Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The earlier platform of gold erected by the Ardent Curses was promptly dispelled, and afterwards Replicus and his crew were sailing in their ship once again, the spikes behind it igniting furiously, mirroring the team's intent to catch up to the others.

Replicus made it a point to tell Pherdanta who was controlling the ship to have it barrel ahead at full speed while keeping sufficient distance between himself and the Bishop who trailed behind.

Using a few skills to boost the vessel's speed, what Replicus wanted was manageable. The ship crossed a massive distance in the ten minutes that followed, even with the return of the poisonous sea, the Reverse Clusters and the Scorching Tears.

Pherdanta steered perfectly.

Unfortunately, there was no sign of the other Factions yet and there wouldn't be for a while.

Allora and Grim pestered Replicus with questions about what had happened within the Cluster. The effectiveness of their cultured nagging ended up convincing him to give them detailed answers to satisfy their curiosity.

"I didn't think we'd face an enemy who we couldn't even hit! I was the only useless one in there!" Grim had said begrudgingly while Allora, who was a little disappointed that her roles so far had been utility-based, was happy to have one-upped Grim – in a way.

After sulking, Grim went on to pester Baddan, who, unlike Replicus, was pleased to entertain Grim's enquiries about his technique.

It was only now, when Replicus was on deck that he saw the growing closeness between the two and it surprised him somewhat.

It was good.

Once again, as he saw Grim nod with interest at Baddan's explanation while Allora chimed in, trying to understand why Baddan had to chant "Grant me the chances" before using his technique, Replicus was reminded about something.

Fulfilment.

Both Pherdanta and Grim had told him that they felt fulfilled, and that the current trajectories of their lives were perfect for them.

Replicus' sockets flickered.

'Not quite.'

He was far from it.

The thought rushed further away from him when the ship wound around the many Reverse Clusters; some peeking from the angry, ebony ocean, some high in the sky, some standing oblique just over the waters.

He recalled that Cluster he had seen when he used Lambent Phosphor.

Eaniss had harnessed the power of the time-manipulating Cluster to temper with time. He guessed she reversed it, but how else had she used it? How often?

The prowess and ambitions of other Faction leaders were every bit as deadly as his.

Eaniss had shown it and now the Mad Bishop.

Replicus couldn't shake the feeling that to them all – excluding those he had dug bloody holes through so far – he was but a source of amusement, and in all fairness, with the depths of power they had, it was reasonable to see him that way at face value.

The Penetrator tsked and went for the small cabin, appearing below deck.

He entered the room where the Paladin Champion was.

He had erected a barrier around the man's bed, just in case the undeath flowing through him erupted by some machinations he had not foreseen.

Replicus looked at the man. He looked soulless. Barely alive.

His singed, medium length, cherry-coloured hair. His large, curved nose amid a burnt face. His missing right arm and festering flesh livid with Undeath.

All of it suggested a lack of life.

The words of the Definer of Causality echoed in Replicus' mind as he stared:

"If you know what's good for you, throw this man back into the ocean, and turn back."

The ominous foreboding he felt when he first heard those words thrummed within him.

What the hell did it mean?

There was no answer.

Replicus dwelled in the silence for a stretch.

The waters parting below the ship, enabling it to move rapidly up high waves and past calm volumes were barely audible from within the room.

Replicus had to strain his perception to hear them.

After a while, he called his thought phantoms to dispel the tranquility.

"So, what are we thinking about the Mad Bishop? Do we really want to fight her?" one said.

"We have a few trump cards reserved for pressing situations. And the others will probably be fine against those nine, bulky men of hers. She's honouring our deal so far. In fact, she's being generous."

"Don't say it like that. Makes us look like idiots proposing the conditions we did before in the first place."

"Does it? I agree her ability to perpetually revive after death is pretty ridiculous, and well, all her other abilities are probably on the same level - like her Divine intervention, though I doubt its strictly as the name sounds - anot to even mention her Territory, but we got the wand we needed. We could learn how to disrupt techniques."

"Considering how long [Wealth of Spoils] takes to extract skills from high grade items, I think we should try another method for making that wand useful. [Epiphany]... we're already starting to see its limits. Some concepts are just too absurdly powerful to learn, with annoying costs, and some are just too dangerous, and will probably simply bypass [Epiphany]'s criterion."

A thought phantom looked upset at the blast of negativity.

"Well, in the case of Integral Time, we should be glad Araeyn is somehow immune to being bamboozled by shifts in time. We wouldn't have even known about it if not for him. I can't even imagine how he knew."

"Me neither, but I suppose he must have something else special about him, since he almost qualified for that Dominion thing when he was born."

The phantoms murmured in agreement. Indeed Araeyn was special.

"Right. Anyway, as far as [Epiphany]'s concerned, let's just chalk that up to being the limit of our current Nullmancer abilities. We might need to rely on our more effective racial abilities next. It's only a shame the Curses made it impossible for us to use some of them."

There were nods of agreement.

Speaking of the Curses, Thrill hadn't been brought aboard. Replicus had chucked him into Stagnant Space before leaving the Cluster.

He could summon him when needed as long as he was in an enclosed space away from the Reverse Clusters.

"Let's hope the bastard is cooperative."

"He will be after spending a few hours in total isolation and darkness, with no hope of getting out on his own," a thought phantom laughed coldly.

Replicus stood, took one last look at the Paladin Champion, and exited the room.

He then went to the Mana and Null Life Essence pools.

Even though he could draw upon both energies from a distance, he decided to dip himself in the pools for a change.

First, he sunk himself into the Null Life Essence pool.

With the feature of his armour, the Hollow Dusk's Prison, he felt the Null Life Essence against his bones.

It was calming.

It was serene.

Something deep within him felt at home.