378 A Shady Twist
The Revenant Flames of Ecstasy!
Seeing them layered over the light blue circular area around his commandeered Discount Human body, Skullius couldn’t help but gain a shocking revelation!
Or at least a glimmer of it!
‘[Null Life Aura]… this is how you use it?’ he thought while analysing.
On top of this, the light of Skullius’ Pseudo skill ‘Radiance’ also covered the Discount Human body, making Skullius turn from intrigued to nervous.
Sila had truly decided to use everything he could at this time and Skullius didn’t let the aged soul manipulating his body out of sight!
‘I was never able to use Demion’s Dance to draw out that much power for my own use but Sila can now. It’s probably because of whatever he did to my mana core. That and Radiance could unleash so ridiculous speed but… Tsk! If Doom Factor 1 catches me without a core and with the mana from the staff running out…’ Skullius thought with perilous horrors hanging on his shoulder.
On the other hand, Bek narrowed his eyes as the red flame before him reflected in his eyes.
A ferocious heat wave flared from the brimming flames that partially hid Sila’s luminous form, burning the air and creating exaggerated mirages all around while the ground quickly melted into lava!
‘This heat. I don’t think getting close is a good idea, even with my Genuine Incarnation. So…’ Bek thought as he pointed his rapier forward, its blue tint blinking multiple times as it released a low hum.
Sila behind the flames grinned.
‘I won’t be falling for that again.’
Sila released his grip on the Lord-Slayer spear and held the chain attached to its end instead, his other hand holding the hilt to Demion’s Dance firmly!
With lucrative motion, he started to spin the spear through the chain he held, the entire weapon rotating at an angle in the air at rapid speeds that caused a powerful gust of wind to blow over from him!
A scorching gust of wind!
Following this burst of moving air, Sila dashed forward, but his movement was beyond ridiculous!
From the ring of fire that was surrounding him, to the luminous light that covered his body, Sila vanished for fractions of a second before he turned into a ferocious, long exposed ray of light that charged towards Bek!
…!
The former Knight was shocked to see that even he had lost track of Sila before he turned into that streak of light that was hurtling towards him now!
The scorching wind and the noise from something whipping against the air reached him just after he blinked and a spear moving so fast that it was blurred, dropped from the air along with a red hue that carried an atrocious amount of heat!
Bek’s first instinct was to block but he quickly changed his answer to the assault in the next moment, his body drawing back as the rapier he had extended forward released a loud noise!
WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!
The spear was still descending fast enough to catch up to him but he bet on attacking Sila whom he knew wouldn’t recklessly rush into danger – the soul damage from the vibration!
The blaring heat came, instantly turning the a around the former Knight into a hellscape!
Bek slashed with his other rapier towards the incoming streak after making sure his timing was right!
Unfortunately for him…
‘I get it now! The blood in this body is rushing around in a frenzy and the flesh is tingling madly. The purpose of this… skill, [HYPED]… I get it now!’ Sila thought as with Demion’s Dance, he parried Bek’s rapier perfectly!
The green blade gained a hot, hazy outline and in striking against Bek’s rapier, madly lit sparks bloomed with noisy sputters!
Bek gritted his teeth as he felt the heat rising with the instant appearance of a ring of fire around him as he was in Sila’s range!
Strangely, as he looked at Sila’s bright image, he found the man’s leg bulging and exploding into bloody chunks, the same happening to the thighs and arms but they instantly regenerated immediately after!
This body simply couldn’t handle all the stacked stat amps!
Bek quickly bolted three meters away but as he stepped on the ground, the Lord-Slayer which also sizzled with a wave of unforgiving heat as it swung with a [Just Light] covered chain attached to it, razed through the air laterally towards him!
The former Knight ducked in a hurry, the spear passing above him but Sila had already prepared another attack with Demion’s Dance, slashing up with great power!
