Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The stance.

The shaky resolve.

The wobbly figure.

Nothing about Yuyui spelled any form of charismatic compulsion to anyone. Even Skullius who couldn’t understand what she was saying could feel the dull intent.

Yuyui was both surprised and embarrassed when she saw no reaction from Bassbion who towered over her, the half a face visible from the Spirit turning into a frown as she actually felt insulted.

Above all that she could see right now, the greasy meat that Yuyui still clung to in her hand as she audaciously commanded the powerful guardian to obey her was… infuriating.

Drip, drip.

The oil from the stewed thigh broke the silence.

Yuyui would have blushed intensely if she could.

Bassbion’s rage compelled her turn away from the new Skullius and take a step to intimidatingly lower her face over to Yuyui’s own.

“Are you serious? You dare command me when you failed to attain a basic level of control over your powers in over a century and conveniently emerge, submitting to this… vi-….man?!” Bassbion growled as her mana flushed out like a hurricane, causing a brutish torrent of air to brush through the atmosphere.

Yuyui shrunk.

She didn’t even know what was going on.

Just now, when she laid eyes on Bassbion, a foreign sense even making her notice that Yagrina’s stone figure was also ‘alive’, the Inhumane Eye in her socket had caused her to jerk forward and demand the Spirits to follow her instinctively!

Of course she had failed and now, she didn’t know what to do.

Skullius hung back and watched the show even without much of the verbal context.

When taking into account what Bassbion had said about the host and all, he figured that Yuyui was probably supposed to have these two guardians as servants or at least companions who would be loyal to her.

It didn’t look like it now but he was sure he was right.

The Hybrid Luman wasn’t really interested in much of all this as there was time to get to know it all later, especially when he used some of the more obscure gains he had attained.

Frankly, he hoped this show had a quick ending, otherwise he’d have to intervene.

Yuyui continued to shrink as Bassbion didn’t hold back with her intimidating presence.

“Well, speak! Tell me! What gives you the gull?!” Bassbion boomed.

“Enough, Sister Bassbion!” Yagrina came to Yuyui’s rescue.

Her stone head moved to look at Yuyui with a calm inducing visage.

She smiled, creating cracks on her face.

Bassbion scoffed and drew away from Yuyui while taking a sharp glance at Skullius and Ferex.

Yuyui could at least breathe after the pressure from Bassbion subsided but being looked at by a stone statue that could speak was… creepy.

She swallowed hard and remained rooted in place while quivering as Yagrina addressed her.

“I am pleased to meet you, host. I’m glad you have finally returned from your test. I and Sister Bassbion are supposed to be your guardians along with ten others but I’m afraid only us two remain, and the others cannot be awakened anymore because of the damage they have taken in previous battles,” Yagrina explained warmly.

“It is also unfortunate that we cannot come under your service as you have not completed the test left for you by our masters. You fooled your way out of it, ignoring the vital lessons that you were supposed to learn. Patience, focus, preservation and hope. We are only assigned to submit to you when you gain three of the 12 Diverse Eyes and as such…”

It was as such.

Yuyui felt stung by the words.

Patience, focus, preservation and hope.

Did she have any of that?

Patience?

She had started crying after only four days of being trapped in the binding array.

Focus?

She hadn’t even realised that her passing out shortly after being skewered through the head by a thick light that came from the symbol of the twelve eyes in that place had led to her receiving extraordinary powers until after eight months!

Preservation?

She had eaten an entire tree and drunk from… ahem…

She didn’t have a sense of preservation even after a century passed, much less hope.

This stung.

“So…” she began. “I’m just…”

“Indeed you are!” Bassbion cut in with a growl. “Your very disposition reeks of weakness. I can’t believe you are all we could salvage after all these millenia!”

“Sister Bassbion!” Yagrina rebuked.

“Alright, that’s enough. We can finish this up later,” Skullius’ voice also cut in.

To everyone here, he was speaking an unfamiliar language that they didn’t understand, but his actions soon told of what he intended.

With a flash, he had reached Yuyui and grabbed her by the nape of her shirt, casually flinging her at Ferex who caught her like a bag.

