Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1438 : Dare

The first thing that Skullius thought upon seeing the mind-boggling figure of the Authority was how similar it was to the Void rank Treasure within the Warmoth's Treasury – the suit of armour he found to be quite difficult to comprehend in terms of physical appearance.

The atrociously powerful creature floating in the stardust-littered space a few dozen meters from the padogas was similarly hard to describe. He was as incomprehensible as Suzamete in her sky domain, Skullius could add.

He might have been a wild beast.

He might have been a human with more limbs than were necessary.

He might have some singularity with facial features and armour.

The space around him complained and protested against his presence, but it had nowhere else to go. It had no means to resist him.

'I guess that's what Caxellac was supposed to look and feel like. This is the kind of power possessing a Dominion can give you,' Skullius thought. 'I didn't realise we were intruding on someone's territory though.'

Unnio Lak stepped forth before everyone else. He walked over the stardust as though it were nothing and gave a short bow to the figure ahead.

"Welcome to the Spellwelt Cluster, Blood-Risen Emperor," he said, but he didn't appear especially respectful or fearful. He might have been mocking a friend.

The Authority, the Blood-Risen Emperor said nothing. His attention was spared for the paper cut-out for only a second before it returned to Serenity… and of course, Skullius.

In an instant, he was also standing over the stardust. Even though he didn't stand at a ridiculous height, he felt immense, like a tall Giant.

"You did a fine job hiding yourself, Serenity. I have been awaiting your return for very long - longer than you can believe," the Emperor finally said. His voice was nothing as complicated as his physical form. "This is the first time you've bothered to try and sneak back into your own demesne. How unseemly. Have you no shame?"

Serenity let out a visible sigh.

"I didn't want you meddling, as you always do," she said to the Authority. "In any case, I was just leaving."

"Ah, of course you were." His focus never left Skullius. "And I suspect the figure beside you, with reserves of essence a little higher than mine, is your long-lost cousin, a harmless travelling companion with no obvious purpose."

Weaver found the bit of sarcasm amusing. He gave a short chuckle, garnering a glance from everyone.

Serenity had been about to retort when Skullius took the baton from her. He stepped forth, marching towards the Blood-Risen Emperor. The closer he got the more he noticed the obvious disparity between them. It had been obvious before, but feeling the inexplicable heat attempting to sheer his every defense off his body to reveal his vulnerabilities spoke much louder than speculation.

'Damn. I imagine this is what it must feel like to be in the presence of a Primeval Deity. Or perhaps this is worse. My Null Life Essence reserves might be greater than his, but the difference in quality is like night and day,' the Hybrid Warmoth thought.

He was within two meters of the Authority in the next moment.

He unleashed his boundless Null Life Essence reserves recklessly, allowing them to clash against those of the Emperor. Great sparks lit up the dark space around them. One might have been enough to dry all the oceans of Aigas in a blink.

"You know who I am, I imagine," Skullius said.

The Blood-Risen Emperor tilted his head.

"Well, you aren't a wooden marionette, that's for sure," he said. "You are the suspected expert Serenity chose to bear her torch. I suppose it's forgivable that you wouldn't even qualify for the Banner or two, for that matter."

Screams came from the distance. The intruders from earlier - on a funny mission a name from the Universal Purge Banner - were mysteriously burned to dust in a flash.

Skullius narrowed his eyes.

As much as he would have loved to argue against his apparent weakness, he knew it to be true. It seemed like half the creatures in the Null Verse could kill him. They could definitely overwhelm his Default Body.

For an instant, Skullius was tempted to unleash his War Body and see if the Blood-Risen Emperor would continue to quip and mock him, but he restrained himself. It was not necessary.

"Everyone has been pointing that out lately," he said to the Blood-Risen Emperor. "Apparently, it's true. But what of it? Surely that's not the only thought you have about me."

The Blood-Risen Emperor gave a chuckle.

"What gives you so much confidence? Is it the collection of weaklings behind you?" he asked Skullius, but his attention had darted over to Serenity. "Did you bring him here so he could take Caxellac's place? If so, you might want to stay by his side forever and defend him until he is worth a damn. We won't stand for it."

A portion of Skullius' Null Life Essence reserves was burned away right then. It must have been a power move. The Emperor seemed all too happy to demonstrate the difference between him and Skullius. But that didn't shake the Hybrid Warmoth one bit. He was quite used to being confronted bybeings far stronger than himself.

"We?" said Serenity with a laugh. "So my decisions have suddenly become an object that can be defied have they? Tell me, little Thorrn. If it was my desire to name him the new Null Devil King, what would you all do about it? I would collapse the entire Null Verse into the nothingness it was eons before you were even conceived as an idea… and you would do nothing."

A silence crept through the Spellwelt Cluster, a silence the likes of which had never been seen before.

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Even Skullius was impressed, however much he knew this was a bluff.

The Blood-Risen Emperor, Thorrn was impressed as well, but he donned a broad grin.

"I have no doubts about that. You are the petty type. You barely spend time in your own home and you don't bother to understand the entirety of it. You would certainly be willing to butcher quintillions just to prove a sorry point," Thorrn said with a laugh. "But you underestimate my Dominion. You can't take it away unless I violate one of your Principles, remember? And if you cannot take it away, I can certainly kill this sorry excuse for an expert before you can blink. You have no idea how far I've come."