The First Layer of the Hatcher had been repaired fully at least. There were a lot of portals in the lobby, leading to a series of exquisite resorts full of bizarrely intriguing and exciting atmospheres and creatures, most of which were powered by Ju'wtte.

Skullius and Suzamete came out of one of the portals and went straight into another.

Despite the unimaginable beauty in the new resort, however, what awaited them there was anything but thrilling. Even Skullius felt his spirits plummet somewhat. Suzamete, on the other hand…

<I never understood why sacrifices like this are essential the stronger you get. Not that I'm judging you, of course.> She felt absolutely horrible looking at the millions of corpses spread out neatly on the pretty, pinkish desert sands, covered with flowery drapes.

Skullius said nothing. He was instead looking for all the faces he knew among these denizens of Aigas he'd been forced to kill for his own selfish fight. To keep Fulgardt from hopping world to world, relishing in his freedom during their fight, Skullius had devised a mechanism that stole the souls of millions of living creatures on Aigas and bonded them with Fulgardt. The Immoral couldn't slip away from Aigas as he pleased once it was activated, which was why he had chosen to strip himself of that burdensome soul before driving himself, Skullius, Boron, Quintess, and Listafelle into the Empyrean Bosom earlier.

The sacrifice of so many lives had been worth it during the heat of the battle, but Fulgardt had almost rendered it meaningless. Even now, Skullius wondered if it was worth it.

Suzamete looked at him, a dark look on her face.

<The burden of it all—

"Can be overwhelming. It was a selfish gamble at the end of the day," he cut in before Suzamete could finish. He turned to the Deitess. "But it's my burden. My concern." He considered her some, as she processed his words. "How about you? Did you get a chance to say goodbye?"

Suzamete was taken aback. She hadn't imagined Skullius would ask. Had he seen through her? It was conceivable, but he must have. He had become incomparably more cognizant of hidden intent, emotions, and ambitions than before. Suzamete felt as though she was talking to another Deity.

<No…> She did not get to say goodbye to her son.

"I see," said Skullius.

They stewed in silence for a long stretch after that, looking over the corpses.

"Whenever you're ready, take Fulgardt's soul for yourself."

<What?>

"It's split from his body. The energy from the millions of souls I sacrificed is swimming inside it. You need it to grow your own strength. That's one of the reasons Quintess and Listafelle left you Aigas, isn't it?"

<Not like this…> said Suzamete.

"Like I said, the burden of morality is mine. I'll bear it. For the good of Aigas, you have to be stronger than you are now. This is a rare chance to mold a better world for yourself and all living things on here."

He was right, Suzamete knew. She wasn't going to shy away from the prospect of becoming stronger, in any case. She was no fool. 𝑓𝑟𝑒𝘦𝓌𝑒𝑏𝑛𝑜𝘷𝑒𝘭.𝒸𝘰𝑚

<What did you intend by sealing Fulgardt in Aigas, other than for Aigas' sake? Are you done with him? If I use his soul right now…>

"That's up to you. I intend to leave Aigas immediately."

Suzamete frowned. <Immediately? I thought you'd want to have your subordinates reach Divinity first. You could have them achieve Limit Breaking here on Aigas at the very least. Your Unlimited Stars would benefit greatly from becoming Divines.>

Skullius took a beat to respond. He'd considered all this after seeing his subordinates. They already had world-shattering powers despite being mortal. There was a cost to that. That was why Kenno had died from using his own powers. Skullius' Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz had already sensed hints of Eklhesh from him. He was tapping into abilities way beyond his current capacity.

"I'm not sure I want them to become Divines by this Reality's standard," Skullius said softly. "At least not yet."

He didn't say it, but the fact that AKHASHA had sunk his fingers into the natural design of Divinity was another reason why Skullius wanted to distance his followers from it. According to Serenity, anomalies were unaffected by its restrictions, but Stars and Troops wouldn't.

Suzamete narrowed her eyes. <What do you have in mind then?>

"A horrifying idea," said Skullius, smiling. "I need to explore more of what's out there for my schematic to take concrete shape. Divinity isn't the solution to prevailing in Deadmanland, unfortunately. Those two Arch-Liches and their modest armies could have destroyed Aigas without breaking a sweat, and there are supposed to be unimaginable numbers of them in Deadmanland, not to mention High Liches and whatever rank of Lich follows after that. Storming a domain with millions of monsters like that requires a special kind of crazy might."

Suzamete gave a chuckle, the first she'd mustered in the last hour or so.

<I bet the absurd machination you have in mind is beyond me then. It takes a special kind of anomaly to even think of laying siege to the fortress of an Existential Parallel.>

Skullius smirked, agreeing with the sentiment.

<I had wanted to help you more with your cause, but I suppose you have everything you need now.> Suzamete said. <As promised, Amanas is yours. I will begin the preparations to restore it for you. It's the one thing on Aigas we made sure would remain completely untouched no matter what."

***

Meanwhile, Pherdanta was appraising all the other experts – those who had participated in the recent battle and those who had been saved from the Labyrinth.

Kintar had followed along, curious as to how Pherdanta would handle them. She had a couple of persons of interest among the experts as well, which drew her attention. She had been deeply intrigued the instant she'd sensed Remos' presence. The old man could sense her intense gaze, and was rather creeped out. The only time he was spared from it was when Kintar appraised the other person who stole her interest: Muezzi. As it happened, the former Contract Knight was also quite interested in Kintar.

Vali, Ashema, and Maxim were among the gathered experts as well. They too couldn't help eyeing the great number of incredibly powerful experts. To think they'd all been on Aigas this entire time…

As for the old experts, their attention was wandering. It came as a surprise to them when Skullius had abruptly left them in the hands of the Incandescent Stage woman with the green ponytail. Most of them had such honed senses that Pherdanta's damaged Granted Star Armament couldn't shield her attributes from them, after all.

It seemed like an insult for the monsters to be attended to by this young woman instead of being addressed directly by their saviour, who had defeated Fulgardt before their eyes.

She was many times too young and too weak to be standing before them.

Were they that pathetic in Skullius' eyes?

Remos, Aeggr, and Muezzi certainly considered this question.

…Until Pherdanta's presence shuddered out of her and impressed a lethally sharp sensation around each of their necks.

…!

Pherdanta regarded them with infuriatingly dismissive eyes. She was still extremely fatigued from the battle, but she had strength enough to slaughter all of them if she pleased. For now, she simply flaunted that strength before them, crushing their egos.

"I thought I'd make a sharp impression. I too can dismiss you just as easily. Or worse," she said, and Kintar laughed. "There are two paths ahead of you: staying on Aigas, or following the man who saved you from 4,000 years of suffering." She gave a pause. "Most of you are creatures that can't enjoy a lavish, peaceful life. You're probably compelled to follow my master into the deep."

Pherdanta's presence sharpened even further.

Remos frowned deeply, wondering how she was chopping down the space surrounding her without using any kind of energy – Mana, Nitros… anything!

"If you're tempted to follow my master, I'll warn you now: you'll need a stronger will than that which sustained you in that prison you were rescued from. Immortality is a curse, but it's a far lighter sentence than the cost of deigning to follow my master without ample grit. As it happens, I will be the one to measure your worth as a combatant in the Stark Soul Order. I hope you stomach me and my criterion."