Chapter 2301

Chapter 2301

Randidly’s images trembled, a sliver of time after he smashed into the ground and began scouring the surrounding hills with his storm. His bones ached in his flesh as though they had been knocked askew by the punch.

Sulfur writhed in an approximation of pain, his hand burning where the anchor had been forcefully shifted. Reverberations went through his images, even through the temporal barrier around the memory, causing fits of weakness. He forced his racing heart to calm down.

This is Elhume. Randidly looked solemnly up through the complex mess of energies, the storms raging around him, his Nether latching onto the cohort construct, his image piercing out through the temporal barrier to the Nexus proper, and finally to the layered and complex series of impressions he could read beyond. Not the Elhume who hasn’t found himself, but the one at the height of his power. Still...

Randidly flashed his teeth, his Fateset cackling. He was on the inside of a powerful temporal barrier and his image would convey those motions in fast-forward to the real Nexus. Can you stop me in time?

With the assistance of Pine pressing against the giant mechanisms, the wheels continued to spin. His mind raced and strained as he mentally pulled, setting the target. Randidly felt the first portion of the process lock into place. A shiver went through the memory, this time due to the substance of the memory flickering. Luckily, Deganawidah continued to honor his word, using his vast Nether to reinforce the memory.

One reason Randidly had first conceived of this plan was, despite the various elements at play, adding a Cohort to the Nexus was a simple three-step process. You selected the target area, you sent out a barrier to cover the area and pull it into the Nexus, and then the adjusted area would be normalized with Nexus energy. Perhaps the first step might be more complicated when you needed to peer out past the edge of the Nexus, but Randidly guided the construct to the memory and the mechanism was only too happy to oblige.

However, Randidly’s skin tingled even before the second step in the process started. Elhume punched for a second time.

The left corner of his mouth quirked upward. Not pleased I’m mucking around in your memory? Randidly felt a flash of flippancy, and then he remembered that he had been smashed into the ground, while wrapped up in a storm of destruction, covered in a temporal barrier, only a few seconds ago. And he was pretty sure the first strike had been casual.

Casual for Elhume. An unexpected energy had begun affecting the Nexus and he had struck. Probably enough to evaporate seas and annihilate a thousand versions of the Randidly who hadn’t yet stepped into the Nexus proper. Now, when the first attack failed, the reigning monster of the Nexus rolled up his sleeves and took the threat a bit more seriously.

He heard the voice speaking from afar, resonating with the ache in his bones.

“The Second Fist: Vengeance.”

Congratulation! Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae (P)(U) has grown to Level 1179!

Congratulations! Your Skill Infinite Incendiary Filaments of the Dove Moirae (P)(U) has grown to Level 1180!

Randidly felt the memory beginning to deform from the intrusion of the fist. The lingering squalls he had left in the sky were obliterated by the fist’s arrival, an attack that quelled any lingering fighting between Aether and Nether forces. The massive glowing fist, the perfectly honed transference of unstoppable power, rushed down toward Randidly like a cataclysmic comet.

He had the smallest shred of time to prep himself. His Nether Core whirled, pushing its speed dangerously far past safe levels. With significance taking up all the slack keeping the Songstress of Absence’s spear in place, Yggdrasil and the Dread Homunculus focused all their energy on defense.

Sulfur’s massive form began to release the cool, cleansing glow of dawn. Randidly’s right arm sharpened and twisted, possessing all the wicked corners of a shadowy dusk. Both hands burned with image power, balancing the flavor of each. They spun together and ran along the shaft of the spear in parallel lines.

Congratulations! Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Realty Stirs (T) has grown to Level 998!

...

Congratulations! Your Skill Dawn Opens the Sky and Realty Stirs (T) has grown to Level 1002!

Congratulations! Your Skill Darkness Withers the Horizon and the Watching Carrion Grins (T) has grown to Level 1000!

He thrust. Fist met spear.

The ground collapsed beneath him with enough immediate violence that the surrounding area were thrust up, creating sharp-toothed ridges. In the moment of contact, both Yggdrasil and the Dread Homunculus gave slightly, needing the Songstress to hold their own in a conflict of this caliber. So when his image physicalizations faltered and were subsequently obliterated, the force slammed against his body.

Randidly coughed up blood and staggered backward. The weakened ground had apparently only been compacted into structural integrity by the pressure from his feet, so the small step meant he slipped and fell into a widening ravine. Several groaning quakes shook the area, tearing up the ground in a larger and larger radius.

Mid-roll, Randidly punched his fist into a solid-looking rock slab and stopped himself. He squeezed his eyes shut, desperately trying to keep feeding energy through to the Songstress, while his body struggled to cope with the physical strain. He hissed out a breath. He witnessed the bubble closing, the second step completed.

He let a smile dance across his face. Even Elhume probably is leery of standing directly against the Nexus now that the process has been started. And because of the time difference, he has already used his one shot-

“The Fourth Fist: Timeless.”

“The Fourth Fist: Timeless.”

“The Fourth Fist: Timeless.”

Randidly blinked, at first believing that he had misheard. Yet that familiar ache had settled into his abused bones. He flexed his arm and tossed himself out of the ravine to land on the ground. Dust and crackling electricity muddied the surrounding space, but he could look up at the sky... where he saw three fists ripping down toward him.

“Are you,” Randidly began to laugh; he almost couldn’t help himself. The final boss could just throw punches outside of time's bounds. His hands tightened on Acri’s shaft. “Fucking kidding me?!?”