Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1367: Get Back (2)



It hadn't been by chance after all, it seemed.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA...HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

Skullius gritted his teeth. Powerlessness was a powerful feeling, oddly enough.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA! LOOK AT ME! HAHAHAHAA! PRICELESS! ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS IS THE LOOK ON YOUR FACE!"

The Hybrid Warmoth groaned and cursed and scowled, but that didn't change anything. Whatever expression he wore, or emotion that he attempted to stifle only made Fulgardt laugh even harder, and in that laugh, Skullius found something. It might have been the greatest truth of all, or at least the foundational truth an expert needed to learn after reaching Divinity.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

"HAHAHAHAHA!! WHOOOOO! It's been a damn long time since I've had laughed so hard." Skullius found the true nature of a Divine.

Cold, self-serving.

As basic as that sounded, it contradicted with the equally true notion that one couldn't survive in the wider reality without allies.

Twice, VOW had warned Skullius about not addressing the nine contracts he had received for the use of his Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz. Nine Primeval Deities were interested in his new power and some were even offering something more than the LIMITED CONTRACTS he was used to.

But of course, it hadn't been Skullius' fault. He couldn't have casually started reading through nine contracts, discerning the characters, gifts and intents of the Deities sending them midway through a battle with an Undead Deity. He couldn't have chosen one at random either, given the risks of affiliating himself with dangerous Primeval Deities. VOW had even warned him against signing with contract with a Deity named TITEMIUS.

In the end, Skullius just didn't have time, and he had hoped to address the contracts after the battle. Alas...

Fulgardt wiped the tears from his eyes and then massaged them.

"Pardon that unsightly sight," he said and clapped. "It feels good to be validated by reality itself. Direction is drawing in my favour, Skullius. No one else should be able to see that better than you. It's no fault of yours that you've lost."

Skullius was hardly listening.

He was looking at the message blinking in his vision.

JOISEN ANTERRAS, whom he had assumed was a somewhat affable character given their dealings in the previous LIMITED CONTRACT, proved to be rather vicious. He had sabotaged Skullius' moment all to humble him and force him to attend to his and other Primeval Deities' interests before his own life-threatening circumstances.

This game of CONTRACTS to the Primeval Deities was like an auction and whoever owned the thing they desired didn't matter.

To them, larger than life as they were, what Skullius was going through was no more than a trifle. Insignificant. Meaningless.

Fulgardt saw these realisations twitter in Skullius' head. It had been just as devastating for him when he realised that all Deities were simply selfish man given the rights to the boundless skies and stars.

"Skullius?" Elita approached the Hybrid Warmoth. She had been launching herself towards Fulgardt along with Uyuniya, but just like last time, when Fulgardt was involved, things just seemed to... stop. "What's wrong?"

The Hybrid Warmoth balled his hands into fists and glared at Fulgardt.

"You saw?" he asked him.

"I did," the Immoral replied, getting his meaning. "I'm a little sensitive to the guidance field, you know. Huge changes and transmissions attract my attention, and given how our last conversation went - how you teased having dealings with Primeval Deities already - I deduced fairly easily what just happened." His grin was vomit-inducing. "It's not as cut and dry as you thought, is it, working with Deities?"

For some reason, Skullius thought of Suzamete at that moment. He was furious, but he couldn't help but wonder if Primeval Deities were even half as attached as she was to anything at all. And he had condemned Suzamete.

"I see," he said to Fulgardt. There was a cautious fire in his blank eyes. The Immoral raised his hands.

"Ah, relax. I didn't come here to fight. Not with blows at least. You know I can't hurt you now that you know a little of my secrets," he said and gave a sharp look to Elita and Uyuniya who were still determined to pounce given the right opening. "I wouldn't have a problem killing your friends though. Put them on a leash. All they have to endure is us talking. If they can't though..."

Right then, space twisted behind Fulgardt and a humongous ethereal figure appeared. It was cloaked in an old, silk robe, its flesh covered in sores and scabs, and its face covered in golden

bands.

...!!!

Skullius recognised it as the Corrupted Deity Fulgardt had summoned before - in Maqi! The pressure coming from it...

