Chapter 1203: The One Left Standing (17)

Chapter 1203: The One Left Standing (17)



Replicus dodged another slash just as he flashed into the town where he and Skullius had been fighting in before the ridiculous parting of Aigas into past and future. As soon as he saw that the Hybrid Luman was no longer here, he cursed and teleported out of the way of another slash that threatened to split him two.

'I messed up. I should have immobilised the Angel with [Cold Time] instead of destroying it earlier,' Replicus thought.

He was now standing opposite the giant with its four arms and the two powerful swords that had been in Skullius' possession.

'That [Infinite Sword God] skill is capable of cutting time itself. Skullius doesn't even need swords to do it. I imagine he won't fall for skills that involve time now and neither will this thing,' Replicus thought. 'In order to beat either of the two, I need to throw a series of rapid attacks that bypass their capacity to use that trick of theirs.'

And indeed, this was the only way to get around Skullius' 'trick'.

With his enlightened eyes, Replicus had figured out that Skullius was increasing the output and power of his attacks by removing their cost requirement.

In Aigas, the power system designed by the Deities limited the power of combatants by designating a cost for the activation of each attack.

A Normal skill could be performed with a basic white mana core.

A Special skill could only be cast using a blue core or higher.

A Super skill needed a purple core or higher.

A Supreme skill required a gold core.

The nature of the fuel required for the activation of a skill was what limited its power.

So, Skullius, upon talking to Ashema in Opungale, and learning that his entire race (the Carven) did not require the use of mana or any energy source to use their powers, had devised a method to replicate this unique trait.

Initially, he had only wanted to get rid of the bother of needing a predetermined amount of mana for his skills in battle, but as he worked towards achieving costless casting of skills, he realised another advantage of this.

If he got rid of the cost of using a skill, didn't that essentially mean he could adjust its potency to no limit?

Skills with no defined parameters other than their costs in particular, could be made far stronger, raising their efficiency past Supreme and towards the borders of the Divine!

Of course, reaching beyond even that with a mere skill wasn't possible with a mortal body, but Skullius realised that being able to fight using capabilities beyond Supreme without needing a gold core was a priceless quality!

It wouldn't matter what Stage he was in or what Class he had if he could accomplish a feat like that!

Nomatter how powerful an opponent like Replicus became, he would always be able to match him!

That said, achieving costless activation was easier said than done.

Skullius had surmised that no mortal combatant could gather enough Creeds to make it happen in their lifetime.

Perhaps a Rule could work, but he didn't have access to those. He doubted one, two or even ten of those could achieve it anyway - permanently, at least.

[You have received twelve new Creeds!

[You have received six new Creeds!]

[You have received...]

...

Skullius grinned.

For Incandescent Stagers and beyond, there was a plethora of other ways to earn Creeds other

than conquering Tasks and Trials.

As long as a combatant did something to impact Aigas on a large scale - particularly in a way that was... godlike - they could earn Creeds. It was a kind of rite of passage towards Divinity.

Replicus had seen firsthand how one could easily earn Creeds in the Mad Bishop.

She essentially created her own faith on Aigas and each individual she indoctrinated earned her a Creed. This was why she was so feared in the Severed Union, especially when it came to

Territory battles.

Now, Skullius employed a similar means of earning Creeds despite never having met the

Bishop.

The hundreds, no, thousands of Soul Spawn that immediately began latching onto victims far

and wide earned him enough Creeds to keep on abusing his trick.

Furthermore, a slew of information flooded his brain and body!

Skills.

Memories.

Spells.

Affinities.

The ins and outs of different categories of Classes: Energy Formers, Arma Users, Form Users,

were revealed to him.

Skullius instantly began learning the powers of combatants from the present times and those of the past, transcending the boundary that Rayn and the Immoral had reached in the previous millennia, when they had been known as the greatest fiends of their time!