Chapter 2394

Chapter 2394

Randidly looked at the barriers of time that had been built around this battlefield. He felt the subtle flows tugging at his wrists and ankles-- the net had ensnared him deep enough that he would need to tear through a few temporal beats in order to escape. His expression turned harsh, both for Fiero for managing this and for himself for missing this areas construction. He needed to be better than this.

Are you willing to capitulate? Fiero asked. The question sounded like a taunt. Randidly made a promise to himself that he would really pause and savor the next time he drove his fist through the ancient Vulpines jaw.

A thousand considerations glittered in his awareness. A thousand worries, a thousand solutions. The Alchemist in his chest narrowed his eyes.

Randidly considered taking a step back; that Path would put less strain on his isolated subordinates. But he also knew he would be surrendering the initiative he had grasped through his fights thus far. The Alchemist in him had been carefully considering the miracle ingredients he could manipulate, but suddenly he would shift into a new role. Randidly rubbed his thumb along Acris carved handle.

Time and time again, Fiero had proven he couldnt be trusted. His whole kingdom was built upon a foundation of pilfering and repurposing. Randidly did not wish to show his back to such an individual.

Through his Nether and Aether connections, Randidly felt the compressed struggles of the Vulpis Squad. With his attention, he saw the lines that had severed. Their suffering sizzled through and made his hackles rise. Randidly gritted his teeth. His heart burned to not simply rip his way through to assist them, but Fiero wouldnt have come here without a plan in place.

He had clambored to this point by relying on others. He should not falter now.

Advance, the Dread Homunculus whispered to him in a voice that was both mournful and anticipatory.

If Randidly had to bet on his chances of escaping the prepared traps for the two traps laid before him, he unfortunately had a lot more confidence in his fighting his way through the direct ambush. He spun Acri and then aimed the point at the withered chest of his foe. Randidly Ghosthound stood tall and did not capitulate.

Your people will die, Fiero spoke while eyeing the gleaming blade.

Randidly released a long breath. He felt like taking an hour break to cry, mourning the fact Lyra had believed she had no avenues forward but to become a restraint upon the danger that a Devick had become with a Deviation Rarity Skill. He wished he could sleep for a year for all the lives extinguished, a few more sparks of fuel cast into that maw that was his own drive. I wish I could save my people from all dangers. But I cant. I can just give them every opportunity to succeed.

Fiero snorted. What a peculiar methodology. But fine, this time, I am ready for your insurgency. The Seventh Fist: Pinnacles Shibboleth.

Fieros tails blazed with power, cracking and smashing the ground beneath his feet with the pressure of his image activation. From his body emerged a note of imitation; a near-perfect replication of the resonance that had earned him and Elhume a full moment at the Pinnacle. It contained the hint of truth and the potency of a vessel. The air quaked and seethed. A tail-turned-fist sailed in Randidlys direction, a blow that was proof of the heights Fiero had reached.

He felt curiously numb, struck with a sense of detachment and deja vu. His eyes were wide and suddenly, he saw.

Congratulations! Your Skill Emerald Eyes and Dove Whispers Certify the Objective (GD) has grown to Level 1559!

Congratulations! Your Skill Truth Within the Primordial Flux (GD) has grown to Level 1101!

Very quickly, Randidly had three almost irrelevant thoughts as he witnessed the patterns thrown in his face during these fights. The first thought was almost inarticulate, a blaze of emotional intensity that seared through his body. It burned from his wrists and calves, following the charred and incendiary remnants of his grief until it slammed into his emotional sea, full of heat and intensity.

The second thought was an acknowledgement of emotional exhaustion. His fury shot out into his emotional sea and vanished within the wide expanse. The breadth of the emotion Randidly had spent over the last hour lingered like a suffocating storm front and extinguished any new sparks with just the ghost of its presence. He stood on the balls of his feet with Acri raised. And he felt totally anchored in place by the gulf inside of his heart. His people needed him. He was also needed elsewhere.

The powerful fist, with the hint of a Pinnacles truth, slid toward him. His Nether Core shivered in response.

The third thought was a weird moment of connection and clarity around where he might accumulate power. The more he learned about the Pinnacle, the more he learned that the power came not from the truth, not in the long term, but from the vessel. His emotional sea, the burning intensity that animated his attacks most of the time, had been spent through repeated clashes at the height of his potential.

