LoRG 4

Some will take this opportunity The Toad Lancer spoke again feeling a sense of vague dissatisfaction in his heart Upon the third upgrade they all felt a change occur within them suddenly they understood the concept and value of freedomÆ This was one of the core motivators of the Lord Ghosthound As such it had trickled down the Lancers

Some Lancers would be tempted to taste such a thing despite their fear of independence

The Eagle Lancer just shrugged Those who do so will reveal themselves as fools More than anyone else we Lancers understand the frightening growth of Lord Ghosthound We are just one aspect of him yet these recent changes are already so significant To abandon such growth mid way through the journey

The Lancers all nodded subconsciously at that Each possessed an individual connection with the Lord Ghosthound due to the fact that the Lancers were sustained by his Skill And that connection had only grown more powerful and obvious as time had passed Now these powerful Lancers could vaguely intuit the Lord GhosthoundÆs position and intentions by peering through that connection

But most relevantly they could feel his power Freedom was all well and good but they understood that there was an associated cost to breaking off Without the power of the Ghosthound the Lancers werenÆt yet at the point where they could achieve freedom for themselves

While originally fighting and then discussing the speed of the Lancers had vastly slowed The troops they accompanied had slowed down at first but they soon left the Lancers behind After forming themselves once more into tight columns the Lancers accelerated after their allies intent to complete the Lord GhosthoundÆs mission

Other concerns could wait until after

They were still charging across the plains when a wave of Nether spread across the sky the forces ahead of them had triggered the release of the Nether Gatekeeper defenders at the Nether Pinion After exchanging glances with each other the Lancers accelerated and began to build up momentum

The Baleful Crusade would soon descend upon its first unsuspecting victim

ROaarr

The Nether Herald waiting at the core of this Nether Pinion was a five meter tall stone gargoyle When the efforts of Charlotte Wick Vizzeret Clamman Jieu Ronault and Commander Shilling to destroy the Nether Gatekeepers reached a certain point the grey green gargoyle made an appearance

Without the reassuring backing of Randidly Ghosthound behind them that primal roar from the Nether Herald shook Charlotte Wick to her very bones But after gritting her teeth she forced herself to release a powerful pulse of energy Her Primal Force image raised its antlered head and cried out a challenge in response

The Nether Herald became the core of the entire seething force of Nether bodies The Nether in the surrounding air thickened and suppressed images The gathered elites could shake it off due to the GhosthoundÆs training but the CommanderÆs forces weakened significantly Unwilling to back down Charlotte mobilized her image to release another pulse of life

The Nether HeraldÆs eyes glowed red as they steadily pivoted to settle upon Charlotte The gargoyleÆs wings spread out and beat experimentally throwing out dense blades of Nether that cut into the assembled Aether forces Soldiers had their legs severed above their knees and fell to the ground screaming

Yet even as the Nether Herald shook off the rust from its liberation from the Nether Pinion the powerful Aether images in the area made their move Vizzeret and Jieu spread out to surround the Nether herald releasing their Obsidian Wolf and Azure Black Starfire images respectively These images cut through the dense Nether and once more strengthened the soldiers’ spirits

But their images took a backseat to Commander Shilling and his aide who stepped forward and released a strange and powerful electromagnetic field To CharlotteÆs surprise the Commander seemed capable of even borrowing some of the discharge from the conflict happening above them Soon some strange negative energy black lightning crackled around the slug

It seems no matter who it is Commanders who have fought on the frontlines shouldnÆt be underestimated Charlotte Wick reminded herself

With all of that potent energy discharge Commander Shilling wiggled its body and shot itself forward to strike the still motionless Nether Herald Very quickly the most powerful Nether foe turned its attention and roared again Once more its scream possessed enough force to rattle all of the surroundings

Then as one all five of the powerful Aether fighters shot forward converging on the gargoyle The Nether Herald stood up on its hind legs and spread its arms wide releasing a series of increasingly dense pulses of Nether Without the Ghosthound at their back they had no choice but to meet the superior foe and tear it down with the sheer weight of numbers

The black lightning of Commander Shilling went first smashing directly into the stone body of the Nether Herald But the monstrous creature of Nether didnÆt even seem to notice It simply opened its mouth even wider and slashed out with its claws

The attack tore harmlessly through the edges of Commander Shilling and flung it backward Which opened up an opportunity for Vizzeret to howl and pounce toward the Nether HeraldÆs back with its Obsidian Wolf ascending to be the dominant image in the area At the same time Commander ShillingÆs aide stepped forward and mumbled something

Unfortunately for Vizzeret the Nether Herald was too quick it dodged his attack and smashed a claw toward VizzeretÆs waist The enormous dog hurriedly twisted away and was only able to dodge because Jieu unleashed a blast of star fire positively humming with piercing emotions Even the dense Nether around the Nether Herald was briefly suppressed by the force of that attack

Just as Commander Shilling came crashing back toward right where the slug creature had started its aide finished its preparations It raised its insectoid arms and struck the Commander sending it shooting back toward the Nether Herald with even more black static discharge coming off of its body

Yet when the Nether Herald opened its mouth and unleashed a beam of Nether that smashed apart the CommanderÆs image and tore the slug in half Charlotte could only grit her teeth and target the Commander with a concentrated blast of light energy Very soon its body had knit back together but they were definitely at a disadvantage

It was just as Charlotte was wracking her brain for ideas that she heard the rumbling

Chapter 1610

Even though the battle was happening far away Randidly looked up from his careful examination of his Paths as he felt the Lancers gaining momentum Not only were they intimately connected to him through the base Skill but now they seemed capable of just barely replicating his own Skills albeit on a much smaller scale

If he was the radio station they were radios with noise thick with static But just barely the message was getting through

Feeling their feeble fingers drawing power from him Randidly smiled wickedly The current him was all too used to the way power could flow through the world His eyes began to glow as he fed pinches of energy and image through the connection If what was before was a trickle Randidly rewarded them with the furious natural force of a broken damn

Congratulations Your Skill The March of Ruin and Valor has grown to Level 184

Congratulations Your Skill Lancers of the Baleful Crusade has grown to Level 318

Congratulations Your Skill The March of Ruin and Valor has grown to Level 201

Incredible Randidly reflected as he brushed his perception up against their tenuous connection He didnÆt apply enough pressure to affect the flow of energy but just enough to feel its resilience The realism of the sensation was immaculate The amount of power I can siphon off the ways that I can control it ha truly this Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae

Hum I should send out a few messages to figure out what the term Moirae refers to

Clicking his tongue Randidly sent his messages and then turned back to his Path menu His Lancersshould now have more than enough power to threaten a Nether Herald They now had the benefit of three Paths time for them to show their worth

