Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1382: Pressed For Resolve (2)



Skullius was astonished at the sight. He hadn't expected Alaris to be here. If the barrier hadn't messed with his ability to sense everything within the Purity headquarters concisely, he

would have noticed him lurking within immediately.

Quite different from his own look of shock, however, Elita donned a face heavy with guilt at the sight of Revia. The weight of it grew tenfold when Revia exposed her relief at seeing her and smiled. The burden of tension was released from the former undead just from seeing the woman whom she had considered to be an older sister.

And yet, this older sister, Elita, had, at some point given up on everything she had left behind on Aigas. When Void had taken her, everything had become bigger, broader and less black and white. Suddenly, there were more evils around her, but some of them were necessary evils that she understood. Good characters she met turned out to be evil and evil characters she met turned to be good... and then evil, and then good.

There were selfish men and selfless men. There were frauds and people who led people towards horrific beliefs, channelling their faiths towards ominous causes. Elita had loathed them. However, broad-minded she became, she hated those who misused the faith of others and preached evil doctrines. And perhaps it was because Direction wished it, but she had met a lot of them on the many worlds Void delivered her to.

At one point, Elita had even begun to detest herself and everyone who wore the silver armour of the Purity, whether they be a Purity Knight or Paladin Champion. She had felt sick. She had considered Deities in many ways, revering some, loathing others. Everything was a mess.

...And then there was Revia, the younger sister she never had, looking up at her with the same eyes she remembered. Elita couldn't meet them the same way.

She saw Revia as a child who didn't know any better. She didn't care that Revia had seemingly come to the Purity headquarters for her (Elita's) sake, even while plagued by a special brand of undeath.

The feeling of indifference haunted her infinitely in the short span of time it took for Skullius to use [Sagacious Antiphon of Dawnlight] on both Revia and Alaris, healing them immediately.

The latter drew in a deep breath as he spasmed to his feet. It must have been a reflex. He looked left, right, up and down and then he met the uncanny group standing before him and Revia. He shuddered at the sight of Skullius.

Revia rose, looking at her limbs with a smile. Admittedly, she had loathed being reverted to a living being again, but she was slowly starting to appreciate it. She looked up at Skullius. Her smile dimmed a little, but she kept it on.

"T-thank you," she said to Skullius. She owned him a double debt now, though, she was a little conflicted. His relationship with Elita seemed... inconsistent.

The Hybrid Warmoth merely nodded to her before turning to Alaris who kept gawking at him. "Alaris... It's nice to see you again," he said.

Alaris couldn't even begin to compute what the sentence meant, of course. Where had he ever met such a creature?

Skullius realised this and made it easier for him. He created a mana link using the oh-so- powerful [Hegemon of Sorcerous Mana] and fed him a direct stream of information that gave Alaris a simple appreciation of what was happening.

Alaris drew back, shuddering.

"F-Festos? It's you?!" he cried.

Skullius gave him a small smile.

"In the flesh," he said, and then he pointed a finger to the side. Ju`wtte sparked violently from it and opened a rift in space - a doorway into the Empyrean Bosom.

Everyone except Araeyn, Kenno and Elita gaped. A portion of the Bosom was revealed through the rift and two Strawlers appeared within.

"Theurien is waiting for you in there. He'll explain everything," Skullius said.

Alaris gave him several different looks. He was evidently having trouble digesting all this. In the end, he passed through the rift and the Strawlers guided him deep into the Empyrean Bosom. The rift closed soon after, leaving behind a deep silence that was only filled in by a comment from Aurolio.

"Always something new with you, huh?" the pale man said with the shake of his head.

Everyone ignored him, especially Elita, Revia, Skullius and Uyuniya.

Revia had her eyes pinned on Elita, as did skullius. Elita grew increasingly frustrated with their stares, and didn't know where to look; Uyuniya seemed to find it hilarious.

"Elita..." Revia was the one to break the ice while sounding like a thin, crackling sheet of ice herself. "What's going on here?"Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Elita drew a shaky breath.

Aurolio, like Uyuniya seemed to find this interaction interesting. Thus, he created a connection of mana between Elita, Revia, Uyuniya and Skullius, all for the benefit of the terrestrial woman. He was lucky Skullius was too absorbed in what was happening to care to stop him.

Elita didn't know how to respond initially.

She opened her mouth, but no words came out. The sudden cry of the nine right then from the distance made it even harder for her to form words.

"I came here to destroy the Purity," she finally said and managed a small smile while looking at Revia. "I assume you came to do the same."

Revia, for a moment, was filled with joy, but then it all vanished. She struggled.

"You? You came to destroy the Purity?" she asked, and Elita saw the confusion in her eyes. It mirrored the look Skullius had just given her. She did her best to ignore it.

"Well, truth be told, I destroyed it before I even got here," she said.

Revia seemed to shrink by the second. There was a greater conflict within her, but she buried it to appear stronger than she was.

"I... I guess I wouldn't understand the how. You're so much stronger than I remember." She chuckled hollowly and blinked several dozen times. Indeed. She remembered the Elita who was weaker than her by several leagues. The one she had only looked up to in terms for morale and advice. "But, why? And where have you been?"

"It'd take a long time to explain," Elita said.

"Oh. Right."

An awkward, painful silence ensued. Skullius scoffed at it.

"Is it really all that hard to explain?" he said to Elita, who gave him a sharp, furious look.

"Back off," the former Paladin Champion told him.

"Why? I saw it before, you know. Somehow, when you're speaking to this woman, Revia, you can't quite defend yourself as readily as you do against me. Why is that?" Skullius hissed.

"Because IT'S SO DAMN COMPLICATED TO PUT IN WORDS SHE CAN UNDERSTAND!"

Elita flew into a rage.

Revia was so shocked she stumbled back and fell.

This was the first time she had ever seen this Elita angry, but she was yet to see the fullness of Voided Deathform's fury.