Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1632: Liches, Gods and Deviants! (3)

Ferex ripped apart one Death Knight, got blasted in the face by one and went flying only for Skullius to warp him back so that he could continue his rampage. The Hound roared, and swiped with his paw, decapitating the offending Death Knight. But then seven more were upon him. In a one versus seven, Ferex would undoubtedly lose.

...Or would he?

Death Knights were divine beings forged through specific Undeath formulas and specific volumes of Undeath energy.

Ferex was not on the Divine spectrum yet, or rather, he hadn’t been until now.

Skullius, who was clashing with Souran, was unleashing the full potential of an Apostle with a deep understanding of the soul.

[You have defeated an Advanced Death Knight. 1.9 AKH units awarded]

[You have defeated a Standard Death Knight. 1.2 AKH units awarded]

...

The two Death Knights Skullius had killed with his arrow had awarded him more than 3 AKH units. Those that Ferex ripped apart weren’t instantly killed because of their Broader Existence. Rather, once the Apostle busted their bones and armour, weakening them, Skullius finished them off with concentrated, limited activations of his Secondary assault function (the one that instantly eliminated weaker enemies). He received the AKH units for these kills as well.

However, the question still remained. How in the world was Ferex able to harm Divine beings?

And why did Souran think the Apostle was similar to her, an Arch-Lich.

Well, it was simple. Skullius wasn’t the only one benefitting from the dying Death Knights. He fed off the destruction of their Broader Existences... and Ferex fed off the pieces of their Divine souls, seamlessly melding them into himself using his soul-related abilities. (Apostles didn’t possess souls upon their creation. Instead they possess sources.)

Currently, Ferex’s soul was an ugly mess that was somehow stitched and patched together, making him stronger. He slowly absorbed the rich wads of potential, empowering himself. Skullius also played a role in controlling how much he was absorbing at a time ensuring his safe transition in strength.

That was why Ferex was growing bigger and more ferocious. He was a rabid Hound rather than a gallant steed.

The hues of his steel-like furs turned darker and more flexible, as though they were real. His eyes became twisting pools of light that looked more like abrasive doodles than anything else. Ten claws sprung from the ends of his paws, each of them thirty centimeters long and drenched in a soft blue hue. These claws were something beyond the normal Divine threshold and far more lethal than your average Andori. Ferex sculpted them using [Soul Talisman], or rather, the rapidly evolving version of the ability inside him.

It wouldn’t be so easy for him to keep ripping away at the Death Knights, however. They recognized that he was a threat and began creating formations for defense and counter.

The Doom Knights above them... did nothing. They instead waited for what Souran would decide to do.

As it turned out, the feminine Lich wasn’t so interested in Ferex that she would ignore Skullius.

To be fair, he gave her no choice. In a blink, he withdrew his gladius and made an offensive move that no one had expected.

...!!!

A screw-shaped phalanx drenched in Null Life Essence spawned inches from Souran’s head and blasted into the side of her temple. A chunk of the Arch-Lich’s skull blew off, along with the turban she was wearing. It was critical damage indeed, and more importantly...

’Sobbo’s finger...!’ Souran thought, half-thrilled and half-horrified.

This was part of Skullius’ Secondary assault function. Ranged attacks sent towards him wouldn’t vanish, as the Liches had thought. Instead, they were sent into the future within the Imperial Territory. With Ju`wtte, they were transmuted, drenched in Null Life Essence, and positioned exactly where Skullius wanted them!

And indeed, this was what Skullius had planned.

He didn’t let Souran off after the blow! He advanced the instant she was shot in the skull, stabbed the damned skull with his gladius, aimed an arrow at it with his bow and slashed her torso with her wakizashi!

...But the future Skullius had seen had not promised him victory against the Arch-Lich. It was only open to him for two seconds ahead.

Soizar’s Doom Knights finally made their move. As did Sobbo.

All the while, Souran was laughing. Skullius’ attacks had not managed to finish her off.

She was an Arch-Lich, after all. A being even Deities feared.

***

Boron was itching to unleash his full wrath on Quintess now that he (Quintess) was going all out. He wanted so eagerly to drive his halberd into the bastard and Listafelle as well. It would be a thorough pleasure watching them turn to stone. As he was now, he wouldn’t mind killing Kaella (Suzamete) without hearing what she had to say either. She was watching all the madness without so much as a twitch.

...But enacting his revenge without minding the battlefield would be too reckless.

There was an Arch-Lich nearby. Soizar. The Undead monstrosity was eyeing the mighty clash between his peer and Skullius with gloomy socket flames. In the end, he had decided to leave the Null Life Parallel – and his army – to Souran and Sobbo.

He would handle the rest – the Deities and Fulgardt.

Speaking of the Immoral, he distanced himself from Soizar as much as he could before his ability to move was completely sealed. The Arch-Lich didn’t pursue. He wanted to start with the Deities. Reaping them was his favorite thing; it was every Lich’s favorite game.

’These ones aren’t your average fools, it seems. Not too sour, not too sweet,’ Soizar thought. ’And here I just got this suit tailored.’

...

BOOM!

A shattering blow sent Listafelle flying halfway across Aigas. She soared so fast that the air caught fire and the sonic rings that belched around her quickened the collapse of Aigas by a notch. She’d barely seen Soizar streak right over to her, one hand in his pocket and the other whipping like a feeble blur to smash into her face.

Because of her body (the physical vessel), she wouldn’t take damage for the next 40 or so seconds, but that didn’t mean the impacts from attacks didn’t affect her.

<Greedy monsters. They plan to take everyone on.> Listafelle said as she rose and charged back to where she’d been blasted from.

...

Soizar was slowly approaching Quintess, who was wrapped in his throbbing Amras. For full concentration, he didn’t move an inch, but he locked eyes with the Arch-Lich.

"I have a fair gift for appraising Deities, you see. You just might be the strongest thing here," said the Lich and he glanced up at Sobbo and Souran ganging up on Skullius. "I wouldn’t want to have a poorer showing than those two. So why don’t you give me your best?"

Quintess couldn’t understand what the Arch-Lich said, but the tone and gestures the Arch-Lich made spoke volumes.

He twisted his face into a scowl. It seemed Boron and Skullius would have to wait their turn, but his full strength would be unleashed all the same.

<Serve me well, my dear Wardens.> declared the Deity with a mighty voice.