'The Absolute Sun…' Skullius thought at once.

ABBON, SVEERCUSK, and DRADPAS had not been exaggerating. The aftereffects of the Acceleration were too chaotic and unpredictable. They would throw everything into disarray, and naturally, the biggest stakeholders for order were the Primordial Deities – the YOMMR`, to be precise.

If Divines were skirting AKHASHA's Contract left and right, random Deities who were recently deceased suddenly springing back to life, then indeed, it only made sense that the Primevals would be unsettled.

"I see…" said Skullius.

He'd come up with a theory on the spot for one possible way the full brunt of the Absolute Sun – of Litte – could revive someone from death. The Acceleration prompted by the power of the Sun worked on all other aspects of the |Greater Cosmic Law|. Time would accelerate, life and death would accelerate. Aspects of the law didn't have clear distinctions, especially ones like the Immors – clear definitions of where life began and ended, and likewise for death. When an aspect like the Immors was accelerated, making contact with it could lead to a swift revival, Skullius imagined, if the Broader Existence wasn't completely destroyed, of course.

'Hmmm,' he mused before considering the Deity, Paliothese.

"How could I possibly be the hope of some criminal who was sentenced to death?" he said with a false note of disgust, and just as he'd expected…

I was not! I was a victim of cruelty! No one deserves to die the way I did! Paliothese used his Amras to shine a spotlight on an unsuspecting Intha. Ask him why he is here – truly. I had heavily doubted that a random cohort of weak wanderers would fly anywhere near a Zwein Vortex. I realized only recently – when I interrogated him – that he was one of several pirates paid off by Navvexr to confirm my whereabouts and whether or not I was well and truly dead.

…!

This revelation forced a visceral reaction from Pell and Kiek. Only they were out of the loop about this. For once, they mustered the strength to speak out of place in Paliothese's presence.

"I-is it true?" said Pell, his pupil the size of a hairpin. "Please say it isn't true."

When someone from his crew nodded robotically, confirming it in Intha's stead, Pell howled.

"NO!"

"All this time… We didn't randomly get swiped by the Vortex? You got paid for this?" Kiek cried. She clutched Intha's arm. "But… you were the one who said to stay as far away from the Stellars as possible! That's what you taught us on the very first day we joined."

"And not just any Stellar…" Pell stressed, becoming bloodshot. "The Aspire to Divine?! Thyrgga is one of its leaders?! Are you insane? Why would you—"

"They said they would pay us generously!" roared Intha, pulling his arm free from Kiek. "It was supposed to be an easy job! A one-and-done! None of you would have needed to know the details if you just…" He tossed his head this way and that in frustration.

The Stars and Void users were just as baffled by this revelation.

"It's never as simple as it looks," murmured Elita.

"Apparently…" Kintar seconded the notion glumly.

"Sounds callous." When Skullius spoke, everyone else went back to being silent, quelling their outbursts. "Then, if you don't mind, why don't you tell me why exactly you believe you were wrongfully sentenced. What was this secret of yours that was discovered?"

Unlike before, Paliothese didn't rush to answer.

First, I must know if you are at all willing to help me. It will be meaningless for me to reveal everything only for you to refuse. The price I will have to pay is hefty.

"What do you mean?" Skullius said. "Just how valuable is this secret?"

Quite valuable, after all, not even the Primeval Deities know.

…!

"I see." At once, Skullius mobilized such an immense amount of Ju`wtte that everything was dyed merigold for an instant. A breath later, the Stars, the Void users, and the pirates were in the Empyrean Bosom, outside the Hatcher.

Skullius and Paliothese, on the other hand, were on the Hatcher's Second Layer. A third person was among them. Savast.

Skullius held his shoulder. "I need to use your mind for a few minutes."

Before the former Cluster General could react, a violent wad of darkness exploded from Skullius and snuck into his body through his eyes, nose, and mouth.

Crude World Injection.

Skullius' body slowly slumped and sat in a black chair that materialized right before it dropped to the floor.

Savast drew a deep breath. His eyes were black, swimming with [Evil Darkness]. He was Savast no more.

"Hmm…" hummed Skullius contemplatively as he tested his compatibility with Savast's body.

'Those socketholes probably can't spy if I do it this way.'

Using the Mind Casting Class power, he wove a channel using Savast's mental energy stores and linked it to his mind (the one in his own body). Only after doing that did he open a path into the Mobile Maverick Library and warp Paliothese's large head inside, leaving his Hybrid Warmoth in the Second Layer. Apexis followed, hovering over Savast's body.

Skullius surmised that the Primeval Deities intended to use him as a spy. The trace of Conste DRADPAS had left on his Doom Factor was the mechanism he assumed she would use to watch everything around him when he slipped into Breaking Chasm #59. Thus, it was reasonable to assume that she couldn't continue to intrude on his privacy if he hopped bodies and went somewhere secure.

But as an added measure, Skullius connected a mental channel from Savast to his real body so that he could pass on the information he was about to receive directly into his original mind as well. The connection was not severed even when he entered the Library.

That quaint space, with a pristine white floor and ceiling, as well as mostly unoccupied bookshelves, welcomed even the immense Deity head without a problem.

This was one space Skullius was confident wasn't so easy for the Primeval Deities to probe because it hardly counted as an alternative space that could be looked into. It was akin to a Broader Existence. The only way to reach it was by going through Skullius or, more specifically, Apexis.

This was the genius of the Maverick Wafers.

"We are well hidden in here. You can say all you want," Skullius said.

Paliothese found it difficult to trust those words so quickly, especially with Skullius talking through a different face and voice. He was more acquainted with the true power of the Primeval Deities than Skullius was. Wasn't it only right for him to worry?

Are you certain?

"I won't repeat myself," said Skullius staunchly.

Paliothese hesitated still, but he decided to trust Skullius… or at the very least that he didn't resurrect just to die a meaningless death so soon after.

I am a Prime Worlder...

…!

It was no easy trick, fleeing the borders of that… paradise, but I did it anyway, and wound up within a Breaking Chasm under the protection of Momen Thyrgga. But Prime Worlders are the quintessential incarnations of what the Aspire to Divine hates so much. We are children of the Primeval Deities. I didn't even get a chance to explain myself before I was killed.

"A Prime Worlder…" said Skullius, thinking on the term.

Everything regarding how Prime Worlders were seen by the Aspire to Divine was accurate, as far as Skullius could tell) from Boron's experiences, but…

"Why did you flee if your home was a 'paradise'?" he asked.

That… is something I wish you'll excuse me from answering, said Paliothese solemnly, but before Skullius could find offense in his response, he quickly added, Someone else can do that for me. He has just as much fervour as I do, but the prospect of a longer life. There is no comparison. He can articulate the horrors of paradise infinitely better than I can.

Skullius scowled.

"I take it this… person has to do with what you want me to do for you?"

Indeed, said Paliothese. His heavy sigh echoed through Skullius' soul. My son. He is paying for my sins in Breaking Chasm #59. To honour my service, Thyrgga spared him at my request, as he was very young, but he underestimated the child. Please, save my boy, and he will serve you well.