Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The piece of soul of an old general swam in an endless pool of ecstacy.

Several conditions had lined up perfectly for him without his knowledge, allowing for him to attain and take control of Skullius' cosmetic body!

Another opportunity to relish in the sensation of livelihood!

This body he had attained however, was unusual, but he could care less for such trivialities.

Just a few seconds ago, he had been trapped by the WILL of this unnatural existence that had somehow bonded a piece of his soul to its own, shutting him off from the body's senses and experience.

Being shut off for him was akin to being trapped in a dark room where nothing from the outside could penetrate.

It was void of any and all forms of information, making it a space where one could easily go insane.

Tragic it was.

And yet, the WILL of the unnatural existence he was tied to, the one whose soul he was patching up like an organic stitch, vanished.

The moment it left, it was as if the dark room he had been left in suddenly gained a doorway, as the pressure that usually bore down on him within it disappeared, leaving him.... free.

And now...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA!" the voice coming from the Discount Human body had a low pitch to it, giving the impression of a manlier being.

Of an ancient being.

"IT'S ALL FLOODING INTO ME! ALL OF IT!" Sila called as he spread his arms and raised his head up to the sky, the expression on his new face being that of a madman - eyes bulged with a wide grin that was watered with saliva that flew off whenever he expelled his words!

...!

Skullius couldn't help but tremble!

"I SEE! I SEE! THIS IS WHAT YOU WANTED TO HIDE?! THESE MYSTERIES! THESE POWERS! THESE... SECRETS!" Sila yelled, something happening to him that Skullius immediately caught onto!

"NO!" the Projected form of Skullius exclaimed!

This...

Sila was extracting everything about him!

All his memories!

All his experience!

All his knowledge!

EVERYTHING!!

'SHIT!'

The olden Tower General lowered his head and firmly set his gaze on Skullius.

"HOW EUPHORIC! ISN'T THIS VERY SCENE IRONIC, TOMATO FLINGER?! HAHAHA! OR SHOULD I SAY.... SKULLIUS!"

...!

"Damn it!" Skullius cursed, but then, he recalled.

He could just return to his body and stop all this madness before it proliferated into something worse!

The momentary shock almost prompted him to forget such an obvious solution!

Skullius' Projected form darted towards the cosmetic body with immense speed, reaching within a meter of it in less than a second!

He reached his hand out towards his cosmetic body, but then...

...!

With a staggering amount of unseen and imperceptible force, like a powerful magnetic repulsion, Skullius was pushed away!

His dark form spun as it sped away from Sila, twirling in the air for dozens of meters before Skullius forcibly stopped himself with controlled flight!

The expression on his dark face was one of unparalleled shock!

How?!

How was he rejected from his own body?!

If anything, it was easier to return to his body while in his Projected form!

Bek who was witnessing all this without as much as a word raised his brow.

What a fascinating development.

Sila guffawed as he pointed at his chest.

"IT SEEMS YOU DO NOT KNOW HOW TO USE THIS! QUITE FITTING! RELICS LIKE THESE BELONG IN THE HANDS OF LEGENDS LIKE MYSELF!" Sila mocked Skullius before turning his gaze to Bek who stood without doing anything.

He ha been mindful of this man's movements and now he was sure the former Knight would intervene.

The Tower General dashed back, creating a distance of more than 40 meters between him and this man whom he had warned Skullius against, his back to the expansive woodland.

Spirit Wardens, as rare as they were, were a troublesome bunch to deal with.

"Are you done with your lover's tiff?" Bek asked with his dull eyes languidly resting on Sila.

"YOU COULD SAY THAT. THOUGH I WILL NOT BE TAKING ANY FLOWERS AFTER THIS DIVORCE," Sila said with a wide grin and keen eyes.

"Witty," Bek said as he turned his gaze to Skullius who came to float beside him. "You were stupid enough to let this one take over your body?"

"I didn't know this would happen!" Skullius growled in frustration while gazing at Sila who remained with a grin in the distance. "I have to get back into my body!"

The Discount Human felt brimming emotions as he saw his own body being used, half of it being white with the other being black in his vision.

He didn't know how this had happened, but from his inferences, it definitely had to do with him leaving his soul in his body whenever he used [Crude World Projection], something he noticed during his encounter with Somanda back then.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.297).

