"Baddan's advancements are as I expected."

He was onto Baddan, flipping through his book. Fascinating enough, it was Baddan's emotional sentiments that interested the Hybrid more than his abilities. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

The Sky Watcher had been a victim of an insidious plot by the original masked man, Actuass. It was his Cluster that was used to host the Premium Age Royale for months on end, and at the close of the event, the Cluster had been obliterated when Skullius fought the incarnation of Rayn that Actuass revived.

From there, Baddan, lost, had been found by Skullius (as Replicus) and given a different duty. It appeared that the current Skullius had underestimated how much Baddan appreciated his present position. The Unlimited Star wanted the Stark Soul Order to become his new family.

'Right. He was dutiful back then, too,' Skullius thought, smiling. He saw a flash of when he fought Baddan along with Maxim and Tallo the Mage, during the Royale.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.737-747.)

Flipping through Baddan's book to the end, Skullius closed it and placed it back.

"He figured out how to add different types of creatures, even humans, to his Exigencies technique and to even bond with the Exigencies in order to use their properties for himself, including their Null Life Essence. Of course, that was only possible because of Grim." He folded his arms. "Not bad, but there's so much room for improvement. So much room."

He moved on to the next. Savast. Like Baddan, the former Cluster General's inner turmoil was more interesting to Skullius rather than his powers. As a matter of fact, Savast was the only one who didn't grow during the battle. In a way, that said a lot about his powers – that he was incredibly powerful – but it also signaled that he had yet to see how he could expand his skillset.

'Lucky for him. I have an idea for a path he could take. It will be a while before I share that with him, though.'

In stark contrast to these two, though, Kenno, Grim, and Yuyui had experienced a sharp rise to their powers, and it appeared that they didn't realize the sheer magnitude of it. In a way, their growth was even more significant than Pherdanta's and Kintar's, after all…

…Only they had books that had traces – strands, really – of three distinct essences.

Around Yuyui's were ethereal strands tinged green; on Grim's, they were green and red, and on Kenno's, they were silvery.

Aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law|.

'Apparently, most matter in Reality is composed of aspects of the law, but it is often negligible per unit of said matter. Worlds have Conste traces, which is why there is a flow of time within them, because Deities can naturally harness Consternals in their lesser form – time. As an expert advances through Divinity, they naturally get access to aspects of the law in some way.' He scanned the books. 'But some mortals can gain access to those powers as well, even if they can't usethem.'

Grim, because he had taken on a Chronocle Fiend and Impermanence Fiends, had acquired tiny traces of Conste (time) and Immors (life and death).

Yuyui's case was bizarre. Spurred by Savast's mental energy, she had pushed her Eye of Moving to the limit, which allowed her to move between all versions of herself that had ever used the Eye of Moving and become them when she was injured by Rias. In a way, she was moving through time, and that drew traces of Conste her way.

'Ridiculous…' Skullius sighed. Even Boron had never seen stuff like this, even though he had encountered many people who drew traces of the aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law| to them.

As for Kenno…

'I used him as the anchor for my Imperial Territory, and assumed he'd get out the other side of the experience stronger as long as he survived, but…'

What Kenno did wasn't at all what Skullius had imagined. The residual Amras that had been left inside the Unlimited Star was like Pandora's box, and Kenno had unlocked the supreme height of boons he could have extracted from it.

…But Kenno was greedier. With the help of the Mages of the Reacher Academy, he did something similar to what Kintar had done, but infinitely more dangerous – expanding himself from a cellular level. Trillions of supercharged cells aided him in creating a series of space-related abilities.

Impel, an unrestricted pushing force.

Unlimited Conception, an overwhelming sense of awareness within a wide range.

Fallout Lag, an ability that placed an indefinite delay on any stimuli that approached Kenno, ensuring they wouldn't reach him.

Negative Margin Buster, a cumulative physical attack charged from the cellular level – through all of Kenno's cells – and channeled through the space between Kenno and his opponent until it connected.

'A hefty arsenal,' thought Skullius.

All this granted Kenno access to traces of Eklhesh (space and distance).

'They did well,' thought the Hybrid with a smile.

Even though what his subordinates did wasn't exactly unique across Reality, and perhaps wasn't even consequential, given that all the Primeval Deities had a handle on whole aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law|, it was incredible how quickly they had gone from nobodies to unique existences.

Skullius himself had already tasted traces of Litte because of Fulgardt, and Conste because of the Timemould Mirror Box.

Better yet, he had a weapon designed specifically to harness the power of |Greater Cosmic Law|. Serenity had rejoiced when he awakened that ability.

"This is going to be useful."

The Hybrid's fingers were suddenly laced in puce and turquoise. Carefully, he pinched the strands of Eklhesh on Kenno's book… and pulled.

At once, guidance field notifications appeared in his vision.

['Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz' senses an aspect of the |Greater Cosmic Law|]

[Processing…]

['Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz' is accelerating the proceeds from the target aspect of the |Greater Cosmic Law|]

The strands fed into Skullius at once, and immediately, he pulled the ones from Grim's and Yuyui's books.

Again, the guidance field chimed, notifying that it acknowledged the presence of the cosmic law.

This was significant.

"I didn't think the Stars were going to play a significant role in their own… let's say, ascension, but well, this makes me feel good about what follows," said Skullius as the traces of the law were absorbed into him. "Then again, this is going to help me before it helps them."