Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1023: The Team

A few minutes ago...

"Boss, we are ready," Grim said with his usual bold and unbound explosiveness. Frankly, it was almost as overwhelming and outlandish as his appearance.

An introverted soul would have said, 'Good for him. At least his features and personality are a perfect match,' without the slightest hint of joy.

And indeed they were.

Grim was a man with a full head of white hair and a pair of striking red eyes that saw far and wide. He often held a smile on his face, with his bubbly personality being infectious to anyone other than Pherdanta.

Speaking of the stoic, dutiful beauty...

"Do I really need to go too, Master? Can I selfishly demand to remain by your side just this once?" she said to the man who sat on a large, comfy cushion made of tangible darkness.

The voice that leaked out from Pherdanta never would have matched her appearance, at least for those who were used to her.

She had lengthy dark hair that ended in a ponytail, this tail end featuring a tint of green.

She had sharp eyes and an accusing, pointed nose that, quite like Grim, matched her personality. At least when she felt cross with someone; that someone usually being Grim.

Also like Grim, she was adorned in a sturdy armour of blue, white, silver with visible plates across its chest plate that channelled Null Life Essence.

Granted Armament.

Unlike her bubbly colleague's version of the specialised armour, though, hers turned into a pleated battle skirt below the waist, a set of tall greaves adorning her legs to the knee.

To Pherdanta's delicate request, an answer came.

"To even suggest that this is the only time you have tried to selfishly stand by me is absurd. As the closest to reaching the Incandescent Stage out of everyone else, you must join in on the front lines according to the plan," the man on the dark cushion expressed with a tired sigh.

It seemed Pherdanta only grew worse with each passing day.

Did she have attachment issues or something?

Well...

Despite what possible mental issues she suffered from though, Pherdanta had excelled in her Stages in the past three days.

Said days had sponsored nothing but a brutal regiment for each of Replicus' special combatants, the Unlimited.

Since Grim and Pherdanta had already polished their Classes and were very familiar with them, Replicus had had them focus on advancing their Stages.

To do this, the two had to focus on completing their Tasks and as it turned out, their Tasks mainly involved fighting under special circumstances with fair consideration to their Classes. For Grim, his Tasks demanded that he cycle through the different forms of his Hidden Class to kill specific quantities or qualities of monsters. Of course, the Tasks got harder with each one The completed, but he made steady progress.

Pherdanta was even more impressive in this regard. Her Tasks required her to use her blade or blades to perform different techniques, simple and hard alike.

For instance, one of her Tasks required her to mimic what was called an Acute Lateral Slash; a type of sword swing that produced a flying slash shaped like the corner of a triangle. It was simple to understand but hard to execute. After all, it was to be performed in one swing.

Yet, perhaps because Pherdanta often thought Replicus always had his eye on her, constantly judging her value as his bodyguard, she mastered this slash in a matter of hours.

Pherdanta continued this trend until she levelled from 36 to Level 39, same as Kenno - if he had remained stagnant in the last five days.

Grim was sitting comfortably at Level 37 from 34.

Replicus had been pleased.

As the Hybrid Luman, he stood up and looked at the broad sky past the bowsprit of the ship. Today was a good day.

The hellish routine of the last three days was finally over, and hopefully, it would all pay off. He had a good feeling.

The winds blew his slicked back auburn hair and peppered his skin relentlessly. His blank eyes stared ahead, but his senses were molesting everything below.

The black vessel he had made out of [Evil Darkness] was particularly sensitive. Since he had raised the rank of his affinity with [Evil Darkness] naturally to A over the time he spent working in the Severed Union, the darkness became rather flexible. He could see through it. He could feel through it.

It acted as an enhancer to his sensory abilities.

Through this specific trait, Replicus was able to detect the presence of the vessels of the other Faction Leaders practically flying a few hundred meters ahead... below.

A smile emerged on his face.

'Yeah, this will work,' he thought to himself.

