Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1242: For The Merge! (1)



What connected the Layers of the Empyrean Hatcher was a large, bright pillar of light that transcended the boundaries between all three Layers. All one had to do was walk into it, and they would scale or descend as they pleased (if they had permission from Replicus, of course).

Replicus and the Strawlers he had assigned to carry his Hybrid Luman body appeared in a vast space with no apparent floor. They floated.

There seemed to be an invisible substance with a viscosity akin to that of tree sap all around, giving some resistance against all movement.

The Warmoth's Progeny had grown to thoroughly enjoy the feeling of moving through this Layer because of it. He surged upward.

The Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher, unlike the first, was meant for learning and enlightenment. Its design didn't branch out into different resorts, but instead imposed a singular environment that Replicus could say with confidence worked best for the theme of this Layer.

As he rose, the Second Layer turned brighter, as though someone was turning a knob to increase the highlights. Replicus saw schools of fish and different, odd aquamarine creatures with traces of Ju`wtte swimming past him and into the distance.

This sight was always interesting to behold.

It always made him wonder about the Empyrean Bosom as a whole. Some of the things that existed in this place could not exist outside it. These fishes were probably the same, as Replicus understood that Ju`wtte was something only the Ju`wtta could produce. No other race of critters could wantonly generate it.

Speaking of Ju`wtte though...

'When I used the Implicit Evolution to evolve past the Warmoth's Progeny, the nature of my Ju'wtte changed...' he thought.

Indeed. His Ju`wtte had changed from its normal yellowish-red hue to a stark merigold.

It was stronger in that state, nigh unstoppable. It also had other functions that seemed beyond reason. They had baffled both Skullius and the dragon Jiggorrhax.

With that in mind...

'Why is it that the Warmoth didn't use this advanced Ju`wtte for this place? He probably had access to it as the progenitor of this power,' the Progeny thought.

He had been able to toggle between the weaker Ju`wtte and the advanced Ju`wtte as the Soul- Burdened Warmoth. Thus, he had no doubt that the Warmoth could do the same.

His mind turned to the large Strawler up in the Third Layer of the Hatcher, the only one to reject him as its master.

Hmmm.

Did the Warmoth perhaps fear that if he created the Strawlers with advanced Ju`wtte they could gain powers beyond what they should have in his domain?

That was possible. The merigold Ju`wtte was capable of rewriting concepts like Nitros and even Jiggorrhax's hard scales, turning them into natural light and rocks respectively.

But well, no one could answer Replicus' question for now.

He floated higher with the Strawlers, and soon scrolls began to appear. They unfurled into long sheets the higher the Progeny rose and soft voices began to call to him from them. There were many levels and tiers of these scrolls, some of the especially higher ones brimming with forces Replicus didn't and hadn't dared to touch.

These scrolls all held mysteries, powers and truths. On this Layer, if he desired, Replicus could gain enlightenment and inspiration about any skill or essence just by writing into the scrolls. The functionality of the scrolls probably went beyond that, but Replicus hadn't learned more about it all in detail.

He hadn't had the time.

He had spent most of it in the Timemould Mirror Box training himself and his subordinates. He had set the time dilation within it to equate one day on Aigas into a single month in the Mirror Box. He and his subordinates then spent two months enduring gruelling regimes. After the settings to the Mirror Box were decided, no one in the Timemould Mirror Box could leave. Even after the time they wanted to spend within it was elapsed, they had to remain detained for a duration designated by the Mirror Box itself in order to stabilise their bodies. The detainment requirement for the two months Replicus spent was 100 hours in Aigas' time, and after serving this sentence, he had had to immediately head out to battle Skullius.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1168.)

"Alright. Let's do this," Replicus said to himself.

He had chosen the First Layer of the Hatcher as the location of his merge because he felt it was the most relaxing. Additionally, there wasn't much infrastructure here that he could destroy if things turned bad, and if things somehow turned awry, he was betting on the scrolls giving him solutions - if their powers extended to that.

There was one other reason though, perhaps most unusual of all.

If something were to go wrong, Replicus wanted to know how the massive Strawler upstairs would respond. It hadn't bothered with him ever since he visited the Third Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher back then.

Replicus chuckled.

A part of him hoped something nasty would happen just so he could see the Strawler's reaction.

"Now, why don't you guys show yourselves already. I know you're up to something!" Replicus yelled.

His words were meant for his phantoms and Serenity who had been oddly silent.

He wouldn't truly buy that something had happened to them perhaps because of his

encounter with Boron.

That couldn't be.

"PRIIIIIIME!" one of the phantoms cried cheerfully. "How are you doing today? I'm feeling jolly."

"He's starting to get stuck up. Relax, bro. We are all here and at your service!" another said. "We were listening in on everything happening outside, don't worry. You just become some shallow idiot without us, don't you?"

"Right? He completely forgot to tell the Unlimited Stars about what's happening on Aigas. But meh, those guys are witty enough to find out on their own."

Replicus felt soothing relief and blistering frustration.

"What were you fools doing all this time? And Serenity, where is she?" he barked.

"I am here as well. We were gone for the same cause," the Existential Parallel's voice came amidst the hums of the phantoms.

Replicus frowned.

"What cause? I thought Boron had suppressed you or something," he said.

"Initially, he did. I couldn't counter his presence in the short span of time it took him to appear and completely mount his pressure on you. After that woman Elita arrived, however, I

was free," Serenity explained.

"Why didn't you say anything then?"

"Your phantoms exposed me to an interesting proposition. I would have spoken to you but

you did not exactly need us for much of what happened after. You did not call for us with any

urgency either."

Replicus supposed that was fair.

After Elita had shown up, he had indeed been safe. Relatively.

"What proposition did my phantoms give you?" he asked with grave suspicion.

All four of his phantoms guffawed like madmen.

"Prime, Prime, Prime..." one of them said while the others sang a horrible hymn in the background. "Where you are only seeing a merge with your original self, we are envisioning something far, far more profound. We don't intend to leave the result of whatever is formed between you and the alter up to chance or the guidance field. No, no. We intend to take matters into our own hands."