But the bowl that contained all those emotions remained, vast and hollow inside his consciousness. He had already intuited the way his body physically became more due to the presence of the Alpha Cosmos, but this was different. He, Randidly Ghosthound, notoriously poor at handling his feelings, could now contain an emotional multitudes.

That, too, could be a weapon. He raised the bowl and its hollow ghost.

Randidly released a breath. His Nether Core spun, faster and faster, pulling significance into a whirlpool around his body. He executed a thrust, his whole existence becoming part of the movement. The frame of his emotional sea became the weight behind the blow, blending seamlessly with his muscle and Nether.

Acri cracked open Fieros stolen Seventh Fist and buried its head deep in the ancient Vulpines chest.

Fiero snarled down at the wound. You insolent wretch!

A wave of Fieros image, a grasping hand, scrabbled against Randidlys attack. The ancient monster of the Nexus sought purchase, to pry away the image that had been wielded against him.

The Dread Homunculus cackled.

Because Randidly hadnt wielded an image against this old bastard. He had simply relied on the vessel he had become. And Fieros grip wasnt enough to hold him. He wretched Acri sideways, twisting the spearhead and deepening the wound. He left Fiero groaning as he pulled out his weapon and twisted his left arm backward. A pulse of pure glee came from his Nether Core. From within the depths of the mist, a gem began to sparkle.

Randidly threw a left hook with all of his accumulation in the System behind it. When he felt the jaw of Fiero crack, he grinned wolfishly. The ancient monsters body bounced its way through a collapsed tower.

He fucking savored the moment of impact. No matter what else could be said of him, Randidly Ghosthound made good on his promises.

Just as Randidly was about to pounce and followed up with more blows, channeling this existence as a vessel into every movement, Fiero waved his hand. The sky above them suddenly bristled as Timeless fists phased into existence through the temporal barriers. Not just a machine guns worth, but millions, a horrible invasion of fists.

They werent even homing in on Randidlys position. They descended in a wave, smashing and obliterating the collapsed stone buildings that littered the ground. Like a cement roller, they ground closer.

Randidly looked up at the sky and flexed his hands; his exhaustion became armor, allowing him to adjust without feeling. His pupils dilated as he estimated the new threat. His Nether Core continued to accelerate its spin, the misty barrier steadily dissipating. He felt immense. So, so drained, but that just added to his sense of weight.

He heard the roar of blood in his ears. He raised his spear. He sent a pulse through his left arm. Ready, you two?

Name doesnt even make sense though. Obviously, it wasnt the first universe, DiOrtho muttered, but his commentary earned a sharp look from Raymund and a growl from Vizzeret. The demon humanoid raised his hands and clenched his fists.

While the two animals snapped at each other, Alana continued walking forward. Charlotte watched the easy fluidity of her movements. It was difficult to believe how much of a burnt-out husk Alana had seen, only ten hours ago, her image pushed too far for too long. Even with her Primal Force assisting in the healing process, Charlotte had believed a full recovery would have been impossible.

But the Nether they accumulated acting as the overflow for Randidlys transformation synergized and behaved in ways that Charlotte still couldnt quite follow. Although Alanas image had been completely broken down by overuse, Nether had lined her inner world and protected it from scars. Now, that blemish-free zone became a fertile bed to allow Alanas image, which was proceeding through its own transition, to rebuild itself from the ground up in a new shape.

Alana spun on her heel and looked at them all. We knew theoretically of the burden of supporting Randidly Ghosthound as he sought to dismantle the horrors of the Nexus. We chose to follow him anyway. And now, the load is firmly upon our shoulders. We bear wounds inflicted as those hooks and chains are removed from our bodies. We bury those who paid for the freedom of their descendants with their lives. For a moment, lets bow our heads and pay our respects.

The soldiers all bowed their heads for a moment, standing next to the thirty-four evenly made graves. They said thank you.

They said goodbye.

Charlotte Wick felt the pulse of their Nether, shivering as one. The bonds between the squad members deepened. Just as her senses tried to pick apart what exactly had shifted, Alana raised her head and began to speak again. It might feel unbearable now but do not lose hope. I knew a woman whose people were a forged tool. Her entire race was a reflection, made to shatter or temper a real people. In the end, they did not matter. They were dominated and manipulated by a tyrant pulled sideways by an obsession that had festered into madness.

