LoRG 3

If not for two facts Randidly likely would have accepted the difficulty condensing liquid Aether and undone the mark he was increasingly placing on his released energy The first reassuring fact was that as Randidly almost subconsciously shaped the energy released he could feel how much easier it was for him to now create a detailed image The experience of marking Aether seemed to be part of a broader mental experience of exerting his will on the world Getting into the habit made exerting his will with an image that much easier

It was a gradual thing but his power was growing

And the second fact was that while he did mark Aether as his own the Aether that he released was still extremely malleable for the people of Kharon It did not approach the crusted and brittle Aether that the System spewed out for people using Villages

So Randidly didnÆt let it bother him as Aether flowed through him and dispersed through the surrounding area It was with some amusement that Randidly realized that the process was helped along immensely by the moss spirits They floated through the air and carried RandidlyÆs Aether with them distributing it evenly through the surrounding districts

The Aether seeped slowly down into the city around him as Randidly moved nurturing the growing images of the people who lived here The air became rich with energy due to RandidlyÆs presence

Congratulations Your Skill Spear Mastery has grown to Level 224

Still Randidly continued to accelerate throwing off more and more energy as his speed pushed the limits of what the human body could handle His limbs were a blur borrowing some of the esoteric principles he had seen Vualla utilize to create an image of power just from physical movements

His spar yesterday with Helen was a reminder not to forget the basics Although he had rather easily won that was by relying on his images While he had been away the one area that Helen had managed to quickly catch back up in was pure spear use

Although honestly Randidly was right more concerned with the roof beneath his feet holding up than he was with his own body giving out on him But it seemed like city hall had been built solidly to withstand attacks so a little training on the roof should be harmlessly enough The building seemed to be swaying slightly but it was nothing too drastic

As Randidly moved through a complex series of thrusts with the training spear that created the illusion of a blooming bouquet of sharp petaled flowers he chuckled to himself Would really be unfortunate if I demolish city hall just from some light exercises though

From the base exercises with the spear Randidly eventually moved on to spear movements that incorporated moves inspired by his three images To be frank Randidly had largely lost any sort of comprehensive spear fighting method since he had gained his images Although the Grim Chimera was composed of a series of spear moves Randidly had treated these much more like individuals Skills than a pure Style as was emphasized on Tellus The unity of his fighting method was gradually lost

Meanwhile Helen had shown him that it was possible to preserve that unity It simply required effort and focus

Now with city hall lightly shaking beneath him Randidly thrust and swept and dodged and jabbed while steadily working the principles of his images into the simple movements of the spear There were times where he would be stumped for a short amount of time but Randidly did not lose his patience He gracefully gathered his images within his body and perfectly performed the moves

If there wasnÆt an answer in his mind Randidly trusted that he would find one within the images and the moves

The World Tree became a spear style that was powerful and full of life The Ignition Essence became moves that were unpredictable and flawless And the Grim Chimera between those powerful spear Skills that Randidly already possessed a dominant style of a predator slowly came into being His spear moved ceaselessly proceeding through each move with deadly grace

Notification after notification appeared signaling that the System rewarded Randidly for his focused efforts His method was rather forceful but it appeared clearly to be correct

Congratulations Your Skill Spear Mastery has grown to Level 225

Congratulations Your Skill Spear Mastery has grown to Level 226

Congratulations Your Skill Spear Mastery has grown to Level 248

Congratulations Your Skill Spear Mastery has grown to Level 301

As Randidly slowed down he was surprised to find that his body was steaming Almost the entirety of the rooftop was shrouded in the thick mist as his overheated body met the cool air When he ceased moving the surrounding area went very still and silent as though everything nearby had been suppressed by RandidlyÆs movements in the past several hours No noise penetrated into the depths of the mist

Which due to the emergence of mist and ghastly images Randidly now found swirling around him everything probably had been suppressed by his activities Awkwardly Randidly could only scratch his chin and be glad that the mist obscured his form standing smoky armed on top of city hall

Still no matter the side effects it had been an extremely fruitful training session Not only had Randidly largely rid himself of the mental stress from looking at reports for several days but he had also finally cashed in on his Spear Mastery potential that he had left by the wayside for the past two or so years All in all it was an extremely satisfying day

A twinge through RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition had him look over toward the stairwell to the roof Standing there was Tatiana her arms folded across her chest The mist had dissipated to the point that it was only a light fog in the surrounding area Are you finished We had to send some of the weaker employees home early Your energy is a bit much for people to withstand

Randidly winced Sorry Next time IÆll train somewhere where it will be less distracting

Honestly it was a nice break WeÆve all been working ourselves to the bone recently This is your town Randidly Tatiana waved at him in a friendly manner and turned to head back down the stairs If we are so weak that we canÆt be near you likely itÆs us that should be forced to leave Kharon

Randidly watched Tatiana go with a frown Because it was something that he had never really considered before but Tatiana was probably right to point out the issue Looking down at his hands Randidly sighed One goal of Kharon was to create a town that had enough strength to help the Earth develop in the right direction Randidly had never really considered the problem of making sure the town was able to endure the pressure of staying near him

Idly Randidly remembered the way that the forging the metal for his replacement arm had left a deep mark on the image of that wild area within the Alpha Cosmos The people of Kharon had to endure that with every day that they spent by his side They would be forever marked by swimming in the energy that Randidly produced

But while it was likely somewhat difficult there were also benefits The dense energy that Randidly released into the air would mean the people here would develop that much more quickly

Lightly Randidly picked up his PhilosopherÆs Key and tasted the karma in the air Doing so immediately reminded him of a meeting that he had today so Randidly hastily stored his key away and loped across the nearby rooftops toward a bathhouse

As he traversed through KharonÆs upper level Randidly was pleased to note that people had expanded their use of the moss spirits immensely Although Randidly only produced about fifty platforms that the moss spirits could grip a day the people that bought those platforms used them tirelessly

A floating streetÆ just a little bit above the line of the rooftops was now mirroring the street below in a lot of places filled with glowing emerald platforms carrying supplies without cluttering up the thoroughfares that were increasingly crowded as the population of Kharon shot upward Around the edges of these floating supply caravans individuals streaked past on sleeker platforms shaped like surfboards

It was a good feeling to know that some of the preparations for KharonÆs arrival at the Zones was proceeding without a hitch

Very quickly Randidly snuck into the Order Ducis private baths and cleaned himself off and then returned to city hall Today he finally had a meeting with Antonio to talk about how the group from Chicago was settling into Kharon

Chapter 1251

Nathan leaned his forehead against the glass window of the manatech rail car and made an aggravated face But even so he would be damned if he let anyone ruin his good mood right now Look we are just friends But sheÆs playing the halftime show Thousands of people are going to watch As a friend I have to support her

Uh huh His twin sister KierstyÆs voice clearly indicated that she didnÆt believe NathanÆs assertions at all And when did you and Mariah Jane become so close IsnÆt she sixteen already ThatÆs two years older than us How many sixteen year old girls have friends who are fourteen year old boys Especially ones who are so

Nathan fiddled with the buttons of his shirt as Kiersty trailed off He rather pointedly ignored everything but her first question we became after she took second place in DonnytonÆs performance challenge I went to encourage her for next time I I met her backstage She should have won

Next to Kiersty on the seat opposite Nathan Tykes chuckled and briefly ceased making the gold coin dance across his fingers You really think that girl child should have beaten Raina They arenÆt even in the same vocal league little man

SheÆs just developing her sound Nathan said defensively She really I think the next challenge she will be even better

Dinesh yawned loudly in the seat next to him finally pulling NathanÆs gaze from the forests they were speeding past to favor Dinesh with a sour look Shrugging rather noncommittally Dinesh continued to work on the sudoku puzzle book he had bought at the train station before they had departed Feeling wronged Nathan folded his arms and glowered indiscriminately at the others in the train car

So you walked backstage and talked to an older girl that you didnÆt know and you two just became friends Kiersty prompted after the silence had stretched for a few minutes Even though everybody says that she has a thing with the Cortez boy

Nathan unfolded his arms People can have friends and I just Well you know her actual Class is Heavy Archer not related to singing at all So I mentioned well just said that if she wanted it would be possible to change her Class to something more well more related to singing Like Songstress or something and she seemed really interested

Of course sheÆs interested Kiersty sighed as she slumped back in her seat and crossed her arms again This is why IÆm saying you need to be more responsible with who you tell about your powers

Oh shut up Kiersty you run a cult Nathan muttered glumly

That earned a sharp glare from Kiersty but it was Dinesh that responded He carefully raised his measure gaze from the puzzle book in his hands and said Spreading word of your abilities can be dangerous Make sure she understands that this matter shouldnÆt be be talked about lightly Although both of you are mature for teenagers that does not mean all others are and it is best to avoid misunderstandings

Misunderstandings that Dinesh and I end up solving Tykes said with an easy smile He popped the golden coin into his hand and flapped it into the air When it landed on his palm he immediately covered it with the other hand with an audible slap

MariahÆs different Nathan said firmly Even Mrs Hamilton said she was trustworthy

Again Tykes chuckled but Nathan ignored the older man After all what did he know When they were back at their temporary base by the Ogre Gorge Tykes was constantly fawning over that woman would couldnÆt even speak In terms of developing a relationship Tykes was successful but that was definitely not the sort of relationship that Nathan wanted

No NathanÆs face flushed a bit as he turned back to the window I want to date someone someone who just gets me Sometimes when IÆm listening to MariahÆs songs

Well sheÆs certainly not very nice Kiersty announced interrupting NathanÆs reverie Why the hell do we need to buy our own tickets She could at least give us a couple And good ones Who asked this football game to be so popular

Kiersty honey we all know how much money you have Tykes rolled his eyes What are you doing with it if not spending it on tickets

Investing in the coffee farms Kiersty said defensively If we can expand now since there are so many new places on Earth anyway thatÆs not the point IÆm just saying that IÆm sure Raina would have given us tickets if she had been singing at the halftime show

NathanÆs throat was dry as he cleared it lightly Ahem Well I I didnÆt tell Mariah that we were coming I wanted it to be a surprise Like she she would look out into the crowd and see me

Everyone spared Nathan a look and considered the fact that the group had was heading to watch the inaugural football game without telling Mariah that they were coming Tykes smirked and DInesh sighed Both of them honestly didnÆt care that much they were there to protect Nathan and would have followed him anyway

But Kiersty

Oh my gawdd Kiersty held her face in her hands and shook her head You are such an idiot sometimes How are we related at all

Once more Randidly stood on top of KharonÆs city hall and considered the billowing pillars of smoke that wafted upward from the almost constantly active furnaces in the industrial district The smoke had become a reassuring constant of Kharon It was proof of the constant efforts of this cityÆs people to improve Even as time passed the people of Kharon were developing to face the EarthÆs problems

ItÆs a matter of speed however The stronger Kharon is the less I need to worry about the smaller threats

Almost moodily Randidly rubbed his chin and felt the persisting mark his image yesterday had made on the roof Even now the energy of RandidlyÆs images continued to swirl on the roof With a shake of his head he turned away and returned to his office the old fashioned way through the interior stairwell

It had been four and a half days now since he had returned to Kharon four and a half days of feeling like there were far too many things for him to do Aside from his own growth which took up a large portion of his day Randidly was constantly moving throughout Kharon and inspecting the various facilities He continued to pour over recent reports on the movements of different entities on Earth The forgers of Kharon wanted to meet and talk with Randidly regarding how to improve their craft Naffur wanted Randidly to create a set of codes for the members of the Order Ducis to abide by

Every day they moved another day closer to arriving at the Zones

The tests regarding the power of the moss spirits were moving into the next stage after successful results on both the floating platforms and incorporating the spirits directly into a street Tatiana had an unending series of meetings and reports that she needed Randidly for because they would materially affect the growth of Kharon And perhaps the task that had taken up the most of RandidlyÆs thoughts if not his time was the perverse desire to trick some vendor from Kharon into selling him a product for full price

As Randidly opened up the door to his office he noticed a neat note on familiar letterhead laying on the ground Picking it up he recognized TatianaÆs handwriting from the many reports he had read in the past few days and skimmed the contents In the note Tatiana reminded Randidly firstly that although most of KharonÆs business was related the metalworking and industrial strength materials the fastest growing export of Kharon was actually soaps and shampoos due to the teas herbs and flowers grown in the Western portion of Kharon dedicated to agriculture

And the second piece of information contained in the note was that someone had named one of their newer soap scents GhosthoundÆ For almost a minute after he read that line Randidly did nothing He simply stared at the note Then he crumpled up the note and lobbed it perfectly across the room to land into the trashcan

They made a soap based on me Randidly mumbled In his meeting with Antonio yesterday the man had expressed some reservations that a lot of people felt about staying in Kharon for the long term The two main reasons Antonio gave were that a lot of people were unsure about just coming under the thumb of another group like the Chosen and that the people felt nervous putting their lives in the hands of someone they donÆt know In this case Randidly Ghosthound

Even remembering the meeting gave Randidly a headache Especially with how much difficulty Heiffal and his group have had adjusting to the culture on Earth does that mean something like a soap scent is exactly what I need to spread a positive image

But just as that thought popped into his head Randidly ruthlessly smashed it He bared his teeth at the air as his emerald eyes flashed No Even if I need to earn the trust of the people a soap is not how I want to do it

Unbidden suddenly RandidlyÆs mind was filled with a monochrome commercial starring himself for the soap It began with just his silhouette walking away from the camera with enough jaunt to make the sharp lines of his body appear androgynous At the last moment Randidly spun around and unleashed his most squinty eyed and duck faced look as he peered over his shoulder

As Randidly delivered his gaze at an angle that highlighted his jaws and cheekbones a voiceover flowed outward Ghosthound Scent by Kharon

Shivering Randidly cracked his knuckles No matter if Randidly was doomed to be afflicted with busyness to the end of his life based upon the decisions he had made creating a city that did not mean he needed to allow something like this to go by without a proper response Besides despite the fact that Randidly had spent so much time yesterday training his Spear Mastery that efforted had only cleared the cloud hanging over RandidlyÆs head for a short amount of time As he continued to sit through another slew of meetings yesterday evening the weird sense of dissatisfaction crept back into RandidlyÆs mind

Yet what could Randidly do These were things that needed to be done It was just very different from what Randidly was good at But to be a good king Randidly needed to find the time to be good at these things too

Rubbing his eyes Randidly pushed those thoughts from his mind Even if this issue was rather small compared to the issue of preparing Kharon Randidly knew himself well enough that he would be endlessly distracted if he didnÆt address this issue now With a determined air he casually dressed and proceeded into the area of Kharon that housed its shops with every bit as much bloodlust and dedication as if he was walking to a battlefield

Chuckling Randidly approached a clothing shop Today he would accomplish two of his goals One he would finally trick someone into not giving him something for free with a disguise And two he could then rip off his disguise and get to the bottom of this whole Ghosthound scent debacle once and for all

Chapter 1252

Making minute adjustments to his disguise Randidly hurried to the Western portion of Kharon While the Southern fourth was industrial and the East was heavily populated the West was where most of KharonÆs undeveloped land was located Or rather than referring to the area as undeveloped it was fair to say that Tatiana had transformed this area into a mixture of parks and agricultural land

As Randidly walked briskly along the path that meandered into the West in order to pass himself off as an average individual he looked with genuine cheer at the areas filled with children and teenagers playing sports next to placid lakes On his other side wide aisles of colorful flowers released attractive scents that filled the air

Honest it was quite idyllic Some of RandidlyÆs hesitation about whether his presence on Kharon was a good thing eased as he fondly watched the yelling and romping of the children Then like all others Randidly froze briefly as a System announcement appeared in front of him

However unlike most others Randidly was probably the first one to chuckle

Congratulations The Danger Zone The Sulfurous Caves has been cleared The clearer has chosen to provide New Earth with an experience boost for everyone

Congratulations The world wide boost has been chosen four times Clear one more Danger Zone to obtain a special benefit from the System

Immediately after the notification appeared Randidly received the private message he had been expecting from Naffur

ItÆs finished

While the rest of the teenagers in the park next to Randidly ceased their game of soccer and began to talk excitedly he continued to stroll forward You work fast ItÆs only been three days since you left Kharon

There was a short period of silence and then Naffur responded it was easier than expected Even I am surprised how much the Order Ducis has grown with the help of Heiffal in his people But I wanted to know if you had any thoughts on what we should do next

Randidly shook his head and then belatedly realized Naffur couldnÆt see No Feel free to pick your own mission

Another pause IÆm worried about the inaugural football game

Scratching the back of his neck Randidly felt profoundly tired But after thinking about it he responded rather noncommittally IÆve given the Order DucisÆ official response We will never be security guards But the decisions over what we do are yours to make I trust NeveahÆs faith in you

To that as Randidly had expected Naffur didnÆt reply Which was good because Randidly had passed through the heavy flower fields and arrived at several boutique flower shops Narrowing his eyes Randidly scanned through their names until he located the one which had produced the Ghosthound scent The building was painted green but otherwise it was extremely similar to the other businesses in the area

Randidly walked toward the door and checked himself Before he had come over he had gone to a barber and shorn his hair quite short Without his hair his cheekbones and nose created extremely stark lines across his face In addition to that Randidly had bought a rather luxurious sable robe with gold trim that he now wore Rather than his usual spartan dress Randidly was confident that he was practically unrecognizable Especially after hearing from Antonio that most of the people of Chicago were suspicious of him precisely because he was known to wear rather well used clothes

And well used is probably editing on the part of Antonio for my benefit Randidly thought wryly But he didnÆt really mind Despite how soft and comfortable his current robe was he would be quite content to return to his usual clothes after this disguise Well perhaps he really should obtain a new outfit of training leathers

With a delicate touch Randidly pushed open the door to the soap shop A tinkling bell revealed his entrance but Randidly didnÆt bat an eyelash He walked confidently into the shop and spoke in what he believed to be a sophisticated tone Shopkeeper I am here for business

A balding man hurried out of a backroom rubbing some dyes off of his hands as he moved to greet his customer When he saw Randidly he stopped briefly and scanned him from his head to toe Then a wry smile came across the manÆs face Ah Mr Ghosthound What an honor to have you grace my shop

Sighing Randidly shifted his weight and put both of his hands on his hips With his extremely luxurious robe the motion made him seem positively regal How did you know it was me

Mr Ghosthound your bare feet are a dead give away The balding man flashed a smile toward Randidly He rubbed his greasy hands on his wide leather apron to rid himself of the remaining dyes IÆm afraid that unless you are willing to put on shoes there just isnÆt a chance of you tricking anyone into making you pay for something

RandidlyÆs face fell further So he even knows IÆm here to actually pay

Why am I the bad guy for trying to pay for something Randidly muttered sourly but he didnÆt really push the issue The man smiled and gestured to several wooden crates sitting up against the wall of the storefront Then the man turned away and walked back into the room he had left without trying to help Randidly shop

Nodding as a dawning realization hit him Randidly moved over to the crates and tore off the nailed lid of the top crate As he looked down at the bright oranges yellows and lime greens Randidly took a tentative sniff

