Bro, I’m not an Undead!

“WHAT THE HELL BRO?!” Skullius screeched as he scrambled, startling the cultured man at his side who had inquired the purpose of his visit as if it wasn’t painfully obvious from their venue.

The others who were also going about their business were also bewildered as the atmosphere in the library was usually quiet but the outburst by Skullius clearly meant something was wrong.

Some showed annoyance, others were unsettled and for others, this scene was a welcome interlude.

For Skullius, he was terrified out of his mind.

‘Has three days already passed?! Wait, this doesn’t seem right! Did I forget?! Gaaaah! What do I do?!’

Mana.

He needed mana!

Skullius’ mind raced as he realised that his own mana, which was over 400 with the Mana Band equipped, was not enough to stall his demise at all!

Visible droplets of sweat trickled down Skullius’ brow as he gulped.

The voice of the man by his side who had his face scrunched up with a brow raised in fury along with the image next notifications to his face increased the tension for him.

“How uncultured! Have you no respect for sacredness of knowledge you lowly fool?! You can either learn to be quiet or leave!”

[You have failed to sustain your own existence with mana]

[Attempting mana red-

Skullius tore his attention from the notification and shoved the man beside him a distance.

He inserted mana into his storage ring, summoning his best bet for survival!

The Null Devil’s Aegis of Damnation!

THUD!

The large armour fell onto the stone tiled floor with a thud, its dark image and creepy design causing panic.

The man who had been shoved away by Skullius turned pale and backed away, his feet slipping across the floor multiple times before he managed to stand and create some distance with this uncultured bum, terror livid in his eyes!

‘Damn it! I can’t remove Red Rage from the armour…’ Skullius thought. His Apostle was nesting within the Null Devil’s Aegis of Damnation, delaying his end!

[Mana insufficient…]

[You shall now meet your end]

“NO, I WON’T!” Skill roared as he squeezed himself into the armour while asking Red Rage for forgiveness.

His own stature was smaller than Red Rage’s bone remains and after a few short moments of struggle, Skullius barely fit into the armour with a puzzled grey skeleton that mentally gave him a mental confused ‘WTBF’.

“What is that?!”

“Dear Suzamete! Call the guards! Some strange cultist has invaded the College!”

“Is it a member of the Evenfall?!”

“EEEK! Such distasteful armour! Take it away!”

The speculations drove some to run away.

Skullius heard the noise outside as the people grew restless.

Most left the library while the more curious ones began to gather around, leaving a gap of more than four meters between them and Skullius.

Unbeknownst to them, they had safely evaded a rather troublesome skill of the armour that would have left nothing of them behind.

All this wasn’t Skullius’ immediate concern, however, as he found out that by virtue of him being in the armour, it prioritised giving its effects to him rather than Red Rage as he was the owner!

“Damn it!”

Sensing the large amount of mana that was now provided, Doom Factor 1 no longer threatened to end Skullius as a familiar notification popped up instead.

[Your mana reserves have vastly increased. Doom Factor 1 demands a total of 2000 Mana Points for a three day exemption period]

“I don’t have that much, you sockethole!” Skullius screamed at the guidance field.

This notification had popped up in his vision back when he first evolved to Tier 1 and when he had paid the 2000 Mana Point fee, he had gained three days off from the constant harassment that the Doom Factor had to offer.

Now though, in his Discount Human form, Skullius didn’t have that much mana on him and in his attempt to save himself, he tried to offer less than the required amount.

“Can’t I just give less mana to buy myself a few more hours?!”

[Doom Factor 1 demands a minimum of 1000 Mana Points for ‘Discount Human LV2’ and ‘Fulgurant Bone Penetrator LV1’]

“Fine, fine! Just take it!” Skullius yelled and in the next moment, he felt more than half of his supply of mana being consumed.

[Doom Factor 1 is temporarily cured. Resuming pursuit in 36 hours]

The noise Skullius was making as he unsteadily squirmed within the armour caused unease. There was something about seeing the large armour tumble on the floor that was both of amusing and terrifying.

What was this man doing within that armour?!

What obscene treachery was he up to?!

Those that remained to see this freak show were counting on the guards that were coming to solve the problem and wanted to see how this nutjob would be dealt with.

Skullius unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief as the immediate issue of concern had been dealt with.

Now, it was on to the next problem.

Some of the people here had seen his face and this effectively guaranteed that he was screwed.

Furthermore, he felt the terrifying energy signatures that were coming from a distance away, responding to the disturbance.

The fact that the Capital Knights from this City were no joke made Skullius curse in bone expletives as he quickly made two decisions that went against his overt objective but not his character as one who wanted to survive.

He didn’t have any other choice anyway.

Skullius’ head popped out of the armour’s neck which wasn’t equipping the hideous helmet as he scouted, attracting the attention of the few who remained behind.

He had to kill the witnesses!

But before that…

“Go!” he ordered.

The Chains of Damnation rushed from the armour as they headed to where Skullius had directed.

The shelves and stall of books that were positioned all around and in the corners of the library!

Skullius only made sure to grab the smaller shelves of books that were in his immediate surroundings, wrapping and pulling them over with the chains!

The droves of people, some of which were still exiting, ran out while those that had been surrounding him dashed away as they screamed!

As the shelves approached Skullius, he immediately stored them within the storage space of the armour!

Unfortunately for him, after only one shelf and a single stall, the storage space was already full as while inserting new objects to be stored, Skullius had removed the chest that was within the storage, putting it into his own spatial storage ring!

The room that was created wasn’t much but he couldn’t complain.

From within the masses, Skullius sensed a few strong individuals rushing to his position as they saw that he was stealing the precious property of the College!

They had probably been among those reading when he had abruptly caused the hubbub.

Skullius turned to the see the man who had been telling him to shut up run away as he headed for a separate exit for the library staff.

‘That guy should also die with the rest…’ he thought as he stretched his hands as far as he could through the openings within the armour designated for the arms.

Naturally they couldn’t fit all through.

However, the Discount Human couldn’t waste time exiting the armour to cast a single spell.

That side though, he had faith in the fact that this spell would reach many of the witnesses if not all and also deal some damage to the guards that had finally reached the entrance to the library, shuttling in.

Mana gathered and condensed as Skullius used a certain skill for the first time.

He had more than enough mana to cast it now and his non-existent heart burned with anticipation.

It had failed to impress him when he had initially got it due to its performance but after it evolved, he held high hopes for it.

A hellish crimson hue dyed the entire library and flooded all the windows and doors as it leaked outside, followed by a searing heat that left nothing untouched.

Skullius bellowed the name of the skill that had begun to form above the Null Devil’s Aegis of Damnation!

“Revenant Flames of Ecstasy!”