Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Gasps echoed throughout the grand space from both contenders and witnesses.

The contenders in particular parted like sand where Rias appeared.

One looking at the sallow skin on the young man’s face would have thought it was a plague he carried that drove everyone away so suddenly.

But it wasn’t.

Rias’ dark, medium length hair, with a tinge of light blue at the fringes was combed to the right side of his head, partly covering one of his large, honey-coloured almond eyes.

Over his body was a sleek, light, royal blue leather armour, its left sleeve torn. In its place, a long, dark bandage covered Rias’ arm to the fingers, old, unclear symbols drawn all over it, like a seal of some kind.

A sword of unknown specifics was hidden in a scabbard at his side, and many among the contenders couldn’t help but stare at it, wondering many, dark things.

This young man…

One man who had been close to Rias when he appeared almost fell to the ground when the young man gave him a casual side glance.

This kid who was in teens…

At the very start of the Premium Age Royale, Guissepo had mentioned that this Cluster – a purple one – had been cleared of most of the beasts by the young man alone. He had even subdued the Cluster General, only leaving it alive because they needed the Cluster as the Venue for the event.

Many had doubted the story, but many had also believed.

Among the latter, was Skullius who gave a significant portion of attention to Rias.

The young man was Master, definitely at the Second Phase. He couldn’t tell if he was at the Peak of the Stage, but that mattered little when on top of the usual prowess from experts, he could feel a mysterious, seemingly infinite cradle of power constantly molesting his young figure.

It wiggled, pulsed and thrummed silently, no doubt hidden to some, contenders included.

But Skullius didn’t miss.

‘The Inhibiting Angel, huh? So he’ll have a role in this game?’ Skullius thought.

Guissepo tore everyone away from the openly introverted young man.

“No need to give him too much attention, hahaha!” he said with a maniacal glint. “Now yes, the other less extravagant rules…”

Guissepo clapped his hands amusedly, and above every single contender, including Rias, a small, softly revolving, square-shaped glass pane appeared… along with a number over it in turn.

1,000.

The contenders looked up to see the moving object above them. It seemed like an illusion, with likely the same use as the identification function of the Control Seal.

Guissepo began to explain.

“Each contender will start the game with a total of 1,000 Glass Units or simply, Units. If you, as a contender, take a heavy hit from another contender, or ANY HARMFUL entity within the designated game bounds, you lose 10 Units from the 1,000. If you take a lethal hit, you lose 100 Units. If you die, ALL your remaining Units will go to the contender responsible for your death, but in the case that it’s not a contender, those extravagant Units will be destroyed.”

There was a pause.

Everyone seemed surprise, confused, and kind of appalled.

Why did these rules seem so non-linear?

Was this really the best place to start?

Guissepo laughed uncaringly. This was exactly what he wanted. Why would he ease them all into a death game?

He continued.

“Hahaha! All this is to say… YES! This game, revolves around brutality, cruelty, dominance and extravagant murder!” he called out.

“Contenders will be fighting to earn Units from other contenders! Your objective is to acquire an extravagant total of 10,000 Units, and then reach the GOAL! As simple as that! Your skill in avoiding damage, and dealing it efficiently is being tested, is all! You are Masters at the craft, are you not?! Prove it!”

The more Guissepo screamed, the more it became clear to the contenders, most of whom developed many questions, that yes, this was shaping up to be more complex than they initially thought.

The Game Master descended and looked down at them with zealous eyes.

“When I declare the beginning, each of you will be transported to different places within the game bounds, with each location being… quasi equidistant to the GOAL, your extravagant destination. From there, you will make your way to the GOAL, and try to earn your points.”

“However, you should be mindful. A few Cluster beasts were left in this Cluster for the Royale. You might run into them. Additionally, you will find several high grade artefacts and tools scattered around the game bounds. NONE of them are fitted with fatal functions, but they can harm you, and SOME can be used for your benefit. Draw Bubbles, Scatter Crystals, Revival Stars and Frozen Beans, are the MOST COMMON of them that you will find. Consider it the Game Master’s privilege.”

Skullius frowned at this.

There was more than one threat?

There were usable artefacts here too?

What was a Draw Bubble? Or a Scatter Crystal?

Like the Hybrid Luman, other contenders began to mutter to themselves, wondering about these factors.

One of them raised his hand to ask a question.

“What exactly is this goal?”

Guissepo grinned.

“You’ll know when you see it. It’s rather obvious.”

A short pause ensued.

The Game Master seemed to want to let what he had said simmer through the contenders, and at some point, some of them became convinced that they had heard all that Guissepo wanted to say.

That couldn’t be, right?

Or did this guy just enjoy seeing them confused?

Another asked a question begrudgingly.

