Chapter 2217

Chapter 2217

Neveah had been standing at the edge of the Eastern lands for almost two hours when she felt the horrifying pressure of silence coming from Randidly. Immediately, she broke out in a cold sweat as it spread through her, a sudden winter chill across her existence-- this is what she had feared for years.

The day Randidly had finally pushed himself too far too fast and vanished. His life, so precious and bright, had been extinguished.

Neveah couldn’t breathe, not with the horrible, constricting silence creeping through their bond, chilling her blood, seeping life out from her veins. Without Randidly, she-

Yet then the feeling vanished and Neveah was left blinking and gasping. The sudden shift sent tremors through her body. For several seconds she simply sucked in long breaths, settling into hyperventilation as her confusion did very little to address the rising tide of panic and long-suppressed fear. But very obviously, Randidly was still fighting on the other side of their Soulbond; if Neveah closed her eyes, she could practically see him, their perfect connection giving him so much awareness about his motions and brutal economy of attacks.

Then the silence came again, a horrifying oblivion where he didn’t seem to exist at all. An awareness she had possessed for so long she no longer noticed it had been erased. Neveah was ready for the phenomenon this time, and tried not to dig her nails too deeply into the palms of her hand as she waited. Blessedly, the feeling passed; awareness of Randidly returned. And now that she paid close attention to the transition, the sensation of absence wasn’t even an external force. The Stillborn Phoenix itself caused his brief annihilation, the image consuming or perhaps containing its host during moments of expansion.

Well, I don’t love that, Neveah bit her lip and released a nervous laugh and tried to focus her eyes forward, on her own task. The Stillborn Phoenix would continue its weirdness. Better to find a distraction.

The Eastern Lands glistened in front of her, verdant stretches of jungle, floating crystal spires, and huge systems of sulfurous mustard gasses that rose when affected by the ambient energy of the crystal spires and slunk against the ground as they cooled. They formed ugly yellow arches, drifting before the fickle nudging of the wind. The East was a place of jungle, deep darkness, and gorgeous refracted beams of light.

Yet Neveah’s instincts warned her about going too deep, too quickly. There didn’t seem to be anything strange about the energy, but she felt uneasy. She had been creating a Nether Ritual and an Engraving to protect her when the strange sensation had arrived from Randidly.

You can do this, Neveah. We are bounded. Just like he possesses your understanding, you possess his spine. Her teeth continued to press against her lip until she drew blood. She felt so, so hot, sweating out the extra panic that had exploded in her when she thought Randidly had vanished from her life. Aftershocks from the Stillborn Phoenix’s antics continued to wash against her. Besides, your image has evolved, just like Randidly’s has. And while you might only have a single image to work on, that means yours had received much more direct attention. You can do this.

She repeated the thought several times, until she believed it.

Neveah was about to move forward when she felt the Stillborn Phoenix shatter. Not totally, the image hadn’t been destroyed, but the amount of damage was alarming. And she also could sense it had gained something incredibly valuable, from its newfound abilities to leech silence and motion and even the appearance of life briefly from existence. However, it was wounded beyond easy repair, leaving Randidly with Yggdrasil and his new Dread Homunculus for his clash.

Swearing, Neveah spun around. Randidly is going to keep fighting, not considering how much of his image physicalizations are based on the Stillborn Phoenix or the now-defunct Dread Chimera. Against the Nether King... that double-edged sword might not be enough. He needs me.

*****

Randidly’s body sang with the joy of being able to go all out and test his new capabilities against a dangerous foe. Only a few inches away, Enmya the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil glared at him over Acri lancing through his side. The Wolfman flexed and tried to bring his hands around to strangle Randidly, but he simply smirked and knocked the attempts to the side.

With viridian coals for eyes, Randidly gave Enmya a long look. Their two Nether forces struggled against one another, the massive spurts of Nether coming out of his foe’s body once more beginning to add up in the environment, after the Stillborn Phoenix had sucked so much away. The heat in his gaze was the reply to Enmya’s words; the Sovereign of the Breathless Vigil was strong, too.

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 997!

...

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 1001!

But did you really think a little pain was enough to stop me?!? Randidly’s Willpower surged through his body. Despite the suffering of the Stillborn Phoenix, the Dread Homunculus urged him forward. His concerted focus broke down the small impediments around his Nether and sent his core spinning once more. He grasped at the surrounding energy, but the opponent’s energy was too dense, and his Nether Core didn’t have the momentum to activate the First Authority. Instead, Randidly settled for skipping forward and smashing a roundhouse kick into Enmya’s broken arm. The ground collapsed beneath him and the Nether leader was thrown backward.

More invasive notes knifed toward his back, but Randidly cast a contemptuous glance over his shoulder. He raised Sulfur and caught the notes. They might be an energy variation of Nether, but they possessed a kinetic aspect as well. As such, the living arm could consume it.

Another small spike of Randidly’s left arm began to glow, as a portion of its abilities was absorbed.

Such was the force of the kick that the wolfman’s body pierced out of the Nether haze they had maintained around their fight, crashing into his subordinates. Randidly followed with the immediate harshness of a bolt of lightning, using momentum and energy to blast away any assistance from his allies.

A glance around informed him they hadn’t exactly been idle while the duel had occurred; several massive Nether Rituals loomed around their location.

The damage to his Soulspace intensified and Randidly felt himself sinking into the thought processes of the Visage of Obsession to avoid any mental slowdown; he couldn’t afford to be distracted right now. He was surrounded by threats, but there was also an opportunity here. He couldn’t miss this shot at Enmya.

Randidly’s existence was damaged but alight with passion as he touched his limits and pushed beyond them. Randidly gleefully prepared to charge forward... but before he could move, Yggdrasil stirred.

It spoke with a voice of balance and nurturing, to nudge him out of the streamlined awareness into which he had been about to settle. The World Tree looked at the squirming Stillborn Phoenix, the Unborn Duo which looked legitimately fearful, and the vicious drive of the Dread Homunculus that had fixated on an outside target, when the problem was within: The hatched egg, confused and twisted in on itself, trying to settle back to its shape but unable to incorporate what had shifted.

Every moment he lingered here, more of its vital essence leaked out of the Stillborn Phoenix.

His face turned grave. Yes, Randidly could likely inflict serious damage on the opposition leader right now. But it would come with a steep cost.