Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1042: Vision of Misery! (4)

Four days.

Four days had passed since the BoneTender had ventured to that land separated from the rest. The land to the far North.

The quest, for the Existential Parallels, as Serenity had once told him, was singular. Rich worlds, imbibed with cosmic nutrients through their histories; through their tales and components crafted by geniuses among accomplished Ordinaries - Deities - were the target.

They had always been.

And for this world, after the BoneTender had learned as much as he could from his new companion, he had determined that the best place to search for what he needed, was a land that claimed to be oldest and held almost as much mystery as that other island to the far West. One that was bordered by a barrier even the BoneTender couldn't break, try as he might.

It had taken him a little while to get used to using the body of the Null Devil King, but the BoneTender could say with confidence that the last four days of battle with a most interesting dragon, had helped him hone his movements in the late royal's corpse.

Jerthrax, the Vision of Misery, was an especially powerful creature with potent Divine energy coursing through its bones and flesh.

The dragon was bold and keen. He had rushed to meet him before he even set foot on that land to the North, and their long battle had begun without any exchange of words.

There was only intent.

The conclusion didn't seem anywhere in sight. At least not yet, but the BoneTender was not too worried.

The tough shell of the dragon - its scales - was finally starting to crack. The scales were incredibly tough, unreasonably so. It seemed as though it would take a few years to break them with the BoneTender's current arsenal.

But he was patient, despite his intrigue waning with every passing minute.

Though, this wouldn't remain true for long.

The darkness in the BoneTender's sockets honed in on a familiar figure that teased the same kind of energy as him below.

'Oh.'

At the BoneTender's slight shift in attention though, Jerthrax's keen senses noticed. His vibrant turquoise eyes locked in below at what was so outlandish it could dare drag his opponent's focus from him.

***

Replicus knelt by Allora.

She looked terrible.

Her nearly split body leaked blood in dangerous volumes, her organs hanging out loosely from the torn edges, nearly spilling onto Grim's coat of shaggy fur. Her spine could be seen, both severed and shattered.

What was worse than the look of her atrocious wounds, was how she constantly convulsed with her eyes and mouth hanging open. Only the whites of her mortal sight could be seen,

with dark blood vessels spreading around them.

Allora... was alive.

Unfortunately, that wasn't exactly good news.

"She did her part well, Master," Pherdanta said with a heavy voice, and a face that was masked by sullen shadows. "She kept herself hidden until she felt she could exploit the moment to its fullest. But...I messed up. Em-Sul had an unusual ability - probably part of his Class - to replicate the effects of other weapons that touch him. The moment Allora showed herself, she was immediately attacked with a sword slash she couldn't see."

Indeed, Em-Sul's powers as a Shifter were rather bizarre. He could transform into magical artefacts and even embody their special traits. While in the form of the golden armour, he had been able to replicate the nature of the sword attacks Pherdanta sent his way.

Replicus' socket flames dimmed.

So that was what Em-Sul could do.

"Allora managed to heal with her Granted Armament, but she couldn't utilise the element of surprise anymore. We had to gang up on Em-Sul from then. It didn't work well. He was too strong. He seemed to have an infinite store of weapons and tools that he used in tandem with the Harmonic Ember and we didn't manage to land meaningful hits on him at all. Still, Allora was our best bet. We...we switched our strategy. Since she was the most versatile out of all of us, we shifted to making her stand out so that I could sneak on Em-Sul and steal the Ember. This didn't work either. In the end, when I managed to reach Em-Sul from behind, he noticed me at the last second, somehow. I don't know how she did it... but right when I was about to get cut down by one of Em-Sul's artefact, Allora took my place, got close to Em-Sul and grabbed the Ember as he cut through her."

Pherdanta seemed to shatter with each sentence of her narration.

She had been confident that the part of her unique Advanced class that made her unnoticeable as long as she didn't interact with her target, would allow her at least a split second to nab the Ember, but she had been wrong.

The conclusion she came to as to why she failed, was that since Replicus could notice her presence at all times, it wasn't impossible for people stronger than him to notice him too.

That didn't make her feel any better though.

"Granted Restoration won't work?" Replicus asked.

Pherdanta shook her head. The Granted Armament's ability to restore its user to full health, wasn't working.

A sombre silence came and lingered.

Grim's desperate attempts at dodging the fiercely twisting environment were rough, but they couldn't have bothered his riders at the moment.

What was even more unnerving than the fact that Allora was still alive, was the fact that whatever Em-Sul used on her was making her feel the atrocious agony of death indefinitely.

She couldn't speak.

She couldn't think.

The thought burned the Penetrator.

He could choose to kill her, and set her free, but...

"What happened with Em-Sul afterwards?"

Pherdanta's face hardened.

"Before we took the Ember, it seemed to constantly be covered with mana. He was using it, probably for something other than the endless attacks he rained on us," she said.

"Indeed. I have a very bad feeling about what he wants or maybe... has already used it for," Baddan chimed in finally. He had been the first to engage with Em-Sul before he had been left

with that treacherous Mage.

"I see..." Replicus said.

That made sense. Em-Sul must have had a goal in mind with the Ember. Perhaps he didn't even see this as a loss since he probably could only use it once on himself, just like Stylla and

her Family.

Dammit!

Was it possible to retrieve whatever it was that Em-Sul used on Allora and save her? Was the difficulty even harder now, if as Baddan said, Em-Sul had already succeeded in using the

Ember already?

How long would Allora's mind last for under all this pain?

Just as he thought this...

...!!!!

The Penetrator and his subordinates felt the waters around them explode, and everything in

their sights was thrown wildly in every direction.

A wall of massive, stone-like scales was the first thing to register in their eyes after the initial chaos, and immediately, the breath left their bodies.

Everyone froze.

From up close, Jerthrax was infinitely more terrorising to the soul just by his looks.

The Vision of Misery had dropped from the sky like a star, and right now, his mountainous face was facing them as they were bordered on both sides by his enormous wings!

The blue from the beast's eyes was like the bright lights from countless lanterns, and the burn he snorted from his nostrils was as inevitable as death itself.

Grim immediately caught on fire from it, roaring in pain, as did Baddan, Pherdanta and Allora.

...!!!

To say Replicus was alarmed, was an understatement.

He couldn't even think of what to do at that moment as the pressure of the most powerful

Herald pressed against him.

"HAVE YOU COME TO AID THAT INCARNATION OF EVIL THAT REEKS MUCH LIKE YOU?"

Jerthrax asked threateningly.

His voice caused Replicus' bones to erupt from under the Hollow Dusk Prison, popping at different sections like fireworks.

The Penetrator hadn't even heard what the dragon asked him, and he could only crumble over

the waters that somehow became solid, holding him and the burning bodies of his people.

On instinct, Replicus had his stores of Null Life Essence pour out to engulf Grim, Allora, Baddan and Pherdanta, shielding them somewhat from the heat while his armour began to

melt.

His socket flames shone bright, brighter than ever before, in fact, but...

"YOU NEED NOT ANSWER. IT MATTERS NOT ANYWAY. IT IS BEST IF YOU PERISH HERE.

EXALTED SUZAMETE WOULD HAVE SEEN IT THE SAME."

As Jerthrax's voice came with inevitability, so did the highlight of dawn's orange radiance burning from his dreadful maw.

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