Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1636: Liches, Gods and Deviants! (7)

The Immors was an aspect of the |Greater Cosmic Law| that governed life and death. Emmae was the first to comprehend it to exceedingly impressive levels eons ago. She devised ways for her followers to use glimmers of it in combat. The core of her forces, Liches, were explorers and conquerors, after all.

The Quasi Immors Soul Arts were the standard form of power required for one to become a Lich. As it happened, being able to use even one form judged a user’s comprehension of the universal concept known as the soul; after all, the Soul Arts’ primary purpose was to understand and manipulate the soul in ways that would baffle the average Divine.

The formula for forging Death Knights fell under the Quasi Immors Soul Arts as well – a lesser form. Indeed, this made the fact that Rias had managed to tap into this formula before he became a Bearer even more impressive. The inspiration came to him as a result of Aimon – a perfect mix between a unique concept – bringing imagination to reality – and Undeath.

All this was to say, the gap between Divinity and mortality, to some degree, was rendered moot when a wizened Lich entered the battlefield.

Listafelle was by no means the average Deity, but even she found herself struggling to keep up with Soizar’s relentless assault.

The Arch-Lich threw a rain of jab punches that she blocked by skillfully whirling her short swords in front of her. Sparks flew like a spritz of water each time the two clashed, but they were not merely the result of intense friction.

’She’s already resisting the rejection from my Soul Art.’ The Arch-Lich was amused.

Listafelle went for a stab at Soizar’s head with the butt of one of her swords, but the Undead master smacked back her hand at the wrist, dodged the lethal stab she followed up with, as well as the sudden axe kick after that by side-stepping to the left. His retaliation was monstrous. He shoved his back into Listafelle, forcing her to stumble back, side flipped, and bashed her head down with both feet before landing gracefully back on the ground.

Listafelle ejected a stream of glittery gold blood from her nostrils as a result of the blow. When an uppercut greeted her chin next, she was completely unprepared and thus went flying.

...But she was not done yet.

Soizar had just begun celebrating his successful combo when he noticed something strange about the sparks flying around him. No. They weren’t sparks or even flakes. They were the chips of steel left behind when Listafelle’s swords clashed with hard enough surfaces; they were the twin Treasure’s Absolute Wicked Property.

"Oh." Soizar chuckled, notes of wariness in his voice. "Nifty."

There were 82 tiny chips of hot steel around him and each one was connected to separate physical parts of him – appendages, socket flames, fingers, teeth. The result of this was that the Arch-Lich... became a constellation.

In this Reality, constellations weren’t necessarily specific alignments in the stars. They could be alignments in distant worlds, or passing, immobile Fiends. Regardless, there were many recognizable constellations, most of which could be identified by the denizens of different worlds.

Vagabonds, Listafelle’s Realm rank Treasures (the twin short swords), forcibly imposed a condition upon a target once enough chips were released. Each chip attached to the target and turned them into a recognizable constellation. Once that was done, the target’s vision, thoughts, attacks, defenses, sensations and in some cases, even their energy reserves, were split between the entities constituting the selected constellation.

Indeed, at the moment, Soizar’s sensations and influences were worlds away even if they didn’t appear so at a glance. (His body remained visible.) If he wished to see what was happening on Aigas, he’d have to find some contrived way to view it from hundreds of light years away.

<I’ll get his phylactery!> Listafelle thought once she recovered. She still wouldn’t underestimate an incapacitated Arch-Lich. She stormed down with her short swords, ready to hack away at Soizar’s head.

...Yet it seemed the Deitess had been right to be wary. After all...

"Quasi Immors Soul Art, Form 19!"

Even though his vision, thoughts and defenses were far away, Soizar’s level of Soul Art wasn’t limited by distance or discombobulation of this level. And as it so happened, Form 19 was a unique expression.

In front of the Arch-Lich’s body on Aigas, Undeath flashed in different colours – yellow, green and red – twisted into a staggering series of shapes and then stabilized right before Listafelle’s sword could land.

A Doom Knight appeared to defend the Arch-Lich. It hadn’t been forged anew. No. It was one of the two Souran had in her possession (on her ’transparent’ vessel). Sobbo, Souran and Soizar were part of a lucrative arrangement of shared resources. The nineteenth form of the Quasi Immors Soul Art utilized by the suited-up Arch-Lich exploited this deal by allowing the user to summon any Undeath construct over wide ranges across the wider reality directly to them.

With its arm covered in a sturdy brace, the summoned Doom Knight blocked Listafelle’s blow and immediately fired some obscure, offensive Parlous Nature at her as she cursed. It was a direct hit, though inconsequential.

"Are you familiar with what so-called modern mortals on third-rate worlds call explosive artillery?"

Soizar’s excited voice belched from the Doom Knight’s mouth. The summoned creature was infested with the Arch-Lich will and his powers!

It pointed its fingers forth and...

"Quasi Immors Soul Art, Form 13!"

...!!!

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

It was as though the Doom Knight had an infinite number of fingers. They fired one after the other at Listafelle, and upon contact, each of them discharged an explosion twenty times as potent as what the so-called modern mortals termed nukes. The raging eruptions cast light, fire, sound and poison everywhere within Deific Usurper.

They did Listafelle no harm, but...

"I sense the limit to your invulnerability!"

By the time Listafelle heard the voice, the hulking Doom Knight had already caught her by the arm and wrenched one of her short swords from her grip.

...!!!

Listafelle... grinned.

<That’s right.> she said to the Arch-Lich. <But he’s just getting started."

An Andori was activated right then, and suddenly Listafelle was replaced by the mighty figure of Quintess.

Soizar turned grim at once.

How could he not?

Suddenly, the Doom Knight that had its grip on his arm combusted. Its armour and physical body were incinerated, leaving only its soul, which shuddered backwards. But even then it wasn’t safe. It buckled, falling on one knee.

...And Soizar’s real body fell on one knee.

...And all the Death Knights fell on one knee.

...And all the Doom Knights fell on one knee.

...And all the Apostles buckled.

...As did Kenno, who felt so pressured by Quintess’ presence that his purpose as an anchor faltered.

There were powers in this world that mere mortals were never meant to be in the presence of. One such power was an elusive Deific force known as...

"Zu’sse," Soizar said through gritted teeth.

---

[Author’s Note]

Boy, have I been itching to introduce this for months. I promise, it’s the last new concept I’m introducing in this Saga. I know there’s too much already, but don’t worry. Everything will be expanded on and refined as the story goes on. Divinity as a whole will get some time to breathe and feel more natural before the story concludes.