'To the far reaches of the world, huh...' Connor idly wondered about such specific wording, though he soon ignored it in favour of answering the question, "We are here in search of King Sephrates's tomb,"

"Oh?" The ghost raised an eyebrow at his reply, a bizarre— even amused look on his face, "What do you want in there? nothing but bones, a few personal items and his broken sword,"

"I—"

<>

Just as he was about to speak, an ear-piercing screech interrupted, followed by an earthquake-like shake.

-Rumble!!-

Connor immediately knew what it was, and although he wanted to warn them of the situation beforehand, he was preoccupied with the mysterious phantom.

-Crash!-

The pathway they had come from suddenly collapsed, creating a large cloud of dust near it and subsequently hindering everyone's vision.

As the dust finally started to settle, they were finally able to catch a glimpse of what was initially hidden from sight: there, next to the caved-in path, was the Millenipede in all its glory! Oh, and Itagaki was somewhere on it too... Probably.

"I apologize, but we must deal with them first before being able to discuss anything else," He paused to point at the intimidating creature and its partner before continuing, "I hope you can assist us,"

"Hahaha!! Do you really think you could escape?!" Itagaki laughed maniacally from atop the millenipede, "Kill them!"

<>

Obeying her command, the millenipede rose up to move. However, to everyone's shock, the previously dormant ghosts were now flocking towards the beast!

<>

As they slowly covered the beast, they began to sing again! They all gazed at the scene in wonderment, as the Millenipede had stopped attacking!

<>

"I see..." Connor looked hopefully at the ghost, since it was likely he was the leader of the revenants, and their help would be indispensable! After a few more seconds of thought, he finally received a reply.

"We'll help; if not for you, it'll be for satisfying my curiosity," He said, his tone not at all tense, like the millenipede didn't actually bother him. Said millenipede, on the other hand, was already long asleep and on the ground, giant Zs practically flying from the top of his head.

"Tch! Why won't you attack! Gahh!" Naturally, Itagaki was not happy, and she made sure it knew. Shouting, screaming, even banging on the rock-hard carapace of the insect. And by some miracle, it actually woke up!

<>

"Good! Now attack them!"

Obeying its master, the Millenipede charged straight towards them!

Stolen story; please report.

-Rumble!-

Again, the cave began to tremble, causing giant boulders to fall, with one even falling right next to them!

"Connor! Hurry!" Malkov called out to Connor. "Use that!" In response, he quickly nodded and retrieved the Book of Fate.

'We need to kill that thing! And fast!' Connor thought urgently to himself and started to scribble on the Book of Fate.

'Please work!'

-Shwip!-

Finishing his last strokes, he looks at the page in satisfaction; the purple-black ink that produced a glow of brilliant gold against the browning pages of the book was... beautiful.

[Gravity, increase!]

-Whomp!-

Suddenly, a field of invisible matter formed around the Millenipede, and like magic, its previously upright posture came crashing into the ground with a sickening crunch. It wasn't just the one though, no, even the ground began to crack and deform after a few seconds under its effect. This naturally also meant one thing, Itagaki was trapped there too...

"Gaah... Let... Me... Out!!" Her body forcibly pressed against the Millenipede, she could feel her own body starting to fall apart, "No... Don't!!"

'The power over gravity? This kid sure is a bundle of surprises...' The ghost stared at the absurd scene before him, falling into deep thought over the exaggeratedly strong ability of Connor...

However, that isn't to say that power didn't have any limits, as Connor's body was also failing. It started with a nosebleed before escalating into a full-on migraine. As he was suffering from this, the ghost was busy serving him.

'I must say, it is fortunate there are repercussions. Otherwise, the situation might truly be dire...' He, of course, noticed the state Connor was in and sighed in relief, "Thank you for your help, keeping them in place, I will take it from here,"

"?!"

Connor, Mariya, Malkov and Adammus all looked at him simultaneously, confused. He paid them no heed, keeping his gaze solely on the Millenipede and Itagaki.

With one hand on his sword's sheath and the other on his hilt, he began to exhale slowly, "Hoooooooo..."

-Shink!-

And with one swift motion, his broadsword slid smoothly out. And sword up-high, he exclaimed for all to hear:

"The Cut That Will Split The World!"

-Boom!-

"What in the fuck..."

"Who is this guy?!"

"Th— The ground!" Connor's eyes were practically flying out of his head as he yelled, "It's split in two!"

Indeed, as Connor has so kindly put it, where their enemies used to be— a large gash in the ground had appeared, about ten metres long and two metres wide.

"Huff... Not my best, but it'll do," The ghost seemed to be disappointed in himself as he resheathed his sword. Then, he looked calmly at Connor's group and spoke nonchalantly, "I'm King Sephrates, to answer your question,"

And where were the Millenipede and Itagaki? Well, at the bottom of the gouge, there was a tiny clump of hair and a piece of hard chitin; lying peacefully on the ground...

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

Around five minutes had passed after the battle, if you could call it that. Even now, Connor still felt it difficult to accept what'd happened. Though a glance at the ravine in the ground quickly reminded them that: no, it was real, and they better accept it.

"Back at the topic at hand: why do you want inside his tomb?" As they settled down, the king repeated his earlier question. Connor answered:

"We wish to take his... Your personal pen," He felt his cheeks burning up the moment he mentioned it. After all, a pen was an absurd thing to go out of your way to look for. Though Sephrates had quickly worked out why he would want it.

"Hoh? And I assume it's something to do with that book?"

"Y-Yes..."

"Well, I could give it to you..." He paused to study Connor's face: no emotion. Raising an eyebrow, he smirked and continued, "But, you of all people should know that book is dangerous, particularly in the wrong hands,"

"I have no desire to commit any wrongdoings; I only want to avenge my family," At this, his eyes were glazed, as if he was deep in thought.

"Ah, but that is the most dangerous motive of them all!" Sephrates let out a little chuckle, "If you will stand an old man's ramblings... Let me tell you a story..."

He looked around the chambers: all of the ghosts have all disappeared, with only Connor and co left. Seeing that they had all quieted down to listen, he began to speak:

"It started with an old friend of mine..."