Chapter 1812 - 1812: The Sovereign's Domain (1)

Uyuniya was the first to react physically, finding the news, or rather, the invitation, amusing.

The term Sword God wasn't as foreign to her as it might have been to others, and not just because she knew someone in Skullius' company with that title.

As it happened, Skullius also found the invitation interesting, and in a way not too dissimilar to why Uyuniya found it amusing. Like the Void User, he wasn't interested in watching two powerful swordmasters fight. His first thought regarding this was:

'If Pherdanta ever comes out of that damn temporal room, she'll probably be interested.'

"Sounds good. I might spare the time to watch," said Skullius, and he slotted the pass Fortus had given him into his [Avant Atelier]. "Are you sure we have enough time for the Soul's Cadence before Subossais comes?"

"As I said before, it is an intuitive system – quite easy to learn, especially for someone of your caliber," said the steward.

'My caliber, huh?' thought the Hybrid. He didn't doubt Fortus no longer saw him in the same lowly light as he did before he (Skullius) snatched a Vacuum Fiend, but that did not mean the steward suddenly respected him.

Fortus likely reckoned that Skullius being the last person to meet with Thyrgga was right. His sentiment aligned with whoever made that decision wholly.

"Very well. My etiquette is in your hands then," said Skullius, and he turned to the Void Users. "You're free to do as you please. Make sure you're prepared, though. Whenever I return from the… Sovereign General's domain, it will be time."

To Elita and Uyuniya, what he meant was clear. They took their leave, disappearing into the hallway leading to the many bedrooms within the Parlor, while Skullius and Fortus remained. The latter masked his curiosity as to what Skullius had secretly informed his companions rather well. The Hybrid was almost fooled.

"Let us begin."

And thus, the lecture on language began, spanning a lot longer than Skullius had thought. It was also more engaging than he'd expected. Intuitive. He was so engrossed in it that when Weaver suddenly appeared from the Bosom, a warm smile on his face, Skullius didn't notice until he was standing next to him.

For just one instant, the Hybrid's flow in the Soul's Cadence was broken, and he inspected the Apostle.

'Oh. He's already assimilated and adjusted to his Trait. Well, of course, he has. The others are still incubating.'

It was a wonderful surprise. With Weaver here, Skullius didn't need to worry as much about leaving the Lucid Parlor unattended (should Uyuniya and Elita want to leave it for the Bosom). His relief became even more justified when Subossais finally arrived. The door rippled, as though suddenly liquid, informing the residents of the Warlord's presence.

"You're allowed to wear something stylish, you know? This is how you want to present yourself before the Sovereign General?" said the Warlord as soon as Skullius opened the door for him.

His armour, silver, round and tubular all over, making him look bigger than he actually was, looked a bit more formidable in Skullius eyes. Or was it because the Hybrid had had enough time to process the strength that Generals and Warlords possessed based on what he saw during the purge of the Vacuum Fiends?

"What's wrong with my outfit?" said Skullius, looking at his Numinous Ichor armour and the Avant Atelier. They looked rather moody, but were in no way as offensive as Subossais seemed to think.

Subossais paused, surprised. "Hmm. You can speak with the Cadence now, can you? Thank the thunders – I don't need to keep dumbing my speech down to intent for you." He backpedaled. "And lucky for you, better speech may make a better impression on the Sovereign General than any apparel you can wear."

Skullius sighed and walked out the door. Beside it, the Warlord's sentry remained, standing at attention.

'Of course he's going to keep it here. I wonder how long he can sustain it,' thought the Hybrid.

"Pass." Subossais extended his hand to him.

Almost reluctantly, Skullius drew the plaque he'd been given from his cloudy jacket and gave it to the Warlord. Subossais inspected it so thoroughly that Skullius wondered what justification there could have been (in Subossais' mind) for him to have forged one. What was there to lie about here?

A minute later, Subossais gave the pass back and gestured for Skullius to follow. Fortus gave them both a small bow as they left him behind.

"Just so you know, whatever motives you have, malicious or otherwise, you're better off leaving even the slightest conceptions of them here. You'll find that the Sovereign's domain does not tolerate so much as an atom of malice," said Subossais as they left the Sanguine Suite and reached the landing port just past it. "My master is especially unforgiving of that."

To spite him, Skullius didn't say anything, but inwardly, he scrounged among all relevant memories.

'When Gylliard stopped us from clashing in the Quadrosphere, Subossais said something about Gylliard not having jurisdiction over his actions,' thought the Hybrid. 'Gylliard's response… I see. Subossais answers to Navvexr, apparently, if I read that right. She must be his master.'

Was that just reassuring?

Skullius elected not to remind himself of the magnitude of power that a Grand General had. As it appeared, based on what Subossais said (again), at least one of the Grand Generals would be there when he was talking to Thyrgga.

'Great.'

With the chant, "TORS!" Subossais grabbed his Tors Lampion, and both he and Skullius streaked from the Sanguine Suite at terrible speed that might best have been described as warping.

A moment later, they appeared on a landing platform in another great citadel: Sector SEPT (C) Negative.

'Just how many of these are there here?' thought the Hybrid. He followed after Subossais, who adopted an annoyingly brisk pace.

Even more annoying, however, was how he felt the need to keep throwing random jabs. He might have been offended by Skullius' composure.

"What did you think of the Vacuum Fiends?" he said.

"Not particularly interesting," said Skullius.

"Are you sure?" The Warlord scoffed. He seemed… insulted. "I got the distinct feeling that you were having some fun with a bunch of them."