Charlotte twisted around toward the rising sound while keeping a portion of her attention on the dangerous form of the Nether Herald A dangerous vortex of energy had formed around the gargoyleÆs body and was growing every second But witnessing the source of the noise set her eyes bulging and caused her to forget about the lurking threat for a few seconds

A huge column of dust wafted up from the charging formation of the GhosthoundÆs Lancers The force and violence of their moment made them almost seem otherworldly The feet of the various mounts pounded the ground as they spotted the sea of Nether forces and accelerated As one they raised their weapons in brief salute before lowering the points at their Nether foes

During their initial attack the Vulpis Squad and the forces of Commander Shilling were able to force apart the Nether Beasts and reach the Nether Gatekeepers but the momentum that now surged toward the battlefield was an entirely different kind of threat

But at the same time while the Lancers were approaching the vortex around the Nether Herald grew stronger and stronger

A wide and wholistic image covered the thousand strong charge causing their lances to emit crackling negative energy while a strange golden radiance spun lightly around their bodies Clearly this new batch of reinforcements would relieve a lot of the pressure the group was currently under

Even Commander Shilling paused in its movements with black lightning running up and down across his slug body Charlotte couldnÆt resist coughing lightly Ahem As I said it was simply a morale building exercise

The Commander looked at her sourly before turning his attention to the vortex of Nether above them

In the face of this charging threat the Nether Herald once more reminded them that none present could rival its individual power The Nether around it surged the vortex sinking into the whole of the Nether Pinion beneath it Very quickly the Pinion began to grind and divide itself into several horizontal layers which each began to spin From those layers a wave of wild Nether Beasts with frothing mouths erupted Now with its energy freed the Nether Herald began to rapidly throw out Nether blades

In addition a beam of Nether shot upward from the activated Nether Pinion affecting the battle in the sky Charlotte released a small sigh of relief as Commander Shilling launched itself forward to attack the Nether Herald Looks like all that power isnÆt for us but to help the Nether King

Jieu and Vizzeret both avoided slashes of dense Nether from the Nether Herald and hopped back to land next to Charlotte JieuÆs flaming features didnÆt reveal any hint of the current situation but his voice was heavy We could not witness the Nether HeraldÆs power previously for the Ghosthound neutralized it quickly as well as destroying the Nether Pinion But I fear that this fight will not be as simple as that one was

Reinforcements Vizzeret growled simply as he inclined his head toward the oncoming wave of Lancers The thunder of their mountsÆ hooves was becoming louder and louder as they approached swiftly muffling the conflict and the sky and then steadily suppressing the noises of battle between the CommanderÆs forces and the Nether Beasts

Above them the Nether Herald ripped its arms back and forth blindingly fast inflicting two deep wounds on Commander Shilling A ripple ran through JieuÆs face Numbers will not help us against a foe like this Quantity is not enough at least this amount of quantity If we continue this fight

If you always pick only the fights you can win you will never learn anything new about yourself Vizzeret growled this time with more heat in his voice At that Jieu fell silent The massive grey dog shook his body and exploded with a powerful wave of his Obsidian Wolf image

I suppose that is correct Jieu said quietly Then he looked up with sharp eyes Then the moment that the Lancers arrive we make our move

All three nodded Commander Shilling crashed to the ground but quickly reformed its body and leapt back to the sky with an even stronger electromagnetic field

The Nether Herald didnÆt remain idle in the face of these new threats It raised its grey green stone claws and threw out a dozen blades of dense Nether that targeted the approaching force But from the core of the Lancers formation came a resounding screech that cut through even the thunder of their hooves

A massive eagle bearing a Lancer streaked out with that same dual aura around his weapons and body Around his neck hung twenty eight gleaming fangs With another screech the eagle accelerated to meet the ominously silent blades of Nether

BOOM BooM BOOM

The Eagle Lancer emerged from the repeated clashes against the Nether Blades looking extremely bedraggled and slightly singed but it had defeated the Nether HeraldÆs attack The gargoyle narrowed its glowing eyes and roared again as it slapped Commander Shilling away But its roar couldnÆt rival the thunderous hooves of the approaching Lancers

In the next moment the formation of Lancers hit the rapidly expanding army of Nether Beasts Waves of bodies were sent tumbling through the air as the Lancers moved their weapons in perfect synchronicity They were like rowers on top of a smooth lake dipping their implements into the water and thrusting themselves forward

Their charge was like a force of nature

Even Charlotte couldnÆt believe how smoothly the Lancers ripped through the Nether Beasts She had seen their powerful teamwork just a few hours prior but that couldnÆt hold a candle to this carnage In the past they had efficiently cut down their foes Now it didnÆt even seem like the Lancers were slowing down as they mowed through the Nether Beasts

The Nether Herald grew incensed to see its minions being slaughtered but it was the Nether Gatekeepers that moved first While half of them had already been killed already the other half were only being pinned down by other members of the Vulpis Squad However the challenge of the Lancers started a chain reaction

The Nether Gatekeepers broke out of the harassment by releasing dense waves of Nether Then they pounced forward and moved to stall out the LancersÆ charge

In a flash a Lancer riding an enormous spider hopped out in front of its peers Instead of the single lance that the others possessed this one wielded two It met the first Nether Gatekeeper and skittered gracefully to the side lashing out quickly and leaving a trail of wounds across its torso The Nether Gatekeepers quickly gathered to suppress the Lancer but its fleeting movements only accelerated And by the time they finally managed to pin that Spider Lancer down its fellows arrived

The Lancers werenÆt powerful enough to face the Nether Gatekeepers directly at least not yet But in that initial charge they were able to inflict several deep wounds with the force of their momentum And in the frantic minutes that followed they simply used numbers to drown the remained of the Nether Gatekeepers

Immediately CharlotteÆs expression brightened Without the Nether Gatekeepers all of the Vulpis Squad was freed up Those additional numbers

Finally it seemed that they had pushed the Nether Herald too far In a very familiar fashion Commander Shilling was sent tumbling to the side after being repelled by the Nether Herald Its eyes now radiated a red mist as it beat its wings and flew up into the air Blades of Nether seemed to naturally form around its body and cut sharply downward The golden light around the Lancers seemed powerful but a single Nether blade shattered it and left the Lancers with deep gashes across their torso

ItÆs time Vizzeret growled

Charlotte cast an annoyed glance over toward him wondering when he had decided that he was in charge of the mission But looking at the ragged figure of Commander Shilling Charlotte couldnÆt help but agree She Jieu and Vizzeret each focused on their inherited images from the Ghosthound Each image was a variant but they still contained a hint of their Head Drill SergeantÆs capabilities

