Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1213: The One Left Standing (27)

(A/N: I made a minor change to Skullius' Territory name.)

Jiggorrhax swatted away the tiny, yet extraordinarily powerful creature that was pushing him high into the sky. His rising velocity immediately fell, and he spun while rearing his head back to look at the new enemy.

Red Rage was wrapped in a vibrant, intense brilliance that disallowed those without advanced sight from seeing his true likeness. Just this quirk alone was already enough to suggest that in terms of power, he was in a league most living things in this world wouldn't be able to reach.

Jiggorrhax recognised this, but his attention was quickly stolen by what was happening below.

A mass of darkness was spreading like a plague, eating a massive chunk of Pelian to create a proud, intimate world.

The sight brought no small amount of annoyance to the dragon.

Right then, the Noboboyama coating him like armour suddenly fizzled out and scattered, leaving his majestic, scaled figure on full display.

The Herald scoffed.

'IT SEEMS HE HAS NO NEED FOR ME ANYMORE. I SHOULD HAVE REALISED SOONER.'

Jiggorrhax had seen the madness of Fulgardt in full despite never once contending against it in person. The Deities had always insisted that he was unneeded against the Immoral despite their vessels falling against Fulgardt's forces during the Second Grand War.

The dragon hadn't known why he wasn't allowed to participate. This cultivated no small degree of frustration within him when he watched the atrocities of the mad man. However, his grievances with the Immoral had soon been washed away when the threat of outsiders had befallen Aigas. They had been much greater foes than the Immoral. They were greedier. They were creepier. They were many.

It was only for this reason that Jiggorrhax, in the present time, had fallen for Skullius' claim that Replicus was an outsider, and that he would help defeat him. Against threats from outside worlds, Jiggorrhax was indeed willing to cooperate with anyone with the means to assist. Surely, that was reason enough for him to temporarily place his trust in Fulgardt as an ally, right?

But he had been wrong and he had slowly begun to piece things together.

'Fulgardt' had spoken to the 'outsider' as if they were well acquainted, however hostilely.

Above that, the 'outsider', while indeed having other odd powers, had quite a deep knowledge on the powers encrusted in Aigas. How he used some of his skills, how his mana cores churned, how they glowed, how he understood the threat of Territories enough to stop them from even being cast...

It was fishy.

The fact that Jiggorrhax could sense Skullius' mana signature all over in the form of the Soul Spawn corrupting innocent lives also made him stop and reevaluate his stance.

This was why he had begun to attempt to converse with Replicus, asking if he was an anomaly. This, to the dragon, would make the most amount of sense considering how unusual Replicus' powers were. In that case, perhaps, the anomaly wasn't the enemy, and the enemy was in fact...

"Scaled Elder..."

Jiggorrhax turned as he suddenly heard a voice call from above. Only he among those here could be called a 'Scaled Elder.'

The dragon's purple pupil saw the hazy figure of a familiar individual; a familiar Giant. "SAUSIFILLIS?"

And indeed the ethereal projection was Sause.

The Giant wore a solemn look, one he had never worn in front of anyone but his Elders.

"Please... This is not your fight," he said.

The great pupil of Jiggorrhax quivered.

There was a pleading, sorrowful look in Sause's eyes.

"Please..."

***

"Majestic Territory Expulsion, Aphotic Catacomb of the Daemon!"

An all-encompassing darkness spread out, unfathomably deep and maddeningly silent like the great void. From within, other than its master, no one else would be able to tell how much of the outside world it devoured. And indeed, this darkness devoured and it did not eradicate. It swallowed the Bryne Family Estate, buildings, people and all, and hid them. Within this darkness, a particularly darker, scarier construct of the black begun to emerge as though rising from the ocean. It was like a vast grotesque, abominable, crooked, bony arm from which countless, black skeletal limbs protruded, grasping a series of horrid objects tightly.

The construct was very, very tall. Where it was conjured from below couldn't be seen, but where it ended was anything except hidden. The arm ended with six, thin, long fingers, the tips of which held onto a massive, bright gem.

This gem was very beautiful, delectable to the eye.

It shone resplendently, but its lustre was not reflected on the surroundings at all. Far into the distance, three great Noboboyama PHANTASMIC RETAINERS grasping each other's many hands marked the circular boundary to the stage within which Skullius intended to use for his attacks, but they did not, by any means, mark the end of the Territory. They could be adjusted as per the Melanoid Prince's desire.

