Pestilence: Rise Of The Pure Undead

Chapter 896: Without Reservation

Milo looked up at the somewhat humanoid-looking mass of green energy with an expression of sheer incomprehension as despite the strange appearance, he instantly knew exactly who it was that had just manifested next to him.

“What the hell…? What are you-”

“Shh, don’t speak aloud, and don’t think too deeply either, he might hear you- Honestly, it’s a miracle that I can manifest in any form without Mister Bones over there knowing and giving me his wild ride or whatever… Anyways, I am currently appearing through you through the usage of memories- Don’t think too hard I said! Keep your head empty! Yes, that means the prophet is around, don’t ask me how, I tried to ask how his power works one time, worst mistake of my life, try discussing the birds and the bees with Loimos instead, that is far less of a punishment” Milo had much to say to Thanatok right now, but there was little time, he rolled the side, narrowly avoiding having his chest caved in by the undead’s foot.

Instead, Milo was propelled upward as the impact literally took him off the ground by a whole meter, shattering the soil and causing several trees to just collapse as their entire root systems were reduced to dust.

‘Damn… Did I just go faster then and just now? I am pretty sure I wouldn’t have been able to avoid that not so long ago…’ managing to land on his feet, he focused his gold into his eyes and brain, to take in and process information faster, the mana flowing through his body with greater ease than expected, truly, it seemed like his golden mana had reacted to the situation at hand, and allowed him to pull more strength from it so that he would be able to stop Loimos from blasting a hole right through Toby’s skull.

Time seemed to slow down for him as he took in his surroundings…

Unfortunately, it seemed like the undead was specifically here to push his buttons and cause the gold to grow in power, so it wasn’t that much of a good thing, as whatever Loimos wanted could not possibly be good for anyone.

But Milo felt confident as he processed everything that he had seen and heard since the corpse’s arrival, unless Loimos was tricking him extra hard, it seemed like the restrictions currently placed on the undead were rather strict.

Having observed the battle between the pure undead and pure living that had occurred in the ruins of Millipolo, he was well aware that Loimos was a being that would be able to instantly wipe out the entire realm without moving at all if he was at his full power, capable of unleashing spells and battle arts without the slightest of warnings, without budging or making a sound, so fast that he could hardly be perceived- So it was rather obvious that the Loimos attacking him right now was technically far weaker than his self in top condition.

For one, his speed was actually far more manageable, the strength of his blows was probably stronger than it seemed since he appeared to be wanting something from Milo whilst he was alive, so he was probably holding back on his punches…

But most importantly, he was retaining his humanoid form, not turning into rot and changing shape every second to maximise his speed and unpredictability, so Milo guessed that his transformative capabilities were severely impaired right now, either by the realm and barrier, or due to a condition of some sort of he had taken upon to be able to infiltrate the pyramid of life.

In any case, that alone made him far more manageable to deal with, though, since this was about the pure undead, even if his strength was slashed by ninety percent, Milo doubted that there was much he could do if he truly went for the kill, even if he could survive for a little while, it would not take long for him to go down in that case.

“Heh, thinking long and hard about this, are we? That’s useless, kid- Who cares if he is weakened or not? Or in what ways he is weaker? You wield a golden attribute that imitates Sonnenträger’s golden force! Even if it’s hard to believe as long as you can wield the full potential of what you have, you technically have the means to overpower his festering death, so just fight! Keep fighting and moving forward!”

“Holding back and letting you be turned into a punching bag just because he wants something through having you power up is the coward’s way! Give him what he wants, and punch his skull to pieces whilst doing it! Sonnenträger is with you- And you are not alone” with these words of encouragement, the pure living seemed to just fade away, and the world that had appeared slowed down through Milo’s usage of mana to enhance his perception and thinking capabilities, suddenly returned to normal.

Although he suspected that Thanatok was making recommendations based on his own lust for battle and his generally reckless fighting style, Milo had to agree that trying to think too deeply was meaningless against Loimos, even with a great deal of his abilities and powers locked away, his versatility was still too much for him to predict.

Milo poised himself and moved into a practised combat stance, focusing intently on the gold within him, he didn’t know how exactly he was supposed to pull its potential out, but he guessed that he just needed to try.

The very instant, the world moved again for the living, Loimos was already upon him, with one hand coming down into a chop, although Milo knew that it would probably slice right through his arm, he moved to block it anyways, but there was no need, it was a feint and he was instead struck precisely into the solar plexus, making him arch his back forward.

The undead swiftly pulled his arms placed defensively away, and raising both fists, brought them right down on the back of Milo’s head, simultaneously striking out with one knee from below, causing the livint’s skull to change in shape as one of his eyes seemed to be meaning to fly out.

Blood flowed out of Milo’s ears, nostrils and mouth, but the living stayed standing as the gold was swift to reverse the extreme damage.

Lashing out instantly, he didn’t even bother to question if his attack could land, he simply fought without reservation, letting the gold flow through him and express itself, the kick he threw and intercepted however, and with ease, Loimos sliced his opponent’s leg off with nothing but his hand before striking Milo in the jaw with his foot.

Before he fell to the ground, the living’s legs had already grown back, and the severed one turned incandescent as it exploded with gold, still held in the undead’s cold grip…