I Reincarnated As A Stick

"Hoh? You give up on fighting back?" Wilhelm could not help but say in response to Aurus's words sometime later. As the guardian of the Seraph Kingdom, it was impossible for him to be oblivious towards the actions Aurus had done in order to arrive here. Nevertheless, hearing words of peace coming from what seemed to be the kingdom's great enemy right now truly caught him off guard.

"Can you really say that even after all you did? You killed a group of the kingdom's finest men and forced your way into this kingdom just so you could go on a massacre. And now you're telling me you're going to stop? Unless if I was an utter fool, I don't even believe a lick of what you're saying right now," he continued, his mind now set on ending it once and for all. With that, the domain surrounding him intensified once more as silver fists were sent towards Aurus once more.

Seeing that the move Wilhelm went with was to continue attacking him, Aurus could not help but let out an inward sigh, thinking that the primal instinct that was previously controlling his body had really gone too far. Then again, it was also partly his fault in letting the primal instinct take over his body after experiencing great amounts of euphoria.

'In any case, that goes my chance of ending this without having to fight any further,' he muttered inwardly, instantly obtaining a message from the primal instinct that took a backseat in his mind. As it did not have any sort of intelligence, it only radiated out feelings that Aurus could only assume was telling him to not concede at all, but instead fight back with all his might.

Although the reason why Aurus had gotten so strong up to this point was due to all of the killing he had done, even back when he was still a young Inanimate, he could not help but find the fact that he had gotten so strong so quickly as jarring. To him, it was about time to take a rest and fully acclimate to the strength he had obtained through the Epiphany he had mass leveled thanks to the primal instinct. After that, he would apologize to the parties that had been implicated in the chaos the primal instinct brought.

While thinking about it, he could not help but recall the words Erudis told him the first time they met, informing him of the dangers if he went out. Scratching his head as he continued to convert his energy regeneration into vitality, he wracked his mind to think up of a solution that would allow the fires of anger to subside, at least somewhat.

And it was then that a crazy thought appeared in his mind. He did not know where it came from, nor how he decided to think about it, but after mulling over the possibilities of the thought, he could not help but feel like it was the best choice he could make in order to end this quickly.

Looking at a certain being beyond the barrier covering both him and Wilhelm, Aurus went ahead and sent that being a few messages through the [Thought Sharing] skill they both had, his mind resolute after a second barrage of silver fists coming from Wilhelm.

As to what this thought may be, it could be summed up into one word.

Sacrifice.

Naturally, the primal instinct could infer what Aurus was thinking during this time, quickly radiating out feelings that told him to not do it as it went against the way of the primal instinct. Of course, Aurus wholly ignored the primal instinct at this moment, even going so far as to think up of a way to get rid of the thing that instigated this chaos in the first place.

Seeing how Aurus did not even make a move after receiving a couple of silver fist barrages, Wilhelm could not help but have second thoughts as to the statement Aurus told him. At this moment, he could not help but think that Aurus was staying true to his words of not fighting back.

However, that thought soon disappeared as Aurus asked him out of the blue, "What's your name?"

"Huh?" Responding with a sound, Wilhelm was caught off guard, incredibly confused. Who the hell would ask their opponent for their name at this point?

Nevertheless, Aurus continued, even going so far as to chuckle as he asked once more, "What's wrong with me asking for your name? It's not like knowing your name would lead me to winning over you or anything."

Of course, Wilhelm interpreted that response into something that was the exact opposite of what Aurus was trying to achieve. With his fists close to his chest, Wilhelm finally asked, "What's the point of asking me this?"

"Well, since you've declined my wish of stopping the fight, I've decided to approach the problem from another perspective," Aurus replied, only for the aura surrounding him to intensify to a level that only paled in comparison to the aura Wilhelm was exuding. Though, when Wilhelm sensed the aura, there was no killing intent in it at all. Instead, what was contained in the aura was the pure intent to fight.

Easily understanding what Aurus wanted to happen just by reading his aura, Wilhelm finally relaxed a bit as he asked him, "So…you want to settle this with one final bout?"

"Indeed." Aurus nodded, his aura now amicable compared to back when the primal instinct controlled his body. "Though, unlike our previous battle, which was a battle of attrition, we'll instead settle this within three moves."

Without waiting for the other side to ask the question, he continued, "Naturally, since we're only limited to three moves, we have no choice to go all out. So, what do you say? Would you like to accept?"

"What's in it for me?" Wilhelm asked in response. "Also, what's in it for you?"

"I'm glad you asked." Aurus chuckled. "If I win, then you wouldn't hold me accountable for the chaos I brought to multiple settlements. Of course, I'll help you out in the restoration process."

"And if I win?" Wilhelm narrowed his eyes, wondering if he was getting the short end of the stick here. However, when he listened to Aurus's next words, he could not help but widen his eyes, even going so far as to look at his grandson, nodding at each other.

"Well…" Aurus scratched his head as he replied. "If you win, then I…"

"Would concede and allow you to do whatever you want with me as you please."

