Chapter 1186: Let''s Etch History On Aigas!


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    Deep in the Tremur Forest...


    Karima''s Territory.


    Karima was ring at what looked like a huge, box-shaped mirror with edges that spat out golden sparks; these sparks were excess bits of Divine energy. On the face of the mirror, the aerial image of a four-armed humanoid in a dazzling silver armour and diamond robe facing off against a man in a ck robe could be seen.


    The bat-faced guardian beast''s face was contorted - more than it already was naturally- with rage. His eyes drank in the sight of the ckened forest which was depicted sparingly on the mirror.


    He couldn''t believe how much of it was obliterated in such a short span of time.


    "The gall!" he barked with veins throbbing on his temples. "How dare they use our home as a battleground?!"


    "Calm down, Karima," Erlton said with a strained face. "What''s more important is the safety of all the beasts that reside in the forest. You can always relocate."


    "Easy for you to say! This serves your goals, doesn''t it? Now I have no choice but to wander and look for another home and, in the process, make concessions with other guardian beasts!" Karima hissed and spat on the dark, hard-to-define floor of the Territory.


    Erlton didn''t have a retort for this. He hadn''t exactly foreseen all this.


    Den, the Grinning Jester Fox, growled with hatred at the image of Skullius depicted on the mirror. The spot where his eye had been had healed, but there was no new eye in the socket.


    Soidon pretended as though he couldn''t hear Karima''s outrage. He kept his eyes fixed on Skullius and Replicus.


    He didn''t know much about what was happening, but he felt that he was about to see what he had been denied two days ago - a glimpse of the deepest bits of Skullius, the man from whom he had smelt the scent of Undeath.


    Karima huffed.


    "Just how many tragedies must befall Aigas in such a short span? Aren''t you Heralds supposed to be stopping these things from happening?!" he barked and turned to Erlton whose face hardened instantly.


    He had - perhaps - been about to defend himself when Den cried:


    "Look! Th-THAT THING! THOSE EYES...!"


    The fox was too flummoxed to speak clearly. Everyone turned to the mirror and saw darkness pool beside Skullius and then reveal an unnerving monstrosity with two, extremely familiar eyes!


    ***


    "I confess, I wasn''t sure if I would make it in time - before you arrived, that is. But as it seems, luck is on my side," Skullius said as he pointed to therge humanoid creature that had fallen out of the prison of darkness. "One of the things I was most wary of about you, was that damned set of robes. Ah, they''ve gone through some development, as I anticipated. I can''t afford to fling attacks carelessly now, can I?"


    The Hybrid Luman chuckled.


    He had indeed feared that Replicus'' [Nullmancer''s Royal Raiment of limation] which had evolved to be [Unbridled Wisdom of the Ascended Nullmancer] would render his attacks meaningless. And judging by how the Null powers developed, he knew that even attacks that were lethal to Replicus would be made irrelevant eventually because of [Epiphany], which was now a part of the diamond robe the Warmoth''s Progeny wore.


    This and many other precautions and predictions by the Hybrid Luman were the reason behind the creation of the Stolen Angel.


    The creature, standing tall and still beside its master at a height of just over four meters, looked as though it was made of immactely wound, glossy, golden white vines. They created the illusion of perfect, thick limbs, and forged the wide, sturdy torso of the creature, which was wrapped up in a pristine white shawl that nearly hid all of its face.


    Rings of ring light, likerge bracelets, circled the creature''s wrists, neck and ankles and above its head, a second [Heart of Revtion], glowing much, much brighter than Skullius'', could be seen.


    From a slim gap in the creature''s shawl, two,rge, sharp orange eyes could be seen, looking unblinkingly at the Warmoth''s Progeny with a surging, demented eagerness.


    These eyes were the exact same as the one Den had had!


    Replicus was unnerved.


    He felt as though the creature was staring straight into his soul despite the protection of the Transcendent grade armour he was wearing.


    ''The Stolen Angel?'' he thought. ''And it has a Tier too? What in the world...?''


    "That''s it. It''s the same object he erected to hold all his skills. He has somehow given it a different form. One tailored towardsbat, I imagine," Serenity finally made ament.


    Replicus'' gaze hardened.


    The Preeminent Attegoth?


    It was now a mobile unit with all of Skullius'' skills AND abat sense? The information Serenity had given him about the Attegoth before had quickly turned obsolete.


    This didn''t bode well.


    Skullius sensed Replicus'' unease.


    Heughed mockingly.


    "No need to be so shaken yet," he said, and he began casually walking towards the massive tower of darkness. The Stolen Angel followed after him. "Since you decided to make things a bit more interesting with that little time-limit, how about I spice things up as well? No reason to not enjoy this, right?"


    A pair of sheathed swords, one very long and straight, the other shorter and curved, appeared on Skullius'' left side. He tickled the longer scabbard with his fingers.


    "I invoke KUTHUMK," Skullius dered as he continued on towards the dark mass, a carefree, toothy grin on his face. "I will dictate the venue... venues, rather, of our conflict. Every floor in this tower and every heavily popted ce on Aigas will be the ONLY ces we will be allowed to do battle. Each time we find ourselves ''out of bounds'', we will be transported back into this tower as the default battle ground. How does that sound?"


    Replicus felt a vague force press on him momentarily. It seemed whatever Skullius said just now had been actualised by some magical effect.


    The ritual of KUTHMUK was not entirely unknown to Replicus. One of the undead he had faced while on the voyage to Edagon had used it on him.


    A KUTHMUK ritual was a Maqian construct used to create more meaningful purpose behind conflict - the venue for the battle and a goal, or a reward for the victor could be determined. KUTHUMUK could be enacted even without the other party''s consent, wherein it would be considered half-invoked. In this case, the user could dictate the area in which the battle would take ce, but would be unable to dictate the winning conditions of the battle, like the Ode had done with Skullius in Opungale.


    (A/N: Refer to Ch.912).


    "Why choose such a bizarre set of venues?" Replicus asked and followed behind Skullius.


    The Hybrid Luman scoffed.


    "Beyond your foolish desire to go back to Somanda, I want to see just how much has changed about you. What did your travels teach you? I can learn that as we fight. Besides, the best battles are the ones that aren''t limited to one spot. Before I leave Aigas, I want to leave onerge mark on it. You can help me do that before you tragically meet your demise, I think," he


    said.


    ''Leave Aigas?'' Replicus thought skeptically. ''Just what in the world has he been doing?''


    Skullius seemed to sense his clone''s thoughts.


    "I have many, many great ns. The likes of you can''t even begin to imagine. And sadly, nothing you do can stop the progression of these ns. Even besting me will not change the course I have made," he said as they reached the great doors into the tower, which opened at


    once.


    The two stood side by side by the doors, Replicus mulling with a great feeling of uneasiness over what Skullius had just said.


    The Hybrid Luman grabbed the hilt to the Bashful Abomination and turned to Replicus.


    "Let''s etch history on this godforsaken world," he dered.


    [Author''s Note]


    And with all the preamble out of the way, it beginsdies and gentlemen! The greatest fight


    (hopefully) of ALL TIME! (On Aigas!)