Bro, I'm not an Undead!

A relic containing the bound soul of the Corrupted Deity Nunax.

This was an item that Skullius had managed to acquire from Aurolio as a generous addition to the information the pale man offered to give the Hybrid Luman in exchange for his services at acquiring the souls of Null creatures.

Skullius vividly remembered VOW showing up out of nowhere, and even forcibly using his <Counsel> to advise him not to take the relic lightly.

Well, Skullius would have never dreamed of it, honestly.

The word Deity was deterrent enough.

Well, it had been enough back then.

Right now, he was casually facing a Deity in an odd world of their making while holding another Deity in his hand, a curious smile on his face.

Luserus couldn't seem to find what was so amusing about this ordeal, this last wish.

<That... How did you come by it?>

His tone was eerily cold, urgent and suspiciously careful.

"That's not really any of your business, is it?" Skullius said, much to the unsubtle rumbling in the sky; a sign of ruffled, divine feathers.

"I wonder, are you capable of subjugating other Deities? If you are, that would be very handy."

There was a nasty bit of silence.

What?

What now?

"You're underestimating what you're holding," Serenity was the one to answer first with a strict tone. "I can tell that you don't have the slightest idea what a Corrupted Deity is. After commending your forethought before, I'm surprised to find that you have enough stupidity to skim over something so important!"

Hearing Serenity's voice rise with blatant warning was a first for Skullius. Her flame body even flared lightly, temporarily turning burly with her outrage before fizzling back into a pitiable wisp with limbs.

Skullius gave her a sharp glance.

"What does it matter if its Corrupted or not? The fact of the matter is that it is trapped under effective conditions, with quite the tedious way to subjugate it that I'm not quite ready to trust yet. Even if the method is tried and true, I'd rather opt for a safer alternative," he said before turning back to Luserus. "Thus, I ask again, Luserus, are you capable of subjugating another Deity. One that's already sealed."

There was continued silence from the horizon.

The Deity diluted into the very world he had made only answered after Serenity had emitted an audible grumble of frustration.

<It would be possible. An imprisoned Deity that hasn't been nourished by deeds for an extensive period will always be weaker than the opposite. However... that relic... it's no ordinary artefact. I'm afraid the only way to open it is by following its instructions. I daresay even at a glance, its craftsmanship is leagues beyond what you would know, mortal.>

"Hoo. Really?" Skullius said with strange enthusiasm.

It indeed was quite strange.

Despite how much he had tried to use [Greatest Mana Crafter], he couldn't gleam much about the ancient piece of paper.

Better yet, Aurolio who had a higher rank with his guidance field, had implied that he didn't know much about the relic either, and even he, who somehow managed to acquire the relic, was wary of it. Wary enough to give it away, for some reason.

As far as relics and artefacts went, the most powerful ones were Legendary, Mythical and Transcendent.

Skullius had yet to see a single one with a grade of Transcendent.

Rather than rare, it almost seemed like they didn't exist.

Before, he had thought that perhaps this ancient page, which appeared with no name, and grade on his guidance field, was Transcendent, but after considering a few other possibilities, he imagined that it likely wasn't exactly about the grade.

Given the fact that he had quite the appreciation for influences from outside Aigas; Veneration art, other Deities aside from the four in this world, Skullius thought that perhaps, this had more to do with the creator of this page, rather than the page itself.

The one to capture a Deity was probably a Deity themselves, and evidently, when a Deity was involved, it was foolish to remain hinged on the Rules one was used while in the demesne of another.

All that said...

"That's quite sad. I suppose I'll have to do as the relic says," Skullius said.

He gazed blankly at the page, feeling his fierce awareness of elements around him as a result of [Son of Luserus] make another attempt at dissecting what he was looking at.

It failed.

The Corrupted Deity Nunax.

Maybe it was strange that Skullius indeed seemed oblivious to what the tag 'Corrupted' meant.

The reality was, he truly didn't care, but for good reason.

A moment later, he stored back the ancient page within his storage and sighed.

"That's about it," he said.

<What?>

Luserus sounded confused.

"I'm done with you for now. I'll keep my end of the bargain as I said."

<You don't care to make your last wish?>

"You can't solve my other problems as you are now, I'm afraid."

Luserus felt oddly infuriated by the remark even though he had been budgeting the little energy remaining in the shrine while expecting demands that didn't match the degree of intervention that was allowed of him.

<I see.>

Skullius smiled.

"Yes. I'd rather use up the energy that remains in the shrine for my convenience."

<What? So that you can get rid of the tether that allows me to keep watch? If you dare to think you can walk out on the arrangement you so boldly proposed, you are sorely mistaken.>

Despite the crushing force that mounted as Luserus spoke, Skullius waved his hand dismissively.

"Pay a bit more attention, will you? Didn't I tell you that you'd be able to keep an eye on me even without the shrine? Well, I suppose, it'd still be through the shrine's properties, but you don't need it as much as you think. Release me from this... stifling place and I'll show you. Come on."

The note of hesitation was difficult to miss.

Luserus of course didn't trust Skullius, but he was going to need to release the Hybrid Luman anyway.

And thus he did.

Skullius found himself standing before the shrine in an instant, released from the hypothetical world.

'Hmmm. Interesting. I was actually duplicated and reflected through two worlds. Such power...' he thought and chuckled, ignoring the massive force of tension he felt from the shrine.

Luserus was steadily watching him.

The Hybrid Luman shook his head and extended his hand towards the massive construct with a large outward shadow, its many winged sculptings of jade joined together to make a massive, odd, lively shape.

Right then, he felt the pulsing of the intent used when making this shrine.

It was built by the Luminants out of love for their Deity, Luserus.

The strange means they used to forge it left a mark, a scent.

It was similar to how his [Wings of the Just] felt.

The powers of the Luminants, the immaterial yet magical devotion, was what allowed Luserus to peek into Aigas, however limited he was.

Thankfully, that power could be accessed by a Luminant too, or rather, a Hybrid Luman.

And as far as Skullius knew, the powers of Luminants, were highly compatible with....

['Just Light' has deemed the remnants of sacred communion profound enough to latch onto]

['Just Light' has been promoted to 'S' rank!]

The shrine shook vehemently, so much so that Skullius heard several screams from behind him.

The construct really looked as though it was about to burst into pieces, and it became encased in a dull brilliance that fed into the false narrative.

Skullius couldn't care less.

He was far removed from worry, fear, or concern at this moment.

The four wings branded to his dark robe protruded out and became blindingly bright.

They grew to twice Skullius' size and even more in length while pointing in four different directions.

[You have crossed an insurmountable gulf of treachery to reach this level, as the Fruit of World Myths intended]

[Your Mastery over 'Just Light' reaches the very summit]

[An authority from the Fruit of World Myths surges...]

Skullius grinned.

Good. Very good. All was truly blissful in the world right now.

But then, it was hardly as good as it could get.

['Graceful Monolith of the Eminent' is tempted...]

Right when this notification appeared before Skullius, the shrine, which was wildly tumbling animatedly at this point... vanished.