Bro, I'm not an Undead!

A soul at the Incandescent Stage?

Skullius looked at Sila in the distance who was half buried in the snow, his chest rising up and down as he huffed in breaths while the body he inhabited rapidly regenerated, courtesy of [Great Saint's Invigoration].

Right...

Sila had said that before. This man was past, esteemed warrior.

Bek shook his head.

"That was a pretty stupid thing to leave out. Nomatter, I'll just have to try harder. Getting a bit closer for a concentrated hit will do," the former Knight said as he refocused his attention on Sila.

The aged piece of soul was high in the clouds.

The attack just now was powerful but by utilising the utmost limit of the current strength of his Incandescent Stage soul, he had managed to resist getting destroyed in one blow!

It wasn't easy and even now, he could feel his soul quivering from the impact.

'As expected of a Spirit Warden. What a powerful spirit attack that was. He's still fairly weaker than the ones I've met in the past however. And that spirit around him...' Sila thought.

Indeed, with his soul now taking the helm of this body, he could see the creature around Bek clearly.

A Spirit.

Something normal humans couldn't see even if their strength scaled up to the Master Stage.

'My soul is already exhausted from resisting that one attack. Luckily for me, I have a power source to nourish my soul,' Sila thought, feeling the dormant soul of Skullius.

A soul without a WILL!

The best nourishment for another soul and a powerful, pure energy source!

The Tower General sifted himself out of the snowy dirt, his hands shifting up the snow a little as he smiled coyly.

'There...'

He then faced the two people before him.

"Why don't you come over here and let me purge you? You don't have enough power to fight or escape me. Besides, me and this idiot are kind of in the middle of something. We're short on time, you see," Bek said while making some rather expressive hand gestures.

He took steps towards the cosmetic body as he spoke, the image around him seeming to flicker out of existence, leaving his lone figure bare.

"YOU ARE RIGHT! THE PEAK OF MY STRENGTH IS LONG GONE BUT... DON'T YOU DARE LOOK DOWN ON ME, BOY!" Sila said as his body flooded out with mana from the Discount Human core.

As he did this, Bek frowned.

He felt a bit uneasy.

Sila's soul started to gain a brighter shade of colour, inching its way over Skullius' own soul bit by bit.

Within Sila's consciousness, he decided to properly arrange his first set of cards to play to escape this predicament.

'Hmph! I only have three CREEDS within this small piece of soul I have. It should be enough. I will not be disgraced by that tomato flinger anymore. I will keep this body.'

The old soul then opened mouth and spoke in a chilling voice.

"This is my CREED. I give up my sight permanently IN EXCHANGE for a permanent increase in my alternate sense and spatial awareness!"

OOHM!!

Skullius' flesh body rippled, a lowly wisp of power blowing outwards from it!

...!

Skullius reeled back as he sensed and saw IT!

The vibrant silver pupils on his cosmetic body lost their lustre, becoming indistinguishable from the white of his eyes!

'What's happening?!' Skullius thought in a panic.

"This is my CREED! I sacrifice my mana core and all its potential growth IN EXCHANGE for equivalent physical attunement of the highest order!"

...!

The Projected form of Skullius felt the core that was in his cosmetic body shrivel up, decrease in size and in its white shine before dissipating like flakes of light!

His mana core...

It vanished and there was no longer any traces of it in his body!

But his flesh...

VWOOOSH!

[Your mana core is destroyed]

[+650 to STR, AGI and END]

...!

Two notifications appeared before Skullius and Sila at the same time, the Tower General grinning with glee while Skullius' trembled with a sombre expression!

The cosmetic body that Sila inhabited released a shocking blast of energy as ever so slightly, it grew more muscular, but the real desired change, physical attunement, occurred inside the body, cords that connected intricately to every single part of the muscles and blood cells were created!

At this moment, the snow was parted as Bek flashed right in front of Sila with a serious expression, his finger viciously jamming onto the Discount Human body's temple!

SCREEEEEEE!

