Bro, I'm not an Undead!

'Hold up, bro! This isn't fair at all!' Skullius panicked as the flood of bad news reflected on the screen of the guidance field registered.

[Flesh It Like You Mean It] was being deconstructed? His armour was too?

What did that mean?

The answer didn't take long to reach Skullius as in the next moment, he saw and felt changes that genuinely made him feel mortified!

The ArchLight Generation Keeper started to disintegrate!

The breastplate began fragmenting, changing into small particles of hot iron that were laced with mana!

Skullius slowly felt the protection that he had enjoyed for a short while already begin to vanish under the ridiculous spell of the old man!

To make matters worse, Skullius saw the cosmetic flesh that covered him begin to shift, turning into balls of veiny meat, leaving only the bone underneath!

It started from his arm and quickly climbed to his face where the flesh began to recede!

The old man sensed Skullius' fear from the trembling of his mana and with a look of disdain and satisfaction, he chuckled.

It had been a while since he had felt a sensation other than his belly being full of premium quality food and wine.

It had been a while since he felt exhilarated. Having forced conversations that left his throat sore and muscles aching from pretending to be merry for centuries grew extremely tedious.

All this false meriment was because he had helped that insolent fool, Fulgardt!

His past personality and values had all but been destroyed. All that was left was a yearning to feel something else even at the expense of another life!

His past self would be disgusted by the current him but who cared?!

He had fallen so far, yet... what could he do about it? The loving and adventurous side of him was erased by this cramped space and the eternal interactions with a singular company every hour, day and year!

Seeing Skullius' whose disposition shook, the despair for his impending doom crippling him pathetically, was like a breath of fresh air to the old man!

He, however, wasn't the only person to feel this way!

The many within the crowd rushed up to Skullius. Beating him to death was the only form of stimulation they could endure without being held back by the [Evil Darkness] and [Just Light] that kept them from perishing.

[You have failed to grab a hold of your own fate within the time that was given by the benevolent Voice of Worlds]

[You have failed to sustain your own existence with mana]

[Attempting mana reduction...]

"No!"

Skullius saw the notifications and knew what would come next!

He wouldn't allow it!

The armour wasn't supplying him mana anymore which caused the approaching of the Doom Factor!

Skullius' mana quickly bottomed out after Doom Factor 1 caught up to him.

It was an attempt at using his mana to try to sustain him, but...

[Mana insufficient]

Skullius hurriedly tried to activate [Basic Mana Manipulation] just before the last strands of his mana were drawn away.

He sensed the vast amount of mana within the armour and tried pulling on it.

As soon as he made the conscious effort to pull the vast mass of power into his body, the ArchLight Generation Keeper responded vigorously, disjointed spots of mana hurtling into Skullius' core!

The stream of mana continuously got thinner at a rapid pace which kept Skullius anxious as he knew it could all go terribly wrong at any moment!

[The Doom Factor, 'Disowned' has been averted]

"Phew—"

BOOOM!

A fist smashed into Skullius' chest while he was bound by the red chains!

A grinning man with long dark hair had punched him and caused his chest to cave in but fortunately, the ArchLight Generation Keeper was still protecting him!

The man flung his fist towards Skullius' face which was covered by the helmet and the Discount Human could have sworn that on impact, he felt as if his core exploded!

The amount of power within such a punch which the owner didn't put that much effort into, caused multiple ripples of force that instantly shattered the helmet, leaving Skullius' face exposed!

The Discount Human would have screamed.

His head was still intact, but that was likely because the man with long hair was holding back. He wouldn't want him to die quickly.

But Skullius counted his blessings. At least the ArchLight Generation Keeper was still whole.

Kind of.

~~~

[ArchLight Generation Keeper]

-Durability-

8/3500

~~~

There was no cause for celebration though as the current predicament was far from over.

From Skullius' arm to the right side of his face, only bones were left as [Flesh It Like You Mean It] was being deconstructed.

The white bone began to change colour, transitioning into a foggy grey, and when Skullius' eye disappeared, a weak blue flame began to come from his socket!

On top of all this, some rather enthusiastic men and women rushed towards him and began throwing attack after attack at his downed body!

'GAAAAAAAAH! If they see my real form I'll be in even more trouble! This is seriously bad news! What do I do?!' Skullius thought as three shrieking balls of blue flames blasted against his body, the explosion that ensued, melting the floor and ceiling.

The hall was being wrecked, everything burning while the eyes of hundreds looked on either without much care or with a severe yearning to join in on the short-lived fun!

Quite the number of dignified-looking figures remained seated in the hall while watching a single Foundation Stage weakling try to survive an onslaught by immensely stronger beings.

One of them who was adorned in a simple-looking loose shirt and pants sighed. His gaze turned to the old man who had summoned the double wheel with sigils and a look of disdain flashed within his eyes momentarily.

"I can't believe even Remos Kamil would succumb to depravity. Is this what a great pioneer of a powerful magic art form should be doing?" he asked.

"An obsession is an obsession no matter how great a future it leads to. It's only when one is locked up with a similar flock of psychopaths that the true depths of their obsession begins to shine," a woman with navy blue hair sitting adjacent to the man who had spoken previously, responded.

She drank from an immaculately designed goblet holding a purple-coloured drink.

"I suppose. He really is enjoying himself..."

The unveiled amusement of the old man known as Remos radiated freely as he watched Skullius who was bound fly and get knocked against several clusters of furniture.

'I'll savour every moment. No need to rush,' he thought.

Skullius rolled on the floor only to be stopped by a table leg when his momentum had died down.

The same man with long, black hair rushed towards him with insane speed while cocking his arm back.

'This can't go on! I have to fight back somehow! Will [Pseudo Evil Veneration] work? I can't tell. It's not like I can just be as angry as I was that time and unleash that kind of power. Even if I'm successful, I doubt I can take care on hundreds of these guys at once!

Damn it! But I still have to fight!'

Skullius churned his mana as from his open palm, a bright flash of pure mana coalesced before he activated a skill he hoped would do some damage.

[Bitter-Sweet Hell's Inferno!]

A purplish orange flame bloomed into existence and went on to grow in size, wild wisps of heat rotating around it.

This indeed was no ordinary flame, but would it fare well against the monsters in this room?

The flame left Skullius' hand and shot towards the Discount Human's target!

The man with black hair didn't bother to dodge.

When the two met - a crazed man and an eager flame - heat roared and flames spewed onto the surroundings as everyone watched!

The bright glint of orange that resulted died down soon after... and the black-haired man's figure dashed out of the remnants of the fire with a mocking smirk!

The Inferno had done squat!

The dark-haired mana kicked Skullius in the face.

The poor false man flew once again and knocked against more of the lavish furniture while rolling. When his body settled, he gazed in disbelief at the black-haired man, 'blood' seeping from his orifices as the fragmenting armour was losing its ability to completely protect him.

'I can't believe it didn't do any damage! I thought it would at least... wait...' Skullius thought.

He recalled a notification he had received from the guidance field some time ago.

All creatures in here could only be damaged by [Evil Darkness] and [Just Light]!

'Right! Since they didn't have yokes on them, I assumed they were different from the others! But still...!'

Just as Skullius was looking at the black-haired man, the man was also looking at Skullius intently, a strange expression on his face.

"Hey... What's the meaning of this?" he said, and he came to halt.

It wasn't only him, as everyone in the hall looked at Skullius confusedly, others with wrath and the rest with disbelief scribbled over their faces.

"What's an undead doing here?!"