the great void gleefully leaked in.
A bit more time had passed here on Aigas than that which Fulgardt and Skullius had experienced in the great void.
It might have been the end of the world.
But the Immoral hardly cared.
He was busy burning with scalding fury because he had been got.
His soul and body were bonded with millions of other souls for the express purpose of locking him in Aigas!
He could feel it. It was as though invisible roots tied him to this world. If he tried to leave, only perhaps a second would pass before he was forced back!
It was true treachery.
"That brat...!"
Just as he hissed, Araeyn, who had previously found his way back to Aigas with the artefact SoSei and placed it in Kenno’s care once more, stared at him before making a crucial decision. If Fulgardt was here – and not by his own will, judging by the look of him – then...
The Apostle brought his hands together and formed a small portal between his palms. He strained, but he managed. A second later, he was sucked into the portal just when Fulgardt turned a malevolent eye to him.
Kenno shuddered at Fulgardt’s wrath, but lucky for him, he needn’t have worried about dying to the Immoral.
Barely a few moments passed before Araeyn returned, his master and two other Apostles in tow.
...!
Fulgardt’s gaze fell upon Skullius alone. To say that he was baffled by what he saw, was an understatement.
His opponent’s new appearance was...
’He’s also got access to that? Is that what he was hiding all along?!’
Skullius couldn’t have known just how much Fulgardt was reeling, but that wasn’t his concern.
He flexed the arms of his body – his soul body (the First Phase) – stripped of all extraneous powers. Each, cast in a sweet, glowing silver, had a bracer. Two were of a gorgeous white design and the other two, a beautiful black one. They no longer had mere Ju`wtte coursing through them.
Skullius’ slicked back hair, like a tamed, white flame, flared as he took a breath, readying himself for what was to come. The thick spine that wound twice around his waist also seemed to twitch in excitement. It had a four-dimensional quality to it, with a harmonised mix of the colours gold, azure, silver and scarlet adding to how otherworldly it appeared. Skullius’ legs, encased in this very same four-dimensional material radiated locked powers.
It was this that the Immoral looked and scowled at.
The powers in that material were also in the weapons Skullius wielded now.
A wakizashi, a bow, and a gladius.
Kenno was gaping at his master’s appearance.
"What... the...!" he exclaimed, baffled. Just what had his master become? How far beyond the norm had he crossed?
Everyone would get to know soon enough.
After all, in that moment of tension, three things happened in rapid succession.
First
, Skullius turned to the Unlimited Star and gave him a solemn gaze....!!!
Kenno knew immediately. He tore himself from shock and met his master’s beautiful eyes. That was a look of absolute trust.
That... was his signal!
Bringing his hands together, he gathered all the Nitros he could manage.
Second, the fierce presence of a fifth Deity registered itself on Aigas. It was so subtle and smooth that only the Deities, Skullius and Fulgardt noticed.
Third...
"MY LIEEEEEEEEEEEEGEEEEEEE!"
Bounding from the other half of Aigas, weaving between the clashing Deities, leaping into the skies and storming down from the height to Edagon... Ferex charged towards his master, his form changed. He had become a genuine steed, some mix between a great hound and a wolf, with power enough to qualify as his master’s mount!
Skullius grinned. He leaped just in time for Ferex to skid right under him and catch him on his back.
And thus, the Nullinity’s Herald had a steed to ride while challenging his great enemy.
Said enemy didn’t know what was coming, just like how Skullius preferred it.
Only then did Kenno manage to cry out, "Majestic Territory Expulsion, Bandit King’s Boundless Collection!"
As his Territory washed out, however, Skullius caught his gladius between his teeth, slung his bow around his shoulders, and had Ferex hold his wakizashi for him between his own teeth. Now with his hands free, Skullius brought all four of his hands together and made a complex gesture.
Indeed, gestures didn’t make any ability stronger, they only increased the efficiency of casting said ability in some capacity. In this case, Skullius needed
that advantage.’Hold on, Kenno!’
...
At once, the expansion of Kenno’s Territory ceased, and suddenly...
"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!"
The Unlimited Star was screaming in terrible agony. All of Skullius’ remaining Amras was poured into him and then splashed into the ceased Territory. It took an unnatural force of will for Kenno to not get ripped to shreds by the Amras. It was a foreign, personal power source unsuitable for containment in mortal creations in its raw form.
But the Unlimited Star weathered through the process. His Territory continued to expand, or at least the unfinished Imaginary GeoScape did, and he was buried in the blooming result!
’Hang on!’ thought Skullius, and he declared, as Fulgardt’s face turned even more wrinkled with wariness...
"Imperial Territory Expulsion.... Deific Usurper."
...!!!!!!
Quintess, Boron, and Listafelle suddenly turned to the Nullinity’s Herald in absolute shock.
Their thoughts were the same.
<Impossible...!>
Amras fled from their bodies in great volumes, was seamlessly absorbed into the War Body... and then into the unfinished Territory.
This was all a gamble.
It was all a way to cheat the restrictions he had placed on himself.
Luckily for the Nullinity’s Herald, it worked.
Before anyone could react, the fearsome domain of the usurper speedran its completion. It hurried to cover all corners of Aigas and make them the absolute advantage for Skullius!
Indeed, that was what the Imperial Territory was.
It was a Territory that stole the reign of Deities over their own worlds while using their Amras as fuel!