Smells good right The balding man called out from the door into the back area of the store Randidly waved his hand and the man willingly retreated content to have the little bit of conversation with Randidly that he just had Sighing Randidly could only shake his head as the man left him alone

Randidly reached into the crate and pulled up one of the brightly colored bars He breathed deeply through his nose almost immediately his eyebrows shot upward Tatiana wasnÆt kidding These bars of soap deserved to be selling as quickly as they were the scents were good The one Randidly had grabbed smelled like sea salt and lavender Probably not the scent that Randidly would use for himself but still pleasant

It actually didnÆt take long for Randidly to find the soap in question After pushing the rainbow assortment of soaps to the side one stood out Rather than being eye catching it was honestly rather sedated The bar in question was a steel grey color with a large GÆ impressed onto the front Although RandidlyÆs mood had been relatively sour when he had heard that someone had made soap based on him his mood lightened quite a bit when he realized that he didnÆt mind the design nearly as much as the other examples he had seen

Still the fact there was a soap based on him was a bit

Although what am I really going to do tell the maker IÆm not going to let him sell it Randidly thought rather sardonically as he flipped one of the heavy bars in his hand He raised the bar to his face and scratched his fingernail across the surface The scent floated upward

Although he didnÆt like to admit it Randidly actually quite liked the Ghosthound scent It was woodsmoke and steel teakwood with a little bit of cinnamon Quite mollified Randidly pulled the bar back away from his face and considered it Then he shook his head Probably a bit dumb to run out here just because someone named a soap after me

Randidly opened the other two crates Although the first one only contained a few stacks of bars of the Ghosthound scent the second and third boxes were completely full of the stuff Each box contained two hundred carefully prepared bars of soap so all in all that meant that there might be four hundred and fifty people would be rubbing the bar of his scent on their naked body in short order

Randidly pinched the bridge on his nose with the cool metal fingers of his left hand Being famous is definitely not worth it

Especially because after so obviously being drawn out by the note caused by the suddenÆ discovery of such a soap scent Randidly suspected that he had been duped Of course Randidly wasnÆt worried that this was a weird betrayal at the 11th hour More likely Tatiana wanted to make some preparations while he was out of the city proper and fed him this to lure him away So with a wry shake of his head he dropped the soap back and the crate and began to head back to the populated portions of Kharon

As he expected he returned to find that the city had taken the hour of his distraction to hang banners and lanterns across everything The gates that separated the agricultural West from the central plaza had several high ranking individuals from Kharon standing in front of them TatianaÆs figure was the most obvious standing at the front of the mass of furiously working people with her hands clasped behind her back

As he approached the frantic activity slowed and then ceased Several of the workers that were throwing up platforms and lanterns look decidedly guilty Some of them were clearly individuals who had moved to Kharon recently from Chicago so they watched him with not a little fear as he walked up to them

Finally realizing the role that he was supposed to play in all this Randidly sauntered up to the group with a dour expression his face Was this really necessary

Tatiana chuckled Due to the fact that everybody nearby had gone completely still and silent her laughter carried for quite some distance Probably not But arenÆt you the type to work yourself to the bone Your presence has done a lot to accelerate the growth of Kharon already But we have been growing for ten months I think itÆs time for another festival

Randidly rolled his eyes and Tatiana leaned forward and said something in a low voice that likely only Randidly could hear Besides we will reach the Zones tomorrow Although I donÆt want to say it wonÆt it be a little said if a lot of people decide to disembark Kharon and settle down somewhere settled Every now and then itÆs best to remind people of the things that we are fighting for

Everyone waited for RandidlyÆs answer They had prepared blindly without truly knowing the outcome Likely due to TatianaÆs orders but the fact that they had done this knowing that Randidly was in the dark that meant something too

Meant that perhaps these people didnÆt fear Randidly as much as he worried they did That perhaps his effect on their lives wasnÆt all bad

Fine then Randidly spread his arms wide Spurts of Ignition Essence shot out from his hands to the waiting lanterns immediately lighting them LetÆs throw a party Kharon

Randidly was somewhat disappointed that the first response of the assembled people was to release a collective sigh but then they cheered and applauded politely And then the preparations began in earnest giving Randidly time to walk forward and stand next to Tatiana

thanks Tatiana Randidly smiled at the woman in charge of Kharon If I would have been thinking about it I would have recommended it ItÆs just

YouÆve got a lot on your plate Tatiana responded with an understanding nod But you canÆt manage everything

For the next two hours people furiously prepared Although Randidly could have helped Tatiana quietly told him that he was sometimes intimidatingly capable and that it was better to just leave these preparations to other people So feeling somewhat foolish Randidly wandered around in his expensive robe with his hands behind his back and watched the preparations

Gradually as the preparations finished people worked up the nerve to approach him and start a conversation They talked about when they came to Kharon And what struck Randidly the most was how everyone always said a very similar line Oh right now IÆm working as a steelworker but when I save up enough money IÆm going to

They have so much hope Randidly thought rather fondly His hands tightened into fists If nothing else thatÆs what I want to nurture here on Kharon in case the Earth needs it in the future

While he exchanged polite words with the excited people who had never really spoken to him before Randidly heard music begin to play in the surrounding areas Without even amps groups set up on cramped wooden stages and began to play along Banner Street With the help of the moss spirits the melodies spread out wider and wider out into the air as the light of day began to dim

The Order Ducis brought up long carts filled with high Level monster flesh and began to carefully roast the meat over towering bonfires they erected in the squares Randidly wandered past and saw a conversation between a man he distantly recognized as Police Commissioner Arrietti and Heiffal and his men

Grilling excellently is the greatest mark of a provider Commissioner Arrietti was saying Heiffal nodded seriously as though he was inscribing every word the Commissioner said onto his very soul Knowing the meat and predicting how it is cooking it requires experience and decisiveness

But one of HeiffalÆs followers seemed puzzled Why can we not check on the interior of the meat with our senses

Commissioner ArriettiÆs mouth worked soundlessly for several seconds as he tried to figure out how to answer the man But luckily for him Heiffal snorted Fool and taint the meat with our images Were you not listening earlier to the Commissioner Grilling is the pursuit of purity

Err w well yes that is true Commissioner Arrietti stuttered clearly feeling out of his depth Smiling to himself Randidly turned away and wandered deeper into the city as festivities really began

Almost once a minute an enterprising chemist released blasts of fireworks that sparkled in the night sky The surf board sized platforms that people were now using to get around Kharon zipped past constantly as most of the cityÆs youth raced above the lantern lit streets They ran through and around the hanging lights from the fireworks treating them more like part of their courses than as an encumbrance

Out of habit Randidly ended up standing before city hall Waiting for him there was Tatiana who had disappeared earlier during the preparations

ItÆs a good city Randidly said rather fondly In the air he could slowly feel the thoughts and emotions of the people living here warping the area slowly just as surely as his images had marked the roof of city hall Closing his eyes Randidly could see how Kharon would slowly develop It was exactly what he had been waiting for This was the seed he wanted to leave behind

A good future Tatiana responded offering Randidly one of the two crystal glasses that she held in her hand

He took it with a raised brow Drinking on the job

Frequently Tatiana responded with a smile By unspoken agreement they moved from the main square to the rooftops above disappearing so quickly that several lingering individuals scrambled backward Up above both leaned on the weak iron railing and considered the blurred forms of the moss spirit racers So Randidly what are we walking back to the Zones to do

Temper ourselves and temper them All of the playfulness seeped out of RandidlyÆs gaze His mouth twisted as he considered the dancing and celebrating people below I might be wrong but the benefit offered by the System will not come without costs And thatÆs not even counting the political trouble with traveling through the Zones

Worrying about it is my job Tatiana teased

Randidly nodded his expression easing somewhat But in his emerald eyes the intensity never wavered for even a second True letÆs hope that I wonÆt need to exercise my true role here too often

Chapter 1253

YouÆve got to be fucking kidding me Theodora Greyman whispered

Dear President Greyman

Thank you very much for your inquiry However neither Kharon nor the Order Ducis will be available to serve as guards during the inaugural football game Of course we take the mention of the attack on you during the gameÆs announcement very seriously We believe there is a credible threat that another attack will come on your chosen day However the other Orders will likely be a sufficient deterrent our presence would not only be superfluous but misleading

Hope all is well with you

From the Desk of Randidly Ghosthound

Theodora Greyman crumpled up the letter into a tight little ball and then changed her mind Her assistant Douglas stood impressively still as Theodora straightened the letter and then began meticulously tearing it to pieces It took much more effort but the process was quite satisfying Afterward she sighed and shook her head Really from the desk of Randidly Ghosthound Even if heÆs really back like they say he did not write this letter Shit it would have been less insulting if they had just ignored the request

Are we going to do something about it maÆam Douglas asked neutrally

Theodora tilted her head at Douglas Ever since having his foot burnt off and being forced to endure the obnoxious process of growing it back DouglasÆ affability had taken a huge hit His face was always so gaunt and serious Even worse his eyes were rather constantly performing the surly sideglances of a rebellious teenager At the very least Theodora was glad it was directed at her political opponents But still the man needed to relax

Sighing Theodora shook her head ThereÆs little to do It will strengthen the calls to remove the Order Ducis as the head Order but I doubt it will change the opinions of the people who truly matter Despite his lack of recent activity Randidly Ghosthound is not a foe that is easy to assail Even I

But at that Theodora trailed off She had started speaking with the intention of admitting that she held a deep fear toward Randidly Ghosthound but was that really someone who was chairperson of the World Council should admit Especially after she had been starkly shown the limitations of Mjolnir in the attack ten days prior it had occurred to Theodora that it would be much more reassuring to have some she could trust to protect her

That was the sort of security they needed for the inaugural football game Not a weapon of mass destruction that was beginning to experience slight deviations in its targeting parameters

Yet the experiments in creating a singular avatar that is constructed the same way as Mjolnir have had unpredictable results Theodora pursed her lips And although Zone 1Æs military is competent there havenÆt been any real standouts in the past few years

Theodora was snapped back from her wandering thoughts by DouglasÆ curt expression Yes Was there something else

Douglas bowed Mark Rowel is here to talk about the defensive arrangements for the game He also wanted to talk about the position of the VIP box

A familiar headache bloomed behind Theodora GreymanÆs eyes What is the issue Is the Order Valorem withdrawing its offer to supply manpower to the event

Quite the opposite Madam President The door to TheodoraÆs office was pushed open and Mark Rowel strolled into the room like he owned it After glancing at the gold pocket watch in his hand he smiled up at Theodora with some genuine guilt mollifying her somewhat Sorry for intruding but I figured it would be easier to hear directly from my mouth

The current head of the Order Valorem removed his coat and offered it to Douglas After TheodoraÆs nod Douglas took the coat and removed himself from the room Theodora sat very straight as she considered the man in front of her Apologies at my strong reaction Simply put I havenÆt had much good news about the inaugural game this week I assumed your message was similarly disappointing

The corner of MarkÆs mouth quirked upward The Order Ducis still hasnÆt responded How typical They are a leaderless

Actually they flatly denied my request It seems they donÆt find the game to be very important Theodora Greyman watched the interplay of emotions across Mark RowelÆs face

His expression quickly turned stony It seems Randidly Ghosthound is truly back huh Well I can assure you that his return will not stop me from pursuing what is right for Earth The Order Ducis should give way and pass its responsibilities to us the Order Valorem the ones who are truly out there protecting the people Randidly Ghosthound is ultimately one man What can one man do

What indeed Theodora thought to herself But she was remembering the inspiring power demonstrated by Alana Donal as she had ridden the Frost Dragon Broodmother to fight against the towering bloodbeast

Rather than getting dragged into the manÆs rather irrelevant conversation topic Theodora instead asked You said quite the opposite of withdrawing your promised manpower That certainly is a welcome thing to hear

The confident expression returned to MarkÆs face as he nodded Perhaps due to our recent activities recruitment is at an all time high A new batch of Knight Errants recently finished their training and will be ready for the match I can provide an extra two hundred capable individuals beyond what I already promised you

That had TheodoraÆs eyebrows rising upward Basically all of her annoyance at his presumptuous entrance had dissipated That is a significant help Thank you Mark

Mark RowelÆs smile widened But as I said I would like to talk about the VIP suite I believe a single exit would be limiting to any attempt to escape should the attack happen With the extra manpower I trust that covering another entrance will be no problem

Jake Tuck Quarterback for the currently undefeated East Providence Stallions shifted the memory crystal in his hand and projected the recorded videos contained within onto the wall of the darkened room Immediately blurry footage from the practice of the West Providence Vipers resolved itself

Jake watched through the full three hours of the blurry footage ignoring the poor angle and the weird color saturation of the videos Most of the video had been taken from the eyes of animals controlled by a friend of JakeÆs so it was impossible to avoid the low quality Instead Jake did his best to focus on the plays that the Vipers were running His expression was intent on the blurry figures projected against the wall

At points he manipulated the footage to rewind briefly and repeat showing the play once more The first game of this historic revival of football was the most important one for this endeavor In Jake TuckÆs heart he had no doubt that people would once more fall in love with the game of football After all the athletes becoming stronger and faster would only increase the appeal But because the competition was going to grow stronger Jake had no choice but to rely on methods like this

Because he fully intended for the East Providence Stallions to always remain undefeated Jake Tuck wanted to become the invulnerable face of Football for the new world

After the footage was over JakeÆs face twisted into a thoughtful look as he turned on the lights in the room After looking at the offensive plays and defensive coverages that the Vipers ran Jake began to make notes for his teamÆs next practice so they could effectively counter them without being too obvious about it

Of course Jake Tuck wasnÆt a selfish individual part of the reason that he was willing to cheat was that he knew that Earth would be better for having him on top of the Football world In JakeÆs mind Football was exactly what the New Earth needed to thrive Currently there was a lot of division opinion about how to best raise the next generation of children Obviously they should improve their Stats and Skills in preparation for the day where they obtain a Class but there were a lot of Paths to do that

But was constant combat and violence really the best way to do that

Of course not Children should be raised on Football instead

Pushing his blonde hair back out of his eyes Jake Tuck began drawing up some plays for the big game Once he had firmly entrenched himself as the face of football he fully intended to throw his significant clout behind the spread of childrenÆs programs involving sports rather than sparring

He also thought that the many criticisms currently being thrown at sports in post System Earth were ridiculous People who believed that superior Stats and Skills would determine everything didnÆt understand how complicated playing sports at a professional level truly was And the people who pointed out with the System players wouldnÆt be forced into retirement due to age didnÆt realize how wonderful such a thing could be

Without the crippling touch of age the greats would remain a constant presence older heroes mingling with their younger counterparts The quality of play in the sport would constantly improve Innovation in playcalling and formation would become paramount Perhaps it will be slightly more difficult for newer arrivals to get their name out there but Jake Tuck assumed that minor leagues would quickly emerge to solve that problem

The lines around JakeÆs eyes tightened This was exactly why it was so important that the Stallions become dominant now

There was a knock at the door and Jake looked up sharply His hand snaked outward and picked up the recording crystal He squeezed until the crystal was nothing but pulverized powder in his hand Only when he was satisfied that the crystal was unrecognizable did Jake answer Come on in

The general manager poked his head through the door and smiled at Jake I knew youÆd be up working ThatÆs my star Just a small thing the Order Valorem sent over some people who will be shadowing the team for the next few days before the match Just to watch out for anything suspicious

Mentally cursing the timing Jake Tuck nodded and smiled graciously Really Amazing IÆm glad the Order Valorem is so proactive about protecting the fans They are the real lifeblood of a sport

One hundred percent Jake and the general manager shared a rather less than savory look Then the general manager opened the door wider and revealed an older man wearing a long robe marked with the symbol of the Order Valorem The man had short black hair greying at the temples and dark eyes

The man extended his hand toward Jake IÆll be your protector ItÆs nice to meet you

Jake Tuck Jake said with false humility as he took the manÆs hand And whatÆs your name

Ezekiel The man responded simply He didnÆt smile but Jake sneered inwardly as he saw how yellow the manÆs teeth were

You certainly donÆt have the face of a star Jake thought dismissively as he turned away and focused once more on his play book The corner of JakeÆs mouth quirked upward That day that first day everything needed to be perfect He refused to leave anything up to chance

Chapter 1254

The night of revelry was one that would be long remembered on Kharon As the stars slowly scrolled past everyone seemed to throw themselves even more forcefully into enjoying their current reprive The moss spirits were out in force dancing enthusiastically for the population that had only recently realized how intelligent they were Even Randidly couldnÆt resist the rising tide of cheer that seized the city as the full population participated in the eating drinking and dancing that spread like a plague through the city

Perhaps most importantly Randidly could steadily feel the people they had picked up from the ChosenÆsÆ Chicago aligning with the wider image of Kharon Slowly but surely they were beginning to feel at home here They were all already people that were already willing to work hard and help others but the party helped them finally relax enough to feel a sense of belonging and community with the moving city

And the real reason that it made Randidly so pleased to sense the change was because Kharon was his home It was a wonderful feeling to share the joy of home with others

The new arrivals’ sudden embrace of Kharon became even more sharply apparent when due to the overwhelming popularity of the quickly escalating party the people of Kharon drank through the entirety of the liquor they had purchased from Zone 1 and 32 Rather tipsy themselves the people responsible for the distribution of alcohol were shocked to find that the entire supply that would normally last a month had been drunk to the last drop in only a week And they were well aware that most of that drinking had come that night

Requests came for more alcohol but all the kegs in the storehouse had already been distributed

For a while there was a bunch of hand ringing as the managers in charge of alcohol had a headache that cut quickly through their small amount of inebriation A ripple ran through the entirety of Kharon as the different alcohol stands that had been set up had to turn customers away due to lack of supply Some of the joviality began to ebb from the proceedings

Before the managers finally bit the bullet and reported the problem to Tatiana an unexpected solution presented itself surreptitiously hidden under baggy clothes at first a series of green glassed bottles of moonshine began making the rounds through the crowds It turned out that the people of Chicago hadnÆt really thought to mention it before but even under the oppression of the Chosen they hadnÆt given up the sweet vices of alcohol

Any servent of a Chosen worth his salt was brewing something in his or her personal quarters That habit hadnÆt been lost when they moved to Kharon

Many a cramped basement was now the site of a hastily assembled still And although the operations had only been going for about a month the people had also brought with them three years worth of hidden moonshine they had made under the ChosensÆ noses It was more than enough to fuel the continuation of their party

As the starÆ of the party Randidly was quickly found and presented with a bottle made of green glass Curious he took a swig Instantly he grinned and laughed as the extremely rough alcohol burned its way down his throat His Vitality almost instantly smothered the alcohol that entered his body and his Endurance didnÆt allow him to become tipsy at all from the gulp but the familiar burning sensation of alcohol was something that Randidly hadnÆt felt in quite some time

This stuff is good Randidly grinned down at the bottle The one who had made the moonshine laughed and slapped his knee

