Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1235: Explaining Everything (3)



Replicus didn't have access to Skullius' memories, so he couldn't have explained in detail what Skullius had done after this. He only explained the details of his own journey after he took Yuyui and Ferex, met up with Kenno and started on their path to become part of the Severed Union.

He explained the workings of the Severed Union, about the Factions within it and the Immortals, whom he revealed to everyone to be tied to the third Herald on Aigas. He had heard Erlton call this Herald, Aingor. (It went without saying that Replicus explained to Silrat and Theurien what Heralds were.)

Replicus then explained how he got a certain Diviner named Riba from the Severed Union to predict the future for him. He had gotten two revelations from the little man: one related to Skullius being possessed by Fulgardt's WILLS, and another which he didn't tell anyone yet.

At this point, Silrat stopped him.

"I can't imagine what caused him... Festos to change like that happened before the Premium Age Royale. A few days before the actual Royale began, he used some kind of dust on me and had me vanish from the face of Aigas. I don't think I existed for a while. An Arch-Mage I met after I revived explained that to me," he said sombrely. "You... your other self cared enough for me to protect me."

Replicus smiled.

"I don't doubt that," he said, and it was true. Before being possessed, Skullius was no different from Replicus. He had cared for the values he had been cultivating along his journey. That said, with Silrat's explanation, Replicus finally understood why for a while he had gotten the feeling that someone was missing from his cache of memories. The object that Skullius had used to temporarily postpone Silrat's existence in order to protect him from the Premium Age Royale's final stretch, had caused everyone and everything to forget that the former Guild Association Head had ever even existed!

It was a hefty price, but Silrat did in fact survive where he should have perished alongside everyone else in the Royale Venue.

Soidon suddenly coughed.

"Ugh... I might know a few more details about this," he said meekly. Everyone turned to him. He took a sip of a maroon juice. "Erlton and I went to Opungale after this Premium Age Royale concluded. This ma-, ahem, you were bedridden and your soul was in terrible shape. Apparently, you had transformed into a dark creature and had battled a man by the name Rayn."

Elita's brows shot up.

"Rayn?!" she cried.

"Y-yes."

Replicus rubbed his chin, but shook his head.

"I have a good idea about what happened with Rayn and the masked man. There's no point in speculating. I can get the memories later and confirm, but this is not really important at the moment," he said.

Elita still looked surprised, however.

Everyone in the Purity, especially the Paladin Champions, would know who Rayn was, after all.

He had returned?

After everyone settled, Replicus went to explain how the Emissary of the Immortals had informed the Severed Union about Boron's rise and the intent of the masked man; how he had charged the Factions of the Severed Union with capturing the masked man before he reached Edagon; how the masked man had split Aigas; how the battle against the necromancer went and ended (Replicus deliberately avoided mentioning Caxellac, the BoneTender and Stylla); how he had met with Sause and got the expansion on Aigas' lore: the Eternal Drakkens, the fate of the giants and all.

Theurien and Silrat gaped for the umpteenth time when Replicus confessed to killing the Herald Jerthrax so that Actuass wouldn't get the dragon as an undead summon.

They had nearly collapsed when he mentioned going into Suzamete's domain for the first time and finding out that Actuass was actually the son of the Deitess of the Sky.

Their view of the tall, four-armed being before them suddenly changed again.

To think he had fought dragons and argued with Deities!

Elita shared some of the surprise that plagued Theurien and Silrat, but her takeaway from Replicus' narration was different from theirs.

"No wonder you don't like her," she said, her expression turning dark. "If I'm being honest, you've managed to knock down my respect for Suzamete down a peg as well. If she knew her son was going to kill so many people, she could have stopped it; whatever plans she had to use her son's actions to quell a threat far into the future can't possibly justify the death of so many. I feel she might have exercised human emotions there."

Oddly enough, Replicus wasn't sure. He was torn.

In a way, if it weren't for Actuass splitting Aigas, Caxellac's Serene Grace might have caused a lot more damage. Heck, he might have failed to stop it when it dismantled all of Aigas' Rules, leaving the world as a dark mix of Stagnant Space and the great void.

To achieve this kind of power, Actuass needed the Premium Age Royale to resurrect Rayn and steal his soul, strengthening his own.

In that way, perhaps Suzamete was right in keeping Actuass alive for future threat's sake.

But was there only one version of the future?

Replicus didn't voice this opinion though.

He went on to explain how his battle with Skullius had gone, detailing everything Skullius believed while carrying Fulgardt's WILLS, and the end result.

There was a pause after he was done.

Evidently, it would take a lot of time to process everything that was just said.

Silrat then looked at Replicus with concern.

"You are going to merge with him..." he said as he glanced at Skullius, "...right? What makes you sure that after you do, Fulgardt's WILLS, in whatever manner they took over your original body, won't overwhelm you too?"

Replicus smiled warmly.

"I don't think I'm lacking in will and resolve against Fulgardt's own WILLS. When he took over my other self, I believe he (Skullius) was in a vulnerable state. His soul was damaged, as uh... Soidon said," he explained. "Besides that, I hypothesised that what led to my other self losing to Fulgardt's WILLS was how reliant he was on the Immoral's powers. That was how the WILLS grew in him. As for me, I don't have such a weakness and neither does my body. On top of that, when we fuse... I expect something phenomenal is going to happen to both sets of

my powers."

There was a hint of certainty and anticipation in Replicus' voice that made Silrat's concerns falter.

If Replicus was that confident, then he was probably going to be fine. He had, after all, defeated Fulgardt's scheme already.

What Silrat didn't see, however, were the hints of doubt Replicus carried behind his eyes. It wasn't because he was actually wary of Fulgardt's WILLS prevailing, but because his

phantoms and Serenity didn't back him up.

They were still eerily silent.

What in the world was going on with them?

After reassuring Theurien and Silrat, Replicus turned to Elita.

He knew that everyone was still mulling and masticating all that he had explained, but he had

questions of his own and not a lot of time.

There was still a time crunch, after all.

"I believe it's your turn," he said. "You said you had a reason for coming back to Aigas, and it

seems to me that it had nothing to do with saving my life."

Elita nodded and sank deeper into her cushion.

She looked upwards, where the sky was as bland and blue as ever.

"I'd wanted to come home for a long time, but often, I was reminded that if I did so prematurely, I wouldn't be able to change anything, to effect any change. I was weak," she began. "My goal... I struggled with it for a while. I've struggled with it for a long time

actually."

She gave a mirthless laugh and then looked at Replicus.

"I came back to destroy the Purity," she said.