Boron was, in fact, just as prodigious as Quintess. As it turned out, his already remarkable innovation with Deific powers were bolstered by the Higher Fundamental Barter he had made earlier. At death's doorstep, he managed to process all his options with the most astonishing level of efficiency and come up with a solution in record time.
He had hardly been thinking when he effected the only miracle he could have come up with to survive.
Exora Amras was ranked in Affluents from World, Sage, Realm, Star, Void, Cosmic, to Reality. Star Affluent Amras denoted a transition of scale and depth. Any being capable of hosting such a kind of Amras had more depth than 90% of living beings within Reality; in essence, this meant they were closer to transcending natural dimensions than most.
As it happened, Star Affluent Amras and beyond were the only types of fuel compatible with Cosmic Andori (the highest order of Andori), and Cosmic Andori were the only kinds of Andori capable of resisting the staunch nature of the fourth dimension.
All this hadn't occurred to Boron until he desperately pulled it off, fashioning Splitch, a First Tier Cosmic Andori that allowed him to exist at two places at the same time, with the caveat that should any one of his two bodies be destroyed, his powers would permanently be cut in half.
Scrambling, Boron put up both his arms to guard against Skullius' jab. With Zu'sse, he was incredibly powerful, but…
BOOOOM!
Skullius was flaring his immense reserves of Null Life Energy. It reinforced him several hundred million times over, with the Garmma Mail overscaling his physical strength beyond even that. A casual jab from him sent Boron reeling even when he defended passably. He spun, rising higher and higher instead of barreling parallel into the distance.
The Deity's arms trembled from the blow, but that was the least of his concerns.
<It's taking this much just for me to barely withstand being here now.> he thought, teeth gritted.
He hadn't noticed before, when he had his full strength, but with his powers split because of Splitch, he now had to reinforce himself with Zu'sse to manage awkward movements within four dimensions. This space was a very strange place.
<Every impact causes different types of energy to expand and rise. If I take another hard hit, I'll fly upwards.> thought the Deity. <Unless I get blasted with that horrifying attack again, that is. It doesn't even conform to the laws of this dimension. It will just erase me.>
He needn't have worried, though.
Skullius had expended seven out of the nine units of Focused Null Life Ota that Tycha possessed to test out Railing. He didn't have enough for another Railing or Removal or for a use of the Mystery Series.
That was fine, however. It was Skullius' prerogative to give Boron the chance to try everything he could conceive of while he (Skullius) tried out his new abilities. He didn't even summon back the Kharnio-Glyss or Storm Baker or use the Miniature Wartime Guidance System. That would make things too unfair.
"Time is running out," he said to Boron and landed a brutal kick to his sternum. The Deity grunted and flew up. He didn't get the chance to recover. Skullius struck him in the jaw, and the chin, and the neck, and the shoulder. Zu'sse didn't stop the pain from radiating through his figure, and he kept rising up and up.
<My Zu'sse isn't even affecting him anymore! Is it because he's reinforcing himself to the limit with that unending blanket of energy?> He finished the thought to an elbow that sent his abdomen sinking inward. <This won't do!>
It happened again, as Boron turned even more desperate. His Zu'sse faded, and the unorthodox weight of existing in four dimensions barreled down on him again, but only for an insignificant fragment of time.
Zu'sse and Andori couldn't be used at the same time because the former required Amras to be twisted into something incompatible with the latter.
Boron created yet another Andori.
Skullius grinned. "There we go!"
His own armour must have been the inspiration. A raven black suit of armour flourished around Boron with patterns of wings and the twisted faces of immortal beasts. That was a canvas, or rather, a reflection of his past. In a way, the armour reminded Skullius of the Warmoth's Void rank armament, which he'd recently found to have been taken by Future Skullius. Boron's rendition was formidable indeed. It instantly changed the way he carried himself, saturating him with confidence.
'It falls short of the Warmoth's armour in raw power, though,' Skullius analyzed. 'Right. Andori are the weakest elements of the Common Reality Leagues.' .
That was indeed true.
<I'll give you everything. You WILL know your place!> cried Boron.
They met in the middle, an Authority and an aspiring Primeval Deity. The impact from when they clashed wrists – one massive, and the other only a fraction of the size – fed into the space around and then shot them both upwards. Neither was distracted by that, though.
Boron's armour didn't just allow him to thrive in four dimensions. Forged from an Andori that he mused could be called Parlay, it allowed him to deliver a deft spray of attacks whenever he swung his fist. His blows would land with the greatest possible dose of damage regardless of the size and distance of his opponent. Thus, while clashing with Skullius, he kept whipping his arms anywhere in the darkness around Skullius without bothering to target him directly.
The Sovereign was targeted perfectly. He could sense the rush of blows precisely, even without the Miniature Wartime Guidance System. He carefully caught each phantom blow and redirected it or crushed it with a hard whip of his elbow or a backhanded fist.
'There's a good surge of power in each strike. Enough to contend against my maximum reinforcement with Zu'sse.' He avoided a hundred of Boron's blows in the next nanosecond. When he opted to block, the impact sent him flying upwards. Boron followed after him, and they clashed again.
'You're a match for me in this state at least. So…'
Boron had landed yet another flurry of blows that Skullius promptly responded to, when he was met with an odd reaction.
The invisible interpretations of his attacks that followed every physical swing of his, all reaching for Skullius, were invisible, but not imperceptible. In a way, they had a shape, each sized proportionally to Skullius in order to deliver damage efficiently.
….!!!!
Boron sensed something from their shapes the instant they met Skullius.
A rapid slapping noise, like papers fluttering in the wind resounded from each of them… and then ethereal paper pages, each with an ocean blue shade, rushed from the phantom attacks and into Skullius.
The Sovereign pretended as though nothing had happened. He streaked towards Boron, who grew wary.
<What was that?> In his certainty that something was wrong, Boron chose to guard against the next blow rather than evade it.
Skullius threw yet another straight punch into his guard. The instant his fist met Boron, blue pages flooded from the Deity and sank into Skullius in a cascading wave. Boron flew upwards from the impact, unharmed, but brows furrowed.
<What is he…>
"We're the same, it seems," said Skullius thoughtfully. "Both of us are supposed to be dead. You were meant to have perished long before now, like me. Isn't that right, Ciumin?"
