Several hours passed with the large vessel casually striding over untamed waters. Replicus sat on a chair he summoned, and silently looked ahead, past Pherdanta whose duty was to steer the ship.
The vessel reacted to whoever stood in the middle of the deck – the area specified for all steering functions. To move the ship in any particular way, all one had to do was gesture meaningfully toward the direction of choice, and it would follow.
For now, Pherdanta who had her hands behind her back, made the ship keep heading North. It was going to be a long way to the Central Boundary, and soon, threats that needed dealing with soon start rising, but for now, it was smooth sailing.
Replicus sighed.
His mind was still set on the conversation he had been having with Grim.
It tied into what Riba said, and what Pherdanta said too.
It seemed like a good thing that his subordinates liked having their Hidden Classes, and for the most part, it was, however, Replicus wanted to know how much each could affect the other.
As Riba had said, Hidden Classes were essentially ways olden powerhouses used to preserve their legacies. And sometimes, said legacies did more than just carry forward their unique fighting styles and powers into the future. They also carried their wills.
Replicus recalled well what happened when he absorbed the Luminant Seed in the Temple of Unlusted Tears. Because of his rapid growth, how he passed from the Foundation Stage and into the Advancement Stage, he had awakened another portion of Fulgardt's powers.
The WILLS of Fulgardt.
On top of this, he awakened another one of the pillars of the Fruit of World Myths.
Seramoro, Oblivion's Edge.
During this time, Sause had warned him never to use this power at all. According to him, it was a manifestation of Fulgardt's will.
Recalling this now, Replicus was stressed by the implication.
Fulgardt was definitely an outlier in more than one way, but the various Hidden Classes with potential at least similar to his, likely had installed ways to take over whoever drew their legacy, right?
Pherdanta claimed that fulfillment was the answer to not getting tangled up in the mess that came with Hidden Classes. Perhaps she believed that was the way to overcome the powerful wills of individuals who were not satisfied with how their lives played out back then.
Could it be true?
Was he going to fail at this because he was far from fulfilled?
He only had half his soul, and he had no closure with important bits of his life.
His supposed sister.
His fellow Moronic Undead in Deadmanland.
And even Somanda.
'Damn it...' Replicus thought.
The image he had seen from Riba's Divination constantly plagued his thoughts.
At that moment, the door to the small cabin behind him opened to reveal a yawning Allora who hunched in order to fit through in the doorway. She was rather tall, after all.
"Hello, boss!" she said a sluggish cheeriness.
Replicus merely nodded.
"The slacker awakens," Grim scoffed, and Allora scowled.
"I was just getting a little sleep. Unlike you, I don't thrive in the night," she defended herself.
"Heh."
Allora turned back to Replicus.
"Boss, you said a Paladin Champion is awaiting at the Central Boundary right?" she asked.
"Yes."
"Are we really sure he can't defeat this masked man or whatever. If he's the number one ranked Paladin Champion, what are the chances that he is above the Incandescent Stage? I've heard everyone above the Incandescent Stage is ridiculously strong."
Replicus sighed.
"We don't know what the chances are. I'm leaning more toward what the Emissary said. If this guy is confident enough to take down a dragon, then he probably won't be taken down by Paladin Champion. However..." he said with a grave tone that made even Pherdanta turn her head. "This also makes me think there's something crucial the Emissary left out."
"Even Eaniss didn't point it out, but I think she caught on. If the Emissary, rather, the Herald among the Immortals, is reluctant to face this masked man, or even consider collaborating with the other Herald against him, then the power of the Deities, Divine power, must be ineffective against the masked man."
...!
"Really?" Allora asked with a frown.
"But how is that possible? If the Heralds are like stronger versions of the Paladin Champions, how could their powers be ineffective against the guy?" Grim said.
Replicus hunched over.
"Maybe ineffective isn't the right term. The masked man seems capable of taking away the power of the Heralds. I believe since they are reluctant to even fight him, then he must be able to do this easily. That's why we are being hired for this. Incandescent Stage experts use normal blessings, but they aren't reliant on them, and the rest of you, as Masters rely on mana and Aura," he explained.
Allora leaned against the end of the deck and folded her arms over her chest.
"So in short, this number one Paladin Champion is going to be made quick work of?" she asked.
"Not necessarily. If the Purity is in the know as we – the Severed Union – then they must have some measures against their top fighter getting defeated," Replicus said.
He only considered this because assuming that the masked man would plow his way through every obstacle without resistance wasn't possible.
Maybe this Paladin Champion's Divine Blessing was just absurd enough to render the masked man's unusual abilities useless. Or...
"I'm sure we'll get to know what the outcome of that fight was, or is. We're drawing closer to the Boundary."
Several minutes of silence followed with everyone indulging their thoughts.
The lull was only torn apart when a light thump registered on the arching umbrella of light above.
Something was standing on it!
Before tension grew, however, everyone relaxed at the sight of what it was.... who it was.
Pherdanta manipulated the golden barriers to create an opening onto the deck, and the figure dropped through.
"Took you long enough, Kenno," Grim said.
The former bandit group leader gave Grim a roll of the eye and went up to Replicus.
"A few more hours and you probably wouldn't have been able to teleport right to me. Our destination is riddled with obstacles that make it impossible for spatial transportation to work well," the Penetrator said to the Unlimited.
"Would you believe me if I said I sensed my timing would be fitting?" Kenno said with a smile and slumped to the deck, leaning against its edge.
He gave an exhausted sigh.
"What did you find?" Replicus sighed.
Kenno's face immediately changed into a difficult one.
"You're not going to like most of it."
*
Ten minutes later.
"I see," Replicus said calmly, but his sockets flashed continuously from dim to bright.
The four Unlimited shuddered.
None of them said a word for a while, digesting what had just been said, and anxiously wondering if the boss would process it all well, as he seemed to do always.
It was unlikely.
There were just too many things to think about, as Kenno had drawn as much information as he could.
The revelation that Setkh had been the one who cursed Theurien, having partnered with a strange group that took the Harmonic Ember, the precious gem of the Bryne Family.
The mysterious blue creatures invaded Genhuis City months ago, on the same day that Yuyui returned from Pelian screaming about how Ferex was gone.
Stylla's disappearance on the same day, and how she cured her father of his illness and flew away.
Theurien's return to consciousness.
How the masked man absorbed the souls of the millions of people at the venue for the Premium Age Royale while the Game Master absorbed, something else from the masses and fled.
The death of Terese and Daggs as a result.
A rogue Paladin Champion.
The emergence of the towers.
It was all quite a bit to digest.
In the same two months that Replicus had been growing wildly, chaos had been brewing around Skullius, and it was definitely far more than he could handle.
The first thing Replicus paid attention to, was the intricate detail of how the masked man had extracted the souls of the witnesses. Apparently, it took a heavy toll on him but he remained standing. He even had helpers, one of them being a Paladin Champion who was thought to be long lost.
'This guy must be really proficient in undeath if he can manipulate the souls of millions of people all at once. This is what Serenity is the peak of Undeath. What Arch-Liches practice. Did Somanda teach him, or did he figure it out on his own?' he thought.
'The fact that he can subdue Paladin Champions could also validate my theory on this man being capable of handing Divine Blessing users. If he has an army of similar powerful reanimated corpses by his side...'
Replicus' face turned dark.
Yeah, his power was probably very formidable.
But the Penetrator wasn't afraid of him.
He thought about how Kenno described the corpse of Terese, Theurien's youngest daughter.
Something cracked within him.
'I'm growing more eager to meet this guy.'
Updat𝒆d fr𝒐m freew𝒆bnov𝒆l.c(o)m