Chapter 2124

Chapter 2124

Elhume, perhaps self-evidently, looked essentially like a human. A tall, athletic human with short hair that shimmered in light and flowed from one color to the next, but a human nonetheless. His nose was wide and his jawline strong. He wore only a thin black vest; it almost struck Randidly as weird not to have a colored robe identifying his identity. He wore battered boots and cloth shorts.

His eyes were golden and sharp, visual even from a half mile away as the group made a beeline toward them. At Randidly’s warning, the Patron of Feathers and Patron of the Deep had come out to welcome their companions. The Patron of Feathers seemed immensely pleased, while the Patron of the Deep just seemed bored.

“Here we go again,” The massive Origin Beast released a large enough sigh that a small whirlwind formed in the dirt nearby. It did not help Randidly’s nerves to see him suddenly quiet. He released a second sigh in only a few seconds. “I wonder what helpless innocents we will be crusading to save this time.”

“We are attempting to keep rigid stratification from strangling the life out of the Aether Lands, remember?” The Patron of Feathers added.Nêww chapters will be fully updated at novelhall.com

“For now,” The Patron of the Deep grumbled. “Thankfully, the Nether King is making preparations to house all these unwashed homeless. Otherwise...”

Before he could continue speaking, some of the Patrons began to whoop and run forward, excitement clear on their faces. Mae Myrna took the lead, her eyes burned with life. “Reunited at least! With our powers combined, we are undefeatable!”

She and the Patron of Feathers met in massive, spinning hug. The Patron of Blooms and the Patron of the Sun, both looking younger and more innocent than the versions inside the Alpha Cosmos, came next to inspect the Patron of the Deep for wounds. He waved his appendages, asking them to please stop, even while very obviously relishing the attention.

The Patron of Blades and the Patron of Abyss walked slowly with the Patron of the Borrower, their eyes scanning the horizon for threats. Meanwhile, Elhume’s yellow eyes fell on Randidly and didn’t waver for a moment.

“You must be Nether King Hungry Eye. I’ve heard a lot about you, but wasn’t sure what to believe,” Elhume’s voice was warm and resonant. Up close, his leather boots and canvas pants were scuffed with dirt. Yet his smile was wide and open. He was a handsome man and his raw, natural charisma through Randidly somewhat. “Sometimes, Truth over there doesn’t really deserve her moniker. She can get swept up in the romance of a situation.”

“Hey! I heard that.” Mae Myrna pulled back from her hug and glared at Elhume. “How dare you deny what any pair of eyes would naturally tell you: this Nether King is the sort of weather-beaten traveler who would enrich any quest! Failing to invite him with us to meet the Cult of the Savior would have been such a waste! A gallant companion is there with you through thick and thin.”

The warm smile on Elhume’s face faltered briefly as Mae mentioned the Cult of the Savior. His eyes when he refocused on Randidly were a little bit sharper. “Indeed? Well, at least I’m not the only one who sensed something strange about this man then. Your aura... you also refine Aether? And your body...”

Randidly stiffened, even as Elhume took a step toward him. Up close, a strange and oddly familiar intensity burned in his expression. Elhume flexed his hands, cracking his fingers and knuckles. “Considering all you have done for the group, it’s a bit much to ask. But... please allow me to spar with a fellow body practitioner.”

Randidly blinked at the sudden suggestion. The rest of the Patrons groaned good-naturedly. Meanwhile, Elhume’s face bloomed open with the enthusiasm of a battle maniac. For a split second, a hand gripped his heart. Those chill, black fingers tightened slowly around the organ.

He looks... so much like Helen it hurts.

His stomach released a strange rumble.

Especially especially individuals who would fight without holding back.

“Shall we fight with just our bodies, Nether King Hungry Eye?” Elhume called out with hunger and strange sort of glee in his voice.

In answer, a wave of spectral grey flames surged across the Nether King’s body. His eyes, usually so lively and green, now resembled the deadly stillness of a peat bog. His words came out in a whisper. “Come at me with everything you have.”

“Ha!” Elhume kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter the stones beneath his feet and spray pebbles across the watchers. His body blurred across the intervening distance, yet Mae felt it moving in almost slow motion.

Despite the fact his opponent had urged him to come with full force, he still didn’t activate anything but his body. Mae couldn’t decide whether he was underestimating his opponent or overestimating himself.

Her eyes were naturally drawn to the Nether King, opposite a relatively unprotected Elhume. He was a bipedal creature with black hair down to his chin. His limbs were long and muscular. His eyes were a piercing emerald. He possessed a spear he kept wrapped around his waist and wore an immaculately embroidered black robe. He had displayed a surprising amount of capability in their brief spat with Westrisser’s men, but this-

Even while still, the air around him burned. Half from the spectral flames of Nether Weight he so cavalierly utilized, but the other half was raw emotional force. Mae had never felt its like, even from Faelmac Westrisser himself. All of that had been grounded in a concrete image. A massive continent’s worth of emotion now ground against all of them, projected out from his body.

It acted like a vindictive wind, pushing the flames of Nether Weight to rise to new heights.

“Elhume,” Mae found herself whispering. Her impression of the Nether King rapidly changed. How could she have missed this? This feeling- “Right now he’s not a friend. The Nether King-”

Nether King Hungry Eye stepped. His hand left a jagged gash in space, dragging with it all the condensed Nether Weight and howling emotion he contained. Elhume reacted quickly; he also possessed an overwhelming physique. He planted his feet and crossed his arms in front of him in a guard and finally activated his image.

This was not the time for Elhume’s fool habit of revealing his powers one at a time during a fight.

“-is a villain!”

The Nether King’s hand burned through the flesh on Elhume’s arms, smashing the image back before it could protect his body. The attack didn’t slow down at all through the guard, simply bullying its way through and piercing into Elhume’s torso. Even as Elhume’s eyes widened, the Nether King unleashed a beam of pure emotion from the hand, ripping a hole out of his back and sending him careening back across the isolated sparring area.

He skidded across the ground, small clumps of grey fire clinging to his body. Next to Mae, the Patron of Blooms gasped.

Once more, the Nether King was still, His eyes were vicious and his words were as suffocating as his long fingers tightening around a throat. “Will you stand? Or is the spar over already?”