Chapter 913 The Overview
Everything turned to an almost sickening degree of calm after Actuass took a breath and visibly relaxed, now paying attention to the numerous opponents before him.
The Scorching Tears stopped falling, and the booming noises quickly hushed up, leaving only the slowly fading hisses of steam and waves which also quickly died down to make way for total silence.
The dark rain had also ended between the chaos, and the bursts of multi-coloured lights which had concerning weak flickering that seemed to signifying – more than anything else – that something was discombobulating the nature of the world, were nowhere to be seen.
As they ebony waters calmed, it almost seemed as though they were intimidated by the absolute back drop of darkness behind Actuass, which stretched far West and East, no end to it in common sight.
Actuass spoke while craning his neck, his vibrant hazel eyes looking at the Faction members and leaders who also stared his way.
"I expected a much more impressive number of forces to be chasing after me, though, seeing as some of you were easily killed earlier by the simplest push, a fair bit of you must have perished along the way," he said, and rubbed his large, hooked nose. A bit of the crusty, charred part of his face chipped on contact. "Let me make things clear..."
As he spoke, the great lizard-mantis which had continued to sizzle while making contact with the ocean water rose slowly, and so did the ship Actuass stood on, ensnared in its winding embrace.
"I won't entertain you, any of you, until I reach Edagon. I encourage you to give up on trying to stop me before then. I see none among you tied by binds to national service. You have no reason for heroism. I see only greed, ambition, selfishness among you – the formula for living as a human, a true human, and transcending the mortal binds of this world, which, as you have seen, is a lot more fragile than you think."
The silence persisted.
Actuass' words were crisply conveyed, and they carried a strange degree of truth to them.
"As far as I'm concerned you're just trying to appear as someone who doesn't identify as a scrounging thief, murderer obsessed with their own gain, just like the rest of us."
It was Replicus who spoke, his sockets blazing as he faced the unmasked man. An itchy sort of fury was burning in his soul every moment he felt the potent Undeath energy sweeping from Actuass.
"The world is fragile? It's not. You, as a human, strived for many years to achieve something far beyond your own ability, right? That doesn't make your accomplishments – even the one behind you – special. That just makes you look pathetic. I've seen a greedy fellow like you before, keen on going beyond the norm for stupid reasons."
Many heads turned to Replicus, including even Aurolio.
It came as a surprise that Replicus would dare say this after what the necromancer had just done. More than a few were starting to feel uncertain about continuing to press Actuass.
He was a lot more... ridiculous that what the Emissary had made him sound.
But then again, wasn't it Replicus who claimed to know him as well?
It was him.
He claimed to have faced Actuass, and that the necromancer had the backing of the undead, of an Arch-Lich.
The degree of personal stake perceivable in Replicus' tone urged many to finally believe that indeed, the Penetrator hadn't been speaking out of his non-existent ass.
Actuass turned to Replicus, his face undisturbed at all.
The two stared at each other for a while.
Replicus drank in this face which had finally been revealed. A face he was beginning to loathe very much.
Actuass seemed to consider something and then speak.
"I suppose you do know someone like that. I do too. We have that in common," he said. "However, whatever you say or believe about me is irrelevant. After all, at the end of the day, the one who still stands, living and breathing, nomatter how pathetic, is the one in the right, by the standards of the living world."
Replicus scoffed. Standing a few meters away, he was pressing his hand on an invisible impediment that still refused to budge.
"You're every bit as driven as I expected," Aurolio chimed in with a big smile, looking up with eager eyes.
"Am I?" Actuass said.
"Indeed. In fact...." Aurolio grinned. "|I'm not sure I have a—"
"Save it. That won't work on me as long as you are trapped in KUTHMUK," Actuass sneered.
Aurolio narrowed his eyes.
'So this guy can sense Veneration art too?'
That was a good bit of information that he and Replicus individually took into account.
There was whoosh of waters as several vessels drew closer to Actuass and his lizard-mantis stone creature.
"You sound pretty reasonable for someone who has a massive bounty on your head – perhaps notoriety is more apt," Eaniss spoke flutteringly from the approaching ship's deck. "You're a little handsome too."
Actuass turned to her.
"What part of my reputation implied that I was a terrorist?" he asked casually while raising his hand.
"You know, the millions of people killed during your little tournament," Eaniss smirked.
"I suppose a substandard perspective would have you think that. But then... what makes you think the people I killed wouldn't have died when Boron was inevitably freed and rampaged on Aigas in an attempt to get the other Deities' attention?"
...!
A small spark of thought was ignited in the collective.
The Emissary's tale about the Deities and how Boron was always meant to escape the Under, his prison.
How Quintess and Listafelle had long left Aigas...
Eaniss' smirk turned faint.
Actuass scoffed.
"Yes. That look right there. You lot, existing outside the propaganda of the Purity, the blood thirst of Maqi, and the ignorance of Pelian know about the bigger picture, don't you?" he said. "You know about the overview. In the same way, death isn't necessarily a bad thing for a living thing – that is my belief – and my objective isn't as tragically simplistic as you comprehend it to be."
The wreckage bound by the red hue had become an afterthought since the breaking of the world. However...
Beside Actuass, a figure garbed in a long, dark, hooded robe appeared on the ship, on his face a white and green mask.
With everyone watching, Actuass pulled on the mask from his face, revealing a dazed, sallow-faced man with vacant eyes.
Actuass covered his own face with the mask, hiding it.
The lizard-mantis creature squirmed.
"I'll warn you again. If you truly intend to follow, I'll entertain your greed and ambitions only after I reach Edagon. I advise some of you to wait here, and you'll be spared. The world won't be split for much longer," the masked man said.
From the water, a figure fuming with pungent smoke and burnt flesh leapt out and appeared onto the ship. It was the old Incandescent Stager.
...!
Replicus felt the blockade hindering him disappear at the same time.
'It's gone!' he thought.
However, before he could act, the masked man glanced at him and sneered:
"Thanks for the ship."
And then the giant lizard-mantis opened its dark maw and swallowed said ship before quickly diving into ocean and causing a catastrophic turbulence as it swam forehead at breakneck speed.
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