Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The water bubbled and roiled as the purple eye on the forehead of the carp that Red Rage faced seemed to induce some sort of effect on the waters in a rather turbulent manner!

Red Rage was pulled in as the water behind the carp formed a vortex that drew everything in, sucking in the Apostle who was covered by a light blue glow which only his master could see.

The blue glow around Red Rage became more intense as he was drawn in by the whirlpool, the Apostle raising his sword as he sent his intent to Skullius who was panicking behind him.

'Huh?' Skullius thought as he comprehended what the Apostle intended. 'Prepare for what?'

As he asked the question in his mind, something flowed with a light pulse around him, a coil he was familiar with covering his body!

Null Life Essence!

But...

'What's this for?' Skullius questioned as he looked at Red Rage who was pulled over, reaching right before the carp that was inducing the growing whirlpool!

The Apostle had shared his Null Life Essence!

Red Rage's body suddenly blazed with thickets of mana that washed over his body and the sword that he held, and in the next moment, the Pelvis Boar-Man swiped diagonally at the stationary carp!

The waters bubbled as a thin blue line traced the movement of the sword's edge in a split second!

..!

Skullius narrowed his eyes!

He recognised that move!

This was one of the more intricate sword moves he had seen back in the Tremur Forest!

This was Shirota the Foul Goblin's sword technique!

But wasn't that related to Mist Swordsman advanced class?

Wait! How was Red Rage able to use mana for this skill in the first place?!

Barely a scratch appeared on the carp's scales and it grinned, seeing that the damage done to it was dismally dismal!

However, Red Rage didn't stop at one slash despite the failed attack. He swiped multiple times at different angles, the white sword raging around the figure of the carp which still floated in place while maintaining the whirlpool behind it!

Scratches appeared on its scales, some overlapping each other with no definitive damage in sight.

Yet...

Red Rage slashed one more time, with his strike conjuring a unexpected effect!

Blood gushed from the carp like a stream in the water in a wondrous aesthetic, rushing over to Red Rage's sword as he slammed into the carp from the draw of the whirlpool!

...!

The carp was alarmed as it saw its blood bursting out from nowhere in particular while travelling over to the Pelvis Boar-Man, covering his sword!

The red hue of the liquid that was traceable even in the dark water covered the white of the blade, tinting it with the respective colour as it then blazed with power!

Skullius who was pulled in to reach the carp was also shocked by this, but then, it hit him!

Two things hit him actually!

This effect was from the sword that Red Rage used!

Furthermore...

Skullius almost facepalmed!

'I didn't even notice! Red Rage you magnificent son of a sockethole!' Skullius bashed himself before taking action joyfully.

He couldn't believe he hadn't realised it until now, even though it had happened a little less than seven seconds ago!

Mana poured from his core as he neared the carp's enraged face.

A bright glow started to appear with a reddish tint that almost overtook the dark scape littered with lights that the Discount Human had created.

Yes indeed!

He could use mana!

Ever since the Null Life Essence had covered his body, the disturbance from the currents of water that hindered his mana manipulation had ceased, but he had been too absorbed with Red Rage's actions that he completely overlooked it!

A flaring flame burst in the water, instantly superheating it as bubbles raged all around him!

Skullius was using [Revenant Flames of Ecstasy]!

The sphere that formed between his hands continued to redden and threaten to blow everything to oblivion!

The carp noticed the threat as it set to retaliate while still holding its position, but Red Rage acted quickly, slashing with all his might while using the reddened sword!

The carp which had been preparing to move suddenly screeched horribly, suffering damage that no one could see as it trembled violently!

Blood pooled from its large mouth as it screamed and unfortunately, the red liquid rushed over to Red Rage's blade which once again pulsed with strength!

~~~

[Blood Seeker's Fang]

-Rare-

A blade forged from the fang of one of the four Null Badubs, the <*%$#!>.

-Defense-

2500

-Durability-

3700/3463

-Special Effects-

• +20% speed

• Absorbs blood to enhance durability

----

[Skill: Chance of Blood]

Every slash has a 10% chance to draw blood from a target without drawing any wounds on their body.

---

[Skill: Blood Lover]

After absorbing a target's blood, the sword will gain the ability to do 25% internal damage on them.

-Caution-

Overly powerful opponents are exempt from the effects of the sword.

