Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"The Wanderer sends his regards."

…!!!

Skullius knew exactly why Serenity had turned ashen. One could say he was letting her marinate in all the anxiety and shock because it was kind of hilarious. But also, the whole ordeal was quite… stimulating.

Acquiring all the answers that the present Skullius lacked had been a wild experience for Future Skullius, terrifying and satisfying in more or less equal measures. It would certainly have derailed the present Skullius to be enlightened about all the mysteries he gushed over with furrowed brows:

What Serenity, Void, Emmae truly represented.

What the deal was between Void and Serenity.

Why Serenity and VOW were so against TITEMIUS.

Who the Wanderer Who Seeds even was, and if he had any connection to the three sisters.

…Well, the last half of the fourth mystery was all but clear.

The Wanderer was the father of Emmae, Void and Serenity. (Those names were monikers.)

Serenity hadn't wanted Skullius to know it when she explained her relationship to Emmae and Void after Skullius defeated the masked man, but her relationship with VOW was almost easy to discern on one's own.

(Refer to Ch.1115)

Indeed, VOW, or rather, Wyrrim, was as Future Skullius had described: a babysitter. She monitored Serenity, Void and Emmae's actions; her treatment of the three wasn't unbiased, of course.

All this, Future Skullius knew.

"How do you know?" Serenity asked, her voice thinning by the word.

Future Skullius gave a sigh as he considered her. Deep within the recesses if his mind, however…

'You think I should tell her?' he asked COLMUUN.

The Primeval Deity chuckled.

<Now you care for my opinion?>

'What are you grumpy about this time?"

<I told you. I was watching everything during your little excursion. Don't think you got one over on me with all that clever dialogue about Direction and fate. I did not forget that you ended up giving that younger self of yours a hand – however limited. You breached our terms.>

Future Skullius pressed one of his hands against the side of his temple.

'I didn't do all that much,' he said to the Deity. 'What's my punishment going to be this time?'

COLMUUN chuckled once again.

<I think I'll have a fitting challenge directed to that other you for a change. I only barely managed to hold off my colleagues from rushing all the way here to give him a piece of their mind. What say you that I let a few of them have at him. Non-lethally, of course. Wouldn't that be more interesting?>

Future Skullius considered this without the slightest change in his expression.

'You really are a sockethole.'

<That I am.>

'Fine. Thanks for asking my opinion. Goodness knows you really wanted it.'

Future Skullius turned his attention back to Serenity. To her, barely a few seconds had passed since she posed him the question. The answer she got was as good as she could have expected.

"How about to leave that for another time? If you're going to follow me everywhere, I suppose we'll have plenty of time to chat about that in particular."

Serenity remained shaken and vigilant. She might have been frowning, if the smouldering of her whitening flames could be trusted to express her unseen expression. Ultimately, however…

"Fine."

"Good. Now let's leave. My business here is done."

As Future Skullius turned, Serenity grew a bit bolder.

"What business did you have here anyway?" she said, her voice a little shallow. "You said before that you didn't come here to bail Skullius out of his problems, and while you did end up helping quite a bit… It doesn't add up. You were here for something else, weren't you?"

Future Skullius didn't stop drifting away. He had imagined that someone was press him about this eventually, but he couldn't have guessed that the question would come now when he was leaving Aigas behind.

"I was here for the Corrupted Deity."

…!!!

"What?" Serenity asked, both confused and shocked. "Why?"

Future Skullius turned to her. "Is it that surprising? I guess you wouldn't know. Void and the Primeval Deities – well, some of them – actively hunt for them. In worse cases, they create them. Nothing in this Reality predicts paths for further evolution better than Corrupted Deities. I happen to have a path I'm searching for. Well, I was."

Serenity would have sprouted eyes just to have them bulge. The pieces clicked in her head as Future Skullius said it.

As it turned out, Future Skullius was still Skullius!

"You want to break free from the Broader Existence, don't you?" she said to him.

For some odd reason, that displeased Future Skullius. His brows furrowed ever so slightly and then he sighed yet again.

"Should have known Skullius had the same thought. No matter how different of a lifestyle I lead, I guess I'll always be him. Thank Somanda's beard I got rid of all the ugly parts though," he said.

COLMUUN died of laughter.

"If that's what you want," Serenity said, "then why did you come for the one Skullius had? Aren't there stronger, more unique Corrupted Deities out there?"

And indeed, this baffled Serenity.

Future Skullius thought the answer, or rather, answers couldn't have been any more obvious though.

"Well, Nunax wasn't any odd Corrupted Deity. Skullius didn't happen upon her by chance. Aurolio gave her up. And Aurolio got her from…"

Serenity's flame gushed blue once more. "I see. From Void."

"Indeed. And Void doesn't give her bearers useless treasures, you see. Broodweiler for Elita, the Incubating Masterpiece for Uyuniya and of course… this. Quality treasure," said the future Hybrid. "But this reasoning was only enough to make me consider the trip back to Aigas. What made me feel certain I'd find something worthwhile is Skullius himself."

Serenity's ability to comprehend Future Skullius seemed to rise by the second.

"You left no stone unturned. To even factor that in…"

"You're the one who told me. Skullius was cursed with terrible luck because of his soul being exposed to Somanda's powers. But that luck often flipped on its head because of something from his…our past. A power that still lingers on even now. A power that even has an influence on Direction, you said."

(A/N: Refer to Ch.91.)

And indeed, Serenity had told Skullius this the first time he ever evolved. Back then, evolution was his only means to speak to Serenity.

"Skullius' tragic luck was already purged by Festos, so I imagined that now, perhaps all the good would follow him. That perhaps the Corrupted Deity he had was just the one I needed. Turns out, I was right," said Future Skullius. "Though, I do suppose whatever it is that Skullius had in his past life isn't as cut and dry as freakish good luck, is it? Otherwise, ever since the atrocious luck was purged, every challenge that followed would have been a cinch."

Serenity took her time answering.

"You don't seem interested in learning about it. I do know what it is, remember?" she said. "Come to think of it, why don't you have it? You were supposed to be an exact copy of Skullius."

"I have no need for it – no need to wield it and no need to understand it. All that is Skullius' Direction." Future Skullius looked at one of his hands. "Besides, even if I share the exact same soul as him, it's priority that decides who between us gets certain abilities. It's the same reason behind why I can't summon Apostles. Skullius would have to relinquish his capacity as a Nullmancer with Apostle summoning capabilities to me. Neither of us wants that."

Serenity gave a slow nod. "I see."

Indeed, she did.

"Have you managed to strip away from your Broader Existence then?"

Future Skullius shook his head and then he grinned. He extracted what looked like a large sea urchin from some unseen storage and tossed it before him. It was his transport.

"No," he replied to Serenity. "That part is only relevant after a few friends, COLMUUN, and I kill AKHASHA."