Although Randidly felt quite guilty for simply taking the entire bottle of liquor for himself Grim Intuition overheard the distiller of that bottle had bragged shamelessly after Randidly had extricated himself from the crowd and returned to the rooftops Who else but that manÆs moonshine was good enough for the Ghosthound himself So even if he took the entire bottle and disappeared Randidly dubiously supposed being seen drinking that manÆs moonshine was a form of repayment in and of itself

Maybe being at the top isnÆt so bad after all But as soon as Randidly thought that the memory of the Ghosthound commercial he had imagined appeared in his mind Shivering Randidly took another long swig of moonshine and looked out across the raucous city

In that moment of peace with the party continuing before him Randidly contacted Neveah and had a rather long conversation with her They had spoken briefly a few times while Randidly was fighting at the frontlines but those interactions just enough to ensure each other that both were doing well At the time Randidly had felt NeveahÆs frustration that she was unable to assist him while he was really threatened without his body After all they shared Health Mana and Stamina but when Randidly was the Grim Chimera he was purely relying on mental strength to exist

Neveah had been able to provide some support but it was much less concrete So Randidly had taken a few opportunities to interact with Neveah and reassure her that he had grown enough from the experience to make it worth it

So this conversation as a social call as the two detailed some minor projects on which they had been working Of course RandidlyÆs plans for an uncomplicated discussion were quickly derailed as he was distracted during a lull in their conversation when he peeked through their Soulbond at NeveahÆs inner world You you have ten drops of liquid Aether

NeveahÆs consciousness was immediately very smug It swirled around proudly What you think you are the only one who can figure out the trick Honestly it is annoying that my advantage over you amounts only this much liquid Aether requires emotion and I who have been deeply in love several times over the course of my short life has much more emotional potency than you Only three times the liquid Aether How embarrassing

Randidly pursed his lips and took another swig of moonshine as he remembered Neveah using his body to propose to a pop star from Zone 1 Rather than responding to her taunts however Randidly just shook his head and opened up some of his memories to Neveah Specifically Randidly showed her images of his experiences with liquid Aether In addition Randidly told her about the Fate armory that was filled with powerful currents of Aether

Then as their discussion expanded outward from Aether application Randidly revealed his memories of the Xyrt Brigades’ actions around the Nether King If they werenÆt going to keep this a pleasure call Randidly wanted to consult Neveah on what he had seen on the frontlines

Fascinated Neveah studied the weave of Aether around the Nether King very closely Unbidden she tugged at some of RandidlyÆs other memories and quickly extracted his observations on the behavior of Nether through his use of Nether Rituals After studying those experiences Neveah returned to looking at what Randidly had seen of the Nether King after it had gone dormant

After thinking a bit she asked Can you show me what is happening there right now Presently

Randidly nodded and activated Nether Ritual He wove his wish together sincerely desiring to see the area around the Nether King With the power of a Nether Gatekeeper fueling the working the Nether Ritual formed much more quickly than it had in the past In addition as the image resolved itself Randidly was struck by the impression that he could now reach through the connection he established and affect what he saw

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Ritual has grown to Level 136

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Ritual has grown to Level 142

Obviously his strength if he pushed now through the ritual would be relatively minor But it did cause Randidly to make a mental note to work more on improving his Nether Ritual in the future If he could control that influence well

But Randidly let those thoughts fall away as he focused on the image he shared with Neveah The frontlines and the Great Rift slowly swirled into focus As he had expected even more ground surrounding the area where the Nether King currently lay dormant had fallen away Lady IellayaÆs repaired base stuck out like a sore thumb as the surrounding lands had been conquered by the Great Rift

And seeing that Lady IellayaÆs hastily assembled camp was still manned made Randidly wince he knew it was his Commandership that was stationed there And without him there to nurture the image of Yggdrasil that held the Great Rift at bay it would someday collapse into the vast darkness He had used a drop of liquid Aether to fuel the Skill which was why the effect was so exaggerated but still his soldiers remaining there was dangerous

Although most of those soldiers are not ones loyal to me at all IÆll have to decide how much responsibility I have toward them

Neveah prodded Randidly Shaking his head mentally Randidly turned his focus away from the land and let the Nether Ritual guide them out toward the Great Rift There the Xyrt Brigade continued to weave Aether using the principles of Nether in a tight knot around the Nether King But Randidly instantly sensed that their attempts had become increasingly desperate Since Randidly had departed from frontlines another score of soldiers from the Xyrt Brigade had arrived to assist with the operation Almost thirty people were working constantly moving Aether to suppress what was occurring within the Nether King

RandidlyÆs eyes narrowed and Neveah hummed The Nether Ritual focused on the interplay of Aether and Nether around the core of the Nether King Both understood that it was too late whatever was going to occur with the Nether King could no longer be stopped only delayed

Neveah turned and looked at Randidly This reaction is due to you

After hesitating Randidly nodded slightly After seeing the weave used Nether principles IÆm starting to believe the System completely controls this war between the two sides With my PhilosopherÆs Key I unlocked whatever was holding the Nether King back Perhaps it will give us some insight into what it means for us to stand against the System

A gamble Immediately Neveah hummed again Then she shared the perceptions she gathered with her senses Even if Grim Intuition was a more powerful Stat than Neveah possessed her sensitivity to Aether was something that Randidly couldnÆt rival Can you feel it Rather than unlocking the seal you seemed to have marked the seal for the Nether It was hidden previously but that Key built a bridge that allowed the Nether to find what had kept it bound for so long

With NeveahÆs senses providing perspective Randidly felt the blurry edge of something sitting at the core of the Nether King He couldnÆt help but suck in a breath as that blurry sensation resolved itself Because at the core of the Nether King a fingernailÆs worth of crystalized Aether floated It was currently struggling to resist the full fury of the Nether KingÆs energy that swirled around and ate away at it The efforts of the Xyrt Brigade were to distract the Nether KingÆs energy and keep it from turning its focus on this interloper at its core but it was too late to calm the NetherÆs fury

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Ritual has grown to Level 143

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 99

Both were thoughtful as Randidly allowed the Nether Ritual to fade away

Finally Neveah broke the silence The System is dangerous

Randidly barred his teeth WeÆve known that for a while and we havenÆt even gotten rid of all the assorted threats here on Earth

To that Neveah shrugged I too have felt the CreatureÆs energy spreading sheÆs very obvious about her movements Too obvious for it to be a simple thing on which she works That is why I was wary of approaching her while you were gone But IÆve been studying the Danger Zones I believe I have discovered what the benefitÆ the System has teased recently is

That had RandidlyÆs attention Nodding Neveah continued to speak The old bones of the System are still present in the planets were are now connected to and when I fought the Toad Lord I sensed that there have been small adjustments among those old System constructs that have long lain dormant

As you know each planet is given a flow of ambient Aether that pushes up the potential of the materials and organisms on the planet That ambient energy permeates everything Eventually the percentage of an individualÆs consumption of ambient Aether drops off as they are connected to a Village but that ambient Aether in a world is a very important determinant when it comes to someoneÆs potential Because the stronger they are when they obtain a Class

The stronger the Class they are able to claim Randidly finished with glittering eyes At least theoretically

Neveah grinned showcasing her formidable maw Yes I believe Earth will absorb the old structures from these abandoned worlds by accomplishing the SystemÆs stated task At that time Earth will receive almost double the amount of ambient Aether that it currently does And at the same time those old worlds now without a System framework will collapse upon themselves

And the populations will either move to Earth or die Randidly tapped his lip Then he spared Neveah a glance I donÆt suppose you showed enough mercy to the Toad Lord that he would be willing to negotiate Adding his strength to EarthÆs can only be a good thing Assuming of course you believe he wonÆt betray us

NeveahÆs smile was almost bashful That Toad Lord is actually quite interesting Even I was surprised by the creative ways that he utilized Aether IÆll contact him in a bit after heÆs recovered from the wounds I inflicted on him there is no way he would hold a grudge against a cute young woman like me right

RandidlyÆs face twitched how could he No matter how err serious the wounds you inflicted were IÆm sure that your genuine attitude will be enough

NeveahÆs jaw lined with razor sharp teeth clicked excitedly as she nodded cheerfully Of course It must be so And if he still holds a grudge well thatÆs fine too Perhaps he has even more Aether tricks that he can show me

Chapter 1255

Several hours later with the light of dawn filtering through the window shades Randidly scratched his jaw What do you mean thereÆs one small problem with the new housing project The hard part is done We are just selling real estate now

While most of the rest of the population of Kharon was taking a rest day after the party Tatiana and Randidly were standing in TatianaÆs office working as they had been for almost a week Both of them had too high physical Stats to have anything like a hangover But even more than that both were people that threw themselves even more seriously into work after taking some time to rest

Probably why we are always developing a headache Randidly through as he rubbed his temples and looked at the mayor of Kharon

Tatiana shrugged helplessly but Randidly could tell from the mischievous light in her eyes that she was not actually as upset as she would have him think No one has purchased the first few tracts of land youÆve created So what can I do If no one wants them it is very hard indeed to sell real estate

Randidly shook his head The tracts in question were the first of a series of larger platforms that Randidly had engraved with the runes that would allow the moss spirits to grip the land After the success of using the moss spirits as a part of commerce Randidly had moved forward his plans and turned to the real motivation for the Engraving experiment he wanted to move some of the rising population to floating islands that would follow along behind Kharon like a supernatural tail

He had believed it would be quickly adopted because Tatiana had made sure he was aware that real estate prices in Kharon were currently spiking swiftly upward After all KharonÆs land area was fixed Without new lands for the rich upper class of Kharon to buy their growing appetite would steadily price out the average workers in the area Which would incite a whole host of social problems that would distract from the true purpose of Kharon

Which was why it had become a thorny enough problem that Randidly had created a plan to deal with it

So floating islands that could be used as compounds for the elites had seemed like the perfect answer After all who wouldnÆt want to own their own floating island and show off to their friends It would devour some of the significant capital of the 1% of Kharon while also making Kharon appear even more fantastical as they returned to the Zones

Sighing Randidly said Tatiana whatÆs the real problem I donÆt believe for a second that people are really unwilling to buy these islands Is it the prices

Randidly had created three platforms for the first batch Each was about a half mile in diameter leaving plenty of room for construction Randidly had even carefully selected relatively scenic pieces of ground that Kharon walked past and scooped them out of the ground directly with Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil One of them even had a lake that was teaming with fish So he had set the prices commensurately high

Tatiana chuckled YouÆre right its not that they arenÆt willing to buy but they believe itÆs inappropriate

What Why Randidly asked in frustration

Tatiana gave Randidly an amused look Because the first floating house obviously has to be yours you idiot

Obyrn Myyr sat and faced the entrance of the Ogre Gorge now flanked on either side by tall walls and armed security towers Twelve ogres were in each tower six watching the gorge two watching the surrounding area and four resting Periodically the captains of the guard would stage mock attacks to make sure that the ogreÆs vigilance did not waver And as the ogres were a naturally patient people when not gripped by bloodlust Obyrn was confident that any antagonistic force would be discovered

As such it was an extremely effective choke point No matter how powerful the opponent was it would be difficult for them to force their way through the rather tight passageway and assault the defensive fortifications effectively And it would lead them down a thin path where the ogre mageÆs significant firepower could be concentrated

Rather than an army what Obyrn feared most of all was one supremely powerful individual that could blast through the defenses and create an opening for an army behind him to march forward Which was exactly what group from Nordawn the ancestral home of the Ogres possessed in their leader Which was why Obyrn had been camped out by the entrance for the last week hoping to be there instantly if something went wrong

Yet the army from Nordawn had paused a half dayÆs journey outside the portal And now they waited So Obyrn waited in turn And while he waited he once more felt the heavy pressure of the same decision that had plagued him and most other ogres for their entire lives

WhatÆs up Obby YouÆre all frowny

Obyrn smiled wryly and turned to find the figure of Delilah The small child hung from a nearby tree like a bat her legs wrapped around a tree branch while her torso swung freely Her growing hair drifted in the wind Delilah you know you are not supposed to come near the entrance to the Ogre Gorge

Delilah made a face But you are here Nothing will happen She dropped to the rocky scrubland scurried across the intervening ground then scuttled up ObyrnÆs arms and back like a beetle Well maybe you will have gas Ogre gas is very dangerous but daddy

IÆm thinking about splitting finally Obyrn interrupted before Delilah could finish Better to distract her then let her talk about DozerÆs gas

Splitting Delilah asked

Reaching up Obyrn rapped on his thick skull with a wry expression Heads You know how generally the more powerful ogres have multiple heads ItÆs because when you split your heads your strength gets divided in two But then your Skill Levels can grow almost twice as fast with two minds working on them

Then you should definitely do it Delilah said seriously She patted ObyrnÆs shoulder complacently Less shoulder space for me if there are suddenly two heads up here but strength is the most important thing Hmph as if I would obey you all if you werenÆt stronger than me

That earned Delilah a glare from Obyrn but she gave him a nonplussed look that conveyed something like what ThatÆs just the way that it is I wouldnÆt listen to you if you were weak Æ After seeing that his glare had no effect Obyrn could only shake his head helplessly and then continue talking about the other issue Splitting provides a long term benefit However there is a period of weakness after splitting your heads most of your Skills fall by about a hundred Skill Levels each and there is a possibility that the new personality in the head wonÆt get along well with the first head It has just never seemed like it was the right time to split for me and now with Nordawn about to invade

Delilah patted ObyrnÆs shoulder again If you are scared just delay Someday IÆll be so strong IÆll solve all of your problems for you as long as you play hide and seek with me now

And without a second thought Delilah launched herself off of ObyrnÆs shoulder and dashed into the coniferous forest around the edges of the Ogre Gorge After sparing a long glance at the entrance to the Ogre Gorge Obyrn heaved himself to his feet and proceeded to follow after Delilah into the woods

Because he knew that it was not due to his presence that the deligation from Nordawn waited Perhaps it was pride that had kept him here but DelilahÆs childish antics were enough to shake him back to wakefulness He shouldnÆt just be sitting here driven mad by the anxiety He should be preparing

Perhaps preparing for the worst

Pushing that thought from his mind Obyrn threw himself totally into the game of hide and seek pursuing his quarry until the forest was filled with the shrieking laughter of Delilah and the ogre guards watching over the gorge smiled fondly at the sound

Nothing lasts forever Obyrn sighed to himself

Sydney sat very still as she looked down at Drake Is there truly nothing that you can do Regina

Regina NorthwindÆs face was tight with strain It was clear that the last several hours of energy surgery had not been easy for the woman Unfortunately curbing the chaotic influence of his Fate is the most I can do for Drake And even managing this much is only because of some tips that Nathan taught me without reshaping his Fate there is nothing more we can do And as Nathan said while he examined Drake Drake is currently engaged too closely with his Fate Remaking it before he recovers would be dangerous

then thank you for your help SydneyÆs left hand twitched Hidden from ReginaÆs vantage by the bed between them ice began to creep across her fingers The elemental focai on her rings began to glow I would like a bit of time alone with Drake if you please

Regina gave Sydney a long look then turned away Although she probably sensed something wasnÆt right from SydneyÆs tone she was still currently on the clock in DonnytonÆs hospital There were always more patients The System improving peopleÆs Endurance and Vitality didnÆt mean that people didnÆt get injured anymore just that the injuries were even more serious when they required a doctor So Sydney was soon alone in the room with DrakeÆs silent form

For several seconds Sydney looked contemplatively at the IV that fed powerful tranquilizers into DrakeÆs body She abruptly wanted to rip the needle out of his arm and wait by his side while he regained his lucidity Then when he had recovered perhaps she could reason with the beast that Drake had become

Instantly SydneyÆs gaze darkened Perhaps it would have been possible to resuscitate his original mentality if she had set out immediately to find Drake after he had disappeared but she hadnÆt Since then not only had Drake been influenced by spending an inordinate amount of time around Roy but he had also then gone into the clutches of the Toad Lord who had tortured him in amusement upon discovering his loss of sanity

No SydneyÆs frost covered hand reached out and touched DrakeÆs fingers Some ice bridged the gap and began to spread across his skin With her control it was relatively simple to keep the ice mild and cool rather than the suffocating sea of power that it could transform into at a momentÆs notice Now is not the time for you to wake up First IÆll find the ones responsible perhaps the beast ruling your heart will be placated by blood

On the hand not touching Drake lightning danced across SydneyÆs knuckles When she stood up and walked slowly out of the hospital Sydney carefully reflected on what she knew about the recent movements of the Nemesai

Chapter 1256

Left with no other choice Randidly was forced to give in to TatianaÆs smug face He could only shake his head and leave the office while muttering to himself They want me to make myself a home now Do they really think I have nothing but time after being away from Earth for so long

Yet somehow Randidly couldnÆt be mad He quickly left Kharon proper and landed on solid ground Then he headed a bit to the North where he had originally arranged a viewing area for the three platforms Snorting to himself Randidly used Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil to pick the three pieces up and move them closer together

As Randidly looked at the spacious tract of land that had been made by combining the three original pieces of ground and couldnÆt help but feel a glimmer of satisfaction in his chest Not from the land although he had really taken care to make sure that all three tracts were arranged in ways that were aesthetically pleasing

No what pleased Randidly was that these people wanted him to build a home here Because they sensed that Kharon was his Likely they didnÆt understand how perfectly this mirrored RandidlyÆs own feelings and meant this only as a show of respect but it felt good all the same

So Randidly walked slowly over to the assembled platform with the currently resting Kharon casting a shadow across him spread his Grim Intuition slowly outward to examine the space with an even more critical eye He took in the details of the small grove of trees at one end of three leaf clover shaped area the lake at the other end and the flower filled meadow in the third area With a wave of his hand Randidly used Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil again to pull up a large about of soil and fill in the gaps

It was slightly awkward but Randidly only took a few minutes to squeeze additional soil into the cracks so the three islands could be merged into one extremely large island Then before Randidly even made the Engraving across the land he released a blast of energy that flowed outward and began to sink into the ground His hands flexed and the energy seemed to spiral out of him endlessly

Of course Randidly didnÆt release Aether he released Nether

The physical space in the surrounding area shuddered at first from exposure to Nether but Randidly kept his images flowing outward with the energy Although the ambient Aether of the System reacted negatively to its presence Randidly used his image to push away that System Aether and spread his own Aether to encapsulate his island

It was relatively simple too After all any Aether his missed would fizzle angrily when exposed to Nether quickly revealing the flaw Bit by bit the island and the surrounding space came to be dominated by RandidlyÆs Aether

Even though Randidly had plenty of Aether to fuel the process he still took his time Because Randidly wanted to use this chance to build a house as a way to work on his Nether Skills After using Nether Ritual while communicating with Neveah he realized that he had largely ceased improving his understanding of his Nether Gatekeeper qualities after reaching the point of condensing a Nether Gatekeeper core

RandidlyÆs emerald eyes glittered This is a good chance to figure out how much meaning there is in me building a permanent home

That brought a smile to RandidlyÆs face Well semi permanent it will still float around a traveling city after all