And part of that was allowing the three images to coexist in the same space without weakening each other

As Commander Shilling recovered his energy the three leapt forward with blazing eyes There was a shriek from the sky as the Eagle Lancer streaked downward to spear the Nether Herald from above Out of the corner of her eye Charlotte could see the Spider Lancer skittering back and forth rapidly approaching the Nether Herald from below

But the closer they approached the more Charlotte had to grit her teeth Even though they had been exposed to Nether during their training it was nothing like this This aura was raw and hostile seeking constantly to smother the Aether in the surroundings The Nether Herald roared again releasing a wave of Nether blades in every direction

Its army had been thoroughly slaughtered but the dignity of the Herald was still inviolable Above them the beam of Nether pulsed into the sky assisting in the battle against Commandant Wick Until they managed to shut off that beam they were losing

And Charlotte Wick desperately wanted a win

Chapter 1611

Congratulations Your Skill Lancers of the Baleful Crusade has grown to Level 325

Randidly narrowed his eyes as he looked toward the horizon He licked his lips With his Wisdom reaching 1000 in total it barely possible for him to taste the fluctuations in Nether rolling off of the Nether Herald that his forces faced They were having a tough go of it even with all the growth that the Lancers had experienced

Against the Nether Herald only the elites were of any use amongst the Lancers The rest were fodder

But with a sigh Randidly turned away My presence here needs to be minimized as much as possible I am after all only standing in for Raymund Ballast right now If they later wish to argue that I must have been present in order for a Nether Herald to be overcome my best defense is for a second Nether Herald to have been defeated by the troops without my intervention

In the grand scheme of things the concern about his assuming the identity of Raymund was a small issue Truthfully the only reason that Randidly bothered to construct this plausible deniability was Commandant Wick he seemed like the type of man to take rejection personally His mood would definitely fall to find him sneaking around on the frontlines And the Commandant might very well be willing to use RandidlyÆs transgression against him in the future should it suit his purposes

Randidly allowed himself one last glance toward the battle Plus Vizzeret is right The amount of power I can impart to you is limited you need to discover your potential on your own Both the newly minted Vulpis Squad and also my Lancers

And with that Randidly did his best to put the issue out of his mind Instead he turned to the Paths that he currently had available to him The list was almost too large to parse apart

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 Puppet Master 0/100 Pain Immunity I 0/250 Cleaver of the World Tree Weakness of the World Tree 0/500 Guilty Conscience I 0/100 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/ Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz 0/ Violent Heat I 0/ Sovereign of Violence I 0/1000 Deathwish V 0/5 The Pursuit of Alchemy 0/750 Weakness of the Grim Chimera 0/500 Weakness of the Stillborn Phoenix 0/500 The Shadow Beyond the Threshold 0/ The ChimeraÆs Metamorphosis 0/2000 Greater Nether Core 0/ Primordial Might 0/ The Passion sans Shape I 0/ Architecture of Yggdrasil I 0/ The Trace of the Ideal 0/ Physique to Break the System 0/1500 Glimpse of the Shallah I 0/ Emotional Evolution I 0/500 Breath of the Imaginary Firebird 0/1000 The Throne of Nether Homage I 0/500 Stat Evolution IV 0/10000

With over fifty thousand PP remaining Randidly could still cut a pretty thick chunk out of all the Paths before he ran out of gas His eyes glittered as he considered his options For now he decided to not spend the 10k PP to evolve another Stat the random selection of Rarity still unnerved him

Considering that he wanted to create an even larger Stat differential from his fight against the Nether Herald Randidly ignored all the Paths relating to images for now Which left him with a manageable list of Paths

His first choice to finish was Physique to Break the System which cost 1500 PP To his surprise even adding PP to the Path was relatively lucrative every 100 PP earned him 5 free Physical Stats A 20 PP per 1 Stat was a ratio that he hadnÆt received in quite a long while These Stats he happily split between Dreadful Alacrity and Nether Brawn at a 4 to 1 ratio

Congratulations You have completed the Physique to Break the System Path You have walked higher and higher in your pursuit of the Pinnacle Countless miles have disappeared beneath your tireless feet Yet as the altitude increases the air grows thin The natural arrangement of the environment has steadily become cruel By risking the wrath of the elements you have discovered that within the Nexus there exist some invisible and unspoken laws You had the choice and knowingly chose to transgress one such unspoken law For that you have both been given terrible power and a crippling weakness

But there are no wrong Paths toward the Pinnacle only users too weak to follow their Paths to the ending So as you walk have confidence in yourself This Path will surely lead you somewhere even if you encounter resistance as you proceed

Congratulations You have gained the Skill Lessor Aether Inoculation +20 to all Physical Stats

Lesser Aether Inoculation A skill that shows your complex relationship with the Nexus and its sources of Aether It is mildly more difficult for Aether constructs to affect your physical body or track it Effect slightly increases with Skill Level

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched as he looked at the milquetoast effect of the Skill Mildly and slightly huh But despite that isnÆt this Skill actually quite good for protecting the Alpha Cosmos In addition

Congratulations Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 2

Congratulations Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 39

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched for a second time in a short span And it turns out that there are already so many Aether Constructs trying to restrict or track my body that the Skill Level is just going to shoot directly up huh Well IÆm not going to complain about additional PP

IÆll need to contact Nathaz soon to see if there is a concrete effect

Congratulations Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 40

Randidly ignored the flood of notifications and turned to his next Path Choice Greater Nether Core Unfortunately the Stat payout for this one was not as generous He only received 1 Willpower and Focus for 100 PP But since the Path cost 2000 in total he still received 20 of each

Congratulations You have finished the Greater Nether Core Path Amongst those brave travelers from the Nexus extremely few have had the hubris to label their attempts at Nether Cores greater Those who have fought the original forces of Nether understood how meek their pale imitations were and those that came after didnÆt know about the true heights that a Nether Core could reach

But you are a peculiar individual who has understood the original ferocity and heritage that is contained in a true Nether Core although you havenÆt yet seen its blazing influence Perhaps the fact that you have wandered out on this Path is also some form of hubris As you stand alone in the vast darkness of the night neither moon nor stars possess enough radiation to reach your position You have truly reached one of the remote stretches of the wilderness

You are lost in an abyss The Path only exists because it has led you hereÆ

Error unable to properly calculate the reward for finishing the Path Please see your Village Spirit for more information

Randidly grinned at the notification I never thought about this before but are Village Spirits the tech support staff of the Nexus

Although Randidly didnÆt receive any additional stats from finishing the Path he was still in a very good mood Partially because he continued to receive Skill Level Up notifications for Lesser Aether Inoculation but also because of the notification he received right after finishing the Path which was likely his true reward

