Fatia Cerulean had been stuck opposite that horrifying aqua orb for what felt like hours. Its light waxed and waned, twisting all avenues of retreat into knots and leaving the raptor construct helpless. Time had dragged past as he avoided and resisted the attack unleashed by Nether King Bleak Sky. His every trick had been pulled out, the limits of his physical body had been tested, and his cognition had dulled from overuse.

For a while he had felt a thrill of pushing the edges of his potential, but even that began to fade with time.

However, in the same way the raptor construct had tired, so had the orb. Its light had grown less overwhelming, its size marginally shrinking as its power had been expended. The weapon of the Apostate Nether King was fearsome, but it was not infinite.

Perhaps other beings would compare how bedraggled he had become with the small decrease in power from the aqua ball, but Cerulean exceeded his limits time and time again. He was crafted perfection, built exactly to thrive in situations like this. He would not hesitate before a challenge, even though survival seemed impossible. This foe would become one more corpse at his feet.

And when he escaped and consumed the corpse of Nether King Bleak Sky, taking this power for his own…!

The craving for satisfaction fueled him, even when all other energies vanished. When even that resolve began to wane, he dug deeply into his potential. All of the accumulated insights and inspiration he had made during his experiments in the last decade were trotted out, searching for any method to last just a little bit longer.

So he struggled. He flailed. His body cracked and shattered, his framework twisted and hollowed out, his spirit mortgaged and spent. His awareness blurred, leaving only the certainty that he would survive.

And he did. At the end of that indeterminable time, Cerulean had panted over the defeated energy. The world unfolded and he returned triumphantly to the pitched battle to defend Malloon. He raised his head and grinned. Heh. Well, Malloon might have been destroyed without my heroics, but so long as I can track down that corpse Bleak Sky-

Yet when he returned, the situation had become exceedingly strange. Cerulean immediately sensed the body of Bleak Sky nearby, broken but clinging stubbornly to life. Yet his gaze was filled with another figure. The doll of the original personality which he had not been able to conjure while struggling against the aqua ball, stood independently at the base of the Nether Ritual. The absence suddenly made quite a lot of sense. Although damaged, the Nether Ritual now collapsed… directly toward the spot where he had returned.

For a long moment, the gazes of the two Cerulean’s met. The original personalities eyes burned with spite and long-suppressed fury. Meanwhile, Cerulean looked at the doll with something akin to fondness. Yes, a being who could have created me was not an average existence that would simply allowed itself to be ridden…!

The original personality watched Cerulean like a hawk, prepared to move if Cerulean attempted to flee or struggle. Considering how depleted his energies were, the raptor construct didn’t bother to embarrass himself. Instead, he looked around. And seeing that he wouldn’t need to personally move, he chuckled.

Today, it seems, is not the day I die. Cerulean thought fondly. An authoritative voice boomed out over the battlefield.

“The Third Authority: Intangible Burial.”

Into the chaotic space, Nether King Hungry Eye stepped forward. The black-haired Nether King unleashed his authority- did he say his third Authority? A detail worth noting- and struck a powerful blow against the Nether Ritual with his own energy. Even Cerulean felt surprise when the blow didn’t seem intent to destroy the Nether Ritual entirely… it simply adjusted its goal.

Even as Cerulean’s original personality seemed to notice something was wrong and whipped around, the Nether Ritual activated. A massive hole was punched in space, a vast maw of destruction and viciousness that would destroy Malloon and the surrounding area just as surely as the presence of Pine. While everyone else panicked, Cerulean continued to observe.

Hungry Eye manifested one of his images, one that matched perfectly to the shape of the phenomenon in front of him. Cerulean huffed out a disbelieving laugh, almost unable to imagine the way this man’s mind worked. He casually took advantage of the natural force of the universe and twisted it to his own ends.

Cerulean felt genuine admiration as the hole in the world was recharacterized in real-time by the domineering image. The Hungry Eye for which the Nether King had been heralded opened and gazed down at them all. It possessed no pupil or iris, but that only made its power more terrifying. Because the weight of the eye’s attention was a physical thing, revealing the intelligence lurking in the abyss.

This… Fatia Cerulean felt a sense of helplessness as he felt that rushing power pulling away the few embers of energy he had managed to recover. All the ambient energy around his body was sucked away with even more force. The ground warped and rippled. He felt inferior to a being with objectively less capability than him. Yet rather than feeling discouraged, his viciousness only grew. The raptor construct barred his teeth.

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I need a method to gather more power. Something… undeniable.

The vehemence of the thought made Cerulean shiver, and not with pleasure. Because as he thought it, he was aware of an echo of that thought from another version of himself coming to that same conclusion. Rather disgusted at having this lavish moment spoiled by the presence of another, he looked over he glanced at the original personality.