His attention didnÆt waver as he continued to push more and more Nether into the surrounding area Some of the trees withered and some fish in the lake thrashed as the Nether began to surrounding them but as soon as RandidlyÆs Aether pushed the System Aether out of the area the two energies could coexist peacefully The withering quickly stopped and the fish gradually calmed back down

The minerals in the ground warped slightly but otherwise were much more well behaved than the living organisms on the island Soon the whole of the area had been submerged in Aether with no aberrant reactions The energies intermingled freely With a grin on his face Randidly activated the Nether Wells in his chest and poured out more and more of the energy of connection and memory to pool in the purified area around his future home

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 100

Randidly could clearly feel the flows of energy in the surrounding area With light touches he sent them spiraling inward flowing in just the way that Nether flowed around inside his body What he wanted to do was closely mirror the movement of Nether in his own person and use the weight of this being his homeÆ to ground the working

And as Randidly felt the density of Nether around his island climbing upward he could feel that it would work But before he finished assembling the shape Randidly turned his attention to his Path screen Hopefully getting Nether Sensation up to 100 will be enough to earn a Nether related Path

Honestly Randidly was initially unsure whether the System could give him straight Nether Paths It had given him Paths that could acclimate his body to Nether and then later incorporate Nether in a dangerous fashion into his Skills But as Randidly looked at his Menu screens his face twisted into a smile There sitting at the bottom of his Paths was a new arrival related to Nether

Friend to Humanity 0/100 Mantle of the Patron 0/500 Aether Convergence II the Bell of Doom Tolls 0/600 The Ashes of Ulaat Patron of Ash 0/1000 Order Ducis Font of Guidance HumanityÆs Torch 0/500 Bearing of a Teacher Puppet Master 0/100 Pain Immunity I 0/250 Cleaver of the World Tree Weakness of the World Tree 0/500 Experimenter IV 0/1250 Guilty Conscience I 0/100 Peerage of the Baleful Court I 0/600 Hands of the Artisan 0/ Ashes of Illym the Above Average Child 0/5000 The Flame the Burns Memories 0/ Exodus the Terror 0/1000 Genesis the Considered 0/1000 Image Cooperation I 0/100 Body Refinement I 0/ ChimeraÆs Struggle II 0/ Spear Mastery III 0/200 Lesser Nether Core 0/

Even though Randidly knew he specifically wanted to improve his Nether related abilities right now he still once more took some time to look through his available Paths With the absolutely monstrous growth of his Spear Mastery Skill recently the total amount of PP he currently possessed was 673

What depressed Randidly the most about his recent growth was he still hadnÆt even triggered a notification from his Alpha Cosmos that told him how much more PP was required before he reached the next round of benefits But he supposed that it would be a significant amount of PP considering that it took him about 6000 PP in order to unlock the previous reward

His gaze while he considered the Paths before him was thoughtful even though Randidly believed he knew which one he would take While on Earth most of RandidlyÆs time was focused on making sure there werenÆt any lurking problems that would keep the people of Earth from passing the First Calamity But while that took quite a bit of attention hence the fact that Randidly had sat through a yearÆs worth of meetings in the past week EarthÆs problems didnÆt require Randidly address any glaring weaknesses to solve

He now had enough of a reprieve to actually think about his long term growth when considering Paths Of course Randidly was intensely wary of both the Creature and the most powerful individuals from the various planets being connected to Earth through Danger Zones But after NeveahÆs experience fighting against the Toad Lord Randidly was confident that he currently had a slight edge in terms of image strength over those representatives And as for the Creature well his previous victory expelling her from his Soulskill notwithstanding he did not have a good track record at predicting her moves

Plus the Path he was leaning toward strengthened the not to be underestimated advantage of utilizing Nether It seemed to be PP well spent if he could make that hidden advantage even more overwhelming

Still there were a few other Paths that still tempted Randidly The Experimenter IV Path would add additional benefits to his crafted materials and Randidly hoped to have some more time while on Earth to create quality metals that Kharon could store until the Calamity arrived Plus Randidly knew that both of the Ashes Paths would likely net him some usable Skills Both Illym and the Patron of Ash were powerful individuals in their own right even compared to the current Randidly

This would be easier if I knew how much time I have on Earth or even how much time I want to spend on Earth Randidly furrowed his brow The arrival of the Calamity is rather unpredictable and it might be a good idea to follow Lady IellayaÆs advice and visit the Nexus itself

Plus Suddenly Randidly hesitated The mysterious figure that had spoken to him as he had reached Level 50 Nathaz Eloise appeared in his mind Quickly shaking his head Randidly focused on the task at hand Those things can wait

The Yggdrasil Paths would grant obvious power but Randidly decided to wait before pursuing them He needed to experiment more with both the Genesis and Exodus Skills before he was willing to take those Paths He needed a firm image to make sure they would develop to their full potential as Skills with a Mythic rarity

Image Cooperation Body Refinement and Spear Mastery III were actually the most tempting alternatives to Lesser Nether Core If Image Cooperation provided what Randidly believed it would he definitely wanted to take that Path eventually Some part of him urged him that obtaining the benefit sooner was better than later but Randidly hesitated Mostly he believed that until Ignition Essence had evolved into its more complete form he didnÆt wish for his images to blend together too much

Body Refinement just seemed like it would synergize well with his current physical gifts With Nether and Aether mingling within him RandidlyÆs physical body had a strange inexplicable weight that was created as the two energies worked together Pushing the physical force he could wield even higher would undoubtedly be a good thing Especially because Randidly had observed on the frontlines that a lot of individuals who had mastered images let their bodyÆs strength slowly wane as their pursued mental acuity

Plus Randidly didnÆt forget that even though the System clearly had influence over Nether most of the Nexus might not be involved in that If he worked on improving his strength through body refinement he could have a way to explain away the ridiculous amount of weight that was present in his physical blows

Similarly Randidly was tempted by Spear Mastery III if just for the possibility of obtaining a higher rarity Skill related to spears But ultimately Randidly decided to focus on Lesser Nether Core first Because without knowing how much PP the Path would require Randidly didnÆt want to put PP elsewhere then find himself unable to immediately finish it

Randidly did worry that it would condense a useless Nether Core when he finished the Path but it was worth the risk to test the Path Especially because he would likely earn access to a Greater Nether Core Path which was much more intriguing to Randidly

Humming to himself Randidly put the PP into the Lesser Nether Core Path Immediately he heaved a sigh of relief after seeing that it only required 500 PP It was unfortunate that he wouldnÆt be able to finish other Paths after but finishing the Lessor Nether Core Path was enough for now And Randidly was pleasantly surprised to find he got 1 Strength every 5 PP spent

Congratulations You have finished the Lesser Nether Core Path Although you were born a being of Aether the developments of Fate are mysterious and potent you have slowly gathered the requisite insights to create a Nether core within your body Energy flows through you with sinister irascibility warping the surrounding substances The Path you take will perhaps make you a poison to your very world but you cannot deny that you are amassing more and more power

Congratulations +500 Health In addition your Stat Strength has evolved into Nether Brawn The effectiveness of your Strength Stat has moderately increased

The first part of the notification made Randidly frown because he already possessed a Nether Core But as he looked at the second portion of the notification RandidlyÆs gaze turned sharp A tremor ran through his body as he felt his muscles spasm and change In addition Randidly didnÆt miss that his Strength stat was suddenly less than 50 away from reaching 1000

Randidly cracked his knuckles then rubbed his chin Maybe I should spend some time Leveling for a bit while we are still outside the Zones

Chapter 1257

Still Randidly didnÆt get too distracted by the notifications from finishing the Path His attention quickly shot to examine himself and the movements of Aether that would helpÆ him condense a Nether core After his last experience with the System working directly with his inner world Randidly barred his teeth and watched very closely

But quickly most of his anger dissipated as he observed the movements of energy Rather than directly forming the core it appeared that the finished Path earned Randidly a strange weave of Aether around his body that would slowly draw Nether into its area and assist in its proliferation Of course Randidly already possessed a Nether Gatekeeper core so the effect of the weave on his body was relatively minor the Nether density inside of him was already too high But it was true that such a weave would eventually lead to a Nether core forming on its own

In addition RandidlyÆs eyes brightened as he studied the way that the Aether was woven together It was definitely based on similar principles to what the Xyrt Brigade had woven around the Nether King although the effects were exactly the opposite But after having seen the weave around the Nether King with NeveahÆs precise sense of Aether Randidly could sense significant flaws in the weave gifted to him by the System

Randidly rubbed his hands together His Aether Skills slid gleefully outward and appropriated the weave DonÆt mind if I do

It took about fifteen minutes for Randidly to experiment with the ways to adjust the Nether Gathering weave made by the System and an hour beyond that to push the effects of the weave to the limit of his current understandings of Aether At that point the Nether gathering capabilities of the weave were actually enough to gradually increase the density of Nether around RandidlyÆs current Nether Gatekeeper core

Randidly could sense that he would soon need to spend some time focusing his power on consolidating the meaning at the heart of his Nether core if he wanted to keep the dense energy sticking together well enough to improve his Nether density but that was for another time For now it was enough to feel his Nether growing increasingly denser every moment

Tapping his cheek Randidly turned to the ground underneath him Mana sparked off of his fingertips as he thought about how to begin the construction of his new home I think itÆs time I experiment with some things

Derek Moss walked through the drably beige office suite and into the principleÆs office with a stiff expression Having to cut out of his security shift early had forced him to call in some favors but after he had received the call about his son attacking another student at school After seeing so many fights from individuals brought in from the Wildlands Derek knew better than most how In a post System world even the fights of children could be deadly

It was only after they opened up the door and saw that his son was conscious that he released a sigh of relief But of course DerekÆs Level 201 Survival Instincts told him that there was something else afoot here A bitter taste filled his mouth Politics Damnit

As his son watched him with pleading eyes Derek walked slowly and sat down in the left chair opposite the principalÆs desk He folded his hands in his lap and met the gaze of the Principal without saying anything

Principal Davins smiled with deceptive sweetness at Derek Although she billed herself as a paragon of fairness Derek already knew that fairness she spoke of so fondly was nothing but a dream in Zone 1 Mr Moss thank you for coming on such short notice As you heard over the phone there was an altercation today We here at St MaryÆs take such incidents very seriously Due to TimÆs actions another student

Lucy was the one who started it SheÆs been sheÆs been putting stuff in my lunch and ripping my clothes for weeks Tim blurted out before the principal could continue The smile on her face never wavered but Derek saw the lines around her eyes deepen with displeasure

LetÆs talk about this incident first A teacher saw the entire thing from across the playground Timothy Principal Davins said immediately She pursed her lips You took a basketball and smashed it into the back of LucyÆs head Mr Gavin was there for the aftermath and saw the blood on the ground Even if you were hurt afterward you definitely started it

Why does who started it matter Lucy Suddenly the blood drained from DerekÆs face There was only one girl in TimÆs grade named Lucy A recent transfer who carried with her a free security detail courtesy of the Order that was currently the most popular

No I didnÆt Tim shrieked Then his son turned to Derek with extremely sad eyes I was on the far basketball court in the corner All the courts were filled up with people There is no way a teacher could see that they are lying You just have to ask Miss Collins She was definitely the closest teacher

Derek turned and looked at Principal Davins with tired eyes It was already three oÆclock Several hours had passed since the incident had occurred The PrincipalÆs smile hadnÆt wavered in the slightest as Tim spoke IÆve already had the chance to have a talk with Miss Collins Although she was indeed on the basketball courts nearby you just said yourself how busy the courts were It just so happened that she didnÆt see anything that was relevant Besides it appears sheÆs reconsidering her career Teaching didnÆt agree with her

Derek almost felt pity for the teacher that had probably spoken up in his sonÆs defense

ThatÆs impossible Tim rounded back on the Principal She definitely saw something Because Miss Collins yelled at Lucy to stop when she

Timothy I refuse to listen to your wild stories any further If you keep talking you will be expelled Principal Davins blinked calmly and folded her hands on her immaculately maintained desk

For the first time Derek blinked in shock as he noticed the cleanliness of the desk Was there really not a single piece of paperwork that this woman was working on

But Principal DavinÆs response only incensed Tim further But before he could yell at the Principal Derek put his hand on his sonÆs shoulder They exchanged a long look Then Derek turned to look at Principal Davins and did his best to keep his voice calm LetÆs not talk about what happened today while emotions are still so high Just letÆs talk about what happens now

Principal Davins gave Derek a pleased look DerekÆs mouth tasted like sour milk Good enough to get Tim into this damned school but not good enough to protect him at all

Obviously Tim will be suspended for a week Then he will return to school and have a week of probation If it is found that he is not a danger to his classmates then everything will return to normal Principal Davins said sweetly

IÆm not TimÆs face turned red and he clearly wanted to defend his honor further but DerekÆs hand tightened on his sonÆs shoulder Tim could only look at Derek with eyes filled with bewilderment and Derek felt his heart break

It was only when they had left the school and gotten onto the Manatech railway heading West from West Providence toward the suburbs that Derek turned toward his son and released a low breath Alright I know you are upset And I want you to know that I believe you But this this is something you just need to accept

But I didnÆt START it She stole momÆs necklace and threated to smash it If I hadnÆt hit her she really would have stomped on it Tim blurted out

Derek couldnÆt help but wince at his sonÆs volume as he spoke of hitting A woman sitting across from them on the train looked up from the display of her interspatial watch and frowned Then she produced earbuds from the watch and popped them into her ears Leaning forward Derek patted Tim on the back I know son You did the right thing But sometimes the world isnÆt fair Sometimes there are bad things that you cannot do anything about

Tim simply looked at Derek uncomprehending Why not

Derek felt a headache brewing This do you know who Lucy is

Finally clarity returned to TimÆs eyes as he frowned A bully

That made Derek wince That might be true But thatÆs not why the school is covering up for what she did Her name is Lucy Rowel Her father is the head of the Order Valorem And I think the principal likes having the Order Valorem around to protect the campus SheÆs scared that if RowelÆs daughter is injured he might switch schools

Well why wasnÆt the principal scared of you Is LucyÆs dad stronger than you Tim asked finally a touch of solemness overtaking his face WhatÆs his Level

To that Derek didnÆt know how to respond First because he didnÆt rightly know what Level Mark Rowel had reached And secondly even if Mark Rowel was above DerekÆs Level of 49 Derek had a certain amount of confidence that he would still be able to win against the other in a one on one fight At the first parent teacher conference Derek had seen Mark Rowel His Survival Instincts had basically yawned at the man

Derek had been one of the first individuals to enroll in Zone 1Æs military force right from the getgo so he had benefited from all the knowledge and forewarning that Zone 1 had received Right from the beginning he knew to train his Skills first and foremost And he had honestly been at Level 49 for over a year now but after he had been told the details of condensing a Fate he had requested a transfer to the Border Security Department rather than remaining on Patrol

Because although the rate of failure for condensing the Fate had been lowered to less than 10% Derek still didnÆt dare make the attempt TimÆs mother had died during the arrival of the System and if Derek died too

I donÆt know But not all problems can be solved by fighting Derek said diplomatically And individual strength canÆt solve every problem

But his son surprised him by looking up at him and announcing proudly to the train car But when our foes refuse to treat us with respect what choice do we have but to fight valiantly for our due

The corner of DerekÆs mouth twitched You are going to quote comic books at me right now

TimÆs gaze was scathing Tim Nash isnÆt from a comic book heÆs from a web serial About a Detective who investigates government corruption Which is exactly what this is right

To that Derek didnÆt know what to say There was so much that at twelve Tim didnÆt yet understand about Earth So many dirty things about living in Zone 1 that Derek didnÆt want to put into words About the citizenship tiers that could determine your life and about how most of Zone 1Æs current political clout on the World Council was based upon fear of Mjolnir

Derek knew that TimÆs school described the System to its students as something that was dangerous but largely benefited humanity After all it had eradicated disease and created an equal playing field for all income brackets Which Derek supposed was the governmentÆs prerogative they wanted to keep the population from panicking while they established their power

But even if everyone now could use the System to grow strong was the playing field really equal If it was why was his son who had complained of Lucy bullying him for months being blamed for lashing out when all of his complaints had been ignored

And why did Derek feel so helpless when he looked at his sonÆs hopeful gaze

A bitterness that had been building for a long time fizzled in DerekÆs heart But ultimately he shoved it back down and tried to smile at his son it might be something close to that though But you know itÆs not all bad

Tim folded his arms across his chest Well yea at least I wonÆt have to go to stupid school and have Lucy put worms in my lunch anymore

The flash of anger felt hot and comforting but Derek pushed that back down too A deep cold maw gobbled it all up After giving Tim a teasing look he continued to say You canÆt go to school but that doesnÆt mean we have to stay at home

Tim caught on almost immediately His eyes brightened You mean

TimÆs smile did a lot to suppress the negative feelings that had been festering in DerekÆs heart He returned the smile toward his son Yup I have enough money saved up IÆll take a day off and we will go Friday to see the first game of the new football league

Chapter 1258

After Randidly had laid down the base Engraving over his new home he found himself somewhat unwilling to let the moss spirits come to try to grip the island and lift it into the air While he had no reason to suspect that the Engravings would malfunction he worried that the presence of Nether would interfere with the substance of whatever the moss spirits were

Yet after feeling the powerful Nether core that he had been able to establish at the center of his new island and after seeing the resulting bubble of Nether that strangely caused an ominous mist to hang around his island like it was the base of a villain bent on world domination Randidly would have felt regretful if he didnÆt at least try to lift the thing off the ground It certainly would make for an intimidating addition KharonÆs skyline if it worked

Perhaps Randidly still would have decided to forgo the island that had been so thoroughly soaked with Nether but the moss spirits had been hovering curiously around RandidlyÆs island during the entire process of Engraving They listened when he shooed them away but they quickly drifted back like naughty children and began naturally flowing into the Engravings when Randidly wasnÆt paying attention For a while he stopped them but then he simply threw up his hands to the sky

Fine fine itÆs your lives you are gambling with Randidly muttered But his gaze was sharp as he followed the flow of moss spirits into the island beneath him And for a second his heart dropped out of his chest as the moss spirits had a sudden reaction But rather than being consumed by the Nether the moss spirits began to lose their emerald color and then turned a luminescent silver

Then they happily continued with their task of gripping the Engravings of RandidlyÆs home The ground trembled and shook as the moss spirits dislodged the island from its resting spot

With a bemused expression Randidly watched the ground fall away as the island traveled higher and higher He went to the far edge of the island and looked down His home was somehow trailing sparkling motes of silver Sensing that Randidly was finished Kharon began trundling dutifully forward on its path to the Ogre Ridge For about ten minutes Randidly studied the process but even with his ability to detect energy Randidly couldnÆt figure out why the Nether caused the moss spirits to change color

So instead of dwelling on it Randidly returned his focus to the ground he had created My home Damnit does this mean I will need to name this place If I donÆt I bet the people will come up with a dumb nickname

