Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1150: Also Interested



Ferex had returned.

He was in his humanoid form which gave the impression that he was a simple, tall man wearing a dark silver armour and wolf-shaped helmet - a rather realistic one. A coat of dark brown fur grew from the shoulders of his armour, creating a cape that gave off a slightly barbaric feel, but it all fit the aesthetic the Apostle had chosen months ago.

As impressive as he looked, barely seeming as one who he had gone through the ordeal of turning into a Null Terror, Ferex was oddly silent.

He failed or rather refused to look up at Yuyui and Replicus.

The Warmoth's Progeny had brought him to the lime-haired girl and remained floating above like a miniature, malevolent sun.

"Ferex..." Yuyui said solemnly, drawing close to the Apostle.

The Apostle remained silent. He seemed to be livid with shame.

Replicus could understand. In a way, he was sure Yuyui was the last person Ferex would want to meet first. It was unclear whether he recalled what had happened during his period as the Null Terror, but at the very least, the Apostle seemed to realise how much time had passed and likely estimated how much damage had been done.

(A\N: Refer to Ch.649).

Recalling Yuyui's retelling of what had happened when Ferex had turned, it was clear to Replicus that Ferex blamed himself. His Flaw activated when it took him great effort to beat a host of enemies, and as it stood, it was, in a way, his fault that he had lost himself. He had been weak. Too weak.

(A\N: Refer to Ch.323).

Replicus didn't think he wanted to deal with this right now and neither did he think he could solve Ferex's emotional state with a quick pep talk. This could have been viewed as a

downside to having Apostles rather than typical undead.

There were other matters that required Replicus' attention and as soon as Sause appeared, Aurolio trailing along, he knew now was the best time to address them.

"Congratulations, ahaha. I was rooting for you all the way and you certainly didn't

disappoint," Sause said, a broad smile on his giant face.

Replicus nodded with a scoff from the brilliance of his Ju`wtte and then he looked at Aurolio who scowled.

"You got something to say to me?" the pale man said scathingly.

"Eaniss left, you know? Perhaps you want to follow after her," Replicus said and Aurolio's temple throbbed with a thick vein.

The pale man hadn't accompanied Eaniss to further the objective of the Severed Union. Both he and Eaniss had understood that. Aurolio was sure that Replicus knew this as well and was just messing with him.

Well, it wasn't exactly unwarranted. Aurolio hadn't quite had the best day and this voyage hadn't been what he had hoped.

He had been humbled.

Despite holding himself to a higher standard because of his powers, he found that he was lacking. He had been outclassed by an Undeath user like Actuass and Null Life user like Replicus magnificently.

Even as he accepted that though, he had hoped to at least see with his own eyes what exactly made a world Rich, as he had read from his Book of Alignment - the book from which he received the call to Voided Death.

Now, even that seemed to be lost.

The word lost seemed to drive itself into him like a knife.

Aurolio's technique, Unbeatable Trigger, when active - which it mostly was - did not allow him to lose a battle. He had created it after learning his Mastered Voided Gate. In a way, it was a complement to his high-level, Voided Death abilities. Aurolio had yet to see this technique buckle.

Most of the times, it boosted his endurance up to a relevant point or reduced the effectiveness of incoming attacks in order to ensure he wouldn't lose. The pale man had never known the technique to fail him.

However, during this voyage to Edagon, he had seen it start to stretch the definition of lose. The technique, as it was fuelled by Voided Death Essence, did not subscribe to the normal rankings of Aigas. To some degree, it altered reality in order to ensure Aurolio emerged victorious. When Jerthrax burned the world in black fire, it was responsible for limiting the damage as best it could. When the Herald cast the world in stone with a Rule, it had been partially responsible for how Replicus returned everything to normal with Reversion.

But now that he had exhausted his reserves of energy for the most part, Aurolio felt insignificant.

The image of his body bowing to Replicus earlier kept flashing in his vision.

"It seems we interrupted something," Sause said, breaking the tension while pointing at Yuyui and Ferex.

"It's nothing you should worry about," Replicus said, brushing off the topic. "I wonder, am I at the liberty of seeing-"

"Ah. Of course, of course ahaha," Sause cut the Progeny off. "I expected you wouldn't pass up the chance, quite like that freakish creature you just killed."

Replicus chuckled sniffily.

Sause recognised his intent.

Indeed, he wanted to see what made Aigas a Rich world too. He was just as curious as Aurolio.

"I'm not sure I can grant your request, ahaha. You and I might go way back, but I know for a fact you are under the charge of an authority equal to or above the Deities. I was taught that anomalies like you destroy the balance of the world and well, there is a bit too much proof of that. I'm not a stingy Giant by nature, but I have responsibilities, you see, ahaha" Sause said with a smirk.

Replicus sent a glance towards Serenity who was still manifested outside his body but unseen by no one. She seemed to gaze at him too.

They had yet to have the discussion about what it was exactly that Replicus, as a bearer of Null Life Essence was supposed to do for Serenity, but the Warmoth's Progeny had no reason to doubt that at least part of his objective, as hinted by the BoneTender and Caxellac, involved gathering resources for Serenity - ones like the what Replicus wanted to see right now. Whatever it was that made Aigas Rich was somehow desirable by Void, Emmae and Serenity. Replicus wasn't sure he wanted to take away something that precious from Aigas for Serenity's sake and he imagined that Serenity knew he wasn't as devoted to her as the BoneTender had been.

Even if Replicus didn't care about Aigas as much as someone who was born in it would, he shunned doing something similar to what Actuass had done, after all, he was pretty sure

rooting out the Richness of Aigas would destroy it.

His gaze translated some of his intent to Serenity.

She said nothing.

"What if I promise not to do any harm towards it - the object of Aigas' richness. I am not as reverent to my benefactor as you might think. I am, for now, trying to learn as much as I can first before declaring any allegiance and I assure you, my decision most likely won't be swayed by what I see in the next few minutes," Replicus turned to Sause and said.

The Giant didn't look convinced. A fresh smirk remained on his face as he looked at the radiant

Progeny.

Replicus sighed.

"If you are going to doubt where my allegiance lies, at least believe that I am not so devoid of pride that I would betray you after you offered to me the body of your respected elder. I know Jerthrax wasn't just some beast to you. He meant something and you gave him to me to honour the Tie of Exchange we made a long time ago. While I am the one who killed him, I—"

Sause raised his hand and Replicus stopped talking.

"I know why you killed him first. Indeed, he was already beyond saving, soul-wise, and if he fell into the necromancer's hands..." the Giant paused and a grave look appeared on his face. "You are right. The Scaled Elder was more than just some guardian beast. He was family. He was yet to grow as old, as powerful and as wise as his brother, Jiggorrhax, but he was still a bastion of Edagon and Aigas as a whole. It's a shame his duty now falls onto me and my successor so soon."

The Giant looked at Benzard who grew incredibly self-aware when everyone else looked at

him too.

At Sause's words, a thought was jolted in Replicus. He skimmed over adding on to his current

argument and asked:

"By the way, are you really the last Giant?"