“From what you have said, if one of us is killed by something other than another contender, their points will be lost. So, what happens if a majority of the contenders are killed off by these Cluster Beasts or artefacts? This world is really big, right? How would the survivors earn enough Units?”

Guissepo chuckled.

“That is a reasonable question. Like I said, the artefacts can’t kill you, and there aren’t that many Cluster beast left,” said before turning his gaze to Rias with a wretched grin. “But…”

“In the event that you are missing Units, and can’t find contenders to kill – yes the world is huge after all – you can attempt to find the extravagant Inhibiting Angel instead.”

Everyone tensed.

“He is worth a 100,000 Units, and can be hit to draw Units from him. Of course, if he hits or kills a contender, their Units are destroyed.”

The gasps in response were deep.

Seriously?!

Everyone turned to the nonchalant young man standing among them with a myriad of emotions and thoughts.

What was this?

Why wasn’t this mentioned before, in the main body of the rulespaning?!

To make matters worse, Guissepo who was burning with glee from the disturbance continued.

“The Inhibiting Angel will be stationed close to the GOAL, and his movements are limited to the general geographical area around it. Of course, his purpose is to act as the ultimate obstacle to the GOAL, but if you’re smart or extravagant enough, he can be a saving grace, if you’re in need of Units. Hurting him, goes, injuring him goes, killing him goes.”

Skullius clutched his face.

Weren’t there too many obstacles?!

Nomatter what, it seemed facing Rias was a must and that didn’t seem like something he wanted to attempt at all. Not when he was not going to be using explicit [Just Light] and [Evil Darkness] abilities in this event.

Hurt him?

Injure him?

Kill him?

Who in the world was willing to take that risk?

“There is no time limit to the Royale. The restrictions on the quality and quantity of equipment you use still stand, but aside from that, what I’ve said is all for the rules,” Guissepo said, seemingly putting a close to the dose of explanations.

His gaze suddenly turned to Skullius who felt its burning sting, and looked up.

His next words were directed at everyone, but Skullius felt like he was their prime target.

“Try to do your best. Those who reach the GOAL are guaranteed to survive, but for the rest, an extravagantly garnished death will be a constant and close companion. Let it begin!”

Then a flash of light dyed everyone eyes.

*

Skullius found himself in a sombre and humid environment where darkness lorded over everything living and otherwise.

It was something of a magnified rainforest, with absurdly tall trees that leaned comically to the side, their thick branches which looked like swaying arms stabbing at their trunks. Vines grew everywhere from the ground, tangling with the lively roots like serpents.

Skullius could hear the flow of water in the distance. The sound it made was eerily unsettling, but this paled in comparison to the sensation the dreadfully thick, royal blue clouds that were floating just ten meters above his head, as if the sky was getting real low, instilled in him.

‘Arghh…’ he groaned inwardly.

Something was off about these clouds.

They seemed to bear a horrific effect on him, but he couldn’t identify what it was specifically. Not yet.

The Hybrid Luman instantly went on guard.

What a strange world.

His hand gripped the hilt to Demion’s Dance tight as he searched the surroundings more finely, the illusory depiction above him twinkling dully with the number 1,000.

Then, as Skullius took several steps to his right, something far off into the distance was revealed even to his limited Crude Vision.

It was unclear, what with being perked firmly so far and so high, and with the added effort of the large clouds to obscure it from view.

What was it?

It was a rectangular shape that emitted a brilliant, silver glow.

It stood a few meters above what Skullius finally identified to be the gigantic silhouette of a mountain.

‘Damn…’ Skullius thought.

For the mountain to appear this large from this distance, it had to at least be as wide as an entire region, and as tall as at least ten of the tallest mountains he had seen in Aigas. This was with Skullius being approximately several thousand miles from it.

The glowing object above the mountain…

‘That must be the goal. No doubt about it,’ Skullius thought. ‘Which means, Rias will be at the mountain’s foot, I think. Tsk. How anno—”

Skullius had been about to remark about how annoying this was when, the rattling of what sounded like massive chains echoed throughout the entire world, causing a low rumble.

The Hybrid Luman shuddered.

With this noise came a gush of wind so strong it almost blew him and the surrounding trees away!

Dust that swam from miles away, within it a myriad of free passengers in the form of debris knocked against Skullius and blinded him completely as well, sweeping the area violently!

Wait!

Skullius gawked in realisation as he used his WEIGHT to plant himself firmly to the ground.

ƥαṇdα-ηθνε|·ƈθm

There was a phenomenal amount of mana carried within it!

It seemed so horrid and messy that for a moment, even the Hybrid Luman hadn’t been able to tell what it was!

Something had released such a vast amount of mana throughout the entire world with but a jerk!

‘That’s right,’ Skullius thought somberly. ‘It’s definitely the Cluster General.’