Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1110  Resignation

The news made Eaniss sigh.

She couldn't say it came as an absolute shock, but it wasn't what she had wanted to hear either.

The masked man, despite floating in the waters before her, could still be at large, apparently.

It wasn't unusual for someone who was supposed to be dead to be alive somehow. Treasures and skills alike could facilitate such a thing.

The Bishop, for instance, could revive herself several times with her cathedral, and even Yuyui had a similar ability.

However, the masked man's version was different. It was particularly odd to Replicus who had been with Actuass in his last moments and had even dealt the final blow. Worse yet, he had even forged Actuass' soul into the luminous, lance-like weapon in his hand, but still… he felt no degree of guarantee that Actuass was actually gone.

What had he said again?

'We'll probably meet again. Soon.'

"Well, that's not reassuring at all," Eaniss said as she closed her eyes and scratched her cheek. "I doubt we will be getting that prize the Emissary promised if we caught the necromancer before he reached Edagon, but if that necromancer surfaces again, we can taunt him with his corpse at least."

She immediately stored the body in her spatial storage and sighed.

Replicus hesitated a little and then decided that it was probably best to tell everyone all that happened.

"The necromancer…" he said, "He was not from this world. He reincarnated from another world and began a new life here on Aigas."

…!!!

Everyone seemed to gasp at the same time.

"Reincarnated?!"

"From another world!?"

"That's possible?"

"Was there bread on his world?"

 Barring the Bishop's comment, every other one seemed to imply that most of the people here had never actually conceived that the idea of someone crossing from one world and being born anew in another one was possible. Especially if they hadn't reached Divinity.

Em-Sul finally found his voice again. He was staggered by this truth.

"Is this really true? How did you come to know of this? And why would one even flee their home world if they aren't terribly powerful?" he asked in a mechanical voice.

Replicus turned to him and he flinched slightly. Thankfully for him, the Progeny wasn't in the mood to address the conflict the had spurned between his and Em-Sul's Faction.

"It's true. How I know this relates to what the masked man was after in the first place. You'll have an even harder time believing this, unfortunately," he said. "The necromancer's aim was to meet the Deity Suzamete. Apparently, the Deity you've known and revered all this time, was the masked man's mother."

…

Silence ensued.

Only Baddan didn't quite understand the heaviness of the revelation Replicus had just revealed. While he was brought up to speed about this world, different from his Cluster, he couldn't start caring about the Deities or the total population of denizens on Aigas in only four days. Thus, when Pherdanta stammered as she looked at the Warmoth's Progeny with more than a little shock and said, "Master… are you sure about this?" Baddan couldn't say he felt the same deep feeling of betrayal.

Replicus went on to explain all the details that happened in Suzamete's domain, but he left out the most of what happened in the Outworld Attic.

The more he spoke, the more his audience grimaced and shuddered.

"You actually… met a Deity, boss?" Grim asked and a shallow smile that displayed a conflict between awe and confusion pressed on his face.

Replicus wished he could have been dazzled by the mere fact that he met a Deity. In another time, another world, it might have been a momentous occasion he would have kept close to his very soul, and even cherished, but that wasn't the case.

He couldn't forget how Suzamete sounded proud of Actuass besting him, everyone here and even a Herald; a vessel for the Deities desires and powers sworn to serve them.

He couldn't forget how she behaved nothing like how the Priests and Grand Priests hoped she and the other Deities would.

Even Actuass had pointed it out.

The strength of the Deities was truly astounding, but they were not as far removed from mortality and humanity as they made their subjects believe.

To some degree, Replicus was happy Actuass wasn't impressed by what his mother had become.

Now that he thought about it, Actuass seemed a little like… Fulgardt.

"Unbelievable…" Em-Sul said.

"Indeed," Eaniss chuckled hollowly with her hands on the sides of her waist. "I wonder if the Emissary will enjoy hearing of this. Even if we didn't manage to kill the necromancer before he did what he wished – of course, you ended up killing the Herald instead, Bright Storm – we learned some valuable information. Staggering information. Hope you don't mind me being the one to deliver the news to the Emissary."

Replicus shook his head.

He couldn't care less about that anymore. He had been hoping to earn that prize before, but after acquiring the Sacred Keys and getting a taste of the Empyrean Bosom, the Warmoth's home, he didn't think anything the Herald behind the Emissary could offer would be valuable to him. He had yet to even open the Warmoth's Treasury.

In all honesty, all of the Heralds lost their mystique and aura in Replicus' eyes.

"I don't mind it, Eaniss," Replicus said. "However, consider this my parting gift. As of today, I am no longer a part of the Severed Union. But, I wish to keep my assets."

"I see," Eaniss said with a smile. "I couldn't stop you even if I wanted to."

Replicus nodded and turned to the Bishop who pouted her lips.

"I killed your men. You can take all the spoils I was supposed to receive from all the Faction leaders I killed in the last few days."

The Bishop adopted a rare serious visage and stood upright.

"I suppose that concludes our little arrangement then?"

Replicus nodded, and gave a last sharp look to Em-Sul whom he instantly deduced to have become what he was now because of the Harmonic Amber. He was revolted. He then turned back to his subordinates.

Without a word, he expelled Allora's body from his storage and held it in his two free hands.

The sight of her filled his team with deep sorrow.

No one felt it deeper than Pherdanta.

"Don't you dare blame yourself, Pherdanta," Replicus said sternly. "She died fulfilled. She played her part and it wasn't for naught. Her effort, yours…" he pointed to Grim, "yours…" he pointed to Baddan, "and yours," he patted Pherdanta's head, "It all gave that damned necromancer hell. Trust me."

A twinge of relief bubbled within the group. Replicus handed Allora to Grim.

"Keep her safe, will you? I need to finish something before it's too late," the Progeny said before pulling Yuyui and Baddan towards him.

"What?" Pherdanta said, surprised.

"I need to save my Apostle and my friend. I wish to deliver her to her father. That man needs to know he still has a child left, a reason to live. For that, I need Yuyui. As for Baddan," he said as he looked at the confused Sky Watcher, "I'm going to need his expertise in a certain category. The sooner I get started learning it, the better." ---