"You have no memory of anything else in your past life? A lover? Children?" said Darwel with the gentlest of smiles, resting on Skullius' shoulder.

"No. Maybe. I don't remember anything except for my adopted sister. There's so much hidden away in the other part of my soul. Perhaps…" said Skullius, and he flexed a finger over one of the two boys cupped in his other arms. The tiny thing grabbed a hold of it and gave a cute laugh. Darwel melted at the sight.

"They love you," she said.

And the twins must have loved Skullius. Their eyes, rich golden-green, never left their father's face. Skullius must have been the single most interesting thing they had ever seen, which was funny, because they looked just like him. Coin grey skin, a sealed pair of additional eyes on their foreheads, four arms… and a natural connection to Ju`wtte.

Skullius was paying close attention to the boys' skin. They could produce Ju`wtte just as easily as he could, and without proper care, they could harm anyone in their immediate vicinity, including their mother. But Darwel couldn't care less. She let Skullius handle her safety and played with the children's locks of hair. (In the Bosom, the Strawlers had been handling that.) The only distinguishing features on them were their hair; one had honey-coloured hair, and the other, peach-golden hair.

"Do you reckon they'll remember this – remember me?" said Skullius. "They are about as strong as a Master Stager already, so I imagine their brains and bodies are already operating way beyond what they should be for their age, but..."

Darwel looked at him.

"If they don't, I'll remind them," she said. "But why would you be worried about such a thing?" She narrowed her eyes. "Is it because…"

"Yeah," said Skullius with a grave look. "I don't mean to be morbid, but I'm taking a foolish risk – a tremendously foolish gamble. I have every prospect to take back what's mine and return alive, but it's not like my enemies are statues. I could just as easily die before I can so much as see the Lich I want upon reaching Deadmanland. This could be my last time…"

Darwel reached in and kissed his neck. Skullius closed his eyes, savoring it… and blocked a spark of Ju`wtte that flew from his son's finger, aiming at Darwel. The little boy giggled.

"I don't think you believe that," said Darwel, pulling Skullius' face so that he faced her.

"What?"

"That you will lose."

"I'm trying not to stoke my ego too much."

"Maybe you should." Darwel held one of her sons' hands and kissed it. "Embrace it completely. I'm sure you're going to be fighting people who stoke their own egos as well. You have something to fight for, too. More to fight for, in fact." She picked up one of the boys and raised him high. "I want you to come back to us and say in confidence that you overcame everything with your own strength. No doubts."

Skullius chuckled. That was such a mortal thing to say, but he could get behind it.

His Order was growing. It wouldn't do if he didn't reach some threshold of ego, as its leader. He was the Null Devil King too, after all.

"You're right. You're absolutely right," he said.

There was another reason he needed to embrace ego, it seemed.

'How long are they going to continue poking their noses in my business?'

Skullius could still feel it. There were eyes watching from a distance, from a dimension far removed from where Aigas was.

Was it who he thought it was?

A guidance field notification tore his attention away from the thought.

[Your LIMITED CONTRACT with JOISEN ANTERRAS has been voided]

'What?' Skullius frowned.

What in the world did that mean?

…

…

Meanwhile, somewhere within Breaking Chasm #90…

<What? Feeling left out? He's gone and surpassed you.>

"In one insignificant facet of life, sure. I'm even glad for it."

<Are you? I could have sworn you weren't even invested in whether or not he lost against Fulgardt.>

"What are you talking about? I was. I just saw boons in either scenario – whether Skullius won or Fulgardt did. I'd get to hunt Fulgardt and steal his fate if he won. But since Skullius defeated him, I get to witness this – him and his progeny."

<You're terrible at lying. Admit it. Your slip-up is making you think twice about what we're doing, isn't it? You're wishing you were in his place.>

Future Skullius, whose eyes behind the visor were lathered with a shroud of tempered, twisting space, which enhanced his vision by dimensions, turned to lance at COLMUUN with annoyance. Clicking his tongue, he ruthlessly pulled Storm Baker out of the giant Primeval Deity's neck, spraying blood all over. He rose from its chin, where he'd been sitting.

"My slip-up? I thought you said you knew everything about JOISEN ANTERRAS. You let him get away," snapped Future Skullius.

