Bro, I'm not an Undead!

The Living type Incarnation that belonged to none other than Ijjit rose fiercely, its hair rustling serenely in the windless atmosphere as it shot towards Occa.

The cautious man narrowed his eyes and twirled the Object type Incarnation in his grasp, pushing it ahead of him to block the fierce punch that stormed from the valiant, large and luminous outline of a voluptuous woman!

After a crisp impact, Occa drew back, creating more distance between himself and Ijjit but the busty woman dashed towards him, her Incarnation following along.

As the chase began, it was abruptly cut off by Occa making a sharp turn and suddenly swinging his pole behind him, which prompted Ijjit to make the split second decision to defend. As she did, Occa followed up with a series of thrusts with his blunt ended pole, all of which were expertly blocked by Ijjit's Incarnation.

The witnesses cheered but the Contenders got bored quickly.

In general, Living type Incarnations, because they employed intricate characteristics of living things and the abilities of their user, especially for more advanced Master Stage experts, were limited in their range. They could not go too far away from their Masters, else the would lose their forms and special offensive effects. The idea behind them was to mimic the flexibility of life and techniques and that was hard to do when the user was projecting their Aura far from themselves.

Object type Incarnations were easier to maintain at a distance because they incorporated the basics of Genuine Incarnations in general and were less flexible, thus their usability at varying ranges.

Ijjit had been chasing around Occa because of he limitation of her Incarnation which put her at a disadvantage when it was Occa's turn to attack.

This was where the boring part came.

Both of these combatants were not doing anything special with their Incarnations.

Ijjit's Incarnation didn't do anything other than punch hard and Occa didn't do anything other than swing his pole. No special effects were applied.

No techniques.

No blessings.

Nothing.

The Contenders began to wonder whether these two were even actually participating at all. It was possible that they were just putting on a show but... something was not right about it.

None other than Skullius and Ruhrees could pick up on this.

As most of the Contenders would expect, a dragged out battle of fists and blocks ensued for a little less than twenty minutes with flash and bouncy fan service before Occa decisively raised his hand.

"I give up."

He surrendered.

Apparently, Ijjit's unrelenting attacks despite his ability to dodge and defend was too much for him.

In the eyes of everyone present, a blinking red light started to flash around Occa while a blue one swirled around Ijjit, naming them loser and winner respectively.

This needed no explanation to anyone who saw and the witnesses cheered, having enjoyed this exhibition that displayed a glimpse of what they were in for.

The figures of Occa who sighed disappointedly and Ijjit who had begun to rile up the crowds by bouncing up and down while cheering vanished, transported away by the same silver light that had brought them here.

Guissepo, who had been floating up, descended onto the white platform once again which remained without a scratch after the battle.

He wore a grin as he addressed the crowds that applauded, the cheer coming from every direction.

"Indeed! That was a rather extravagantly...tame show of power but it will do for the day!" he said as the noise died down.

"Go out there and invite as many as you can to join. To come and enjoy this extravagant showcase of talent and power which will go on for months! Surely, one other might want to indulge in it and sit next to you, overlooking the extravagant experts of Pelian!"

The crowd concurred.

Even now, there were many, many seats left for more witnesses to sit on.

In fact, the stadium could be expanded to accommodate more people if needed.

The gaze of Guissepo shifted from the heights where most of the cheer came from and settled on the individuals sitting with distances between them in the tent.

His eyes showed a glint of excitement and intrigue, though most of that was not reciprocated by the Contenders.

It didn't matter to him either way.

"For our Contenders, Master Rearren EverSword has prepared an informal, introductory gathering that will be held tonight. Introductions and understandings are of extravagant importance. The establishment of these will be necessary before the beginning of the real battles tomorrow. Feel free to come and dine," Guissepo informed.

'A gathering, huh? Not suspicious at all,' Skullius narrowed his eyes.

It didn't seem like Guissepo had noticed or even recognised him but he remained vigilant still.