Still those concerns could wait until he had renovated the place for real

As Randidly had wanted the islands as pristine as possible for the buyers there wasnÆt even a shack on the island right now And sure Randidly could have thrown up another shack for him to live inside for the moment but he decided that he had finally grown up to the point that he wouldnÆt be satisfied just living in a shack If this was going to be his home for a while Randidly wanted to make the space a little bit more comfortable than that

Of course who knows how long IÆll actually be on Earth Randidly winced The plan was for the resuscitated original Vualla to pardon the rest of his military service but he hadnÆt heard anything on that front since the original Vualla had left to accomplish her task She had emphasized that she wasnÆt exactly sure how long it would take to replace her body with IleotÆs in the System overlay but it was slightly aggravating to be unsure whether Randidly could plan on remaining on Earth until the Calamity arrived or whether he had a hard time limit of six months

Either way Randidly found a spot on a rock next to the lake and sat down to meditate There are some things that I definitely need to do before I leave

First was helping boost KharonÆs strength by giving them the best facilities and methods to utilize images Second was to investigate the huge amount of the CreatureÆs energy that spread out over all of the Zones and find out what she was up to Third help Earth transition through the merger of the different Danger Zone worlds to be a part of EarthÆs System infrastructure Fourth make sure that this serial murder that had probably been raised by Ileot wouldnÆt cause problems after Randidly left

And fifth RandidlyÆs mouth twisted Fifth was to train There would always more training No problem was so pressing that training wasnÆt just as important

Although this list does skip another goal that I have for my time on Earth Maybe not a goal in the same way as the others but I definitely donÆt want to leave Earth without it Randidly tugged up on the keyring he had forged the other day and rubbed his fingers across the golden surface of the PhilosopherÆs Key I need to obtain the second part of my Fateset before I return to the Nexus no matter the reason for that return

When Randidly had arrived on Earth he had followed the scent of the next piece of his Fate and found the CreatureÆs energy surrounding it with all the ominous stillness of a tropical swamp He had cursed his bad luck but having the Creature influence his Fate made a certain amount of sense But now as he sat on his island and traced the connection between him and his next Fate

It didnÆt lead to the Creature Even though the tenuous connection had originally led directly into the densest portion of the CreatureÆs energy the source of his Fate had since moved closer Much closer And as Randidly examined the energy signature without the CreatureÆs energy distracting his Grim Intuition he knew exactly who it led to

Ezekiel Ghosthound Who was currently in Zone 1 soaked in the CreatureÆs energy but at least not producing any of it Yet when it came to his father who had a Class that demanded that he kill something each day

Randidly could sense his Fate too As he reached out a name came back to him The Dreamcatcher of the Long Night

Dreamcatcher Randidly pressed his lips together A coincidence that the last birthday gift I remember liking from my father was a dreamcatcher This feels like the sorta thing that will be a hassle to unpack

Tapping his cheek with a finger Randidly wondered whether it would be worth it to make a pit stop in Zone 1 to obtain his Fate from Ezekiel But there were a few problems with that He had no idea what the process for obtaining this Dreamcatcher from Ezekiel would even be In addition he was hesitant to move against someone who clearly had dealings with the Creature before he understood what the Creature was currently up to Randidly had walked into enough of the CreatureÆs traps in his day

More than either of those reasons though Ezekiel was currently in the area where the inaugural football game would be played Really seems like everyone is obsessed with football these days maybe I should see if I can disguise myself as a player and sneak into the game

Chuckling Randidly shook his head almost sadly As slightly amusing as such a situation would be especially when he would end up being impossibly capable at whatever position he chose to play Randidly felt like he couldnÆt interfere with the football game Looming over every decision Randidly made about preparations while on Earth was the fact that he had been present on Tellus as it overcame the Second Calamity his image or images heavily influenced by him couldnÆt be used to overcome the Second Calamity

There was obviously time before that trial arrived but images he didnÆt have a hand in raising also needed time to grow and develop on their own He couldnÆt just be present until the 11th hour and then duck out So even though it seemed like something sinister was going to happen at the football game Randidly wouldnÆt interfere directly It was already enough that Naffur and a few applicants to the Order Ducis was going And even that might be too much assistance for New Earth to learn that it should be growing on its own

Well none of the Order Ducis share my image Although theyÆve trained with the Grim Chimera a lot mostly they trained against the oppressive power of my images not to copy the specific details Randidly shook his head Without more information about the limiter placed on him and his images he wouldnÆt risk having the Earth fail the Second Calamity due to his touch

After that Randidly stood and stretched Then he began training his Ignition Essence Skills The peace of RandidlyÆs home was ripped apart by emerald and orange flames

But Randidly supposed this was exactly how he liked it Even if he made this place comfortable what he really needed to do was make his home durable

Valor Rend tried his best to keep his face even as he slowly made sense of NaffurÆs order although he couldnÆt help but want to pump his fist in excitement Sir are you ahem sure this is necessary

The five representatives of the Order Ducis in civilian clothes were standing across the street from the stadium where the first football game would happen Even though the game wouldnÆt be until tomorrow the area was already teeming with people happily drinking beers and talking excitedly about the return of football The stadium was currently open so that anyone who wanted to go out onto the field and play a pickup game could do just that

As someone who had grown up in the United States Valor had played quite a bit of football in his youth He had even played on his college team even if they hadnÆt been very good So now to have it back with superhuman athletes who had extremely high Stats

And for Naffur now to suggest that they needed to have someone disguised as a member of a team for the game

Look around do you see how thick the presence of the Order Valorem is NaffurÆs gaze was sharp flicking around quickly and picking out the guards Valor turned and followed NaffurÆs gaze to the many pairs of guards who watched the excited populace with cold eyes Yet Why do even I feel like this place is dangerous Something is definitely going to happen here and I doubt its just going to be as simple as a massive bloodbeast interrupting things So we need someone on the field Playing the game will be distracting but it will give you plenty of sightlines toward the exists

Valor tried to force out a chuckle as he looked up at the building in front of them It would need to be a huge bloodbeast to threaten this stadium They built the stadium to last

Kharon is much bigger Naffur replied perfunctorily Then he folded his arms and nodded to himself Hum The fact that youÆve played football will be a help but its a shame there isnÆt time to get you any related Skills IÆve already talked to someone from the West Providence Vipers who has pulled some strings YouÆll be one of their backup Wide Receivers They are defense and running focused team so there shouldnÆt be any problems with you blending in on the sidelines

As his hands tightened into fists Valor did his best to resist the urge to smile This is my chance This game I can feel it too SomethingÆs going to happen And we the Order Ducis will be here to protect everyone

Naffur glanced sideways at him and gave Valor an amused smile DonÆt get too excited Rend This is professional football even if itÆs a little bit hurried right now There are materials waiting back at our hotel youÆll need to memorize the playbook before the team walkthrough tomorrow morning

Antonio stayed at the window looking up toward the large island drifting behind Kharon even as he heard the sounds of the door to his house being unlocked Then he heard the door click shut He took a long sip of his drink and studied the roiling mist around Randidly GhosthoundÆs new home as the sound of soft footsteps slowly neared

The door to the study swung open IÆm surprised you called me Have you finally decided that its worth it to settle in Kharon

Something like that Antonio said as he turned away from the window His face split into a proud smile and he spread his arms wide ItÆs really so good to see you Come here and give your father a hug

Lila AntonioÆs daughter walked forward while rolling her eyes to be swept up in AntonioÆs arms They hadnÆt spoken to each other since the fall of the Chosen so the reunion was a welcome one The ChosenÆs favorite method of applying pressure had been capturing family members so it had become something of a habit for families in the service of new Chosen to pretend like they didnÆt know each other until the cruelty of their new master was assessed When Antonio and his fellows had settled in Kharon most had continued to carefully adhere to this principle even when they were assured this was a safe place

Antonio was no exception He had already been tricked too many times in the past

The two took a few steps back from each other both with warm smiles on their faces Antonio picked up his glass of whiskey and returned to the window as his daughter said to his back So what was it Did the party we had yesterday really mean that much to you You are certainly growing soft in your old age

Antonio chuckled Of course not It was a nice gesture of course and a nice excuse to break out some of the moonshine we smuggled out Won a lot of brownie points with the people who were already here with that alcohol But no ThatÆs not why I called you here because I realized a stark difference between the Chosen and Randidly Ghosthound It has made me feel ill at ease but that Kharon can be our home if we want it

Looking out the window Antonio stared up at the ominous floating island above them Motes of silver energy spiraled down in its wake Weird bolts of navy blue lightning forked through the murky mist around the island With the mist present all by the largest details of the size and shape of the GhosthoundÆs home were masked

Lila tilted her head to the side then it was meeting Randidly Ghosthound that did it Everyone said he seemed a little unassuming for all the rumors the people of Kharon tell about him

Unassuming misses the point Randidly Ghosthound has definitely built a special place here one that I think we still barely understand We just donÆt have any contest for what the world is like outside of Chicago and this moving city Another navy blue bolt of lightning curled around the floating island of mist Antonio pivoted away and looked at Lila Have you seen his new abode

That had Lila raising her eyebrows ThatÆs what convinced you to trust him The fact that he built an evil flying fortress that seems like it was lifted directly from a bad sci fi film

Antonio licked his lips He hadnÆt really put the feeling that made him willing to finally contact his daughter into words so he was having a bit of difficulty Although the transition was awkward he did the best he could Why did the Chosen do such terrible things to us

For a second LilaÆs gaze flashed with several complicated emotions Dad if youÆve been having nightmares again

Its not about that Antonio waved his hand No itÆs just The Chosen always oppressed us because when it came down to it they werenÆt so different than us They learned the rules of the System just a little bit more quickly and they used that small advantage to take control of the entire city But Randidly Ghosthound

Antonio looked back out the window The mist shrouded island drifted behind Kharon in the Southern sky truly looking like the hideout of a villain that came from a fantasy film He doesnÆt need to oppress us Because we are truly nothing to him Could we ever threaten that Even if we had time could we ever become as strong as Randidly Ghosthound Why would he bother to torture us if there was never the slightest chance of growing enough to threaten him

Dad LilaÆs voice sounded troubled but Antonio didnÆt turn around He just looked upward at the naked symbol of Randidly GhosthoundÆs superiority Navy blue lightning twitched and snapped The low rumble of thunder followed

Chapter 1259

Derek Moss leaned back in his chair and stifled a yawn The military issue folding chairs had some give in them but not enough for the movement to feel anything like actual rest His direct subordinate and currently the only other person at the security checkpoint along the Western edge of Zone 1 glanced over at him Did you say something Someone finally coming

Nope Its still only 1 P M and weÆve done fuckall Derek responded playfully His subordinate smirked and shook his head Both turned their attentions to the paperwork sitting un appetizingly on the desk in front of each of them Neither picked up a pen to start filling in the forms despite it being the only thing to do in this room with someone trying to enter Zone 1 Yesterday had been a busy day where a carefully guarded convoy of individuals from one of the increasingly frequent bubble cities had been moved to Zone 1

And because Zone 1 was wary of such individuals after what happened with Mexico City the recorded documents on the people moving into the Zone were exhaustive Yesterday Derek had just been glad that they werenÆt required to do the interview portion that would happen at a facility further in the interior of the Zone and would take at least a week

In comparison to yesterdayÆs frenzy however these days where nothing happened were far worse An entire day of sitting in their little steel structure on top of a hill on the edge of the Zone and they could only get here by traveling by handcar along a poorly maintained stretch of spare track

Although he would never admit it Derek was somewhat thankful for his son getting in trouble at school two days ago It was the first time all year that Derek had been allowed to leave his post early

Wanna bet on how many people will come before the edge of the shift The subordinate hesitated as he did some mental calculations LetÆs set the over under at three and a half

Derek pursed his lips As far as distractions went it was a poor one But it was all they had And their current number of zero individuals trying to get into Zone 1 was unusually low It was very likely that it would change before the end of the shift But Derek supposed the recent drop in numbers could be blamed on the emergence of bubble cities now the population came in large groups or not at all Very rare were the small groups that stumbled toward the Zones after surviving their freedom from the timeless borderlands

Of course thatÆs because the borderlands are increasingly far away from the populated Zones and no one has really expanded outward from our central area o do anything other than harvesting raw materials Donnyton is setting up forts to the South but people in other areas

Clenching his fists Derek released a steadying breath Venturing out into the Wildlands and saving those people was risky even at the best of times which is why the government of Zone 1 refrained from making more of an effort Especially when they werenÆt reaping the political benefits of such a costly endeavor

Theodora Greyman had proposed a resolution to create a joint force that would patrol and help people freed from the Wildlands at the most recent session of the World Council but it had been unanimously denied by the rest of the members

Zone 1 media had since been blasting the other Zones as cowards but most everyone who paid attention knew that such an accusation was poorly conceived propaganda Most of the other Zones were already actively working to help save people in the Wildlands Why would they now allow President Greyman to pass this resolution now and try to take all the credit

IÆll take the over LetÆs get at least four The more people that come help our Zone grow strong the better Derek said tiredly He rubbed at his eyes as he thought about the political posturing on which most of the Senators spent their time and effort He couldnÆt help but wince at the knowledge that while Zone 1 was secretly pushing for more image training amongst its armed forces they refused from publicly acknowledging the strength of images so as to refuse to add to Randidly GhosthoundÆs legend

Then Derek released a sigh Sometimes he wished that his mind would just be still There were some moments in his life that he felt like he was rattling apart at the seams unable to keep up all of the frustrations of living His mind operated too violently for his emotions But Derek knew it was just coming down off the high of constantly fighting for his life in the early days of the System

It had been so simple then And now

You better not be cheating His subordinate teased He walked up to the window and looked out to the surrounding flatlands The checkpoint sat on the highest of a series of low hills that provided an excellent vantage over the surrounding area If anyone headed this direction they would most likely be spotted by DerekÆs checkpoint After squinting a bit his subordinate shrugged I canÆt see anyone but I know that your Eagle Eye Skill is much higher than mine

No cheating I promise Derek had to stifle a yawn again as the mundanities of their current situation eased his anxious mind Almost as soon as the bet was made both men settled back into the helpless state of staring at the paperwork Because the result of the bet wouldnÆt be known for another five hours But luckily the subordinate spoke up again before the silence could stretch for too long

By the way I hear you are taking a day off tomorrow

This time Derek smiled with genuine happiness Yep YouÆll be with Kenny again tomorrow sorry to say And I will be taking my son to the inaugural football game Honestly he needs it because

Then Derek froze as his instincts hummed softly Something was coming Almost immediately Derek hopped out of his seat and joined his startled subordinate at the window His high Level Eagle Eye instantly magnified his sight so he could see across the long distance of the arid land surrounding the checkpoint but Derek saw nothing

He frowned in confusion even as his instincts continued to gently nudge him Something was definitely coming it was just too far away to see

Something the matter The subordinate asked when Derek moved so quickly to stand next to him at the window The subordinate turned and squinted again out toward the rolling hills around them but of course he had even less luck than Derek did

What is powerful enough that my instincts pick it up even before I can see it DerekÆs gaze sharpened The Rakshasi ItÆs the only monster from the Epic Dungeon that hasnÆt been accounted for and although people have been hunting it they recently lost track of it If itÆs coming here now

Send a report in to headquarters Derek said immediately An unknown Code 1 threat is making its way toward our security checkpoint Ask for drone support so we can get eyes on the bastard

The subordinate nodded and hurried over to the radio Derek stayed at the window looking intently out at the dusty ground With every second that passed the reaction from his instincts grew steadily stronger Yet nothing manifested itself visibly even as almost ten minutes ticked uncomfortably by Even as his instincts were urging him to be careful Derek began to doubt himself It was just as the flying drones zoomed above the security checkpoint that Derek could make out something else in the current situation the ground was rumbling

As the rumbling grew louder Derek could make out a small smudge on the horizon that was rapidly growing larger as it approached His eyebrows shot sharply upward If this was an enormous monster had a Raid Boss been slowly growing in the Wildlands Something that size was exactly what Mjolnir was designed for but it might require him to pin the thing down long enough for the blast to arrive

Fear gripped DerekÆs heart and he pressed his eyes closed Please let me be mistaken

And then the images from the drones arrived on their terminal What Derek and his subordinate and also their direct superiors back at headquarters who had hastily gathered from DerekÆs report saw on the drone feed was a giant piece of ground with hundreds of legs scurrying across the ground toward the edge of Zone 1

Kharon the subordinate breathed with a hint of awe in his voice Derek nodded slowly The drones quickly fed back increasingly clear images of the diverse series of tall buildings that sat in the moving city The drones flew closer Derek studied the bustling streets full of people who looked like they were simply heading to work The drones circled around the whole circumference of the moving city avoiding tall pillars of smoke that were belched out of the industrial centers of Kharon Derek even noticed that the thing had parks

Even weirder to see were the strange platforms surrounded by emerald energy that seemed to float above the level of the rooftops and carry goods from place to place With remarkable grace the platforms would glide around the city and then expertly lower themselves at their destination And the people of Kharon simply cracked their knuckles and moved to shift the supplies off of these platforms as though this were the most natural thing in the world

Very quickly two drones fixated on the looming presence of a floating island hiding behind Kharon proper this island shrouded with mist Strange blue lightning bolts slithered through the floating islandÆs mysterious depths Derek distantly heard the order of his superiors order one of the drones to approach and saw that the feed abruptly cut off as the drone entered into the mist The other drone watched as its fellow fell toward the streets below

For a second Derek felt a flash of panic as the drone fell downward toward the unsuspecting heads of the people working below but he saw fully six people out of a hundred on the busy street glance sharply upward and spy the approaching drone Then the six people glanced at each other their focus crossing the crowded streets to find their fellows in an instant

In the end all but one lowered their gaze and continued about their business As it turned out the one who acted was the youngest a woman who was probably not even 20 She hopped upward in a low arc to clear the heads of the people walking along the street and caught the freefalling drone landing against a brick building and clinging there for a second Then she dropped down and returned to the busy street

Several dozen people looked upward sharply at her large movement but they returned to their business almost immediately As though this was a common enough sight not to bother with it Derek couldnÆt believe it what were the Stats and Levels of all these people

The young woman rapped her knuckle against the inert drone a frown crossing her face as she examined her new find And the still working drone recording her catch was close enough that Derek could read her lips as the woman began using her bare fingers to peel away the layers of soldered steel of the droneÆs exterior

What shitty materials How do they even expect these things to withstand water damage with a seal like this

Before the watching guards of Zone 1 could see any more of the city of Kharon there was a flurry of motion and each drone they had sent to observe was blasted with that strange emerald energy All of the video feeds were immediately cut off

Derek looked out toward the approaching city of Kharon and frowned He tapped the button to contact his superior and asked Captain Moss reporting sir What should we do about this

Technically this was the city of the Order Ducis And all Orders were generally exempt from being questioned as they entered and exited the borders of Zone 1 But because the Order Ducis was bringing an entire city with them Derek was sure that his superiors would hesitate before they swung their doors open Even if it was for the widely recognized most powerful man in the world

