"Weak and poor," Daz mumbled after he was done rifling through the pockets of the dead Truthians.

All he had found of any note was a ring he felt held some value. Everything else was junk of no worth to him.

Still, he chucked everything into his Industrial Item Box, almost filling it entirely due to the variety of stuff he'd pilfered.

'Other people could use these weapons and items, I'm sure. I should think about spending some time on getting wooden crates to store stuff in for times like this. At least then the crates would count as one item in my skill instead of dozens,' Daz thought as he took a closer look at that ring.

It was gold and had runes on its underside, hinting at it being magic in nature. "Crystal Digger's Master Identification."

Locked Lesser Ring of Holding [(Higher-tier) C-rank] Description

A simple yet expensive item produced by C&C Spatial Magic Masters Inc.

Its lock is hard to bypass and can only be opened by a true master locksmith despite the item's simplicity.

Honestly, I'm with you on this one for once. Why get an item when a skill is so much more secure? Well, provided that skill doesn't get cancelled out every other minute by bullshit powers.

Stats Durability: 997/1,000 Skills C&C's Lesser Holding

C&C's Lesser Holding Can store up to 10-cubic-metres' worth of items.

"Oh, interesting. The password's still in place, huh? I wonder what'll happen if I smash it to bits... Still, I'd rather not ruin a perfectly good item that someone like Rose or Maddy could use. Secret Override," he invoked, hoping to get lucky.

Randomly selected [Locked Lesser Ring of Holding] secret: The password is 'I Love Ponies'.

Daz chuckled unintentionally. "I can't imagine there are very many secrets for a ring like this to have but that's really the password? I love ponies?"

"What's a pony?" the icicle asked him.

He shook his head. He hadn't forgotten the crystal could sense, see, and even talk to him from its chamber in the palace but he was still a little taken aback by its sudden question.

He replied, "I'll explain later. It's an animal though."

"What's an animal?" it responded.

Daz sighed. "I'll explain later, okay? I'm a bit busy right now."

"... Okay," the icicle said a bit sadly.

A new host has been detected to have opened the [Locked Lesser Ring of Holding]. Do you wish to claim ownership of this item? If so, please choose a new password for it.

Y/N

"Yes, and let's go with..." Daz started saying and finished mentally, 'Rimmy is the best crystal.'

Immediately, he felt a link to the ring form in his mind. He could sever that link whenever he wanted to which was nice since he had no plans to keep the item.

He scanned its insides and saw packed rations, folded up tents and other such odds and ends. One thing, however, caught his attention. "What do we have here..."

----------------------------------------

'The gate should almost be done getting set up by now,' Cardinal Matthew thought to himself as he paced around the gateway chamber entrance.

He had booked it out entirely for his own use both yesterday, today, and tomorrow, for one special purpose.

Finally, he would stop the senseless losses to the cold and rid the church of one of its current primary hindrances.

No one knew where the blistering weather came from, really. There were just portals scattered about that led to its source. Unbreakable portals. Not even God's Will could dispel them.

Matthew had already lost two full teams of promising initiates due to the damned things.

Today, or tomorrow, that stopped. He was already losing favour with Mother Danielle over this as it was.

If he wasn't the third strongest cardinal then he feared his position might have been stripped of him over this matter already.

'Why does so much stand in the way of the Truth? First that Billard fool, then the young hothead of a king to the west, now these snowstorms that block us from expanding to Canada!' Matthew felt sick.

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

It was wrong for the grace of the one True God to be impeded from so many angles. Fools around every corner, ignorant to the fact that they fought against what was only right. What was only True.

Matthew ran a hand through his receding hairline as he stared at the gateway that still wasn't open yet.

'I know they were young and their faith wasn't as firm as most, but they were competent. They can't have failed to set up a simple gateway. I cannot have another failure under my name. God will not allow it!' he proclaimed in his mind.

Just then, the structure flickered to life, revealing a snow-covered land beyond it. A smile bloomed on the cardinal's face.

With hurried steps, he went right through the gateway.

"I know the storm drops infrequently, but what took so long to set up a simple ga-" he stopped himself from saying anything further.

His subordinates were there, oh yes, they were there, just not as he had expected them to be. They had been skewered anus to mouth on pikes and every one of them was as dead as the world of old.

Matthew could hear some breathing coming from above him. He entered his most alert state and grabbed the book at his waist. He immediately readied himself to deliver divine Truth unto a sinner.

"Sorry it took so long," a calm voice said. "I fucked it up three times before I got it right. I didn't expect a cardinal to wander through it though. Am I lucky or unlucky?"

"High King Crowthorne... You should not be here," Cardinal Matthew said as he opened his holy tome and began chanting internally.

It made no sense. Of course the higher-ups of the church had considered a possible sneak attack of some sort.

It was more than possible for the cold and collected monarch of New Earth to infiltrate their lands and attack several key points before he could be stopped.

That had all been evaluated but the man and all three of his clones had been accounted for. Him being here was literally impossible.

"Who are you and why don't you get a bit closer?" Cardinal Matthew asked seriously.

The man who wore the face of High King Crowthorne waved his hand. The next moment, a sharp noise filled the cardinal's ears.

He quickly jumped to the side only to barely dodge a dozen or so arm-length and ultra-thin needles.

"Good. You didn't protect the gateway," the monarch impersonator said in relief. "I was worried you'd call for aid. One of you cardinals is quite enough, thank you. I'm speaking from experience."

The cardinal didn't dare look behind him but he had heard the device that had brought him here collapsing. A minor issue. He could simply use one of this place's own portals to escape once he had handled this mess.

"Enough of your nonsense!" Matthew yelled. His mental chants were finished at this point.

Several spells layered themselves together and then conjoined on his body, giving him the power of free flight as well as a few other surprises this impersonator would surely find enjoyable.

