Bro, I'm not an Undead!



'You're still insufferably two-faced. You can't ever decide on anything. You can't ever give up on things you are attached to. You think you can control everything with your own words...'

These accusations seemed to have been engraved into Skullius' soul now. He still couldn't understand what that scene he had just gone through really.... or rather where that scene really fit in his previous life.

As strange as it may have seemed, buried underneath the persistent remnants of the intense rage he had been feeling towards Camilla, there was an equally intense degree of love, and care, struggling to resurface and push away the malice.

Skullius, it seemed, loved Camilla.

He cared for her.

Now that he wasn't pressed by the tenseness of the ordeal anymore, he was able to ask himself why Camilla seemed hesitant to pull through with what she had been doing.

He had seen it in glimpses.

What did it all mean? A large chunk was missing, and he only had the bitter part.

What had happened between him and Camilla?

What she screamed at him...

Insufferably two-faced?

Indecisive?

Were these just accusations, or had Skullius really been such a person in his previous life?

He couldn't tell.

Was that re-enactment of the past which he had just lived through accurate? Did he struggle to hear what Camilla had said, and throw a few words of his own to defend himself when it originally happened, or was it modified?

Had he... had he actually ended up killing Camilla, or did that old man intervene just in time as it happened just now?

There were so many questions, but for a while, each time Skullius heard Camilla's accusations, he felt himself shrink further and further into a hard shell that shut off everything around him.

The searing fury which clearly wasn't his own... at least not the current him, continued to burn him from the inside. He couldn't stop it. If he were to open his mouth right now, he felt like he could breath out fire.

'You're a fucking hypocrite! When mom and dad died, you said I could cope in any way I wanted to! You said staying at home like a good little girl, and watering her favourite flowers everyday would make me feel better until I eventually accepted that she was really gone! Dad too! You told me things you didn't believe yourself!'

Skullius groaned.

He started to feel a sliver of the chaotic sensation that had ravaged his mind start to return, and he took a pause, and began to take sharp breaths to alleviate it while taking in the environment through his senses.

Slowly, he calmed down again.

But how could he stop thinking about Camilla's face, and her words when they kept reverberating through his body, rippling like an audio spectrum.

So his parents...

It was safe to assume that they died in the past, and it hadn't been something he or Camilla had taken too well. It must have been sudden.

From how the girl phrased it, it took a very long time for either of them to deal with it, and that seemed to be where the conflict between them began.

The rift that eventually led to her doing something so terrible that Skullius couldn't forgive. But it didn't seem like Skullius was innocent either.

He had done something to her.

Had be abandoned her?

Lied to her?

Skullius frowned deeply. He wasn't above doing things like that now, but there was context.

But then...

Did all this relate to why the subject of parents had become very... heavy for him?

But, he'd seen, and heard a lot of familial bonds before it started to ache him, starting with his conversation with Darwel. Heck, he had even absorbed tonnes of memories from all kinds of people with [Basic Evil Sanction], and saw many interactions with parental figures...

So, why?

'When Somanda evolved...' Skullius thought.

That must be it.

Somanda transcending into Divinity had pushed Doom Factor 2 to another level. After it occurred, Skullius had gone with Stylla to the Estate where she exposed Setkh for cursing their father, and after that, the Hybrid Luman had had his first interaction with Darwel where he first felt the pang of pain when she asked about his parental figures.

These two events were definitely indicators of how much Skullius was starting to get a lot more... vulnerable.

Stylla's situation with her father and Darwel's question...

Skullius clutched his head.

A dreadful breath shot from his mouth.

He scoured with [Graceless Hunter] around him, and activated Crude Vision. The flower that had caused all of this was no more than a meter away from him.

The living barrel at its centre was squashed into goo, and it's petals were torn.

Right.

Skullius remembered that his right hand had crushed the thing in oblivion, but it hadn't been his own choice. It was Sila's influence from when he invaded, grabbing his arm, and using it slam down on the thing.

