Chapter 1820 - 1820: Reward

The great hall with the dark pillars, the glaive, and the throne looked and felt different now that Skullius understood a bit more about the Humble Paradigm.

From the storage room with the Treasures, Skullius had been escorted by Navvexr back to the long room with the golden table, where the two Generals who had led him into the Paradigm were still waiting. To the Hybrid, it all felt like riding a river of time in reverse.

Now, the sweet, sonorous singing rang through him again, but he was prepared. It seized him a lot less tightly than before. Skullius had to submerge his insides – including his soul – with a full-output application of Maximum Frost to resist its effect just enough to remain keen about his surroundings. Merely shutting off his hearing didn't stop the melody from lulling his heart and mind.

The throne of frozen matter was vacant, the green glow from the seal around the glaive above highlighting it. An ominous sight, ominous and revealing, given what the Hybrid now knew about Thyrgga.

The old man had given Skullius plenty to think about even after he'd signed the agreement. The parchment had rolled up and vanished with a shredding of Amras, and a while later, the Sovereign General had said:

Since you're just as important as the Stellar Heads now, you have clearance to attend some major events. There will be a Coronation Ceremony later today, if you'd like to watch Warlords ascend, among other things. Should be a good breather before the preamble. The Sword Gods' Duel would have served as well if it wasn't coming a bit later.

…But Skullius had barely been paying attention then.

Seconds later, he and the Generals were outside the Paradigm, and the full glow of the sun was only too happy to meet them.

Subossais had not moved an inch from where Skullius had left him. The Generals silently went back to guarding the great prism housing the dark threshold, leaving the Hybrid in the Warlord's hands.

"What's with that look in your eyes? Did the Sovereign General make that good of an impression on you?"

The glee in the Warlord's voice was grating, but when Skullius looked at Subossais, he could only feel… pity?

He said nothing to the jab and followed when Subossais turned to lead him towards the landing port. All the while, he stared at the Warlord's back, wondering what he'd think if he knew…

You did manage to surprise me a bit, like you said. Thyrgga had said shortly after Skullius signed the agreement. And as I said, I shall reward you for it. He'd turned to Navvexr, a sharp look in his small eyes. Once, you may ask Navvy for anything, and as long as it is within her power, she will do it.

The reward had not improved Skullius' mood nor his impression of the Sovereign or his Grand General. Navvexr hadn't been shaken when she heard, though it appeared she'd been just as surprised as Skullius. Her eyes narrowed at Thyrgga, especially when he concluded by saying:

Don't say her Name aloud from now until the moment you need her. When you do, she will be with you in a flash.

For the rest of his time in the Treasure room, the thought of this reward had been weighing on Skullius, and even now, as he and the Warlord reached the port, it continued to take up space in his mind.

…But there was more. What would Subossais think if he knew…

Right after escorting him back to the room with the long table, Navvexr, placid-faced, had reached in close to Skullius' ear. The Hybrid's first thought was that she meant to warn him regarding his 'reward' – something about him saying her Name, perhaps. His second was flat-out foolish. In any case, Skullius hadn't resisted Navvexr's advance for many reasons, not the least of which was how enamored he found himself with the Grand General's beauty. The gesture had been no flirtatious tactic, however.

Give Subossais hell, she'd whispered to him before promptly vanishing.

…And suddenly, everything Skullius thought he knew got even more complicated.

The Sovereign General was playing a game he couldn't yet fathom, and he (Skullius) was entirely at the mercy of this man who was intelligent, powerful, and stalwart, but with mysterious chinks in his impenetrable armour.

His Grand Generals were monsters of a complicated sort. His Right Hand, Gylliard, was monstrous, but loyal and aloof. His Left Hand, Navvexr, was monstrous, ruthless, and… reserved?

'Damn it. These are dangerous unknowns,' Skullius thought.

