Bro, I'm not an Undead!-Chapter 1489: Show Me The Trick! (2)

Replicus was the first to leave the tower of darkness, but almost immediately after he escaped it, he was warped away. Moments later, Festos left as well, but…

"They are now in two different locations," said the old Priest with a hard frown, and he turned to Pherdanta. "Which one should we follow? The dark one?"

"Both," the Unlimited Star said firmly.

"Both?" The Priest was dumbfounded.

"Distance doesn't matter to these two," Vali said matter-of-factly. "They can throw attacks across continents if they want to. She" – she pointed at Pherdanta – "wants to see both the attacks and the result."

Pherdanta confirmed with a nod.

The Priest strained.

"Fine. Since this is a matter of life and death… I might as well get innovative. Hold on."

What he went on to do next staggered everyone. The old Priest had said that he could try having the group move to keep up with Festos and Replicus' movements, but as it turned out, if he truly pushed himself, he could do far more than that.

His face grew wrinkles draped in wrinkles as he mustered an ungodly degree of effort. He was a master of his craft. Priesthood had a lot more potential than most in this generation could ever know.

"Since we're merely consciousnesses…" he said through gritted teeth, and then everyone felt a thunderous impact gush across their minds. They might have been hit by several hammers…each!

Their eyes were glazed over for a split moment, and then… two scenes began playing before them simultaneously. The change was so overwhelming than none of them noticed that the Priest was no longer among them.

The first – and most strangely portrayed – scene was of Replicus, fighting the Festos' glowing, orange-eyed creature amid fleeing civilians. A few Capital Knights were trying to stand against them, even while succumbing to fear. Some among them were urging the commonfolk to run and trying to contain the panic. It was commendable really, given the sheer number of people left in the ruined town. They had all been relying on the protection from these few Capital Knights.

The second scene, taken in by group's eyes –was of Festos in a small village, surrounded by a group of terrified people. He had adopted a fighting stance, his hand over both the hilts of his swords.

Immense concentration was written all across his face. His eyes were wide open, however blind they were, his nostrils flared, and his mouth agape. A drop of saliva spilled from his lips.

Pherdanta brushed off the pain brewing in her mind and focused on the Hybrid Luman and what he would do next. She quickly adapted to seeing two separate sights at the same time.

She couldn't miss this!

…And she didn't.

She sensed the sharp movements from within the Hybrid Luman; all of them.

It was masterful how he suddenly used a mix of his Divine Sword Arts to cut off the supply of mana to a skill while simultaneously applying Creeds in fractions of a moment.

His hand was a blur even while Pherdanta was locking in on everything he did. Demion's Dance whipped out of its sheath and slashed at the open air violently… yet also, gracefully. No mana was released, but a flash of danger ran across Aigas towards some target elsewhere. It was a sublime contradiction.

The target of the attack felt it in full.

The large town Replicus was fighting the Stolen Angel in was heavily punished. It was many kilometers away, but that hadn't mattered to the might of the Infinite Sword God.

Buildings jumped from the whipping slash, as did the torsos of countless people, commonfolk and experts alike. They were severed in two without exception. It happened so quickly that even Replicus, whose Transcendent grade armour was slashed along with his flesh, barely registered the exact moment he was hit.

The aftermath was even more frightening. After all, that was when everything else that had been hit realised that their existence was revoked.

"Dear Quintess…" Illyinni shook at the sight. The pain of having her consciousness stretched between two locations hardly pressed her anymore.

"This is…" Shura failed to complete his sentence. He wore a look of revulsion. The visage of a common man who had been trying to pull his family to safety when his and their torsos suddenly flew off, caused him to gnash his teeth.

This was… wrong.

It was wanton slaughter.

Guissepo's reaction might have been the most meaningful. Again, he found himself matching his resolve against that of the masked man.

He realised right then, that nomatter how many times he had convinced himself that he was ready for everyone to be subjected to pain equally, that he would find happiness in seeing everyone on Aigas succumb to one giant catastrophe that didn't favour the rich or the poor…

He had been wrong.

He didn't have the stomach for it, however unhinged he was. He was not built like a true monster; a monster like the one draped in the robes of darkness.

It was tragic ironic how the Hybrid Luman had a beautiful, glowing gem of light over his head, like he was some chosen benevolent being.

But while everyone was reeling and gnashing their teeth, Pherdanta was focused. She didn't give herself the time to feel sympathy for the departed souls. She continued to watch as the Hybrid Luman appraised his own work.

There was a hint of dissatisfaction on his face.

"Silence," he said to the whimpering civilians around him, and slotted back Demion's Dance into its sheath. He got on one knee and grabbed the Bashful Abomination.

'So, this isn't the peak of this technique?' she thought and her eyes grew wide. 'Fascinating.'

Indeed, the Hybrid Luman was looking for ways to better utilise the technique.

Pherdanta took that in.

She had regarded Festos' trick as some ultimate move. That was not the right mindset to adapt. She had to regard it as a weapon that could be evolved just like any other.

Better yet…

'After I learn it, I have to make it my own,' she thought. She couldn't become a clone of the Hybrid Luman – the Festos kind. No, that wouldn't do.

Right then, her and the others' view of both Festos and Replicus vanished.

"They are back in the dark tower," a voice said to them all almost immediately after the development. It was the Priest's. "I've had to commit to drastic measures. I've connected all your consciousnesses to mine. In addition to moving you all around Aigas, I will also be moving about, searching for where one of these two is, in case they split up like just now. I hope you can handle seeing things ahead of you, and those that I see for you."

Pherdanta answered for everyone else with a grin.

"We can. Keep it up."