Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1363: Everyone Except...



Before everyone escaped the prison of Undeath energy earlier...

"Right, right, hold on. Before we leave," Skullius said as he turned to Aurolio, "There's

something you said when you witnessed my Exotic Parlous Nature. What was it again? Critical detonation point? What does that mean?"

Aurolio raised a brow.

"Ah, that," he said. "Well, I was just pointing out that your... Parlous Nature - if that's what

it's called really is a product of Void's powers. It behaves much like Voided Death Essence, if only a bit more violent."

"Violent? Yeah, Jaqquezjaqqz is violent, but your Voided Death Essence has only ever appeared aggressive to me, not violent."

"Of course, it has." Aurolio shrugged. "Because we've had to learn to use it properly. Voided Death Essence becomes... irascible if you don't constantly have it on a leash. If you leave it in an uncontrolled state for too long, it reaches a critical detonation point, where it ignites and damages basic and advanced concepts like space almost irreparably. I think I gave you a taste of that back when we fought." The grin the pale man wore right then warranted a punch, but Skullius - with herculean effort - proved to be the bigger man.

In any case, he remembered the time Aurolio was referencing. It was when the masked man had used his Mastered Void Gate for the first time and started flexing his many interpretations of strength.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1064.)

"So, my Exotic Parlous Nature is just naturally...irascible?" Skullius asked.

"Kind of, but it doesn't help that you're Null Lifeform. It takes the right physical traits to handle Voided Death," Aurolio said. He made a lot of gestures as he spoke. "But even the critical detonation point has better uses than simple destruction, as I have come to find out." He looked at Uyuniya and Elita. "I bet that's how you use that Void Clot, right?"

Neither of the two ladies answered his question. Instead, Uyuniya sighed.

"If there's nothing else, let's get this over with," she said, and using her Void Clot, she broke the Undeath prison.

***

Present time.

The conditions for the <Vain> characteristic of Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz had been met. Over fourteen consecutive blows on the target, all imbued with the Pseudo-Void rank Exotic Parlous Nature had been delivered, indeed. The guidance field even said as much in the next instance.

[The conditions for the <Vain> have been met]

But, something else had been happened at the exact same time.

The Doom Knight had just barely managed to regain its wits when the fourteenth blow landed and before the excess ones hit. It didn't know anything of the requirements of Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz, but it had grown tired of the consistent gaps in its consciousness which, while resulting in barely effective attacks on its body, seemed to be headed towards something significant.

Thus, while it would have preferred to keep this card in reserve for when it took on enemies of its level as any other Deity in existence would, really - the Doom Knight used it right then.

There were several conditions to be meant before a Deity could create a world. One of them was marking, as the Doom Knight had done to Aigas - staking its claim, even if it was challenged by two other Deities.

The other conditions pertained to aspects the Doom Knight no longer had access to. Its rebirth into Undeath stripped its ability to create a world, after all.

However, it still possessed the call and drive which forced Deities to create worlds in the first place.

And this call and drive came from something, somethings that naturally formed within the Broader Existence of a Deity. A Broader Existence with a density far more stable and stalwart than that of a regular Divine.

--n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

A clear, crimson pulse, built like trillions of tiny springs exploding outward like confetti, gushed from the Doom Knight's Broader Existence, aiming to engulf far beyond the skies and itching to spread to all corners of the world.

Their brisk occurrence brooked no response from Skullius, the Penetrators, Elita, Skullius and Araeyn, who had just completed a perfect sequence of attacks on the creature. Unfortunately for them, their defences weren't enough to bear the rush of odd power which bellowed from the Doom Knight.

The only reason they survived was because the wild rush of power was not an attack at all, but the establishment of a 'stage'.

For a Deity to create a world, they had to mark any space within the great void, and then expend one or more of the natural Fated Reefs growing within their Broader Existence.

Skullius had seen what these natural Reefs were, actually, when the Elder Sages of Penetration had used the Mortal Sourcing Destiny Rune to reveal the likeness of the Doom Knight's Broader Existence. They were the islands floating around the Doom Knight's Amras well and Andori.

They were superimposed on the mark a Deity made to act as a primary foundation for a world. However, they didn't only apply to worlds. As the Doom Knight couldn't create a world, they could create something else. Something that didn't have to spawn living beings.

Green lightning fettered with hints of a mist exploded from the Doom Knight and began to lather over the springly energy coiling endlessly forth. It was the Doom Knight's Exotic Parlous Nature, staking claim over the Fated Reef!

Everything was torched with green as millions of chaotic branches of green lightning razed and smacked everything in sight while riding the tide of crimson springs. They were going to do it. They were going to reach all ends of Aigas.

But then a dash of golden radiance exploded out elsewhere and hurried to counter the crimson tide, successfully stopping it in its tracks!

It was none other than Boron who had risen to the occasion.

His raw might pushed back the Doom Knight's powers and constrained them to a limited

region in Aigas, in the mountains, where the battle had been taking place.

The Doom Knight would have pushed back, perhaps even stalemating Boron who wasn't at all in peak condition at the moment.

But, of course...

[The conditions for the <Vain> have been met]

The Doom Knight had lost touch with its Broader Existence right after it had decided to unleash its Fated Reef on Aigas and imbue it with its Exotic Parlous Nature. It couldn't have continued to use it for its purposes.

Thus, while under the influence of the <Vain> it merely stood there within the limited influence of its Fated Reef, where green lightning shot out, spasming out of control and

attacking all things.

BZZZT!

Behind it, a bolt as thick as a baobab tree was sprouting from the ground, slowly rising and absorbing power to consolidate itself. It was rather lively. Once it grew to maturity, the Fated Reef would be fully established, even without the manual control of the Doom Knight. Around both the twisted bolt and the Doom Knight, however, a great transparent globe had manifested, outlined with faint hints of puce and turquoise. The <Vain> had exposed its Broader Existence and even made it possible to interact with it; the colours shaped where one could contact the Broader Existence.

But Skullius was currently disabled. His body was a mess, charred, burning and with half of it to the head missing. His soul might have been damaged too. His healing was hindered by the unending of lightning constantly blasting at him and growing stronger as the green branch

grew.

The same was true for Uyuniya, Elita, Kenno and Araeyn, all of whom were in a much more dire situations.

Uyuniya could last a little longer under the attacks given that she was Divine, but Elita's only protection against the constant zaps of lightning was her World rank armour (the one she had taken from the Treasury) which was quickly losing its durability.

Kenno and Araeyn were tethered to Skullius' [Sagacious Antiphon of Dawnlight], meaning they were automatically healed, but the Hybrid Warmoth's Amras was depleting extremely

quickly.

Everyone was put out of commission right when the enemy was vulnerable.

Everyone... except Aurolio.