Bro, I'm not an Undead!



No one could have expected the tension to suddenly soar as much as it did then. There was already a lot going on; Sevill trying to stop the souls from flying off, Viccil facing off against Revia and Fulina, Skullius trying to decipher what one of Vali's clones was gesturing to him for the distance.

Yet, what Actuass was doing forced a pause and drew much attention from everyone else.

What this had all been for was finally revealed in the figure that appeared from where the large formation had been. A large hole stood in its place now, after Actuass had activated the complex seal that.

Actuass had had something buried here from the very beginning of the Premium Age Royale, and now, as it seemed, it had acquired enough sustenance.

First, Actuass had smothered the seal with a massive amount of Undeath energy to facilitate a reanimation process, and then, to draw what he needed from a place far, and deep, he had supplied his process with an unfathomable source of energy.

Souls.

Souls without consciousness. They were a very efficient fuel as Actuass had discovered.

After all, no human alive knew about souls better than him.

Skullius gulped. He didn't dare shut off his Crude Vision. It almost seemed as if he had been compelled to stand still, as his body refused to move out of place.

However, [Primal Caution] was issuing a consistent warning in his mind, at times trying to force him to just run away, something that hadn't happened before.

Maxim at his side was sweating profusely, her face turned pale. Her hand was squeezed into a tight fist, and it didn't seem like she was doing so to get ready for a brawl.

Sevill also looked deeply concerned, and it went without saying that Viccil too was stunned. The two, as the only other Incandescent Stage experts here beside Actuass, could see what the rest weren't paying attention to.

The blue clouds were swarming above Actuass and whatever had stepped from the pit, seemingly against their will. The mana in the air vibrated as if it was part of a spectrum leading over to what Actuass was facing.

Something was terribly wrong.

Something powerful was here.

Revia had turned to Actuass, a concerned look on her face. She knew what was coming, and it wasn't what most were expecting and asssuming at all.

It was worse.

Actuass took a few steps back, and gave the figure before him, some room.

It was a man.

A tall man with a rather chiselled body proportioned well enough to not make him look too burly. As he wore nothing on his torso, his sand toned skin revealed the taut muscles underneath, and his arms powerfully threaded with thick veins that seemed to supply more mana than they did blood, wildly increased the feeling of superiority he gave the willing and unwilling audience at a mere glance.

His heart shaped face, packed with nut brown upturned eyes, a button nose and a light stubble could not have looked more ordinary, especially with the ruffled up black hair over his head.

Yet, past the appealing physique, everyone who could see, spotted something unusual about this man's body.

There were cracks on it, tinged with a fiery glow, as though his body was a heated pot. Worse yet, these cracks spread every second, and where they intersected, there was a light hiss of burn that turned his skin dark.

It was impossible to tell if this man was aware of this or not, but since Actuass didn't pay it any mind, nowhere else could.

Not a sound could be heard for several seconds.

Everyone had quieted down, the whole vibe in the air seeming to have forced them to witness what occurred next.

Skullius in particular felt overly disturbed.

His <CURSED HEART> thumped fiercely the more he kept looking at that tall man, and [Primal Caution] was practically fighting him for control.

Run.

Run.

Run.

Skullius couldn't understand. Sure, he was greatly frightened by the whole thing, but so was everyone else from what he could see. But why...

Run.

Run.

Why was he getting this feeling of dread and...fury?

What was that man to him?

Who was that man before Actuass to him?

Skullius' hand jerked forward, and his feet almost sprang backward, devoid of his control, but he held himself back.

Run.

No.

Run!

No!

RUN!

NO!

Actuass then spoke.

"As I promised. The view is quite different outside the den of spirits and souls isn't it? Not as crowded, and not as dangerous..." he said.

The tall man's eyes stared sharply at him, and for a moment, it looked at though Actuass nearly buckled under the gaze. The man then looked up at the clouds gathering.

"This isn't Aigas. I remember it being the sky that was blue..."

As the man spoke, it was as if his voice inspired an image into the minds of all who heard, showing exactly what he meant by his words.

Everyone saw the picture of a bright sky with white clouds and a shining sun that wasn't partial with its light.

The natural Aigas sky.

"It isn't," Actuass said, his voice attaining a deeper tone. "But you can have a look if you please."

Skullius' heart thumped wildly again, such that Maxim turned to him with an anxious face, wondering where that drumming sound was coming from. Even Sevill was partially distracted by the beat from her withholding the souls, which for some reason, insisted on running even when the formation that drew them was gone.

Perhaps that was related to why the last contenders had the number of their Units still showing above them.

The Hybrid Luman felt a part of him drawl out from within.

[Evil Darkness].

[Just Light].

The Fruit of World Myths.

He felt the three dish out a forceful wave of intent that forced its way against his consciousness.

'What is going on with me?!' Skullius wondered, furious at why he always had problems with his powers like this.

Control over his own body was getting tragically difficult right now, and it seemed to have been triggered by the sight of that tall man.

For a moment, Skullius thought perhaps...