Bek’s eyes flashed as he advanced close to Sila, his rapier striking against Demion’s Dance before it could properly strike!
‘Heh! Smart!’ Sila thought before he drew on the Lord-Slayer against, swinging the chain of darkness and launching a flurry of attacks with the spear attacked to it!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Eruptions occurred over the ground and on Sila’s body as he seemed to cruise over the lava building around him, racing over the molten land as if running on a smooth hard surface!
Each time the flame covered Lord-Slayer touched the ground, it would cause a deafening explosion with a red flame rising up, towering into the sky without a care while an expansive shockwave demolished everything it touched!
Bek countered every strike from Sila, but the heat…
It strangely penetrated his Genuine Incarnation!
The former Knight suddenly moved his hands quickly, the half of Sera in one of his rapiers rushing into his hand with Bek promptly pointed it at Sila who…
…!
The aged soul grinned as he had already launched a high kick towards Bek’s hand before the man even pointed steadily at him!
As a result, Bek’s form was disrupted for but a fraction of a second and prior to him countering with his other rapier, Demion’s Dance was already halfway to his neck, stuffed with every bit of the Discount Human body’s strength!
Bek felt a phenomenal chill right up his spine as the blade licked the air, already beginning to cut him before it reached!
SHIIII-
…!
Yet…
Sila abruptly halted his slash midway and bolted backwards with extreme speed, Bek being confused at first but also leaping out of the way the moment he felt IT!
BRRRRRRRROOOOOOM!
Tens of orbs made of [Evil Darkness] flashed from the sky and abused the ground that had already been punished by the intense battle, its integrity shaking immensely!
The Projected form of Skullius waved its hands, tens of the orbs that he had made speeding through the air as they attacked both Bek and Sila!
‘That was too fast! I can’t believe he can move that fast with my body,’ Skullius thought in awe.
He had barely seen Sila move as a bright streak before explosion after explosion rocked the ground with his and Bek’s figure barely being discernible in the flying dirt and snow!
‘Damn it! How on earth do I stop this?! I feel my soul getting devoured slowly!’
Bek breathed out the tension he had felt just now as he gathered his focus.
‘That…was dangerous!’ he thought, sweat dripping from his brow intensely. ‘My attacks aren’t working on him anymore. It’s like he knows my combat habits! But… figuring that in just a few short exchanges…?’
The former Knight swished his rapiers as he warded off the orbs of darkness darting erratically towards him!
Sila who was facing the same twirled the chain on the spear side and used it to strike away the orbs, his figure flicking up Demion’s Dance which had fallen after his arm exploded again and darting forward while reverse handed the blade with a newly formed limb!
His target was naturally Bek once again and his speed as he completely struck away the darkness orbs was incredible!
‘I’ll use the cover of these orbs to launch a decisive strike. The mana from the staff is quickly being depleted and probably takes quite some time to recover. Ha! Fascinating! If taking this man down proves too difficult, I’ll just have to go for the more out-of-box solution…’
As Sila darted forward, Skullius ground his teeth as he found that the man was barely hindered by his attacks!
In some instances he dodged and deflected before the orbs even reached a considerable distance from his body!
The aged piece of soul weaved through with incredible mobility as when he was a few meters away from Bek who kept darting around, dodging and blocking…
‘What..!’
WHAAAAAAAM!
A massive force bashed against him with overwhelming might, knocking Sila tens of meters away!
Bek and Skullius expressed their dumb faces of surprise as they saw the Discount Human body roll and crash into the remnants of shattered trees!
‘What happened?’ Skullius thought with a frown. He hadn’t done this and from the looks of it, neither did Bek.
However, barely a millisecond passed before he realised what this was!
Sila quickly rose as his senses scoured around the area, looking for the location of this new threat but…
‘I can’t sense it. It’s that Hound isn’t it?’ he thought as he drew back.
Surely, the massive figure of a dark brown wolf-like creature cautiously moved over the ground while keeping its eyes on Sila.
