Bro, I’m not an Undead!

…

Silence.

A reply seemed to not come.

“Well?”

“HMM? SO NOW YOU WANT TO TALK TO ME TOMATO FLINGER?!! I SHALL NOT TELL YOU ANYTHING! WHY WOULD I? YOU’RE A VILE UNDEAD! MY LIPS ARE SEALED!” Sila yelled.

“Arghh…” Skullius grumbled.

Seriously?!

This was so annoying!

Would he really have to live with this guy for all his Null Life?

It seemed like it wasn’t a matter of the body too.

He had killed Sila while in his Discount Human form but the bastard had spawned even in Penetrator form.

It seemed like a matter of the soul as Skullius only had one.

“HAHAHAHAHA! I CAN SENSE YOUR DISTRESS! GOOD, GOOD, TOMATO FLINGER! QUINTESS WOULD BE GLAD THAT THE GREAT TOWER GENERAL SILA HAS AT LEAST SERVED TO PUT THE ENEMY INTO A STATE OF MENTAL TURMOIL!”

Dammit! That loud voice!

The whole situation gave Skullius little hope as he had discovered that this guy was literally a part of him now.

He was sort of keeping his soul steady and patching up chips from the construct.

As if the Penetrator didn’t have enough to deal with already!

“Gah, can you at least shut up! I can’t think straight with your noise in my head! Don’t you have your own side of my soul or something, bro?!”

“YOU TO—”

Suddenly, Sila’s voice was cut off and all Skullius heard were greatly muffled noises in the background that barely shook his mind.

‘Hmm? Wait a minute…’ he thought.

“You can talk…” Skullius said.

“DON’T YOU DARE SHUT ME OFF AGAIN, TOMATO FLINGER! THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I WARNED MY WIFE ABOUT! YOU—”

“Shut up.”

Silence.

‘Ah~.’

Skullius instantly felt relieved.

He could shut up this bastard if he wanted to!

That was convenient.

At least he could live in peace even with this annoying oddity.

With more time to think, Skullius began gathering all the thoughts from that time.

He still couldn’t get rid of the lingering thought that Dezrael could also awaken within him even if he had worked up a theory that that might not be the case.

That wouldn’t be a pleasant experience as he had some really bad conflict with the bastard.

However, as the Penetrator thought to this point, he realised that he might really not have to worry about this solely because of something else that happened back then.

‘Unlike Sila, Dezrael’s soul was used for something other than just giving me stat points. Some of it was used to form the Luminant Seed that needs me to reach the Advancement Stage to activate. So… maybe, the parts that remain are not strong enough to awaken…’

(A/N: Refer to Chapter 68).

At this point, Skullius was made to recognise the incredible power that Fulgardt had. To toy with life, death and souls like this…

And this Luminant Seed.

He had been looking forward to using it but couldn’t help but grow anxious now.

However, he had already taken it into himself, which was, well… anxiety inducing.

“Just how many of these people are in the Labyrinth? They must all have been powerful experts and for them to remain alive until now…”

They must all have been significantly powerful.

…!

The Penetrator suddenly straightened his spine as his mind reached another conclusion!

Jeez, was his Penetrator form that much smarter than his Discount Human form?!

He immediately willed for Sila to be able to speak again and the mouthful he got was tremendous!

“YOU VIIIIILE UNDEAD, TOMATO FLINGER! YOU DARE HOLD ME IN THIS CRAMPED BUBBLE?! LET ME OUT! I’LL FIND YOU, AND I WILL KILL YOU!”

“Bro, you live in my body!” Skullius said with an annoyed flicker of his four sockets flames. “I have an idea. If you’re willing to listen, we can both benefit from it.”

“HA! AS IF I’D EVER LISTEN TO WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! FIRST CLEAN UP MY TOWER OF THOSE TOMATOES YOU THREW AND BOW SIX TIMES, THEN I MIGHT LISTEN! HEHEH!”

“Really?” Skullius said slyly. “Even if I tell you that I can give bring you back to life?”

“….”

“Not so annoying anymore now, bro? Kek.”

He had him!

There was no way this bodiless bastard could resist!

“HMMM! YOU WON’T FOOL ME, TOMATO FLINGER! HOW COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO THAT?! I WON’T BELIEVE YOUR LIES!”

Oh.

Skullius grinned inwardly still.

