Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"Incarnation?" asked Sevill. "Isn't that tied to coming into another form of existence after death?"

Skullius scratched his chin, an amused smile etched over it.

"Not exactly."

It was Vali who spoke.

"It doesn't ultimately imply death at all, incarnation," she said and faced Skullius with a bright expression as the glow of [Gradius Order Halo] continued to outline her shapely figure. "What are you thinking of doing? The last thing I expected you to say was something like this."

Maxim would have said the same thing, if she wasn't too preoccupied with feeling for the extent to which her body's capabilities had been inflated by whatever skill Skullius was using.

The Hybrid Luman slotted his hand into the darkness of his robe as though pockets existed there that no one else could see.

"Incarnation is a concept that appeals more to the efforts of Divinity. Celestial bodies gaining tangible form – inhabiting mortal vessels; the condensing of concepts into actual, physical forms… The thought that death should have any part in that, is merely a lie created by the Purity. It formed when they forged the lie that after death, there's a precious reward for their followers…" Skullius said with some manner of disgust.

Vali narrowed her eyes.

Once again, much like Darwel… she truly felt as though at times… this calmer Skullius was someone else. The one she knew would have never started spouting about incarnation… especially with such a level of glee… as though he could relate.

"If… Incarnation is for the Divines... then what would you have us do?" Viccil asked, a tone of reverence in her voice.

She had been enlightened by Sevill on what had happened at the Oath of Mourning, at the Luminant's shrine. At the moment, she and her fellow Sif were deeply sunken in the idea that Skullius had changed for the better after the unknown circumstances that followed his frozen state as he had stood before the shrine.

Skullius walked up to Viccil.

"You'll see…"

The moment he touched the Sif, she immediately collapsed to the ground.

…!!!

Viccil was stunned, as was Vali and Maxim who snapped back to reality.

"What happened?" the pink-haired woman asked in surprise.

However, Skullius didn't answer. He simply went on to touch Sevill, who, after hesitating a little, let herself feel the light palm of Skullius over her chest, and then she too fell to the ground.

Skullius then turned to the corpses of the Maqian warriors.

He felt the residuals of the energy they had been carrying.

'There are only two Incandescent Stager corpses here. I assume the other was killed by either Cosycn, Shannazah or Kudobtu. Well, lucky me, I suppose…"

Over the latest corpse, which had been made so by Sevill, a golden half a skull mark appeared, and an intense golden light suffused it for a moment. In the next instance, the body was healed. In fact, rather than healed, the flesh of the corpse looked firm, the skin attaining a shade of colour that suggested life!

The same happened for the other corpse.

Vali was most impressed.

'This kind of healing goes beyond what I'm capable of. It's almost like he's applying a Super potion.'

Vali, despite her proclivity for combat and her outrageous abilities, was an advanced Healer, so she knew a thing or two about differences in calibre of healing. While her own abilities could achieve similar feats to what she had seen Skullius do, she was certain that there was some kind of added refinement and finesse to this skill Skullius was using.

Well, the man had said it himself.

This was not just a healing skill.

~~~

[Gradius Order Halo (Super) | Lv.1]

<Passive>

Minimal resources will be utilised in order to reform the body to its peak state after every defined figure of damage, and in case of continuous attack, evil influence, instant erasure offenses or curses, more resources will be used to counter the source of damage by mimicking the properties of its natural or related deterrent perpetually, until it can no longer damage the user.

Half of the resources used to enact the aforementioned will be reimbursed to the user each time.

-Caution-

The duration and effectiveness of the process is determined by the severity of the damage taken – where physical damage and curses are concerned.

<Active>

The user can create a halo which grants a 200% increase to every aspect of restoration that the <passive> grants. The halo affects the user and their allies as they wish, and will grant a 290% increase to their overall ability. Lasts 30 Minutes.

Mana Requirements: 80,700 (II) Mana Points, 15,000 (II) Mana Points every minute

Duration: 20 minutes

Cooldown: ---

~~~

It was only the passive abilities of [Gradius Order Halo] that were implemented on the two corpses, and they already looked fresh.

Skullius was indifferent towards the result, unlike the two still wondering about this ability of his and what had happened to Viccil and Sevill.

He then pointed at the corpses.

"[Order-Soul Projection]"

As he spoke, the two bodies trembled as a faint light, much like that which one would see in the morning, through thin curtains, sprang forth from them. It seemed to whisper as it wiggled out like smoke, and then…

The corpse of the square-jawed man Sevill had killed, quivered and snapped awake!

The man sat up, a look of incredulity on his face.

He breathed heavily, his breaths practically pulling and pushing the surrounding air.

He then looked at his hands in what seemed like either horror or intrigue.

"How does it feel?" Skullius asked.

The man looked at the Hybrid Luman and tilted his head a little, confused. A moment later, he seemed to realise something and he quickly stood up.

"Lord Luminant! I… This is…" he said in a chaotically masculine voice.

This was ridiculous!

The other corpse – that of a short, albeit busty woman – which had been a distance away, floating in the blood-tainted pool, came rushing towards the group.

"How's that body, Sevill?" Skullius asked as he turned to her.

Sevill, who was inhabiting the body of the short woman, couldn't find the words.

Honestly, the fact that she was somehow possessing this woman's body was the least shocking thing.

Deep within her, she felt the overwhelming strength trapped within the body coming to life. It wasn't her own, which she knew remained in her Sif body.

No.

In this cage of flesh, she felt decades of harsh, brutal and ruthless training regiments that involved battling merciless, drugged Cluster beast of higher Tiers without rest and sometimes without food… and sometimes without light.

She felt the tempered flesh of one who never rested, one who never feared, rising again, accepting the fact that someone was ready to exploit it.

The purple core in this body thrummed to life again and Sevill felt that it was much deeper than her own.

"Unbelievable…With this…"

It had taken Kudobtu to use her unusual abilities somewhat seriously to kill this woman who was rather ferocious. Sevill had seen it.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Skullius said to Sevill with a grin before turning back to Viccil who inhabited the body of the square-jawed man.

"Get a hang of these bodies as quickly as you can. Don't fight against the muscle memory. I need you as my spies."