Bro, I'm not an Undead!

[Progenitor of Light].

[Gradius Order Halo].

[I Am The World].

[Order-Soul Projection].

[Son of Luserus].

Skullius selected all these skills within the bulk of the Preeminent Attegoth to be combined.

[Progenitor of Light] was a skill he had acquired recently, after his affinity with [Just Light] had reached the S rank. It was an amalgamation of all his other [Just Light] production and manipulation skills.

[Gradius Order Halo], which was currently active, shut off, the giant halo over the Preeminent Attegoth disappearing from sight. The same happened for [Order-Soul Projection], which Skullius had used to transfer the souls of Viccil and Sevill.

There was a subtle delay to the merging process because of the aforementioned two skills' effects being deactivated over every 'station' in which they were currently in use, but soon, the guidance field churned into commentating once again, announcing the progress.

[The skills you have selected are currently being merged]

[Please wait…]

Another pause ensued, much like before, and in that time, Skullius kept his sights on the Ode and the old hag.

As expected, she didn't remain still, allowing him freedom with what he was doing.

The Hybrid Luman grinned.

'What are you going to do?' he wondered.

Ashema, beside him, had a really bad feeling. While his vision wasn't incredibly advanced and unnatural like Skullius', he did manage to spot the dark, abyssal void in the eyes of Umbett that suggested how powerful she was.

'I might just waste another blood incarnation if I stick with this bastard,' he thought with a sigh before eyeing Skullius.

The Hybrid Luman looked confident, eerily so, even though Ashema was sure that when they met by the shore, Skullius had retreated because he was afraid of that old woman.

Said old woman made her move.

…!!!

[Primal Caution] gave its warning to Skullius, but he was already prepared. Unfortunately, he hadn't truly anticipated the nature of Umbett's assault.

As though the world around was but an intricate curtain, several tens of thousands of figures were spat out, positioned all around the Preeminent Attegoth… as they fell.

Skullius frowned.

'How ruthless…' he thought.

All 56,231 individuals to appear, were common Sif screaming for dear life at the top of their lungs!

At once, the Hybrid Luman figured that these were the people that had been disappearing when the Maqians began their assault, back when the terrible gong was still affecting everyone.

He smirked, but the strain on his face didn't disappear. He understood, better than most, that this wasn't the attack…yet.

From this entire crowd of doomed souls, he felt a rapidly approaching detonation of mana that would trigger something unprecedented!

'She thinks I'll hesitate to destroy them all,' Skullius thought. 'Sadly… she's right.'

And indeed, Umbett was right, but for the wrong reason. Skullius didn't kill these Sif because he hesitated to take innocent lives; Umbett must have figured he was on the Sif's side in this battle. 

Skullius didn't kill all these people because he felt the surrounding nature practically explode in his ear, begging him not to, and to instead, try to save them.

Skullius couldn't though, even if he wanted to. The only skill that could do that was currently unavailable.

He could have powered through the noise and attacked anyway to prevent what came next, but he feared that the cost to that may be more disastrous than simple inaction on his part, which was justified.

Thus…

OOOOOM!

Every falling Sif became bloated with a stark white glow from within their bodies, and then…

…!!!

Millions of purple heart colored tendrils, much like thick tree branches, replaced the flesh bodies that had been inhabiting the standing space all around the Attegoth!

They oozed of a toxic spray that layered over them as they wound around the great Precept of Light in a flash!

'That's… Transmutation!' Skullius thought. It was a Mage's skill to change the properties of all kinds of objects!

But for it to be used on this scale…

Their sheer quantity was daunting. The massive tendrils cast absolute darkness over Skullius, Ashema and the Graceful Monolith as they closed in, a fiercely corrosive trait abundant within them, noticeable by how the water within which the Precept drew form simply turned red and vapored.

The Preeminent Attegoth was bound in the next instant, not a speck of its light or the Aura burning from it visible at all.

But then…

'This makes it all muuuuch easier for me.'

Skullius had only been trapped within the toxic cage for less than a moment… when he placed his finger on the thick tendril closest to him.

From where his finger touched, the branch-like, purple tendril was shredded into dust, and a moment later, the Preeminent Attegoth was free, with only a heavy, powdery layer around it that was soon blown away by the wind.

The naked eye couldn't have explained how staggering what Skullius' had just done was. After all, no one could have seen how evenly the particles that made up this floating dust had been carved.

Not just that, the toxic fumes that had coated the tendrils had also been broken down to a state where they were no longer a threat to an ant, much less Skullius.

And better yet, the mana bounding them too, was not safe either. It had suffered a similar fate, and the inspiration for this, to Skullius, was how Hobbu Gobbu, the Finite Sword god, had been able to cut apart mana back then. 

However, Skullius was different. He was better. He was stronger.

As the bearer of a skill with the bodacious title of [Infinite Sword God], this much was the least he could do.

Skullius smirked at the old hag from afar. She didn't seem too concerned with what how he had responded. She seemed to have a level of confidence in him, which Skullius found a little suspicious. He feared that she might have gleamed what she wished to gleam just from this.

Well, that wouldn't matter for long, because…

['Progenitor of Light', 'Gradius Order Halo', 'I Am The World', 'Order-Soul Projection', 'Son of Luserus' have been successfully merged]

[Congratulations! You have created the Super Skill, 'Greatest Antiphon of Malignance'!]

Skullius took a breath and closed his eyes. When he opened them, it was as though he turned into a different being altogether. 

His auburn hair lit up unceremoniously, becoming tinged in a golden light from its very fibers that almost washed out its natural color. His skin also got a tad bit bright, as though moonlight was glowing through his flesh. 

Pairs of large, golden bangles, swearing that they could have been made of scorching light appeared around both his wrists, but they refused to touch his skin, opting to pretend as though Skullius' arms were larger than they actually were. Several pairs also appeared around Skullius' ankles and his neck, and his red armor was cast away, leaving only his robe which turned darker to better match the light coming from Skullius. 

It became impossible to tell if Skullius had worn something to replace his red armor or not because the robe cast a deep shadow from his neck to below his knees, leaving his bare feet, lightly aglow, visible.

Another set of large, radiant wings broke out from Skullius' robe, long, gorgeous and blinding. A moment later, they became imprinted on the back of the robe as well, signifying Skullius' third pair.

The Hybrid Luman took another breath.

His eyes remained white, but they shone brilliantly, beautifully even.

This… was the current passive effect of his [Greatest Antiphon of Malignance], and it was godlike.

It was so grand, in fact, that something else was inspired because of it.

[You have received the <WILL OF NONSTANDARD>]

Skullius' grin, more alluring than it was sinister, grew terribly wide.

Ashema by his side, was rather dumbfounded. He didn't even know what he was looking at.

Even if he couldn't die easily, he found himself backing away.

A shuttle of fierce might caused him to blink, and the Hybrid Luman was gone from his sight.

He was far, far away, standing between the Ode and the Queen confidently, boldly.

His opened his mouth to speak, his eyes narrowing to concentrate the light gushing from them.

"I believe I'm your rightful opponent."