Bro, I'm not an Undead!

(A/N: Bonus Chapter).

Skullius waved for Silrat and Red Rage to go on without him while he conversed with Sila.

Since the Tower General had started heaving deep breaths – however that was possible – after hearing Skullius’ proposal, the Hybrid Luman was left with a few seconds of silence to spare while awaiting the response, which would likely be favourable.

‘Tomato flinger… You would truly do that?’ Sila asked.

‘Sure, but first, I need information. Hmm, or rather let me say… an edge,’ he explained.

‘I’ve usually been at an advantage with all the Ties of Exchange I’ve had to make so far because Yuyui and Kenno didn’t have terms of their own, and because Sause and Silrat were, for the most part, desperate to get something from me. But now, things could go sideways with the latest person of interest. Is it possible to be a prime attendant to a Tie of Exchange and still retain the advantage?’

Sila, who had yet to quell his boiling hope, his hungry imagination already giving him daydreams of walking through grass, eating, drinking and fuc…. ahem…. he was excited. So excited that he reluctantly cast away the grudge he felt towards Skullius for keeping him in an eternal dark bubble, which he was slowly growing used to after spending millennia in idleness actually.

To the Hybrid Luman’s point, he answered:

“That would defeat the purpose of a Tie of Exchange. Even though its use has changed, it still remains as a rigid contract that benefits the lesser attendant, tomato flinger.”

“Ha… I see. Do you know any other forms of magical contracts that can guarantee that both parties will be held equally liable for not fulfilling what they promise. I mean, it sounds to me like lesser attendants, under normal circumstances, can get away with breaching the contract, right? A slap on the wrist type of thing?”

“You are right. The punishment is fairly light. Sadly, as a Knight back in my day, magical contracts were not my strong suit, tomato flinger. I only know of Ties of Exchange because of the trying times I spent my last days enduring. You could never trust anyone who wondered into your camp without reason, and the remnants of enemy forces had to be dealt with Ties of Exchange as a mandate from the Commander,” Sila explained.

Skullius narrowed his eyes.

‘So that’s how it is?’

So did this mean that he was going to have to leave the magical contract of choice up to Aurolio? Because Skullius couldn’t bear to have Aurolio have an additional hold over him. He was willing to fight for it, even if this man had an ability that made him undefeatable, which even now remained a concept too broad for Skullius to even care to dissect.

There was an alternative solution though. It was more dangerous, and relied on whether or not Aurolio was a man of his word, something Skullius wasn’t willing to bet on.

He could simply leave their arrangement as a verbal agreement.

But the problem with this was, now that Aurolio knew what Skullius was, wouldn’t he be intimated if the Hybrid Luman grew stronger? What was to stop him from killing him after he got what he wanted, just to make sure he didn’t have any nuisances to deal with in the future?

It was quite the debacle.

‘However…!’ Sila suddenly said.

‘Yes?’

‘I think there might be a way to obscure you from the rules of the Tie of Exchange.’

Skullius grew suspicious.

‘How?’

‘Tomato flinger… we talked about this. Ties of Exchange are so profound because they are derived from Deities and passed on to the Giants. They are effective when one believes in the Deities and are born of them. But since you are a foreigner… it might be possible to… swindle your way…partially… out of the terms of the Tie of Exchange,’ Sila said with a degree of unsureness.

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He remembered him and Sila having this discussion back when he wanted to establish Yuyui as his servant in the Temple of Unlusted Tears.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.418).

This was the entire reason why Sila was the one who set up the Ties of Exchange between Skullius and everyone he wanted to have a contractual agreement with. It was because Skullius was foreign, with no ties to the Deities neither by birth or blessing!

‘I see. Keep talking,’ the Hybrid Luman said.

….

A few minutes later, a devilish smile was etched on Skullius’ face. He couldn’t believe he could be so fortunate. To think he had despised the Binds of Fukal which condemned anything to do with the Deities of Aigas!

How foolish he had been!

‘You’ve outdone yourself, Sila!’ he complimented the piece of soul. ‘Now I’m looking forward to meeting that pale bastard!’

‘I don’t care for your enthusiasm! Make do with your promise! I gave you your solution, tomato flinger!’

‘You’re right. A reward is in order, Sila,’ Skullius grinned.

He had put some crucial thought into this. He always had the incident where the Tower General stole his body in mind whenever he dealt with Sila so that he wouldn’t let his guard down, nomatter how pitiful the piece of soul sounded.

Why he was giving the poor man a body?

Well, there was mutual benefit involved, but it wasn’t permanent.

‘Incandescent Stage experts are good at manipulating their souls and the souls of others. You taught me that when you invaded Damilla’s soul and impersonated her,’ he said to Sila.

‘Yes… I enjoyed that quite a bit, tomato flinger…’ Sila said with a distant voice tinged with fondness.

‘Right. Since you are technically a part of me, but cannot overwrite my soul even if yours is stronger… I suddenly got an idea.’

It had been a troubling thing for Sila who was clearly stronger as to why he was suppressed by Skullius all the time. He had thought it weird… until he saw Skullius’ Reflection of Soul.

When the Hybrid Luman had summoned Sause in the Temple of Unlusted Tears, Sila had found himself bound on an island full of flowers, with a skeleton and a giant looking down at him.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.423)

Skullius’ Reflection featured too many forces.

The dreadful presence of an Arch-Lich.

The serene powers of Null Life.

The mighty, suffocating power of a human who reached Divinity.

…And the unforgettable, sharp, zealous pressure from a powerful sword.

All this manifested as stifling power for the guardian of Skullius’ soul.

Sila had imagined in that moment that all these forces simply wouldn’t allow him to take over Skullius’ body even if he was stronger. Unless of course, Skullius’ will was elsewhere, like what happened during the only instance where he had taken control.

But what did this have to do with him having a body?

Was the Hybrid Luman taunting him?

‘What of it, tomato flinger?’

Skullius smirked.

‘On two occasions, the energy from my soul has bled into yours, bringing us closer to becoming one inseparable entity. The first time was when you took over my body and started to absorb my soul into yours and the second, was when I encountered Somanda recently… and voluntarily fed your soul with my own. You know why I did that, right?’

Sila paused for a bit. Hints of anguish flared within him.

He knew why.

Skullius had spared Sila even when Sause had given him the option to permanently erase the piece of soul from his body – with no harm to his own soul. The Hybrid Luman kept the Tower General within him while claiming that Sila was going to be useful.

At that time, Sila hadn’t understood why.

Why had he been spared?

It was only when Skullius who was facing off against the High Lich Somanda a month ago, a Divine undead, funnelled his soul energy into him, that he finally understood the role he was supposed to serve.

‘Yes, I know. You planned to completely merge your soul into mine, so that if you died, you wouldn’t be pulled to Somanda, as you are supposed to. Instead, you would count as a soul of Aigas, and be taken to the afterlife the Deities created… right, tomato flinger?’

Skullius chuckled.

‘You’re smarter than I give you credit for. Yes. That was the plan and still is, if things go south. But enough with the morbid facts. Why I’m telling you this is because I need to exploit your ability to manipulate the soul.’ Skullius said explained.

He summoned something from his ring which immediately stood on its feet upon emerging.

It was the Conforming Trickerteer, the slender armour that could take on the appearance of its user.

‘Now, get ready,’ Skullius said before extending his hand and touching the chestplate to the armour.

A dull light was projected from his entire body, highlighting the armour.

“And finally… a perfect use for THIS skill.”