Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1008  RETAINER (1)

[Congratulations, you have successfully completed the Second Trial!]

[You have passed a large milestone, transitioning from the Advancement Stage and into the…]

Skullius couldn't have bothered with the notifications right now.

With the Bashful Abomination held between his teeth so that he could properly perform hand gestures, his focus was drowned in what he was executing, as well as the events that were about to happen. The prospect of these two things colliding thrilled him so much that…

[You are HYPED!]

[You are HYPED!]

[You are HYPED!]

A thrilling surge coming from the cells of his Hybrid Luman flesh caused Skullius to perceive and process everything around him at fifteen times the norm; a result of the activation of [Beyond The Hype], a skill that activated in circumstances such as these!

This benefit was much needed by the Hybrid Luman, after all, even without paying keen attention, he managed to perceive the bursting of Nitros from the Queen and the Ode. Unlike before, Skullius sensed the expulsion of Old Folks' Campfire in slow motion. It was serene and tranquil, surprisingly, but he couldn't say the sabout Queen Embrell's Territory. It seemed aggressive and rugged, which wasn't a sign of its inferiority, but the Queen's tension.

Skullius was amused.

There was something to be said about what would happen when two different Territories met and clashed against each other.

Unfortunately, the answer as to what would happen… would not be revealed in this instance.

The dark shadow above the lake wasn't just for show.

Skullius had kept the Bashful Abomination on him so that he could keep the affix that gave his affinity with [Evil Darkness] an A rank, active. Darkness of at least that quality was what was required for this feat, after all.

Said feat, which had been the requirement for Skullius' Second Trial, was of course, creating a PHANTASMIC RETAINER!

(A/N: Refer to Ch.426).

The towering figure above Skullius, which had spooked even Umbett as it solidified and took shape, was extremely daunting.

It had a peculiar presence that was neither overbearing or dismissible. If anything, it inspired a sense of desolation and loneliness. Its appearance on the other hand, was what made everything chaotic.

The entity was so tall that the last bits of it sank into the clouds overhead, and its width at its base – where it was broadest – could engulf a regular-sized Aurora. Said base was actually a set of massive, crossed human-like legs more tenebrous than the night. Above them, was a thin, even torso from which thousands of pairs of long, spooky human arms ranging from small to enormous protruded without rhor rhythm. Their hands expressed the sgesture, strangely enough, all the way up to the clouds where the rest of the figure sank.

Intense streams of golden white lights protruded from several points on the dark figure, notably the joints between the torso and the arms, which revealed two things: the fact that the dark hue on this entity was more like a rugged, chitinous armor, and that the actual being beneath this, was made of light.

Facing an enemy so huge that its face couldn't be seen without parting the clouds was horrific in its own right, but what was even more frightening, was when said enemy, whom everyone but Skullius only saw in detail for a second, suddenly caused total darkness to bury the entire continent.

The darkness was like a wave.

Well, it was better than that. Its potency was worse than that of a tide.

The Ode and the Queen felt this best.

The Nitros from their Territories being expelled, was saturated in darkness. Even when they had almost completed creating their Territories, they found it hard to contain all the darkness within them, and as such, the shapes of their magical demesnes burst after a struggle that only lasted less than half an instant!

The range of the gloom was so overwhelming that after devouring all of the mostly uninhabited Opungale, it bled into the sea as well, wantonly relieving every living thing of its ability to appreciate all of creation.

…

The sensation was like no other.

Once engulfed within the tenebrosity, one would feel like they were buried in wet cement.

Furthermore, all the senses were shut down. Sight. Hearing. Smell. Taste. Speech.

To the weaker folk caught in this, it was easy to begin to doubt whether or not they even existed.

There was no evidence for it.

Thoughts tended to turn murky when there was no information to draw.

And here, there was only… black.

Skullius alone was free.

The Insurgent Magnus alone could feel that he was alive. No. Better than that, he felt that his existence was justified all the more, venerated by the darkness.

Everyone else… was beneath him, even the old hag he had been wary of before.

She too was drowned.

Skullius had rushed towards her location just now, because he wanted to ensure that she wouldn't be able to escape. The darkness vomited by the thing above him travelled, after all, and there was no telling what Umbett might have done if he hadn't been close.

That said, all this didn't seem enough to hold her for too long. Thus…

"Let's complete this…" Skullius said, and the guidance field acted upon his wish.

[You are imbibing TWO Seeds of the Fruit of World Myths into the PHANTASMIC RETAINER, Noboboyhama, Spirit of Blind Drowning] [Number 6, 'Melding Stitches' has been imbibed]

[Number 8, 'Delight's Pursuit' has been imbibed]

Right then, only Skullius could hear the PHANTASMIC RETAINER, Spirit of Blind Drowning, trembling as two Seeds of his Fruit of World Myths sank within it and were immediately applied to its already monstrous abilities!

The result was mind-boggling.

Something peered through the absolute darkness from above.

It was small, yet its intensity was so unusual that it stuck out so obviously amid the depth of black.

It was shaped like a minimalistic eye, proudly tinged with the sgolden white of [Just Light].

Every living that had been drenched in the maddening darkness had no choice but to snap into the direction of light desperately.

It was the only thing that could convince them that Aigas was a thing. That their lives were real. That they were still alive.

…And that, was the trap.

The perfect trap.

Once one saw that bright eye, they would be shown what they wanted to see and be suffocated in a false delight, so much so, that their current lives were all but lost…if the Hybrid Luman wished it.

But that wasn't all.

Skullius was not satisfied with just this.

He might have been influenced by Fulgardt's will, but he was also curious about these powers that he was yet to know fully. Just how absurd could they be?

His insidious desires grew all the more as he toyed with everything that was drowned in his darkness, and as a result…