Thud.

As these words resounded throughout the surroundings with great speed, one of them could not help but kneel to the ground as tears started to stream out of his eyes. After asking the heavens for a miracle to happen, only for it to take a 180 degree turn soon after, Argentum could not help but wonder if the heavens were mocking his wishes.

While continuing to lament about the heavens were unfair, a string of thoughts soon entered his mind, all of them containing Aurus's voice. As he listened to them, the more he could not help but shed more tears, eventually going so far as to shout out, "Aurus! Please don't do this!"

Unfortunately, only Felix and the others could hear his plea. The attentions of the other people watching the battle were totally fixated towards what was happening in the barrier, wondering what this twist would bring to this fight.

'For this Spiriveritas to offer up something like this, I'm guessing it has a few trump cards up its sleeve,' Wilhelm could not help but think. 'However, as long as I could endure all three moves, I'm certain I'd be able to help Zeldrion with what he wants to do. After all, that's the main reason why he called me to come here in the first place.'

'Then again, there's also the threat of the other Spiriveritae coming here once they know what's going to happen to their member,' he muttered inwardly, immediately weighing the pros and cons of agreeing to this condition. In the end, he let his greed for greater power take over and agree to it, lightly nodding as he told Aurus, "Alright, I accept. As for your earlier question, the name's Wilhelm Seraph. I'm the Seraph Kingdom's guardian."

Hearing a few gasps of surprise from outside the barrier, Aurus could not help but chuckle as he said in response, "By the looks of it, you don't show yourself that often. In any case, it would go against my code of honor if I didn't reciprocate your introduction. You can call me Verdante, the Thirteenth Spiriveritas of Erudinia."

"Verdante, huh. Makes sense why I haven't heard of you," Wilhelm could not help but say in response, finally letting out a rare chuckle soon after.

"Well, let's start this final battle, shall we? You make the first move," he said soon after, arranging his arms into a cross as the silver domain spread around the two of them all this time had condensed to cover his entire body. At this moment, he looked more like a sculpture made out of metal.

"Give it your all, you're going to need it," Wilhelm told Aurus, taking a few steps back just in case Aurus needed it.

Hearing Wilhelm's words, Aurus could not help but laugh, saying, "Thanks for the concern."

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Aurus went ahead and dispelled the domain created through [Ruler of All] before activating [Supreme Deification] once more, increasing his stats to a great extent. Normally, one would think that it would be better for him to have [Ruler of All] activated instead of [Supreme Deification], given how it would allow him to control the surroundings to a certain extent. However, there was something Aurus hadn't shown yet, something that would totally catch even Wilhelm by surprise.

"[Dark Universal Blade]."

Swoosh!

In an instant, Aurus's aura had intensified by a couple of times, making all of the bystanders outside of the barrier feel like they were looking at a sharp blade. At this moment, Wilhelm looked at Dalton, who was standing beside Zeldrion, and nodded at him.

Easily understanding what Wilhelm meant by the nod, Dalton quickly made a few gestures with his hands as a large amount of mana was infused into the barrier, increasing its thickness, as well as its durability.

"[Soul Transcendence]."

Fwoosh!

Not long after, his aura went under a drastic change once more, making bystanders feel like they were watching a volcano gradually nearing eruption.

Taking a few steps forward, Aurus went ahead and activated two more skills.

"[Sole Entity]."

"[Omnipresence]."

Whoosh! Whoosh!

With [Sole Entity] increasing the effect of [Supreme Deification] even further, while [Omnipresence] increased the damage of his attacks, even a single attack from Aurus at this point would be able to wipe off a part of a city from the face of this world with just a single touch. In fact, Aurus could not help but wonder why the primal instinct didn't use these skills that often.

Though, it did not take long for him to find out why.

Ding!

'Your body is struggling to handle the enhancement brought by your skills. The system highly suggests disabling a few of the currently active skills.'

'Ah. With it focusing on survival, then there's no surprise as to why it hadn't used it,' he thought, only to lightly chuckle as he muttered out a skill he had only used once before.

"[True Semis Regulus]."

Fwoosh!

In an instant, the problem of his body not being able to handle the enhancement was quickly alleviated, giving Wilhelm a faint feeling that he had completely underestimated how much power Aurus was hiding from him all this time. Nevertheless, he had already agreed to it, so he went ahead and fortified his defense against the first attack.

Seeing that the Life and Will points he had not touched for a long while finally trickling down, Aurus went ahead and sped through the other skills that boosted his strength, as well as reduced the strength of the opposing party.

"[Noble Awakening]."

"[Domain of Nobility]."

"[Semis Regulus: Ruling Entity]."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, three moves, one enhancing his stats even further, and two debilitating his opponent, were activated, quickly giving off the feeling that Aurus was now comparable to Wilhelm, at least in terms of aura. Though, that quickly changed when Aurus activated yet another skill.

"…"

"[Pseudo-Animate Ascension]."