Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The power behind [Evil Veneration] couldn't be overstated. Even Skullius was gleefully chortling inwardly as he attempted to see its full capabilities and how much more powerful it was compared to its limited predecessor.

~~~

[Evil Veneration]

<Verbal Veneration Type>

Words delivered with a cruel intent will be actualized into reality. Decrees from your speech are more effective the more succinctly defined they are, though, if expressed coarsely, they may still come to pass or at least birth mere shadows of your intent. Barring Transcendent or Divine intervention, your declarations cannot be dodged or blocked.

~~~

This was [Evil Veneration] in its complete majesty.

As long as Skullius said something with the intent to harm, his targets would be affected, and as long as he streamlined what he demanded using this Veneration art, it would come to pass, guaranteed. While the limitation of not being able to affect anything tagged Transcendent or Divine was quite concerning, Skullius was aware that anything that matched the caliber of the two, was extremely rare. 

The only thing that truly concerned him was the cost of using [Evil Veneration]. When he used it the first time, it had guzzled nearly all of his mana – bolstered twentyfold – in one fell swoop. 

All for a single usage!

Thus, he had switched to using the Preeminent Attegoth's mana. 

While Veneration art didn't necessarily need mana as its sole fuel, Skullius wasn't ready to start paying the activation cost with anything else.

'Well… acquiring this was worth it either way… I'm not going to start complaining when there's a chance to grow right in front of me…'

Skullius grinned as he spoke. Well, it wasn't at all obvious given the state of his face, or rather, his whole. Even that didn't suffice because Skullius was anything but whole at this moment. Rot like green char hung over his body, which at this point, looked quite like his old Boneman form. His bones were also green, ugly decay having borne and broken through most of them, leaving just enough for him to stay standing within the raging sea of whirling rot – the climax of the fallen rot meteor.

Indeed, the price for acquiring [Evil Veneration] wasn't as simple as it appeared at first glance.

Vali's use of the Imagining Technique had indeed created a second affix slot on the Bashful Abomination, however, unlike the original, it wasn't as potent – it was only slightly above half as powerful, as such, Skullius had used the two Creeds swimming in his soul to supplement it.

Even as a Master, the machination of Creeds worked perfectly with his grown soul.

However, be that as it may, even this had not been enough.

Skullius had to use the Creeds in a different way than the expected.

He had opted to use the Creeds in order to make the affix slot on the Bashful Abomination strong enough to handle the affix: 'increase the Rank of every phenomenon to do with [Evil Darkness].' It didn't work.

Thus, Skullius worked around this. He instead used the Creeds to trade off something else to make the affix work for him.

So, his official Creed ended up creating:

'When increasing the Rank of every phenomenon to do with [Evil Darkness], the Bashful Abomination will lose its ability to cut…'

This had finally worked.

'Hehe…' Skullius laughed as he thought about it. The Omniscient Thought Cracker worked like a charm in having him figure out how to make it all work while fighting the bald man.

As for equipping the Bashful Abomination in order to be able to use [Evil Veneration], well…

The Preeminent Attegoth was one with Skullius. Its mark was on the sword, and this counted as him wielding it.

 'For a moment there, I really thought I was going to die…' Skullius thought with a thrilled laugh. A soft light was bathing his body, making sure the whipping ugly around him wouldn't reduce him to nothing. 

[Gradius Order Halo] was still active, and though the initial might of the amalgamation of rot had nearly erased him, it had packed enough oomph to keep him alive while working at maximum output.

Fortunately, Skullius didn't have to endure the onslaught of the rot for more than two minutes. The howling fury of the Blister of the Salvation began to dwindle… and the integrity of the Territory also followed. With a massive crack, the abundant, ashy tone began to fade, the remainder of the rot from the Secondary assault function of the Territory spilling out to eat whatever was close before fading.

Skullius emerged back in the unbound, real world, fresh and whole. His red armor reemerged with style, along with his dark robe, imprinted on the back with four, stellar wings.