For a long time a reply communication from headquarters didnÆt come Derek simply chewed on his lip as Kharon moved steadily closer The rumbling grew louder Kharon appeared even larger and imposing as it neared Emerald energy seemed to roil around the edges and in the cityÆs wake The floating mysterious island that hovered above Kharon made DerekÆs heart pound and his instincts urgently warn him away from this place

No monster had ever made Derek feel the fear he now felt as he looked up to that floating island

Holy shit that thing is huge DerekÆs subordinate swore softly Derek could only nod slowly in agreement

Finally the communication came back from headquarters Attempt to hail and ascertain the motives of the Order Ducis Do not antagonize recklessly

Sighing Derek picked up the radio again and tried the most commonly used frequencies to hail Kharon To his surprise the other side responded almost immediately A sweet voiced woman informed Derek that Kharon was en route to the Ogre Gorge and simply passing through the edge of Zone 1 There was no reason to be alarmed

Derek relayed the message Headquarters replied with the request that Kharon pause at the border so they could perform some routine administration in regards to their entrance into Zone 1 Feeling frustrated being the middleman Derek picked up the radio and told the woman from Kharon what his superiors had said

By this time Kharon had arrived directly in front of the low line of hills on which the security checkpoint sat The woman thanked Derek but even as she did so Derek blew out a frustrated snort it seemed unlikely that Kharon would stop

Even as his instincts continued to urge Derek to run he stood at the window and looked upward at the towering monolith of Kharon It completely blocked off the sun from shining on the security checkpoint just by being next to them Just as had been rumored Kharon really was an entire city that could wander

As Derek kept his spine straight as he stood at the window his subordinate whimpered Derek do you think

WeÆve relayed the message itÆs on them now Derek managed to squeeze out through gritted teeth But as he expected Kharon the moving city didnÆt slow down at all as it approached But Derek did watch as four extremely long legs unfolded from underneath Kharon and press against the ground Using only a second Kharon lifted itself up and passed directly over the security checkpoint

Several small pebbles fell and clacked loudly against the metal roof Both Derek and his subordinate hurried to the window on the opposite side of the building And they both watched as Kharon lowered itself back toward the ground and continued forward without sparing them a passing glance

Chapter 1260

Theodora Greyman slammed her hands against her desk hard enough that she felt the wood crack They just ignored our request And passed through our lands like they owned the place

Douglas examined the report Yes Madam President Still their journey was a brief one They only spent two hours within Zone 1Æs borders but they did directly pass through the corner of our territory on their way North

Fuck Theodora spat out Then she rapidly forced herself to calm down The stress of the looming threats swirling around the inaugural football game must really be getting to her if she was upset enough to audibly swear She squeezed a stress ball ironically shaped like a football several times with her right hand After twelve squeezes her pounding heart slowed down

Once Theodora was calm she narrowed her eyes and looked at the map of Zone 1 that hung in her office Perhaps this wasnÆt as bad as she had thought Strength came from unity and one of the reasons why the New Earth remained so weak was because its factions were aligned only on the surface the different Zones were jockeying for power behind the scenes And the reason they freely competed with each other rather than accepting the lead of a single individual is that the single individual existed and had no desire to unite humanity

Randidly Ghosthound abandoned his responsibilities yet had continued to reap the benefits from his influential name It was for that reason that Theodora Greyman utilized some methods that she found distasteful to suppress his influence in her Zone

After all would a few powerful individuals at the heads of disparate factions ever display the power that a united humanity would Of course not And due to TheodoraÆs struggle to compete with the Ghosthound she was forced to rely on foolish individuals who wished to transform the current Earth to the same sort of heaven for the rich that the pre System Earth was

Even thinking about it now had Theodora gritting her teeth If not for the benefits that sports would bring in regards to Paths and physical training Theodora shook her head But this blatant rejection of Zone 1Æs request was an opening She fully intended to take advantage of it

What about the damages With those legs I want some concrete proof so we can lodge a complaint

Again Douglas checked the report with a dour expression They passed through areas of mostly bare ground Drones have already scanned the aftermath There are some small indentations but all in areas that were effectively empty No waterways or forests along its path either It basically passed without leaving a mark

Theodora harrumphed in annoyance but she hadnÆt become President of Zone 1 by fixating If she couldnÆt use this against Randidly Ghosthound so be it Well at the very least they werenÆt too over the top about it ItÆs a clear display of disrespect to refuse to comply with our requests at the border but as long as this can be dismissed as a small event

That is probably impossible as well Douglas was still flipping through the report The security checkpoint detected KharonÆs approach early so the Western Military headquarters had eyes on the whole incident Lost a whole squadron of drones investigating Kharon But they must have told quite a few people about what they saw and those people told other people we expect as many as ten thousand people hurried North to catch a sight of the rumored Moving City while it was passing through Zone 1

Defeated Theodora rested her forehead against the cool wood of the desk

After Kharon had lowered itself down to settle on the ground Randidly hopped off of his floating island of doom and landed outside of the city of ogres Honestly Randidly was impressed It had grown quite a bit since he had seen the place last Most impressively there were quite a few humans walking along the settlementÆs streets It seemed like Obyrn Myyr had been hard at work since last they spoke

Waiting at the gates of the city were almost a dozen people However Randidly quickly picked out the four important ones and smiled at them Annie Dozer Sam itÆs really good to see you all

Sam snorted and folded his arms as he saw that Randidly had stopped wearing all of the equipment he made him but the but but he still accepted RandidlyÆs handshake Annie who was clearly very far along in her pregnancy walked up to Randidly and patted Randidly on the back Good to see you too You look good I like the new arm

Thank you Randidly said with a twist at the corner of his mouth Dozer simply nodded so then Randidly turned to the fourth person of import waiting at the gates Obyrn you are looking ahem Robust

You donÆt need to be nice Obyrn rumbled wryly He shook his massive head I donÆt hold a grudge that you brought me to my knees when last we met I was weak you were strong It was as simple as that If I had been stronger than you the opposite would have happened

Ogres are great losers Annie chimed in with an extremely bright smile She looked over fondly at the armored ogre guards standing behind Obyrn Randidly felt a little bit of pity for the population of this city

They moved back to a private room to discuss the recent happenings in the ogre settlement specifically focusing on the interplay between the two races as tensions rose with the encampment of NordawnÆs army only a half dayÆs journey beyond the gate Randidly did his best to keep a straight face as he cursed his decision to become a king dooming himself to a seemingly endless slew of meetings that were on the surface about different things but ended up all passing in exactly the same manner

People talked he nodded Finally he could make a decision And lately the decisions had all felt like letÆs wait or IÆll go fight that person/monster/thing

The only one in the room more antsy than Randidly himself was Sam who had been eyeing RandidlyÆs arm with such a hungry gaze that Randidly eventually produced a few leftover scraps from the forging of his arm and gave them to the man Sam had been very pleased for all of a single minute before Dozer gave him a level look for repeatedly banging the metal with a small hammer to test its structural integrity

After Annie and Obyrn had finished relaying their reports Dozer leaned forward from his spot standing by the door All thatÆs left is to decide how to approach the group from Nordawn

They havenÆt said anything else since the letter Randidly frowned But before he could continue to speak a small movement had him send a piercing gaze toward the window

Seeing his gaze Annie waved her hand gently to catch RandidlyÆs attention then raised a finger to her lips Then in a normal voice Annie answered him No We replied once asking for a delay until tomorrow but other than that weÆve heard nothing We sorta think the fact that they havenÆt attacked us after the initial date passed that they have accepted our adjustment

RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition focused on the figure hiding by the window but very quickly he felt a pang of shock as he recognized who it must be He glanced at Annie and Dozer and then tried to refocus back on the issue at hand Raising his gaze Randidly looked out in the direction of the Ogre Gorge Even now he could feel the dense image that must be the leader of the Ogres from Nordawn

yes heÆs waiting Randidly said slowly Then he frowned as he remembered ObyrnÆs calm acceptance of his earlier loss to Randidly Obviously it was something of a gamble to assume that the seemingly autocratic leader of Nordawn would be similarly accepting of anotherÆs superiority just based on power but it was possible that the reason this leader was so dominant was that he simply hadnÆt ever met his match

Besides Randidly wasnÆt about to complain if this meeting would simply require a show of strength in order to convince the other to roll over Randidly began to rub his chin The entrance to the Ogre Gorge is probably too small for Kharon to go through unfortunately maybe it will be enough if I take my new evil genius island through

Well IÆll probably fight either way But I might as well arrive in style

The sight of a small face peeking in the window made Randidly want to twist around and glare but he quickly suppressed that impulse With an evil smile on her face Annie rested one hand on her stomach and stepped backward into the shadows in the corner of the room out of the window watcherÆs sightlines Then she took another step back and simply phased through the wall

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched with amusement as Dozer coughed to bring the focus back to him Who will be a part of the delegation who will go

Even Sam the pseudo uncle that he was had a sinister gleam in his eyes as he finally focused on the meeting and answered DozerÆs question From what we know the army from Nordawn is almost five hundred thousand strong ThereÆs no way we can compete in terms of size of our delegation so we should go with only elites Quality over quantity

Feeling slightly surreal Randidly nodded along and said I planned on using my island as our vehicle Everyone who comes will need to be strong because the environment there is a bit extreme

The actual point that Randidly made caused everyone to frown for a few seconds but they no longer needed to continue with their fake meeting because a scream of terror came from the window Rather bemused Randidly followed after the grinning group to find Annie standing outside on the grass and tickling her daughter ruthlessly Her hands were blurs as they rapidly moved to strike at the places that the little girl wasnÆt defending with her hands

The child who appeared to be about five squirmed and shrieked but definitely seemed to be enjoying the attention After thoroughly punishing the child who could only be her daughter Annie said reprovingly You know you are not allowed to spy on us while we were having a grownup talk

I know but mommy a city just walked up and sat down next to us Delilah who Randidly hadnÆt seen since she was just a baby somehow made her expression look pitiable and misunderstood at the same time I have questions And I figured you would be madder if I snuck out than if I spied so

Annie shook her head Yes yes you can go to Kharon later it shouldnÆt be a problem But first I want to introduce you to someone Delilah this is Randidly Ghosthound

Hello Delilah said instantly shifting to a polite smile The girl had AnnieÆs brown hair and sly smile but her eyes had all the focused intensity of Dozer at his most determined The combination was surprisingly cute She even had two extremely small daggers hanging at each hip and RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition told him that those weapons had tasted blood before

He wondered whether he was supposed to be proud or worried

It was only after she walked up to Randidly gave him a perfunctory hug and then turned away that Delilah froze Wait Randidly Ghosthound

She leapt a few meters away and pointed dramatically toward Randidly You are the strongest man in the world Stronger even then daddy and uncle Obby

Randidly glanced sideways at the people looking at him while hiding smiles and could only roll his eyes Yes thatÆs me

You seem too small to be so strong Delilah frowned She walked and patted on RandidlyÆs side in a sympathetic manner The pat was extremely similar to the one that Annie had given Randidly earlier ItÆs okay a lot of people donÆt believe how powerful I am either all because IÆm small Say how powerful really are you If IÆm a 1 what would that make you

Again Randidly glanced sideways This time he looked at Dozer and Annie with a frown on his face as he wondered how honest he should be with this little girl They nodded encouragingly and Annie even gleefully gave him a look that told Randidly to crush her daughter’s pride so he looked down at the bright eyes of the child in front of him curiously Then Randidly pondered the question for a few seconds

Based on her movements she already has some Stats and Skills despite her young age but even so sheÆs probably only got 50 in her highest Stat which would make her at least 50 times weaker than me not considering the advantage in Skill Levels Skill Rarities Nether and Aether Control variety of attack patterns experience fighting images and equipment that I have

Finally Randidly arrived at a number But feeling that truthful number was a bit high he divided it by ten Still finding it a bit high he cut that result in half Finally Randidly cleared his throat and said Probably a 100

Delilah considered that How long did it take you to get that strong

Randidly had to think about that too All the weird variations in time made it difficult for him to track exactly how much time had passed since he had first encountered the System Even with high Intelligence it was a hassle to go through all the memories in his mind about six years

Grinning without an ounce of guile Delilah said A year longer than me eh No wonder you are so long But lookout because IÆll catch up next year

And at that moment seeing the bright confidence of the young girlÆs face Randidly felt his own expression soften Now he could understand why even Sam would get on the games with this girl She truly was the first child born after the System arrive Her knives had tasted blood but her optimism was untainted Plus she had been raised by two of the most capable people that Randidly knew

For the sake of the Earth I really hope thatÆs the case Randidly said softly And when he patted DelilahÆs head he surreptitiously created an Aether connection with her There was already one partially present due to her being AnnieÆs daughter who Randidly also had a connection with But Randidly believed that this youngster deserved a flow of Aether of her very own

As long as she could keep that pure confidence she might someday save the Earth That sort of certainty could birth an image that even Randidly would need to be cautious of

Chapter 1261

Kiersty frowned over at her idiot brother who was hurrying down the stairs toward their seats at such a pace that she hadnÆt even been able to look around at the vast crowds swarming around the stadium All IÆm saying is that we donÆt need to be this early to this thing LetÆs go play some of the carnival games they set up outside

I just want to check out how good our view will be Nathan insisted as he took the stairs down two at a time Behind Kiersty Tykes and Dinesh smiled while they strolled to follow but they had been largely content to let Nathan drag them along like cans after the car of newly weds

And if compared him and Mariah to newly weds NathanÆs head would be full of nonsense for a week Kiersty could only purse her lips and refrain from commenting on this aggressive switch in her brotherÆs behavior

If she hadnÆt used her Sphere of Detection Skill multiple times over the course of their journey to the heart of Zone 1 Kiersty would have just assumed that Mariah had cast some sort of spell on her twin brother He was positively chipper even in the mornings And Nathan had always hated mornings

As it was Kiersty could only conclude that his brain had gone on vacation and left the wheel in the sweaty hands of hormones

With Nathan setting the pace the group quickly found their seats and Kiersty was at least pleased to see that their seats were quite close to the field They walked down the tiered stairs past several other chatting groups of people that had arrived two hours early as they had and arrived at the bottom most section And from there they continued downward until they arrived at the literal bottom of the stands

We are in the front row Kiersty asked in surprise No wonder the tickets had been about as expensive as paying a contractor to clear a field for planting coffee beans Kiersty supposed that these sorts of seats were probably worth the money

Actually those are our seats miss Just as Kiersty was about to pounce on the aisle seat she heard an unfamiliar voice behind their group and turned around An athletic looking man with tired eyes smiled in a friendly manner down at Kiersty Reflexively she smiled politely back As their eyes were locked she could literally see some Skill of the manÆs trigger a look of slack jawed alarm

Inwardly Kiersty frowned Especially in Zone 1 there werenÆt many people that bothered to get a detection Skill that would help them when the other party had no malicious intentions It was bad luck to meet someone like that here

Not that it mattered With most of President GreymanÆs attention directed at making sure this game went off without a hitch she hadnÆt had time to drum up support for the Hero Initiative So for now their passage between Zones was just as free as the average personÆs

Nathan stepped into the second most row without noticing the shocked gaze of the man behind them Yea these are our seats I call the aisle seat

Kiersty was still examining the man behind them so she didnÆt have time to be disappointed that her brother had stolen the seat that she wanted albeit one row back Her Sphere of Detection quickly informed her that the man had utilized Survival Instincts and probably detected a possible threat from her KierstyÆs grin widened slowly

Why so shocked Surprised that I feel dangerous to you IÆll have you know that being a priestess of Arbor comes with some perks

As the strained staring contest stretched Dinesh coughed lightly The man blinked and shook his head Then he cast a tired smile toward Dinesh Sorry I must have Ah well common Tim letÆs take our seats

The man had frozen again as he looked at Dinesh Then with a steely control that Kiersty admired the man glanced at Tykes and his expression didnÆt even flinch But his hand was tight on his son TimÆs shoulder as he moved to walk past the group and take a seat

Yet what caught KierstyÆs attention was the fact that the nine or ten year old boy was staring at her with all the stunned awe of Moses receiving a revelation from God Although Kiersty was slightly pleased by the reaction she still shook her head inwardly as she shuffled over to take her seat

I thought we were here for football What the hell is up with all these boys

The back of Derek MossÆs neck itched The powerful sense of danger that he had gotten from the girl and even more strongly from the two men sitting with the teenagers was still on his mind Gradually however Derek forced his twitching body to calm down Even if all four of the people sitting behind them were powerful that didnÆt make them a threat to him or his son

After all they were here for the football game just the same as them And Derek had needed to dip into the savings he had built up from the early days of the System when he had led one of Zone 1Æs special forces teams in order to buy the tickets For others to afford tickets in this portion of the stadium right up against the playing area around midfield they couldnÆt be weak individuals

ItÆs just insane that I got this close before my Survival Instincts felt anything Derek grimaced

The real reason that Derek had felt so panicked was that he saw his son squirming right after noticing the threat from these individuals Initially he had worried that Tim could sense something as well but as he observed his son he realized this wasnÆt the case

No from the blank and surreptitious stares that Tim was throwing over his shoulder as he casuallyÆ turned to look around the stadium he just had a crush on the older girl sitting behind them And with that realization the rest of DerekÆs anxiety bubbled and faded away Releasing a tension filled breath suddenly he was just a father out at a football game with his son

Who do you think will win Derek asked unable to allow his son to so blatantly looking behind him any longer

Tim straightened and thought about it The Stallions They have the great quarterback right They will score more points

Although he nodded Derek cautioned his son in a low voice ThatÆs true that their offense will probably be better The Stallions have Jake Tuck and if heÆs as good as he was in college hell I bet heÆs better with the System But you shouldnÆt underestimate the Vipers Their coach was pretty famous before the System arrived for being a defensive mastermind His team won four Superbowls in ten years under his watch which speaks for itself And the Vipers have Donovan Sikes

WhoÆs that Tim asked

Derek grinned A hall of fame linebacker He probably retired the year before the System came And with the System well age doesnÆt matter as much anymore Even if Jake Tuck is going to someday be the greatest quarterback in history IÆm not sure if he is that man yet He has to prove it on the field today

But it doesnÆt matter how good they are on defense Tim insisted Derek did his best not to smile His son was at the age where once he made up his mind he stubbornly refused to admit that he might have been wrong You only win if you score points And Jake Tuck is better than the other quarterback so he will score more points ThatÆs that

Slowly the smile on DerekÆs face faded as he watched his son frown down at his lap Although maybe the reason that Tim became so stubborn recently is because heÆs been called a liar repeatedly at school

Damnit I want him to have the best chance in life And that means getting a headstart at a good school But if heÆs really getting bullied that badly

Struck by the sudden desire to cheer his son up Derek stood abruptly Hey buddy want to go get a Jake Tuck jersey I saw them selling them on the way in We can grab some food while we are up too Want some nachos

Really TimÆs smile was bright and his smile was full of joy More than anything else in the world Derek wanted to be able to protect that joy DerekÆs eyes grew clear as he looked at that smile

