'My suspicions were correct then. It was never Kenno's fault…' Skullius thought. His senses drew taut, and his presence sharpened to the extreme. Amras surged from him, condensing and limning every chord of muscle in his body and every fiber of his soul. He even mobilized the extra Focused Null Life Ota he'd generated for himself.

…But all this only barely allowed him to withstand the almighty pressure that suddenly fell into the Hatcher like some cosmic mass wider than his own imagination. It spilled from a place he couldn't sense with his Hybrid Warmoth form, shaking the entire Bosom and threatening to wipe it out of existence in a breath.

Skullius' brows furrowed.

He readied the [Avant Atelier], the [Numinous Ichor] he wore as armour, and the two entities he'd forged just earlier, the nexus of the [Circuit of Impunity], IN and MU.

Only then did Skullius feel secure and confident in his chances of surviving.

He chanced a glance at the throne encircled by great silver rings.

Given the situation, he could now…

The voice, different from the first Skullius had heard, came just when an incomprehensible figure appeared before him. His eyes could hardly make out its shape. It was like an amalgam of an infinite number of the same individual doing multiple actions at the same time.

…But then two more appeared, and Skullius was surrounded.

It was that first, condescending voice, speaking in Aigas' Common Tongue.

Just like that, noting which voice belonged to which obscure, humanoid mass became a nigh-impossible feat. Skullius stopped trying to discern that immediately.

'The Hatcher is vulnerable, as I suspected, even though the Second Layer is rich with Litte. The fact remains that the third and first layers have no protection,' he thought.

This was why he'd opted to use the Timemould Mirror Box for everything he wished to remain completely secret. As powerful as the Power of Dimensions was, it was unable to pierce places suffused with dense amounts of the Cosmic Law.

'They must have been watching from before we left Aigas. Kenno is evidence enough.'

"Might you introduce yourselves?" said Skullius.

said one of the three – the kinder one.

Indeed, Skullius recalled all these names. Most of the Primeval Deities had offered him Contracts when he created Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz.

"I see," he said. "My name and identity is no mystery to you, I imagine. Please to meet you."

He folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Now, what business might you have with me?"

said SVEERCUSK.

"I do, actually," said Skullius. And he did indeed. "My clone made a Contract with COLMUUN, and he's been keeping you off my back, right?"

SVEERCUSK scoffed.

said DRADPAS, sounding relieved.

ABBON-RIGGIE agreed.

Skullius didn't buy that.

Indeed, Future Skullius had told him that he'd (Skullius) made a lot of enemies when he took his sweet time attending to the Contracts the Primevals had offered back on Aigas. To remedy that issue, Future Skullius had signed a Contract with COLMUUN, one of the most powerful among the Primevals. COLMUUN had since drawn attention away from Skullius… for a while.

Skullius knew why that ceased to be the case now.

"If you're not here to attend to some grudge, what then?" he asked.

It was ABBON-RIGGIE who answered.

The lightness in ABBON-RIGGIE's tone contrasted their words in an unnerving way.

Skullius raised a brow. "And so… AKHASHA's got his eye on me, even though it wasn't my doing?"

said SVEERCUSK, annoyed.

chimed in DRADPAS.

"Bargain?"

began ABBON-RIGGIE.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1677.)

"I see…" said Skullius. Kenno's fears had come to life, but Skullius had been prepared. "What is the life of my subordinate worth? What do you want in exchange?"

It wouldn't do to antagonize the Primevals. Not now, when they were trying to be amicable. Two of them were even talking to him as somewhat of an equal. But their price…

said DRADPAS.

scoffed SVEERCUSK.

Skullius frowned. This price…

"What is it?"

said ABBON-RIGGIE.