Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 923 Not Yet

"Several?" Vali asked. "It almost seemed like you have a few answers to the coming assault already."

Skullius grinned.

"I do," he said before scanning blankly the faces of the four. He gave a sigh of acknowledgement.

"I\'m aware that you all have many questions for me. Erlton no doubt took many liberties with the amount of information he divulged about me. If you stick around, I might satisfy your curiosity."

The looks on the women\'s faces expressed varying emotions at these words.

Indeed. They held off on asking much about subjects that truly seemed too deep to be asking someone who was coming from that treacherous experience.

"How reassuring," Vali said with a smile. She also stood up and looked at the Hybrid Luman. "You\'ve become many times bolder."

Skullius merely smiled with his eyes.

"I have, have I? Then allow me to be even more so. There\'s a favour you can do for me. Consider it as the first step to paying me back," he said.

Vali tilted her head.

"What would that be?" she asked.

"You learnt Rias\' Imaginary Technique, didn\'t you? At least a portion of it."

Vali\'s smile grew even deeper and more alluring.

"What of it?"

"I\'ll need your help me with something soon. It might be challenging, but still possible."

A chuckle left the Kinn Family head.

"I don\'t have a choice, do I?"

Skullius chortled and turned from her.

Before he could speak to her, Maxim had acted.

From a storage ring on her finger, a sheathed blade emerged. Only the luxurious golden hilt could be seen from it, and the curve of the blade through the way the sheath bent.

"I kept it safe after you lost control," she said as she immediately passed the sword to him. "And you\'re right. I have many questions. What happened with that savage form of yours is something I\'m dying to know. I figured it\'d be something you\'re not too keen on sharing... since Erlton didn\'t speak about it either."

Skullius grabbed the sword Maxim extended to him.

Demion\'s Dance.

He felt the sword shiver when he handled it, even if it was masked behind the sheath.

It was eager to explode out and complete itself in his hands.

\'Calm down...\' Skullius thought merrily. \'Not yet...\'

He then faced Maxim.

"All in good time," he responded to her light pout face with a smile. "Now. Darwel. You remember our agreement, right?"

Darwel became flustered.

"What? You want to do that now?" she asked, surprised.

"Is there a better time?"

Darwel couldn\'t find a reasonable \'No\' to that. The look on her face displayed that she struggled to find an excuse for why she shouldn\'t show it to Skullius right now. Perhaps this really was the best time, but she dreaded that what he wanted... what they wanted... would take some time.

This was not to mention the fact that Darwel\'s parents hadn\'t approved of this and would have loved to chat with Skullius first before introducing him to the ancient object that her people hailed as sacred.

Unfortunately, they didn\'t have the time.

They all didn\'t have time on their side.

"Alright," Darwel stood up. Her long ears wiggled, a red pigment spreading across them. "Let\'s go."

"You going somewhere we can\'t follow?" Maxim asked lazily. Perhaps a little jealously.

.cοm "Unfortunately, only my people are allowed where we are going. Sorry," Darwel said to which the pink-haired woman waved her off.

It was true, nevermind humans, the regular Sif could only go to that place on fixed dates and with a stringent set of rules and regulations on how they should behave. Only El Sif had the privilege of going as they pleased.

Sevill was a little apprehensive about this, as she too wondered how Darwel\'s parents would react, but the authority that Skullius as a Luminant could command was too immense for her to even voice her doubts.

She simply went along.

As the trio exited Maxim\'s room, Skullius pulled Demion\'s Dance out of its sheath.

The green, curved blade was as lustrous and intricate as ever. Now that Demion\'s Dance had transformed from a Rare grade saber to a Legendary grade hanger, Skullius couldn\'t help imagine what its finally form was going to be.

The sword had unexpectedly evolved during the Premium Age Royale, only stopping at Legendary because the rules of the Royale – prohibiting the use of any items above the Legendary grade – were still in play.

Despite this, the sword had phenomenal enhancements, but they would only get better soon.

It was also quite interesting to Skullius that the sword showed some degree of intelligence already.

Well, given how old and mysterious it was, it was likely to have a consciousness like some powerful objects out there.

The fact that Skullius had met Irisa, the woman from the tale that bound Demion and Escus when he died in the Royale, convinced him of this.

 There was definitely more to this sword.

Sadly, because he was uncertain what would happen if it evolved fully, he didn\'t want to do this while inside this mansion. Thus, he sheathed it again.

Speaking of this building, its dimensions were absurd.

His senses could not completely comprehend where it started and ended. Of course that could be attributed to the fact that it had some heavy runes applied to it for differing means of defence.

Every corridor was lined with vines, branches or roots from trees unseen, all providing aesthetic and lighting.

More than that however, Replicus started to notice that they served greater purpose than that.

It was extremely easy to miss, if not for his [Greatest Mana Manipulation] which picked up mana flowing up some vines from the floor they were in, going downward. That one instance told Skullius much.

The roots and vines were alive.

They were surveillance.

They also helped carry energy needed to keep the mansion\'s functions afloat.

The fact that it was so hard for him to figure out had stunned Skullius, so much so that he grinned.

"Astounding," he remarked.

Darwel smiled at him as they finally reached the ground floor, scaling down a wide set of stairs lined with young, sweet-smelling cherry trees on either side. The stairs formed at a junction that led into three halls within the mansion.

"This is nothing compared to what\'s out there," she said as she gestured towards the grand entrance which gave a spectacular view of outside, swallowed by night.