Speaking of the Prince, Skullius was standing, or perhaps floating right below the glowing gem held by the long arm.

His glee was formidable.

His eyes looked up beyond the shell of the Territory and he spotted the Herald, Jiggorrhax in the sky.

'I should have known you were quite smart, and as drunk on the idea of saving useless lives as my counterpart. You wouldn't join me here knowing how this Territory functions,' he thought, scoffed and then looked below him.

The heavily-furred, four- armed and long-haired figure of the Soul-Burdened Warmoth had reacted to his Territory's casting rather quickly. The proud, purple-gold light of [Neutral Maximum] was spraying vibrantly over him, protecting him from the basic effect of a Majestic Territory - to cease the flow of an opponent's mana, thereby crippling them.

Skullius chortled.

'I wonder how long that will last,' he thought.

He had every reason to be confident, after all...

[You have used your 'Majestic Territory'!]

[+5,500% to Strength within the Territory]

[+5,900% to Agility within the Territory]

[+5,000% to Endurance within the Territory]

[+10,500% to Mana Points and Mana Recovery within the Territory]

[+7,500% to Skill efficiency within the Territory]

The guidance field showered the Hybrid Luman with notifications. Indeed, he had massive calculated advantages within his Territory, but in truth, these were meaningless to the

current battle.

The boons Skullius was most excited for came as a result of how he had constructed his Imaginary GeoScape; the three Primary functions he had forged were guaranteed to give him

a phenomenal edge.

Replicus had been greatly disappointed by how Skullius managed to get one over him to cast his Territory. However, this feeling was quickly overwhelmed by how heavily unsettling this magical demesne was.

Upon entering, he had almost been caught lacking by one of its casual features; there was no ground to stand on here. It seemed targets would continue to fall in the darkness unless they

had flight abilities or something similar.

For Replicus, what kept him steady was [Neutral Maximum]. It refused any kind of change from influencing his body other than that which Replicus allowed. This effect applied even to his position, though in most cases, he didn't really need to keep that constant. 'Catacomb of the Daemon, huh? Do you really think yourself a devil now?' Replicus thought.

"Neat, isn't it?" Skullius suddenly called.

In the unnerving silence, it almost seemed blasphemous to speak so loudly.

Replicus snorted and then he smirked.

"Sure. But you do realise that this Territory will soon be mine, right?" he said.

Skullius took a small bow.

"Ah, I'm not sure you mean that. After all, I haven't introduced you to its contents," he said, and suddenly, the darkness around them turned a little lighter, revealing the heavily-shaded mansions of the Bryne Estate, the procession of darkened trees... and the thousands upon thousands of people who had been camping on the grounds. They too were decked in black, golden-white halos hovering above their heads.

At once, Replicus' expression changed, wiped of all its mockery.

This...

"Still drooling for it? I picked up this neat idea from this Sif fellow, Benyn. He embossed his Territory on the surroundings, making sure any effect he cast was applied on them," Skullius

explained.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.944).

Replicus was astonished.

In practice, it was probably harder than it looked to merge an Imaginary GeoScape with the outside world seamlessly, especially when living things were being included into the Territory from the outside, like how Skullius had done!

"Of course, my aim isn't anything ordinary. You see, it was rather difficult, making a smaller

version of what I accomplished in the Labyrinth of the Yoke with a mere Territory, but I did it.

My intellect made it through into this body - the bit of you I have doesn't contribute much, if anything," Skullius added on.

Right then, the shadowed bodies floated up into the air and each of them was immediately transformed into the CREATURE, two swords appearing in their hands!

"I have a lot of restrictions when using the Slow Ghost Divine Sword Art and CREATURE simultaneously. I can only make six ghosts blessed with that power of [Evil Darkness]. But here... I am free. The victims I bring into the Territory give me that freedom," the Hybrid

Luman declared, and his thousands of CREATURES flexed their bodies, adjusting to themselves to their varying physiques.

Some of them didn't turn into the CREATURE. They transformed into the Stolen Angel,

prompted by the same Divine Sword Art.

Replicus scowled.

This was... nasty.

"But this isn't all," Skullius said and he pointed up at the massive gem above him. "This

catacomb may be aphotic, but that doesn't mean it refuses to bless those that need

enlightening!"

The gem suddenly shone brighter than before, but its light didn't illuminate the Territory's

aspects; not Skullius, not the CREATURES, not the twisted arm, or the PHANTASMIC

RETAINERS.

No.

It only shone over Replicus and began to overwhelm all of his defenses!

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