Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"Sila?" Skullius voiced in surprise as he looked down to where the two slopes that reached deep into the ground met.

The crust of this depth was torn to a grander degree as no greens could be seen unlike with the area above. Strange billows of colour would sometimes glow from the walls of the depth of the gorge as if to show how dire the situation was in terms of the integrity, especially at the base of the island where parts kept falling off.

This gorge stretched out to cover the island like a gash, but it could still mostly be considered a giant pit where a hazy blue figure with the outline of a muscular man could be seen kneeling down while golden chains that pulsed powerfully, as if reemphasising how screwed he was, sank into his torso!

The expression of the aged soul couldn't be discerned and neither could his more definite features but Skullius knew it was him.

It was definitely Sila.

After pushing away the surprise, Skullius flung a question into the deep, the echoes of his voice racing down the walls.

"Hey! Sila! What happened to you?!"

The aged soul turned his head up and gazed at Skullius and Sause.

"Hmph, tomato flinger..." the old Tower General murmured.

Skullius could see that he was in pain.

The golden chains that sank into him seemed to be latched on so hard that the experience was equivalent to having meat skewers dug into one's torso.

It was dreadful.

"Oh. Is this another new development, aha ha? You were housing another soul in you?" Sause asked with intrigue as he leapt up and descended into the gorge!

Skullius cursed and followed along.

The two came to face Sila who kept his focus on Sause, evidently wary.

"Tomato flinger... who is this?" Sila questioned.

"Answer me first. What happened to you?" Skullius answered with his first question.

Sila drew silent for a while, apparently not pleased with the sass and the torture to his soul.

"That golden light from earlier. As soon as it appeared, it bound me and dragged me here. I can't... move," Sila finally answered with a furious tone.

The power from the Luminant Seed had seen him as an impurity and bound him.

This was a more merciful outcome though as little did Sila know that if Skullius hadn't hogged much of the energy in completing his core and adjusting his mana pathways, he would have been purged, the rest of the energy used to patch Skullius' soul in his stead!

Skullius himself was surprised to hear this.

From the looks of it, this binding was different from his own way of locking up Sila in a 'bubble'. It was more... absolute.

"Poor soul. I sense you are from an era long passed, brought back to nothing but an open space where you don't belong and where nothing is saved for you. Such a shame..." Sause said, his smile turning into a stern visage that showed genuine pity.

This feeling would have been amplified if he knew that Sila had also been in the Labyrinth.

"Sadly, your fate lies in the hands of this little one, though I assume you two have a favourable relationship at best, aha ha."

Skullius gazed at Sila while the latter gazed Skullius.

Favourable? That was hilarious!

"He's the thing I have to take care of before you help me with the thing?" Skullius asked with keen socket flames.

"Indeed. The wills infecting your body are mostly automatic. At least at this stage. They are not as vibrant with the presence of Fulgardt and thus they activate after certain periods of time without any input. What I can do for you is to assist in integrating these WILLS with your soul. To absorb them, essentially. You make them your own while denying their ability turn you into the Second Fulgardt. The Second Immoral. I trust you would also see that as a good approach to your future. I know, I would," Sause explained while looking up where the skies were dark green.

"If he is bound like this, your inner soul will consider him as an anomaly that needs to be removed when the process outside fully begins. Thus, the choice of whether to keep him or get rid of him lies in your hands. Aha ha."

Sause had recognised the presence of the Arch-Lich in this space, slowly creeping up to devour this island that was shockingly still standing.

This affirmed that truly, he was going to have to fight an Arch-Lich in the future but also, it gave him more hints as to what he could stand to gain besides being released of his end of the bargain.

This individual with two unique powers...

Asides from accomplishing his obligation to the Tie of Exchange, there was more he intended to explore with this special existence.

Skullius on the other hand went into deep thought.

It was pretty convenient that Sause knew that he would be having problems containing Fulgardt's powers, or rather, he didn't know the full scope of the relationship between Fulgardt and Sause.

But none of that mattered to him.

What he thought was...

'So I can take in all these WILLS and merge them with myself? Understanding, Brutality, Cunning and Bloodlust? What do I gain from them though?' Skullius thought.

If he took these WILLS to do literally as they were titled, CUNNING was easily the best among them, followed by UNDERSTANDING, though he didn't know exactly what it entailed.

BLOODLUST and BRUTALITY were a little... edgy but he didn't know if leaving them within him would be a good idea.

But if he were to take them in, what would he become?

Skullius raised his head and faced Sause.

"How do I know that this will even work? Weren't you captured by Fulgardt in the Labyrinth too? How would you be able to suppress the WILLS of someone stronger than you?" Skullius fired a bombardment of questions that Sause snickered at.

"That's a trade secret. I'm not some benevolent mystic library. I'm doing the bare minimum required to keep you alive, little one. Nothing more," Sause said "Now, make your choice."

Sila who was shivering at spaced intervals because of the pain turned to Skullius who gazed at him with flaming sockets.

The skeleton was deliberating on whether keeping Sila was the best option, as opposed to eliminating him right here.

The latter would give Skullius a lot more breathing room along with literally purging his anxiety on being ambushed with another scheme from Sila while the former would maintain the status quo with their... relationship.

Skullius sank in thought as he considered these options deeply.

There were many factors he intended to make sure were made clear so that he could make a final decision.

Quite a bit of them.

His main concern was with the WILLS however as they were a bigger deal.

This could lead to another version of him that was better or worse.

Merging with all these...

Hmmm.

What would be born?

Skullius thought about this and his internal affair with the Tower General for twenty minutes before opening his mouth and..