Of course no one could see or sense its mass and by extension the extra limbs it had grown.
Ferex had immediately rushed over when he felt his master flash from the town.
To increase his speed, he had maxed his size and grown two additional limbs, the result being his arrival on the scene rather quickly.
At first seeing his master’s Projected form, which was a first for him, and on the other side, his master’s body which was moving at the same time was peculiar, but his deep instinct as well as rationalisation of the situation – judging between a grinning maniac and a desperate humanoid figure of darkness – he had ascertained the Discount Human body to house the enemy.
The flaring mass of flame around Sila remained ever bright and ever hot but it was no longer an advantage for him.
Naturally, as an Apostle of Skullius, Ferex wasn’t affected by the flame and geting in close range for an attack was very easy, especially with the effects of the mutation.
Sila frowned and drew back.
‘At this point, I might just be wasting my time. Even with my advanced senses, I can’t pick up on that damn creature’s presence. The last thing I need is an unwanted wild card roaming around with an absolute advantage,’ Sila thought as he drew Skullius’ spatial ring from the pocket of his tattered pants and stored the Lord-Slayer.
He had salvaged the ring earlier after his hands blew up the first time.
‘These twos’ agenda here was probably to find THEM, though I’m sure they do not know who they are dealing with. Haha. I’ll have to confirm that for myself too. Skullius using his Projected form was to follow on that lead so… from the looks of it…’ Sila thought as his mind raced over to when his consciousness had emerged from the space where he was sent to each time Skullius didn’t want him to speak.
Upon seeing through the Discount Human’s eyes following the freedom he felt, Sila had seen Skullius’ Projected form looking at a certain direction for a prolonged period before it hurriedly raced down, probably to notify Bek.
‘Judging by the position he was in earlier in accordance to where I was standing…’ Sila thought, his senses and [Elevated Mana Manipulation] acting to familiarise him with the environment.
‘I see…’
FWOOSH.
Under Bek, Ferex and Skullius’ eyes, the Discount Human body suddenly vanished!
Evidently, this was [Jump] being utilised again and Skullius frowned.
‘Is he running away?!’
Skullius immediately sent a mental message to Ferex. ‘Can you find him?’
The Hound responded by showing his full figure that was covered in the Pseudo-Spirit Walker’s Hide and bursting in the direction that it felt the Discount Human body.
Skullius immediately bolted through the air as he followed after Ferex. Bek on the other hand creased his brow as he saw the large figure appear out of nowhere and dart in a random direction.
‘Is that another one of this man’s hidden cards?’ he thought as he quickly dispelled his shock. ‘Nomatter, I must follow anyway.’
Bek immediately rushed after the two, his speed being much faster.
He immediately caught up to them before they travelled far.
“I’m sorry it has turned to this but then again, I can only blame you for foolishly unleashing such a dangerous terror,” Bek said as he faced Skullius’ Projected form which quivered in rage.
“Whatever happens, I owe the honour of my old life your soul… and that fiend’s.”
Without giving Skullius a chance to reply, Bek shot forward.
Having ascertained the direction in which Sila went from where Ferex was going, seemingly leading Skullius there, he felt Skullius’ absence from the new battle could help.
Now, he just needed to change his tactics which Sila had seemingly gotten used to.
“Damn it!” Skullius cursed.
Far beyond them, the figure of Sila was dashing at mad speed towards the location of a certain individual who was part of something bigger than most people of this different could even fathom.
Something old and dangerous.
‘Perhaps if I provide THEM with some precious items from Skullius’ ring, they’ll grant my wish,’ Sila thought.
He suddenly turned his head, seeing a bright golden light fast approaching his position.
“How tenacious. Unfortunately for you, I won’t be dying that easily,” Sila said with a grin, the staff which was now wielded with his hand brimming with light as he used another one of the limited charges on the skill [Jump] to further the distance between him and his enemies.