Bro, I'm not an Undead!

It was difficult to digest at times, even for Skullius, but Uyuniya was very tall. She was over two meters in height with long locks of russet-coloured hair, and a face full of sharp features. Her ears resembled those of a Sif, if only longer and coloured black, and each of her eyes – stark white like Skullius' – spotted three blue pupils.

She was an alien indeed.

As she walked towards the four (Weaver was in their midst, silent) she rested her greatsword, the Deceptive Incubating Masterpiece, on her shoulder. It looked like sculpted amethyst, dark and ominous. This was the Treasure she had used to accelerate her ascendance into Divinity while nestled in the scheme Elita had concocted using the Purity's corruption.

Skullius immediately established a mental link between everyone using his mana. Uyuniya couldn't speak the languages of Aigas, after all, and he couldn't simply give her a skill that allowed her to do that. Her physiology did not allow her to obtain skills, at least those that operated using mana. She couldn't simply adopt Aigas' power system.

"What have you been up to?" It was Kintar who asked her while creating another skill for Sila.

"Making my own preparations for what's to come," Uyuniya replied as she leaned against the wall and fixed the end of her greatsword into the floor. She then gave Skullius a deep look. "I can only surrender to the role you've imagined to be fit for me."

Skullius raised a finger in protest.

"That wasn't solely my decision. My future self had a hand in it too," he said.

Uyuniya clicked her tongue. She didn't buy that.

"So, what do your preparations entail, really? Any fascinating trump cards?" the Hybrid Warmoth asked.

Uyuniya pointed at her greatsword.

"I was trying to increase my proficiency with this sword in combat. I have never actually used it to fight. Well, barring when I used it to fight you. I've only ever seen the value in its more utilitarian properties rather than its offensive abilities."

"I see. And are you proficient with it now?"

Uyuniya shrugged.

"I'll have to try my current skill against a real enemy."

Skullius gave a nod. "What else did you do? It wasn't just you training with a sword all this time now, was it?"

Uyuniya folded her arms over her ample chest.

"No," she said. "I expanded the application of my Mastered Void Gate aspect, and applied Fundamental Barter. That man, Aurolio, actually gave me a bit of insight into that. I never considered broadening my aspect because it was already so limited, and also because it was very effective on its own. But now, I think I figured out the best way to use it." She pursed her lips. "But I've grown a bit too tired of remaining in the same realm of power where my Voided Death abilities are concerned."

Skullius received her sharp gaze.

"How much more room for growth is there past your Mastered Void Gate?" he asked.

"A lot. Compared to everything else a Voided Death User can obtain, Mastered Void Gate is the easiest to master. I've only ever met one other person who has transcended the Mastered Void Gate. Well, met is an understatement, and an oversimplification, but…" She shrugged.

"One? How many Void Users do you know?"

"Nineteen."

"Nineteen?!"

Uyuniya tilted her head.

"You've never travelled between worlds, so I can understand. Reality is wider and wilder than you can imagine."

Skullius frowned.

He really did have a sheltered mindset.

'And that's exactly why I should explore Reality a little more after this,' he thought to himself. 'I'll just have to be mindful of time. Between Doom Factor 2, and that extra stretch of finesse training for the Stark Troops I…'

Something brought him to a pause mid-thought. His frown turned to a scowl, and he suddenly fixed Kintar with a malevolent look.

"Where did you put your share of the Stark Troops?" he hissed. "At first, I thought you sent them on some strange mission on their own, but no. That's something Pherdanta or Yuyui or Kenno would do. Not you. Where are they?"

Uyuniya was taken aback. She turned to Kintar who donned a defeated look.

"Keep your hair on. They are fiiiiiiine. I thought marching into Emeradis with a small army would be very… unwelcome. So, I stored them away."

"Give me the real reason, dammit!" Skullius demanded.

"I just didn't want to babysit them. That's a valid excuse, right?"

Skullius facepalmed. "Bring them out. Now!"

Reluctantly, Kintar did as Skullius bid.

With a wave of her hand, twenty and some Stark Troops appeared out of thin air. All of them skipped past the shock of suddenly being in a brighter space with their master, and got to glaring at Kintar.

Skullius shook his head. A part of him was ashamed.

"Gerriey. Where did Kintar trap you all?" he asked a female Stark Trooper with curled golden locks and downturned red eyes.

The woman didn't even look at him when she answered. She was livid.

"We were trying to break ourselves out of the ice barrier she made around us, but it seemed to regenerate all its walls the instant we attacked it. We eventually destroyed it, but… we found that we were trapped in a secondary barrier deep within Stagnant Space. It somehow used the Stagnant Space as sustenance, and gave itself limitless durability! We couldn't get out!"

Kintar drew away from Sila who was giving her a strange, judgy look.

"Come on. That was cool. I came up with that barrier on the fly. You all would have broken out of any other barrier I could have made," she said, beaming, and then she urged the Stark Troops with claps. "Come on, clap for yourselves! That's high praise coming from me, you know!"

No one clapped. The air turned heavy and cold.

Kintar deflated.

"Seriously?" Her lips curved downwards.

Right then, Aigas thrummed, almost as though to mirror her disappointment.

But no. Rather than Aigas as a whole, it was only the time limning Aigas that trembled.

Skullius reluctantly tore himself out of thoughts about disciplining Kintar and warped everyone to the roof of the mansion.

'I guessed as much,' he thought.

The two unnecessary drapes of time suspended in the sky were being pulled together by a nest of green strings weaving and out of them both. It was like watching two large curtains get knitted together from the perspective of an ant. A true marvel.

The view of the world branded on each of the different times in Aigas on both drapes made the scene terribly difficult to wrap the mind around even for Divines like Skullius and Uyuniya.

But it was happening nonetheless.

As the two drapes drew closer and closer together, sparks lit up, flying in all directions, attempting to reject the attraction, but they were short-lived.

An intense white glow of Amras suddenly fell from higher up in the skies, wiping away the force of rejection, and pulling at the strings tying the drapes together. It was Suzamete's influence. She gave a tug and the drapes kissed.

…Only then did Aigas in its whole tremble.

It was a sign.

'It all begins now,' Skullius thought. 'And it won't stop until Aigas dies or someone is on their knees.'

---

[Author's Note]

It begins! The final saga of Aigas is at hand! This might be the most ambitious arc of BINAUI yet. Indeed, things will rapidly spiral out of control, and YES, it might get a lot crazier than anything that's come before it!

I'm glad to be sharing this with ya'll!