"Believe me. It wouldn't take a moment for this beauty to carve you up real nice," the Immoral said, suddenly shrouded in a lethal presence devoid of mirth. "I believe the two of you" - he pointed at the two voided Deathforms - "must know the difference between a common Deity and a Corrupted one."

Elita scowled while Uyuniya spat and maintained her ready stance.

"So, did you just come here to snatch my kill and force Rias to ascend to Divinity right in front of my eyes?" Skullius asked.

"Don't put it in such a dour manner. I'm actually doing both of us a favour," Fulgardt said as he locked his fingers and leaned forward. The Corrupted Deity drew closer to him. "After a bit of reflection, I have decided that it's very profitable for both us to stay alive. At least for now. When I created a copy of the Fruit of World Myths, I intended to create a successor who would follow after my ideals. I confess, I never considered creating an opponent with the same powers as me as motivation to grow. Only an Insurgent Magnus can piss me off enough to think outside the box. Even if you weren't protected by the mechanism I put in place in the Labyrinth, I wouldn't have opted to kill you right now."

Skullius scoffed.

It was funny getting to know how Fulgardt's mind worked. It turned out that he really didn't care for the means he had to use to obtain benefits, and despite all the flowery, sophisticated justification, Skullius knew he was petty. He had even said so himself just now. He wanted to humiliate Skullius just as Skullius had humiliated him.

The guidance field chimed again.

[Insufficient Amras reserves]

[The <Vain> effect of 'Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz' has been interrupted]

[...]

[...]

[...]

[Total Siphoned matter - 4.545%]

[Establishment begins...]

'Damn it!' Skullius cursed inwardly.

Unlike the <Void> application of Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz, which cut the connection between a target and their Broader Existence, the <Vain> was an active application which continuously drew on Skullius' Amras reserves to work. In the end, out of the upwards of 10% of matter Skullius should have drained from the Doom Knight's Broader Existence, he only ended siphoning 4% of the creature's power.

He could feel it start to get integrated into his own Broader Existence. It would take some time for the product to be formed.

'Tsk. I bet the <Void> application on that thing will soon come undone too. It'll regain consciousness and attack, but I'm sure it's Broader Existence is still getting eaten up by Cold Oblivion,' Skullius thought and he eyed the great clamped teeth of the large deer head. 'The

purpose of Doom Knight in Fulgardt's scheme...'

Skullius shook his head.

"How did you do it?" he asked the Immoral. "How did you get that kid to the Beyond The Veil

Stage in such a ridiculously short amount of time?"

Fulgardt grinned.

Aurolio had resolved to pretend as though he didn't exist, valuing to keep his life after his

breakthrough in strength, but he pricked his ears at Skullius' question. He knew Rias. He had fought him back in the Premium Age Royale one-on-one. A little more than a week had passed since that time and it did concern him how the boy had grown so strong.

Fulgardt gave a laugh.

"I'm a little disappointed that that would be your first question, Skullius. Why, I thought for sure you would have figured that out on your own. The method I used is a parody of how you

did it, after all," he said.

Skullius frowned.

"What?"

What did Fulgardt mean? skullius had never reached the Beyond The Veil Stage.

"Come on. Are you really that daft?" Fulgardt said and then slowly, his eyes turned to look at one of Skullius' allies: Sila. "I can never forget the feel of you, of your consciousness. I remember the burning feeling that I, as Festos, felt when you grabbed my neck and forced my

defeat, Sila."

The Tower General was taken aback, but so was Skullius, who finally understood.

...!!!

He couldn't have hidden his shock.

Fulgardt had used the same method Skullius had applied to jump from the Advancement

Stage straight into the Incandescent Stage!

Sila had sacrificed his Incandescent soul for Skullius after the battle with Rayn. As a result, when Skullius awakened, he had the body of an Advancer and the soul of an Incandescent Stager. Yet, when Skullius completed the Trial for breaking through to the Master Stage, he was automatically transformed into an Incandescent Stager on account of his stronger soul! Essentially, he had cheated the system... and Fulgardt had done the same.

[Author's Note]

You can refer to Chapters 1008 and 1013.