Basillius had just led Catherine and the Atteni to the bridge of the massive ship. As soon as the door fell away the group saw dozens of people swiping, typing, or tapping at the air while sitting in their chairs. There was nothing in front of them, instead, their workstation was being projected for them through their own eyes like an AR interface. The large hall was completely silent, but the Atteni noticed that the people seemed to be nodding along and gesticulating as if in conversation.

For the Atteni it was a somewhat surreal experience as they were used to the typical hustle and bustle that went on on the bridge of the scientific vessels they usually rode. They could tell that it was still a lively atmosphere, yet it was eerily silent creating an odd and somewhat uncomfortable contrast.

Basillius led them through the room garnering the gazes of the crew within. The normally quiet and disciplined crew couldn't help but murmur to themselves in wonder as they noticed the tiny aliens that resembled mice trailing behind the comparatively mountainous Basillius.

Suddenly a man dressed in a resplendent black uniform dotted with various medals jumped down from a higher platform and landed with a metallic 'thunk' in front of Basillius. The man struck an imperial salute the second he landed and called out, "All salute! We pave the way for his glory!"

An expression of hopelessness crossed Basillius's features as he walked over and patted Aurelius's shoulder, "Thank you, Aurelius... Though, for the billionth time... If you want to salute, that's fine. But this is just so.. extravagant."

Aurelius gazed at the hand resting on his shoulder with an almost fanatical reverence before gazing up at Basillius, beaming with joy. "Yes, my liege! I will strive to further improve!"

The mountainous Emperor gave him a small smile and turned away, continuing to an empty area of the bridge. Catherine walked up beside him and peeked up at him, "Didn't know you were teaching them how to do 'superhero-landing' salutes!"

Basillius simply groaned and waved her away as he concentrated on getting a table and chairs created for the Atteni in the empty corner. The corner was quickly populated with a long table dotted with various pieces of technology and surrounded by luxurious chairs. Three of them were Atteni-sized and one was for Catherine. The group looked back at Basillius in confusion, "Are you not gonna take a seat here?" Catherine asked.

Basillius looked down at them with a warm smile, "No, Catherine. I'll be over periodically for sure but I have to go work on helping Aurelius keep his attention on the fleet. If I stayed over here the fleet wouldn't have its commander. He's a good kid, just... easily excitable when it comes to me."

So'Ran quirked his eyebrow as he listened in, "Um... Lord Basillius? That Aurelius looked to be a grown man, same as you? How is he a child?"

Basillius chuckled to himself, "Pretty much everyone is a kid to me. Think nothing of it."

This perplexed So'Ran even more, "If everyone is a kid to you... How old are you?"

A flash of concern crossed his features as he rubbed his chin in thought. "That... That is a good question... Well, in the flow of time in this universe I'm around a thousand-ish... But, I was trapped in the veil for so long that I lost count of the years. I probably spent somewhere around a hundred thousand years or so in the veil. So, I'm pretty old."

The three Atteni were completely stunned. So'Ran immediately dropped to the floor and prostrated himself before Basillius. His actions were quickly followed by the other two as he spoke, "Venerable Lord Basillius! You are a god after all! Not only do you have an astounding age, but you survived for so long in the veil with your physical body! There can be no doubt now!"

Basillius felt a headache coming on as he listened to the fervor with which So'Ran spoke. "No. Not a god. We just went over this. So tell me, why does my survival in the veil mean I am a god? I'm sure others have managed to survive for some period of time at least. There's apparent;y an entire galaxy of people who know about the veil after all. I might be the only Human to have done it, but surely not the only living being to do so, and even if that's the case... that doesn't make me a god."

So'Ran looked up in confusion, "Did you not have to fight with the demons? Those who died whether god or mortal and were corrupted by the veil into demons of pure destruction and death? Never in a hundred thousand years?"

A light of understanding filled Basillius's gaze, "Ahhhhh! Those. Yes, I did fight them. They weren't all that strong but whenever you kill them without using magic they just revive endlessly. Because of that, they were definitely a bit of an issue until I knocked some sense into Maleficus and woke her up from her insanity. Ah right, Maleficus is-"

So'Ran cut him off, "WHAT!? MALEFICUS!? The mad goddess of death?!?!"