Yet this woman had a singular advantage. Against all odds, she had been born a Witch.

Again, the Nether of the group pulsed. Charlotte released a slow breath, feeling some of her tension bleed out of her. All of the soldiers focused on the soldier as one of Alanas new Skills took effect.

To be a Witch is to possess profane flesh. To be an existence that transgresses. That warps and taints the world. Yet she was just a single witch, and the whole world had been set on a collision course. The reflection and the originals could only clash and grind each other to dust. On some days, she could not think of any method of adjusting this situation without being caught up between the two forces. All that she held dear and this intriguing other version of her people were doomed. She struggled, but could only accomplish small feats; Her small power of transgression was just within her blood and flesh. And she could feel the fate of the entire world running out.

She suffered. Her people suffered. Death crouched low over her world and breathed deeply, savoring their pain.

Edgar, the soldier who had taken it upon himself to fashion a backpack that contained Heiffals still functioning torso, let out a loud sniff. Every from here, Charlotte Wick could see how hard DiOrtho Vant clenched his teeth.

She wondered what sort of expression she was making. She suppressed the urge to reach up and feel her furry cheeks to find out.

No hero arrived on this world, at least not yet. But the Witch had suffered in silence for long enough. Because her power was so tied to the flesh, she began experimenting on her own body, pushing her limits in order to find some way to escape this constant hell of struggle and violence. Her power proved to be just, just insufficient to overturn the controls placed upon her. The bindings stopped her just short of being able to escape the whims of the tyrant. So she found the closest replacement for the hero who had not arrived, a talented young warrior from the opposite people. One who provided her with a spark of inspiration. She altered her body composition, to make procreation possible.

When the two had a son, she named him Shal. Because through him, she swore to herself, the world shall end. One way or the other. And when that promised time came and everything that restrictive monster had built came crashing down, it was fucking karma that tore the edifice to pieces. Karma, and one woman who endured through the hopeless days to the first stirrings of an opportunity. Alana luminous eyes swept around the area. She paused on each and every soldier, met their eyes, fed into the fire housed within them.

When her mouth opened, her smile bristled with fangs. This Nexus lets go end it, shall we?

*****

The volume of Nether pumping through him just kept increasing.

Randidly Ghosthound felt energy burning its way through his veins. The feeling was almost nostalgic-- few experiences these days were able to make his body feel so woefully insufficient as a container. Yet when the dense, translucent Nether swirled through his core, tempering his veins, and then Aether flooded through, compressed down to a liquid trickle-

Waves of heat rolled off his body as the rain of fists continued to fall down toward Randidly. Opposite him, Fieros eyes narrowed as the energy Randidly released shifted. You what are you trying to do?!

Im trying a different Path. Randidly took another step forward, the ground shaking and shivering; in his Soulspace, the distortions were even more prominent. His chest cavity felt aflame. Nether and Aether circled faster and faster, two concentric rings rotating in opposite directions, waves of powerful force spreading out through him.

The friction threw off sparks powerful enough to burn holes through most images.

Yggdrasil hummed in pleasure as it spread out its roots and dipped into the liquid flows of energy now running through his body. As Randidly accepted the concept of a vessel, the possibility for what his body could be multiplied. The connection between tree and energy was immediate and fulfilling. In a very real way, the World Tree seeded itself inside of him. The roots flexed and grew. The bonds deepened. It sank deeper, pushing into him. It drank more from the well of endless energy dawning within him.

Those sparks from energy circulation landed upon Yggdrasils branches, glittering like primordial gems.

Randidlys power surged and seethed. Image and vessel were both enriched by the connection.

Synchronicity detected your Skillset Yggdrasil, the Universe that Was First a Tree is reacting!

Detecting influences

Incorporating foreign elements

Balancing the Nether infusion

Recalculating

Setting up parameters of Nether integration

Pantheon Intervention. Recalculating

Randidly raised his spear, his eyes flashing as he sensed the approach of the image evolution of his oldest and most reliable Skillset. He offered Fiero a hunters smile. You will regret holding back to this point.

Fiero seemed to come to the same conclusion at the same time. He shifted his stance as quickly as he could. His balance remained slightly off, but no longer did he just populate the sky with Timeless fists he had stockpiled. He threw a punch.

The Eighth Fist: Truth.