The creature that had been around Bek before, the spirit appeared, grabbing his hand and turning it pale!

Bek's movement was so fast that Skullius hadn't even seen it and when he finally saw Bek with that devastating attack he had seen before at the ready...!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" he yelled as he darted forward.

Bek ignored him as the glow from the tip of his index finger grew!

Sila unexpectedly didn't struggle to escape but finished stacking his first deck a shot breath before Bek's attack was released at this very close range, with greater strength and an unstoppable desire to obliterate him!

'This is my CREED! I sacrifice the... skills [Artless Dodger], [Manassault] and [Greater Communication (I)] to bolster the skill [Untouched]!'

The last CREED was made within Sila's mind, the effect being instantaneous as an astounding result bloomed, shocking both Skullius and Bek!

The former Knight who had been about to end Sila was suddenly blown away, his figure flashing across so fast without clarity or stability and crashing into the snow over a hundred meters into the distance!

Skullius was awed by what he saw, a stream of notifications popping in his vision that added to his 'what the actual flesh' streak!

['Greater Communication (I)' has been sacrificed]

['Artless Dodger' has been sacrificed]

['Manassault' has been sacrificed]

[The skill 'Untouched' evolves twice, becoming the skill 'Revered']

Skullius didn't have the time to analyse these notifications however as...

BOOOM!

Where Bek has tumbled to, the ground shook and exploded upwards as the former Knight rose from the snow which he had been pushed through, his finger once again aiming at Sila as snow fell off his body!

The olden Tower General whose blind eyes showed an ugly ferocity with his wide grin growing wider as blood leaked from the corners of his lips, emitted a provocative energy in response, his next cards being played!

The atrocious attack from Bek was launched once again, this time, its unseen might degrading everything in its path like a hungry beast with astonishing speed as it went, razing away the snow and dirt with a shrieking vibration that turned everything into a disgusting blur!

At the same time Bek attacked, Sila reached into the snow with his hand, his every move producing hazy after-images as it had shockingly reached the epitome of fluidity!

His hand retreated from the snow, barely having taken a quick breath's worth of time, a green, curved blade with a golden hilt being seen firmly held within it, its shiny glint even in the night being mesmerisingly immaculate!

Demion's Dance!

Sila wielded the blade with a powerful grip and slashed with a beautiful upward slash that drew a luminous diagonal line in the air at a speed that was almost impossible to perceive!

The movement!

The stance!

The power!

The elegance!

SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!

EVERYONE felt it!

The presence of death in the hands of a true master of the sword!

The shriek of true power which sought to dice all things in a neat slit!

Bek's attack which was inches away from Sila by the time he swung Demion's Dance collided with the deadly slash!

...

'...Ah...' Skullius stammered as he saw the absolute insanity that was revealed in front of him!

The world turned a few shades darker, the snow EVERYWHERE around the three turning black as the calamitous sword slash whose steel ring in the air continued even after the attack was executed!

This one slash completely silenced Bek's spirit attack, the earth shuddering as it was gouged into cleanly, the air along with it as a meter wide gash was opened deep in the ground and into the air all the way up to six miles away!!!

GRRRRRRMMM!

The ground trembled as it was split, the air blow in opposite directions after being slashed apart!

FSSSS! FSSS! FSSSH!

The arm on the Discount Human that had cast such a dreadful slash, exploded into chunks, blood leaking from it as the power released was just way beyond what it could take!

Yet...

Sila's grin grew even wider as he cackled eerily into the air, a flurry of notifications blasting his and Skullius' vision continuously at this moment!

[You are HYPED!]

[You are HYPED!]

[...HYPED!]

[...HYPED!]

[...HYPED!]

...

---

[Author's Note]

For your own sake, I hope you've read the chapters King and Pawn 1 & 2 otherwise you won't understand what the flesh is going on here.

Also, those with keen memory and interest could connect something between Revia's backstory and Bek's story.

Just sayin'.

Thanks for reading!