Weight +100 Scope +100 Influence +100 The potential of your core significances have increased

A free 10% increase in my capability is probably worth much more than even 1000 Stats Plus that vague reference to potential Randidly reflected seriously on the flow of energy around his Nether Core After his PP was sent he wanted to spend some time improving the energy flows with his new Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae But in the current moment he moved his eyes again to the Paths available to him After twisting his mouth a bit he was torn by several of the options available to him

Congratulations Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 163

After a bit of thought Randidly activated his Ruin is Inevitable Yet This Too Shall Pass Skill Immediately her understanding spread out through an entire alliance of RandidlyÆs with each of them choosing a different Path and sharing what they could of the results For whatever reason the Path completion notifications had the effect of scrambling some of the information between parallel lives but he could at least get the sense of his options in this manner And immediately two stuck out to Randidly

Of the two Randidly chose the Ashes of Ulaat Path first He poured his PP into the 1000 cost Path and received 2 free Stats every 25 PP he spent These free points he then dumped into Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae

Congratulations You have finished the Ashes of Ulaat the Patron of Ash Path Your Patron has long since betrayed you and been reduced to dust by the force of your conflict and his schemes Yet within his ashes significant power lingers If you immerse yourself in that power you can experience the memories and trials of Ulaat incorporating his images and growing even more powerful

However be warned The might of a Patron is not to be underestimated

After reaching this point the Path Randidly felt his consciousness float through darkness and encounter a pile of smoldering embers With an unreadable expression on his face Randidly stuck his hand deep within those glowing coals As the flood of images and mental tests ran up his arm to overwhelm his mind Randidly immediately used the raw power of his Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm to smash the tests to pieces

Randidly sighed as the Path splintered and collapsed At this point in my growth I would easily be able to overcome you Ulaat But although your image isnÆt of much use to me any longer

Perhaps as a side effect of the image preserved in stasis by the Path Randidly found UlaatÆs significance deep within his ashes Ulaat was a man who gained power at the cost of his own planet and his heart was ever after wracked by that suffocating guilt What Randidly now adroitly removed from the ashes was that deep and significant desire to protect his home planet

Even to this day that thread remained painfully pure

The suppressed thread of Nether from a deceased Patron spun into RandidlyÆs body and assimilated with his Nether Core The effect wasnÆt immediate but Randidly could sense how thick his Nether was becoming

Congratulations You have successfully incorporated UlaatÆs image Resistance +100

And now the other Path that earns a strong reaction from the other Randidlys

Randidly pressed his lips together and looked long and hard at the Glimpse of the Shallah Path

Chapter 1612

You what are you trying to say LayÆmel Tuuellethe spat into the communicator His fingers gripped the metal edges so tightly that blood wasnÆt able to flow into his extremities He stood at the edge of one of the observation platforms of Military High Commands base on the Fifth Cohort barely even noticing the struggle that played out across the sky

Velio DunnÆs laughter was grating through the communicator Heh Lamel do you truly miss me so much after such a short amount of time part But IÆm sorry I donÆt wanna play around right now Believe me when I say that I am very interested in how the Ghosthound survived in the shaft but I ainÆt coming The currents around the Fifth Cohort are deep

IÆm gonna wait a bit and see if I can catch a big fish DonÆt contact me again over this matter

The line went dead and LayÆmel looked at the communicator with the intent to reach through and strangle this bastard that had routinely mocked harassed and humiliated him He had endured so much just to keep the fickle mercenary happy And suddenly all his suffering became meaningless But the former Drill Sergeant also knew that he was powerless

His fingers slowly loosened on the communicator His head dropped to his chest

Compared to Velio Dunn LayÆmel was nothing He was simply a tool of the Swacc Family that would be discarded when he outlived his uselessness His eyes steadily reddened as he was continually infuriated by how unfair existence was

Power LayÆmelÆs thoughts were filled with bitterness and spite If I was only born lucky enough to seize power

A large metal hand clapped down on LayÆmelÆs shoulder waking him from his turbulent emotional state After blinking he looked into the eyes of Evick Swacc a thuggish humanoid who gummed a cigar from one side of his mouth to the other while he grinned at LayÆmel When he spoke smoke wafted outward from his lips and stunk of rotten meat

Relax my crew will be more than enough to handle Randidly Ghosthound Evick slapped LayÆmelÆs back several times to emphasize his statement and then nodded to the dozen or so similarly grimy and well muscled humanoids standing around them Besides better not to rely on an outside force This is a Family beef so a Family man like myself will be more than up to the challenge

LayÆmel opened his mouth to point out that because Randidly had survived several encounters with Dunn there was no way that Evick would be able to handle him but stilled his tongue when he saw the lines around EvickÆs eyes changing Evick had seen the conclusion that LayÆmel was jumping to and didnÆt like it one bit that a fucking tool like LayÆmel dared have such an offensive opinion

LayÆmel swayed slightly only a single step away from triggering violence But luckily he possessed enough grace to survive the tempestuous Swaccs

LayÆmel nodded meekly earning a guffaw from Evick and several more slaps with a little extra venom A couple of EvickÆs thugs chuckled along with their boss as they watched LayÆmel with cruel eyes Compared to an actual member of the Swacc Family LayÆmel was nothing

But inwardly he had some anticipation toward the moment when this group tried to ambush the Ghosthound No matter who ended up dead LayÆmel would rejoice

As soon as Randidly began putting PP into Glimpse of the Shallah he felt a pinch of regret in his heart The total cost for the Path was 20 000 PP Which was a little under half of the amount he had remaining But even so Randidly resolutely poured his PP into the Path earning himself a free Stat every 50 PP spent

Yet as he added more and more PP the rewards changed they grew quickly less respectable After the first 10 000 he only earned 1 free Stat for every 100 PP that he spent And in through the entire last 5k Randidly only earned a single free Stat point The experience had him pressing his mouth into a thin line as he finished the Path

Congratulations You have completed the Glimpse of the Shallah Path In the expansive wilds some of historyÆs secrets are buried more deeply beneath the shifting sands than others The wheel of time spins and those who ride it are convinced they forge a new Path even when all patterns follow the same arch For the individuals who have climbed to the heights you have now reached their ears may sometimes catch whispers of the wind which hint at the race that started everything

They call themselves Shallah and out of reverence we do the same

The current Nexus plays with the broken pieces of the great discoveries and inventions made by the Shallah at their height Or at least that is our belief Only by digging out the artifacts of their works out of the sand can we hope to glimpse even briefly the power they once wielded

Yet beyond the hints of their capabilities lies another question what happened to them