Mysteries behind the exact course of the fair bargain game – the auction – he could handle wrestling with. He could also stomach mysteries behind powers beyond his league: Names, certain applications of the Law, Andori whose Tier was beyond his comprehension…

…But nothing was more terrifying than an intelligent, Divine lifeform with enough years lived to stop questioning right and wrong and find Divinity in that.

And as Skullius agonized over the three creatures he'd met in the collection of prisms behind him, he gazed upon the sealed skeleton above it.

It was the single most useful clue that Paliothese had left for the Hybrid, one he'd left behind before even knowing what would become of it.

***

Subossais dropped off Skullius at the Sanguine Suite and left. The Hybrid gave him one more glance, thinking on Navvexr's words, before walking to his accommodations.

Weaver, Ferex, and Araeyn welcomed him.

"What troubles you, my Liege?" said Weaver, narrowing his eyes.

Skullius chuckled, looking down at the Nulliergrapher, and then Ferex. "Don't mind that. For now, I'm just glad that the rest of you have acclimated to your Traits."

"Pardon our tardiness on that, my Liege," said Ferex.

Araeyn did not apologize.

"Nonsense. You delivered on my hopes," said the Hybrid. He pulled out a powerful Treasure, a chakram, from his [Avant Atelier].

Since opening other dimensional spaces was forbidden in the Humble Paradigm, he'd been forced to slip into the [Avant Atelier], but only after he made every effort possible to ensure the chakram wouldn't harm him. It was rather… dangerous despite its extraordinary utility.

"Can you decipher everything you can about this?" Skullius asked Weaver.

When the Nulliergrapher took the chakram, curiously lifting it in the air with Null Life Essence (as it was large in size), Skullius turned to Ferex.

"Bring Elita and Uyuniya here, would you?"

Ferex did as he was bid, climbing into the gateway to the Bosom. The two ladies had gone back again, it seemed.

"This is quite the extraordinary artefact, my Liege," said Weaver, intrigued. He'd read through it in an instant. Amazed, Skullius chalked that up to the Apostle's new Trait. "Allow me to transmit all the details to you."

Skullius gave a nod of approval, and the Nulliergrapher sent waves of information through his mental connection with his master.

Yes.

Oh, yes.

The chakram was just as dangerous as Skullius had feared. Nothing Thyrgga said about it did its capabilities justice.

'If he'd chosen to keep this, I would have invested in creating a whole series of superior artefacts to match, abandoning my whole plan to use [Unbound] for the auction instead, but…'

But still, if Thyrgga had chosen to keep the chakram, that would have been devastating for… everybody.

'Why didn't he choose to keep it? Do they really have better weapons than this here?'

He'd begun straining over this when Ferex returned with Elita and Uyuniya.

…But it wasn't just the Void Users the Apostle had brought in tow. The refreshed, reforged Troops and Stars had come along too.

Seeing them all made Skullius grin before he could think. The family was getting stronger.

"Who the hell are you guys?" he said, chuckling.

---

[Author's Note]

I'll call this a mini-arc. Yeah, sounds about right. Translating the Sovereign General and his two Hands on the page, finally, was really thrilling. They flourished even more than I'd planned as soon as I began writing about them. Needless to say, so many questions have arisen because of this mini-arc. All of them are going to have some pretty… wild answers. That, I can promise. I think writing Fulgardt (flawed as he was as a developed character through faults of my own) helped pave the way for some of the antagonists I have planned for this volume, Thyrgga included.

Enough of my fleshing rambling. What did you think of this arc? What do you make of the Sovereign General and Navvexr? Do you like 'em so far? Hate 'em? Meh 'em? What theories do you have?

I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Here's a special shout-out to some supremely devoted readers. (Don't let me shouting you out compel you to mellow your criticisms if you have any). I appreciate your contributions – no matter which shape they take.

TheBroker_2bz

HeavenlyDeamon

Amritava

DaoistJ1GO00

Thank you for sticking with me, including everyone else I didn't mention. Thank you all.