Moments later, Pherdanta, Kenno and Grim were back by Replicus' side on the shore of Deign.
"Good work, Grim," Replicus complimented the Unlimited, but the recipient of the praise didn't look too satisfied.
"Boss, what was that thing? And what did you do with it?" he asked.
"It's related to what the call to all Factions is all about. Something caused by that trembling from earlier," Replicus said before pointing at the spot where the darkness had tainted the sea.
"I saw everything from your armour. My theory is that these beasts are acting as surveillance and are also, to some degree forms for conquest. That bird was like a scout meant to call a stronger unit somewhere with anything worth taking."
"So the entirety of Feinheath has these creatures running around? Will they be turning the entire world black?" Pherdanta asked.
"I'm not sure. What bothers me, is the possibility of an enemy that can manipulate Primus for all forms of attack at will. That will be hard to deal with. What you faced in there, Grim... if it fully showed itself... we might have gotten a better idea of it."
The three Unlimited looked to mull things over.
The only beings who could use Primus energy well, were accomplished Priests, and even then, their forte wasn't combat. Using Divine energy like that for attacks, would be akin to using Nitros with each attack.
If all their enemies could do that, it would be like fighting dozens of Pseudo Incandescent Stagers. The numbers told by Timmit made the scenario even worse.
"As for what I did with the thing..." Replicus said before turning to the Sacred Forest. "...I had a friend deal the finishing blow. I wanted to extract what I could from the threat before putting it down. Let's go see."
Replicus began walking towards the forest when Pherdanta pointed to the inky darkness on the sea.
"Shouldn't we deal with that?" she asked.
"No. I'll let Yuyui handle it."
*
For some reason, Replicus insisted on having the group walk to the forest, which took a little more than ten minutes. When they arrived though, the clamour and the view of what was happening somewhat explained why the Penetrator had chosen such a mundane method of travel.
The severely torn up and shredded figure of the large stone bird lay on the ground amid the chaotic rearrangement of some of the forest's elements, which had been the result of its flapping wings.
More than that though, a large, red stork was standing on the corpse of the large stone bird with what was most certainly a proud look, represented by the twinkle in its eyes and its raised beak.
Around it, several dozens of different creatures were celebrating, and some merely gazing in awe at Timmit. From the looks of it, most of them were ones that had had their habitats destroyed. It was rather shocking the amount of damage the simple flight of the enemy had caused.
What had been a dense part of the forest, had been turned into a ragged plain.
Instead of mourning though, most of the beasts had to give praise to their guardian for finally bringing the beast down.
"Yes, yes! And don't forget it. If I hear another disrespectful roar, peep, or tweet again, I will migrate to another forest! I have friends over seas!" Timmit called while flapping his wings.
Pherdanta and Kenno turned to Replicus.
"It was a favour," he said simply.
Earlier, he had instructed Timmit to retreat to his Territory and ready its Secondary assault function because he was going to teleport the large bird beast directly into the stork's Territory – as he did with the grey lightning.
Spatial Lightning.
After a long time of using the Kindling Heath to absorb the essences of the stout mountain, Replicus had gained an affinity with Spatial lightning. This high concept could teleport anything it hit to another location.
One had to have a very high affinity with the lightning to purposefully direct the target to a chosen location though, and more than that, Spatial Lightning had to be learned in tandem with Stagnant Space in order to prevent complications between the time in which a target was hit by the Spatial lightning, to when they would reappear in another location.
These principles were what Replicus used to teleport himself, and he had used them when creating the Limited Granted Warp skill of the Granted Armament.
Timmit saw Replicus approaching and he flew over to him.
"Well, that works as compensation, right?" the Penetrator said to him.
"Hmph! Are you sure you just couldn't take care of it yourself?" Timmit ridiculed.
"Don't push it," Replicus said with a sigh. "Where is Yuyui? In fact, where is your Territory?"
Timmit shook his feathers.
"I couldn't maintain it after that last attack. I overdid it. I suppose I could have turned it dormant again, but the strain my Secondary assault causes got to me. I'll project it later. As for that freak..." he explained, before pointing his wing to the right.
Yuyui was seated a far distance away on the ground, playing with the little creature that seemed to have begun seeing her as its mother.
Grim hurried to her.
Replicus looked at the beasts all around. Some of them were keenly paid attention to them.
"I suppose you've earned enough respect for us to come visit as we please without earning you doubts?" the Penetrator asked.
"Don't push it!" Timmit said with narrow eyes.
Replicus stifled a laugh.
"I would really appreciate it if you left. We have a lot to take care of for now. I can hear whatever you found out later. Let me maintain positive morale for a bit longer," Timmit continued before going away.
Pherdanta wore a frown.
"It's quite insolent," she said while glaring at the stork.
"It's a bird," Kenno remarked, rolling his eyes.
*
A little while later, the group had returned to the Honing Fortress. As they entered the lower most floor, the Penetrator addressed his Unlimited.
"My errands here are done. I'll be heading to the Severed Coliseum soon," he said. "Because of the possibility for further incidents, I'll leave three of you here."
As Replicus said this, Pherdanta wanted to protest, imagining that the Penetrator was opting to travel without proper escort, but...
"You'll be coming with me, Pherdanta. Allora counts as an Unlimited, doesn't she?"
To that, the woman gave a curt nod, as did the others.
'I suppose Baddan also counts now,' Replicus thought. Pherdanta had told him that the Sky Watcher had awakened moments before the bird beast had attacked, and she had followed his instructions for him.
Honestly, Baddan had exceeded his expectations.
Replicus had thought it would take hours for Baddan to take in the technique he had granted, especially since he would be wrestling sentient creatures in his mind.
But no.
The Sky Watcher had been that eager and that driven.
Replicus' sockets flashed excitedly.
'Good. Now I can focus on what's next.'
It was time to go to the Severed Union.
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