Bro, I'm not an Undead!

Chapter 1236: Explaining Everything (4)



It was Replicus' turn to be shocked.

Destroy the Purity?

What in the world inspired Elita to such a goal?

Replicus withheld his momentary instinct to judge, however. Knowing Elita, at least the Elita he had met back then, he was sure she hadn't suddenly turned into an unreasonable, vengeful heathen with a boner for chaos.

Elita looked at him and smiled.

"I'm sure you realise this isn't an objective fuelled by some personal vendetta," she said. "However, it does have a lot to do with me and the Deities."

"...I'm listening," Replicus said. Everyone else was too.

Elita sighed.

"I'm a Cursed Blood. During the Second Grand War, the Deities fought Fulgardt by inhabiting vessels from the Purity's Knights and other powerful combatants. The volunteers had to use Creeds and willingly accept the consciousnesses of the Deities for them to become vessels. Unlike Rayn who was born to house the powers of the Deities, though, the rest would perish sooner or later after holding the powers of our makers."

Elita paused meaningfully and then continued.

"There was another price for becoming vessels, other than guaranteed death. The lineage of the vessel - everyone tied to them by blood - would be cursed as well. Most would die within a year, and for those that didn't, sicknesses would be drawn to them, and they would become empowered against them, prompting cruel, agonizing deaths. Very few Cursed Bloods survived, but over the years, the curse those of us born to the descendants of heroes received has evolved. We have learned to live with it despite the harm it beckons," she said in a sad tone.

She recalled when the Purity, while making no effort to sugarcoat their words, had told her that she wouldn't be looked upon kindly because of her Cursed Blood. The Purity preferred to keep all Cursed Bloods close, after all, monitoring their actions. Even though Elita had become a Purity Knight and then a Paladin Champion, she was walking on twine the whole time.

"I had read up and found that I am descended of a man named Logma, who was the first vessel of the Deities. He was a Paladin Champion and he had a lot of renown. Thankfully, the Purity never forgets those who have served. His accomplishments were what inspired me to strive to become a Paladin Champion. Nomatter how harshly I was treated, I soldiered on and acquired enough merit to be recognized," she said.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.434-5.)

Replicus' face remained impassive, but he felt a series of dark emotions welling inside him. A Cursed Blood?

So, Elita was such a thing?

Back when they met, she had seemed invincible, indomitable; a model Paladin Champion. "After I was saved by Quintess from your curse," she said to Replicus, "I was demoted from my status as a Paladin Champion and locked up. The higher ups in the Purity took the chance to call me incompetent because I had let you go. They even blamed me for what the Undead minions we had faced together had done to Eofel."

Elita's face contorted in rage.

"After a while, they shamelessly came to me and told me that how my friend, my sister, Revia, had been beaten by the masked man and kidnapped. They wanted to restore my status now, as she was missing. They couldn't afford to have two Champions out of commission. I refused. I wouldn't give in to their whims."

(A/N: Refer to Ch.228).

With the wave of her hand, a book appeared in her grip.

Replicus recognised it immediately.

It was a Book of Alignment!

It was the same kind of book that he acquired Null Life and [Flesh It Like You Mean It] from. Aurolio also had a similar book.

"Revia was the fifth-ranked Paladin Champion. She was strong. For her to have been defeated, I knew it had to have been at the hands of a formidable opponent; the masked man had to be extremely powerful. I resolved to attain great power and look for her myself," Elita said, opening the book. "I assume you received your powers the same way I received mine, Skullius - though your friends know you as Festos, I suppose. I was acknowledged by the Voice of Worlds, and was given this book, but I never deigned to use it until that very moment. I became a Voided Deathform. I had thought I'd get immense power quickly and be off to save Revia, but no. I was whisked away to the unknown instead."

(A/N: Refer to Ch.229).

Replicus narrowed his eyes.

"Hold on. I understand the desire to save or avenge a friend, but this sounds like a personal affair to me still," he said to Elita, "And I'm not sure it's aimed at the right target. The masked man is gone - at least in body and soul - and I don't think destroying the Purity

accomplishes anything."

Elita shook her head.

"None of this is the reason behind why I want to destroy the Purity. It's all that I imagined would be necessary for you to understand my plight, Skullius," she said sincerely. "It's just all I saw with veiled, naïve eyes. I had a lot of time to reflect and analyse when Void took me away. I gathered all that I had seen, all that I had heard and I came to a conclusion." "Skullius, I knew there were more Cursed Bloods other than me, but I barely recall seeing another of my kind for the last entire year I was here on Aigas. They disappeared one after the other, and I was certain they did not just keel over and die. But that's not all."

"The First and Second ranked Paladin Champions... I know the First ranked, Goldburn, was stationed at the Central Boundary - of course, you know that - but the Second? I never met them. None of the Champions knew anything about them. The only thing I ever heard spoken about them was how their Divine Blessing had to do with plagues. I didn't take it to heart back

when I heard it then."

Replicus raised a brow.

"So? What does all this mean?" he asked. He wasn't the only one a bit lost to Elita's meaning. 'Let me finish," Elita said and she sighed and sipped directly from a pitcher of greenish honey. "There's one final detail I recalled."

"Alongside the popularity of the Purity back in the older days, there was a group that called themselves the Unnamed Keepers. They revered the Deities, but they preferred to serve them through the teachings of the Giants. They were the ones who taught people like my ancestor Logma how to become vessels. They gave the idea to the Purity, even though the Priests had

denied it at first."

(A/N: Refer to Ch.532).

"Back then, the convenience of vessels was used against Fulgardt's immense forces, but what about now? The masked man, the Evenfall... I had long wondered when the Purity would want to settle these matters for good, and now there's Boron - another challenge they would want

to vanquish," she said, her voice rising.

"Wait," Replicus said, frowning.

Finally, he got an idea about what Elita was trying to say.

"You can't mean..."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Yes," the former Champion said, relieved that Replicus was catching on. "I believe the Purity

has been trying to create a force of their own more powerful than a Paladin Champion for years now. They are trying to create a Divine weapon, one that utilises the properties of

Cursed Bloods!"