Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Fulgardt laughed.

"Just because you were a thousand years old, you think you're older than I am?" he said. "Your ego is all kinds of fragile isn't it, Skullius? Does that make you feel better?"

"It does, actually," the Hybrid Warmoth said, crossing his arms. "We've shared a body. It's common courtesy for you to address me by my name, and only my name."

"Very well then. Now tell me. What are you here for?"

"I was just passing by. Thought I'd say hello," said Skullius before clicking his tongue. "What do you think this is? I want your head."

Fulgardt furrowed his brow and conjured himself a chair out of darkness. He sat on it with refined grace.

"Oh please, don't give me that crap. You want to kill Somanda, not me. Wasn't that what you were screaming to the heavens before our last big fight? I will bring Somanda to his knees, or whatever valiant declaration you made before fighting that abominable fusion of you and I. Those clowns who allow you to dress them in stars are already preparing for that journey towards certain death so why waste your time with me, Skullius?"

The Hybrid Warmoth conjured himself a chair as well.

"You have a few things wrong, Fulgardt," he said. "I don't want to kill Somanda. I need to. However, where you are concerned, I just want to. I could just walk away right now, and leave you to your own devices, but no. I can't stand you. Before I bring Somanda to his knees, I want to bring you down to yours, and then kill you. I'll erase the memory of the Immoral, and become the sole Insurgent Magnus while I'm at it. It has a nice ring to it."

Fulgardt clutched the bridge of his noise as he chortled.

"I'm touched to know that I mean so much to you. Truly." His almond shaped eyes were sharp and vivid even in the night. "But you're lying to yourself. You're lying to me." He spread his arms, gestured towards the desolation around them. "You evacuated the whole of Aigas, didn't you? You sent everyone to safety before the disaster you knew was about to befall this world came to pass." He grinned. "To me, that's a sure sign that you're still the same Skullius I fought before."

"To your credit, you fought well and hard in our last bout. You took risks – necessary risks. But that was a battle that was forced on you, and you even attempted to reason with me – that version of me – before the violent conflict. That Skullius who fought to preserve his soul and the sanctity of life he'd grown to cherish is still the same one I'm looking at right now. A pathetic excuse for a Divine."

Skullius leaned forward in his seat.

"You think so?"

"Indeed. You won last time. You proved that perhaps holding true to your virtues, to your sentiments, was a valid way to live. What was that thing you said? I've met Divinity and killed it where it stands?"

Fulgardt must have found that especially funny. His laugh was infuriating.

"You were lying to yourself, and to me. What Divinity did you kill with your own hands before becoming Divine? The fact that you barely won against me – that me – when I was yet to touch Divine myself just proves it. You fought a battle with a mortal as a mortal and thought you proved a point to the wider reality, but you didn't. That's why Primeval Deities toyed with you. That's why you are still a slave to a mentality unbecoming of a Divine, unbecoming of the Insurgent Magnus. And that's why you would die here."

Skullius gripped the headrest of his chair tight. The Immoral's words got to him. They were true.

The more time had passed since Skullius' battle with Caxellac, the more he had come to realise that the Null Devil King, the Divine he referenced killing to Festos hours ago, had been severely handicapped, and above all, willing to die by the hands of the Warmoth's Progeny.

Skullius had tortured himself, agonizing over this reality. And now Fulgardt was using it against him. He was right.

The former Undead had been wielding a mentality unbefitting of a Divine being.

…But he had changed.

"Thanks for reminding me why I hate you so much, Fulgardt. Not that I needed a refresher," he said. "I am not lying when I say I want to kill you."

"Really?" said Fulgardt and he rose sharply to his feet, looking condescendingly at Skullius. "Then give me a good reason to fight you."

"What?" Skullius scowled, dumbfounded.

"Do you really think I want to waste my time fighting the likes of you right now? You should be glad I decided to spare you earlier when I could have slaughtered you and your little friends," the Immoral scoffed. A moment later, he realised something from Skullius' expression. "Oh, I'm sorry. Did you think the status quo would remain the same? You thought I couldn't develop ways to kill you now that you have an inkling about my secrets? That you, Skullius, would forever be immune to my fangs? Please. Just how little have you learned about me in the months you've had my WILLS and my powers?"

Skullius said nothing, but his eyes communicated a lot of malice and malevolence. Fulgardt stared into those eyes without shirking away.

"I have to give you a reason to fight me, huh? This is new," said Skullius. "And if I don't? Are you just going to run away with your tail tucked between your legs?'

The interest in Fulgardt's eyes mellowed by the second. He was unfazed by the taunt.

"Call it what you will. You are a very small fish in the wide ocean I'm exploring at the moment," he pointed at the barrier in the distance, splitting Aigas in two. "I'm afraid that won't stop me. Give Suzamete my regards. I will be coming for her last."

With that, Fulgardt dissolved his chair and turned from Skullius to flash away.

"Fight me, or I'll destroy the Labyrinth of the Yoke."

The words made the Immoral stop.

He turned and gave Skullius an amused look.

"What did you say?" he asked.

"I'm surprised you are willing to let me roam around while knowing that thing of yours is vulnerable now. In all honesty, I thought you'd be itching to kill me after whatever little trip you took over the last hour." Skullius wiggled his wrist. "The time limit on that restriction you placed on my arm has ended. I can do whatever I want to your little secret. Stay here and fight me like the Immoral, self-serving sockethole you are, or I'll blow the Labyrinth of the Yoke to the great void."

Fulgardt… donned a vicious grin.

"Now we're getting somewhere, brat. Keep talking."