Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Suzamete had been aware of Replicus\' movements since he came to Aigas. She had seen every path he took and every action he made, deciphering his entirety as a result.

Funny enough, despite the powerful Rules that existed to keep the world free from invaders who would seek to dive in from the dark void, it wasn\'t impossible for more sly enemies to sneak their way in. Rules weren\'t perfect and infallible after all.

It didn\'t take the shattering of Rules, as what occurred when Listafelle and Quintess left Aigas millennia ago, for hostile invaders to finally have access to the world. Powerful means existed outside in the form of bewitched treasures, uncanny powers at the same level as the Deities, just to mention a few.

It had come as no surprise to Listafelle that the Undead lot had means to breach said Rules. They were known for invading weaker worlds in hordes, after all. They had even done so in Aigas before the Ashing of Time. When Skullius first arrived in Aigas, he was an undead and Suzamete had initially chalked up his arrival to be a meaningful ploy to ravage her world, only to change her mind shortly after.

Skullius hadn\'t been what she thought he was.

Vohnvolt kept gazing coldly at Suzamete\'s unusual frame.

<I had hoped your leave would take place much sooner, but as I see it, it is still a little distant.>

Suzamete shifted ominously.

<There are two portions of you on Aigas, both impacting it in grand ways, one more so than the other. I had warned my people to steer clear of you, I had wanted you far away from the pieces set in place to keep the world sturdy, but you seem destined to meddle, just like other anomalies out there. Your other self has already bested one of these pieces, and together, you have ruined two in all on Aigas.>

Vohnvolt\'s socket flames condensed.

Pieces set in place to keep the world sturdy?

What did she mean?

He had thought she meant the Heralds, but that didn\'t sound right. Could Skullius have killed another Herald too?

Vohnvolt didn\'t concern himself with this all too much, however. "I don\'t know what you mean. All I care about is how you will deal with him. Your son," he said as he pointed at Actuass. "You\'re being awfully reluctant about punishing him for what he has done. Do you really mean to tell me you can\'t stop him, or you just won\'t?"

Suzamete sighed.

<Who are you to interject and decide what happens to him? He bested you, the caravan of glorified thieves that Herald forged, another anomaly and the last Giant. You have no right to speak to me of this.>

Vohnvolt\'s rage surged.

Why did it sound as though Suzamete was proud that Actuass had overcome the number of enemies he had been faced with?

"Is that right?" the amalgam hissed boldly. "Now, I understand why people on this damned world only believe in you all superficially. You really are dead, and in more ways than one."

There was a bit of silence.

Actuass seemed to scoff and heave at the same time.

Suzamete\'s figure lurched.

<I have met many anomalies before. None quite like you. You\'re lost, bold and aggressive like the others, but I suppose this is the first time I have seen one of your nature. I wonder, is that why you speak to me as if you were my equal? All of you have yet to see the truth. You are confined to the benefits of Aigas. You still have room for hatred, revenge and soul-searching.>

Suddenly, the sky world shook, an unbearable pressure bearing down on everything within it.

<Do you know why no one dwells in the void and its innate forms? That\'s because it is vicious and terrifying. The greatest fear, even for a Deity, is a boundless chasm that can\'t be explored even by the heights of our strength. That\'s why most of us choose to settle in enclosed spaces and cultivate our powers through them and the beings we create. Reality is too broad. I, who has tasted infinitely more of it than you should know, and you should be a little more conscious of the difference between us. I, who has met that darkness outside should be the source of your dread, anomaly. Your petty quest for revenge should be the least of your worries, and you shouldn\'t let it allow you to speak so boldly against me...>

Vohnvolt grumbled hatefully as his body crouched down from the force that exploded from above.

Between Actuass\' mockery and his own jabs at the Deity, Suzamete seemed to have finally had enough.

But Actuass seemed pleased. He fought that crushing might and leered.

"You\'re not as detached from mortality as you think, mother. Or should I say, Kaella Seinold. Look at you! You really are deluded! Words still rile you up!" The pressure from Suzamete grew and Vohnvolt felt as though it would crush him to bits in the next few seconds.

However, an overwhelming force of Null Life gushed from him and engulfed him in a cushion of protection.

Actuass grinned at this, and Suzamete seemed annoyed.

Serenity was protecting her chosen bearer!

Just when Vohnvolt felt like he could stand, Actuass grabbed ahold of him and sharply glared at Suzamete.

"I\'m thankful. Now I can begin anew or rest in peace without regrets," he said, and in the next moment, he and the amalgam vanished after a tear opened in the sky space, and swallowed them!

Suzamete sighed for the umpteenth time.

A hint of joy seemed to carve itself within her soul.

<Just as I expected.>

She had lived this entire ordeal before it happened.

She had been proud at seeing how determined and strong had son had become. That was why her son\'s words didn\'t hurt her.

However, those of the anomaly annoyed her quite a bit. She was experiencing them for a second time.

She had met a lot of anomalies in the wide void and all of them were as powerful as they were…coarse. Existing outside the natural order made them adopt insufferable traits.

While Actuass was an anomaly, he was a unique one.

Actuass had the power of Undeath, but he wasn\'t a devoted bearer.

He didn\'t have the recognition of the Voice of Worlds and he didn\'t have a Book of Alignment. He had been using his powers only as a means to an end without adhering to what whoever gave him those powers desired, unlike other bearers.

<Now which path will you take? The lot I can see has yet to tell me whether you will live on or die.>

Indeed, even to a Deity who could see the timeline of events; everything to happen in the future on Aigas, it was yet to be shown whether Actuass would be among those of the future, or if, following the events of today, he would become a relic of the past.

Of course, even now, Suzamete couldn\'t see where Actuass had went. He and the amalgam were no longer in Aigas.