Cipher scratched his head. He had forgotten to borrow her void sword so he could test Auto Repair. Oh well. He rolled.
[Congratulations! ESP (Level 12) has advanced to ESP (Level 13)]
Now his range was 60 miles. He rerolled.
[Congratulations! Damage Nullification (Level 1) has advanced to Damage Nullification (Level 2)]
[Cheat: Damage Nullification (Level 2)]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: During any combat encounter, completely nullifies all damage from the opponent’s first and second strike. Resets when the encounter ends.]
[Note: Does not activate if the attack doesn’t connect.]
He observed the description. Wait, can this go on endlessly? Like first and second and third, all the way to thousandth? He dismissed it with a wave. It was definitely an interesting cheat.
If he couldn’t get God Mode and Noclip duplicates, this one wouldn’t be bad either. He rerolled.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Identity Theft (Max Level)]
[Type: Toggle]
[Description: Transform completely into another person, replicating their appearance, voice, and clothing perfectly.]
[Note: This is purely cosmetic transformation and does not grant any of the target’s abilities, stats, or memories. Cannot transform into someone the user has not personally seen.]
He looked through it. Could be useful, though he didn’t see how at the moment. He moved on. He was now down to his last three rolls. He hoped they didn’t disappoint.
[Congratulations! You have awakened a cheat]
[Cheat: Permanent Debuff (Max Level)]
[Type: Passive]
[Description: Any debuff inflicted by the user becomes permanent and cannot be removed by any means unless the user personally removes it.]
[Note: The user must possess a legitimate method to remove the debuff. If the debuff results in death, it cannot simply be willed away - the user must have an actual removal method such as resurrection.]
He observed the skill. This was extremely overpowered.
It basically meant that when fighting an opponent, he could stack bleeding effects onto them by injuring them, and they’d never be able to get rid of it. Even if they ran away, they wouldn’t be able to remove it and would eventually die.
And even better, he would have caused the death status effect, and they’d be unable to resurrect unless he personally did it. He smiled smugly. He finally had a way to kill the Immortal King for good. Now he only had two rolls left. He rolled.
[Congratulations! ESP (Level 13) has advanced to ESP (Level 14)]
Now his range was 120 miles. It was the last one now, so he hoped it would be a great one.
[Congratulations! ESP (Level 14) has advanced to ESP (Level 15)]
Well, I’ll take it. His range was now 240 miles. He had almost covered half of California.
...
"Do you know the location of the Immortal King?" Maya asked.
He had told her they were going to hunt the Immortal King, but they seemed to just be floating around with no clear direction.
"Not exactly," Cipher replied.
He looked around him. Even with the 240-mile detection range, he still wasn’t getting a read on the Immortal King. He wondered where he could be hiding.
"Is it okay if I try?" Maya asked.
"You mean looking? Sure?" he said, stopping mid-flight.
She stopped too. She closed her eyes and concentrated as Cipher watched.
...
Maya found herself floating in a void.
Floating golden clocks stretched as far as the eye could see, suspended in an endless expanse of nothingness. Each clock ticked at its own rhythm, their hands moving either forward or backward.
She clutched her head in pain.
I’m back in this place again, she thought. I need to get what I need quickly and leave.
She looked around. The clocks began displaying strange images as her gaze passed over them.
In one clock face, she saw Cipher sitting across from someone in a studio.
"Hey everyone. I’m Cipher. Nice to meet you all."
Another clock showed him bowing deeply before a woman.
"You’re not my subordinate. You’re my partner. We’ll face everything together."
A third displayed him standing protectively before a younger girl.
"Since the person in question has responded, then that’s that. This conversation is over."
She shook her head. She needed to concentrate - not on Cipher, but on the Immortal King.
The clock faces shifted, responding to her intent.
An eight-foot skeleton appeared in one, its hollow eye sockets burning with dark fire.
"I am the Immortal King! I was on the verge of ascension, about to transcend this pathetic mortal realm and claim my place among the gods!"
Another clock showed the skeleton laughing as space energy gathered in its palm.
"To lure you here, of course. Now that the strongest is here, the association has been left unguarded."
A third displayed Cipher confronting the creature.
"I’ll chase you down wherever you go, destroying any undead you create. You can run, but I adapt. One day, I’ll catch up and smash that skull of yours."
She continued searching, the pain intensifying with each passing moment. The clocks spun faster. Her skull felt like it was splitting open. But she pushed forward, sifting through countless visions until...
She finally saw it.
A lone skeleton dragging a corpse across barren terrain.
She locked onto the location and instantly exited that place.
...
Maya’s eyes snapped open. She looked to be in extremely poor condition - pale, trembling, sweat beading on her forehead.
Cipher looked at her with concern. "Is everything okay?" he asked, already activating Battery.
She held his hand, stopping him. "Don’t bother. I’m not physically hurt, just a little exhausted," she said. She steadied her breathing. "Anyway, I found him."
"Really?" he asked.
She nodded and waved her hand, causing a portal-like screen to appear before them. Through it, they could see a skeletal figure moving across a desolate landscape.
"That’s him alright," Cipher said, noticing him in the portal.
"Should we go get him?" she asked.
"Yeah. Let me try something," he said.
He grabbed Maya’s hand and the two disappeared, along with the illusion.
...
Cipher appeared in a different location with Maya next to him. He looked around. It really worked.
He had instantly put Maya in the spiritual sea and teleported, then instantly retrieved her. But that wasn’t the best part - he had actually transferred to a place he hadn’t been to before.
It was strange. He had tried this before by watching places on TV and trying to go to them, but it didn’t work. But he had felt that Maya’s vision might work.
The way he assumed this thing worked was that when he was somewhere, it registered the coordinates. Watching on TV didn’t give coordinates. But the way Maya’s vision worked was through time abilities - he guessed it probably captured spatial instances too, and that’s why he was able to register coordinates through her projection even though he’d never been there.
He then walked forward. They stood on a cliff. Maya pointed downward where a lone skeleton was dragging a corpse.
"There he is," she said.
At that moment, the Immortal King turned to look at them. Their gazes met, and Cipher grinned.
"Found you, little skeleton."