Bro, I'm not an Undead!

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. Explore new worlds at empire

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.

Skullius reeled.

The tone from the Apostle told him everything.

"So… you too? You think she's right?" Skullius barked, and then he pointed at the mound of corpses behind him. "Aren't you supposed to be some knight of justice, you sockethole?! How do you look at that and support it?!"

Red Rage hung his head.

"Because, master, we are up against a Deity who has been setting up a nasty scheme while we were all distracted with the drapes of time, and the Cavern," he said. "And besides, none of the Mages you see were forced to give their lives. They did so willi—"

"Shut up!"

Red Rage acquiesced. He said no more.

Skullius cursed.

It had been a very, very long time since Red Rage had disobeyed him. He hadn't believed the Apostle would skirt his orders at a time like this. He clutched his face hard until it tore.

Camilla and Kintar saw his struggle.

"Master, you recruited us for the ultimate mission of charging headfirst into Deadmanland to fight a Divine Lich and retrieve your soul. All of the Stark Troops. Do you know that many of us will not survive such an ordeal? I believe you are the one who stated that this mission you have been preparing us for will be worse than everything happening on Aigas right now?" they said. "How is leading us into certain death for your sake any different from what I have chosen to do for the greater good – for your good right now?"

Skullius would have squeezed her neck until her head popped, but he held himself back. The tiniest bit of him shuddered and realised...It was true.

Necessary evils.

Indeed, Skullius hoped to grow a lot more before ever reaching Deadmanland and he was sure that this dangerous mission on Aigas would sharpen his troops a hundred or even a thousand fold. But it was true that going into Deadmanland was extremely dangerous. Nomatter what, people were going to die – to die for his sake.

For his sake.

"So it wasn't that difficult for you to understand after all," Elita suddenly said, issuing more tension into the taut atmosphere. Skullius fixed her with a glare, but that didn't stop her from walking forward and staring at the mound of corpses. "You just preferred to pretend to be the only one who saw a solution that everyone didn't."

Kenno meant to stop Elita for saying any more, but Uyuniya raised a hand to stop him. She had been listening keenly using the mana link Aurolio had re-established as soon as they arrived here.

Elita met Skullius' glare.

"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."

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.