Congratulations For completing the Path you have received a rare chance to grasp at the secrets of the Shallah Depending on your compatibility the effect will differ Please be prepared

The notification in front of Randidly began to swirl and droop as though it was a creation made of wax that was left too near to a roaring fire At the same time Randidly could sense the complex network of Aether constructs forming in front of him Just like UlaatÆs ashes reaching into this swirling notification would grant him the opportunity to be tested

But unlike UlaatÆs Path Randidly grimaced and felt his palms begin to sweat as he examined the interlocking pattern of Aether that appeared in front of him This power shit these arenÆt Aether principles that its using And even the complexity

The emotions rising in his chest forced Randidly to pause and release a breath it truly had been too long since he experienced genuine fear

Simply observing the swirling notification birthed an instinctive sense of weakness into his heart His Grim Intuition was absolutely convinced that this Path had revealed to him a higher existence The Path he was now treading was extremely dangerous And when Randidly recognized the danger he had a small thought

How had he triggered this Path

Still it was a little late to spend much time pondering the origins of the Path now that the swirling mass of energy floated in front of him The potency of this Path began to steadily warp space as he allowed the Path completion to stall out in front of him

Resolve quickly hardened in his eyes Even if he was afraid Randidly would not take a step back even from the beginning he had grown because he was always moving forward That was a lesson that had been beaten into him by Shal

RandidlyÆs eyes were bright and gleeful as he raised his right hand and stuck it into the notification He didnÆt know what he would find but he would step confidently into the unknown As soon as his hand sank into the dense energies a wave of sticky darkness exploded outward to blanket all of his sensations Even the acute emotional sense that Randidly had developed in the shaft was instantly smothered

After a chaotic sense of vertigo RandidlyÆs senses snapped back into place He was standing on a thin strip of grey stone floating in a vast abyss The stone beneath his bare feet was cool He cast his gaze around and soon fixated on some movement on his right

Randidly watched as a glittering red violet wind spun together to form a condensed drop of liquid Aether Then his eyes followed that individual drop as it was merged with countless others and surrounded by complex rotating Aether constructs With a bright flash those drops of Liquid Aether were merged to form condensed Aether crystals

RandidlyÆs eyes glittered as he traced the Aether constructs But just as quickly as he began studying them his attention was pulled away

To his left a black wind whipped through the darkness beyond the stone path a dervish animated with dense Nether As Randidly watched as had happened on his right that Nether quickly gathered together and created a tiny grey bubble It tumbled weightless in the air for a few seconds before traveled further down the path

As it continued to go forward hundreds of those grey bubbles steadily were amassed slowly accumulating and scuttling into a precise position until a mysterious grey chrysanthemum about the size of two fists floated there

Randidly blinked the resemblance of Nether to a flower was an illusion But the edges of the tightly packed bubbles now sat in such a rigid pattern that it was very easy to simply see a chrysanthemum when you did not look closely The edges of the pattern aligned perfectly to fool the eye on the surface but Randidly gradually sensed that the truly sublime arrangement of this item of Nether was its complex interior intersections

Once the chrysanthemum and the crystal floated on RandidlyÆs right and left they shot forward as though they were urging him forward Somehow space was bent Although they rushed alongside the Path on which Randidly was standing he somehow also knew that they were shooting directly toward each other

And when they collided at the end of this stone path

RandidlyÆs eyes were bright as he lifted his feet to advance toward the end of this Path Already he had obtained quite a bit just from watching the Aether constructs condense an Aether Crystal and witnessing the formation of the grey chrysanthemum But somehow he knew that an even deeper secret would reveal itself when those forces impacted each other

That would be his glimpse of the Shallah

But just as Randidly went to take a step something tapped lightly on his shoulder In the isolated world of the Path the touch was so shocking that Randidly couldnÆt stop a soft eh from escaping his mouth

A chill ran down RandidlyÆs spine as a strange voice spoke into his ear

COME

The word smashed against RandidlyÆs body with enough force that he could feel part of his intestines rupturing He gagged out a half liter of blood which splattered across the stone path The blood that hit the stone caused it to bubble and seeth but RandidlyÆs whole perspective seemed to buckle underneath the pressure of that single word

As he quickly hyperventilated and struggled to recover RandidlyÆs new Uncommon Metabolism activated Although his internal organs were smashed to smithereens they rapidly gathered back together and began to heal His flesh was tough even this strange phenomenon wasnÆt enough to

Randidly was horrified to discover that he was partially frozen But his foot was planted and he was gradually pivoting backward Still right next to his ear that strange voice spoke again

FIND

The second word was even worse than the first His entire Soulspace was set to humming from the impact The bones of his arm near the voice shattered with bits tearing out of his flesh and dropping onto the path to join his sizzling blood After a split second of dizziness Randidly snapped back to focus He abruptly realized that he had experienced this sort of sensation before the source was different but this was the same damage Randidly had sustained when the attention of Elhume landed upon him

At least this time it didnÆt shatter my Class a fiery eyed Randidly briefly reflected But then he threw everything he had into trying to escape

His muscles twitched and flexed helplessly Even his significant physical power could do nothing but help him heal He strained as much as he could but Randidly couldnÆt escape the grip of whatever now held him His mind rapidly ran through options to break out of this situation but things were moving way too quickly and his eyes were pulled upward As he turned he saw what had lain behind him on his right

The red violet Aether flowed together into a body gradually strengthening that body and fooling the universe The image physicalizations grew increasingly overwhelming Then that capability to fool the universe became so convincing as the related images were strengthened that gradually the bodyÆs eyes became blank and empty

The image had become so all consuming that the user had been devoured The consciousness that birthed the image had forgotten that anything else existed

Randidly had spun almost all the way around now so he could also see what was on the Nether side of the Path Familiar Nether energy spun together to create a core Then core steadily grew in size and power until it resembled a black hole devouring any hint of significance and crushing space and time in the process That entire side of the stone path teetered on collapse as the Nether Core demanded more and more

In comparison to the hopeful feeling that Randidly had when he had been facing forward these images that he saw in reverse chilled him to the bone They showed power without restraint driven to their limits And he didnÆt miss the way that his growth more closely mirrored this reverse direction than the original visions he saw

Yet what truly set Randidly trembling was what he saw directly forward

No grand fusion would occur at the end of the inverse path No the two sides were now separated by an immense gulf Aether turned dangerously inward while Nether was turned outward

But within that void between two extremes an abhorrent being floated in a few dozen pieces A tumbling hand a pumping heart that spurt blood into the air a twitching toe a head that was cut in half

The eye on the bisected head stared directly ahead as it rolled lazily through the air Yet as that gaze passed over him Randidly was transfixed

