Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1162: Empyrean Bosom (2)



Replicus was astounded by how comfortable the puffy robes he'd been given were. He had taken them lightly at first, but as soon as he fully registered their soft, caring feel on his skin, his curved eyes shone bright with intrigue. Besides the comfortable sensation that gave the distinct feeling of the warmth of a mother's touch - Replicus questioned from where the analogy came from within his own mind - the set of ebony robes were rather convenient.

They did not disrupt the conditions required for him to constantly have [Ju`wtta Resounding Restoration] active - that is, they allowed his arms to touch despite all of them being slotted in separate, large sleeves.

'Sweet...' Replicus thought and he slid his free hand into one of the four pockets on the robes.

He then gazed at his guests who, unlike him, were gaping in awe at what was past the tenebrous doors into the Empyrean Hatcher. The Warmoth's Progeny had had the chance to look in on what this great mansion had to offer before he set off to Edagon, but everyone here was witnessing the magnificent grandeur of it for the first time.

Massive, black tiles, each with an abstract sprinkle of white, as though someone had simple splashed a dash of white paint on them, made the floor of the endless welcoming hall ahead. What looked like hundreds of the same, Ju`wtte-formed stickman figures that had hewn the Warmoth's Progeny's robe stood in two, neat straight lines leading forward, all standing at attention.

The other six from outside sealed the doors to the Empyrean Hatcher and joined the others. Replicus walked on.

When he passed a pair of these figures on either of his sides, they bowed in an enticing fashion, in unison.

Replicus thought this was a bit much, but it couldn't be helped. These things did everything he asked - everything - except allow him to pass without them showing him the courtesy they seemed to believe he deserved. No matter how many times he commanded, they refused to listen to anything that disallowed them that privilege.

"They are called Strawlers. Apparently, there's an infinite number of them. They multiply according to the task you require them to do, but you often find them ready to do what you wish in places like this," Replicus explained, but it didn't seem like anyone was listening to him.

Their collective interest in the Strawlers had ended seconds ago and now, they were gazing up at the very distant ceiling and walls.

There were murals drawn all over them depicting things just as hard to comprehend as those plastered on the doors leading to the Empyrean Bosom. Despite them seeming to be hundreds of kilometers away, the depictions were so massive that it almost looked as though they were a few steps away instead.

This, however, was second note. What truly stumped the Warmoth's Progeny's guests, was what was below the ceiling and within the great walls.

The crew stupidly gazed upon the hundreds of dark stairways with yellowish-red railings rising upward from the tiled floor, leading up to... to...

"What... what... are those...?" Yuyui asked, her eyes shaking. Replicus gave a small smile.

The abundant stairs didn't lead to obvious halls or rooms.

They instead led into great, spherical rifts bursting with silently squiggling Ju`wtte!

There were hundreds of these spaces littering all the way up the Empyrean Hatcher, but up to a point.

"They are what you might call sub-mansions - interesting how anything of the Warmoth's makes itself known to me at once. Each one leads to a different sort of shelter or resort, and believe me, there are some breath-taking views in some of them. You'd hardly think you're inside a mansion," Replicus said. "This is the First Layer of the Hatcher, so these spots are considered... a preliminary luxury, I suppose. Though, you can't enter of these dimensional mansions without a pass from me."

"Damn... Boss, this is..." Grim said, shaking his head and running his hands through his white hair.

Pherdanta gave a deep, heavy breath while her brother seemed to be lost in the idea that all this... all this belonged to an individual whom he had deemed a common Faction Leader

leagues behind his deceased leader, Warding Pride.

Replicus was amused by everyone's reactions.

"I haven't explored this place much. I'll allow you all to rest for a while. It's been a long day. You deserve it. Besides, I don't suppose any of you would enjoy exploring this place right now."

Before Yuyui could raise her hand and object, obviously showing her willingness to follow Replicus in discovering what else the Colossus Warmoth built, Replicus ordered the Strawlers: "Take each of them" - he looked at Pherdanta and her brother - "except those two" - he looked at Yuyui, Bassbion and Yagrina - "and these three, to any one of the sub-mansions. Ah, make sure they check the options at their disposal first and allow them to choose which one they would prefer to stay in. Also, make sure to give them what they tell you they need."

