Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 976 Sure Shot!

Legends could have been written about the swift golden white swallow and the black worm clashing in the pretty, dark skies. After all, over a decent portion of Opungale, the two were seen, if for a very brief morsel of time. Both Sif and Maqians also heard deafening undulations in the depth of the world's ceiling echoing all throughout the continent, and few had the honor of seeing the two up close.

Skullius' figure moved in a straight line, leaving a lengthy trail that took seconds to be wiped out of the atmosphere. It wasn't at all clear, but an excited expression was on his face. He dropped from the sky with flawless vertical grace only to shoot straight left just before he hit the ground. His figure was too fast for the common Sif he passed between in the streets, all too preoccupied with looking in horror at billows of smoke rising from different directions which they thought to signal the destruction of other Auroras.

By the time a staggering, precise gust was left in the wake of his travel, he was already twenty kilometers away.

The large, worm-like mass of darkness took a different route as it continued to soar far up in hopes of catching up to him. It only dove down after Skullius set to rise up again, and the two met in the middle.

Ashema, who was riding the livid flock of black birds (the worm), along with the furry kin he had called, widened his eyes to focus. His sight could glimpse the movements of Skullius as long as he didn't make constant turns, and right now, he could see his approach. 

He was waiting for the right moment to strike with any one of the few machinations he had planned in his head.

One, was the thralls he had made earlier, which were racing all around while waiting for definitive orders for the next course of attack.

The second, revolved around his hairy partner. 

In the Under, beasts tended to lose their ability to fondly appreciate the dark environment and use the darkness when they acquired their mutation ability. Those that didn't, or hadn't developed these unique powers ungoverned by the need for energies as fuel for activation, were more than likely to groom that power of darkness to insurmountable heights, manipulating darkness for every little thing they needed; in this way, it truly became a friend.

The hairy beast with golden eyes was one such creature. It was only half as old as Ashema, but its ability to wield darkness was gracefully beyond his. The same could be said for the vulture-like birds Ashema called. They, much like most avian species of the Under were able to use darkness to teleport, something most advanced denizens of the Under couldn't do.

With these two brands of partners, Ashema was sure…

'I can land one critical blow for sure. That's all I need. If I can't even manage that… then I might as well call Iyuko here,' he thought.

Iyuko happened to be the Herald of Boron, one of the fiercest among all the denizens of the Under.

Ashema didn't quite like the idea of calling her. It was essentially an admittance of inferiority, and he would rather lose to a surface dweller than admit that.

"Let's do this!" Ashema said as he patted his furry companion. He then took a great swig of the blood in his gourd and it shot through his veins, elevating his strength again such that his body grew tauter, threatening to rip apart.

The furry beast spread its hands wide and a great shadow drew from behind it, rising rapidly and shooting forth.

The darkness was rather unique. Rather than just being pitch black, it had a liquid quality to it that gave the impression that it was like a potent paint capable of slathering over even the details of the world.

This darkness was way better than what Ashema could conjure, and as it flooded in Skullius' vision, he found that it didn't reflect his light.

'I thought so.'

Skullius scoffed, the Heart of Revelation seeming to echo his pride in the fact that he had guessed right on what Ashema's intent had been.

As powerful as this mysterious brand of darkness was, it wasn't nearly as fast as he was.

The Hybrid Luman flickered lightly in the sky and appeared above the flying flock that made the giant wave; above Ashema and the furry beast!

The former immediately turned a bloodshot eye towards the Hybrid Luman, much to his slight surprise.

"Let's get rid of that nuisance, shall we?" Skullius said and his figure darted towards the furry beast, avoiding his rising tide of darkness and appearing ridiculously fast behind it. One of his wings then stabbed forth with great speed and…

BOOOM!

…!!!

The giant flock scattered, with the majority of the birds being obliterated into rocky chunks, feathers and blood that spilled everywhere.

Ashema and the furry beast were sent flying in different directions, the former with a huge grin on his face.

He couldn't have been happier.

The one to be penetrated by something had not been the beast he called for, after all.

It was Skullius, who now donned a shocked expression.

It had come without warning, an attack from a very long distance away, like a string or thread parting the dark sky.

It was microscopic, like the blood attack from before, but instead of being just compressed blood, it was layered with the potent darkness from the furry beast he had attempted to kill just now, and when it made contact with him, a being of light, it bore through his torso and his wings, ripping past him like a massive cannon!

The thick darkness had finally cut through the radiance of Skullius, born from his skill [Son of Luserus].

"Finish him!" Ashema cried as he fell.

Before he even finished speaking, another attack like the one that had just blasted Skullius came from a different direction, bearing speed that rivalled his own. 

Sneakily, Ashema had had the furry beast produce its potent darkness during the chase, and with the birds, he sent it towards his thralls who he then commanded to sent forth the Godspeed Blood Thread with a coat of the dominant darkness where he directed!

The one to send the first attack had already perished – a consequence of using the ability at full power – and the next had its head rupture open as its attack soared, aimed at Skullius' head with incredible precision.

Time seemed to slow down for Ashema. His keen sight honed in on the Blood Thread inching its way into Skullius' head and he grinned.

…Only to be shaken in fright in the next moment, when the dark sky turned brighter than the glare of the summer sun and devoured him, the remaining black birds and his furry companion within its sacred, torturous glow.