The futureÆs a long time away Maybe maybe I need to make a change For his sake

In a sub basement beneath the stadium the two sides faced each other in grim silence Two humans watched the Nemesai waiting for their decision Eventually the Winged Serpent sighed at this point they didnÆt have much choice but to gamble The foes on Earth were too strong for them to face otherwise

It glanced sideways at its fellow Nemesai then across to the other party We agree to your terms In exchange for your assistance we will construct the array and make sure not a single living soul walks out of the stadium

The man in the crimson cloak leaned forward With the dim light of the room it was only possible to see the edge of his smile as he looked toward the group of five Nemesai gathered in the room As long as you gather enough of their blood for the ritual I will give you what you desire

The Winged Serpent was annoyed at the manÆs condescending tone but it could only keep its reptilian face neutral Of course the Bandit King scowled fiercely but even he did not dare say anything The truth was this individual was currently more powerful than them with their images shackled by the System Which was why they were willing to bargain their services in order to obtain the manÆs assistance

Of course if it wasnÆt for the damned lock The Winged SerpentÆs tongue flicked out but it doubted others would notice the frustration in the gesture To further distract the other party the Winged Serpent said in a low voice If we do this it will earn the ire of the entirety of New Earth At least twenty thousand people will be here Killing them will have consequences Are you prepared to face the wrath of an entire world

The Bandit King gave the Winged Serpent an incredulous look but the Winged Serpent ignored it That fool was probably wondering why the Winged Serpent would ask something that might convince the other party to change his mind

Yet this was not a casual decision The Winged Serpent had studied past Nemesai actions extensively after it had received the role And history was clear Nemesai that attracted the ire of the world before they could decisively make the world fail a Calamity often were annihilated

Which honestly had almost happened on Earth already Randidly Ghosthound was that powerful He had forced the Nemesai to dire straits just by casually showing up twice While the Nemesai were already numb to being targeted by every side but the Winged Serpent needed to make sure that this powerful man in the crimson cloak understood the consequences in his actions It was clear the man was mad the Winged Serpent simply wanted to sound out the depths of his madness before the Nemesai bound themselves to his cause

The man chuckled I am the power of an entire world Of a true world where all the tragic losses of the past could be avoided Why should I fear this small planet The dream of escape from this farce is why we work toward the Red Revival That is why we will pay any price

You are truly willing to kill your fellow humans for this The newest of the Nemesai the Grey Lich frowned over at the two men who represented the Red Revival Although the Grey Lich had been on Earth for several months it was still having difficulty grasping how different this world was from most

After all he had never seen either Randidly Ghosthound or Neveah

It was impossible to comprehend the other NemesaiÆs urgency without fighting one of the true monsters that had been birthed here But the Winged Serpent supposed this man in the crimson cloak counted as one of those same monsters

This time it wasnÆt the man in the crimson cloak that spoke The figure leaning on the wall next to him straightened With a flourish he produced a dagger and made it dance across his fingers The manÆs eyes were bright and bleak as he looked at the Grey Lich even in the darkness I think you will find us perfectly willing to pay the price to return to an Earth that hasnÆt been consumed by violence This world has been tainted

Even more unstable than the other human The Winged Serpent hummed to itself Truly this Earth is far more dangerous than it appears on the surface And this ritual this man wants to perform Even I find it difficult to understand Exactly where did these people find this ritual and will it truly allow them to return to a time before the System

For a second the Winged Serpent was tempted to throw its lot more directly behind the Red Revival The trophy it promised was appetizing But its blood was cold and as it rationalized the prospect it deemed it unlikely to have any legitimate merit

After all it obviously meant something that the two individuals who believed in this Red Revival most fervently were positively mad

The man with the dagger twisted his hand and sent the weapon darting forward With a snort Thea forcefully caught the projectile in her hand and glared over toward her attacker And her ire was a potent wave of pressure that blasted steadily outward Even the Winged Serpent could only wince and endure the pressure radiating off the woman for as long as the System bound their images

That was why she was their leader Although she started out the weakest she had grown strong And because she hadnÆt been bound like them she was able to benefit from the collective guidance of the Nemesai to develop her own image that could be utilized freely on Earth More than that the strange bitterness that slowly consumed her heart ensured that her image wouldnÆt accept weakness

The dagger thrower stuck his tongue out at Thea Good to be working with you again

DonÆt fucking talk to me Hyde Thea spat out Then she turned to the man in the crimson cloak And What about the two real threats to us

Our spy in the Order Ducis gave us the time that Randidly Ghosthound will be meeting with the leader of the Ogre Gorge The crimson cloaked individual said casually When the operation starts we will use the evolved elemental of Drake that you captured to strike at his psyche causing him to go on a rampage It should distract Neveah long enough for us to finish things here

The Winged Serpent frowned We had heard that DrakeÆs body had been moved to Donnyton

For a second the man in the crimson cloak paused Then he shrugged So we finish before Neveah can arrive And if she shows up I will move personally You donÆt have to worry

Chapter 1262

Obyrn chuckled as he watched Dozer give a rather gobsmacked Randidly Ghosthound a sympathetic look Dozer tried his best to make his rumble sound consoling Do not blame yourself that Delilah never wants to play hide and seek with you again it can be considered a testament to your capability

Randidly shook his head rather helplessly and looked back over toward Delilah who was currently pouting on AnnieÆs lap There were still glistening tears in the corners of her eyes I guess I just thought well she spoke as though she was capable So I figured I would use my images to add some pressure I figured the Grim Chimera would scare her but I thought Yggdrasil would be safer

The entire forest coming to life around you is the stuff of nightmares Dozer snorted She is still just a child She is my world but she doesnÆt need to grow up yet So letÆs not force the issue for a few more years

Finally Obyrn took a step forward and looked at Randidly with a grin It is rare to have a human child call someone else a monster while an ogre is present Truly you have given me an interesting experience Randidly Ghosthound

Obyrn stepped forward to speak now for two reasons The first was to make himself part of the strange circle of individuals who seemed perfectly content to speak casually with Randidly Ghosthound despite his obvious superiority of power It was not the way that ogres would handle such a relationship but as the loser of their duel a year past it was not ObyrnÆs place to criticize RandidlyÆs methods

But at the same time he spoke now to prod at the heart of Randidly Ghosthound

To ObyrnÆs surprise all Randidly did was wave his hand as though he was already too tired of the experience to comment further Then RandidlyÆs metal arm lit up with bright lines of light as he raised his fingers and pressed them against the bridge of his nose After a few seconds he lowered his hand and his emerald eyes had become sharp Well IÆll remember to take it easier for next time But now are we prepared I believe it is time to meet the ruler from Nordawn

The mood in the air changed Dozer’s face slowly stiffened Annie who had a small smile on her face waved goodbye to the men and led a sniffling Delilah back toward the ogre settlement Sam snorted lightly and flexed his fingers He had already retrieved his heavy darksteel hammer which hung at his belt

Obyrn gritted his teeth and calmed his rising pulse Nordawn

The first rays of sunlight were only just now threading their way over the horizon spilling insistently through the surrounding trees The group of four representatives walked quickly back toward the resting place of Kharon and RandidlyÆs island Long shadows lined their path a silent vigil that only made the air around Randidly Ghosthound grow even heavier

While they passed by the wandering city Obyrn was intrigued to note that several of the more prominent merchants of the ogre settlement were positively salivating as crate after crate of valuable metals teas soaps and dyes were offloaded from Kharon Heading in the other direction were vast quantities of foodstuffs and valuable raw materials Obyrn had been rather worried recently at the lack of economic advantage that the ogre settlement possessed in its dealings with traders from Zone 1 but it seemed that would soon change Goods from Kharon were always in high demand due to the slow transport speed while Kharon was wandering around in the Wildlands

ObyrnÆs gaze settled on RandidlyÆs back From what IÆve seen there are at least a dozen people from Kharon who terrify me And they all follow this man Truly his abilities cannot be overestimated And to think he believes that the Earth will devour the Systems present in the connected worlds to become even more powerful

Shaking his head Obyrn pushed those thoughts to the side and walked around the resting Kharon to arrive at the GhosthoundÆs island Unlike the city the island continued to float about twenty meters off the ground hovering above the forest canopy Ominous mist drifted downward off of the island occasionally interspersed with blue lightning

Sam put his hands on his hips Where does that lightning come from

Rubbing his chin Randidly said Honestly I havenÆt quite figured it out yet But there is a stark divide I created with an energy barrier so the lightning should be a side effect of two vastly different energy densities pressing up against each other Yet the energy density within doesnÆt diminish when the lightning is produced and I donÆt believe it possible that the low energy density outside of the barrier to be fueling the lightning

Then Randidly shrugged Either way that amount of energy shouldnÆt be a problem for any of you but I believe it will feel strange when you are within the energy field Not dangerous but definitely different from the environment here on Earth Images will probably be difficult By extension I believe Skills should be suppressed but I havenÆt been able to verify it yet

Heh we are your test subjects then Dozer chuckled Then he crouched and his thigh muscles propelled him to explode upward Like a missile he shot up and encountered the lightning filled mist Within a second the mists had engulfed him and he disappeared from their view Very quickly the other three leapt upward to follow Dozer

Obyrn wasnÆt sure what he was expecting from the energy field that Randidly Ghosthound had so briefly described but he wasnÆt prepared at all for the sensation that awaited him within the mist It was both less and more than he had expected He landed in a mist shrouded field with the other three and took a minute to stop and study the feeling that engulfed them

For one it wasnÆt uncomfortable Which cleared away most of ObyrnÆs initial misgivings Standing here was the same as standing in the outside world Although he could feel the increased energy density it flowed cleanly around him without any corrosive reaction It didnÆt interfere with any of his normal functions

However whenever he tried to execute a Skill or utilize an image ObyrnÆs face very quickly went pale

Dozer who was standing a dozen meters farther down the slope looked around in admirable A good place to train Like having weights for your Skills and images

Is that what it feels like to you all Randidly asked curiously He gestured and the three slowly fell into step behind him as he proceeded toward the northern portion of the island ItÆs my energy in the air so if anything utilizing Skills and images is even easier for me here but itÆs good to know for sure that it has a suppression effect for other people

SamÆs mouth twisted When you speak with that tone IÆm glad that I didnÆt join the Order Ducis

Dozer cracked his knuckles If you torture your Order as much as you tortured my daughter in a friendly game of hide and seek

Randidly growled in frustration Running from me in a forest is just a bad idea Maybe the vine avatar I made was a bit thorny for a child but how was I supposed to know that she would start crying

The foursome arrived at a tall rocky outcropping at the North edge of the island that gave a good view of the surrounding area or would have had it not been for the omnipresent mist that shrouded the island But as soon as the Ghosthound moved to stand on that spur of rock at the edge of his island the genial mood between them dissipated and left only the heaviness Strange silvery energy began to gather at his fingers

Perhaps the reason he interacts so casually most of the time is because of how heavy his will become when he acts as a liege ObyrnÆs eyes followed RandidlyÆs movements closely Prolonged exposure to that power would eventually warp him beyond recognition so he sets it down whenever possible

However is it truly so simple to avoid being changed by power

As Randidly Ghosthound narrowed his eyes the mist slowly parted around their corner of the island and revealed the land below Then the whole landmass beneath them began to shiver Obyrn could feel the ground beneath them shifting to respond to the GhosthoundÆs will The island floated forward passing over Kharon and heading directly toward the entrance to Ogre Gorge

However when they arrived at the Ogre Gorge RandidlyÆs face quickly twisted into a scowl Really Even this much is too big Well screw it then LetÆs just make a flashy entrance

Obyrn glanced at Dozer who seemed completely unphased by the mutters of the Randidly In fact Obyrn quickly realized that Dozer was surreptitiously activating his Crushing Grip Skill at this very moment utilizing the environment in order to train For a second ObyrnÆs face split into a grin

And this is why they have become strong Because they have this spirit to always test themselves pushing their potential to the limit And meanwhile I

Obyrn noticed out of the corner of his eye that the Ghosthound had produced a key but his attention was largely consumed by his own bitter self mockery If I hadnÆt been long afraid of the weakness that would follow the growth of another head perhaps I too could have reached their amount of power But of course because I waited my potential is that much higher All I need to do now is resolve myself

There will never be a perfect time I simply need to be willing to seize

ObyrnÆs thoughts paused Randidly had inserted the key into the air and it simply hung there Which was unusual but wouldnÆt normally grab ObyrnÆs attention No what yanked his focus over was the swirling hole in the fabric of the world that had been created in front of them appearing a bit beyond the end of the island in the air

And through that portal came the familiar dead air of ObyrnÆs homeworld

Randidly Ghosthound reached forward and seized the key hanging in the air Slowly he began to twist the key with an expression of deep concentration Strange energies swirled around the opening that the Ghosthound had created But as the trio standing behind Randidly watched the portal grew larger

The key twisted and the opening was slowly stretched larger and larger After about five minutes of intense effort from Randidly the portal was large enough for their floating island Strange winds howled around the vast rift as the rich Aether of Earth poured through the hole and into the ogre world

Seemingly relieved Randidly released a great sigh Then he turned and grinned at the other three Since I was making the portal anyway I just put the other end right above their base So is everyone ready ItÆs time to make an entrance

Chapter 1263

After releasing a breath the Ogre Lord had completely prepared himself for the day that was to come When he woke up this morning he knew that there would be no more delays today would be the day

All three of his personalities were perfectly aligned by the time the opposing partyÆs first signs of arrival appeared It was a little bit before noon and the oppressive smog that hung over the dying ogre world was at its thinnest Then a ripple appeared in the air Slowly the six eyes he possessed slid upward to look at the oppressive gash in the world that had appeared above his camp With a curl of his lip the Ogre Lord signaled his captain of the guard to bring him his ax

The portal above slowly widened as the thousands of ogres in the Ogre LordÆs army simply watched They stood rigidly at attention their eyes never leaving the portal but also listening intently for any order from their lord Yet the Ogre Lord had no doubt that they could sense the same thing that he could

Such pure energy Energy like I havenÆt felt in two hundred years

When the captain of the guard returned the portal hadnÆt yet finished growing larger The man dare not grip the shaft of the weapon instead seizing the sharp edge So when the ax arrived it was already dripping blood Calmly the Ogre Lord took the heavy ax and examined the familiar weapon Its head was made of a single curved piece of blue crystal sharpened on the bones of the ogres that littered his bloody path to become the Ogre Lord of Nordawn The heavy oak shaft was as thick as the body of one of these humans and yet now the Ogre Lord couldnÆt contain his excitement at the prospect of fighting one of these small beings

I pray you do not disappoint me The Ogre Lord thought as he looked up at the portal with incredible intensity

All this morning he had been mentally preparing himself for this conflict The long years of waiting in Nordawn had numbed him His time of rule had finally come to an end and for that he was filled with joy

He had even discarded his name for this fight he decided that he would only be a challenger seeking to dethrone the source of these ominous waves of power As he continued to wait for the other party to arrive the Ogre Lord removed each of his three headpieces and cast them aside Then he seized his ceremonial garb and forcibly ripped it in half

Precious gemstones scattered and bounced down off of the Ogre LordÆs palanquin rolling to sit in front of the bowed figures of those ogres who had carried him here One of the bearers seeing a ruby the size of an eyeball roll gently to a stop in front of him flinched and pressed his forehead against the ground in fear

It was the greatest thing the Ogre Lord had felt in a long time to destroy the trappings of power with which he had covered his body The skin of his bare chest tingled underneath the murky sun that managed to pierce through the mist

Chuckling the Ogre Lord dropped the torn vestment and walked slowly down the stairs to the ground His vast torso expanded and contracted as he tasted the clean and plentiful energy that was flowing through the portal above them He twisted his ax this way and that enjoying the familiar weight His arms were trembling in excitement

Truly it has been too long Today today I fight like a young man Foolish and invincible Determined and doomed

Even though each head had a different personality all were grinning madly up toward the portal The waiting became almost too much to bear Finally the hole in the world ceased expanding A huge floating island shrouded in dark mist floated out and hung above the Ogre LordÆs army Dark lightning flickered through the mist That ominous pressure that had caused the Ogre Lord to stop a half dayÆs camp from the entrance to Earth spiked sharply upward with the appearance of the island

The foe has finally come The Ogre LordÆs skin itched The smiles on his three heads stretched wider This sort of pressure the Ogre Lord hadnÆt felt it in two hundred years Not since he forcefully vanquished his worldÆs Second Calamity and started this farce of a Third Calamity

When the System had announced the arrival of the Third Calamity to the world the Ogre Lord had been filled with horror After growing up in an environment filled with blood and chaos to be forced to silently endure while the energy was slowly drained out of the world was his worst nightmare And it had turned out to be just as agonizing as he had feared The System had warned of hidden dangers but the Ogre Lord hadnÆt taken such threats seriously He had been lost in the bleak shadows of his court the accomplishments he had given his life to suddenly made empty

All the fire that had driven him to rule the world slowly faded to embers and then finally to dead ash In the ancient citadel of Nordawn the Ogre Lord had closed his eyes and prepared himself to die of old age He was unwilling to pass easily of course but what could he do

Yet now

And yet now the hidden dangers come The Ogre Lord hissed from his central head The floating island drifted downward toward his armyÆs position It settled directly above the dirt road that ran forward to the West where the other portal to Earth lay Under the pressure of that strange island the Ogre LordÆs armies could only back helplessly away As the island continued to drop downward even the palanquin bearers were forced backward blood dripping from their clenched jaws as they tried to obey the Ogre LordÆs order to wait for him there

The Ogre Lord spared a contemptuous glance for all of his preciousÆ warriors It was almost insulting that they didnÆt seem to realize that two worlds would have a new supreme leader by the dayÆs end His leftmost head spoke in a cold voice Leave Or stay and die I care not

Most of the warriors scattered to find cover but a few stayed with gritted teeth

As the Ogre Lord turned back to face the island there was finally movement from within Four individuals hopped down from the island and landed on the dusty road Two were humans that the Ogre Lord sensed were powerful but not a true threat to even the current him One was an ogre that he distantly recognized as having once served in his army in some minor capacity He felt like a threat as well but about the same tier as the two humans

And the final figure

The right most head opened its mouth and undulated its tongue to taste the rich air That figure with short black hair was the source of the incredible pressure that the Ogre Lord felt His armor was slate grey His left arm appeared to be constructed from tiny scales of black metal His eyes were green and bright

To compare the Ogre Lord and this man was almost comical The Ogre Lord had three heads was four meters tall and weighed twelve hundred pounds It would take many of this man to rival the mass that the Ogre Lord wielded And due to his rather normal appearance the Ogre Lord had been slightly worried as he stared fixed at the man that most of that pressure was a result of the island itself

But no if anything the island had masked the young manÆs pressure As his calm emerald eyes looked over toward the Ogre Lord a piercing energy seemed to howl around this figure The winds of the worlds seemed to gather at his fingertips like loyal dogs waiting to be commanded The man who produced the pressure glanced at the Ogre Lord then looked at the blue crystal ax in his hands that was dripping blood

