Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1450: The ’Loophole’ In Doom Factor 2

"Hey, now that I think about it, if you've lived two whole years since leaving Aigas, how come Doom Factor 2 didn't affect you? We only have seven days left before it's supposed to drive us mad."

In response to the inquiry, Future Skullius looked immensely disappointed. He had expected Skullius to figure it out on his own.

Instead of giving his counterpart a heavy, likely infuriating response, he gave him a respectable practical lesson.

His body sparked with hundreds of small, disjointed sparks of Ju`wtte, and then, like before, Skullius found himself far away, wondering how and when he had been moved.

The great disk of light that was Aigas was nowhere to be seen and they were deeper into the darkness. It was hard to sense things in the great void. Skullius could just barely make out the presence of floating objects and living creatures howling and screeching perhaps light years away.

Future Skullius was beside him. The throngs of Ju`wtte died from him.

'We didn't warp here. I would have felt it,' Skullius thought, disturbed. 'That was pure speed.'

The lingering evidence of motion he felt reminded him of his battle with the Doom Knight earlier. That thing's speed was insane. When it really moved, Skullius couldn't see it. For him and his crew to stand a chance, they had had to move the creature to dimensions that they could control like the Null Remnants and Kenno's Territory.

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Future Skullius raised a hand and swept the darkness over him with his fingers.

To Skullius' absolute shock, the darkness receded somewhat, revealing a massive band of energy, drawn especially taut. It pulsed and thrummed, shimmering with green and white. Only a portion of it was revealed, but at once, Skullius could tell that it ran through the entire great void.

"Is that a…?"

"The physical manifestation of a Consternal? Yes," Future Skullius answered the unfinished question. "At some point, you'll be able to compel the void to move away so you can see them too."

Skullius looked horror-struck.

The phrase 'compel the void to move away' sent a shiver down his spine.

"Err… you probably don't know this, but…" Skullius began.

"I know. Void wants us dead," said Future Skullius reassuringly. "Don't worry. She won't attack us. She can't do so with her body. Her freedom is more limited than you think. She'd have to employ someone to do it for her if she wanted us dead. But even then, we have sufficient protection."

Skullius strained.

It was uncanny to have such a know-it-all replica like this. Suddenly, he found himself wondering what would happen if he had to fight this replica too.

Would he end up victorious like when he fought his other possessed self?

The answer was obvious.

"Anyway," said Future Skullius as he rubbed a finger against the Consternal. "All time is based on this. Some worlds made by stronger Deities can create a close relationship with the Real Flow – the exact measure of time that has passed since this reality was created. It's the standard for tracking events for everything outside worlds."

"Consternals are the broadest demarcations, but Deities can create their own in the world they create - time. The weaker a world is, the greater the disparity between the Real Flow and the Flow in that world."

"Believe it or not, there are some worlds out there – some made by Primeval Deities – that use the Real Flow. That means, there is no disparity between the flow of events between the Flow in that world, and the Real Flow."

Skullius nodded. He couldn't decide if he was intrigued or terrified.

Future Skullius had explained this concept before. Time moved faster in weak worlds when compared to stronger worlds even if the standard measurements of the different worlds were the same; for instance, if Aigas and Faaminl both had days that were equal to 24 hours.

The beings in a world where time moved quicker also died quicker by the wider reality standards. They expended energy faster, leaving the Deities who made them at a disadvantage. Said Deities would need to keep expending energy to create more living beings.

"I'm sure you can guess. Deities have to keep their worlds alive by constantly producing living creatures, but if those living creatures die too quickly as a result of the rapid passage of time…" Future Skullius said and he poked the Consternal and sighed. He seemed tired of talking already. "But that's a tangent. Essentially, the time limit denoted by the guidance field correlates to the Real Flow. The countdown on Doom Factor 2 was adjusted when I landed in the weaker world I live in now."

"I see." He had gathered as much as soon as Future Skullius started exploring the intimate details about Consternals. "Let me guess, it's VOW's way of giving us a fighting chance, right?"

Future Skullius gave a soft smile and patted Skullius' shoulder, little-bro-style.

"That's right. Technically, as long as we hop from one weak world to another, we can extend the time we need to prepare for a battle against Somanda. And by 'we', I mean you."

And indeed, that was the case.

The timer for Doom Factor was based on Consternals, but VOW made it so that it adjusted according to the passage of time in a world Skullius resided in. It was a little gift, one could say. Another favor granted to Serenity by VOW.

This gift would lose its effect if Skullius stayed in the great void too long, though. The amount of time he actually had before he went mad wasn't all that much.

"So, you brought us both here while knowing we would be losing precious time?" said Skullius as he pushed away Future Skullius' hand.

"It's negligible time at best. Besides, this is the best way to interfere with the connection between us and Somanda. Here, he is less likely to possess you when Doom Factor 2 activates. It takes a special level skill to precisely use long-range powers – like that body possession nonsense – in a place as chaotic as the great void. Believe me. It's easier in a stable place like a world. I didn't want Somanda snooping in on our conversation. It serves us well for him to remain blind, especially considering what you want me to do."

Skullius made an 'O' of realization and surprise with his mouth before frowning.

"You already know what I'm going to ask you to do?"

"I have a few guesses," said Future Skullius as he covered up the Consternal he had revealed. "You might as well say it though."

Skullius considered him before answering.

"Alright," he said, "As we are on the subject of Somanda…"

He exposed a green Legendary-grade skeletal artefact: SoSei.

"You can finish up with this. Somanda already knows I plan to use this against him now since he possessed me. But he can't possess you. He won't know what modifications you are going to add. Even I wasn't sure how it would be done. But I trust you know the individual we need to reach out to."

For the first time, Future Skullius grinned.

"That's right. There was this. I had almost forgotten about it."