Chapter 1323: Most Wanted (3)
Chapter 1323: Most Wanted (3)
['Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus' has recognized the queer presence of an intangible assailant]
['Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus' has noted the use of a queer ability derived from overly complicated forces of reality. It intends to analyse, modify and create a Parlous Nature based on its findings with an input of 5,000,000,000 Null Life Essence. Will you allow it?']
All of a sudden, Skullius' current predicament seemed like a trifle. Even though he and his clone had just been torn apart, leaving them incapable of covering for each other, the Hybrid Warmoth temporarily stopped caring about what would happen to him in the next few seconds.
They called it ecstasy. How could he have been worried about simply staying alive when something as absurd as this had just happened?
He scrolled through the guidance field notifications multiple times. Had he just read them correctly?
Skullius wished this was one of the instances where what was happening was all according to his or his phantoms' plan, but it wasn't.
He had not thought this was possible at all!
"Ha... haha!" he laughed hysterically.
Uyuniya was offended by this. She used her Mastered Void Gate ability on him and immediately raised her great sword to cleave Skullius in two. However, a great mercury maw exploded out of the Hybrid Warmoth's body and without delay sprayed out the outrageously powerful Clear Flame against Uyuniya!
While the fire didn't penetrate her Void Clot, it did propel Skullius and the Apostle away from the Voided Deathform with haste, clearing them of immediate danger.
Beyrmir had not been exempt from participating in this battle by his own choice. Skullius had told him not to risk showing himself unless it was absolutely necessary and beneficial to him. The Apostle could be obliterated easily by the nature of enemies Skullius was fighting right now, after all, and unlike before, he was down to one body and one 'life', just like everyone else.
As the Hybrid Warmoth and Mercurian Legend crashed into the rubble of what was left of the Purity Headquarters, Skullius' senses were restored, but Uyuniya was already upon him once again, seething and intent on killing him.
"Skullius!" Elita called to the Hybrid Warmoth right as Uyuniya's great sword descended. The Hybrid Warmoth barely managed to defend himself by erecting a dome of flaring Null Life Essence and immediately teleporting away right after. He spared Elita a glance once he had reached the new location. There was a sense of desperation in her voice.
Skullius scoffed.
Even though he couldn't see her face, he knew what she was crying for. She didn't fear for his life at all. On the contrary, she was worried that if Uyuniya cornered him, he would be forced to use his full strength and kill her.
Elita herself had only been fighting to prevent her fellow Voided Deathform from receiving lethal blows since she couldn't convince her to stop this needless battle; but then again, that was all she could do when applying her Mastered Void Gate ability.
'I would have considered using my War Body against this friend of yours, Elita, but not anymore,' Skullius thought, and joy bubbled within him furiously. It was as though he had bubbled underneath his coin grey skin. Right then, he lost touch with his senses and Broader Existence, but when he came to, he found his clone clashing with Uyuniya's blade using its Null Life Essence; it had defended him in time.
The clone had healed itself from the damaging blow from Elita, but...
"You got the notifications, right?" the clone asked him. Skullius immediately healed himself and nodded. "Yeah."
He and the clone immediately warped far away right then, appearing on top of one of the few snow-capped mountains spared from the conflict.
Skullius turned to the clone. He immediately donned a concerned look.
"That sword is way too powerful. You can't heal?' he said.
The clone sighed. Blue-ish silver essence was leaking from its body like vapour even though its flesh was intact. One slash from Broodweiler was enough to harm the Broader Existence and it seemed that for most Divine beings, the wound wouldn't heal with the use of Andori like the ones Skullius had. The clone's Amras was leaking from its damaged Broader Existence.
"It appears so," the clone replied. "But never mind that. We're touching upon something revolutionary here. [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus] might be a lot more powerful than we imagined and we just tipped it towards a greater height."
"Yeah." Skullius said. "Wait, what?"
Earlier, his nimbus had analysed one of the Cavern's Exotic Parlous Natures and made it into the coveted Second Divine Sinew, a Parlous Nature which allowed him to create clones with a Broader Existence of their own. Now, the cloud had picked up on two more things that it wanted to analyse and abuse.
Uyuniya had been attacking Skullius with her Broader Existence. It appeared the nimbus had gained some insight from this.
Even more surprising, however, was that since Uyuniya had also been attacking Skullius with her Mastered Void Gate ability, the nimbus had somehow picked up something from this too. The terrestrial Void user's Mastered Void Gate ability allowed her to temporarily disconnect her opponent from everything they possessed - their mana, their senses and even their Broader Existence - just like how being stuck in a deep void would affect a sentient being.
The ability had a decent range, Skullius had noted, and it was very effective, even though it could only attack one target at a time. It had a very modest cooldown and could bypass the defences of his nimbus - his strongest Andori.
However, just like how Elita applied her Mastered Void Gate ability, Uyuniya's only lasted remained in effect for a short time. It seemed to be some trade-off in order to make the ability as strong as it was.
The fact that Skullius' nimbus had gleamed something from an ability derived from Void herself...
"How is this even possible? That void ability is powerful enough to skirt both our [Legion Eyes] and the nimbus itself - both of which are Sage Tier Andori. On top of that, it's an ability given by Void. I don't think it should be possible to deconstruct it," Skullius said... and right
after, he lost himself.
When he came to, he and his clone were flying away amid chunks of a mountain in pieces. His clone was a set of broken limbs and severed head, and he himself had a massive hole in his shoulder. Uyuniya was hot on them with her body applying Void Clot. She looked like a charred mess, but she was driven. She was shrieking something at them in that unknown language of
hers.
Skullius barely managed to teleport himself and his clone away. They healed immediately after appearing in a forest several kilometers away from the demolished Purity Headquarters. "That Void Clot whatever is fleshing annoying!" the clone hissed before turning to Skullius. He fanned away the Amras leaking from him with a hand. "You asked before how it's possible the nimbus analysed such a complex ability. Well, I think it has something to do with our Immortal Physique and our current state - you know, the fact that I'm a copy of you."
"What? How? This isn't like [Brisk Storm Avatar]."
"We are existing as two connected beings with the same abilities. I have all your Andori and your Physique. I have the Audacious Chassis of the Ninth Filament, and I also have the [Entropy's Harmonising Nimbus]. I'm not exactly sure how exactly the Physique is helping, but I know for sure that our nimbus' abilities have been improved exponentially. We were both hit by Uyuniya's attacks and our nimbuses reacted the same way - they tried to analyse the nature of the attack. The effect-"
"Is compounded?!" Skullius finished the sentence for the clone, dumbfounded. Holy Somanda! If he hadn't shut off his phantoms in order to better concentrate on the battle, they might have told him the same thing. "How come you realised this before me?"
But the clone didn't get the chance to answer, Uyuniya befell them once again, but this time, they were better prepared. Even with her atrocious speed, she wasn't all that hard to figure out especially when her mind was set on attacking two targets at once. Skullius and the clone
split up immediately.
Then the clone cried, "Let's pay the cost! We can manage five billion, right?"
Skullius chuckled.
Of course they could.
His nimbus' powers were enhanced by a currently unknown exponential because he and his clone were both using the Andori, and it was receiving the same attacks. As a simple Sage Tier Andori, it couldn't have possibly been able to analyse a power like Uyuniya's but now... Skullius and his clone acted as one. They knew what they had to do to acquire the outrageous cost the nimbus was asking for in order to create a potentially monstrous Exotic Parlous Nature. It was a great cost indeed, yet it also wasn't all that difficult to pay. The resources for
it were abundant.
"Null Extraction!"