"You look pathetic. I suppose it wasn't as fun as you thought it was going to be…" he sneered while looking several meters before him on the ground.

Even without the usual – pupil sponsored – ability to see, he could still perceive the sorry image convulsing while laying sprawled on the dirt like roadkill.

If Skullius had looked horrible when he first took the full impact of the Blister of Salvation, then the bald man looked horrendously unsightly. It appeared all he had to defend against the attack was his physique which was bolstered by the Territory… the same Territory that released an attack that left him in this state.

The man had barely managed to believe it.

His arms were destroyed, so was half his face along with his most of his jaw and neck…. And pretty much everything below his chest.

The man couldn't even speak.

What remained of his right eye – bloodshot and veiny – was glaring at Skullius as he walked closer.

"I bet you wish you could use a Creed right about now…" Skullius said before stomping on the man's chest, clearing the air in his visible, deflating lungs.

The man groaned and spat blood from the open half of his face. His eyes scoured all over Skullius furiously.

"Are you wondering how I'm alive? How I was able to use my abilities in your Territory? Well, I'd say you fellows saw the answer and chose to ignore it. The hubris on you lot…" Skullius said with another stomp and he pointed towards the Graceful Monolith, the Preeminent Attegoth in the distance. "You see… as long as that thing is erected, you'll be fighting two of me, both linked by something derived by the light beyond Divinity – a blessing. I wasn't able to use my mana in the Territory, well, I didn't mind that honestly. I also wasn't able to use my skills, but the neat thing is, none of my skills reside in my body. As long as they are activated through that thing, I can still use them. Though, abilities that extend from my body to a target will be neutralized by the Territory with the sole exception of [Evil Veneration]. It's not a skill, after all. Also…oh…"

Skullius tilted his head.

[You have killed LV52 Human. 56,230 EXP]

[Your prey emits…]

"He's dead…" he said with a tone of satisfaction and melancholy at the same time. "I was riding the high of my complexities a bit too much, it seems."

Raising his hand, Skullius managed to catch the Bashful Abomination which came flying in his hand because of the influence of the Preeminent Attegoth.

"Dear Master! I wish you had taken me with you! I wanted to… do something! It's been too long. You haven't used me since…" the sword cried to the Hybrid Luman's ear. 

"I just used you. I wouldn't have acted so free if it weren't for your abilities," Skullius said.

"Well, that's true…" the Bashful Abomination somberly said, "…but…what you wanted for the new affix slot you made… isn't it bad that you won't be able to use me for basic slashing attacks as long [Evil Veneration] is in use? I will be no different from a stick."

Skullius swung the sword. It was currently coated in a thick layer of darkness that actually made it look like a black stick. This was a visual representation of the first affix being in use.

"It won't be a problem. The trade off is worth it. It just means I can't use your first and second affixes at the same time. I can just use Demion's Dance when I need to cut something. On that note, I should try a dual wielding skill. I'll see if there's a capable fighter to steal it from…"

"I… see…"

The inflection spurned by jealousy from the Bashful Abomination was easy to recognize.

Skullius laughed.

"Dear Master… you still haven't used the original affix slot. It still has the [Ghost Rending Divine Sword Art]. Do you wish to use it?"

It didn't appear as though Skullius hadn't thought about it. 

It actually would have benefitted him to use the original slot for making the affix that allowed him to use [Evil Veneration], as that would have subtracted some of the cost, but he didn't look to be thinking along those lines.

"I have something else in mind for that," he said simply before sheathing the Bashful Abomination. 

Just by willing it, the Hybrid Luman's figure vanished from the rot-stricken land stained by the Maqian corpse. Everything whirled around him for a small speck of time, and he appeared back in the Wonderfall Torrents.

A massive Majestic Territory was shattering, revealing the figures of the individuals who had been battling within it.

The mood that came with this event told of a somber conclusion.