Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1451: Taming Appixel
Future Skullius grabbed the green skeleton.
"Before landing on another world, I did think about this and all the ways it could be used to offset Somanda's influence, but of course, I didn't have access to it, and I knew you wouldn't have the freedom to use it as you wished as quickly as possible," he said, his grin narrowing. "But yes. I'm well aware of who we need to help us add the finishing touches. I assume this means you know about—"
"Fundamental Barter? Yes. I know about it thanks to Elita and Uyuniya. Since it can't be used on Treasures, this is perfect. Once the required affixes are placed on SoSei, you'll finish it up with Fundamental Barter. You better not share with me any of the details about how it works after you're done, though. At least until I figure out how to keep Somanda out of my head," said Skullius with a sigh.
"I know." Future Skullius stowed away the artefact SoSei.
The individual Future Skullius needed to see was a mortal here on Aigas, someone in the Severed Union with a freakish talent when it came to tweaking all manner of artefacts – as long as they weren't Treasures, of course.
This individual belonged to an organization within the Severed Union known as the Saint's Chamber.
They were the ones who altered the nature of the Universal Gate Key Eobald had had in his possession back then – the one he ended up giving to Skullius after he escaped Benzard and the other Ideal Ark members. The Key had been meant to work on Fulgardt's Labyrinth.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.31.)
The Skulliuses wanted the expert who worked for the Saint's Chamber to make some adjustments to the operation of SoSei before they enhanced it with Fundamental Barter.
"Speaking of the Severed Union," said Future Skullius, "what about that prediction from Riba? How will we deal with it?"
Skullius frowned. Just as it was uncanny for the all-knowing Future Skullius to, well, know everything, it was equally unnerving to hear him ask for the solution to something.
"I don't know. I'm not sure how accurate that prediction will be since Riba is a mortal. Maybe it's one of the many possibilities we are faced with," he said.
About a week ago, before going on the voyage past the Central Boundary, Skullius (as Replicus) had visited a Diviner named Riba from the Severed Union. Riba's Diviner Class was a Hidden Class, and normally, he was extremely accurate when predicting the future or reading the past.
He was the reason why Skullius managed to find legacies of previous powerful experts – Hidden Classes – for Kenno, Grim, and Allora.
Skullius had gone to him to get a reading of his own future. In the end, he got two predictions.
One of them alerted him to the fact that his original body had been compromised by the WILLS of Fulgardt.
The second had to do with Somanda. It had been traumatic for Riba, who had managed to catch a glimpse of the High Lich.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.815&816.)
The fact that the prediction had yet to pass still bothered Skullius. It could happen or it couldn't. The not knowing panged him from the back of his mind.
"I see," said Future Skullius. He didn't allow them to dwell on the topic. "The other thing you need me to do. It's the Corrupted Deity, isn't it?"
This time, Skullius didn't bother answering the question with surprise or relief or whatever kind of emotion he could have allowed himself. He extracted a glowing, worn-out roll of paper and gave it to his counterpart.
It was funny to Skullius how this thing had horrified him before, when Aurolio had first shown it to him. Now, it didn't feel so different from a regular piece of paper despite what it was hiding. He had appraised it before, after ascending. Unlike when he was a mortal, he could see the details of it now.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.684.)
~~~
[Taming Appixel]
+Realm+
A page from the Diicive Enclave Tome, which contains within it the bound soul of the Corrupted Deity Nunax.
+Properties+
Whoever binds themselves to this artefact will receive the chant to summon and enslave the Corrupted Deity Nunax.
---
-Caution-
The soul of a Deity is not so easily bound. Six Trials will be given to the bond. Each, upon successful completion, increases the chances to completely subjugate the sealed Deity.
---
[Sealed beings – 1/100]
~~~
Future Skullius nodded.
"How would you say your chances look?" Skullius asked him.
"It will be a pinch. I assume you want to use this tamed Corrupted Deity against Fulgardt?" said Future Skullius.
"Of course. He owns one. I should too. The last time we fought – when his WILLS were possessing me, that is – he ganged up on me with the Stolen Angel. I'm going to fight like a Nullmancer this time around. He won't have the numbers advantage," said Skullius. "His wealth of knowledge and tricks will falter."
Future Skullius laughed. There were hints of pride in his eyes. Those hints irked Skullius. He felt like a little brother again. It was because of this grating feeling that he redirected the course of the conversation.
"Do you feel so confident because of the War Body? Have you upgraded it?"
"Of course not. You know we can't do that – outside of minor changes. All those dozens of restrictions and conditions we used on it through millions of Creeds ended up being converted into Fundamental Barter. Mortal anomalies are capable of inheriting such a benefit, even if they don't know it."
Skullius nodded. He knew that much now. But to think that even Future Skullius hadn't augmented the War Body…
'Is it stronger than I think?' he thought.
That was likely. After all, the War Body had two phases. Three, if he counted that. When giving Stylla's soul a body, he hadn't needed to access the advanced forms of the War Body, so maybe he truly didn't know how strong it really was. Again, the machinations of the thought phantoms confounded him.
Now that Skullius thought about it, even with his powerful Corrupted Deity, when Fulgardt had first appraised Skullius and noticed the power he was hiding with [Instant Embodiment of Perfection], his reaction had been especially visceral.
He had said that they would all die if they clashed at full power.
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Oddly, perhaps Fulgardt was the one who truly knew how strong Skullius really was.
The Hybrid Warmoth found himself grinning.
This fact somehow made his mood soar, even with the surrounding darkness.
He was looking forward to fighting Fulgardt now.
Things would be different in the next battle.
