"God is strong. Humans are weak. Angels are somewhere in-between."
As Claudius heard these words, he shuddered in ignorance.
"No matter how powerful a human tries to become, sacrificing all he can to attain strength, it will all fall under the allocated strength he is allowed to possess." Ater's words echoed coldly in the night.
"Ultimately, it will fall under weakness."
"S-so… all my attempts at strength… were in vain…?"
"Maybe it had some worth against fellow humans, but your luck ran out when you faced me. You see, I know I'm not weak… because I'm not human."
'N-not… human?' Claudius' eyes widened as he heard this deep revelation.
"I can take on whatever shape I want, while also possessing the abilities of those whose form I take. In essence…"
A flash of light sparked around Ater, and his form came into light as he crouched so he could somewhat be on the same level as Claudius.
The latter's eyes bulged as he looked at his reflection—the miserable old man he had become.
"… I can become you."
Ater had transformed into Claudius in every sense of the word, and upon seeing this, the old man felt his heart ache.
He truly… had sacrificed everything for nothing.
"I can also use all your abilities. There are a few limitations placed on my power, but that's how it works in simple terms."
Ater rose to his feet, transforming back into the handsome man he once was.
"You're… invincible…" Claudius croaked.
With such a power, Ater was at least in the realm of the Absolute.
There was no doubt about it in Claudius' mind.
"Am I really? Perhaps in some worlds, that would ring true. Even in this world, maybe…" Ater smirked, shaking his head as he circled around the despairing one.
"However, there exist beings who far transcend my current state."
"T-the Dragons…?"
"Yeah. I'll admit that there exist some that I can't beat right now. But all of it is only a matter of time."
"T-then—!"
"However, there is one that I couldn't possibly hope to beat no matter the passage of time."
Claudius could only make a guess at this point, but he muttered a response.
"Your… Master?"
"Precisely!"
He couldn't see Ater's face, but the way his eyes narrowed and from the sound of his tone, Claudius knew he was smiling.
He had more questions, and so he didn't hesitate to ask them.
There was nothing left to lose, after all.
"How strong… is your Master?"
"Let's just say he can do exactly what I can do and so much more." Ater's amused chuckle echoed in the dark.
However, this response only made Claudius all the more curious.
"Can you not simply transform into him and use his powers?"
"…"
"Or… is that one of your limitations?"
For a moment, there was silence among the two who conversed.
Then—
"I can indeed take on his form. My limitation prevents me from turning into anyone with a higher Class than me, so Master isn't off limits."
However, despite saying this, there was no tone of triumph in Ater's voice.
It was the opposite, actually.
"I can normally use all the Skills in my target's Arsenal—though if it is higher than my Class, then the effects will be proportionally reduced." Ater continued in his melancholy.
"However, there is one exception: The Primeval Tier."
Claudius was lost, once again.
To humans, the highest realm that existed was the Absolute one—meant for heroes and gods.
If there was to be any realm above that, then perhaps it would belong to wherever designed reality and existence itself.
A sort of Divine Realm.
But… what was this Primeval Tier that Ater spoke of?
"The bulk of Master's power exists within that Primeval Skill, and I can't access it. Isn't it amazing?!" Ater's melancholy quickly turned into amazement.
He cackled in delight and drowned in the pleasure of it.
"Master's power… is something I can never touch—a realm I won't ever reach."
According to the earlier definition Ater had given down, it only meant one thing.
"Compared to Master… I am WEAK!"
As Claudius looked at Ater, he could now understand—at least to an extent—why he had played with everyone so casually.
'We were really worth nothing, weren't we?'
Compared to the likes of this man and his Master… the humans of this world were really nothing but dust.
'It was my mistake.' Claudius finally admitted as his face fell. 'I made too many assumptions from the start.'
Power… true power wasn't something one had to sacrifice everything to possess.
It was a mandate.
"Are you even… a Necromancer?" Claudius asked in passing.
"No. I am a being of Chaos, so I can use the Chaos Art of Ancient MajiK. The Hollow Technique is simply one of those Arts."
"I… I see…"
"It seems I was allowed a Skill to summon the Undead in my stockpile, but that's about it. I doubt I'll be permitted to use any advanced Ancient MajiK here… not that I have enough energy to do so."
"I… see…"
"Out of everyone present, you were the most entertaining. At the very least, you managed to feed my pleasures for a while. You have my gratitude."
Claudius didn't know how to react towards being praised as a plaything.
He could only respond as he normally would.
"You're welcome."
For a moment, there was a lull in the area.
"So… what will happen to me now?" He asked with a bitter smile.
Claudius already knew he wouldn't be spared. Ater didn't seem like the kind of man who would show the likes of him any mercy.
"Well, I already made sure you would die and come back to me as an Undead. The effects should be taking place pretty soon."
Claudius' eyes widened as soon as he heard this.
"W-when…?"
"Earlier, when you were still in the dome of darkness."
"A-ahh…"
Claudius' body shivered as he recognized the truth. He stared at his hand and found it already pale.
His body was refusing to function, and he was collapsing on the ground.
The Ater that was in front of him was nowhere to be seen.
'I see. I was… dreaming again…'
There was never an Ater in front of him, and there was no conversation with a being of such magnitude.
All those complicated things had to be what his brain conjured up in the end.
'I… I was truly strong, wasn't I?'
With that as his final thought, Claudius slumped to the ground and met his end.
For a second, he remained like that—an old corpse, lying on the freezing floor of an empty street.
Then, his body jerked back to life.
He rose to his two feet and turned towards where he was called.
He had vacant eyes and an absolutely dull face, completely devoid of any will to live and stripped completely of all his desires.
All Claudius had become… was a slave.
********
"Pfft!"
Ater smiled as he saw Claudius approached the lump of flesh that was his comrades.
"I-is there anything funny?" Asher, who was still trembling beside him, asked.
In response to this, Ater simply shrugged.
"No. Not really."
As Ater stared at Claudius becoming one with the abominable fleshy Undead that everyone had merged into, he grinned in further amusement.
Soon, all five of the Heads of Destruction—along with the Wyvern—became one.
"I just had a rather fun conversation with someone through his mind."