Bro, I'm not an Undead!

'I'm finally getting used to it, I guess. I don't feel so devastated anymore after each incident of this,' the Hybrid Warmoth told himself. He believed it, for the most part. Sudden bursts of misfortune had been his staple food for a long time, and he got used to expecting them. Even when he didn't, however, Skullius grew to know that as long as he survived, he hadn't truly lost. 'In any case, I can't be a hypocrite. I talked all big about facing great challenges head-on in that speech for mine to the Troops. I suppose this is my first real test after touching upon Divinity.'

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1265.)

As stalwart as Skullius' hope and resolve had become since coming to Aigas though, it couldn't shield him from the bitter taste of defeat. He hid it well within the very recesses of his being, but he was also screaming silently, roiling with hate and fury.

He dug into his Broader Existence. Quite like how Skullius could feel the innards of his mana core with [Depths of the Core] before, he could see the dark, abstract space of his Broader Existence. The Amras well was in the centre. It was supposed to light up everything around it, but it instead, it was a darkness itself. Well exhausted. A flicker of silvery-blue swiped out, and then another, but that was all there was.

The image gave Skullius no comfort. It only exacerbated his fury – his fury at Fulgardt and at the Primeval Deities.

[Who are you to keep us waiting?]
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That line now lived rent free in Skullius' ego – wherever it nestled within him. He returned to the flesh.

He sighed. He opted to remain sprawled on the ground for a little while longer, right where Fulgardt's Corrupted Deity had dropped him.

It was only after he heard the approach of several sets of footsteps that he rose and massaged his brow.

Kenno crouched beside him, Araeyn and Sila approaching. The Unlimited Star whistled.

"I'd rather die several hundreds of times than suffer through that humiliation, boss," he said.

Skullius grabbed him by the face with one of his hands and flung him seven kilometres away. The Unlimited Star was back in a flash, however.

"And I thought me saving you this time would result in another victory, tomato flinger," Sila said. Skullius turned to him. The two locked eyes for a few moments and several knowing exchanges went unspoken between them. Sila grin.

"Yeah, well…" Skullius said, shrugging. "I'm glad you came out of your cocoon just in time to catch the battle's finale, you demented general. Just like last time."

Elita stood beside Skullius. She gave him a half sympathetic, half cautious look.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Emotionally? No." The Hybrid Warmoth stood and for the second time since Fulgardt left, he looked at the tattoo around his wrist. "Not at all."

Uyuniya was standing on his other side in the next instant. She took his hand and inspected the tattoo. Taken aback, Skullius created a mana network between his and her mind.

"Crafty," Uyuniya said as she rubbed the tattoo with a finger. "He used Fundamental Barter to make this."

"What?" Skullius raised a brow.

"Fundamental Barter. It's a mechanism parallel to the Common Reality Leagues used to boost the power of certain abilities and even tools by adding strict restrictions. It works on artefacts too, but not Prime and Wicked Treasures. It won't work on Andori or any facet of the Common Reality Leagues either," Uyuniya explained.

Skullius frowned. There was such a thing?

'I guess it's like Creeds and Rules,' he thought.

Uyuniya explained the target and duration conditions required to activate Fundamental Barter for the exponential boost to the power and efficiency of the subject involved.

"The Common Reality Leagues are strictly for powers that only apply to Divines. That's why the Fundamental Barter is not considered part of such an… esteemed system. It works even for mortals."

"I see. So, there are other powers on the Divine level that don't qualify for the Common Reality Leagues. I suppose that's where the Existential Parallels fall in."

'And I suppose some of the Seeds of the Fruit of World Myths like the Womb and Exorbitance,' Skullius added in his thoughts.

Uyuniya nodded and inspected his tattoo again.

"In this case, that man not only applied the first two mandatory restrictions of duration and target. He also added a third restriction, or perhaps more like a drawback, further increasing its effects," she said and looked at him. "He revealed to you the exact restrictions he gave the bracelet. If you hadn't known, you might have been dealt even worse damage, but he traded that advantage to make absolutely sure YOU wouldn't do defy him."

"I see," Skullius said, understanding at once.

This tattoo, inflicted by the bracelet which had been forcibly slung around his wrist, was meant to stop him from interacting with the SOMETHING he found – through infiltrating Fulgardt's mind back in Maqi – hidden in the Labyrinth of the Yoke. It was something extremely precious to Fulgardt. The tattoo only affected him, however, and only worked for an hour. With this knowledge, Skullius could simply wait an hour and then visit the Labyrinth – as he intended to. And that was probably what Fulgardt was hoping for. But of course, that wasn't necessarily a good thing for Skullius.

'That bastard said he's going to go hunting for Boron and Suzamete, the only Deities left on Aigas. I'm sure he doesn't mean to reap all the benefits himself. He must be more interested in raising the potency of Rias' new Andori,' Skullius thought.

The young necromancer, according to what Skullius heard, had managed to elevate his Imagining Technique from a mere skill into an Andori. Andori were stubborn techniques. The only way to permanently increase their power was to increase the quality of one's Broader Existence. Fulgardt must have meant to give Rias easy kills in the two Deities.

But Boron and Suzamete were not easy targets. Well, at least the former certainly wasn't.

Skullius sighed.

'Could he do it in a mere hour though?' He scratched his head. It appeared his earlier estimation that by the time a day went by, Aigas would be ash, was true.

The bitter thought suddenly made Skullius turn to Uyuniya. He really wondered what motivated her brash, unreasonable personality. She looked to have been on the verge of attacking Fulgardt even though he had the upper hand on multiple levels; he even had a Deity on his side.

'Then again, she did mock me for being cautious of Deities.'

"You're awfully liberal with information now. I assumed your cooperation was limited to after we defeated the Doom Knight," Skullius said to her.

Uyuniya narrowed her eyes.

"Was all that talk about you being kin to Voided Deathforms a lie then?" she asked sharply.

Skullius shook his head. 'Right.'

"No. It wasn't. I just didn't think you'd buy into it for long," he said. "Void certainly doesn't."

"After seeing that new Parlous Nature of yours in action, I can only buy into the idea. Whatever that power is, applies the void in a manner very similar to mine, and in some aspects, it's even better," Uyuniya said. "You're Voided Deathform to me."

"Hmmm. So you really were just racist."

"That's not necessarily a bad thing when Existential Parallels are matched against each other from the start, and then shunned by most Deific beings. Besides," Uyuniya's face softened a little, "you're still fresh from one world. You'll soon discover the staggering magnitude of factions formed across reality, constantly assaulting the other for good and not-so-good reasons."

Skullius' gaze lingered on the woman. She only just now started to feel like a person to him.

His gaze then swept over to Elita.

He could tell she was prepared to guard against him on their pending matter, but Skullius wasn't ready to indulge in his gnawing fury over Elita decisions just yet.

He had two other pending matters: the nine contracts waiting for his response, and the portion of the Doom Knight's Broader Existence that was almost finished condensing in his own Broader Existence.

Since the latter wasn't quite ready, Skullius decided to deal with the matter of the contracts first.

It was going to be torture, but it needed to be done.