Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Rias gurgled.

Blood rushed from his throat, and spewed heavily from his mouth as a dumbfounded look finally exploded on his face.

He quickly gripped his throat, and his bulging eyes hurriedly looked past Vali and Gabel who were also stunned by how he had been dealt such a lethal blow, to reach the blazing figure from whence said lethal blow had come from.

The shattering animation of a pane above Rias showed 100 Glass Units being torn away from his ‘98,600’!

A blackish red flame decked the who had slashed him so cruelly, obscuring his figure except for a pair of bright eyes and a curved, green sword.

‘Is that Aura?’ Rias wondered as a sharp pain wrung his throat.

What kind of an Aura was that?!

It was too creepy, and why did it look like that?

Beyond the look of it, what kind of an attack was that just now?!

Rias felt that his arm had mysteriously withered away right when his neck had been slashed, as though whatever damage came his way was too much for it to handle! It wasn’t rapidly healing as it always did either, instead, it was attempting the restorative process rather sluggishly!

To make matters worse, Rias’ other Conjured Daydream, his saber, had been cut in two with the same slash, and as he held it, he knew its powers couldn’t be used again, unless…

But would he get enough time for that?

The blazing figure with the green sword rushed up to reach Vali and Gabel, and Rias frowned as more blood spewed from his mouth.

“Urgh…” he emitted a slushious grunt before a narrow light shone within his eyes. With but a thought, the chains holding the Cluster General near him, all extending from the wide open maw of the deer… shattered.

The creature, which had just been pushed back by Vali, was free.

…!

Amidst the surprise and caution his opponents showed, Rias darted back, and let the large creature take the front stage.

Its eyes flickered, and sanity only seemed to be restored to its mind.

A serene calm flourished around it, mirroring its changed state of mind.

Vali and Gabel looked at the beast and then at Skullius who was now standing between them.

He looked like a humanoid blackish-red flame, with only his blank, white eyes showing. With his sword in hand, he truly looked like the Incarnation of an abstract concept, and Gabel looked particularly pleased.

He was so excited by the energy radiating off of Skullius, that he wore a large grin that painted his deathly looking face from before now, with a sombrely cruel tint!

Vali expressed half as much interest.

“Neat,” she described succinctly.

Skullius ignored both of them.

He couldn’t even afford to pay them much attention anyway.

Vali smiled, and gazed at the Cluster General which finally set its eyes on them.

“You two, deal with that kid. I’ll handle this one,” she said as she darted forward, making it known to the others that it wasn’t up for discussion.

Skullius and Gabel didn’t linger to argue. They shot past the Cluster General and pursued Rias who, in the short time he had gained for himself, had somehow healed his neck, and was feeding his broken sword to the deer – as it was now fully unoccupied.

Hints of a glittering, powdery dust could be seen around him.

The young Game Master saw the two coming, and the irritation he felt at dealing with these two couldn’t have been more pronounced.

As per his command, dozens of crows shot between him, and the two, obscuring him from view. Another batch followed, then another, and another.

Gabel scoffed. He knew Rias was trying to ensure that even if he reversed time, he could only remove one batch of the crows from hindering his sight.

How annoying.

To his surprise though, Skullius beside him, twirled the green hanger in his hand exaggeratedly (almost unrealistically), and dashed this way and that, zigzagged as he accelerated, twirling and ducking down in what could or couldn’t be discerned as a rhythmic motion. He then, with the curved sword reverse handled, swiped across the air with vicious intent!

There was a horrible screech through the air, and momentarily, a bright, elegant was seen carving through the crows!

…!

Rias who was on the other side of the winged blacks was appalled, as with a spray of blood, he found once again, his neck slashed up, and his arm withered away!

‘Again?!’ he thought.

There was an uncaringly brutal warm blow of wind afterwards, and then, tens of thousands of feathers masked the sky, the dozens crows that had been before Rias all falling down in the same tragic drops of black that real crows would have.

‘What kind of an ability is this? I can’t dodge it? Is it the sword, or is it just him?’ Rias wondered, a bit of fury burning within him.

Each and everyone of his crows had been ‘killed’ somehow, and his Conjured Daydream, the arm, couldn’t take the damage from a single slash of Skullius for him!

It was if… Skullius’ attacks killed his arm, leaving it no room to absorb damage.

The young Game Master hurriedly extended his hand to the deer head at his side, and the hilt of his saber showed, which he pulled out, revealing that the weapon was whole again. It had a generic design, but its eyes were back on its steel surface, all with pupils shaped like hourglasses!

In an instant, Rias reversed time on himself, such that it was as if he was never cut.

When that was done, he immediately darted to meet the two.

If fighting from a distance left him at that much of a disadvantage, he would fight at close quarters where he could stop these ridiculous attacks before they happened.

But before that…

The hideous Incarnation of a robed woman with flying, acid green hair burst behind Rias, and it clutched within its hand something it had retrieved from the young man’s storage.

With a flick, the object was flung to the ground before Skullius and Gabel could react, and they belatedly noticed that it was…

A Scatter Crystal.

There was a vicious expulsive force that caught both Skullius and Gabel, forcing them away in different directions in the next instance!

To no one’s surprise, Gabel resisted this by reversing time for both himself and Skullius, but as soon as he reappeared, Rias’ Incarnation planted a hard, large fist in his face, sending him soaring far!

Simultaneously, Rias extended his sword to Skullius, and stalled time around them, such that Skullius was frozen. With an eager swipe, he split the blazing figure down the middle with his saber!

Dispelling the stalled time, he watched as a silvery line marked where he had cut on Skullius.

But the Hybrid Luman didn’t die.

Instead…

…!