"Allora," he suddenly said.

"Yes, boss!" a rather tall lady with wiry frame shook and exclaimed. If one didn't know any better, they would have thought she had been daydreaming before being called.

She had facial features that looked as though they had been stretched taut by excessive fits of laughter. Even when she was sullen, she looked quite vivacious.

She too wore the acclaimed Granted Armament.

"What's our mission?" Replicus asked without turning.

"Uh..." Allora stammered.

"You're getting cold feet, huh?" Replicus said before turning to her. He then donned a warm smile. "I understand. You're about to jump into what just might the second biggest fight of your life. It's natural to get shaky."

'Second?' Pherdanta and Grim wondered.

Allora didn't think much of it. She merely listened silently.

Replicus walked her way and looked her in the eyes despite not seeing any of the trembling in hers. He only felt it.

"I'm quite proud of you. You had the guts to demand and grab your moment because you felt confident in your abilities. And look. You did it. You're standing with the people you admired from afar mere month ago. They are your peers now. You've grown."

Allora's eyes widened.

Was this... acknowledgement?

A smile attempted to crack open on her face.

"I need whatever crazy inspired you to dive deep into the depths of the sea to challenge whatever monstrosity guarded the legacy of the Charmed Illimitable Rounder and prevail. I'm

counting on you."

Allora's chest swelled.

She grinned.

"You got it, boss!" she said with rising vigour.

She had certainly needed to hear this, after all, she had a very important role for the boss'

strategy.

Two roles, in fact.

Replicus had revised the first plan he had concocted to deal with the other Factions as the fleet

passed the Central Boundary. Now, it had greater links and more risks but the reward was

likely to be even more satisfying.

"Now what's the goal?" Replicus asked again.

"To retrieve the Harmonic Ember!" Allora replied without stall or stammer.

Replicus' smile grew wider.

Indeed. That was the goal.

The spherical jewel around the neck of the man who headed the Four Meridian Hands, Em-

Sul, was his target.

The objective for added strength; the intense desire to develop an overpowered ability from

the artefact he had acquired from the Ardent Curses, could only be completed after that gem

was retrieved.

Replicus couldn't wait.

This wasn't going to be easy, however, and it wasn't the only goal he had.

At this point, there was no way anyone had a singular plan that didn't involve integral side- quests and side-goals linked to it.

That said, finalising the creation of an ability tied to the unique skill-extinguishing trait of the wand Flawless Flail of Ruin, and the unavoidable revelatory effect of Lambent Phosphor was imperative. It was the first and prime goal.

Some would even say it was necessary for Replicus and company to stay alive after what they

were about to incite.

"Good," he said before looking to the side.

To his left, a pale creature stood at attention, almost seeming to be minding what was

happening on deck.

It eclipsed everyone on the ship in height except Allora, but failed to express a presence befitting of its stature. That presence, that air, was hidden.

ARAEYN DERAGIN EXONN, the Titan World Storm Penetrator's third Apostle, had grown and

changed vastly.

His pasty, pale and wrinkled skin remained the same, as did the somewhat long locks of white hair over his head, but he seemed to have gained a substantial amount of bulk to him, which pressed against his heavy, grey and silver armour he wore.

His empty sockets and hole for a nose were as chilling as ever, but while Allora and Grim had attempted to poke their fingers into them before, when Araeyn's defences were down, they wouldn't dare do it now.

The Apostle wasn't as approachable.

Over the chest plate of its armour, its name showed, burning over the magical steel as a

constant reminder.

"Araeyn," Replicus called the Apostle, and he shifted awkwardly. "It's just about time. Go and

fetch him."

Without a word or gesture, Araeyn trudged below deck and returned seconds later with a

familiar creature; one that featured no eyes, plenty of mouth and plenty of arms.

Replicus turned to the figure, as did the Unlimited. Then he spoke:

"I will need your services one last, Thrill. After that, I might just let you go free."

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