Sunny’s eyes went wide for a fraction of a second, a flicker of genuine shock that would have been a ga over in any other negotiation.
But behind the impenetrable, cosmic luster of his mask, that montary lapse was invisible.
To Lom, the Emperor remained a statue of starlight, silent, unreadable, and terrifyingly mysterious.
’Worthy of being chosen by the Void itself,’ Lom thought, his projection shimring with a mixture of respect and suppressed envy.
’Look at him. Even the ntion of the Nihilium doesn’t break his composure. He sits there like he’s already mastered the very fate I’m trying to sell back to him.’
Lom’s mind raced, filling the silence with his own anxieties. ’The Void Mother must have told him everything. He knows he’s being hunted. He probably has a dozen escape routes already mapped out through the deep layers of space. If I want to be his ally..... And then the next Void Emperor, I need to show him that I’m more than just a ssenger.’
On the other side of that silent standoff, Sunny’s internal monologue was far less organized.
’Nihilium? Real Void? How the hell does he know about this?’ Sunny’s mind felt montarily numb. ’Is Lom a void beast too? Did he crawl out of the sa real void as Edgar?’
Despite the internal chaos, Sunny’s voice was as calm as a frozen lake when he finally spoke. "Oh? You know of the Nihilium Clan? Then you are a traveler from the Real Void as well?"
Lom stiffened. ’He knows. He’s testing . If I falter now, he’ll see as nothing more than a bubble-born insect.’
"I am," Lom replied, his dark form beginning to fluctuate as he prepared to terminate the connection. "And you... you are also of the Real Void. That is what I ca to confirm. But since you are already so well-inford of your heritage, I shall take my leave. Beware the Demon Lords, Cosmos. They are stronger than you realize, even if they are rely children of the bubble. They have the hunger of the abyss."
Sunny’s heart skipped a beat. ’He thinks I’m one of them?’ A desperate, brilliant idea ford in Sunny’s mind. If he could trick Lom into believing they were peers, he could harvest the information he so desperately needed without revealing his own ignorance.
"I know," Sunny said, leaning back into his throne with a casual, practiced grace.
"I know many things. But the Real Void is vast, and information can be... distorted. Perhaps you can tell what you have observed of the Nihilium’s recent movents. I will cross-reference it with my own intelligence. Between us, we may find the thread that saves us both from the coming war...."
Sunny held his breath. It was a classic bluff, the kind he had seen thousands of tis being used in the novels.
Lom hesitated. ’A cross-reference? He wants to trade secrets?’ He looked at the vast, cosmic eye-sockets of Sunny’s mask and felt a surge of caution.
’No. Not yet. My knowledge about the real void and the Nihilium clan is nothing... compared to him, if I say basic things... he will never take seriously. I need to stay mysterious and behave like i know many things about the real void and the Nihilium clan.’
"That is a tempting offer," Lom whispered, his figure starting to dissolve into wisps of shadow.
"But the Demon Realm is in chaos. As an influential ’Demon God,’ I must maintain my cover at the frontline against your growing empire. We shall speak again soon. I hope our friendship remains... profitable."
With a final, mocking bow, Lom’s projection vanished into the dark corners of the throne room, leaving no trace but a faint scent of darkness and coldness.
Sunny didn’t move for several minutes. He used his God’s Eye intertwined with his Divine Domain to sweep every atom of the hall, ensuring that entity from the real void was truly gone. When he was certain, he let out a long, ragged breath and rubbed his temples.
"Chosen one? Being of the Real Void?" Sunny muttered to the empty hall. "My origins are getting more complicated by the hour. I’m starting to miss the days when my biggest problem was a few demons in the realm of advancent."
He stood up, the starlight of his robe rippling. "Since I can’t chase a ghost into the Real Void yet, I’ll focus on the tools I have right here."
He looked down at the floor, where two small piles of gray ash lay scattered, the remains of Kairos and Mongo.
"Let’s see what you two were hiding," Sunny said, raising his hands.
He began to channel a tiny amount of Faith into the core of his Divine Immortality talent.
He wasn’t just reviving them. He was experinting. For years, his sixteen clones had been operating across the multiverse, and they had discovered sothing crucial: Divine Immortality was not just a safety net; it was a blueprint of life.
By reviving trillions of lifeforms across a billion universes, his clones had mapped the concept of existence. They had learned how to bridge the gap between "Total Annihilation" and "Rebirth," even for beings who weren’t officially under Sunny’s banner.
Sunny channeled his Divine Growth into the process, forcing the talent to evolve on the fly. He wasn’t just bringing them back; he was writing them back into reality.
"Arise," Sunny commanded.
The ashes began to vibrate. Golden sparks danced in the air, gravitating toward each other like magnetic filings. Slow-motion swirls of gray dust began to rise, spinning into two humanoid columns.
Sunny watched with intensity, as the process accelerated. First ca the skeletal structure.... transparent, ghostly bones that solidified into ivory.
Then ca the organs: hearts that began to throb with rhythmic life, lungs that expanded as they inhaled the air from the throne room, and complex networks of veins that pulsed with ichor.
"Muscles. Skin. Nerves," Sunny whispered, guiding the Faith like a sculptor’s chisel.
The two figures began to take on familiar shapes. Kairos and Mongo were being reconstructed atom by atom.
However, Sunny intentionally halted the process at the very last second. He stopped the growth of their hair and the pignt of their skin, leaving them as pale, hairless husks.... blank slates.
"That’s enough for the welco party," Sunny said, a dark, predatory grin touching his lips. "You have a lot to answer for, and I’ve found that people are much more talkative when they realize their ’God’ can unmake and remake them at will."
He lowered his hands. The two bodies fell to the floor with a heavy thud. They were alive, breathing, and possessed of their godly talents, but they remained trapped in a deep, forced slumber.
Kairos and Mongo’s bodies twitched in their sleep. Even unconscious, their instincts could sense the overwhelming pressure of the entity standing over them.
They had been killed as spies, but they had been reborn as subjects.
Sunny sat back down on his throne, watching the two Gods with cold eyes.
"Now," Sunny whispered. "Tell everything about your master, before I decide to turn you into ash again."
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