As for why he wasn't able to return to his body..

'Is Sila using the Fruit of World Myths to keep me out?' he thought with a sliver of terror running through him just from thinking about this.

"Relax," Bek said interrupting Skullius' thoughts. "Even though he's possessing your body, nothing has changed. The strength within your body remains the same. His soul is too weak to effect any increase in power."

Skullius turned to the former Knight as hope started to build up within him.

Bek raised his hand and pointed at Sila in the distance, his index erect in that direction, while his thumb pointed to the skies.

This seemingly meaningless gesture was used once again, only this time.... it wasn't without meaning.

A very pale blue glow shrouded Bek as he languidly gazed forward, something eerie beginning to take shape from this glow of energy!

Skullius backed away immediately as he felt a horrendous threat, Sila donning a serious visage as he prepared for what was to come.

"I agreed to purge you of this little soul in exchange for assisting me. You wouldn't mind me rewarding you a little early, would you?" Bek said.

A hazy, distorted, humanoid image with a distinct appearance, half of it hideous and the other beautiful with its entirely not too clear to Skullius, appeared!

Its long hands traced Bek's own and firmly gripped them, the man's skin turning pale from the elbow all the way to his index finger which started to generate a pale blue orb of light that unsettled the unliving shit out of Skullius!

'What the heck is this...?' Skullius thought as he drew away even further, greatly perturbed by this creature and the small trace of unique power currently pointed at Sila!

SCREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

A deafening shriek suddenly boomed from the odd silhouette around Bek making Skullius' Projected form, the air and the snow vibrate horrendously to the point that the entire area looked like it had been smeared with a gaussian blur effect!

At the exact same moment, the glow at the tip of Bek's finger brightened up and then vanished immediately after!

...!

Sila's eyes bulged!

BOOOOOOOOOM!

A turbulent force that was both spiritual and physical hurtled forward following the disappearance of the orb of light that was nurtured at the tip of Bek's finger!

It hadn't been erased out of existence, but it merely turned invisible at the moment of launch, the horrendous power packed within it causing even Bek to be pushed back!

The hazy creature around him steadying him to the ground so that he wouldn't fall!

The catastrophic impact reached Sila before anyone could blink and upon contact, half of the entire woodland behind Sila was obliterated, snow and dirt flying in a radius of over 200 meters!

Skullius' view was covered by the white and brown of frozen water and hard ground that rose up to thirty meters from the shocking explosion of unseen force, multiple outward rings of shockwaves ploughing through everything they touched!

This level of destruction...!

There was no mana to be traced, no conceivable energy form that Skullius was familiar with!

Nothing!

And yet what ensued was jaw dropping!

The Discount Human simply looked at the catastrophic scene before him with trepidation and fright!

His thoughts had shifted to something else aside from the power released however...

His body...

His beautiful cosmetic body...

Was there even a trace of it left after this...?

It took a full two minutes for everything to settle, the flying snow slapping the ground from the height while dirt desecrated the sanctity of the pure white.

"Hmmm. I'm still not very good at precision," Bek said while looking ahead.

Skullius merely gaped as he didn't even know what to say.

Since he was still alive, it meant that at least his soul survived the blast but...

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! INTRIGUING!"

Sila's voice bellowed out!

...!

Skullius looked to where the voice was coming from to see something emerging from the piles of snow and dirt!

It was his Discount Human body!

The jacket and shirt he had worn was completely destroyed, his torso being left as a bloody red fleshsickle with chunks of flesh missing along with all the skin!

The face was the same, with the bone being visible along with bloody meat mince and bulging eyes, the scene being made more grotesque by the absence of hair over this figure!

The body's hands up to the elbow were missing, Sila heaving in deep breathes but not with traces of panic and fear, but sheer enjoyment!

Almost immediately, skin began to weave itself over the Discount Human body, flesh being moulded through bubbles of flesh that repaired and restored it to its peak condition within seconds!

Sila closed his eyes and stretched his arms out once more with an ecstatic grin.

Bek on the other hand had a sudden shift in the glint within his eyes.

"I see," he said as he turned to Skullius. "You should have told me that you were housing a soul at the Incandescent Stage, you idiot."