Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Somanda cackled at Serenity's response.

"Smart, eh? The Eminence of Undeath has been hunting for that treasure of yours with scorching sockets, mobilising many for the search. Yet you are here. How?" he said with his keen sight on the flickering flame body of Serenity.

The mysterious blue entity scoffed.

"Same way you are here. We're both latched onto Skullius, though our specific circumstances are quite polar," she said.

Indeed.

Somanda's tie with Skullius originated from his ownership of part of his soul. Therefore, as Skullius' free soul carried plagues that had evolved with Somanda's recent rise in strength, the Lich had found adequate leeway to manifest himself using Skullius as an anchor.

Serenity on the other hand was tied to Skullius through the powers she had given him that were mostly latched onto this part of his soul as well. With Skullius' recent growth into the second Tier, added upon by the STUPENDOUSLY DESIRABLE LUCK that gave Skullius special racial evolution options that had greater ties to Null Life, she was afforded a chance to manifest like this also, though limitedly.

The two beings owned portions of Skullius or at the very least 'sponsored' him.

"Latched? Hilarious! You're the weakest among your kin! Even with a dreadfully powerful treasure with eons of unnaturally cultivated history, you still have only ONE bearer and you feed off of his existence like a parasite! Say it as it is," Somanda guffawed while tilting his head to face Skullius who was wondering what the hell these guys were talking about.

Serenity, a parasite?

What was this conversation about?!

He wanted a clear picture dammit!

Serenity didn't respond to Somanda's provocation.

Instead, she released the souls that she had swiped from Somanda. As soon as they were free, the three rushed off in three different directions, returning to their owners as if drawn by desperate forces!

Skullius was relieved. At least that didn't end too badly.

Somanda opposite him grinned at this.

"I may just one day claim those, you know? They already have my stench," he said.

"Perhaps. This ONE bearer of mine does not see it that way," Serenity said to which Skullius hardened his vaguely sculpted face and nodded.

Sure. He wouldn't let Somanda have Yuyui, Silrat or even Kenno. For charity, love or whatever. He wouldn't let the bastard do as he pleased.

"Why the fixation on this world, Somanda? You have lingering ties and an awfully nauseating signature here that traces your presence through dredges of deep history and time. Find other worlds. There are too many to count, are there not?

Worlds.

Indeed there were many.

Yet some were better than others.

The concept of other worlds was largely unexplored by common folk, but Skullius understood quite a bit of it.

Somanda's figure soared high.

As it turned out, these three were in the high skies of Aigas on this night, the miniature scenes of housing, fields, snow, seas and all looking so insignificant from this height.

"Divinity, Direction and Ambition. These are the things anyone who desires growth seeks. For one with a dead heart such as I, the lusts of the living do not entertain. I can only revel in malice, mystery and persistence," Somanda said with his longing red eyes looking greedily over Aigas.

A mystery sort of lust nested in the glow of his sockets.

"Besides, how could I simply let go of a world whose two governing Deities have not be seen in ages?"

...!

'Ah.... what did he just say?' Skullius thought in absolute shock.

Haven't been seen in ages?

Two Deities?

Was Somanda saying two Deities were out of the picture right now?!

Skullius was already lost to the mechanics of being a Deity, but now, with the implication that one could make up a world with their own body but have the ability to 'not be there' as well...

The short soul held his head.

If this was true...

"The Deities aren't your only problem. Besides Skullius, Void has his bearers here, you know? Let's see how easily you think this will go," Serenity said as she withdrew to stand beside Skullius.

Somanda turned to the short soul with an amused glint.

"How proud you are of him," he said.

The High Lich leisurely ran his withered finger across the dark space, tearing it apart casually to reveal a large, familiar space.

...!

Skullius grunted and was jolted into extreme shock.

A familiar block of ice with a luminous white soul trapped within it appeared grandly, the background showing innumerable structures similar to it!

'Not this again!' Skullius frowned.

Somanda gave a toothy grin.

