Chapter 1818 - 1818: To Impress (2)

Bold was putting the whole approach lightly.

Skullius felt the air tense up. In quite an unsubtle fashion, he was testing the Sovereign General, challenging his authority. If Navvexr had been the unreasonable monster Skullius had thought she was before, she might have had his head right then.

Thyrgga, looking at the Hybrid as a grandfather would a grandson learning to walk, asked, "What do you make of this, Navvy? You've been eager to take away my agency for everything else."

The Grand General shrugged. "If he's so eager, give him a chance."

Thyrgga laughed softly and drummed his fingers on the table.

"Very well," said the Sovereign General. "If your ingenuity can somehow supplant the surfeit born from my long years, I'll reward you."

Skullius smirked and said, "You won't be disappointed."

'If you haven't explored all of my abilities by now, that is,' he thought deep down. That was the one thing that could ruin things, but Skullius was fairly confident that, even if Thyrgga had the guidance field to tell what abilities he had, he (Thyrgga) wouldn't know enough about them to understand their breadth.

"Well?" said Thyrgga.

"I'm going to need something to use, a weapon, if possible. It would be better if you provide it so that I can prove just how authentic my little trick is," said Skullius. "And it would probably be best if we didn't use a small, vulnerable room like this one."

Thyrgga's brows rose with interest. "A weapon, you say?" He turned to Navvexr.

The Grand General shrugged again. "We have just the place to use, I suppose, and he can freely pick whichever kind of item he wants from there."

"Right," Thyrgga said, rising to his feet. "Let's go, then."

Navvexr beckoned Skullius over, and the Hybrid followed behind her and Thyrgga. Where they were going, he couldn't tell, much less how they were going to get there. There were no doors or windows in this room or the hall Skullius had appeared in earlier, for that matter.

Skullius thought he must have blinked and missed the trick to this when the long room vanished, and he, Thyrgga, and Navvexr appeared in a much larger one with brighter lighting.

'Wait. No. I think I get it,' he thought as he looked around. 'That thin distortion Gylliard was looking out for… That must be it. Those must be the 'doors' they use in this place, but they are extremely hard to sense and…'

He thought of Ylva and what she said about being invited by Thyrgga.

'They work from the outside too, I'm guessing. Thyrgga must have insisted on speaking to Ylva in private, even knowing that probably wasn't a good idea. She must have refused to have an audience with him initially.' This would explain why Gylliard had been looking so tense.

"There're a number of Treasures here. Pick the one you want for your demonstration," said Navvexr.

Skullius gave a nod.

The room was filled with large crates, most with a green energy seal wrapping around them – one different from the gear-themed one Skullius had seen around the corpse over the Humble Paradigm and the glaive. Some were open, the items inside lined against the walls.

Scanning them closely, Skullius noticed the brands on them, designating them as Treasures.

That was rather… curious.

The Hybrid didn't allow himself to show any semblance of suspicion, however. Since his encounter with the Primevals, he was wary of hints and knowledge given for 'free'.

Stretching his hand towards a Treasure that looked like a chakram made of some semi-special metal, he used Amras to pull it into his hand.

'I need to get used to defining the rank of these things naturally,' thought the Hybrid, again lamenting the absence of the guidance field.

Thyrgga and Navexxr were watching him closely, the former moreso.

'Time to not disappoint.'

Skullius drew a deep breath, and then…

"[Unbound]."

A tide of Null Life Essence erupted from him, saturating the chakram. Skullius could almost imagine the guidance field asking him if he really wanted to use 10,000,000 units to upgrade the Treasure.

Funny enough, this wasn't his first time using [Unbound] on a Treasure. The skill had stopped being a trump card he used desperately to get an edge, since he now had many that far surpassed it in terms of sustained growth. Upon reaching Divinity, [Unbound] got an upgrade, and after Skullius became the Null Devil King, it was upgraded again.

The upper limit of Null Life Essence required to access more powerful upgrades had finally reached a limit: 50 million.

Skullius limited himself to an upgrade just a step below the limit. If everything went as planned, the result would be sure to surprise Thyrgga.

And as for the Grand General… he was smiling mildly as the chakram became so bright that it cast an overwhelming highlight.

Then, its new form was revealed.

What was an ordinary chakram with subpar properties before, changed, adopting a… simpler shape. Now, it hardly looked like a chakram at all. What Skullius was holding was more like a glowing ring without the blades.

No. There was a better way to put it. The new chakram looked like the ring associated with the stereotypical depiction of a black hole, but without the dark shape of the black hole itself bound within.

Skullius frowned. He pushed the chakram away, making it hover at a distance from him.

Navvexr stepped forward and grabbed it, however, much to his surprise. She cocked her head to the side, frowning slightly.

"Oh…" she said, and her eyes brightened. The green sheen in them grew brighter.

"It's outstanding, isn't it?" said Thyrgga, beaming.

Skullius was unnerved. 'Seriously… What's the deal with this guy? Did he already know, or did he appraise it just now?'

Suddenly, Thyrgga's earlier admission that he was the one to punt Skullius' Retucent back in the Obscurosphere, sprang up in the Hybrid's head. If Thyrgga was so proficient in the use of Conste that he could use it to stop Retucents casually, and from a monstrous distance…

"Outstanding doesn't cut it," said Navvexr, thoroughly inspecting the chakram.

"Indeed. From a mere World rank Treasure to something approaching a Reality rank one – Pseudo-Reality. Impressive." Thyrgga chuckled and turned to Skullius. "Did you know that this Treasure would have an Absolute Prime Property that… evolves up to a million targets it hits – including mortals – into the equivalent of Rich worlds that 'serve' the user? The implications of a weapon like this…"

"No," said Skullius plainly, but inwardly, he thought, 'THE FUCK?'

Of course he hadn't known what the chakram would become, and he hadn't gotten the chance to properly decipher its capabilities. He had drawn away from it only because he felt…danger.

He somehow maintained a poker face, thinking through how (indeed) ridiculous its Pseudo-Reality rank designation and ability were.

"It's a randomized ability – the one I just used. Through multiple uses, I always end up getting exactly the kind of weapon I want, hence why I insist on joining the auction. I have something even more absurd that I want to pitch… if you'll allow it," he said.