Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Eaniss asked Replicus to retell his story several times while interrupting him with a plethora of questions at various points during his narration. She did this while maintaining an unblinking stare, and with a high voice each time she interjected.

Pherdanta was awestruck.

She admitted that if it was her that was being interrogated like this, she probably would have slipped a few times under Eaniss’ intense presence.

She wasn’t Head Faction leader by name only, after all.

At the end of the day, in order to command god-like fiends like the ones in the Factions, you had to be something of the same yourself, or far beyond that.

Eaniss was easily the latter.

Pherdanta withered under her presence, and the only way she would find strength to act, would be if Eaniss assaulted Replicus, something that seemed imminent given how she looked at the Penetrator… but that was just an illusion.

Different from Pherdanta, Replicus could identify this illusion.

Aside from the fact that the Penetrator had no fear of death, he feared none of the Incandescent Stage experts in this organisation, including Eaniss’ herself.

Having two months to do nothing but grow and account for most things that could go wrong in various situations, had allowed him to create failsafe and contingency upon failsafe and contingency.

Even now, as Eaniss asked, “And you say this man – the Evenfall cultist – miraculously escaped from the prison in the city?”, Replicus answered as he had done the last nine times without the slightest hint of inflection.

Eaniss retreated deeper into the soft fabric of her couch.

“Interesting. Very interested…” she said while digesting the story Replicus told.

The Penetrator had retold it the exact same way several times despite her asking about details only mildly related to the main story tens of times. It was impressive that he stuck to the same version without deviation.

Admittedly, Replicus would have stumbled at least a handful of times regarding some of the things Eaniss inquired.

Like what time of day it was exactly, when Guissepo escaped?

Who had contacted the Purity Knights to come and collect him?

How many Cluster beasts he estimated were unleashed on Inhone?

The nature of his participation in the ensuing chaos.

And so on and so forth.

The reason Replicus didn’t stutter even once, or show some hesitation, was because, unseen by anyone else but him, four little figures swam in the air around his helmet.

There were small, royal blue skeletons with four sockets on their skulls. Wispy trails of Null Life Essence followed their every move, and said movements presented a very exaggerated degree of freedom.

“What do you think she’s about to ask now?”

“Beats me. If she’s up for a tenth round, I wouldn’t mind. It’s not like ol’ Sockethole McThunderson is in a hurry or anything.”

“Quit it. He can hear you?”

“So what? We are insulting ourselves. Or he’s insulting himself? Themselves? Myself? Flesh it, you all know what I mean!”

These four were the result of Replicus’ mental attribute, which should have been ‘Intelligence.’

Now, it was called SUBJECTIVE PHANTOM INFERENCE, a result of Replicus using [Unbound] on his Intelligence stat and getting a rather surprising Special Bonus Random Upgrade.

As one might guess, this wasn’t a skill, but a magical manifestation of superior thoughts. Each of these four skeletal apparitions were like boosted individual minds that held specific portions of Replicus’ memories, and their job was to ensure that the Penetrator could account for everything he knew and everything he was in the process of learning when making decisions.

Of course, Replicus himself had a mind of his own on top of this, but it was only half as capable. Still, regardless of that, he usually didn’t like the ruckus these phantoms made. So, if he didn’t feel the need, he dismissed them.

The four spoke among themselves while also paying attention to Eaniss who seemed to have finally had enough of the current subject.

“How do you plan to handle this assignment?” she asked. “Besides the actual threat, which you have warned us all is a little beyond our pay grade, you have more than a few Faction leaders looking to take over the land I gave you, and the wealth you have accumulated.”

Replicus skeletal processors exploded.

“What is she insinuating? Does she actually care about our fate?”

“Don’t be ridiculous! She’s trying to gauge our stance. Even if we give a half hearted answer, we will probably be revealing something she could evaluate!”

“The optimal answer is the actual truth. You know… we know we have a few names we want to kill so badly! Let’s show her a little bloodlust!”

“All of you are correct.”

Replicus gave a sigh and locked his fingers.

“I’m not really that interested in the other Faction leaders for now. I had several problems that needed dealing with as soon as possible before the Emissary came with this annoying job, and my mind is still set on them. It wouldn’t be too bad to get rid of a few faces though,” Replicus said calmly.

Eaniss smiled… and then she laughed.

“I thought you’d be more careful around me as you’ve been since I appointed you. It’s good that you’re settling into your role well enough to be honest.”

“No one doubted you, sockethole.”

“I said you were all correct.”

“We heard you the first time.”

Eaniss continued.

“Since I’m coming along on this assignment, what would you do if I attacked you?”

…

Replicus didn’t show any hint of surprise but Pherdanta did, though only under the cover of her helmet. She frowned.

“Didn’t see that one coming. Does she do this with all the other Faction leaders, or are we the exception?” one of the Penetrator’s thought phantoms said thoughtfully.

“She thinks we have hidden motives, I think. She’s pretty blunt, all things considered. Flesh her for that.”

“How do we answer that? More honesty? Like saying ‘I’ll attack you back?'”

“All of you are correct.”

“Aren’t you supposed to give helpful input, sockethole?” an annoyed phantom asked.

From the outside, the lengthy bursts of conversation only took a second, a second where outsiders saw Replicus perform slight gestures that suggested some form of consideration.

“Since you could attack me now all the same, I’d probably fight back. If you wanted to kill me, you could do so easily with the Union Seal,” Replicus answered.

And he was right. The Union Seal gave Eaniss tremendous advantages over everyone in the Severed Union. It didn’t invade privacy – at least the Seal that Faction leaders had didn’t – but it did allow Eaniss some degree of control over everyone with a Seal.

This was why Replicus ultimately wanted to rid himself of the Seal and cut ties with the Severed Union. But that wasn’t possible with his current strength.

Eaniss smiled at his answer.

“You’re right. Truth be told, ever since you showed me the secrets of your ‘eye’, I have been very intrigued by you. Certainly, a power like that, along with the results to your trials were enough for me to consider you Faction leader material, but my instincts are telling me you are so much more. I’ve been tempted to imprison you and study what’s behind that armour you always wear to ward off prying eyes countless times. I guess your desperation to be noticed worked too well in the end.”

“What you demonstrated today tells me I have been right all along.”

Replicus’ sockets flashed a little brighter than usual.

This caught him a bit off guard.

Pherdanta grew even more nervous.

Eaniss’ smile grew wider, and a furious blush painted her cheeks.

“Don’t worry. I wouldn’t dishonour a Faction leader like that. I wouldn’t resort to such tasteless methods either. That’s why I want to take full advantage of this voyage. With peril, fatality and desperation all around… I’m sure you’ll naturally show me everything you are.”