"You have earned Lord Boron's praise twice now, Ashema. That's more than we can say for ourselves," the very first General of the Deity Boron said. Suspended in the air like the others, he looked much larger and much more imposing than Ashema with three gaping mouths – one on his face, another on his neck, and the last on his chest.

But size hardly counted for power, especially among the Cavern. The smallest of all seven Generals – considered to be the third one Boron ever created – grinned and mirrored his peer's jealousy.

"Indeed, Ashema. I thought by now you would be relieved of your role in death."

The fourth General gave Ashema's new body a queer look.

"Our Lord may be developing a knack for appreciating his creation. He even restored what remained of you. How did that one mortal leave in such a state anyway?"

Ashema snorted. It wasn't only his body that had been restored, but also his powers. Even his gourd, which he normally used to store blood was in his hand now because of Boron's grace.

Taking a swig of the contents, Ashema considered how indeed, it was bizarre for Boron to have spared even a fragment of his power to restore him. That energy could have been preserved for the rough battle he had ahead; a battle with the Traitorous Deities Listafelle and Quintess.

"Silence, you fools. All our mental faculties should be straining towards fulfilling our next objective," Ashema said. It was rather bold, given that even with his new body, he still wasn't Divine while his peers were. Genuine Divinity wasn't something a Deity could freely grant their creations, after all.

The Generals were hardly offended. Ashema status might as well have been the greatest among all Carven-kind now.

"What do you suggest?" said the sixth general and he looked beyond where the barrier cutting across the Central Boundary of Aigas had been. "Our lives would burn the brightest if we could fight alongside our Lord. We are all that remains, after all. Isn't that right, Ashema?"

Ashema glared below, at the large boundary of a certain Territory he truly loathed with every fibre of his being.

"You know exactly what Lord Boron wants. He heard and felt it as much I did. He would rather we spare our powers for those on this side of the world," he said. He spied Rias, his Death Knight and Nigerra… as well as the two other figures standing adjacent to them. The Cavern couldn't help but grin. "Even if we disobeyed our Lord and joined him in battle, we would be useless. See, there exist no more humans, Sif or beasts on this land to torture. So, why don't we deal with those we can see?"

It was personal, the other Generals knew.

Whatever had happened in the Under must have been every bit a tragedy as it was a victory.

All of it had to do with that woman who had dared bare her fangs against their Lord's halberd.

Ashema gave another swig of the blood in his gourd. The excess ran down his lips as his eyes attempted to find Pherdanta's figure within Cogent Stark Order.

'Let's start by shattering that troublesome domain of hers.'

*

Elita and Aurolio had chosen to appraise the situation from a distance.

Ever since the presence of Undeath around Actuass had spiked and changed qualitatively, the number of volatile, unsteady factors on the battlefield had shifted tremendously.

On one hand, Aurolio, who had had the pleasure of being in Actuass' presence twice, held onto his own insecurities regarding the masked man. That had brought him pause.

On the other hand, Elita, who was very much acquainted with Death Knights because of her tutelage under Void, grew wary of Rias' prowess at once.

If the Bare Guises on each of the two's faces – a gold one for Aurolio, and a true sapphire one for Elita – didn't spoil how seriously they were taking the enemy, then the flaring of their Void Clot did.

But wary and cautious as they were…

'A Bearer of Undeath. At the very least, he must be equal to a Lich now,' thought Elita. 'That's about the most terrifying thing I've been forced to fight in the wider reality.' A smile threaded across her face. 'If I can hold my own against one before transcending Divinity…'

Aurolio shared her enthusiasm. 'Well, fuck me. If I stand on the same stage as this masked Undead bastard and lose pathetically again, I might as well shove a sword in my heart.' A grin was growing over his jaw. 'But as long as I get to test out my new and emboldened interpretations of strength, I'll be satisfied.'

And right then, as the tensions were reaching their highest point, the first move was made.

Cogent Stark Order lurched forward to envelope Rias, his Death Knight and Nigerra.

No one was surprised when none of the three budged an inch.

Pherdanta's invitation hardly inspired fear within the enemies.

Nigerra, scarcely as furious as she looked right then, and Rias, a little drunk on his new and old powers alike, were soon drowned within the Majestic Territory's GeoScape. Needless to say, the Death Knight and Aimon were no exceptions.

Pherdanta blew out a sharp breath and did as she had told the others.

In a blink, Nigerra, who instantly increased the output of her passive Territory (a Majestic Territory layered over the skin), was warped away from Rias.

The five House heads and all other mortals except Vali and Maxim were warped around Nigerra in a distant corner of the Territory. (Ferex remained immobile and uncooperative.)

At the same time, Sila did as he had said he would.

His frame, with a single eye socket on his face and six limbs, dashed with astonishing speed towards the Death Knight. The creature noticed his advance at once. Its overbearing presence bellowed outward in greater force, attempting to restrain Sila's will to fight (as it had done before.)

It never got the chance, however. Sila was well prepared for it this time. Instead of relying on a physical confrontation, he extended his hand towards the creature and used Null Life Essence to grasp and blast it a distance away. It was a rather bizarre telekinetic ability developed on the fly with sharp Null Life Essence manipulation.

In a flash, the Death Knight was stripped from Rias, and the masked man was left with Aimon alone.

Pherdanta, Uyuniya, Kintar, Vali and Maxim advanced towards him.

The ghost of the masked man considered them all.

"I had a feeling this was personal," he said.