Basillius scratched his head as he felt a little awkward like he had just stepped on their faith."Guess you already know her... Well, she's not 'mad' anymore. I hit her in the head a few times and she woke up from whatever was afflicting her. I had just thought she was a particularly strong veil abomination but after she woke up she was pretty awesome. She taught me magic and such." As he said that he held out his hand and a small pale-green flame appeared in the palm of his hand. "See?"

So'Ran studied the flame as if it was some divine instrument. "Yes! Yes indeed! This is truly a purging flame! But... wait... Why do you still claim you are not a god? You've explicitly admitted to purging demons on your own which is a feat that is rather impossible for a mortal already... Not only that but you claim to have defeated the goddess of death and hatred herself. Honestly, now that I've put some thought into it your story is nearly impossible. Even if you were a god, you could not defeat the one who holds the authority of death. Even during the age of gods, she was supposed to be the best warrior amongst all the gods."

So'Ran looked like he was going over a million thoughts a minute as he started considering each and every prospective possibility. Basillius knelt down and got his attention. "I've said it before and I'll say it again, I am not a god. I am also not a liar. I don't know how you're familiar with the veil and the various beings that call it home, I don't know what your religion says about the veil, and I don't know your own personal views on the possibilities within. All I have are my own experiences. I beat Maleficus because she was on a mindless rampage, only able to use her physical strength, no magic. It still took over a year of combat between retreating to give my nanites time to regenerate my body and advancing to smack her over the head again."

So'Ran seemed to calm down somewhat before he finally questioned, "You said she's no longer mad? Is there any way that you can prove that she's regained her sanity?"

Basillius thought on it for a moment before shrugging. "Aside from telling the several hundred-foot-long dragon to pop out and say hi herself? No. I can talk to her using the energies of the veil but I don't know how to transmit that for you all to hear. She only really taught me how to use magic for combat."

Catherine suddenly popped up in between them and punched Basillius's leg, "The old man really ain't kidding about being strong! He once lit an entire moon on fire to kill a swarm of Azarians! Oh! He can also slice up the big ole space squids we call Azarian Warlords like they're made of butter, and they are about as big as our battlecruisers!"

The three looked toward one of the monitors displaying the view of the fleet like a window and they tried to imagine a living creature that size. So'Ran still looked slightly uneasy about the whole situation but Valthan and Valenthi looked like they had been rather accepting of it. So'Ran turned towards Valenthi and asked "What do you think about this? It basically breaks all of our beliefs if he's capable of that as a mortal..."

Valenthi stared up at Basillius, "I don't really see how he could defeat gods at all and I can't imagine anyone beating veil demons... I also can't really imagine one of these Azarians... But, if he was actually capable of all that it would explain why these people look at him like he's a god. They know him best after all." as she said that she swept her gaze across the bridge. She noticed that every single one of the people there was watching them like hawks and likely listening as she noticed a few approving looks her way.

So'Ran looked towards Valthan, "Nope. Don't care. They are gods of engineering. That's all I need to know."

So'Ran sighed in exasperation at Valthan's noncommital attitude over this. If any of this was true then the entire galaxy would be shaken up far more by that than the technological advantage they possess. If they are both technologically superior and spiritually superior...

The rest of the galaxy would throw themselves at the feet of these Terrans willingly, or they would fight bitterly to the death calling them blasphemers for talking about not only surviving a realm only those demons or gods could survive but also outright claiming victory over a goddess and claiming that she is both his teacher and in contact with him still.

Even with all that said there's also the possible collapse of their faith as he's claiming to have directly done things that are deemed impossible by the Moguran sages. They have gazed upon the veil and seen its horrors such that their eyes can no longer view this mortal world. Yet a mortal claims that he's lived there and conquered the hellscape that is the land of gods. The only way it's possible is if he is actually a god which would also break the holy laws...

He looked up at the giant once more and frowned, "I... I need time to process this. I am a scientist first, but I am also a leader in the church of Lunisia. Your words... I've said enough."

Basillius shrugged and turned to take his leave muttering under his breath, "Boy, what a fuckin landmine I stepped on this time... Put the Mickey Mice on an emotional rollercoaster. Well, now I really need to see if Mal is awake..."