COLMUUN, who was akin to a ghost attached to the Sovereign of Refined Anarchy, shrugged. <I did know everything in his arsenal, but he's Primeval, like me. He's constantly growing – the pinnacle of greed. It was still your job to nail both him and the clone. Now he's going to warn his allies before I get to them.>

Skullius shook his head and made the helm from his Garmma Mail disappear. He propped Storm Baker on his shoulder and appraised JOISEN ANTERRAS' body.

It should have been a piece of cake. Because of his Limited Contract with Skullius, JOISEN ANTERRAS had obtained the ability to use Second Divine Sinew, a Parlous Nature that duplicated the user down to the Broader Existence. Future Skullius had managed to pinpoint the bastard's location with COLMUUN's help, catching him by surprise and killing his original body, but the clone had escaped using an Andori Skullius did not know about.

"Whatever," said Future Skullius. "Look. They're coming. I wonder if they'll give me a warm welcome." He pointed into the distance, past the line of gargantuan mountains of poison darkness ahead.

A formation of Deities was approaching, immensely wary. They could sense Skullius' overwhelming presence despite the distance, and they knew they didn't stand a chance. What mellowed their guard ever so slightly, giving them the courage to come forth, was the corpse of a Primeval Deity.

<Think they'll agree to an alliance?> COLMUUN said.

Skullius rematerialized his helm and flew into the air using Ju'wtte.

"I won't give them a choice," Skullius said. "It's either that, or they face the wrath of your fellow Primevals for JOISEN'S death on their own."

***

…

Deep within Aigas…

Fulgardt had hung his head. All hope was slowly slipping from him. Life was slowly slipping from him. It was really true. He was doomed to die as a source of fuel for Aigas.

The Immoral had gnashed his teeth until they cracked… but that was all he could do. Every other conceivable way he could have thought of to defy his circumstances turned sluggish before they even became concrete ideas.

It was… utterly hopeless.

However…

"FULGARDT…"

…!

Fulgardt raised his head and looked into the darkness, lined with Rules.

"Void?"

There was no answer.

Right. Right!

There was Void!

Fulgardt had almost forgotten that he'd allied himself with her.

So what if she abruptly violated that alliance and made an enemy of him by tasking Boron with killing him, something the Deity had failed to do?

If Void could free him, he would look past everything she'd done. To hell with the reasons!

"Void, I—!"

"YOU WEREN'T IT EITHER."

"…What?"

Fulgardt's skin turned cold, his face ashen.

…But Void didn't elaborate.

What good would it do to tell Fulgardt the truth?

What good would it do to reveal that everything she shared with him – all the sensitive knowledge that he naturally used against her – were part of her plan?

What good would it do to tell him that even with his Voided Death Aspect, Reach, he wouldn't have been able to break her body to expose the Absolute Sun, as he thought he had? She'd allowed him to do as he pleased, looking forward to the result.

Boron and the halberd Void had given him, had only served to push Fulgardt further – for him to get more desperate and try harder.

But the result was disappointing.

"I THOUGHT A SHILL FROM MY FATHER, LIKE YOU, WOULD CREATE ENOUGH CHAOS TO GET ME CLOSER TO HIM, BUT ALAS…"

It was a waste.

Even with everything handed to him, Fulgardt had lost against the precious, coddled, favored bearer of Null Life whom even Wyrrim defended.

"YOU WEREN'T IT EITHER."

Those words sealed the Immoral's hopes for good.

---

[Author's Note]

Volume 5, Rise of the Stark-Soul Order, is complete!

I know the time frame is absurd, first of all, but it has a lot of valid reasons behind it. Time is one of the powers that the characters in this universe manipulate to their liking, so yeah, I feel it's fitting that pretty much everything in this volume happens within the space of a single night, but in different dimensions, realms, and the void.

Additionally, most of these people see time differently, so I feel there's an element of 'realism' to that.

I introduced a lot of stuff in this volume, including a new power system, and I understand that it has not solidified its place in the overall story yet. The next volume will remedy that and some of the plot points you've been seeing bloom around, like the Primeval Deities v. Aspire to Divine; AKHASHA and TITEMIUS' plans; the Wanderer's games; the Acceleration, etc. Most of that will be addressed before we finally lay siege to Deadmanland.

I'm glad I've made it this far with this story. Didn't think I would honestly, but I'm happy. I've got to take Skullius through hell and back, and see him develop; it's been wild.

I hope y'all give me your feedback on the volume as a whole. There are a lot of new characters and concepts. Comment as much as you'd like. How does this volume compare to the others? Everything! Tell me what you think!

The next volume will begin updating on the 6th! See you there!