Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1623: Disciples of the Future Hybrid (3)

If there was someone who could butt heads with me – the younger me – and change his perspective, I figured it would be either you or Kintar. Elita remembered Future Skullius saying to her after he'd subjugated Nunax with his Territory. She had barely been listening. The Imperial Territory was unlike anything she'd ever seen before. You really like your high horse, don't you? Stop scowling, you know it's true.

Elita had indeed scowled at that accusation, but her face softened what she allowed the Future Hybrid to continue.

I'm not saying that's something you need to change. On the contrary, your horse is a pristine stallion that will take you anywhere in the wider reality and charge against any Divine and even beyond. You bear the responsibility of a Paladin Champion like no one else. A saint. That's why your Mastered Void Gate Aspect has to do with interpreting the void as selflessness, right? You gain immense power by choosing to come to someone's aid in a pinch. However, don't you think that's a little… limited? Give your horse all the good stuff: some shoes, some reins and best of all, a saddle. Double down. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

It was a strange analogy. Elita hadn't caught on as quickly as Future Skullius had hoped. After a disappointed sigh, he spelled it out for her.

There are better ways to come to people's aid – better ways to invigorate yourself through selflessness. Instead of charging into danger unprompted, why don't you allow people to call on you? Draw strength from that.

Elita's eyes had shone like stars after she heard that… much like now.

Her eyes erupted with a golden green light that ran through her skull and caught onto her hair, making it fly about like rebellious grasses. The Voided Death Essence raging from her and the green sparkle tangled around her outline as she was rapidly restored from her fatal wounds and empowered many, many fold. Elita's garb was overwhelmed by her expanding muscles; they turned taut and tough and tensile while she bit down a scream.

She'd never felt such a violent presence of Voided Death inside her body. Even with her Voided Deathform active, she could hardly bear it.

…But she would.

Broodweiler flew into her grip from a short distance and was bathed in a glow of green and purple as well. Elita brandished the sword and traced its face slowly with a naked hand.

…Then she was gone.

The odd domain she and everyone else was trapped in tipped over as though some immense weight that had been sitting on its right extremity had sudden been lifted.

…!!!

All the Riases grinned.

'A fine ingredient, indeed. Here she comes,' they all thought.

…But two things happened in rapid succession.

First, Aurolio, Uyuniya, the Stark Troops and the House Heads were suddenly bathed in raging vortices of green and purple.

CHACHACHACHACHACHA!

The chilling sound of rent flesh came several beats after over a hundred Riases were abruptly cut down – cleaved in half, beheaded, hacked from the torso to the legs – their open, ghastly wounds left searing in pennons of purple Voided Death Essence!

The hot sun seemed to dim after the slaughter, and a clap of what sounded like thunder followed the darkness.

The remaining Riases had just turned to mobilize against the barely visible trail of green and purple snaking between the corpses, when they too fell prey to the violent lacerations.

All of them.

All save for one.

Aimon, floating a distance away, huffed in a breath and spat out something into the distance at high speed.

…But Elita was faster. Leagues faster.

She'd found the real Rias in a breath, and she greeted him not with a slash from her sword, but a crushing kick to the temple. The violent force of the blow sent Rias leaning over. He didn't take damage, but Elita didn't relent. She threw up her sword, caught Rias' head with both hands and headbutted him so hard that his mask cracked.

Rias immediately turned himself intangible, thinner than air and slipped from Elita's grip.

That… did not work.

The Voided Death Essence flaring around Elita turned tame, condensed and molded itself into a giant sphere that trapped her and Rias within it. It did more than that, though.

…!!

The masked man felt the Undeath energy inside him churn, agitated. The terrifying volume of Voided Death Essence around him was desperately trying to claw its way into him, attracted by the presence of its enemy. The conflict was intense, so much so that…

GRK!

Elita's hand lunged and dug into Rias' body in a flash. Her fingers slipped through the gaps in his ribcage and locked into it.

"Your Undeath energy and that annoying Andori of yours are connected, right?" she said.

…And she pulled Rias over and blasted his face with a punch so cruel that it swept away all the sand dunes behind the Undeath Bearer… and shattered his mask.

Indeed, the masked man was finally unmasked, but he still sported a deep grin as he stared at the masked woman.

Elita snorted and spun him over such that his legs and his face traded places and stomped hard on his chin to bury his head in the sand. But it was not to be. The desert spun and the ground became the sky and the sky the ground. Rias was now flying up, his face still agrin.

Elita was unfazed. She had mounted his chest and gripped his throat in a tiny speck of time.

"You think you're impervious to all physical blows now, huh?" she said and drew the sword she'd thrown up to her. Without hesitation, she pushed it into Rias' face.

CLANG!

Something came in the way just in time, something equally as sturdy as Broodweiler on the whole. The clash of powerful steel knocked Elita back and left Rias free. The sword Aimon had conjured for him and threw in his direction had finally arrived. The Undeath Bearer caught the sword and zipped to the ground in a flash, distancing himself from Elita.

However... the sphere of heavy purple flashed around him almost immediately after he landed on the sand. Elita was on him.

"You're not getting rid of me," she said, justice flaring in her eyes.