Bro, I'm not an Undead!

"I see. Well met, Ashema. I am Pherdanta, Commander of the Stark-Soul Order, an anomalous brigade under a man whose name you are not fit to learn or speak. I too will likely have forgotten your name by dawn. Rest assured."

Ashema's grin turned wild and devilish. Pherdanta couldn't see it, but the blood quickened within his veins, each of the cells thriving within throbbing and pulsing with the grace of tickling time bombs.

The skies turned darker than before, mirroring his excitement. The Cavern laughed horribly. His mirth sounded like how large, plastic bottles crackled when squeezed repeatedly by large hands.

"That's bold, coming from a mere mortal," he said and he chugged some blood from his gourd. "Do you have the power to back that claim when you are relying on this flimsy magical construct to intimidate me?"

Pherdanta smirked.

"Flimsy?" she said. "That's one way I've never heard anyone describe my powers. And aren't you a mortal as well?" She released an inch of the Bashful Abomination from its scabbard. "Would you not die if I were to cut off your head?"

Ashema cackled and snapped a finger.

"Why don't you try it?"

Four figures appeared around him at once, all larger and stockier than he was. They had a pressure that transcended mortality. For those who had yet to transcend, it was hard to perceive, but Pherdanta could trace it. Ever since her master had descended from the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher with that air of great substance – as a higher organism – she had never forgotten how it felt.

It was distinct. Well, his air of transcendence exceeded anything she had yet to witness so far.

Even these four Divine beings were weaker, and Pherdanta refused to believe that she couldn't kill them.

Her master had named all the Unlimited Stars his equals, and he had slain a Divine being when he was still a mortal. Would it not be shameful for her to not be able to do the same?

"So, you hide behind Divine puppets and then call yourself Divine?" Pherdanta scoffed and she began walking towards the Cavern. Her Territory remained still this time. "If this is all you have, I needn't have wasted my time introducing myself then."

The four Divine beings floated closer to Pherdanta's Territory, fearless. They bled into it, not caring for what the consequences were.

They were Divine after all, and unless a mortal had a weapon that could cut their Broader Existences directly, they had nothing to fear.

Ashema summoned a scythe and hung it over his shoulder gleefully.

"Come. I see that light burning in your eyes! You won't die so easily even when matched against all of us, will you? You have something to prove, and I can taste it! You and I are alike as minions of a higher power. Let's see whose worth is greater!" he cried.

Pherdanta couldn't have agreed more as she eyed the four willingly entering her domain. They lost all their colours and got doused with an inverted filter. They didn't care.

Pherdanta was happy that they delivered themselves to her.

She grasped the lips of both the scabbards on her waist. Subtly, almost imperceptibly, the two swords stowed within them began vibrating at a frighteningly high frequency. A moment later, they were melding into each other like dark-coloured winds. At the same time, the many gems in Pherdanta's soul, Creeds, began glowing in shades of green and brass.

Something phenomenon was happening. It was far beyond what Pherdanta herself was envisioning as her future strength. Later on, it would befuddle her master, and even that… monster.

"The lesser between us dies then," the Unlimited Star declared, and Ashema mirrored her words.

"The lesser between us dies."

***

Silrat was watching the approaching enemy vigilantly. He got the impression that if he blinked, he'd be dead before he could comprehend it. His senses were drawn taut like an elastic cord, but that was probably for the best.

Ferex was connecting to him on a deeper level. With his absurd skill [Soul Acre], he could tap into weaker souls, and read them completely. He could define their hosts as easily as he count to five.

At the moment, Ferex could read all that Silrat was. The man was not built to be combatant, but he was especially good at sensing talents. He'd seen many of them over the years, when he headed the Guilds Association in Inhone City.

He'd been there when some of them were evaluated into different classes of power by the Association standards. He'd interpreted their qualities from mana cores to Classes to Stages.

Mages, Warriors, Mind Casters, Summoners, Tamers, Assassins and many more.

He had this knowledge. All he had to do was use it to his advantage. There was no better stage to apply this knowledge than here and now, while donning an Apostle with the ability to emulate properties he had seen and touched – the Steel Shadowing Hound.

'I see,' Silrat thought once he'd calmed down.

The Cavern he was to fight had finally finished striding the length of the sea, walking atop its surface as though it were a black, marble platform.

He was large and thickly built, perhaps six hundred kilograms stacked to a height of four meters. His skin was like black rough cast – bumpy. Every bit of him came in multiples. His many chins, his many love handles, his many cheeks. His four eyes stacked over a horse-like snout were threatening. They were the only reason Silrat hadn't find some comedic pleasure in the look of him.

The Cavern raised a thick, lumpy arm and extracted a glaive from thin air. It was no ordinary weapon. Its vermillion blade was striking, and its black haft seemed to be aflame.

"That cultist – Guissepo – said that these things have singular abilities that don't necessarily fall under a strict set of categories like skills, right?" said Silrat.

"That's right," replied Ferex.

"Alright. It's best we don't give him a chance to use it then. Our goal is to incapacitate. For these types of opponents, it shouldn't be too difficult since we can't kill them anyway."

And indeed, even Silrat knew of this. Skullius had informed his Stark Troops about many essential details during the briefing hours ago. Pherdanta had gone on to share the basics about Divines she'd learned from him with everyone else before they left for the Under. It went without saying that Guissepo had shared all he knew as well, which was why Silrat was privy to the abilities of the Cavern.

When the Cavern before took a hefty step forward and brandished his glaive, the former Guilds Association Head knew it was do or die. He would make the first move.

Or would he?