ME

The third word was like a spell after it was said all Randidly knew was darkness

Chapter 1613

Congratulations Your Skill Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix has grown to Level 318

Congratulations Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 245

Congratulations Your Skill Ruin is Inevitable Yet this Too Shall Pass has grown to Level 305

Congratulations Your Skill Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 179

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Herald has grown to Level 243

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 403

Randidly coughed and blinked as he was spat out by the Path completion and found himself collapsed on the Nether Pinion His vision swam and every part of him ached as though he had been ambushed by thugs with baseball bats while he was unconscious His jaw seemed to have somehow wrenched itself permanently shut from extended clenching His hands were trembling

Yet as he overcame the nausea and settled back toward normalcy RandidlyÆs first response was to chuckle His eyes were blank and sightless from the mental overload of the last few minutes but he still looked up at the sky and grinned Last time I encountered an individual so titanic as that my Class was hollowed out and my Skills were ripped to shreds from the impact But this time I survived with only a few flesh wounds

ItÆs proof Proof that IÆll catch up eventually Be warned Nexus IÆm fucking coming for you

Despite the progress his moment of victorious relish was soon interrupted by another batch of bloody coughs that wracked his body for a full minute He had definitely survived and endured those three words without any permanent damage to his Soulspace but that was because most of the damage was soaked up by his body And his body was more than powerful enough to recover but the lingering damage was a little sprinkle of reality on his dreams

If that speaker had wanted to do anything more intensive than talking Randidly still would have fallen short The truth was simultaneously liberating and demeaning

So Randidly sat for a while with his elbows on his knees and he simply breathed as his body stabilized itself His Uncommon Metabolism did its job with enthusiasm His shattered arm knitted back together His popped organs steadily regenerated and reassimilated into his bodily systems His heart healing blood through his person while his bone marrow rapidly produced additional liters to make up what he had left within the Path

And when his body had reached a completely functional state Randidly leaned back and cracked his neck He looked up at the grinding clash of Nether and Aether above and considered what he had witnessed within the Path

His first impression was just that there was too much information he might not has received Stats but what he witnessed was extremely valuable So Randidly broadly divided the insights and took them one at a time First and perhaps most importantly he thought about the source of that terrible voice

Remembering those tumbling limbs within the abyss Randidly couldnÆt help but suppress a shiver It hadnÆt hit him at the time but the ambient significance it produced would have crushed him like a tin can had he not obtained a Nether Core Some powerful being capable of wielding both Aether and Nether and therefore intimately connected to the Shallah had asked Randidly to come locate it His initial thoughts were that the pieces Randidly had witnessed revealed the culprit he may very well have just been contacted by Pine the unstable son of Yystrix and Elhume

Yet at the same time Randidly couldnÆt forget the chilling emptiness that he witnessed within the floating eye of Pine he had seen Although he had observed what was likely PineÆs body he truly hoped that the force that had contacted him was not that being If that hollow and emotionless gaze had locked onto him

But it made the most sense because Randidly had gone into the shaft in the past

Randidly shook his head helplessly No use worrying about it now Plus this is a longer term issue To reach the base of the shaft I would first need to understand the defenses that the Nexus has left there to protect its secret

Hah IÆll need to talk to Edraine about this Could it be that this being is also aware of that investigation Damnit there are too many uncertainties about this

Despite the fact that the glimpse of the ShallahÆ was tainted by a remarkably bitter prospect of sneaking down into the shaft Randidly was still quite interested in the other large chunk of information he had captured inside the Path Completion vision the progression of the two energies

Randidly had already condensed his own drops of liquid Aether and Nether bubbles but he also learned a lot from witnessing their evolution to their third stages Both the crystalized Aether and the grey chrysanthemum were incredibly sophisticated It wasnÆt just a matter of raw power but both required the proper preparations and precision in order to create

It could be said that where the second stage required an accumulation of power the third stage was all about the manipulation

Yet as he remembered his visions Randidly began to frown More than the way the energy can be used what might be most unfortunate is the way that Path portrayed the uses of the energies

To the front Aether and Nether were steadily condensed into their concentrated forms At the end of that Path the two concentrated forms of energy were brought together Unfortunately he wasn’t able to witness that moment but from what Randidly could sense the result had been extremely positive

Even now he felt aggrieved to have been spun around right as he was about to step forward

Yet behind Randidly lay an entirely different Path one that seemed to lead to the isolation and destruction sitting at the base of the shaft below the Nexus And Randidly seemed to be following in those footsteps by focusing his attention on creating a Nether Core and his Aether physicalizations

Randidly looked down at his hand and slowly made a fist By this point he had mostly recovered from the physical damage so he didnÆt hesitate to flex to the limit of his abilities His right arm became spectral as his image physicalizations settled over his limbs But are the interactions between the two energies truly that predictable Was Velio Dunn being honest when he said this method was a mistake

For a second he frowned down at his hand that was wrapped in the power of his images Golden veins pulsed with light beneath the translucent skin But as the seconds ticked past RandidlyÆs expression gradually smoothed out the wrinkles around his mouth vanished He could look down at his hand and recapture just a bit of that smug satisfaction that he experienced earlier

I donÆt believe that there are only two answers to how Aether and Nether can be used Randidly said to the air Then he rolled his shoulders And at the very least IÆm on a very different Path While the visions that I saw along the Path had Aether and Nether develop separately arenÆt my energies woven together

Randidly raised his hand to the sky Even as the struggle between Commandant Wick and the Nether Herald continued to rage his enthusiasm didnÆt ebb With these hands I can seize it IÆll create something entirely new IÆll continue to step further beyond the bounds of the Nexus And then someday when I have gained the perspective I need

IÆll tear this all down Randidly finished softly

RUMMBllee

Randidly froze for a split second wondering if his declaration had some magical effect But he could only chuckle awkwardly when reality asserted itself the noise was obviously the rumbling clash between the two forces in the sky Shaking his head Randidly pushed himself back up to his feet and looked again at his Paths

After chewing on his lip for a while Randidly decided to rush through a few more Paths He started with a Path that he had for quite a while The Bell of Doom Tolls

Congratulations You have completed the Bell of Doom Tolls Path On your wanderings through the wilderness your steps have echoed with the lingering note of death As you have moved forward you have chosen not to stamp out the gradual reverberations that have gathered around you Since you have stayed your hand their particular music grows Soon all will know of your coming simply by the horrific tremors of your steps

Congratulation Intelligence and Focus +20 You have gained the Skill Deadly Reverberations

Resonance detected Recalculating

Your Skills Deadly Reverberations and Burning Footsteps have combined to form Aura of Wildfire Skill Level will be maintained