With a close look, Skullius checked the description of the flower.

~~~

[Smouldering Soul Seducer]

<Mythical>

Any living, sentient creature that perceives the Seducer, will be lured into its embrace, and even if they aren't, the best and worst, the greatest and most tragic, the most beloved and most loathed of their memories are triggered to emerge before them for as long as their mana reserves can last.

-Caution-

The seed of the Smouldering Soul Seducer requires a massive amount of mana to germinate. Afterwards, it will take care of itself.

~~~

'I see...' Skullius thought. 'I guess this is his idea of 'can't kill you' huh?'

The Hybrid Luman was certain that this was one of the items Guissepo mentioned would be in the Royale. It wasn't mentioned among what he said would be 'common', but there was a reason he felt the need to tell everyone that all items he had placed couldn't kill the contenders.

That said...

'Sila,' Skullius called from within.

The jade orb at his feet told him that for whatever Sila had to do, he had retracted his consciousness from the Hexer's Inheritance to help him.

'Yes, tomato flinger...'

'How did you do that? I mean the whole..."

'Well, it wasn't easy! But, even if my soul has been reduced to this, I'm still capable as an Incandescent Stage expert. Everything to do with souls comes easily. Add that to the fact that we are in some ways one soul, I had a better chance. However, your soul is incomplete, and has... obstacles. Unlike every soul belonging to the Deities, it is strained, and getting through the dreadful undeathly bind around it to reach you was a tall task,' he explained.

Skullius silently nodded.

That made sense.

Sila was always good at things to do with souls, as was everyone at his Stage.

'And that thing about not thinking, so that I could calm myself down?' Skullius asked vacantly.

Sila paused for a bit.

'Well, this isn't new to me. Madness. I've struggled with it over my millenia of immortality in Fulgardt's Labyrinth. Sometimes you find solutions that keep your mind straight, other times you find that you can't stop raving about tomatoes still, after so much time has passed in the darkness...' Sila said. 'Maybe us humans are just that weak. I figure other stronger, non-human prisoners were able to keep their minds intact though.'

Skullius didn't offer a reply.

Sila sighed, and continued.

'I remember enjoying the natural, open spaces, and the beating of the breeze with my wife everyday in the past. Those mundane memories have stuck with me with so long. The prospect of just feeling the clear air makes me relax. When I stole your body that time ago, I mainly took away your ability to see in exchange for greater sensations so that I could calm down, thwart the erratic madness, and use the opportunity wisely. I figured since you still had the ability to keenly perceive sensations, doing as I did would help you out as well.'

Skullius wanted to grunt, but he couldn't.

Well, that explained a lot.

Also made sense.

Just Sila mentioning the incident with his body had caused his nostrils to flare up maddeningly, after he let the rage brewing in him slip for a moment.

'Thank you...' Skullius said to the piece of soul. What he left unsaid was that he was also thankful that the Tower General didn't try to take advantage of the opportunity to take over his body again.

It was definitely possible if he wanted to, he imagined, especially with how the influence of the flower seemed to last for as long as the affected had mana. Range didn't matter either. As long you had seen the flower once, it was over.

Sila was likely immune to something like this, which was probably the point.

There were no Incandescent Stage contenders in the Royale, thus none could resist the Seducer. And with none allowed to bring in Mythical grade treasures of their own...

Sila didn't reply to Skullius' gratitude, but Skullius knew he had been heard. Their conversation ended as such, with both unwilling to say any more.

Skullius didn't want to sit here any longer, and wallow in the stress. The rage in him was turning more and more chaotic with such depressing thoughts. Besides, there was a pressing matter at hand, looming over his current thoughts still.

If 24 hours passed with Skullius still stuck in this place, he would revert to his Penetrator form. No words were needed to spell how dangerous that was.

Skullius struggled to stand.

He didn't know it, but his body had turned pale, with dark rings under his eyes.

He certainly didn't feel good.

Expanding his senses, Skullius found traces of the Fleeting Pioneers in different directions. Some must have headed for the mountain, and some must have still been distracted.

The Hybrid Luman didn't have a choice.

He had to power through all the rage, the weakness, and turmoil to reach the GOAL.... but it wasn't going to be that easy.

Not in the least.