Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1158: Serenity's Goal (2)



'What...?' Replicus thought, astonished.

Sause had begun to speak to the others ahead of him, but he barely registered what they were saying because of how bewildered he was at Serenity's words.

'Leaving... this reality?' he thought.

Serenity made to confirm, but she heard something from above that Replicus didn't. A sharp hum that rang in warning.

She immediately knew...

Wyrrim was warning her to tread carefully about what she was about to reveal. If she mentioned HIM...

Serenity sighed. If she had a body right now, she might have shown signs of intense perspiration.

"Yes," she said to Replicus. "You have always known that there are many other worlds since you were in Deadmanland, right? There are multiple realities as well, though they are not nearly as numerous as worlds. There exists... only three. We are currently in one of them and I want to flee to another."

Replicus remained silent.

He and his phantoms went into furious thought.

Realities?

How did one even define a reality? A collection of worlds?

Sensing his confusion, Serenity elaborated a little.

"Reality is wider than you think. Worlds are innumerable within one, yes, but there are also places where Deities and Divines live if they strip themselves from their worlds or choose not to create one for the time they were allowed. They are known as Breaking Chasms; there are plenty of such places, but of course, they also aren't nearly as many as worlds. They are, however, much, much bigger by comparison. The collections of these Breaking Chasms in a wide, sheltered space is what a reality is."

Replicus reeled.

Reality Chasms...

Immediately, a thought struck him.

Could this be where Quintess and Listafelle were?

It seemed like it seeing as there wasn't anywhere else they could go.

If Serenity's goal for leaving this reality was that much of a hassle for her, it stood to reason that no Deity could pull it off.

'Breaking Chasms... Are they like holes in reality or something?' Replicus asked.

"Something of the sort," Serenity replied succinctly.

Replicus paused, thinking deeply.

'So, if I understand this correctly, Void and Emmae are after different things too, right? They don't have any intention of leaving reality as well?'

Serenity gave a strange pause.

"...I think so. They have been ahead of me for a very long time. Unlike me, they've had many bearers scuttling around the vast reality, gathering energy for them. The purpose of this - beyond surviving, of course - I'm not sure, however. If they simply desired to leave, they likely would have done so by now," she then replied.

'Why do YOU want to leave?' Replicus asked.

Serenity grew tense.

The intense stare from above pierced her through Replicus, though the Warmoth's Progeny didn't feel a thing.

It was another warning.

"I can't exactly tell you that, at the moment. I don't have the right," she said with a bit of a bitter tone.

"The right?' Replicus said. His forehead creased. 'What do you mean by that?'

"There are things I am not at the liberty of telling you, Skullius. Please, forgive me for that," she said, leaving Replicus stunned.

He couldn't imagine what kind of authority she was talking about.

If she and the other Existential Parallels were above even the Deities, then what authority could she possibly...

It struck Replicus immediately.

'Is VOW involved?' he asked.

He had recalled that on their way to Edagon, Serenity had mentioned how hers and Void's powers needed to be regulated because they were too great, too unusual.

It stood to reason that someone governed that as opposed to this being a function of reality or whatnot.

"Yes," Serenity said in an unconvincing tone that made Replicus frown.

He had a feeling he wasn't going to be able to extract more information in this vein, thus he switched to a line of questioning that might perhaps help me decide if working with Serenity was a good thing. The fact that if for whatever reason, Serenity perished, he, Replicus, wouldn't perish alongside her relaxed him a little, but he wasn't totally convinced that was true.

'Is energy the only thing you need to escape this reality?' he asked.

"No. There are two other things I will need... but I am also not at the liberty of sharing what they are. Not yet. Perhaps... if you choose to pledge your loyalty, I may give you that

information."

This didn't quite fly with Replicus.

'That's hard to do without all the details I need. I fear offering my fealty will be a permanent thing. I wouldn't be able to back out, would I?' he said.

And it wasn't something he could back out from indeed. This was why Serenity didn't respond

immediately.

Replicus wasn't the only one who was skeptical about the goals of his benefactor.

Aurolio was too. He had known about Rich worlds for a long time, but prioritized developing his personal strength above that. He had wanted to test his limits and grow for personal fulfilment, which was why he made the deal for Skullius to help him acquire the Null creatures - the Null Badubs - which the Arch-Mages of the Reacher Academy in Genhuis City had caught back then. He didn't yet see a reason to proudly declare his loyalty to Void, even though he had threatened to kill Skullius for the sake of the enmity that was supposed to exist between the Existential Parallels and their bearers.

"You don't need to give me an answer right now. I didn't hope you would. We have greater concerns at the moment, don't we? Let us focus on those for now. It is in both our best interests if you manage to defeat your other self and with the power that will be produced upon your merge charge against Somanda. I feel what you manifest at that time will be a great starting point," Serenity said.

Replicus was surprised by how reasonable Serenity was being with this subject, but then perhaps he shouldn't have expected otherwise. She had been fair to him for the most part. She had helped him in every active circumstance she could ever since she could interact with him a

bit more.

'Thank you. Yeah. I have a few problems that need a great degree of solving before I think about storming off to extract the anchors of Rich worlds,' Replicus affirmed Serenity's stance.