Bro, I'm not an Undead!

It may have boggled the mind why Skullius hadn't bothered to create an additional mana core for himself with all the mana he often stole from enemies.

It had crossed his mind before, obviously. In fact, the Hybrid Luman had even created a mana core to sustain the Chieftain Screens in the Bryne Family Estate.

The challenge was, the composition of a purple mana core was incredibly dense, and unlike with a blue core, which he himself had, Skullius couldn't recreate the natural integrity of mana so dense. He had tried to learn it, making a certain degree of progress when studying the cores of powerful Cluster beasts, but another challenge presented itself.

Mana cores were connected to the body and the soul, and even if he managed to create a purple one, tethering such dense, compact power to himself was nearly impossible with just [Greatest Mana Manipulation]. Furthermore, a mana core was connected to the soul, and only after this specific connection was forged did it become able to generate its own mana. That's why Skullius preferred to store mana as simple condensed balls which ignited at a touch, acting as an extension of his own mana core rather than their own functional mana core likely to collapse with his lacking skill.

Now, he was about achieve just what he had been hoping for in the past, as the Preeminent Attegoth was akin to another Skullius that operated at the same level as him.

"There…" Skullius said, looking at the giant construct's mighty midriff. The heavy gusts of mana flowing into it were forcefully shaped into a ball, and rapidly, they were crafted into the mana core's Centre – the innermost portion – then the Refinery, then the Shell. 

The mana core first adopted a blinding white radiance, then it turned blue and then… purple.

OOOOM!

The condensing of the mana was as quick as it was deadly.

When the hue became a darker shade than lilac, the Preeminent Attegoth stopped draining the mana from the surroundings, and Skullius felt it settle, making sure that the core was perfectly functional. Mana channels within the great construct were already formed when it was still a Seed and now they immediately became saturated with mana which eagerly began to flow rapidly, teasing all the skills branded into the Attegoth.

'Good. Now…' Skullius thought and the Preeminent Attegoth groaned.

Two skills were immediately activated.

['Beads of Malevolence' has been activated]

['Gradius Order Halo' has been activated]

At once, mana was consumed, and the area around the brilliant Attegoth became significantly darker than it had been. All the luminance was stolen by the emergence of 700,000 pure black orbs the size of a human head, all saturated with the purple mana from the Monolith and buzzing around it at unfathomable speeds that the average Incandescent Stager wouldn't be able to react to.

Their movements caused great typhoons over the lake from which the Preeminent Attegoth had risen from, and very subtly, when ten of them passed at a time, space could be seen bending lightly.

At the same, a great golden runic halo appeared over the Graceful Monolith, casting specks, rather, flakes of twinkling silver all over it.

This was the effect of [Gradius Order Halo], which had been [Saint Lumis' Benign Arc], a Special healing skill. Now, as it had been promoted to a Super Skill minutes ago, its properties were outrageously more powerful.

"That should be enough defence for the time being…" Skullius said, satisfied. The pulsing purple core in the Attegoth made him particularly happy. Even though it couldn't self-replenish, it was stable, and having it was still a dramatic bonus. He could even tap into that mass of power if he wanted.

With a cheery smirk, Skullius chuckled, and in the next moment, the simple clothing he wore underneath the large robe of darkness was burned away as a suit of armour so red it might have been black, smothered itself over him in a buttery transition. It was slim, sleek, with a high, thin collar that hugged his neck intimately, as well as greaves and gauntlets that traced the Skullius' limbs with impeccable devotion.

'That feels better,' thought before exercising the authority he had over the natural surroundings. He felt and saw the trees and even the waters, which allowed him to catch the reactions of Shannazah and the others who were looking at the Preeminent Attegoth with wonder and awe. It was amusing.

Cosycn and Sevill seemed to have an idea what it was, or at least they recognised its connection to him, and thus they had exaggerated looks of hype, while the rest were puzzled.

'Heh...'

Skullius' senses were suddenly forcefully shifted, and he was made to look in the direction of the shore where the Maqian army was likely to come from, and he noticed that they were at least five Aurora's between the shore and the Wonderfall Torrents.

Furthermore…

'That was fast…'

Two of the five Auroras were quite literally on fire.

Skullius didn't know how the enemy had managed to set an entire city ablaze while skewering the Sif combatants within it on long, wooden spikes from their backs and their mouths, lining them up neatly right at the centre of the Aurora, in such a short period of time. Masters and Incandescent Stagers alike were treated the same. Skullius couldn't imagine that the guardians of the Aurora had even gotten a chance to fight back at all.

Slain civilians in the hundreds of thousands were then laid like a carpet around the skewered experts, bleeding, beheaded, butchered. Their killers didn't even seem amused or interested in this 'art' they made. They simply did what they did and moved on, with some taking the time to gaze at his Preeminent Attegoth with mild interest.

'Ruthless as ever…' Skullius thought. The unnatural flora around Opungale was keenly asking him to stop the enemies. He felt his vision focus on the dead without him desiring so. 

Such desperation…

'How many are there anyway?'

 Fifty.

Fifty enemies were making their way, some Masters and a number of Incandescent Stagers. Skullius had to admit, even the former seemed dreadful to face, and he had been confident that he could eat Masters for breakfast. The Incandescent Stagers on the other hand…

'Would you look at that…' Skullius thought. He saw eleven figures already dashing this way, nearing the falls. They would drop in in a matter of seconds. Probably less.

Skullius grinned. Well, the timing was perfect.

His four wings sank back onto the back of his robes, and with a thought, Skullius felt the mansion squirm. The roof opened up to let him in, as it was made of living natural elements that also obeyed him. With care, he was transported back into the corridor where Maxim's room was. Maxim herself hadn't moved from her original position. She had a task after all, and she didn't allow her curiosity to lead her away.

When she saw Skullius appear behind her, she made a face.

"What's going on?" she asked with a frown.

"We've got company."

As the words registered in Maxim's ear, there were several ear-splitting booms that rang outside, coupled with the splashing cry of water.

BOOOOM!

The wall at the end of the corridor then exploded violently, and the dark silhouette of a large woman appeared, her shadow cast long by the golden light behind her.