Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1387 Either, Or

1387 Either, Or

Again, again, again...

Skullius had only heard Kintar say it once before, but he was already growing sick of it.

How was everyone else beneath him? Just because he had transcended mortality? Did his bonds with mortals no longer matter now? Could he freely sacrifice them on a whim or for a greater good?

The idea to Skullius was sick.

Indeed, it was the idea that made him hate the masked man so much.

He hated Somanda for the same reason. The bastard found pleasure in the sorrows of his Moronic undead as they strove to find love and companionship in fellow undead skeletons.

Skullius hated Fulgardt for the same reason as well. When his (Fulgardt's) WILLS were in his other body, they taunted and mocked him by slaughtering commonfolk Skullius didn't have ties to, and people he cared about alike.

Even now, the fact that his alter had almost killed Theurien and Silrat in that battle from hours ago, still haunted Skullius.

He didn't believe for a second that he had somehow become so valuable that he could play god, toying with lives as he pleased!

'AAAAARGHHH!' Skullius groaned inwardly. He hated that he saw Camilla in Kintar and vice versa; he hated even more than he didn't know exactly why that was.

He cursed.

A piercing glow illuminating the darkness which had swallowed the Royal Dwelling ever since Skullius began releasing Amras, attracted his attention. It was Red Rage. The Apostle had been watching silently the whole time.

Skullius pulled him close using his Amras. The Apostle couldn't resist and he didn't try.

There was no need for words, but Skullius said them anyway.

"You were supposed to keep her in check!" Skullius hissed at Red Rage. That had been the Apostle's mission.

"I was," the Apostle said.

"Too bad, Skullius. This is how reality works, as I've been trying to tell you," she said, but not harshly. She finally saw something in him that she had seen in countless men and women in her days as a Paladin Champion. "You must have had your first real experience at seeing someone you care about die and you've yet to break out of the hideous illusion such a thing can do to you."

22:13

Was that it?

Was that it really?

Skullius couldn't believe it.

Did Allora's death, which seemed to have happened ages ago, still weigh on him that much?

Had it meant so much to him?

Yes, it had. It had reshaped how a fundamental part of him worked.

But...

"So? What am I supposed to do? Start believing that everything is beneath me? That what I do doesn't matter as long as it bears some result?" Skullius asked Elita.

The former Paladin Champion looked at Kintar. There was a little distaste in her eyes.

"I never said that. I carry the weight of what I've done, however successfull and plausible it turns out to be. I wasn't lying when I said I don't have a line when it comes to people I care about. I DON'T. Divinity is a nasty game, Skullius. There's no room for half measures. Everyone out there is killing for the sake of their own people or for their own lives. No one who has reached Divinity holds back, whether they are an anomaly or just a regular Divine. To beat them... we have to play the same game. Only... we can't get lost in it, and the weight of the necessary evils is supposed to keep haunting us till the end."

Skullius barely managed to find a decent chunk of the collapsed ceiling to sit on. He took the time to digest all that he had just heard.

As he did so, Kintar gave Elita a less than savoury look. It was all but clear that they agreed with the other's notion, but to different extremes.

And as it turned out, they were both eager to show Skullius that they were the ones in the right.

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