Bro, I'm not an Undead!

It was immensely amusing for Ashema, being lord of the Under for once.

Ever since he had saved Boron earlier from that woman's sword, excitement and boldness had been gushing through him endlessly. It helped that Boron had rewarded him for both his heroic deed and his brazenness.

Ashema would have gladly sacrificed himself as a vessel for Boron (that would have been a preferable reward, really), but the Deity had given him a greater, more exquisite purpose.

The Cavern had to admit, he had underestimated the graces of his lord. When Boron had mentioned a reward, Ashema had not thought it would be this intricate.

It wasn't a simple gift that could be consumed or relished in for a miniscule bit of time. No, it was a reward that served Boron's purpose. Ashema's heart had thrummed all the more fiercely with determination when he had heard how trying the reward and purpose (one and the same) were going to be.

With great power came great responsibility.

After being named the Seventh General of Boron, he had been assigned an army of Cavern and sent to the Under for this said purpose.

Now, the determined Cavern was watching everything he'd been given to reign from a high point, perhaps the highest in all of the Under.

This place, his home, wasn't a world. It didn't qualify – technically. Because of this lacking quality, the Under didn't grant its inhabitants and Boron himself some key properties that a normal world would have.

This was one of the reasons why Boron was able to make the Cavern a decent species of creature. They must have been lacking by leagues when compared to the peaks of what Aigas' experts were capable of, but they had impressive, niche qualities.

For one, they didn't need an energy source to use their powers. At least, most of them didn't. They all also had the ability to control darkness, even to the point of manipulating the darkness conjured by Skullius through his Insurgent Magnus powers. The reason behind that, Festos had found immensely amusing when he interacted with Ashema back in Opungale.

But that said, there was a bit of downside to the Cavern as a species. When it came to their power progression, they were ranked by Circles going from the First to the Sixth. These ranks were akin to the Stages on Aigas, if only far, far less detailed. This was as good a power system as Boron had managed to create since the Under wasn't a genuine world.

Those of his creation that managed to reach Divinity did not achieve it as a result of their own astounding effort, but because Boron used the overwhelming numbers of Cavern to his advantage, sacrificing many to advance a few to Divinity for the purpose of raiding Aigas when the time came.

As Ashema had told Festos before, the Cavern did not have conflicts in their society. Boron forbade it. They lived in harmony in the Under, despite how chaotic they looked and behaved, and they all, without exception, had the utmost reverence for Boron. That was why they willing sacrificed themselves for their Lord's purpose.

In that way, they were a little similar to the Luminants, the creations of the Deity Luserus.

Ashema stood over the zenith of a great temple (one the last remaining) and chugged the dark blood in his gourd. His twisted horns pointed into the dark sky as he threw his head back. His charred, chipped skin looked even darker here than it had when he was in the radiant glow of Aigas hours before.

After drinking his fill, he grinned and looked below at the beautiful creation swimming in the darkness. No part of him cared for the immense cost that was involved with the thing's making. The only thing he had doubts about was…

"Will it be ready by the time Lord Boron is ready to engage those three traitors?"

Also…

"Will we be able to fly it out of here? It must weigh as much as a world?"

But Ashema cleared his doubts. What was the point of the powers his maker had given him if he had to agonise over such trivial details?

Besides, hadn't he been charged with over six million Cavern, fifteen of whom were Divine?

Surely, with a force like that, lifting the thing out of the Under would be a trifle.

But right then, Ashema, with his expanded awareness deeply ingrained into the Under, felt some part of it rip open. Someone was coming, or rather, intruding. It couldn't have been other Cavern, like the Six Generals – or Lord Boron. They would have simply used the gateway created after the seal on the Extreme Formula was broken to venture here.

Ashema grinned.

"So, Lord Boron was right, after all. There were going to be intruders," he said to himself, and trembled with excitement.

And indeed, Boron had expected some push back. The Distant Magnets – the crystals on Aigas – couldn't be stopped from achieving their purpose, but the anomalies helping Kaella – Suzamete – could definitely interfere with the integral creation he was having forged in the Under.

Thus, Boron had warned Ashema about this possibility.

But rather than taking it as a warning, Ashema took it as a delectable challenge.

He had something to prove.

Boron had said he couldn't reward the Cavern for his deed by turning him into a Divine, but that he could make it easier for him to become Divine instead.

As of now, Ashema had yet to touch upon that elusive power called Divinity, but he had a feeling this was the trigger he needed – these intruders. It didn't matter what they were, or how many they were.

A part of him even wished Festos was among them.

The two's battle would be legendary, and the result would only make the point Ashema wanted to prove to his master, and his fellow Cavern that much more potent.

He was the most devoted Cavern of all!

Ashema chugged another gulp of the contents in his gourd and then spit bits of blood into the air. They flew off like comets, heading towards the scattered Cavern he had brought into the Under with him.

In the blink of an eye, each drop of blood he fired found a Cavern and sank into their brains, relaying information.

At almost the same time, all the Cavern in the Under looked up at the hundreds of intruders pouring in from the sky. They were all cloaked in a veil of ebony. One of them shimmered with the light of stars, a daring, terrible strength hiding within her.

Oh indeed, this wasn't a force the Cavern would take lightly.

But that only made what came next even more meaningful.