With Eklhesh, it was indeed possible to negate the distance between Andori and forcibly draw them together. The result was a resounding collision that shook the entire Broader Existence.

Skullius frowned. He was taking damage. Tick damage, but damage nonetheless.

'Alright. At the very least, it seems plausible. I can only imagine what would happen if I chose Andori from different tiers,' he thought.

At present, he was trying to bind together two Grand Tier Andori – Andori of the lowest order – into one significantly more powerful one: [True Severance: Elusive Meta Carver] and [True Severance: Ruining Cutter].

The Hybrid had judged that there was less risk when attempting to combine Andori on the same level. At worst, he suspected that forcing Andori from different tiers together would lead to one or all of them being destroyed.

…But the current process was looking feasible, indeed. The two cutting Andori were clashing against them, trying to slot into each other since there was no longer any space – physically and conceptually – between them.

Something seemed to be missing, though. By Skullius' calculations, there was a good chance that eventually, they would merge, but also a small chance that they would break each other down, like rocks grinding against each other. Thus…

'Let's add this into the mix.' His experience in the Second Layer earlier had teased that this could work.

The Hybrid added the essence of Litte, using Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz to properly control it (as much as was possible for him at the moment).

Litte, as he'd seen, could accomplish a variety of unbelievable phenomena, including accelerating thoughts, growth, ideas, affecting other aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law|, and even bonding concepts together.

Skullius was especially interested in its ability to bond and accelerate. The instant he introduced its bright, golden glow to the clashing Andori, there was an immediate change. The two Andori seemed to stand completely still, but Skullius knew better. They were inside his Broader Existence, so he could tell; they were fusing, bashing against each other, but at an extremely rapid rate, so rapid, in fact, that…

[An impossible phenomenon occurs!]

[You have acquired a new Andori, the Third Sage Tier Andori, 'True Severance: Emphatic Dissonance'!]

'There we go.' Skullius grinned. The turbulence in his Broader Existence fizzled out, and in its place, there was a surging of strength from the new Andori. In exchange for two subpar Andori of the Grand Tier – one that cut animate objects and one that cut inanimate ones – he now had one on the high end of the Sage Tier with an exponentially more profound effect.

Andori were ranked from Grand, Sage, Ascendant, and Cosmic, with each tier hosting four sub-tiers, namely First to Fourth. For most Divines, moving up from Grand Andori was a life-changing achievement. Even Skullius himself had only had two Sage Andori when he became Divine: [Legion Eyes] and [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus].

Now, he had one more Sage tier Andori, and he knew very well how to perfectly utilize it.

…But he was greedy, befitting his Null Title as an Authority of the Null Verse.

'Since that worked, let's move on up,' he thought.

Merging two Andori was a piece of cake, but what about, say… four!

At once, Skullius smothered all four of them with the essence of Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz.

[Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus].

[Entropy's Berserk Smoke].

[Entropy's Suppressing Fog].

[Entropy's Acclimating Haze].

All of them, Sage Tier Andori.

The latter three had all been acquired from Skullius' use of [Bringer of All] during his battle with Fulgardt. He retained all of them upon returning to his original form, but he didn't like their individual effects. They weren't worth his time now that he had so many alternatives to use.

A momentary 100 times boost to his abilities? Cheap.

A weakening effect for enemies in his vicinity? That was for the weak.

An extra-sensory, borderline clairvoyant ability that operated within his immediate range? Useful, but barely.

These Andori were exponentially better when paired with the progenitor, [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus].

CRACK! CRACK! CRACKLL!

The four Andori were drenched in the silvery essence of the Eklhesh and Litte.

…!

Skullius almost keeled over. It was as though his Broader Existence did a cartwheel. Cracks shuddered through its inviolable interior as the bonded mass of Andori hurtled and smashed against it on all sides with all the force of a mystical hammer.

Slowly, blood began trickling from Skullius' nose…but he kept at it. There was always a price to be paid when something good was on the horizon. He grinned. Unfortunately, strengthening himself with Focused Null Life Ota wouldn't do him any good here, because that reinforcement only encompassed his flesh. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

That was fine, better yet, unnecessary. After all…

[An impossible phenomenon occurs!]

[Congratulations! You have acquired a new Andori, the Fourth Ascendant Tier Andori, 'Avant Atelier: Fate's Rebel'!]

Skullius cackled when the Andori was completed.

Ascendant Tier Andori were on a different level than any other Andori below, especially in terms of depth. It was an exponential affair, and Skullius would know, after all, he had one other Ascendant Tier Andori, one he'd acquired after stealing a piece of a Doom Knight's Broader Existence with Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz and using it to upgrade [King of Severing Twilight: AfterDark] – a darkness-manipulation ability. Skullius had used the result, [Forbidden Monastery of Black's Scion], on Fulgardt, even managing to stagger the Immoral with it before, ultimately, the bastard started fighting him seriously.

(Refer to Ch.1380 &1539.)

Now, the Andori that had probably produced the most unique scenarios for Skullius, [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus], had reached this same tier of power. It was far more significant in effect than [Forbidden Monastery of Black's Scion]. It had birthed [Second Divine Sinew] and [Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz], two Exotic Parlous Natures that had brought Skullius opportunity and misfortune in equal measure.

What would it be capable of now?

Suddenly, the jacket he was wearing began changing. Its hue transformed from the smoky, misty greyish ebony to a midnight black, sleek and ethereal. It distorted and darkened everything about Skullius, dancing constantly over the King's torso. It licked and leaped at the air around him as though to make sure absolutely nothing dared to reach him. The lethal presence it expelled made even Skullius raise a brow.

Again, it felt to the King as though his trusted jacket was conscious, and even more ambitious than before.

But that was fine.

For good measure, Skullius infused Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz into the jacket, and traces of puce and turquoise tinged the midnight black, glowing here and there from within its unstable mass.

This… was immensely significant.