Rias felt his face get cleanly diced in two.

Skullius hadn’t done anything. Not with his sword. Yet Rias had been dealt a fatal blow once again that shaved off another 100 Units!

He couldn’t believe his Aura had been bypassed again, as if it wasn’t there, his arm withered once again even though it was recovering well!

What was this?!

Skullius stood, suddenly fine, as if he hadn’t been cut.

‘Irisa was right,’ he thought, a smile unseen crawling on his face. ‘How could I die with her by my side?’

How enlightening this was. Rias had carved his own problem by killing him!

The young heir shook, his face stern.

He wouldn’t have known, but Skullius was applying what had dawned on him from the revelation a few hours ago. Just as he had done with mana, and the WILL OF CUNNING, Skullius had used [Swordmaster’s Quiescence] and targeted it on the sensation of death that was fresh on his soul.

The Hybrid Luman had then pleasantly discovered that, experiencing death and fully immersing himself into it, made him understand the [Swindling Death’s Dance] even more.

The skill reacted extremely well to the firm and inevitable feeling gushing through him right now, and its power, which, as the guidance field described to be […those who are born from it, fondled by it, and dance within its embrace can send forth Death’s emissaries, warding off its whole from themselves…], was quite literal.

Just now, Skullius hadn’t felt the effects of his Super potion gush to heal him at all. Neither did [Saint Lumis’ Benign Arc] rush to heal him even though he had been bisected.

He simply… denied death, owing to the fact that he had been performing the Swindling Death’s dance as he chased after Rias.

What’s more, he hadn’t counter attacked Rias just now. The damage the young Game Master had done had simply been sent back to him in an even more fatal way!

The eyes on Rias’ saber wriggled, and he found himself restored once again, but his expression had gone slightly pale. It wasn’t him that had urged the sword to reverse time on him, but his Genuine Incarnation, thankfully.

‘Facing a mortal death so many times like this… Father would be disappointed…’ he thought, his eyes turning colder than before. His pink arm was healing slower, and the vulnerability he felt wasn’t comforting in the least.

Nothing he had encountered in his life thus life, exceeded his arm’s assigned capacity to take damage.

He couldn’t understand how a simple Legendary grade sword could do this much harm!

Skullius skirted this way and that, and spun, his Aura whipped the air like flame as he dashed to Rias.

‘I was right,’ he thought, meaning his Aura. ‘My Aura is filling me with so much strength, I can even keep up with Rias… to some extent…’

And it was true, but that wasn’t all. The reason it was covering him like this, and had turned colours to match the hue of his armour instead, was because, as Skullius had guessed, there was more to his Aura that met the eye.

But that wasn’t yet too important.

Rias frowned at the incoming enemy, and his sword switched once again to the native Cluster beasts’ abilities. With impeccable speed, his sword shone, livid with lightning, and screed through the air towards Skullius’ head!

The Hybrid Luman ignored, and allowed the attack to cut through his head seamlessly, burning through it because of the shimmering lightning!

But he didn’t die.

Rias, intent on studying why this odd occurrence persisted, was met with another fatal slice through the top of his head, but it was healed immediately after, as Rias’ Incarnation shattered something above him that released a glittery dust.

‘A Revival Star!’ Skullius thought, and he swung his sword in deadly arc so fast Rias almost failed to intercept.

This measure of dexterity stunned Rias. In his mind, he imagined that the blackish-red Aura cloaking Skullius – as he suspected from how odd it was – was an anomaly among Full Body Auras. It had to be enhancing his power by more than the 500% absolute limit that Advancers could attain.

He was right, but he was wrong about this being why Skullius was so quick in his response to his attack.

Furthermore, as he expected the clang of their swords to ring aloud, he was shocked to see Demion’s Dance fazed through his own, and viciously cut through his bare chest without minding the Aura!

…!

Rias gave a muffled grunt in pain.

He gave the Hybrid Luman a murderous look.

Unfortunately for him, he could never figure out that the Hybrid Luman knew more than one style of Swordsmanship, and with Null Life Essence coating his sword, no Aura could block his attacks!

‘Keep trying to fight me up close…’Skullius silently urged the young Game Master.

“Interesting!” Rias called without the slightest hints of jovial interest.

 He then suddenly sent a kick towards Skullius, and the Hybrid Luman was knocked back. In that brief moment, a swarm of crows blocked the area between them!

Skullius spread his feet, and activated [Courting Death]. The tens of crows messing with his senses were immediately diced into obscure pieces of black, and in his cautious, heated state, Skullius scoured around him, awaiting a surprise attack.

It didn’t come.

Rias was wrestling against a trident and a glaive with his large saber, his face twisting as he expulsed effort.

Gabel had returned from his flight, and Rias seemed to have caught his advance before Skullius.

‘We’re cornering him. If we keep this up, we can get rid of him, and hopefully the flame!’ Skullius thought, and dashed towards the two.

….

Meanwhile, Vali and the Cluster General hadn’t begun their conflict. It wasn’t some sort of stare down. It more had to do with the fact that the large beast, after regaining its reason had not moved, as if evaluating its opponent.

There was something strange about; something between calmness and lunacy.

Whether this beast considered Vali worthy of its attention or not didn’t matter to the woman though. She had used this seven second period to thoroughly understand what she had absorbed into her flesh.

Rias’ arm.

Her body was very efficient at interpreting flesh bone, blood.

With her technique Cellular Supremacy, it was easy for her understand most matters related to the physical body, and the seconds long timer was enough for her to get a grasp of this new concept strolling within her.

“I see,” she said as her mana surged. “It’s missing large, fundamental parts, but I get the gist of it. Let’s try this Imagining Technique…”