~~~

The carp trembled with rage and its purple eye sparkled!

The whirlpool behind it suddenly stopped and the creature seemed to finally regain the ability to move again!

However, it was too late as when it set to push against the waters to attack Red Rage and Skullius, a scorching ball of red flame blitzed through the water while generating hot bubbles!

Red Rage took the chance to push back and evade the terror that was about to ensue and surely...

BOOOM!

The water boiled as a sensational explosion emerged!

Shockwave upon shockwave rocked the waters, lighting up the liquid space over and above what had already been done by Skullius with the [Just Light]!

Natalika, Gertreld and Ginie glanced at the explosion that spread out shockwaves which reached even them from a distance and all three of them knew...

It was probably that spell they had heard about!

Strangely, Tulnas and the shorter carp were still in a stare down.

They didn't even flinch from the muffled noise that emanated from the explosion.

The bright reddish orange light painted their faces as they floated, Tulnas actually smirking as his eyes shone with intrigue.

Raging bubbles could be seen as the remnants of explosion continued, large bubbles continuing to appear and even coagulate right where the explosion had been!

Skullius who had drifted away narrowed his eyes.

Something wasn't right.

He hadn't seen blood or any a notification confirming the creature's death.

Also, as he focused closer, he found that the turbulent bubbles actually started gathering around where the explosion had occurred, dark purple energy being spotted around the phenomenon!

The whirlpool that the carp had conjured was still visible and it seemed to be instigator of this weird effect!

Spots of light in a circular shape also appeared tracing the silhouette of the purple eye that the carp had from the darkness!

...!

Skullius was alarmed as he felt something dangerous about to come flying his way!

Before it happened, Skullius activated the skill from his armour, Fleeting Ghoul's Adornment, called [Bolt through]!

As he did, his body turned illusory, becoming semi see-through in appearance!

At that moment, a bright ray of a blinding light blue hue shot towards Skullius with an eerie sound one would only hear from something speeding within liquid!

The thick ray of liquid passed right through Skullius' abdomen as if he didn't exist at all!

However, the Discount Human noticed wisps of a fizzy red liquid leaking from his body as the ray passed through him!

'I'm bleeding?' he thought as he watched the ray of light finally vanish. 'Wait... [Bolt through] can't defend energy type attacks!'

Skullius hurriedly looked at his belly where the bright flash of light had hit only to find that there wasn't as much damage as he thought, just a large burnt spot that had half-molten flesh!

It wasn't a gaping hole as he had suspected.

'Could it be that the attack wasn't fully made of energy but water too? That would explain the bubbles.'

If that was the case then he could confirm that [Bolt through] had partially defended him.

A rush of energising power ran through his body as the Discount Human used [Luminant Healing] to quickly recover, his eyes looking ahead.

The carp he had blasted with [Revenant Flames of Ecstasy] was uninjured at all and it swam a few quick laps around Skullius and Red Rage who started to surge with power.

'Don't! Save it for the real enemy!' Skullius commanded as he noticed that the Apostle was about to use his main heavy hitting technique.

He remained vigilant as he tried to gauge what the carp's next move would be.

'What was the point of that whirlpool?' he thought. 'Did it really only have the effect of drawing us closer?'

It was quite peculiar how the carp used its ability to forge a whirlpool to merely draw them in and then....what?

Or, perhaps was a requirement to fuel the large light ray attack!

That made more sense!

In the midst of thought, Skullius noticed something quite peculiar.

The lights he had positioned all around for more visual clarity hadn't moved at all.

Despite the raging battles taking place in the waters, they remained rooted in place!

'I haven't seen that function before,' Skullius thought, getting side tracked a bit by this finding.

However, he turned back his attention to the carp which once again squirmed and created a massive whirlpool behind it where Skullius and Red Rage began to get drawn to!

'Damn it! It's probably prepared for our attacks now. Even if it can't move when creating a whirlpool, it might just attack before we get close enough,' Skullius thought as he creased his brows.

His hand went to his sword as it was the only attack he had left to use, though he didnt know the full extent of its capability and what it could actually do.

His other skills drained too much mana and he was saving it for after this.

Even if it wasn't ideal to use a sword in the waters, he had to try.

As he draw the sword by the hilt...

The waters thrummed, as a certain man finally took action...