"What a young ruffian I was," Exodus muttered, shaking his head.
"The cruelty I expressed against my adversaries was too excessive. No wonder the Deformed Sword grew such a fear of me."
"But, that still doesn't explain how it managed to create an imitation, however weak, of an Ancient God. Especially one who vanished five hundred years ago, long before I fell into the lake."
"Indeed, it doesn't at all," Pangea repeated, glancing over at the Deformed Sword, which was quivering so much on the ground it had chipped itself.
The Refinement Spirit, Higlan, had even sealed itself inside the blade, out of absolute terror. Exodus saw this and stared at the anguished blade in pity.
The gleam into his memories made him recall more of his past and he remembered a bit of Azotoc's eccentrics and personality.
"Out of us all, he was the most intrigued by the Void Barrier. With him, it could be feasible to find a way beyond it…"
Balet rubbed his face and slowly grunted out of confusion and subtle anger, noticing their looks in the direction of the Deformed Sword, implying they wanted to take it with them.
"You two come here, make a mess of my plans by destroying all the corpses I gathered, and now you want my blade?"
After peering into the memories of the Deformed Sword and scarcely understanding what he saw, the only thing he garnered was to hush his tone in the presence of Exodus, now knowing that this figure was not a being he could even afford to mess with. But Balet wasn't genuinely afraid of him, as he hadn't figured out who he was yet.
"Listen… I understand, sort of, that you two are distant to me in terms of strength, and either one of you can kill me, but I'm sure there's no need for you to interfere with my business."
"Indeed, you aren't anything of interest to me," Exodus said.
"But… I want to know something about this blade, so do you care to tell me?" Exodus inquired, striding nigher with every step.
"Well… I have no reason not to oblige. I've had this blade since around about ten years ago. I found it in the lair of a Dark Incarnation, I believe."
Exodus' eyes dilated and he gripped Balet's shoulders with lightning speed, his heart jumping with alarm.
"Where, exactly?"
"How… how should I know? I found the sword so long ago that I can't even recall..."
Exodus turned to Pangea, but she shook her head.
"I won't be able to extract the place he found the sword in from his memories, since that memory won't be reachable anymore in his mind if he had forgotten."
"Which means, I guess we'll have to visit the lairs of the Dark Incarnations, one by one. We're on the way to visit the Imoogi anyway, so it shouldn't be too costly on our journey anyway."
Exodus shook his head, a lively glisten in his eyes. Meanwhile, the mention of the Imoogi sent chills down the spine of Balet, who most certainly knew who that was.
"You… you two are visiting the Imoogi?! No, wait, you guys know where he lives in the first place?" Balet questioned, his heart jumping out of his chest.
The chance of meeting the Dark Incarnations, the disasters of the current era was nigh impossible. Unthinkable, even. They all remained in hiding, and, thankfully so, as they were vicious beasts on par with the Gods, Divine Sages and other mystical beings.
However, Balet's question was gracefully ignored by the pair, who discussed how helpful Azotoc would be towards the journey beyond the Void Barrier.
"…With the added help of an Ancient God, especially one who managed to think up that [Divine Machinery] schtick, finding a way past the Void Barrier should be much easier," Exodus said, earning a long glance from Pangea.
"…You mean, he was the one to formulate Divine Machinery?"
"Indeed."
Pangea scrutinized him, to see if he was lying, and then looked amused.
"…I change my mind. Unquestionably, it would do us much good if we discovered his whereabouts before the journey beyond the Void Barrier."
"How should it?"
"Well, such keepers of profound wisdom and knowledge are limitless in terms of curiosity, and especially the being who could single-handedly make the lands flourish with such marvellous technology, so who knows? He may have found a way already."
"But, in your current state, you may not be able to even match the Dark Incarnations."
"They are similar to the same level as you Catastrophes, and I see that Nihilism has latched onto your soul and weakened you to an extent, which explains your present state. It was no wonder you blundered against the High General, whom you should have dispatched with just the swing of your tail."
"…It'll be fine," Exodus replied.