“Oh, but I can. You see, the same powers that kept you alive in the Labyrinth are mine now. I can use them to bind your soul to a body and get you back to living again.”

“HMMMM…..LIES! LIES, THE LOT OF THEM! WHY SHOULD I COLLUDE WITH YOU OVER SUCH A THING?! MY LIFE MEANS NOTHING! IT WAS ONLY GIVEN PURPOSE BY QUINTESS HIMSELF! I SHALL NEVER BETRAY HIM! YOU SHALL NOT FOOL ME, TOMATO FLINGER! I REFUSE!”

Sila was adamant. His decision seemed final as he even took a pause after his loud reply.

However, Skullius wasn’t done.

“Oh interesting. You know, this humble tomato flinger would be glad to do the same for your wife. Wouldn’t that make you happy?”

…!

‘Heheh…’ Skullius grinned internally as he felt the tumultuous shock from the freeloader in his body. Well technically, Sila wasn’t a freeloader as he truly was earning his keep but still.

Skullius had decided to play by this man’s rules. He used the man’s words against him to reach what he wanted.

He wasn’t sure what a wife was but it seemed to be a person. An important person to this guy.

As for why he was trying to rope this guy in, it was a simple matter.

‘This guy is very old. I remember when I killed him, he gave me more than a million Exp! He must have been strong too and I bet I could get him to help me!’

As simple as that.

“HEY, TOMATO FLINGER…” Sila said with a chilling voice. “THIS IS MY WIFE WE’RE TALKING ABOUT…”

There was a lengthy silence, but Skullius was patient.

He knew that the art of Talk no Bullshit Jutsu required one to be sufficiently opportunistic and calm.

One needed to let the facts sink in before telling his victim some more.

“MY WIFE… CAN YOU REALLY…?”

“Of course! But you see, I’m not that strong yet and I need ways to grow stronger faster. If I could reach a higher stage of power, I could do what Fulgardt did with his powers to help you and your wife. Fulgardt denied you death and gave you life. I can do the same with your help.”

“…”

Another stretch of silence.

Sila seemed to be contemplating.

Twenty minutes passed before Sila gave a response and the silence almost made Skullius think that the bastard had vanished from his body.

Then…

“HOW IS IT THAT YOU HAVE FULGARDT’S POWERS?! ARE THEY NOT FOR HUMANS ONLY?! YOU’RE AN UNDEAD!”

“Like I said before. I’m not an undead. And like you said before, I’m a deceiver. How do you think I managed to get out of that place… alive?” Skullius said.

“….”

Sila took another leave of verbal absence.

The truth was, he was no longer hopelessly trying to annoying Skullius now that there was possible opportunity to be revived even if it still needed verification.

And for that…

“If you doubt me. Take a look for yourself…” Skullius said.

He was going gamble.

His confidence from earlier forward.

He was slowly starting to understand the intricacies of the hold he had over his soul. The fact he could freely control what Sila could see and when he could speak.

Since he had been able to cut off the bastard from seeing his memories, he could do the opposite.

What was the harm when the man was practically part of him?

The benefits of roping him in were immense, though Skullius didn’t know if this would be considered by UNCoddled.

Probably not.

WHOOSH!

Sila saw the ‘vision’ of Skullius’ journey with Benzard, Denille, Irlen and Reon through the Tremur and into the Labyrinth along with all the events leading to him exiting it.

All the details were laid bare.

Then it was all cut off.

“Well…?” Skullius asked with a confident voice.

This had to convince the bastard, right?

There was another bout of silence as Sila absorbed this information.

“HMMM. A DANGEROUS EXISTENCE YOU ARE. YOU ARE EVEN ALLIGNED WITH A GIANT?! HMMM….”

“BUT! FOR HER I SHALL OBLIGE… RAAAAH! TO THE UNDER WITH QUINTESS! AS IF THAT BASTARD EVER DID ANYTHING FOR ME! TELL ME, UNDEAD TOMATO FLINGER! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO?!”

Bingo!

Skullius was relieved.

“First, keep your voice down!” the Penetrator growled, making Red Rage take a few steps back.

“I SEE! Ahem. I mean, I see… what do I have to do?! Tell me! Let us not waste anymore time. The sooner I revive, the better!”

Skullius grinned. He had this guy where he wanted him.

“Alright. As a starter, I guess I need to know the fastest way to get a blue core…”