Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The bald man was incensed by the comment.

Even as his bones bent, his fleshy curving to almost 360 degrees, he found the gritty tone to bellow out with pride, dozens of dark blood vessels printing against his skin.

"Don't underestimate me!"

He roared in pain, and then screamed out.

"This is my Creed, mend me back to the norm!"

In an instant, the bald man's body snapped back to its rightful form, the remnants of darkness that had been coiling around him being forced away. However, the man turned pale as he instantly distanced himself from Skullius who didn't follow up with another move.

He panted.

Sweat drizzled along the contours of his face profusely.

'The number of Creeds… the number of them it took to dispel that dark curse… I'm left with less than half of what I had just now…' he thought, severely panicked. 'How is he using abilities while inside my Territory? Wait… his mana core is stagnant as it should be…none of his mana is being mobilized but somehow…'

"Don't just stand there. Come on!' Skullius taunted. 

The incessant, eager rain grew fiercer, and his body was melted and gouged without pause, yet with the glow around him, he healed before the briskness of a blink, making it seem as though there was practically no effect on him as well as the armor he wore.

The mud around him jutted towards him again, and as it did, the Incandescent Stager hurled himself towards Skullius!

'It doesn't matter how he's doing all this. He'll regret it soon. No matter what, once my secondary assault is ready…'

The bald man moved so fast that space was pulled on along with his movement. He was more than ten times faster than he was outside his Territory. 

The moment he reached before a Skullius who looked to not yet register that he was there, he went for the head with an especially vicious uppercut that ground everything in the vicinity because of its uncanny force, before reaching its target.

BOOOOM!

The blow was critical.

It practically erased Skullius' head down to his collarbone, as that was the goal; to stop Skullius from using the 'dark curse' by speaking.

Well… that's what was supposed to happen.

Or rather, it happened, but only for a split of a split of a second.

In one instance, Skullius' confident visage was there…then it blurred when the attack came… but remained as it was.

'What…' the Incandescent Stager gasped within.

Had this man just...

"| Ahgagsuzvsdhchsgxaicshajahsau |" 

Incomprehensible nonsense sputtered rapidly out of Skullius' mouth and darkness like a bold shade bathed everything below his face, and went to spill on the ground.

The Incandescent Stager backed off with his face aghast.

He couldn't process what was going on.

Skullius could.

He had had everything he was currently doing in mind when he asked for his blessing – Graceful Monolith of the Eminent – to be made.

Everything, including the greatest mystery of all; the use of his Veneration art.

Back when Skullius lost control when faced with Rayn at the end of the Premium Age Royale, what took over was a rage inbuilt in the legacy of the Insurgent Magnus. A rage that burned from the remnants of Fulgardt living within him.

Rayn was his sworn enemy, a nemesis really.

As such, the weapon that came easily to the berserk cumulation of the Immoral's emotions manifested through Skullius' body, was [Pseudo Evil Veneration].

~~~

[Pseudo Evil Veneration | 95%]

<Verbal Veneration Type>

Words delivered with a cruel intent will be actualized to reality to a certain extent. Due to the art being a lesser form of the true 'Evil Veneration', the use is limited to short phrases and the efficacy varies depending on luck and cruel the intent propounded is. Differences in strength barely matter, unless opponent has reached a higher Realm of power.

~~~

This Veneration had existed as a lesser form of what it was original because Skullius acquired it by correctly deciphering the crumbs left behind by Fulgardt in the Labyrinth of the Yoke for prospective challengers. Of course, if the challengers acquired the full legacy, the ability would eventually rise in power to its peak.

This was what occurred, but not in the way it should have.

As the Veneration was held by a fragment of its original user – the berserk hatred of Fulgardt – it rose in strength, reaching as far as 95% to completion when he fought against Rayn.

And indeed… even though Skullius hid the fact from Maxim, Darwel and Vali earlier, he did remember what happened when he lost control.

He saw how else [Evil Veneration] could be used, and since it was merely 5% from losing its prefix – pseudo – reaching its full capacity, he concocted a way to push it. And it had succeeded.

…

The bald man watched in horror as pitch black darkness continued to spill from Skullius' mouth.

It pooled and formed a solid foundation for him to stand on.

And…

'The rain…' the Incandescent Stager gasped.

The Primary assault function of the Territory was still active… but it was nonexistent over where the darkness from [Evil Veneration] spread!

Yes. Naturally. Skullius had seen Seramoro do it. By casting itself a shade of darkness from [Pseudo Evil Veneration] it had voided the Primary assault of Rayn's Deific Moonlight Paradise.

And with that knowledge, the Hybrid Luman had wondered 'What else could the true version of this Veneration art do, when only half of it was so strong?'

What was its fullest extent?

Well, that was currently what he was testing.

When Vali successfully made what he wanted possible – creating a second affix on the Bashful Abomination – Skullius had declared what he desired wordlessly.

An affix that increased the Rank of every phenomenon to do with [Evil Darkness].

The affinity for [Evil Darkness] increased to A, every skill involved with it evolved, the Veneration art reached its complete status; all of this happened as long as Skullius was 'equipping' the Bashful Abomination. But of course… 

The darkness around Skullius whipped about.

It was fundamentally different from that which came from [Evil Darkness Meshing] after all; it much denser.

Skullius looked ahead.

The darkness stopped seeping from his mouth.

The bald man began sweating.

"Come on. I'm still waiting for your next move. Shouldn't your Secondary attack be ready by now?" Skullius said, much to the added dismay of the bald man.

He panted heavily.

No way…

He had never seen anything like this….

None of it made sense.

The fact that there was someone like this on Opungale filled him with dread.

If he caught everyone else off guard, Incandescent Stagers like himself would be killed by being overconfident.

And if this man did it meticulously, this information wouldn't even be leaked…

Wait.

'Is that why he took me away somewhere without witnesses…?' the bald man shuddered at the thought, and his Maqi spirit was ignited. 'I have to kill him. I have to end him here!'

He pointed forward with both hands desperately, exhibiting the fullest extent of control over his Territory.

Skullius grinned.

"That's more like it."

Color instantly drained from the surroundings. The green faded from each direction except directly overhead.

The rain stopped, and the murky nature of the surroundings became clear white.

All the mud vanished, and the clear border of white Nitros onto which the Imaginary GeoScape of the Territory was laid was revealed once again, though it wasn't at all radiant. It was somber, ashen even.

High above, all the rot and its various manifestations gathered to create a horrendous figure. 

It was hideous, unsightly, not to mention enormous.

A vile rock made from everything that was putrid and foul. It almost seemed organic, with mutant figures squirming over its face, as though life was born from the perfect rot qualities it exuded.

"Blister of Salvation!" the bald man called under the shadow of the gigantic mass.

…And then it fell; the Secondary attack function.

GUUUUU!

It attempted to flatten Skullius with its aerial weight alone, a great gust causing an unreal turbulence everywhere.

The falling mass would cover everything in sight and probably rot everything in instant. Everything except the bald man.

Skullius smiled as he sensed the Blister of Salvation's approach.

'Ah. I don't think I can completely negate that. That isn't the real purpose of [Evil Veneration] after all…' he thought as his hair was cast this way and that by the pungent wind. 'Oh well… I can at least make things interesting.'

Then the Hybrid Luman opened his mouth and spoke malevolently.

"| You are susceptible to your own Territory's attacks |"

…

The bald man heard this… and his fighting spirit waned.

For a mass of darkness rushed towards him, blasted through him and made what had been said just now a truly real reality.

…And then the mighty Blister of Salvation crushed him and Skullius before exploding into an ocean of rot.