Bro, I'm not an Undead!

After being restored by Granted Restoration, Kintar cleared her throat and donned a bright grin once again. It would have staggered the average human how many times she'd been killed by Skullius…today.

"I wish I could have been a father back in the day," Sila said longingly, and he leaned against the rightmost wall in the hall. His body of pristine, tightly bound vines, slightly aglow, made every pose he made seem majestic. The generous locks of hair on his head glowing pale gold, like his stubble, matched the fierce orange of his eyes. "To think a skeleton beat me to it."

"A skeleton with flesh, you mean?" said Skullius and he conjured himself a chair with [Evil Darkness]. "Now that you have a body of your own, after all this is done, you can find yourself a woman and settle."

Sila stroked his chin, a smile growing on his face.

"Yes, yes, you're right. There's more that this body can do other than fighting."

Kintar scoffed.

"Tut, tut, tut," she said, shaking her head. "Women have standards, you know?"

Sila frowned and snapped in her direction.

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

Kintar folded her arms.

"It takes more than good looks to get a fair woman. You have to pique her interest in some way. Master was lucky that Darwel recognised the bit of Luminant in him all those months back, and was even luckier still that Uyuniya acted as a guide for what he should do to make tonight worth her while."

It was Skullius' turn to scowl.

"Hey, I won her over by playing hard to get! She was always trying to spent time with me back in Genhuis City, and I kept avoiding her, building my intrigue and mystique. I told you the whole story!" he said hotly.

Kintar's little eyes turned in crescents.

"Maybe so. But if I recall correctly, it was your daring evil self who proposed taking Darwel as his woman, even if he had an hidden agenda. Women like that sort of thing. Even if Darwel was a bit taken aback at first, that's probably the moment she decided she wouldn't mind being yours."

Skullius narrowed his eyes at the little wretch.

"You're just begging to be my little punching bag today, aren't you? How many charges of Granted Restoration do you even have left?" he said dangerously.

Kintar shrugged.

"Enough. I can still restore himself even if they are all gone." She laughed. "You do know that I'm right though, don't you?"

Skullius sighed.

"Doesn't matter. Fulgardt self. Evil self. That's a part of me. So, I win either way," he said, spreading his arms to rest the case.

"That's right, tomato flinger!" Sila seconded the sentiment. "Any version of a man can beguile any version of a woman!"

Skullius and Kintar gave him an odd look.

"That's not…"

"How did you come to that conclusion?" stabbed Kintar. "Do you even remember anything other than fighting? You died during the Second Grand War, right? They called you the Tower General for a reason – a title that jabs at your lack of competence in anything other than war."

Skullius had to hold Sila back from diving on Kintar. Even after the Tower General cooled off, he continued to give Kintar a mean eye.

"Anyway!" Skullius said, sighing. "Where's Uyuniya? I need you three ready for action as soon as possible."

Surprisingly, this made Kintar's mirth flush away. She donned a small frown.

"You're really not going to take my advice, are you?" she said to her master.

"No. Better safe than sorry," Skullius said, and he raised a hand when Kintar made to argue further. "I don't doubt your strength. I know what you're capable of on your own – not to mention how your ego could dwarf all of Aigas. Don't underestimate Uyuniya. And Sila was still a capable expert back in the day."

"I still am!" the Tower General boomed.

Skullius sighed and corrected himself.

"Right. He is a capable expert."

Kintar appraised the Tower General.

"Fair enough. Sure, he still has memories of his powers and experience, but is he familiar with this new body of his? What even is it at this point anyway?"

As much as Sila loathed the short Unlimited Star, he acknowledged that they had the same questions on this matter. He might have been prancing around in this body as though he understood it, but he didn't.

Both he and Kintar looked to Skullius for answers.

"That body is a perfect combination of some super high Tier Cluster General with extreme natural regenerative abilities; the special eyes of a guardian beast called the Grinning Jester Fox; part of my instinctive physical biases; [Just light]; refined Null Life Essence from Serenity, and a Blessing called Graceful Monolith of the Eminent. I believe my other self was content committing that Blessing to the Stolen Angel."

"I may have stripped most of the abilities the Stolen Angel had when I was trying to fuse back with my original body earlier, but I didn't take too much away from that vessel. That Blessing should still be operational."

Grace Monolith of the Eminent was a Blessing Skullius had received from Luserus during their bargain in Opungale. It allowed him to fuse other entities with himself to create wild alternative beings and concepts.

Because it was a Blessing received from a Deity outside of Aigas, it should have counted as a Veneration art, but it hadn't taken on that title because Skullius was part Luminant, and thus, by all means, it was like he was receiving a Blessing from the same Deity who made him. Technically. As a result, he didn't have to suffer the needless requirements attached to using Veneration arts.

With all this explained to him, Sila appraised himself closely.

"Does this… species of mine – exclusive and one of a kind, of course – have a name?" he asked with an unmistakably cocky tone.

Skullius, after rolling his eyes, had been about to tell him the name, for indeed he knew because of the guidance field, but…

"How about you find out for yourself?" he said.

"What?" Sila frowned, but it dawned on him a second later what the Hybrid Warmoth meant, and he beamed. "Finally! Give it to me!"

Kintar looked between the two.

"What are you talking about?"

Sila was pleased to see her confusion. He wished it could have lasted a little longer, but Skullius wasn't as petty as he was.

"I can't keep letting these <Attachment> units I have rot away," he said. "I think having a guidance field of your own would do you much good."