Replicus had expected the guidance field to continue. When the pause after that lore dump came, he almost said, "Go on" before realising that he wasn't going to get anymore free information.
A sigh left Replicus' mouth.
"This is ridiculous. That's all I get? Well, I suppose I should have expected it. Serenity is also secretive about this stuff, so it would be strange if the guidance field could tell me more," he said, more than a bit irritated.
"So four authorities, huh?"
To Replicus, what was more impressive, or rather, what made the four names he had just heard – the Null Devil King, the Blood-Risen Emperor, the Maleficent Siphoner, and the Ever-Adorned Sovereign – more impressive, was the implied scale of the Null Verse.
The descriptions of items that he upgraded with [Unbound], and those of evolution species like the Six-legged Flash Dipper, which had appeared when Ferex had reached Tier 1, made it seem as though the Null Verse was infinite.
Picturing the North, South, East and West that the guidance field was talking about, made Replicus wonder...
"Just how large are the areas these four rule over?"
How powerful would one have to be to rule over such vast lands?
It was certainly a thought.
What's more, the Null Devil King and Maleficent Siphoner seemed to have classes that Replicus had been offered in the very beginning of his journey.
The Revenant Forcemancer.
The Spirit Walker.
And not only that, from what he gathered – with a few references to all the notifications he had ever received – the Ever-Adorned Sovereign, from how it was described, ruled over cities. Well, empty cities but... was it just Replicus, or did this eerily resemble the alluring selling point that was used to describe the class he ultimately chose back then.
The Vehement Nullmancer.
After all, he distinctly recalled that it had said:
[He who chooses to walk this path will conquer kingdoms...]
(A/N: Refer to Ch.9).
Kingdoms usually spotted cities, as Skullius had seen...
When Replicus' thoughts reached this point, his four sockets blazed with even more fierce, glaring light.
"Were all those descriptions I saw, of those four classes, based on these four beings?" the Penetrator said, almost frowning.
He didn't know if he liked that idea very much.
If anything, these descriptions were misleading, giving the impression that the powers he acquired...
"Does this mean that me getting these powers is more related to things I have to do in the Null Verse?"
Damn Serenity.
What was her angle exactly?
Worse yet, the four beings mentioned in the description were said to be bound to the Null Verse by some form of seal. So, if one of them truly was here on Aigas, how did they manage that feat?
Through the creature that Ferex turned into?
Ah, the way Yuyui explained the whole ordeal was confusing. Or maybe the ordeal itself was just that confusing.
Despite how gravely lacking all this information was, Replicus had been given a better idea about what he was facing.
As he imagined before, if these creatures were so powerful that they ruled over what Replicus could safely assume where clumps of worlds...
"Damn it. Won't we need the might of a Deity or something to take just that one thing down?" he thought.
And speaking of the power scaling, Replicus turned his attention to the huddled creature below his ribcage.
The text just now said that these four beings could only keep their powers, Dominions, in the Null Verse. So how was this little guy able to intercept an authority like that while being outside the Null Verse?
The Penetrator had a theory.
'Every time I evolved before, I saw Serenity and that obscure ball behind her – likely the Null Verse itself. I'm an anomaly, but I'm probably still connected to it. Perhaps these two factors allow me to break rules that Serenity made, and this little thing, born from me, took advantage of that in order to resist the forced subservience that comes with being my Apostle...' Replicus thought.
He had a feeling he was right.
He probably existed outside the seals and rules of Serenity, but with the same potential as anything born in the Null Verse.
If not, and he was wrong, then the vast wealth of knowledge Replicus had amassed, and was proud of, still paled in comparison – a lot more than he had thought – to everything he was yet to learn.
***
Minutes later, the trio was walking through the forest again.
Timmit was kind enough to see them out despite his squawk and aggressive flapping.
Replicus appreciated the good manners the bird had. It reminded him of the giant dolphin Fuwin, the beast that had guarded the Temple of Unlusted Tears.
"So, about that compensation. We all agree that today was more troublesome than we all had anticipated, right? You stole some of my pure mana, had me use my Territory and worst of all, you had me keeping warm an evil spawn!" Timmit complained.
Replicus could have sworn his beak had clapped thousands of times since they left his Territory.
"You're right. I'll think of something. Though you are really getting more greedy with each time we meet. This is why I hate getting familiar with beasts. They get too comfortable with you," the Penetrator said.
"You're one to talk!" Timmit screamed.
"I take it your cold is gone?" Replicus shifted the subject.
"It's not a cold. It's a seasonal ailment that blocks the beak. Nasty business. It comes and goes every few minutes," Timmit explained with an annoyed look burning in his eyes. He seemed to hate being compared to humans.
In his mind, Replicus who always made such comparisons, was more than a bit racist.
Again, as the group walked past, the beasts all around paid keen attention, while others sent meaningfully hostile glares towards them, especially Timmit.
This time, he didn't give a comment.
Yuyui was pretty creeped out, but she glared back, with the little creature in her arms sharing the same sentiment. It hiccupped an orange-pink flame and cooed wrathfully in the direction of the potential aggressors.
Replicus shook his head.
Like idiot like idiot.
The Penetrator then suddenly came to a stop in the next second.
"Hmmm," he hummed.
Yuyui and Timmit also stopped, and looked at him quizzically.
"What?" the stork asked.
"How long ago did you say you returned here after one of those creatures from the mainland followed after you?" Replicus asked.
Timmit grew tense.
"Almost half an hour ago. Why?"
In the next moment, a great shadow covered the Sacred Forest, dyeing it in inky black.
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