The figureÆs face split into a strange smile You donÆt want to talk at all first

Sensing the otherÆs desire to battle the Ogre LordÆs heart began to beat even faster WinnerÆs may talk so that the defeated can obey them Until we determine what we are to each other words are just wasted breath

I certainly admire the direct outlook ogres Acri The young man looked upward From the island another silhouette dropped down and landed on the ground with a heavy thump For a second the Ogre Lord thought the new arrival was some sort of large serpent but as the thing flowed and was hefted by the young man the Ogre Lord realized it was a living weapon of some sort And rather than a serpent it was clearly a plant in the shape of a spear

A spear that was so large that it seemed more suited to the Ogre Lord that to this human

Thick bark covered the shaft broken only in a few spots to allow a few verdant tufts of leaves to spring outward At the tip three incredibly sharp thorns wound together to create a pyramid whose point made the Ogre Lord feel a sense of dread In terms of size the weapon was larger than the young man Yet he lifted it without the faintest sign of struggle

All three pairs of eyes narrowed as the Ogre Lord studied the young man Heavy That is the sensation that surrounds him It feels like even thinking is difficult so long as he is near

The young man glanced at his companions because the Ogre Lord didnÆt miss that all three seemed to be struggling with the same pressure that he experienced Yet all three nodded tightly indicating that this amount of pressure they could handle

Then the young man looked at the Ogre Lord and smiled And that same fire that had driven the Ogre Lord to such heights in the past he saw now in the young manÆs gaze without the gradual weathering that had crippled his own heart due to the passage of time Still that fire was enough to bring the Ogre LordÆs own passion surging back to the forefront of his mind

Kindling slowly grew in his chest The carefully prepared mentality that the Ogre Lord had cultivated all day was ready to erupt into an inferno

Breathing heavily the Ogre Lord spoke slowly out of his central head Your name

Randidly Ghosthound the young man said Then he tilted his head to the side and examined the Ogre Lord And yours

The middle head pressed his lips together but did not answer The fiery rightmost head laughed But it was the leftmost head that finally spoke We are no one Today we are simply the challenger DonÆt disappoint us

Without waiting for further talk the Ogre Lord surged forward The muscles of his huge body trembled and flexed as he instantly demanded that they squeeze out their full potential to propel him forward toward this intimidating foe The ground beneath him cracked and suddenly he rushed forward with all the momentum of an avalanche He raised his crystal ax high above his head and slashed it sharply downward to bisect this Randidly Ghosthound in half

Standing next to the Ghosthound made the pressure that the Ogre Lord had to endure rise to the point of it being painful but still the Ogre Lord pushed himself to follow through with the strike Because it was in this pain that he finally found the joy that he had been waiting for No longer would he be stuck on his world waiting to die Now he had a path to freedom He could fight his way out and dominate this other world just as he had with his own

He could burn to his heartÆs content devouring the rich energy of Earth As long as he won this fight

With remarkable speed the Ghosthound spun out of the way so the axe blow passed only a short distance behind his back He then threw his whole momentum in to the sudden twist and brought the butt of the extremely large plant spear smashing against the Ogre LordÆs exposed chest It was possible to dodge but the Ogre Lord felt like taking this sort of hasty blow would help shake off some of the rustiness that shackled his body after a long period of peace Plus it would allow him to gauge the Strength of the Ghosthound

The sound of one of his ribs fracturing informed the Ogre Lord that this had been a bad decision

When the thick base of the spear smashed against the Ogre LordÆs chest the Ogre Lord couldnÆt help but grunt and take a step backward Despite the GhosthoundÆs small size the amount of force he built up with that small spin was overwhelming

In addition the Ghosthound hopped right as his strike landed The rebounding force allowed the Ghosthound to create some distance retreating with all the smooth grace of a stone skipping across a lake Then he settled into a fighting stance lowering the point of his spear to aim for the Ogre LordÆs midsection

Slowly the Ogre LordÆs powerful Vitality dealt with most of the minor muscle tears that he had received as the other side struck him The fracture would be painful but wouldnÆt impede his movement much But even if he could heal the damage quickly it was a much more daunting task to find a way to handle the casual power that the other side had displayed with the attack

In terms of Strength for the first time in his life the Ogre Lord felt that he was inferior He wondered if wild swings of his ax would simply be smashed aside by that plant spear

His grip on his ax tightened Even worse the pressure rolling off of Randidly Ghosthound had grown stronger when they had briefly clashed Rather than shaking off the Ogre LordÆs rust it seemed that the Ghosthound had released a strange caustic energy into the air as his body moved It was a pressure separate from the mental pressure which was already significant

And this was all without condensing any of the dangerous images that the Ogre Lord could sense the Ghosthound possessed This was all raw physical power

Which was why the Ogre Lord was cautious He too possessed an image that he sharpened to a deadly degree in the past but since becoming the ruler of this world he had never been forced to use it In fact he had often withheld his image and relied solely on the power of his physical body to crush challengers to his rule

To have that same method used against him filled the Ogre Lord with the vicious desire to punish this GhosthoundÆs arrogance Yet that vicious righteousness was accompanied by a wild glee Yes This is what being a challenger should be like Push me even further

The moment stretched as the two studied each other after the initial clash Then the left most sneered You refuse to show me your image

In the past I always suppressed my impulses to engage in frontal confrontations with powerful individuals The Ghosthound said casually His gaze was as sharp and frigid as a spike of ice Now that I finally have the power that I no longer need to avoid those confrontations I want to enjoy the sensation

Hmph The rightmost head snarled

The center head looked with a complicated gaze at this young man already so powerful Then I will show you the power of Ogres I hope you donÆt regret your decision

Chapter 1264

The Ogre Lord once again charged forward without waiting for the other man to respond to his words This time he gripped the ax with both of his hands and launched a vicious slanted cut toward his foe It would be less decisive if it landed but it would also be much harder to dodge

Randidly Ghosthound did not bother to dodge From his crouched stance he thrust his spear forward the razor sharp pyramidal tip gleaming as it shot forward through the air Their two blows smashed into each other both sides aiming so that the focus of their power would meet directly rather than glance off of each other

The ground beneath them cracked and both attacks stopped dead A second later the ground in the surrounding area cracked in a larger radius a testament to the power contained in both attacks

Lightning fast the Ogre Lord manipulated his huge body to use the momentum of the charge and continue forward Then he planted his foot and twisted outward exposing his back to Randidly However due to the recent impact between the two weapons the Ogre Lord was confident that his exposed weakness would pass by without the opposition seizing that chance

And as he predicted the Ogre Lord spun around safely and brought his left hand in a vicious backhand blow toward the Ghosthound Yet his opponentÆs emerald eyes remained just as calm as always He quickly brought his own left arm up to deflect the blow lines of white light tracing the movements across the metal limb

The two left arms smashed together To the Ogre LordÆs horror his own arm was knocked up into the air All his strength was blasted away He wasnÆt completely overpowered but it seemed that it wasnÆt a fluke earlier when the Ghosthound was able to contest him physically and come out ahead

Before the Ogre Lord had much of a chance to respond to the block his instincts cried in warning and he instantly leapt backward away from his opponent Just in time too because the Ghosthound brought his huge lance across in a vicious sweep Despite the rapid reaction of the Ogre Lord the tip of the GhosthoundÆs lance ripped a shallow cut across the Ogre LordÆs chest A trail of blood splattered on the dusty road

With all three heads grinning the Ogre Lord reached up and touched the wound on his chest He rubbed some of his own blood on his ax almost affectionately Do you know how long it has been since I have bled

The Ghosthound didnÆt even respond This time he seized the initiative shooting forward with his lance raised with deadly intensity The Ogre Lord stomped cracking the ground beneath him In addition the Skill spread outward and shattered the ground beneath the Ghosthound destroying his footing

The cracked in the ground radiating outward from their fight rapidly grew larger

But in the split second after the Ogre Lord stomped the Ghosthound had already jumped into the air He spun gracefully his lance always zeroed in on the Ogre Lord and then seemed to explode with momentum downward

Grimacing the Ogre Lord could only roll to the side and swing his ax to utilize his Shining Slash Skill Two blades of energy shot forward to meet the Ghosthound at his landing spot

Rather than landing the Ghosthound simply thrust his lance forward as he rushed toward the ground like a meteor When he landed what he really did was pierce through the crust of the ground and puncture a hole into the underlying bedrock The surrounding land of the road ruptured immediately upward in a wave of displaced stone rapidly destroying the two attacks that the Ogre Lord had launched

Again his instincts screamed Again the Ogre Lord ducked down and readied his ax as the ground in front of him was split open The GhosthoundÆs lance shot upward only a split second from piercing through the mouth of the leftmost head But because the attack missed the Ogre Lord finally had a chance to counterattack

The veins on his hands bulged as the Ogre Lord pushed everything into this counter toward the small humanÆs torso In comparison to the strikeÆs target his blue crystal ax seemed large enough to crush the human entirely

Yet right when the Ogre Lord believed that he had this Ghosthound he felt the sensation of constriction on his one arm Instantly his encumbered arm let go of his ax and lashed outward to knock the grip away but after the GhosthoundÆs lance had separated the three individual vines that formed the tip were very powerful The Ogre Lord could not shake them quickly loose

And in that opening the Ghosthound tugged on the spear shaft that was now anchored to the Ogre Lord and pulled himself forward The blue crystal ax cut through nothing but air and the Ghosthound closed the distance between the two figures in an instant The Ogre LordÆs limbs were simply too large he could only watch as the Ghosthound raised his metal limb for a brutal punch

A figure half as tall and one tenth of the weight of the Ogre Lord shot through the air and smashed his metal fist into the jaw of his central head Although he had prepared himself mentally for the reverberation most of his focus was knocked silly by the blow Even as enough momentum was transferred to send the Ogre Lord staggering backward the two side heads watched the Ghosthound with wariness

There is something about his body

Just being near him suppresses us

This battle

we are finally having fun again

Yet the Ghosthound wasnÆt going to let go of this opportunity without punishing the Ogre Lord for being taken by surprise His horrendous aura of heaviness blasted outward with enough force to knock the stumbling Ogre Lord off his feet and to the ground Then the Ghosthound reached out and seized one of the tips of his spear that he had let go of earlier yanked it stared intently down at the Ogre Lord then grabbed the spear precisely at the spot of the grip

In a movement that didnÆt seem possible the Ghosthound adjusted his lance and thrust it toward the Ogre LordÆs chest before he could react That strange dark energy seemed to be seeping out of the GhosthoundÆs body and into the surrounding air The Ogre Lord felt his chest constricting as the strange energy suppressed him His lungs struggled feebly even as his three heads scrambled to think of a countermeasure to this attack

After being stunned from the punch previously the central head finally recovered It opened its eyes and glared up at the Ghosthound LetÆs see which of us can afford to bleed more Ghosthound

The blue crystal ax flashed upward toward the GhosthoundÆs side In exchange the GhosthoundÆs lance slid into the thick muscles of the shoulder that wielded the ax Almost immediately the power of the Ogre LordÆs simultaneous attack dropped by half Yet the weight and momentum of the strike couldnÆt be stopped as it slammed into the GhosthoundÆs side

The Ghosthound grimaced And then he continued to attack He flicked his wrist and threw himself downward toward the Ogre Lord to strike a more decisive blow while his foe was pinned to the ground For the Ogre LordÆs part he looked on in disbelief as his blue crystal ax had cut a divet in the GhosthoundÆs dark grey armor but otherwise hadnÆt managed to pierce his defenses

Still this was enough of a chance that he had been waiting for While the Ghosthound was rushing midair down toward the Ogre LordÆs chest the right most head abruptly turned and released a brown beam of decay toward the Ghosthound Mid air it was impossible to

The GhosthoundÆs emerald eyes slid sideways to the right most head and narrowed Then his body seemed to suddenly blur about the edges contorting in a way that shouldnÆt be possible The brown beam slid harmlessly past and the Ghosthound kicked off his lance and landed a few meters away Emerald and orange fire seethed around him igniting that dark energy his physical body created to produce a horrible wave of oppression that pressed the Ogre Lord to the ground

The GhosthoundÆs face twisted into a grimace So you want to compete with some Mana Skills huh Then letÆs

But the Ghosthound abruptly stopped speaking For the first time the Ogre Lord saw genuine shock on the GhosthoundÆs face The man hopped a meter back away from the Ogre Lord and twisted to look toward the gate that connected the Ogre world to Earth

Randidly Ghosthound stared that way with a grim expression for several seconds it was dumb of me not to realize that he could do that as well But still

The air around the Ghosthound rippled and then a monster stepped out of the dark energy aura the Ghosthound produced Its right arm was simply a long protrusion of bone stained with dried blood Its left arm was a monstrous claw with five talons Two tails flicked impatiently side to side one at the base of its head and a larger one growing from its tailbone And most disturbing of all it wore the GhosthoundÆs face

Go to the stadium DonÆt interfere with the Nemesai just kill the duplicate

The monster tilted its head to the side in askance Gritting his teeth the Ogre Lord used his good arm to seize the lance that still pinned him to the ground and pulled it out Blood gushed out of the wind creating a veritable creak of crimson liquid that ran away from the Ogre LordÆs wound

The Ghosthound glanced at the Ogre LordÆs movements but didnÆt bother to do anything about it Instead he kept looking at the monstrous image that he had separated from himself This is my fault for not thinking this through but this is also the fault of the people of New Earth If they hadnÆt allowed the rot to settle in so deeply would the Nemesai get this chance If I save them from themselves now how will they learn

The monster nodded and disappeared As the Ogre Lord staggered to his feet he was surprised to find that the imageÆs departure had taken a lot of the pressure out of the air He could breathe normally once more But more than anything the Ogre Lord could see the exhausted expression on the GhosthoundÆs face The words he had said to his own image had drained him deeply

Perhaps this is my chance The Ogre Lord decided Despite the wound he felt wonderful Better than ever He felt like he had finally recovered his mentality from the old days of conquest If he diverted a portion of his strength to deal with something on Earth

Are the petty squabbles of those beneath you truly so important The Ogre Lord asked with derision

The Ghosthound shook his head and then turned to face the Ogre Lord And at that blank and focused look the Ogre LordÆs instincts screamed again that he had to run as far away from this man as possible ItÆs time to stop playing around and finish this

Chapter 1265

For the first part of the fight Randidly had wanted to get a sense of how much of a difference in power the Nether Brawn made for his physical strikes As it turned out it made an extremely large difference Even though Randidly could sense that the three headed ogre with his huge crystal ax possessed almost a dozen Skills devoted to strengthening his body and attacks Randidly was still stronger Each strike knocked the Ogre Lord another step backward

RandidlyÆs momentum continued to grow

Even more than that the more that Randidly activated his physical body the more he could feel that Nether was starting to flow through his limbs like literal blood through veins It didnÆt strengthen his attacks much beyond his normal ability but it did release a powerful suppression aura on other individualÆs Skills that grew more powerful the longer they fought with each other

But now with the situation back on Earth

Randidly pressed his lips into a tight line and no longer wasted time experimenting with his abilities He was deprived of using his Grim Chimera images but Ignition Essence surged up to turn the surrounding area into a sea of emerald and orange flames The ground split in multiple areas as Talons of the Restless Immortal pierced upward and slashed at the Ogre LordÆs legs and back The wounds didnÆt even have the chance to bleed for a second before they were cauterized shut by the high heat It was an onslaught of pain that was aimed to break the will of the opponent rather than simply killing him

But the Ogre Lord only gritted his teeth and endured Randidly utilized the enlarged version of Acri to give him no time to respond to other threats The pressure slowly crept upward

The last strike sent the Ogre Lord skidding backward over the ground His heavy feet dug deep trenches in the already shatter dirt as the Ogre Lord couldnÆt control his own momentum Stomping his feet Randidly rushed forward and aimed toward the Ogre LordÆs heart with AcriÆs pyramidal tip It was a blow that would kill the Ogre Lord if he did not respond with more power than he had displayed so far

Suddenly a powerful image billowed outward from the Ogre Lord The oppressive and familiar aura of a crown filled the air The corner of RandidlyÆs lip quirked upward Seems he finally feels threatened enough to get serious But itÆs too late to finally realize the threat now You needed to take this fight seriously ten minutes ago

Nether continued to circulate through RandidlyÆs body The vortex of suppression that resulted from the flow grew larger with each passing second tugging at the edges of the Ogre LordÆs image And as it grew larger its effects grew more acute Of course the image that the Ogre Lord revealed was powerful enough to emerge fully despite the presence of the suppression He hadnÆt conquered an entire world for nothing A towering figure that resembled the Ogre Lord manifested above his struggling body

Rather than the bedraggled figure that the Ogre Lord cut right now the image version of himself had luminescent eyes and was completely decked out in expensive finery His clothes were studded with gems and woven with gold His fingers were crowded with rings and each head had a unique headpiece that reflected their roles

The towering image bellowed the volume of the imageÆs voice blasting away that Ignition Essence that had charred the Ogre LordÆs back In his voice was the purest image of dominance It seemed that the Ogre LordÆs image was himself at his most successful achieving complete dominion over his world

But Randidly tskÆd inwardly If your image is simply yourself in the past how can you expect to grow stronger in the future Besides despite how powerful the image is doesnÆt it feel like you canÆt wield it well You already tossed aside your name and your finery to be a challenger today likely because you sensed that this very image wouldnÆt be enough to defeat me

therefore canÆt you feel youÆve already severed yourself from that image Utilizing it as your last line of defense is serving yourself up on a silver platter

Ignition Essence even in its unevolved state surged forward and shattered the aura of dominance the Ogre Lord tried to create

With the illumination of Ignition Essence RandidlyÆs eyes easily considered the Ogre LordÆs defense stance and understood where to strike So he stepped forward and unleashed a thrust with Acri that contained all of the built up momentum of Nether Brawn that he had slowly been circulating throughout the fight

Still roaring in a pale imitation of the shattered image the Ogre Lord brought his ax upward to meet the blow But it wasnÆt enough The precious blue crystal blade shattered large shards careening off away from the broken weapon and sinking into the Ogre LordÆs massive body And then came Acri domineering and unstoppable

Without even empowering Acri with an image it tore right through fading scraps of an image that had been crippled by the Ogre LordÆs earlier action Acri tore a hole in the Ogre LordÆs chest taking a chunk of his heart with it

RandidlyÆs momentum continued to carry him forward so he landed ten meters behind the Ogre Lord He turned around and watched casually as the huge figure swayed and then fell to his knees Humming to himself Randidly walked forward until the bottoms of his bare feet were soaked in the OgreÆs blood

ItÆs my win Randidly said simply

The Ogre Lord bowed his head and struggled not to die

Valor Rend watched from the sidelines as the opposing teamÆs quarterback the famed Jake Tuck surveyed the defensive arrangement of players with a vicious intensity Despite his young age it was clear that he took his job seriously There were two minutes and eleven seconds left in the first half of the football game and TuckÆs team was down 3 to 10 It was also fourth down with only forty yards to the endzone which would tie the game Ignoring the signal from the coach on the sideline Jake Tuck crouched down behind his center and prepared for the play