"An Arch-Lich?"
"What in the world are you talking about?!"
The two Faction leaders who had been arguing against Eaniss' decision, roared in Replicus' direction.
The Penetrator's words had truly caught them off guard, stunning the majority of the Faction leaders present, most of whom didn't have too high of an opinion of him. This showed perfectly when the woman with the blue skin frowned, and spoke indignantly:
"Aren't Arch-Liches ranks of undead that have never set foot on Aigas? How would someone like you even know what they are like?"
"Indeed," another of the Faction leaders glared at Replicus. "They are fables made from the assumption that the undead that have managed to force their way into our world before, had superiors. No one knows for sure."
This was no lie.
Many beings on Aigas carried testimonies of how undead had invaded, led by terrifying Liches, but that was all. The only semblance of the lifeless creatures to be seen came from the Green Neolists, an organisation of humans from Aigas that somehow acquired the power to resurrect the dead.
Given the added news from minutes ago though, the invasion of the true undead seemed to be getting recontextualized. How many years back did the undead invade?
Was it during the time when the Rules of the world turned weaker from Quintess and Listafelle's departure? That long ago?
The Faction leader who had just spoken was suddenly smitten with these thoughts and he grew silent.
Seeing as his counterparts all wanted him to elaborate and shut up at the same time, Replicus laughed.
"Well, if you want me to exaggerate a little bit, I'll even tell you that I fought an Arch-Lich months ago. And of course, this masked man was the one who kindly let me know what I was up against, though he and the Arch-Lich didn't have too intimate of a relationship," Replicus said.
This didn't make the glares coming his way from the experts who saw him as a jester without a clear understanding of the gravity of what he was saying, go away.
Eaniss had a different reaction to everyone else though.
"Is that so? Do you have evidence of this? If you are correct, then this only emphasises how critical our intervention may be," she said as she set one leg on top of the other.
Hostile eyes pinched at Replicus, daring him.
If he couldn't produce any evidence, his reputation and the credit to his name would plummet tremendously.
"Well, do you?" the woman in the blue skin asked with smirk and scoff.
Replicus nodded with his sockets flashing twice as bright.
"Naturally, you sockethole," Replicus said while facing the woman, which garnered him a single instance of terribly fierce and razor sharp killing intent that shone on him like a laser. Replicus chuckled at it.
Perhaps he was starting to get too comfortable teasing Incandescent Stage experts.
Anyway...
"I'm sure all of you are aware of rumours that began a few months ago, after the sudden proliferation of Clusters all around Pelian. It was a pretty popular event, termed the Mass Cluster Incident or something. If any of your sources are actually accurate, they would have told you that the one to identify the cause, was a man named Tulnas, from a small city called Inhone," Replicus explained.
He pointed up with his finger, and a burst of mana soared into the air and created a rather vivid image of a man with dark hair tied into a bun, blue eyes, and a dashing smile.
"I was pretty weak during that time, and was imprisoned by the Capital Service for crimes against public property. I was given a chance to earn a pardon. I joined this man, Tulnas, on an excursion to solve the matter of the Clusters. He and I found that the cause for incident were the Evenfall. The cultists who believe in Boron."
Replicus chuckled lightly when he reached this point.
It seemed extremely convenient then – perhaps because his atrocious luck was still rather potent – now that he thought about.
"Believe it or not, I met both the man who has finally managed to free Boron – as the Emissary said – and I also met the masked man. Tulnas and I figured out that the Evenfall and Green Neolists were working together shortly before the masked man conjured a tool he used to rein in the consciousness of an Arch-Lich. Perhaps 'fight' is a misleading word, but I did come face to face with an Arch-Lich. Barely escaped with my life..."
'And soul,' Replicus finished the statement in his mind.
Ah such times.
Replicus remembered getting one up on Somanda that time. The Arch-Lich had claimed that he wanted the powers that his soul now held. Powers that could contend against Deities.
Fortunately for him, he hated Somanda enough for [Pseudo Evil Veneration] to activate and break the Lich's vessel.
'Good times...' Replicus thought with an inner smile.
...
His audience stifled their hostility. His explanation, to their surprise held substance.
"Hmm. I remember that. There was some commotion about it. Though, there was no mention of you," one of the Faction leaders who opposed the voyage said sceptically.
"My reward was freedom, not recognition. I was a side kick in that story, actually," the Penetrator said.
Eaniss was visibly intrigued.
"Fascinating. You have seen the one who supposedly freed Boron too?" she asked.
"Yeah. He was the same man playing Game Master through duration of Premium Age Royale. I had suspected he was up to no good, but what would the word of someone like me had done," Replicus shrugged.
"The Premium Age Royale?"
"The same man was involved? How can you be sure?"
A flurry of questions were sent Replicus' way.
"I have my ways. Besides, it's not that hard to remember a face you hate, even if from a simple description, right? Especially with.... certain verbal habits," the Penetrator said.
Pherdanta was just as shocked as everyone else to hear about this. She had never known that her master had such exploits under his belt. No wonder he readily accepted what the Emissary had to say about the masked man and all.
Her respect for Replicus grew ferociously in that instance.
She did wonder what Replicus meant when he said he was very weak months ago though. He couldn't have been as weak as he made himself seem, right?
"Well, you've definitely made it hard to deny your story entirely," one of the Faction leaders said after a brief stretch of silence. "This masked man... Does he still have the tool you mentioned?"
The thirty and some heavy gazes enticed Replicus.
'Heh...' he chuckled inside.
"I assume so," he lied.
The above Legendary grade tool SoSei was in his possession, but he wouldn't give everyone that much peace of mind. Even if they didn't buy that the masked man was connected to Somanda, Replicus wanted to make sure some of them would be on edge when they faced the enemy.
'The race has already begun, hasn't it? I'm just using all the advantages I have at my disposal,' Replicus thought deviously.
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