'It's not me tomato flinger! IT'S...!' Sila began but failed to finish his sentence, as his voice was drowned out by an influence as vast as a sea rising from within the Hybrid Luman's body.

As his heart pounded harder, Skullius found himself getting drowsy, his thoughts slipping.

'Come on! Not now!'

This seemed to be the trend with him. Whatever powers he encountered always seemed to want to take control of him.

Undeath.

Null Life.

And now, the Insurgent Magnus powers were rebelling.

Though in this instance, Skullius couldn't help but remember something he had heard about legacies. Something he heard from a rather insignificant person he had met in Inhone City, Frock the merchant.

He had been the first to tell him about legacies rarely leading to anything good. That legacy creators always seemed to have unfinished business.

But why was Skullius thinking of this right now?

Was this what was happening to him?

As Skullius thought on this track, he got a frightful realisation as to why this could be, but as he set his eyes on the tall man again after nearly submitting to this ongoing struggle, he found that the tall man... was looking right at him unblinkingly!

...!!!

Actuass was surprised to see the tall man turn his focus.

He followed the man's line of sight, and saw what had taken his interest.

"What is the meaning of this?" the tall man suddenly asked, his voice like loud thunder that exploded near the ears of those who heard it.

Actuass turned back to the tall man.

"What?" he asked, confused. What was it about that auburn-haired man that was so upsetting?

"That young man..." the tall man said, and he walked past Actuass, taking a few slow steps before coming to a stop.

Skullius dropped to the ground, but his eyes didn't look away from the blackish-whitish view of the tall man.

Slowly, he was starting to recognise it.

The body was different, which was probably why it was burning away, but the soul was the same. The same unbridled soul that he felt every inch of his Insurgent Magnus powers react against.

Maxim tried to help Skullius up, but he stopped her with a few words that left her surprised, and pulled himself past the small woodland Viccil had made. He trudged forward, and came into unobstructed view.

Everyone was turning to him now.

The tall man wore a deep frown.

"Is this a coincidence or was it a part of your plan too?" he asked, but Actuass who had followed him, recognising that this was a question for him couldn't understand.

He had been about to ask when...

Skullius couldn't hold on anymore.

'I...can't... hold...!'

He felt the WILLS of Fulgardt overwhelm him, and soon he was crying aloud to the sky, his body bellowing with an astounding show of power that far exceeded his current.

A torrent of blacker than night darkness and golden-white, almost sacred light poured incessantly from Skullius in all directions, burying everything it touched!

The same wave gushed towards the tall man, and Actuass, quite alarmed by this, hid behind the man's broad figure, which, as it seemed, was like a plague that the powerful mass of darkness and light avoided!

Sevill, blinded by a mass of darkness had almost lost her grip, but she persisted, at least with Darwel in her grasp.

She felt Viccil's conjured woodland around her crumble instantly, and in her attempt to keep a calm thought process, she found herself wondering...

What was going on with Sir Festos?

It seemed she didn't know him as much as thought she was getting to.

And this, may have just been his biggest secret!

For a full minute, everything was hidden behind the chaotic clash of colour and might, and when the outpour had started to die down, a loud scream that shook the world violently sounded from what had been the source of the fierce rush of power!

The clarity slowly started to slip back to the senses, but it was still muddled by the ear-splitting noise.

Roaring into the sky with his arms spread out, was not the auburn-haired figure that most had expected.

It was a man, if it could even be called that, with very long dark hair that reached his waist. Another face different that which everyone else knew, could be seen now, but it could have just as easily been an intricate mask because of how solid and firm it was, morphing strangely.

The crimson black armour Skullius had worn was gone. His torso was left bare once more, and tufts of darkness like hairs could be seen on his wrists and ankles, and over his waist, a thickly dark band of clothing, like a towel that reached his knees, with a golden white strap to its middle could be seen; it was the only form of clothing he had left.

The tall man wore a grim yet nostalgic face before he started pacing towards the figure which turned to him and hunched over, as if its spine had suddenly been damaged.

There was a momentary silence.

Silent eyes looked at this meeting in shock.

What was going on?

"And here I thought you too died back then, Fulgardt," the tall man said, "I merely thought human Divines like you had a separate place in the Yormuness..."

The long haired figure shook, as if trying to contain its rage, its face that was hard to describe somehow depicting emotion.

The tall man formed a complex gesture with his hands, and a weak smile appeared over his face.

"I remember 'fondly' how you liked to fight in this form. I won't give you the advantage," the tall man said as an enormous amount of mana blew from him and rapidly formed a bright Nitros layer that coloured the world in solid white.

At the same, a loud, croaking voice shot from the long-haired figure.

"| You will die like before, Rayn! |"

An eager torrent of darkness spun like a mini, ball-like tornado before the long-haired figure's face, and fired off to meet the incoming wash of paint-like Nitros!

When the two met, the world around them could only submit to the excessive powers battling within it, and give up in its attempt to contain them.

...And then an enmity that dated back millennia was reignited, unexpectedly.