Randidly had an almost indulgent smile on his face as he looked at the Path completion notification Ha such a minor Stat boost plus Burning Footsteps is a Skill I havenÆt even thought about in a long time I donÆt mind the Aura of Wildfire but ultimately the only reason to grab weaker Skills without an overarching image is to farm PP But at this point I think itÆs clear that PP isnÆt going to be a problem for me either in the short or long term

Perhaps in the middle stretch of time it would be useful but also

RandidlyÆs eyes began to glitter as an idea occurred to him He crossed his arms and tapped a finger against his metal elbow One of the reasons he focused on his newer Paths was because he always assumed that the newer and due to circumstances longer Paths would provide more relevant Skills Which had indeed proved true

But Skills were tiny image blueprints Randidly had developed his images recently by simply relying on his own mind and attention to refine them but purposefully introducing impurities into a material was a strategy that he used quite commonly while he was forging Generally the impurities gripped most tightly onto other impurities allowing the final product to be much more robust

As he hummed to himself Randidly slipped into his Soulspace and spoke to the Grim Chimera Of all the images you are the only one that hasnÆt risen all the way to Pinnacle Do you think you make some progress toward that by devouring a few Skills

When the Grim Chimera responded to Randidly with a predatorÆs smile he only chuckled Then Randidly looked back through his Path list his gaze changed No longer was he solely focusing on which Paths would lead him to obtain more Stats but now he saw in each Path the potential to obtain a valuable fertilizer And with his PP still sitting at over 25k he could certainly obtain quite a few tons of the stuff

Just as Randidly was about to start dumping PP into his Paths however a change in the sky gave him pause There was no noticeable change but the quality of the Nether in the air changed

Randidly steadily began to frown as he looked upward The Aether structure around the planet was beginning to shudder and bend The small motes of Nether that formed and dissipated in only a few seconds seemed to be becoming increasingly numerous Randidly’s expression shifted toward concern and vague surprise Commandant Wick is losing

Chapter 1614

RUMMBllee

Randidly watched the clashing forces in the sky for several long seconds There were no impacts in this all out war there was only a steadily growing energy imbalance There was only momentum The rigid shape of the Aether defense began to warp further and further The effects were still minor at this point but RandidlyÆs Grim Intuition could predict that soon the effect would spiral out of control at this rate they really might lose the Fifth Cohort to the Nether

That prospect finally triggered a strange suspicion that had subconsciously itched at the back of his neck since he had arrived Lady IellayaÆs reports of the behavior in the Military Headquarters was one thing but witnessing the clash in the sky Blue black energy flared to life around RandidlyÆs eyes With it he could get the slightest glimpse of the future waiting around the corner The Nexus still doesnÆt understand the sort of foe they are facing here They donÆt realize the threat the Nether King poses

Congratulations Your Skill Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 371

Congratulations Your Skill Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold has grown to Level 372

With his significant capability to observe and understand Aether and Nether Randidly could just barely make out the particulars of this showdown things were going to get much worse before they got better He pursed his lips as he considered the moves that he should make For several seconds he hesitated between the choice to intervene or not but then his eyes flared a bright emerald as he focused on Commandant WickÆs image in the sky

I could assist you perhaps help you stabilize the situation on the Fifth Cohort but would you reward me for that Or would you only view my action of coming here and not serving you as an aide as petty and punish me for it

No when it comes down to it I donÆt give a shit about the Nexus ItÆs the lives on these planets that I want to protect And the Nexus has already condemned them no matter what happens Today Wick you are on your own Besides who knows if showing myself now would make that strange Nether Being chase me once more

ItÆs not the Nether King that pursued me last time but my shade didnÆt observe it well enough to get any of its characteristics perhaps it was a Nether Prince

Still letting the Commandant struggle on his own didnÆt mean Randidly would allow things to go easily for the Nether forces

Even if he didnÆt move directly Randidly could sense that ripping up a few more Nether Pinions would delay the Nether KingÆs victory over Commandant Wick Which in turn would give the military more time to reposition its forces preventing a mass loss of life when the Commandant’s battle collapsed

So Randidly sent out messages to his forces The patrolling squads led by the duo of Kallum Xeruth and Benjamin Rex would bring all the Lancers to rendezvous with the forces of Commander Shilling With all the squads gathered together and the other Tier III Lancers the group would try and take down two more Nether Pinions over the course of the next few hours

RandidlyÆs eyes pierced through the intervening distance and witnessed the expressions of helpless exhaustion on the faces of Vizzeret Jieu and Charlotte when they received those orders Very quickly that expression shifted to resignation He could practically read their inner thoughts I thought I would be done with the Head Drill Sergeants insane demands once I deployed but he still haunts us Æ

Randidly couldnÆt help but crack a smile

In the final confrontation against the Nether Herald Commander Shilling and the Lancers had been the meat shields but it was the there who inherited bits of RandidlyÆs images that needed to strike the final blow Even DiOrtho VantÆs powerful image couldnÆt rival the peak combined strike of all three of them And his chosen recruits had managed to mix their three images together in a powerful force barely Yet due to their efforts their Willpower was currently squeezed dry

But those resigned expressions quickly shifted to determined professionalism They had their orders they would do their utmost to accomplish them Randidly felt a tingle of pride in his chest Then he sent another message

Have you recovered enough to talk

If Raymund Ballast had taken too long to respond Randidly would have moved directly to a rapid conquest of his accumulated Paths But it appeared the Vulpine had been waiting for Randidly to reach out and sent a message back almost immediately My mental state is stable We should speak

Randidly nodded lightly as he used the PhilosopherÆs Key to open a portal If Raymund was back in fighting shape the Vulpis Squad would have a much easier time defeating the two Nether Pinions In addition the squad leaderÆs visible movements would help cover up RandidlyÆs presence here

The Vulpine stepped out of the portal with his chin high in the air and with his spirit burning visibly through his eyes Randidly mentally adjusted his expectations it seemed that after the near death experience something had changed for the Foxman And the shift was a positive one Randidly prodded him to give a report on what had happened to him and Raymund succinctly summarized the events of earlier today and then relayed what his brother Techetadore had said

There were a few seconds of silence after RaymundÆs explanation finished while both were alone with their thoughts After barring his teeth from reliving the memory Raymund continued to speak There are several irregularities in the circumstances of our meeting Based on the capability he demonstrated my brother clearly acted with the malicious intent to lure me outside of the military compound for purpose of killing me In addition his overwhelming prowess is almost nonsensical His aura was comparable with yours Head Drill Sergeant

Yet that is not the only suspicious point Previously my physical abilities were one of the few areas where I could rival my brother Yet now he crushed me in that regard after I had spent five fruitful years of training with Lady Vualla and Overseer Helen When combined with his behavior and manner of speech I suspect foul play Something has clearly happened to my brother