"If I just withstand and resist it when I battle, it won't affect me too much. What I'm focused on now is that I'll finally be able to find out what came to pass for that Ancient God."
Pangea nodded, before swiftly flipping to Balet, who held the Deformed Sword in his hands, trying to extrapolate why it was so adamantly refusing to unleash any power.
He assumed that it wouldn't be so startled because he tried to use its strength in front of that fearsome individual, but was ascertained to be wrong.
"Hold on. I'm quite interested in the runes tattooed all over your body. What are they for, and what are the corpses for too?" Pangea said, prying into his secrets.
"…I'm hunting the Twelve Cauldron Lords," Balet replied, glancing at them with slight apprehension.
"They've lately fully lost their status as Demigods, after trying to capture a chunk of the kingdom, around ten thousand people, and refining all of the captives into one singular [Refinement Human], yet failing, harshly weakening them."
"A Refinement Human is also… the type of existence I am. My body's physical output, as a result of that, far exceeds that of an ordinary human."
"…Interesting. How did they get replaced?" Exodus questioned.
"Well, there are around one hundred Demigods out and about in the world, right? They are all around the same level of strength, which makes sense as to why they all have the status of Demigods."
"But, the Twelve Cauldron Lords, especially after trying to turn themselves into Refined Humans, have grown too weak."
"This is why I believe I have a chance at slaying them, once and for all. Because, after I absorb enough corpses and complete myself, I will have a chance, albeit a small one, to be able to exact my vengeance against them."
"But… the amount of corpses I collected until now is barely enough to complete myself. If I truly want strength that is enough to surely kill them, I need thousands of corpses, or, the remains of extremely powerful beings, like you two… as an example."
"…What an upset, Forlorn Ash King! You have grown weaker than I ever would have expected," Pangea said.
"You were even struggling, for a moment, against an opponent weaker than yourself when you were young."
Exodus shook, clenching his fist in realisation. Now, he had a full grasp on his present strength, which was far weaker than he was at his peak.
"…Agreed. I really must get into the habit of clashing against powerful adversaries again."
Pangea gazed upwards.
"About that talk of powerful adversaries… you mean, hah, stronger than the adversaries approaching right this instant?"
The horns of a Grand Battleship bellowed, and its presence pierced through the skies, alongside not a fleet, but an armada of flying battleships.
These battleships were all capable of flight due to Azotoc's Divine Machinery, which he had even taught mortal beings how to produce through a [Divine Revelation], a facet of all mystical beings.
And, they were led by the 8th High General, who was once a [Bestial Dominator], a high-ranking authority of the [Berserker Tribes] that live in the wildernesses all across the world.
His golden follicles, streaked orange, came down in a drape behind his back, and he wore leather armour, woven with the pelts of animals and beasts, quite resembling the styles of the barbarians, and henceforth, the 5th High General, France Donvi. He also wielded a plain broadsword, which lacked even basic enchantments on it.
"LORD OF ASHES!" He roared, echoing deep into the chasm.
"I, Manore Zealon, have come to claim your head! For my pride, and the sake of the kingdom, be motionless, and die peacefully!"
"Do not underestimate him," Pangea advised Exodus.
"This is the decision of the Majesty of the Gange Kingdom, with an intellect far more brilliant than even a scholar, after the outcome of your battle with another High General. He may still be testing the waters, but even then…"
"At the moment, you are quite obviously not in the best of conditions, and, the ranks of the High Generals aren't decided on strength, but loyalty. So, prepare well. I'm expecting that we can annihilate them easily."
Exodus inhaled and breathed out, before staring down the opposition.
"Don't underestimate me either. It is not by chance that I obtained the title of Catastrophe, let me remind you of that."
Exodus transformed into a wyvern and flew into the air, followed by Pangea, and Balet soon after, who seemed to have seen something that caught his immediate curiosity.
"Hmph! He dares to try and hunt me?"
"After I exterminate you, I'll make sure to go to the kingdom and erase that defiled Majesty myself."