Bro, I'm not an Undead!

It served Skullius to eliminate all the enemies swiftly and leave the Quadrosphere before whoever he surmised the armored figures were waiting for showed up. Using Focused Null Life Ota to do that would have been the perfect strategy, but it turned out to be too expensive. The cost grew exponentially as the rank and power of his enemies increased.

The [Circuit of Impunity] was a viable option at his disposal as well. With all of its available applications, Skullius could have wiped out the troops standing against him easily.

…But he didn't summon In and Mu. Indeed, haste was required as he had just provoked the Aspire to Divine, but he had conjured a few ideas for pacifying them if needed. Each one was very tantalizing.

Also, as it happened, dispatching the enemies around him wouldn't serve no purpose. There was also value in properly evaluating the strength of the supposed rival force of the Primeval Deities.

…And that was why Skullius summoned the First Form of Fulgardt's Mantle, no, the Magnus Mantle.

Indeed, the weapon had different forms, three, to be precise.

A wad of darkness in an oblong shape had appeared in Skullius' hand, and when he willed it, it took on the shape of a solemn battle axe.

Rafnuung, the Nine Exploding Stars, according to the Maqian tongue.

The thing was about just as big as Skullius himself and almost entirely dark. The haft, slightly thicker than the Hybrid's arm, looked as though it was made of some unfathomably black wood, the blade, some shiny black steel. The axe head's edge was lined with a margin of golden white light, as was the pommel stuck to the haft's butt; a twisting net of strands of light – gorgeous.

But easily the most interesting aspect of the axe, was the line of nine differently coloured spots along its haft.

Skullius spun the large axe between all four of his arms, gauging its weight. It was perfectly balanced in his grip and completely in sync with his strength.

'Good…'

The axe certainly made Skullius' enemies extra wary, but he wasn't done crushing their will.

Abruptly, his [Avant Atelier] erupted, spreading everywhere to cover him and all the enemies…except the captain. That particular enemy was shrewd. He drew back as soon as the [Avant Atelier] jutted out in a shocking show of reflexes.

The rest of his unit was buried in the clouds of midnight blue tinged in Maximum Jaqquezjaqqz and Ju`wtte, which partially obscured both their vision and their senses.

…Or it would have, but they were competent too.

Twelve signatures of Amras fired outward as soon as the [Avant Atelier] rushed to envelop them. Suddenly, each of the remaining combatants in the vicinity was shielded by vicious bubbles of bright energy that warded off the tendrils of Skullius' ambitious jacket. A moment later, they rushed him from the gloom, brandishing a menagerie of different, lethal weapons.

Grinning, Skullius dodged a trident that hissed his way and ducked down to avoid getting bisected by what looked like a massive, graceful cleaver. He whipped out of the way of several more attacks, using the assailants' bodies for mobility.

The enemies were stunned, and Skullius could understand why.

On top of the Treasures they were adorning, which indeed boosted their physical prowess to a degree, they had a greater quality of Amras than Skullius himself – Realm Affluent Amras – which reinforced them several times more than the Hybrid's own Sage Affluent type.

It didn't help that without the [Avant Atelier] on his body, Skullius looked slender. The Numinous Ichor over his body was dark vermilion, majestic, but thin. It accentuated his slim figure, which was somehow contending with twelve, bulky Deities.

Absurd it was indeed, at a glance. Skullius had made it so by hiding the droves of Null Life Essence, reinforcing him from within. His reflexes and movements were sleek and timed to frustrate his enemies. They would miss him by a breadth each time, and he didn't retaliate. Not yet.

The [Legion Eyes] lurking within the massive cloud of [Avant Atelier] forewarned Skullius of every enemy position, every movement, and every possible ability coming his way. The [Avant Atelier] itself was greedily tasting each Treasure the enemies unleashed.

One of them finally managed to catch Skullius in a compromising position – besieged by three others wielding long-range weapons. He fired his Amras at the limits of his output and shoulder-bashed Skullius into his ally's spear.

…But it didn't go as he planned. Finally, Skullius expelled some of his immense Null Life Essence in a globe around him. The blast of blue pushed back against the pristine Amras hurtling at him, and sparks flew. The Hybrid stood his ground, but he didn't forget about the other enemies. His grip on Rafnuung loosened, and the axe sprang to action on its own. It spun like a wheel and diverted the spearhead aiming for Skullius while Skullius himself turned sharply, gripped the wrist of another one of the assailants, and pushed it upwards, diverting his aim; the baton in his arm looked suspiciously harmless, but it was a Treasure.

The third assailant didn't go in like the others. He muttered some obscure words to activate an Andori – a high-tier one.

…But Skullius didn't allow it to come to pass.

A blast of Null Life Essence that completely engulfed the assailants forced them all back, disrupting their attacks and footing. Then, Skullius brandished Rafnuung in one hand, cocked back his arm, and threw it at one of the silver-clad assailants. The bastard ducked to the side in the nick of time, and the battle axe disappeared into the folds of the [Avant Atelier].

It must have been a triumphant moment for the fellow. He scoffed and charged towards Skullius again.

…Only to get confused when the Hybrid leaped into the air.

Throwing your weapon away...

Leaping into the sky…

It forced the twelve to raise their guard, grossly wary of why Skullius would do this.

…But then two of them stumbled forward, almost collapsing to the ground.

Rafnuung had come flying back at striking speed, steeped in an unfathomable swath of Null Life Essence, knocked straight through the Amras of the two combatants, slammed into the backs of both their heads one after the other in a ricochet… and then shot up into Skullius' open hands!

The two were dazed. For a moment, their Amras faltered, and that just so happened to be the moment Skullius brandished Rafnuung with all four hands, hurtled to the ground, and struck it into the dirt with all his base might!

From the bright edge of the axe's blade, a blinding flash of light exploded outwards instantly, meeting the eyes of everyone trapped inside the [Avant Atelier]…and stunning them.

Skullius didn't stop there. The two he'd already forced into a dazed state wouldn't recover quickly enough to prompt their Amras again for reinforcement.

They would be his guinea pigs.

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