A gathering, or rather, a party, seemed pretty normal but Skullius couldn't help but attach every bit of his suspicion about this Game Master to everything else he said or implied.

Rearren EverSword's gaze fell on Guissepo with a knowing glint and the man finally announced...

"Let us gather once again when the real, extravagant flame begins to burn..."

Guissepo bowed and with the force of his will as the Game Master, he dismissed everyone.

Millions of silver light tore through the space for fractions of a second, leaving the seats in the stadium empty.

A silence bore down on the expansive, city like stadium.

It all surrounded the man left on the platform, bowing as he wore a subdued smile.

A burst of calm breath was expelled from his nostrils as he sat down and relaxedly looked up.

The visions he had seen through the eye of the Galemonger back then constantly flashed in his head. He yearned for what he had seen to finally come true.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.316).

This was the beginning of it and he couldn't be more proud.

Who knew someone like him would be seen fit to take the reins to a millenia old belief that had been thwarted consistently, taking it hundreds of steps closer to its goal.

Certainly not him.

VWOOOSH!

Suddenly, an explosion of bright orange flame burst a distance from Guissepo, the light being amplified by the thin barrier around the platform.

Guissepo turned to it while maintaining his jovial mood.

Three figures walked out from the rapidly disappearing luminescence of the fire, reaching the Evenfall cultist seconds later.

Fulina and Cyne stood on both sides of Actuass who wore his usual getup, their eyes locking onto Guissepo with barely veiled hostility.

"Any trouble with your role?" the masked man said in a hollow voice, the glint of hazel from his eyes piercing towards Guissepo's visage.

"Recruiting men and women deemed outlaws in Pelian for the extravagant strength they wield took longer than I thought. Other than that, everything is extravagantly marvellous."

"That is not what I meant but very well," Actuass said as he looked around, the synched thrum of distant massive chains and a guttural roar echoing at this moment. "I'm sure I do not need to reiterate the stipulations of the Creeds we are under."

Guissepo rested his cheek on his hand as he shifted his sitting position.

"Yes, yes, roles and all. I am not to leave this place until the very end of the Royale. I know. As the anchor for Master Boron's Primus, it's only extravagantly natural but..." Guissepo paused. "...If I may ask. You so simply agreed to be a part of this, yet I do not see how this benefits you. Even with all I was shown, I still have no clue. What is your extravagant goal? Do you simply wish to perish alongside everyone who opposes Master Boron's extravagant release during that inevitable day? When this lengthy event ends, our alliance will expire after all. We may as well be enemies then."

Fulina and Cyne turned to Actuass.

It was true.

Back then, when Guissepo killed the former leader of the Evenfall, Actuass had agreed to the cultist's plan without much hesitation.

This puzzled them, but they trusted the masked man's judgement, though, this had to do with a literal god who seemingly showed Guissepo the right path to take for his release which involved Actuass himself.

After a brief silence, a less than astute answer followed Guissepo's question.

"You grew up in a normal household, one that feared the Deities, thankful for the littlest of good to grace them, if I recall."

Guissepo narrowed his eyes.

The two had had a brief conversation about their ideals in which Guissepo had mentioned his background but Actuass had barely shared anything about himself.

Where was this going?

"Sadly, I cannot relate to your grievances about how you were treated by society and perhaps even the Deities themselves. However you felt everyone else lived while you suffered, is foreign to me. I never lacked anything since I was born. I was spoiled, brash and greedy. You could say... I was an ungrateful devil."

Guissepo scoffed.

"Maybe I'm still the same even now." Actuass said with a distant voice before his keen eyes bore down on Guissepo with a crazy light.

"When your god eventually erupts from under the world, I will greedily ride off his chaotic vengeance like the entitled brat I am."

---

[Author's Note]

Sorry for the delay. Had some stuff to deal with. I intend to do a mass release over the weekend to make up for it. Please continue to support this work in the meantime! Thanks ya'll!