Bro, I'm not an Undead!

[Artless Dodger]!

Skullius had thought to use the situation to his advantage as he created a scenario where Jackpot had to chase him, activating the skill which boosted his speed while he was being pursued by an enemy!

It wasn't a large boost by any means as Skullius' Agility was very low to be begin with, but the sudden action appeared fast as his goal was just to reach the chain that protruded from the Null Devil's Aegis of Damnation.

As he did, the chains rustled and whirled, acknowledging Skullius as the owner.

The Discount Human hadn't realised earlier that even in this form, the Chains of Damnation were bound to his will. As long as he was near the armour at least.

It was not unreasonable that he would forget that [Flesh It Like You Mean It] was a complementary skill to [Lifeless Evolution] and thus could recognise him through any medium connected to Null Life!

Jackpot's eyes squinted as he saw the figure with furrowed brows glaring at him as in the next instant, the Chains of Damnation sped his way at a quick speed, tearing through the agitated air!

Skullius was desperate.

After using [Mana Blast] and [Manassault] his mana reserves were already thinned out, a little over 50 mana points which he was saving as he thought of what to do remaining.

His rage at seeing his Apostle get beat up along with the mysterious flashes of memories that brought with them a lingering emotion that he wasn't familiar with saturated his mind.

As the Chains of Damnation rushed to Jackpot, they just so happened to miss, even while the giant remained stationary!

[Divine Coincidence] was still active!

Skullius gnashed his teeth.

The Lucky Emperor Gremlin bolted towards Skullius as it finally decided to put an end to him. Its fun was finally exhausted and it pushed its large fist towards Skullius who couldn't move out of the way to dodge because of his beat up body!

The Discount Human willed the Chains of Damnation to circle back and grab the Lucky Emperor Gremlin but the tall beast dodged, skidding across the rough ground as it attacked Skullius again from a different position!

The Chains weren't fast enough to reach the zipping giant!

The powerful fist of a blue core Cluster General pounded towards him and Skullius used one of the contingencies he had thought of.

He pushed his two hands forward and pulled out the remnants of mana he had, fueling a particular skill from his hidden class.

[Evil Darkness Production]!

With every last bit of mana used, a black cloud with a pitch black hue exploded before Skullius, only being able to cover one human head worth of space!

In that same moment, [Evil Darkness Weaving] was also cast to mould the darkness, spreading it to cover the surface area of the fist that headed towards him sloppily as the attack arrived before he was even ready!

BOOOM!

An impact blew in a sphere outwards, blowing away matter in the surroundings as Jackpot had attacked with an even more intense vigour while a pleased grin rested on his face!

Yet... the grin vanished an instant later as he found what had happened to be out of his expectations.

It just so happened that his fist was unable to proceed any further than the dark cloud that swirled before Skullius' outstretched hands!

'It worked!' Skullius thought in a short-lived relief.

Jackpot's fist had failed to pass through the cloud of [Evil Darkness]!

Just like what had happened to Red Rage when he had tried to pass through the darkness, the Lucky Emperor Gremlin was stopped even with his prestigious title, advanced level and core!

For a moment, the gremlin couldn't process what was happening as this was too new!

Right then, the Chains of Damnation bound its arm and leg, pulling it back as the creature released a pained screech from its mouth!

The passive ability of the Chains that inflicted a ferocious amount of pain on the target had struck Jackpot!

However, even as the creature screeched in pain, its blue eyes showed its rage as it pushed ahead towards Skullius!

"How is this guy so relentless?!" Skullius barked as he glared at this creature.

He hated it!

He loathed it!

He wished it would die a horrifying death with the cruellest means possible for what it had done to Red Rage!

He opened his mouth to speak.

His voice rose as his intent to murder this son of boneshit peaked!

"Die! Get shredded into pieces!"

....

"...?"

Nothing happened!

No layers of darkness appeared to actualise his hate into reality!

Only the pained grunts of Jackpot as he neared could be heard, his figure looming over Skullius as he refused to be bound!

'It's not working! Why?!' Skullius frustratedly roared internally.

[Pseudo Evil Veneration] had let him down!

The one time that he used it expecting results, it didn't work!

Of course it didn't.

He had thought the darkness that was swirling before him would awaken as [Pseudo Evil Veneration] but no. That wasn't the case.

Skullius only knew that this art required a large amount of mana but it was only now when he took a deep introspective on the form that he realised that every time he had used it successfully so far had been in the same place.

A place full of [Evil Darkness] to splurge as he wished!

The Labyrinth of the Yoke!

[Evil Darkness] was abundant in the Labyrinth, which made scenarios when Skullius used [Pseudo Evil Veneration] look very convenient but the truth was, without enough [Evil Darkness], the art wouldn't work!

Each time the Veneration art was activated, a large burst of [Evil Darkness] would rush into his mouth as if to grab his words!

The amount he could produce now was nowhere near enough to do that.

It was unfortunate.

'All this time... I missed this detail..' Skullius thought as it put a stop to what had been his follow-up move afterwards.

'Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! The All Eater scroll won't work! This thing only throws physical attacks and I'm pretty sure the scroll would only be ripped apart if I tried to store a punch! I can't evade! I don't have mana! GAAH! What do I do?!'

Jackpot finally pulled himself back to Skullius and immediately stomped with his foot over the Discount Human who could only look as he was crushed underfoot!

Skullius felt his bones shatter under the weight and his body jerked as fizzy blood forcefully spilled from his mouth.

'I'm not losing like this...!' Skullius flared. He didn't want to end this way when he had another self capable of dealing with this sockethole. Unfortunately, that other self was hours away.

What then?

What could save him?

BA-DUM! BA-DUM!

From his chest, Skullius felt something pulsing, responding to his will to survive this encounter and somehow save Red Rage!

Something that he had almost forgotten about ever since it nested into his chest!

The Fruit of World Myths was calling for his attention...!