“We’re leaving,” Skullius said as he began walking towards the double doors that he had come in from when he first came here.

“But… Master! I have to… I’m not done yet. Shouldn’t I try to…” Yuyui with a choked voice said even as she knew Skullius couldn’t understand her, tears leaking from the sides of her face.

While sobbing from the hurt tacked on by the words from Yagrina, she took a bite of the meat she had in her hand, slobbering grease over her mouth some more.

“YOU! Where are you taking her?!” Bassbion huffed with fury. While she didn’t acknowledge Yuyui, the woman was still what was truly left of her masters!

How dare this vile filth take her?!

Even Yagrina was displeased as she didn’t intend to stop Bassbion from taking back Yuyui nomatter the cost.

The tall guardian was about to attack with full force after noting that this man she had fought was no longer the same but…

SNAP!

Skullius who kept walking towards the double doors without looking back snapped his fingers, an unbelievable wave of mana covering the entire Ground of Communion in an instant!

The sound of crumpling paper and crushed rock emanated with the appearance of the mana and at the same time…

“HU—”

Bassbion felt herself get pulled by ridiculously powerful force, her body slamming into the hollow where she had come from previously when Skullius first entered this place!

…!

The powerful pulling surge resisted her desire to pull herself put, keeping her nailed to the statue!

Bassbion growled in rage as she struggled to no avail, her voice causing a stubborn rumbling to occur!

Clack!

Another set of the chains on her armour broke and she felt another portion of her strength drown her, giving her a sense of omnipotence!

She yanked herself from the statue and found her strength become enough to resist the drawing force quite a bit!

Good! Just a little more and she would be free!

Unfortunately, Skullius was already in front of the doors.

Instead of focusing on the raging storm behind him, he instead mused at a seemingly minute but ironic detail.

‘Snapping your fingers does look cool as a gesture to overpower people. No wonder she did it so often. I should use it more.’

As he looked at the doors before him, Skullius confirmed that what he had felt some time ago was indeed the case.

‘I see. Most of the arrays in the entire temple went off as soon as the array keeping Yuyui bound was destroyed. That means… THAT is possible,’ Skullius thought as he ‘glanced’ at Yuyui who was still sobbing while munching away.

He pushed the doors and exited with his Apostle and servant, the two structures closing behind them.

Skullius took Yuyui from Ferex and princess carried her while giving the Apostle an order to miniaturise and hop onto his head.

“I don’t know if the array that keeps those two still remains active but it’s better to get a head start anyway,’ Skullius thought with a smirk. ‘Might as well get used to the properties of my mana too in the process.’

Unfortunately, Skullius’ control over his mana in the Ground Communion faded as soon as he exited the place and thus his reasonings collided to the aforementioned thought.

The Hybrid Luman leaned forward and launched ahead, bright mana flashing from his body for a split second before he shot up the corridor with speed that made it seem like he was skipping certain known motion rules in his dash!

Skullius rushed past three long corridors within two seconds and continued to burst forward while causing the walls and floor to tense up after he passed!

This was Skullius’ agility without any skills superimposed.

He was indeed incredibly fast!

*

It only took fifteen minutes for Skullius to navigate through the entire Temple and emerge in the terrifying Slurred Grounds full of flayed yet well preserved men.

Yuyui had almost puked all she had eaten when she saw this scene but thankfully Skullius didn’t stop by for a gorey tour.

Once more the huge doors at the front of the temple were opened and the group of three emerged in the waters that didn’t feel like waters.

Waters that seemed more like cool winds around the body.

Waters that refused to enter the Temple.

‘I guess I was worried for nothing. She still can’t exit the Ground of Communion,’ Skullius thought addressing the tail he thought he had.

Apparently, he was safe.

He instructed Ferex to take care of the constantly eating package again, keeping her close.

Even though Yuyui had died fifteen times already from eating such tough foods after years of not eating, she still persisted until her body relented.

Skullius could only sigh as he focused on something else.

‘Alright then. Let’s check if this works…’

From his spatial storage emerged the Elimparidis Stone Staff.