Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1140: Broken

Given that having her soul drawn out was the means with which her memories had been recovered, and that she remembered the experience, the complexity and nuance of souls were something she had grown to appreciate.

Beyond that, Yuyui had gotten quite close to Ferex after Skullius \'exiled\' her, having her travel with Replicus and Kenno\'s crew instead. Ferex was particularly knowledgeable about souls. He had abilities that allowed him to interact and manipulate them - like [Spirit Walk]. These abilities worked even on high-level creatures. A good example was what Ferex had done with the Cluster General, he, Skullius and Yuyui had fought on the assignment Skullius had chosen from the Guilds Association back in Genhuis City.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.484).

Ferex knew a great deal about the soul and Yuyui had seen him use his abilities to vex enemies firsthand.

Never before had Yuyui thought she would think to all these memories with Ferex and get a dose of inspiration.

In the heat of the moment, Yuyui had used her Eye of Moving to transport herself into Stylla\'s Reflection of the Soul.

Admittedly, she hadn\'t known what exactly she was doing and what she would even accomplish, but here she was.

When faced with the bizarre nature of Stylla\'s Reflection of the Soul, Yuyui was stunned.

It was unnerving.

Yuyui didn\'t know what to do, but a part of her was convinced she could find Stylla here. The Stylla she had seen following her arrival on this side of the world, was definitely not the real one; the one she knew had to be hidden away.

Thus, Yuyui walked forward, following a trail of the individuals neatly marching in single file. She had only taken a few steps when a patch of white smoke appeared before her and formed a vague, feminine shape. The shape had a rather somber face.

"You... No. You are not the one. Then are you in league with that creature who invaded here earlier?" the figure asked indignantly.

Yuyui had no idea what the figure was talking about. At first, she thought the odd shape was referring to the BoneTender, but that didn\'t make sense.

She couldn\'t have known that Sause had been the one to attack Stylla.

Nevertheless...

"No... I\'m here to help Stylla. She\'s about to die. She\'s being used to... Please help me save her!" Yuyui cried.

The figure turned sullen.

"I\'m aware," it said, its voice softening. "But I\'m afraid there\'s little that can be done. Stylla is... She is broken."

"Broken? Huh?" Yuyui asked, her face churning. "What do you mean?"

"Follow me."

At the figure\'s words, Yuyui followed after it when it turned and glided quickly along the hallway.

Looking at the back of the figure, Yuyui couldn\'t help but wonder if this was what Ferex had referred to as the guardian of Stylla\'s Reflection. Because it was merely a more interactive form of this place, it bore the same name.

"Stylla has been conscious. She has seen everything she has been doing since that monster corrupted her. She saw what she did to her brother. Foul work, turning him into a jar to bear the curse she retrieved from her father. Well, this among other things. She hasn\'t been the same since. She tried to take control of her body, to resist what it has become, but..."

Yuyui wore a sad look.

"I see."

She could only imagine what that was like.

Being trapped inside your own body, forced to watch yourself perform atrocities. According to the information she was fed, Yuyui knew Stylla had been missing for more than a month. To think she had to endure this.

"There," the odd, white figure said, pointing ahead of them where someone was lying flat on the floor, huddled like a ball.

"Stylla!" Yuyui screamed.

However, right then, the great hallway started to tremble, parts of it collapsing.

"It\'s begun," said the Reflection.

Yuyui gritted her teeth and knelt beside Stylla. She had her face turned against the floor, her long red hair covering most of it.

"Stylla! Wake up! We need to -"

"Go away!" Stylla snapped and she further coiled into herself.

Yuyui panicked.

What could she even say?

What could she even do?

Could she even save Stylla?

A myriad of thoughts bombarded her brain and then...

"Your sister. She died. She and Daggs. They were killed in the Premium Age Royale. I don\'t know much, but I do know that your father would be devastated if he were to find out he lost you too, Stylla. Did you save him just so he could watch all his children die?"