He soared towards the floating man, hoping the get him within 50-metres of range.

Shaking his head, the lookalike backed away just as quickly as Matthew approached. "No. The last time I got within range of a cardinal, I barely escaped with my life. You'll have to stop me yourself if you wish to strip me of the system."

He moved his hand again and about forty more needles began pursuing Matthew. "Annoying. You mimic his abilities well. Is that what you are? A changeling or mimic of some sort? Truly, God allows many weird and fantastical creations to walk upon his True Earth."

The man wearing the flesh of High King Crowthorne chuckled. "Does it never bother you?"

"Does what never bother me?" Cardinal Matthew asked as several runes flew out of his tome and flew towards the man at a blistering speed.

The man tried to deflect the runes with his shovel. An unwise move. Matthew watched as he quickly frowned when the man realised the weight of his tool had increased 400 fold - 100 fold per rune.

All Matthew needed was for one or two runes to hit the man and this fight would be over. That wouldn't take much more effort, surely.

"Dangerous. Well, no point holding Hamson if he's just going to gain weight," the young man said with a shake of his head.

He let go of the shovel and it followed him through the air as if it had a mind of its own. "Now, what did you ask? Ah, what never bothers you. Making an assumption that holds a smidge of merit and then just believing it to be true regardless of whatever evidence presents itself thereafter."

He then grinned at Matthew. "Please, if you know of a person who can perfectly copy another person's appearance, skills, strengths, even god-ranked skills, give me an introduction, would you? I'd love to hire them."

Matthew frowned and slowly came to a halt. This chase was going nowhere and he was draining his Divine Power by pushing his flight speed so much so quickly.

The young man followed suit, making sure to not come within 50-metres of him. "You truly are High King Daz then? How?"

"Oh, an open mind. Now that was unexpected. The other cardinal... I never did get her name. She was too busy being a psychopath trying to slaughter my citizens like the demon she was," Daz Crowthorne stated coldly and with a hidden fury buried in his tone.

The Archreaper scoffed and added, "I will tell you nothing except that today, the Church of Truth loses another of its powerhouses."

"... Gracy. Her name was Gracy. Mine is Matthew. I'm sorry for what you've had to endure but it is only just when you plot and scheme to destroy our faith," Matthew said as he raised his open hand.

He outstretched his fingers then clasped them down into a fist. A powerful gravital suction flowed from his tome, through his body, and out of his hand.

Like a coin to a magnet, Daz Crowthorne rocketed through the air. Not a moment passed before his neck was placed firmly in Matthew's hand.

The monarch didn't panic nor beg for his life. Unexpected, but respectable in Matthew's eyes. "Know that this is not personal, High King Daz Crowthorne, assuming you truly are him. I wish you peace and prosperity when you reach His side."

"May I say something first?" the young monarch requested.

Matthew had already won. All of the man's system access had been cut off. All that remained was a small fraction of his power that somehow still belonged to him, such as his ability to ignore God's Truth.

Thankfully, Matthew didn't need God's Truth to kill this man. A swift contraction of his hand would snap the frail neck he held and end the young man's life. "Very well. Say your final words."

High King Crowthorne smiled. "First, I fight your faith because it tears families apart and murders without any valid reasoning beyond 'God willed it'."

It was then that Matthew's ears started ringing and a boiling pain spewed forth from his chest.

Slowly looking down as he sputtered blood, he saw the end of a sword poking out of his ribcage. He could feel it. His heart had been cut right through.

Even his means of surviving such an attack was gone, somehow. He could not activate it. He was dying.

Strength faded from him as his vision blurred. High King Crowthorne pried himself free from his grasp before he cracked his neck and fixed his collar.

He held the top of Matthew's head to stop him from falling down to the snow below. A deep sense of power and pride oozed from his brown emotion-filled eyes.

He leaned down and whispered into Matthew's ears, "And secondly, I'm not alone."

'Ah... I see... I see...' A smile of regret and defeat sprung forth on the cardinal expression.

He looked right into High King Crowthorne's eyes and cried as he laughed. "I see..."

----------------------------------------

"Dead?!" Madison yelled from a safe distance away.

Daz's hair returned to its grey state along with his eye colour, his halo and everything else.

"Yes, great job, Maddy. I couldn't have done it better myself," he said softly. "You don't need to yell, by the way."

He pointed at his left ear, "High Dexterity. I can hear you just fine like how you can hear me just fine."

Madison's face turned red a bit as she approached him, using her incorporeal wings to fly.

"Hard, kill," Madison claimed.

Daz raised an eyebrow as he stored the corpse. "How so? Also, Icicle, you did great too. Can you open a portal leading to the throne room for us? You can stop containing the storm now as well. Sorry for taking a bit over an hour."

"Okay. No problem, and, uh, thank you. It feels nice to be praised," it replied honestly.

Madison stayed by his side as they returned to the throne room and said, "Skill, safe, life. Had, to, quickly, alter. Was, hard."

"Ah, that makes sense. I was surprised one attack was all it took, in truth. Good thing though he was too focused on me to sense you creeping up on him. I was pretty scared he'd kill you," Daz confessed as he placed himself upon the frozen throne.

Madison pouted with her eyes. "Trust, me. I'm, strong. Sneaky, too."

He nodded. "As proven mere moments ago."

Daz then patted his lap. "Come here. I could use a cuddle."

The throne room was empty at this point besides the still-sleeping twins so Madison had no reservations about cosying up to him.

When she was firmly on his lap, he wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her passionately. "A new mythical city, an upgrade for your sword, new armour for me, lost souls returned to Earth, a dead cardinal. I'd say today's been pretty fucking brilliant. What do you say, Maddy?"

She used her Ember of Expression to smile gorgeously and then said, "Very, brilliant."