Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The hell?

Skullius looked intently at the figure laying on the ground.

It really was Fore, dead as a door nail with his eyes closed while splatters of blood were painted over his face and armour.

What in the world had happened?

Skullius walked closer but first took a glance at himself, the hanging flesh that bled making him hesitate to just stroll over to his partners like it was any other Tuesday.

Wouldn't they ask questions?

Flesh questions!

He didn't have any mana to use [Luminant Healing] on himself so why bother.

It didn't matter anyways.

Stylla infused her sword with mana and plunged it into Guddhar's eye socket!

The swaying, seemingly out of it Cluster General barely reacted, the most it did from receiving a killing blow being to open its mouth wide and grunting softly.

Stylla grit her teeth as she pushed her saber deeper into the creature's head before it finally breathed its last.

As Skullius approached, because of his [Advanced Mana Manipulation] which doubled as a mana sensory tool, he felt an enormous surge of mana flow from Guddhar and into Stylla!

Cumulative mana experience!

This wasn't his first time seeing it as the group had been clearing Cluster left and right all day, and generally, Skullius knew that it was a thing for all creatures with only those with the guidance field being able to see this quantified.

He could only sense it when large amounts of mana were extracted after a kill though and only felt this phenomenon for this first time on this trip.

Stylla then gazed at the dead creature's chest. She debated on whether or not take its core, but decided to leave it. Her family owned many after all and the reason she had even entertained the idea was because Guddhar had been a pain the ass.

As the Discount Human approached, Stylla turned to him with a grimace.

It needed no words what she was reacting to.

She had been about to go and search for him as the battle had just concluded but seeing him walking up, 'alive', she sighed in relief.

At least she didn't lose the Mage and a definite candidate for her team in the event she wished for.

She was about to speak, concerning Skullius' wounds when the Discount Human raised his hand and shook his head.

"Please. Don't ask," he said succinctly.

"...alright."

Stylla sighed, surprise livid in her eyes. How tough did you have to be in order to walk off something like this?!

For a few moments, she remained gawking at Skullius flesh when the Discount Human finally asked, gazing at Fore.

"What happened? How did he die?"

Stylla looked at the corpse, with Bron at the side emitting low grunts of grievinv pain while he loomed over the body.

"It happened so fast. I don't know what in the world it was that suddenly hit the Cluster General and caused it to go feral. Mad, in fact. Maybe it was something to do with the Mountain but I highly doubt it. We had the General cornered in a pincer attack but then... it just... didn't go as planned..." Stylla explained with a tinge of sorrow noticeable in her eyes.

'Mad?' Skullius asked himself.

Naturally, what Stylla was talking about was Skullius invading Guddhar, but the Discount Human couldn't image what happened after.

Or perhaps... he did.

When he was stuck in that mysterious state, there was always that sensation that he was doing something... or experiencing something....

He was missing out.

Was that what he felt?

But wait... it didn't add up.

The last piece to understanding this was potentially....that guidance field notification that said something about Doom Factor 2 taking advantage of his soul damage for the second time.

There was something else that was cut off...

This thought unsettled Skullius.

Doom Factor 2.

Skullius immediately pulled up the information on the Doom Factor, and when he did, it all made sense. Tragic sense that weighed on him.

~~~

Doomed Factor 2: Existential Crisis

Your distinct perception and absorption of mana throughout the years has caused you to start awakening what should have been lost a long time ago. If you fail to recover and remember this in time you will suffer a crisis of your own existence and descend into madness.

Time till DF2 : 8 months

~~~

Descend into madness...

Was this it?

If it was, then it made sense that reaching 10% in mind fracturing from Doom Factor 2 was a really bad thing.

Then all of this...

Skullius looked around at everything. The destruction, the death.

He had successfully invaded Guddhar's body but in a mad state, using the Cluster General's immense capabilities to rampage all around.

'Damn it... This is even worse than Doom Factor 1,' Skullius thought.

Frankly he was shocked that Bron and Stylla had survived, but after the full account from the redhead, Skullius kind of understood.

They had held on for a minute, which wasn't impossible for physical combatants.

When [Basic Evil Invasion] finally ended, apparently Guddhar turned into... an idiot.

'Is it because I was messing with those memories? I can't imagine what I did after I went mad.'

A matter of note that made things worse was that the time limit for Doom Factor 2 had changed.

While it was due to ultimately claim him in a year, now it was 8 months.

The time frame wasn't exactly clear to Skullius, but he knew there was a reduction in his time and it was probably due to variables like [Basic Evil Invasion] that caused damage to his soul.

Skullius grimaced and looked at Fore.

He didn't care for the guy but this was just a taste of what he could descend to if this kept happening.

A crack appeared at the foot of the mountain from where they had appeared, signalling that it was time to depart.

Bron looked at it, then at Fore's body. He held out a storage ring and took in Fore's corpse before glaring at Skullius.

The Discount Human noticed the blame in Bron's eyes which vanished a second later as he dispiritedly sighed.

"Let's go."

Soon, the three were out of the Cluster, several towns noticeable in the darkening horizon.

Stylla turned to Skullius immediately, giving out her proposition, though not after looking at Skullius' hanging flesh and still wondering how he was feeling no pain.

"I know I said that we would be ending our collaboration here, but... I have something else in mind if you're interested," she began when Skullius instantly shook his head.

"I don't want to hear it..." Skullius said, intending to dismiss Stylla entirely, but then he had a thought.

"Just not now. We can talk some time later. I'll still be in Inhone, after all."

Stylla nodded before she realised...

"Are you not coming with us?"

"No, I have some business to attend to..."

"Should we leave a horse for you?"

Bron twitched uncomfortably.

Skullius turned to the horse and consequently, the horse turned to him and shuddered, the Discount Human doing the same as both he and the animal avoided gazes.

"No. I'll be fine."

With her gesture declined, Stylla took one last glance at Skullius, wondering what business he had before climbing up her horse, she and Bron departing.

She had no reason to doubt Skullius could take care of himself now.

In such a dangerous Cluster, he had survived what she had seen when she was in mid-air, the Discount Human getting besieged by the monkeys.

'I'll definitely rope him in...' she thought.

Skullius watched the two leave before sighing unconsciously.

"Now... let's sort this out..." he said as he sat down.