Chapter 1865

Chapter 1865

Devick accelerated further, growing increasingly proficient with creating her own emotional footholds. Randidly distantly wanted to use this opportunity to copy the capability she demonstrated, but he had already set himself on the path of using his Nether, and his brain was already so consumed with those subtle calculations that he needed to allow that improvement to wait until later.

Plus, he hadn’t realized how much difference the emotional holds would make; he could do something similar by relying on images and Skills, but the combination of unpredictability and absolute force of his body made a difference.

When Randidly had made footholds of roots in the past, he had moved in much the same way that he had on physical land. Light touches from hid prodigious physique to annihilate distance. But Devick threw her everything into every movement. Randidly would need a bit of practice just to make sure his roots could handle the amount of force she exerted.

But then her attack continued, and he let all those thoughts drop away.

He swayed past a brutal punch, gathering all the natural force Devick generated into his veins. The tendons of his body thrummed with the contained power. However, whenever Randidly made a move to unleash the blast, Devick retreated. After seeing it once, she understood his trick and would happily allow him to discharge his built-up force harmlessly into the air.

So Randidly could only grit his teeth and continue to accumulate. They fought on the shattered stones of the lake’s beach, Devick utilizing the fullest potential of Randidly’s body and suppressing him, while Randidly used intermittent blasts of Nether to slow her down long enough to impact the surroundings with his storm.

He smashed her leg with a blast of force and Devick stumbled, but she somehow transitioned smoothly into a roll that brought her a few inches closer to Randidly. When she erupted from the ground, he was forced to adjust his footing and sway around her haymaker. Then she stepped bolding forward and aimed a kick at his chest.

This he slipped under and whipped his fist against her side, burning with flames of Nether Weight. Just like he had absorbed her scratches, she shrugged off his attack with a grunt. Then she pivoted and wrapped a leg around her waist.

The move was so unexpected that Randidly was a fraction of a second slow in reacting. Then he unleashed a bombardment of Nether that staggered Devick, but she was already so close to him. She would definitely-

The natural energy surged through Randidly’s limbs, crackling with potent force. But Devick stepped backward and pirouetted, winking at him as she spun. His muscles burned as he pulled that ready to explode energy and pressurized it back within his body. His hand flexed and he grabbed up the surrounding ripples.

Just you wait, Randidly used the space to unleash more flares of Nether around Devick. His adjustments in the environment were steadily improving, meaning that his true Synechdochence was probably closer to 80%. Soon, I’ll have enough natural energy that I can blast this entire lake off the face of this desert.

However, while Randidly did his best to keep from retreating, Devick was relentless. Her strikes were sharp and incisive. And if nothing else, she had quickly mastered his body’s ability to shrug off damage and push through pain. Step by step, he was being forced back toward the lake. Randidly’s strikes were deflected and her staggered him. His stomach continued to flip back and forth, unnerved by its proximity of the queer sapphire water.

Randidly ground his teeth together, frustrated. He was losing ground and he knew it. Devick was too quick in her improvements. She adjusted the vector of her attacks and began to anticipate his, possessing a preternatural sort of memory that reminded Randidly of his early days on Tellus, fighting against the nearly prescient Azriel.

She stomped the ground and crack the stone, destabilizing his footing. He resolved himself to try his own hand at absorbing punishment, but he couldn’t just base himself and absorb force like she could. When she chopped toward Randidly with her hand, he had to avoid it or risk being blown backward.

Somewhere, Neveah is nodding knowingly about the importance of emotions. He pressed his lips together in distaste.

Nether swirled outward, buoyed by powerful waves of natural force. The patterns aligned. In a stroke of inspiration, Randidly forcefully completed the environment by finishing the top half and mirroring it downward.

Devick grinned at him. “Did you give up and decide to capitulate? Well I’m sorry, but its too late-”

Nether bloomed. These pinches were tinier than Randidly had used thus far, the merest Nether dust left glimmering in the wake of the thick Nether veins that ran through the storm of air currents around their two forms. He did this both so Devick might miss them and also because, at the moment, he felt eminently confident in his Synechdochence.

It might not reach a full 105% since I had to take a shortcut to finish, Randidly studied his own face, waiting for the Devick lurking within to react to his attacks. But it’s definitely 103%. And once you break through the barrier of 100%, the shift in deadliness is immense.

A bit of Nether bloomed and ripped through the muscle of Devick’s shoulder. Her eyes widened as she twisted and looked down at the black spike that had impaled her. These flares weren’t massive; they only grew about the size of a basketball. In addition, they weren’t spherical. They were six-pointed stars, with deadly spikes ripping out up, down, left, right, forward, and backward.

Randidly released a steaming breath into Devick’s face. Her grip weakened and she scowled at him. “How the hell did you-”

Congratulations! Your Skill Right Hand of the Nether Polymath (M) has grown to Level 555!

Randidly created five more of those pointed stars, impacting Devick’s back and legs. Familiar, caustic blood dribbled out of the wounds. One protrusion even scratched Randidly’s own body in its brief moment of explosive power. Unfortunately, the environment was steadily moving forward. Their lack of movement and the expenditure of Nether meant that the delicate balance was lost. His Nether flares rapidly fell back below the 100% barrier.

But it didn’t matter; Randidly had already handled her mobility.

Next came the decisive strike.

Using one arm to shove the injured Devick back, Randidly gathered the rest of the natural force running through him into Sulfur’s fist. His hand began to glow with power and Devick’s strangely brown eyes examined the attack.

“You have a lot of tricks,” She observed quietly. The Nether stars dissipated and her wounds began to heal, but she didn’t attempt to dodge his strike. She just observed it as she approached her chest. Then she raised her gaze and clicked her tongue. “I suppose it was a bit much to expect to rival you in your own body. The accomplishments of Randidly Ghosthound were not the result of luck.”

BOOOOOOOOM!

The sensation of slamming his fist against the image barrier that Devick conjured made his skin crawl. Madness nibbled on the knuckles of his left hand. Something had shifted. All that natural force his gathered erupted against the barrier, raged briefly, then spent itself, leaving Randidly looking at Devick’s cruel scowl with the blow not nearly as decisive as he had hoped.

“Drown for me,” Devick announced. With her words came a horrifying power; a sea of chains and hooks rose around her wrapped Randidly and bound him, and then carried him crashing down through the surface of the sapphire lake.