Bro, I'm not an Undead!

1399  First Rank

The guidance field acknowledged the name Skullius had given his new Apostle. The name of the Apostle immediately solidified the fact that Weaver was not a mere stand-in Apostle after all. He had officially joined the gang, his worth proven to be a lot greater than Skullius had originally imagined.

Weaver seemed immensely pleased with his name. It was meaningful indeed.

Red Rage and Araeyn still regarded him with an odd sort of stubborn jealousy and wariness. Skullius noticed, but he didn't address it. It wouldn't do to address it in front of his allies. A part of him hoped they wouldn't notice the odd behavior of his Apostles. Well, besides things like Red Rage's excessive chivalry, of course.

Skullius was sure the one thing Uyuniya, Elita and Aurolio didn't know about his summoning powers was that his Apostles had the ability to rebel against him. Red Rage's earlier behavior – supporting Kintar's atrocity – didn't appear as rebellion, especially when Elita and Uyuniya supported it as the correct course for a Divine. They interpreted it as Red Rage helping Skullius chose the right path.

Skullius didn't want any of the Void Users to know that there was worse that his Apostles could do if he didn't earn favour with them. For reference, Araeyn was a lot more well-behaved now compared to before because he saw Skullius in a little more of a favourable light since the advancement of his Nullmancer Class. The bastard had been really stubborn and uncooperative before then.

"Alright then, Red Rage," Skullius said. "It's time for this Rank Bestowal."

"Indeed, master," the Apostle said and he rushed to bow before Skullius. He was a vague figure of light with a vague cape sticking behind him.

Skullius sighed, but he decided to get it over with.

He was quite curious about the changes Red Rage would go through after obtaining a Rank. Well, he was curious about the effects of a Rank to begin with. It was a pity he couldn't discover the effects of an Apostle Trait right then as well. Perhaps there was a lot of lore attached to that.

[You are bestowing a Rank upon the Apostle 'Red Rage']

[…]

[…]

[The First Rank, also dubbed as the Commanding Rank, will be granted to the Apostle 'Red Rage'. Do you accept?]

'That's the minimum I expected, I guess. Glad to know this bit was as I thought.'

Skullius didn't immediately confirm.

He knew his decision either way, would go uncontested, but he decided, for interest's sake, to ask the other Apostles for their opinion on this matter. Would they accept Red Rage as their commander?

It might have been counter to his goal of hiding how much freedom his Apostles had, but in this case, they wouldn't be rebelling against him.

Beyrmir was the first to be approached for his opinion.

"My Liege. I do not care for what position I have in your army. You have already graced me with a task far dearer to me than heading the rest of your intimate troops. I will accept Red Rage as my Commander, if you wish it."

'Of course.' Skullius laughed. Beyrmir valued his duty as the one to bring Skullius out from the effects of Doom Factor 2 more than anything else.

Skullius turned to Araeyn.

He voiced his question for all to hear.

"Do you have a problem with it?"

Araeyn's response could easily be the most interesting or most boring depending on where his headspace was currently, Skullius imagined.

The pasty-faced, pale Apostle folded his arms before his chest and stared at Skullius with the darkness in his sockets.

"I do."

Skullius chuckled. There it was!

The Apostle who was supposed to rebel against him in the future had a problem with accepting Red Rage as his leader.

"Why?" Skullius asked.

"Because…" the Apostle said, "…I feel I have a greater propensity to utilize the full fighting force of all your Apostles with my abilities. I can augment their properties as I please in the Null Remnants, especially when considering what Eternity's Weaver can do. The possibilities are endless. And I consider the history behind my race – with the Null Devil King as a case study – to be best suited at handling authority over Null Lifeforms. Red Rage, on the other hand, has no other advantage over me other than seniority."

"…"

Skullius had not been expecting such a sound argument from Araeyn. Not at all. The eloquence stumped him too.

Sure, he expected the Apostle to use his strength – as he indeed was the strongest Apostle at the moment – as a basis for why he deserved to be given the First Rank, but not in such a well-reasoned argument.

Before Skullius could address Araeyn's response to his question, Red Rage fired back… respectfully.

"I cannot contest your strengths, Araeyn. Indeed, you have a very diverse ability set and it would suit us well if you were the Commander, but I have more advantages over you than just seniority. I have a great well of experience with coordinating large numbers of troops and I have abilities tailored towards supporting those troops as well. Indeed, they may fall short in comparison to yours, but once I get the First Rank, they will be far more effective and are utilizable even outside of a Null Remnant," Red Rage said.

"On top of this, while I understand that you passively gain knowledge of all the Null Remnants available in the Null Verse, I have acquired information that helps Apostles like us at a personal level. Once I confirm it with the Rank Bestowal, you all will benefit too."

Red Rage had good points as well, but needless to say, they did not convince Araeyn to step down at all.

Skullius laughed and so did Kintar.

"Are they really having a civilized debate over the Rank?" she asked Skullius.

"Yes. They are far more civil than I imagined."

"They might be better than us," Kenno commented.

The looks on Uyuniya and Elita's faces said it all. They were just as surprised.

The Apostles continued to debate without raising their voices, going into the nitty-gritties of their earlier broad points to beat the other down.

Skullius sighed and turned to Weaver who was also watching the exchange.

"Are you also interested in the First Rank?" he asked.

"Not at all, my Liege. My kind are always satisfied to exist as keen observers," Weaver said.

Skullius had expected that. In any case, Red Rage would contest it if Weaver was to claim the Commanding position.

The Hybrid Warmoth had been wondering how long the debate would go on when Araeyn suddenly exploded with Null Life Essence.

"Since it seems words will not decide this, how about we have quick bout with simple rules. Whoever loses has to concede to the winner," he proposed.

"I would quite like that," Red Rage said.

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