Fortify the Dead

The spell “Fortify the Dead” has a tooltip that says “removes” skulls, not “destroys” them. Does this mean that it won’t destroy skulls, or is it just a different word for the same effect?

I don’t want to spend 200 coins if it doesn’t destroy skulls.

Fortify the dead removes skulls. This means the skulls disappear but you won’t count them towards your attack. This is different from spells that destroy gems/skulls, gaining the corresponding mana/attack damage.

The spell is really useful defensively. If it destroyed the skulls instead of removing them it would be broken.