Bro, I'm not an Undead!

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Elita turned to the Hybrid Warmoth. Her fury turned flaccid.

"Yes. I used a LIMITED CONTRACT. Even without returning to Aigas – which I didn't want to at the time – I could interact with the Purity. Contracts are a way to bypass a world's Rules. Knowing the greedy nature of the nine, I knew they would take my words as gospel. I offered them a contract with two Treasures within it and they were ecstatic," she explained, a look of scorn on her face.

The two Treasures which she had offered through the contract, had been the Treasure which produced the barrier, and Uyuniya's Realm rank sword, Deceptive Incubating Masterpiece. The former was actually a communication tool that erected a powerful barrier around a large space and then projected information to everyone within that enclosed space.

"I knew Mercella's Divine Blessing could harness plagues. Theoretically, it could produce a Divine, if used right. Void confirmed it for me," Elita continued. "I explained it to the nine. I proposed the idea and told them that if they did it all correctly, they would have a combat unit that could dominate the world. They could use it for their whims. And oh, they were incredibly pleased to hear it."

Skullius scoffed, disgusted.

"I see. I was wondering how YOU managed to offer the Purity a contract. So it was Void who offered them the contract," he said, neglecting everything else Elita explained.

He recalled it then. How Fulgardt had said making a contract with Void was more beneficial than making one with Primeval Deities. Serenity had also confirmed it. She couldn't make contracts because of her restrictions, but Void and Emmae could, and probably with lesser restrictions than that which Primeval Deities had to go through.

"Naturally," Elita said. She didn't like the way Skullius looked at him, but she ignored it. "By harnessing plagues and infusing them into Cursed Bloods like me, Mercella could complete the Mortal Binding requirement for Divinity. Ember Tasting wouldn't be a problem. She already had access to a Divine Blessing, and with the help of the Higher Order Priests who wield artefacts imbued with Blessings and Divine energy, she wouldn't need long to complete the Ember Tasting requirement. All that remained was Limit Breaking. There was no conceivable way for Mercella to reach the Beyond the Veil Stage from the Incandescent Stage, but that wasn't a problem. I wasn't working to make her a Divine. Uyuniya would fulfil that last requirement herself."

And indeed, that was the case.

Contracts could be offered even to individuals without the guidance field. It was a lot harder to interact without one, but not impossible. Thus, with Void's help, Elita offered the nine a contract with the Deceptive Incubating Masterpiece. The Treasure had already been housing Uyuniya at that time, as was one of its various properties.

~~~

[Deceptive Incubating Masterpiece]

+Realm (Wicked)+

A unique sword whose blade will ensnare anyone reflected on its surface in a snug, incubating cushion that responds with 100x efficiency to all forms of beneficial stimulus from the outside.

…

~~~~

The nine had given the Deceptive Incubating Masterpiece to Mercella, just as Elita had instructed with the other Treasure: the communication tool. As it was attached to her the whole time, everything beneficial Mercella experienced, happened a 100 times greater to Uyuniya.

Thus, the Voided Deathform had completed Ember Tasting and Mortal Binding.

As for Limit Breaking, Uyuniya had already been at the peak of the power system in her world.

All this didn't need to be spelled out to Skullius. As soon as he realised Elita had used a LIMITED CONTRACT, most of his questions were answered. He didn't even bother asking how Elita made a contract with the nine when they didn't have an Exotic Parlous Nature to offer – as was the mechanic for how LIMITED CONTRACTS were attracted.

Judging again by what Fulgardt had said, contracts offered by the Existential Parallels did not conform to the norms of the Common Reality Leagues - a standard for anomalius powers like theirs. If Serenity didn't have many restrictions, she would have been able to do the same.

"You really did orchestrate it all," Skullius said. How he began to pace around showed just how stunned he was.

Revia too was stunned. She didn't understand half of what Elita said, but the rest was easy to piece together. She had been at the Purity headquarters before Elita and Skullius had shown up. She had heard all the cryptic, horrifying things the nine had said, and slain a large number of Purity Knights and even Paladin Champions who seemed diseased both literally and figuratively.

To think all of that… was Elita's doing.

"I…It was you?" Revia said. Her face looked as though it would fall off her skull. Her eyes were miniature seas, dank with conflict. "But… how could you?"

"I just said ho—"

"HOW COULD YOU?!" Revia screamed.

And it was Elita's turn to reel, surprised.

Revia might have been drawing in all the air in the world.

"Have you any idea what it took for me to do what I did? To kill people I once called peers? I agonised over it for months! I…I joined hands with that necromancer… I…I did so many… things I knew I would have to pay for someday! I did it all for you. To find you. To rescue you. To make the nine answer for what they had done with you! But… but…" As her speech broke, it began clearer and clearer why Revia was upset when her goal had aligned with Elita's.

"You did the exact same thing I did, Revia," Elita said patiently.

"NO, I DIDN'T!" she screamed. "I didn't come here to kill anyone but the nine – if there proved to be need for it. I didn't come here to brandish my sword against Purity Knights who didn't know any better! I only did so because they kept raving on about some new order! They were diseased, they were brainwashed, and I HAD to kill them to get to the nine! To find you, dammit!" The breath caught in her throat and she could have choked on it. "But… but now it appears YOU turned them into those monsters?!"

Elita cursed.

"Then you did them a favour by cutting them down. That is all there is to it."

The words horrified Revia. She couldn't believe it was Elita speaking.

"How can yoy say that so casually?" she squeaked.

"How can I not? There's nothing I can do about the dead."

Revia seemed to turn mad. Again, all the things she had done just to find Elita bore down on her like an avalanche. Had it all been for nothing? Was she also… naïve?

"So that's it, then? There's no limit for you? You are willing to cross any line and weather through the consequences, head held high? Detached?" she said. The mocking tone in her words was unmistakable.

Elita didn't reply. Her face seemed to turn colder than before. Revia could hardly recognise it.

"I…I was ready to die for my sins after I had found and saved you… I knew what I was doing was wrong.... but I had faith in the result. I… I…just had to find you…" Her tongue failed her.

Elita pitied her, but it didn't show.

"You found me. But you don't have to die," she said.

Her words no longer meant anything to Revia. The ferocious look on the silver-haired woman's face, like that of a wounded panther, showed it.

Skullius felt sorry for her. He found that he could relate to Revia more than he could to Elita. He understood it all because of—

...!

Fifty-nine green lights surging up into the sky, accompanied by fierce pressures cut apart the tense, sombre atmosphere right then. They were located in varying areas within Aigas, and they all pulsed, whipping against the darkness of the night perhaps to draw attention to themselves.

But this was swiftly proven incorrect. The lights suddenly converged towards the edge of Pelian… towards Skullius.