…yet from the other personality's obvious preoccupation with pointlessly striking the Hungry Eye, it was clear the thought hadn’t come from him. Cerulean frowned. But… I surely felt myself thinking the same thing in a different place. Who else could the thought have come from?

…is it possible that the original personality is actually mislabeled, and it was also a created image, just from an even more inferior being…?

However, the impression of connection rapidly vanished. And the continued developments in front of Cerulean meant he couldn’t dwell on it.

The Hungry Eye devoured the energy and then purified it. In terms of absorption capability, Cerulean had never seen its rival. The whole area was sucked dry by its gaze, although Cerulean felt that Nether King purposefully guided the eye’s gaze away from Malloon.

Otherwise, Westrisser might suddenly rule a city of dried husks.

A blast ripped its way out from the central point and landed on an object right in front of the Nether King. The original personality continued to lash out, but despite sharing the same traits as Cerulean, it lacked that last bit of ferocity to cut to the bone. Although Cerulean didn’t mind admitting that even at his full power, he would be flummoxed by the manifestation of power that could so easily devour all aspects of energy.

Keh, what an overwhelming trophy that eye would make… a pity I’m in no condition to hunt.

Despite the original personality’s best efforts, the stream of energy cleanly transferred to Hungry Eye’s target. Grettic and the two remaining Nether Kings lurked nearby, bottom feeders examining the situation to find out how they should behave. Normally, Cerulean would have scoffed, but he had to be realistic about his current situation. Depending on how the original personality reacted to this wrinkle in its plan, he might need to set aside his pride to survive.

As the pillar of energy began to fade, the Hungry Eye also began to shrink and vanish. The Nether Ritual had been sucked dry by the eye, just like the rest of the surrounding environment, and no longer attempted to bridge any gap. The opening healed and left the manifestation without its foundation. It floundered for a few moments, the warping energy at its edges crackling in frustration. Then it began to fade.

The descent of the energy had kicked up a wave of dust, but it settled rather quickly. Nether King Hungry Eye crouched down, picking up a strange, twitching mass of grey matter. Cerulean’s senses couldn’t detect the slightest hint of danger from the object.

Which only made Cerulean more cautious; it was not a simple existence if all that energy had vanished into its depths.

As Nether King Hungry Eye straightened, his aura billowed out around his body in a nearly visible fashion. He had always had an unusual presence, but achieving that moment of peerless authority and opening his eye had apparently been highly beneficial to him. Almost ignoring all the individuals studying him in the wake of the environment briefly falling under his thrall, Hungry Eye pressed the grey mass to his left shoulder.

“Nether King Hungry Eye,” Cerulean’s original personality growled. Cerulean almost felt fond. That personality always seemed to act as though it had an itch it couldn’t scratch. But truth be told, the inherent inferiority complex at least made it motivated. “Please make your intentions clear.”

Rather surprisingly, the Nether King allowed a tired smile. “Do you really have the spare attention to ask me that? I had assumed the two Ceruleans would need to fight to the death before either would be satisfied.”

The blue flames around the original personality’s body flared, but the Nether King released the grey object and waved a hand. The grey mass remained affixed to his shoulder and began to pulse. “If it makes you feel better, then let me assure you I don’t intend to intervene any further in this business. Continue your valiant defense of Malloon.”

The original personality seemed uncertain. Its gaze flicked to the two remaining Nether Kings, who had moved some distance away from Grettic and recovered Nether King Bleak Sky’s body. Then it considered Cerulean himself, who continued to stand very still and heal his wounds.

When the original personality met Cerulean’s eyes without immediately launching an attack, he had to suppress a vicious grin. After bowing his head, the original personality became insubstantial once more and slipped back into the distortion at Cerulean’s back. As though it hadn’t used the Nether King’s attack as a chance to split off and plot to kill his own generated image.

The bulges on Nether King Hungry Eye’s arm began to grow more frequent. The color of the material began to lighten and steam wafted off of the joint. After a short grimace of pain, Nether King Hungry Eye tilted his head to the side as he considered Cerulean. “You are going to your trophy just put itself back up on the shelf without comment?”

“A threat hanging at my back will keep me focused,” Cerulean chuckled. On the one hand, today held so much disappointment. He had been deeply wounded, his potential revealed, and failed to even obtain a trophy from Bleak Sky. Yet the raptor construct burned with enthusiasm; the fighting had left him inspired. “We walk the Narrow Path, Hungry Eye. Without bodies to pile into stairs, we will never near the Pinnacle.”

The Nether King just grunted. After a long glance around the battlefield, he began to casually walk away. Cerulean noted his even gait with a pinch of smugness. Likely Nether King Hungry Eye ended the day in the best condition, but the production of how at ease he was revealed the true situation to be anything but. Likely the opening of the eye did not come easily and channeling that energy had left him raw.

Yet when he finally developes… that arm… positively monstrous. Cerulean shivered in pleasure.