Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 926 Oath of Mourning

The figures that stood before them needed no appraisal. From their looks alone – as even their features were especially vivid to Skullius' extreme senses – it was easy to tell that they weren't the ordinary Sif guards assigned to Auroras.

If anything, the fact that they were so daring when speaking to Darwel, even if they were just delivering a message, spoke volumes about their position.

Sevill grew a little tense.

These were her peers.

The one of the two who had just spoken was a tall, muscular Sif male, only identifiable as such because of his voice was deep. His face smoothly coated with sandy skin was so beautiful and delicate that it could have easily belonged to a woman. His spiky dirt blonde hair was cast back, frigid, as though frozen in ice.

His eyes were so sharp and small that it looked as though he was squinting, yet the caramel glow from his irises was prominent.

"Benyn," Sevill said tensely. "Lady Darwel is allowed to visit the shrine as she pleases. She will meet with His and Her Majesty shortly."

The bulky Sif, Benyn, retained the sternness of his face as he stared into Sevill's eyes. He then turned from her dismissively and looked at Darwel.

"Your Highness. I won't repeat again. Your parents are calling for you. There is hardly any need to debate over this. You can come and honour our long passed legacies another time," Benyn said strictly.

Darwel frowned.

"This isn't a casual visit. There's something important we have to do," she said as she gestured towards Skullius. "It's for his sake. You might not have been told, but he's—"

"We know exactly who he is," the other Sif spoke a bit testily. "That doesn't change a thing."

Unlike Benyn, he was tall and slightly skinny with a face that was as masculine as it could be with a heavy stubble. His flowing black hair, sparkling but coarse, gave him a cold appeal, especially when coupled with his large, frosty blue eyes.

Darwel was heavily displeased.

She had informed her parents about who Skullius was excitedly, expressing every detail about him.

'Didn't they believe me...?' Darwel thought.

Back then... did she perhaps she mistake her parents' shock as belief.

Perhaps they weren't convinced. They had told Darwel that they would wait for Skullius to awaken and confirm it themselves, but then...

'News about Maqi came...'

Perhaps her parents were so busy with planning for the coming war that they pushed the matter aside entirely.

It was already hard to believe that a human with Luminant blood existed, and if her parents hadn't been given time to process that information before a possible calamity introduced itself right after...

It would make sense why Benyn and Cosycn didn't really care for Skullius' identity. They were probably told he was some special human Darwel was interested in.

'My enthusiasm got the better of me,' Darwel clicked her tongue.

She wasn't willing to just turn back yet though.

Sevill felt her intent instantly.

"Please. Just give us a few minutes and we'll follow you back," she pleaded with the two experts before her.

Benyn and Cosycn didn't even look at her. Their eyes were Darwel and Darwel alone.

"You're Highness?" Benyn said evenly.

"Fine, we can go. Can Sevill escort Festos here to the shrine then?" Darwel said.

"You have claims about this man. Why not prove them before their Majesties before sullying our precious historic relics with his human presence. Their Majesties wouldn't be pleased with what you want to do anyhow," Cosycn said coldly, his eyes looking to Skullius who remained silent, his hands hidden in the linked sleeves of his robes.

Darwel flared.

'I knew it! They didn't believe me!'

What was she to do now, ask Skullius to go back after that wonderful prelude she had set up in order to make him appreciate Opungale?

That would ruin everything!

...

Then again, it wouldn't take much time to prove who Skullius was to her parents.

In fact, it wouldn't take Skullius long to prove who he was to Benyn and Cosycn!

If an El Sif like herself had been overwhelmed by Skullius' presence when he manifested the Wing of Embrace, what more regular Sif like these two!

Sevill and Viccil had been rendered completely docile back then!

Darwel turned to Skullius.

She hoped she didn't need to say what she was thinking for him to know what to do.

She was right.

Skullius understood her sentiment.

However...

"It seems this is getting a little difficult," the Hybrid Luman suddenly said before stepping forward. "You're in the way."

Benyn, with a straight face turned to Skullius with a demeaning look.

"Pardon me?" he said dangerously.

Cosycn didn't look as tame. He sneered.

"Guests shouldn't be too comfortable in foreign lands, even if they have royalty as escorts. I advise you to watch your tongue, human."

Sevill's presence exploded out like a hurricane immediately. From behind her veil, a coarse voice livid with hostility shot out.

"You should watch who YOU are talking to, Cosycn!"

Before the tall, thin Sif could retort, and before Sevill could add on to her already firm stance, Skullius raised his hand.

Strangely, the tense exchange lulled.

Sevill calmed down.

"It's alright," Skullius said to her, a small smile blooming on his face. He then turned his head a little to Darwel who was similarly fuming at the gall of these two. "Making your parents' personal combatants disobey their orders would be easy, but I'd rather be a little humble." Skullius then tilted his head and continued. "You said we were close, right?"

Before Darwel could fully comprehend what the Hybrid Luman meant... he was gone.

...!!!

A blink later, Benyn and Cosycn vanished as well and then Sevill followed.

Darwel saw sparks of light dart in and out of existence as they zipped ahead at unreal speeds.

She couldn't see any evidence of the four individuals at all after only a second had passed.

She couldn't see that Skullius was the one in the lead, zigzagging erratically in the air as he pushed forth with [Destined Warp Steps] – a skill that enhanced his speed by 12 times his base maximum.

She couldn't see Benyn and Cosycn clawing at him and missing by subtle millimetres each time, and she sure as hell couldn't see Sevill keeping one of the two at bay every micro moment, giving Skullius a chance to pull ahead constantly!

It was a chaotic mess within the folds of the dark sky.

Booms and crackles exploded out violently along the wide path whose concentration of mana and life energy increased as the greens around it progressed forth.

The further up the path the four went, the closer IT got.

IT, was a large, circular piece of scaly, blue parchment stuck in mid-air, hiding nothing but an identical extension of the road that preceded.

It was so out of place.

However, the sight of it made Benyn scoff.

'To pass the Oath of Mourning takes at least ten seconds. Even if he's some kind of special human with a Sif bloodline or whatever, he can't rush through! We'll catch him right then!' he thought as Sevill flew into him like a boulder and knocked him a bit off course from Skullius!

Indeed, it was as he said.

The Oath of Mourning was a seal that, in additional to everything it was supposed to do, ensured that whoever approached it had the required degree of respect towards what it hid.

As such, whatever got near it would be forcibly made to calm down in every sense of the world; and that included slowing down.

The group of speedy figures reached the floating parchment and Skullius, with a broad grin suddenly turned into a massive pillar of pitch black smoke with dark, elongated rags fitted into it!

...!!!

"Fool!" Cosycn roared, agitated. In this form, he couldn't simply grab Skullius when he reached him.

Benyn grunted.

'He'll still be slowed down! We'll contain him them!'

Skullius' figure rushed forth, reaching the Oath of Mourning first.

Under the eyes of the three genuine Incandescent Stagers inches behind him... he sank into the large parchment seamlessly.

Unrestrained.

Unbothered.

Unrestricted.