The group was stunned.

Immediately after Replicus gave the order, they were unnerved to see Strawlers approaching them at terrifying speeds and gesturing towards the stairways.

Grim looked excited, as did Pherdanta, but the rest looked a little shaken.

"That reminds me," Replicus said as he raised a finger, and a blotch of mercury extended from his chest, a large scale on it opening to spit out Baddan who stood on his feet and looked around, only to become slack-jawed like the others in awe at what he was looking at.

The Sky Watcher had been safely stowed away within the Beyrmir by Replicus before he and Yuyui had begun their assault on the BoneTender. Baddan had been extremely exhausted after having to strain himself with opening his Territory thrice in the span of a few hours, thus Replicus had given him a pass on the upcoming fight.

Before anything else could be said, the Strawlers led the guests - in the same manner of shocking travel as Replicus demonstrated on the green-gold-glass paved pathway - towards the assortments of sub-mansions. Even Baddan, who only managed to see that he was still safe in Replicus' capable charge, was whisked away.

The Warmoth's Progeny smiled and walked forth.

His feet crackled with Ju`wtte and he streaked past the many rising stairways across the vast hall to reach a vertical beam of bluish-gold light that rose from the floor and fed upwards into

the ceiling overhead.

Six Strawlers followed closely behind him.

Replicus had been about to walk into the light when he stopped, shrugged and closed one of his eyes with his free hand. His other unblocked eye shone brighter and then suddenly lost its luminance, becoming a dark socket.

Replicus hadn't lost his vision, however. It was simply somewhere else.

He watched from above as Grim was ushered into a mansion whose interior looked like a beach, the clear, pretty waters teasing the sands he stood on every few minutes. He was

gobsmacked.

When the Strawler tending to him stripped him of his armour and decked him a set of comfy, fuzzy robes before he could realise that he had been absolutely naked at some point - likely a minuscule speck of time he couldn't define - Grim grinned.

He sank his feet into the sand and felt a pleasing warmth followed by a shocking cool from the waters splashing over.

To his umpteenth surprise, Grim found that if he wished, the sand turned into sand-textured tiling that he could walk over as he pleased, and the same was true for the clear body of water that spanned as far as the eye could see. If he so desired, they would became a water-themed floor that he could walk over, unaffected by the loose surface of the waters.

There was a purpose to this, it seemed.

Far off, Grim vaguely saw images of taller structures, paintings and stairs hanging in a proud blue sky. He could reach them in an instant if he wished, and he did.

Replicus smiled.

He then checked in on Pherdanta and her brother. He knew for a fact that they had yet to solve their issues, but for the moment, both of them were united in marvelling at the desert- themed interior of the mansion they had found themselves in. Tall dunes of bluish sand rose

high everywhere, but there was no freakish heat. Instead, there was a mild cool to this place and great, elephantine beasts made from the bluish sand approached them, on their backs what seemed like luxurious, open tents packed with thick cushions, goblets full of some kind of fresh liquid and odd sorts of food.

The two were hastened into the tents - one per each - by their Strawlers and as soon as they sat within them, they relaxed against their will.

The elephantine beasts then carried them towards a great pool that was somewhere kilometers away, hidden by several dunes.

Yuyui, Yagrina and Bassbion were in what looked like a sky-themed mansion. Winged creatures made out of the soft, pink edible clouds (Yuyui had already begun devouring them),

were flying around them singing in melodious voices that affected even the two spirits and forced them to sit down on cloudy beds that embraced them with fluffy arms and forced them

to lie down.

Small, twinkling moons then flew down from the peach-coloured sky and plastered themselves on the three's skins, vibrating at just the right frequency to relax them all. The great, ship-shaped cloud that held the three flew on slowly, heading over to a castle of cloud where more of the winged creatures sang.

"Well, they should all be relaxed for a while," Replicus said as he watched Baddan crawl into the hollow of a large, argent-coloured tree that grew millions of huge, soft, yellow feathers.

How nice it must have been.

The Warmoth's Progeny then walked into the pillar of bluish-gold light and disappeared into the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher.