Bro, I'm not an Undead!

It was the Sixth Trial next.

What it demanded left everyone but Future Skullius puzzled.

[The prisoner must be aware of the names of at least 200 moons that exist somewhere within the great void. Please state the names of each correctly]

"What the… What kind of question is that?" asked Aurolio with a frown. He might have been the one being questioned.

"These demands have been pretty random. Do they even go anywhere at all?" Kenno scratched his head with a lopsided frown.

Elita simply appraised Skullius' expression. He didn't flinch at the details of this Trial, but he did don a thoughtful look. Unlike the spectators, he didn't question why this was a Trial.

"Hmm. I don't know too many moons. I might have seen about a hundred of them but their names… I assume this means Nunax has powers that lean towards the properties of moons," he said, the mildest hints of intrigue swimming in his voice.

Contrary to what other realities knew, moons weren't sizable masses of rock floating outside worlds. Well, not always. Rather, they were a phenomenon based on the refraction of light as a concept in the wider reality. Moons could be objects like great rocks floating in the void that had been exposed to different interpretations of light, orbiting a world, but this was a rare phenomenon.

General moons could be abstract. Space could be tempered into a spherical shape that refracted light and other concepts around it, thus, identifying as a moon.

The corpse of a Deity drifting through the great void could become a man-shaped moon, refracting a certain type of light.

And of course, it went without saying that all these moons usually had unique properties, some as a result of the lights they refracted. After all, in most instances, the refraction wasn't thorough. The object refracting the light was also simultaneously attracting said light and absorbing portions of it.

Future Skullius sighed.

"Let's see," he said and he withdrew all his hands from his nimbus pockets and started counting with his fingers. "Rubas, Tinteli, Poseet`k, Pubuscus, Mulue, and… Is that my limit? Er, forget it."

Suddenly, Future Skullius snapped his fingers and conjured a little bird. It was like a hawk made of golden white light. It would have looked no different to an eyas (a hawk's young) if it wasn't for its glow.

The little thing sat on the hybrid's finger and with another hand, he opened a rift out of the Empyrean Bosom. The bird flew through the rift into Aigas and then shot upward. It had left Aigas a micro-second later.

Future Skullius left the rift open.

"What are you doing?" Elita asked him.

"Getting a little bit of help," the future Hybrid said with a small smile. "Just in case, I've created sentries as far as I can from the world I call home right now – Inscul. They live in several worlds, mingling with the species there and learning the Rules, power systems and all. Of course, it took more than a little effort to get access to those worlds. I had to make pacts with many Deities. It was worth it."

Future Skullius had explained to his younger self that using super long-range abilities in the great void was very difficult. And indeed, Somanda's ability to possess them was quite difficult to activate if channelled through the great void alone, and not through something as stable as a world.

But the little hawk Future Skullius had made was different.

It was a product of the refined version of Second Divine Sinew, an Exotic Parlous Nature that created a nigh perfect copy of the user down to the Broader Existence. This refined version, Unlimited Divine Outline (in addition to what it was already capable of before) allowed him to create multiple pseudo-living beings that could sustain themselves while remaining tethered to Skullius both in will and senses. They were usually made out of elements he could already control, like [Just Light].

The sentries he mentioned where also made using this Exotic Parlous Nature. The current great distance between him and them cut off the mental possible between them, however. Thus, Skullius had to rely on the hawk to transmit his will.

The hawk was capable of travelling long distance without further aid from Skullius, and it was quite quick with its flight. Well, that was an understatement, really. It was equipped with an Andori – gifted to it by Future Skullius and his deeper knowledge of concepts concerning the great void and reality as a whole – that allowed to it warp freely over great distances.

While Elita was busy marvelling at just what a feat all this was (effortlessly travelling through the void, that was, something even she as an accomplished Void user wasn't capable of) the hawk returned, startling her.

"Did… did it lose its way or something?" Aurolio asked with a frown.

Future Skullius laughed.

"No, he completed his task," he said as the bird landed on his finger.

Elita gaped. Kenno beamed.

"Wait, what? It already…?"

"Yes. But never mind that," said Skullius. "I got the names." The hawk disappeared into a shower of broken lights.

As his spectators were still reeling, Skullius began giving the names for 200 moons, transmitted to him from the hawk and of course, from his sentries. Some of them lived in worlds close to moons, after all.

Soon…

[Excellent work. You have cleared the Sixth Trial and increased your chances of subjugating the prisoner!]

[You have completed all the Trials and secured a profound chance at subjugating the Corrupted Deity Nunax]

[You, the subjugator and your spectators, will now meet the prisoner and be assigned each of the boons that come with the completion of the Trial series]

[Please wait…]

And right then, a ripple coursed under the feet of the future Hybrid and his allies. A change came over the Empyrean Bosom, or at least a portion of it deemed necessary for what came next. It was time for the next stage of the subjugation process, the actual battle.

Elita, Kenno, and Aurolio were tenser than Skullius – the one to be doing the fighting.

Their eyes were searing with anticipation though.

The three's passion heightened when the opponent was revealed in all their corrupted glory.