Skullius' soul was drawn to this view involuntarily but Serenity extended her hand, stopping his movement. She noticed that just now, Skullius was about to enact his prepared 'solution' once again but discouraged it with a shake of her head.

That said, she didn't dismiss Somanda's doings.

After all, this had to do with Skullius' soul. At the very least, if he wanted to see...

"Aren't you the tiniest bit curious? Or perhaps longing?" Somanda said as he swiped his hand across this rift, causing a change on the other side where the faceless soul of a girl could be seen.

This undetailed face of this soul came to life, dark flowing hair matted at the fringes with a light brown appearing, its stringy textures lightly kissing her ivory skin. Her eyes remained closed but her high nose and ideal lips still depicted a rather sorrowful expression on their own.

This was the extent of the change as the rest remained the same – a luminous white outline.

Skullius felt his soul throb painfully.

This face was vaguely familiar from his own original memory but extraordinarily important to him. He had seen it when Ferex had created a picture taken from his travel into his soul but seeing it now....

The girl known as Camila.

Skullius clenched his fist as even though he was currently a mere soul, a hard breath escaped from his face.

This picture would never escape his memory but...

"That's enough," Skullius said. He had realised that Serenity wouldn't get in the way of him finding some closure, something she had stated she couldn't flat out give to him because of Rules, but he was done playing Somanda's little game.

Serenity moved.

"Leave," she said to Somanda who shook his head and closed the rift.

His body started to burn with a red flame as he grinned, his eyes never leaving Skullius.

"With our continuous encounters, I've become quite convinced that you and my little servant in this world are fated to have a wild clash. I wonder. Who will emerge victorious?" Somanda said before vanishing.

Skullius finally calmed down.

Serenity's flickering figure seemed to also be put at ease.

"Perhaps that good luck you chose to take worked for the better in the end. Strangely, you seem to have had a solution for the worst case scenario," she said while turning to Skullius.

Though her flame body couldn't be said to have a back or front, she seemed to enjoy turning this way and that.

"Kind of," Skullius said as he looked at the patch on his soul.

Sila's soul, as he had foretold, was only here to act as a last resort move against such a problem.

One that he was glad he didn't have to use.

Before thinking about anything else, Skullius hurriedly asked.

"Since Somanda is latched onto me, won't he just return again? With how you look, I don't think you can last against him," Skullius said with concern. "No offense."

"You're right. However, even if he has transcended, you are still in a world protected by Deities and their Rules. Right now, that old idiot can only manifest around you because the curses he gave you have grown stronger, increasing his connection to you."

"You still have that massive well of Divine energy. Perhaps it's no longer as potent as it was supposed to be because of... recent developments, but you can still sizably reduce your connection with Somanda by a great deal. Destroy some of those curses and you will be fine," Serenity said before grabbing Skullius' shoulder.

The two descended down at a speed faster than that of light and before he knew it, Skullius was standing next to his body that was standing vacantly in the snow.

He looked at it and then at Serenity, likening the four blue socket flames to Serenity's own form.

Hmm. Interesting.

Skullius had a lot of questions but he was sure he wouldn't get answers, which was Serenity's whole shtick.

He knew what she would say.

Reach Tier 4 first.

But...

"What was this about two Deities not being in Aigas? Surely since Somanda has already spoiled it you can tell me in detail, right?" Skullius said, eager to hear an answer.

Serenity sensed his desperation and relented.

"Right. Somanda said it first so..." she said. "It's true. Only one of the three governing Deities of Aigas is here right now. The other two are... not present."

"What? Why? What happened?"

Serenity sighed.

"I can't tell you that but it's not a recent thing. There hasn't been the trio of Deities in Aigas since the Ashing of Time. Don't worry though, there are mortal elects charged with carrying out roles necessary to keep this world in order. Deity stand-ins, if you will. I'm sure you'll meet them one day."

Skullius was left gaping by this piece of information.

What the hell?!

Stand-ins?

Were they human or something?

He moved his vague lips again but Serenity pushed him into his body quickly before leaving a last message.

"Let's stick to our chats during evolutions, alright?"

With that, the Null entity vanished.

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