Yuyui had been told these details by Replicus, but she hadn\'t known she would be using them in this situation.

There was an immediate reaction from Stylla. She sobbed lightly, but she didn\'t say anything.

Yuyui grew impatient.

The hallway was cracking.

"Stylla! Don\'t waste away like this! Are you really so depressed that you can\'t even find the ourage to try and see your father again? Do you know you\'re about to be used to do something even worse than what you did before? Why are you still lying there?!" Yuyui screamed.

"Give it up," the Reflection of Stylla\'s soul said. "She won\'t budge. I believe she has been wallowing in her self-pity for so long that she\'s starting to get comfortable in it."

Yuyui couldn\'t accept it.

No way.

She knew a thing or two about losing oneself. She couldn\'t believe Stylla wasn\'t willing to

take the chance to save herself, even at a moment like this.

Yuyui had done it eagerly when it was her time to be saved.

She had taken the chance when Skullius found her in the Temple of Unlusted Tears.

Suddenly, the lime-haired girl\'s eyes sparkled.

That\'s right!

She grabbed Stylla by the hair and pulled her from the floor.

"Now\'s not the time to whine! Do you know my master, Festos, is in more or less the same boat as you right now? Hmm? He too has to fight another version of himself, an impostor! Someone who knows him so well it might just be impossible to beat him!" Yuyui cried while looking at Stylla\'s pained, bitter face. "My master has a high opinion of you, you know? It was thanks to you that he got so strong. You helped him when he was in need. You took him into your family and helped him grow. Now, he\'s come to save you and you\'re going to thank him by dying off like this, making things worse for everyone?!"

Stylla jerked.

"It\'s not... It\'s not about me! It\'s about-"

A crisp slap struck across Stylla\'s face.

"Dang right! It\'s not about YOU!" she screamed.

The hallway started to crumble. It was becoming a mess of rubble.

Yuyui sweated.

She glared at Yuyui who bit her lips.

"If you knew what I did..."

"You can tell me when you\'re not about get erased from existence!" Yuyui barked.

She saw Stylla wither a little. A glimpse of defeat flickered in her eyes.

That was all Yuyui needed.

*

The Null Terror was extremely pleased that his gamble had paid off. He watched as Stylla\'s body folded in on itself and was reduced to a glowing orb of some of the purest energy he had

ever seen.

Divinity truly was a stunning thing!

The BoneTender cackled.

This was it!

\'YES!\' he thought.

However... he was dumbfounded when he saw something flicker out of the glowing orb, which

had previously been Stylla.

It was a certain lime-haired girl, in her grasp a luminous soul that looked to be sound asleep.

"NO! What did you do?!" the BoneTender screamed hatefully, completely staggered.

The orb he had in his grasp lost most of its luster. It looked dead!

The BoneTender grew mad.

What did that insignificant pest do?!

Yuyui was bleeding from every orifice on her face, and to be quite honest, she barely felt alive.

Every inch of her body was aching. She nearly dropped the luminous soul in her hands, but

Benzard immediately appeared beside her and supported her.

Yuyui looked at the BoneTender.

He had shuttled towards them at a terrifying speed, but a net of red lightning barred him from

getting close!

Yuyui smirked.

She had done it.

She had thought about it in the heat of the moment.

Ferex had told her that extracting souls was a dangerous affair. Forcefully removing them was

extremely detrimental for weaker individuals, and handling them in any way - for allies - required consent if anything productive was to be done.

That was why it had been essential for Stylla to be willing to be saved, otherwise there was no

point.

She chuckled at the outrage of the BoneTender.

Now, all that was left was...

BOOOOOOM! All of a sudden, Benzard\'s Territory was destroyed after a treacherous noise from the far

distance resounded!

Everyone was flung away violently by a phenomenally powerful force!

Far off, way beyond Edagon, towering, dark grey bolts of lightning danced up to the skies, but

so did a disgustingly beautiful, colossal entity that inspired serenity... silence.