Randidly tapped his cheek with his fingers while nodding slowly to the foxmanÆs conclusions Raymund hadnÆt needed his help at all finding his brother so now RandidlyÆs promise to help would transfer to helping him understand his brotherÆs state And certainly such a sudden increase in power was a dangerous sign Perhaps Techetadore had accepted a deal similar to what Commandant Wick had offered Randidly

Yet that wasnÆt the most important discovery While Raymund had been passionately speaking RandidlyÆs mind had been fixated on a different detail

So youÆre here on the Fifth Cohort to play too Shal And you are as cold blooded as ever Randidly grimaced as several emotions warred within his chest Obviously he was furious that Shal had allowed his subordinate to lay fatally wounded on the ground without providing assistance and that he didnÆt even punish his subordinate Techetadore for inflicting the wound but Randidly also knew Shal If his mission required his group to remain low profile for the greater good Shal wouldnÆt blink at eliminating a witness

Violence had been all too common on Tellus Even if the image he had used to overcome the Second Calamity had been one regarding a dream of a hero the foundations of the man Shal were soaked in blood

Plus you have my next Fatepiece cheh there are too many moving pieces right now Randidly raised his eyes and looked at the conflict in the sky The crackling black lightning had grown to be a near permanent presence as the Aether defense was forced into a more passive state It was like a massive obsidian jellyfish its tentacles constantly flicking and booming as it expanded its reach

Finally Randidly shook his head NowÆs not the time to go searching for you and to see how we stack up against one another Or a good time to confront RaymundÆs brother But itÆs still good to know you are alive

Then Randidly turned back to Raymund He fished in his interspatial ring and brought out RaymundÆs identification card Join back up with the Vulpis Squad Help them eliminate the Nether Pinions around our area Achieving outstanding results here will open doors for you in the future As long as we keep rising within the Nexus I believe we can track down the information you want regarding your brother

Once Raymund bowed and left Randidly turned back to his Paths Rubbing his chin he couldnÆt stop a smile from stretching across his face as he considered his options I wonder if this is what it feels like to be rich Why choose canÆt I just have it all Æ

Heh actually IÆm probably quite rich on Expira arenÆt I Just never really thought about it I just asked for things and Tatiana usually gave them to me

After forcing down another pang of guilt over how much he took TatianaÆs efforts for granted Randidly began completing Paths

Congratulations You have completed the Friend to Humanity Path As you have moved through the wilds you have relied on the support of your race in order to survive in the dangerous and cruel environments It is one thing to brave the dangers with only your body but is quite another to be part of a tribe that can watch your back With numbers walks safety

Congratulation Resistance and Reaction +20 Congratulations You have gained the Skill Tribe Reliance (Un) Lvl 1

Tribe Reliance (Un) When acting toward a common goal with someone of the same race or organization you will receive a slight boost to all stats The individual or individuals who help the user trigger the Skill will receive a smaller percentage of the same bonus Magnitude of bonus increases with Skill Level Percentage amount given to allies slightly increases with Skill Level

Randidly shook his head slightly Hum this might have helped me a bit if I had taken the Path in the past But now better to let it serve as fertilizer

And so he continued to rip through Paths

Congratulations You have completed the Order Ducis Font of Guidance Path Sometimes it is possible to establish order in the vast Wilderness Through your own effort you might provide safety to others by the auspices of your organization To achieve such an effect is a testament to your personal power and growth Your reach can spread and provide a sense of security to those who assist your exploration

Congratulations Wisdom +50 You have gained the Skill Reliable Aura Lvl 1

Congratulations You have completed HumanityÆs Torch Path The light you can bring to others is spreading Although it is but a small glimmer in the vast darkness that glimmer has incredible meaning to those who see it To them after so long wandering in the darkness that light is the brightest thing that they have ever seen

Congratulations Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae and Focus +40 You have gained the Skill Compelling Order (Humanity) Lvl 1

Chapter 1615

Hmm What the hell is that LayÆmel practically yelped with widening eyes as he looked toward the sky As seconds ticked past and the phenomenon continued to develop he was becoming increasingly alarmed The black lightning in the sky above the planet was weaving itself together into a massive kraken of lightning ItÆs long appendages stretched out through the atmosphere It was clear that this monstrosityÆs intentions were not pure

The group had been moving quickly across the plains as they headed toward their target At LayÆmelÆs words they all paused and looked upward

Just looking at the ambient power that was accumulating reminded LayÆmel that they were bigger risks to this mission than just Randidly Ghosthound A war was being fought right above their heads And when the big players began to clash someone of his caliber would be slaughtered just from witnessing such an event

Evick SwaccÆs pig like eyes narrowed as he looked at the sky He took several deep puffs on the cigar in his mouth Then he spewed out a gout of smog like an overheated train engine Hmm if the situation continues to progress like this space will be locked down as the Aether defenses are weakened But it should be a good thing for us harder for this Head Drill Sergeant to run away heh

LayÆmel looked at Evick with wide eyes ItÆs itÆs a good thing if the Nether King wins

Evick snorted and some of his thugs added a few ass licking chuckles to the background soundtrack LayÆmel this little Nether bitch isnÆt a real threat Commandant Wick isnÆt losing if I had to bet He was letting the defenses fall exactly so space destabilizes It will make it harder for the other parties to catch the Nether King and give Military High Command to try and steal the prize

Anyways get your shit together Evick said impatiently as he started loping forward once more The rest of the crew quickly got back in formation and continued forward And after casting one more look upward LayÆmel joined them

He had a bad feeling but he was used to that That fear was just a part of his existence

Congratulations You have completed the Hands of the Artisan Path Your feet might be the vehicle you have ridden to reach your current heights but the potent tools you have fashioned with your hands play just as important role As you have become more adroit with your production the capability you possess has exploded Weapons might be the bluntest and most straightforward of your creations but they certainly aren’t the only implements at your disposal

Congratulations Focus +40 You have gained the Skill Gleaming Constructs (Un) Lvl 1

Gleaming Constructs (Un) Your abilities to create and forge are truly beyond a typical craftsman Yet through practice this ability has been honed to new heights When you are creating inventions that are not weapons the result will be slightly superior In addition your creations will naturally possess a pleasing aesthetic Effect on the result will slightly increase with Skill Level Aesthetics will increase with Skill Level

Congratulations You have completed the Mysteries of the Fiery Emerald Waltz Path Throughout your journey fire has been a constant companion When you move it illuminates the shadows that run alongside your Path When the chilling grasp of night seizes the Wilderness around you it gives you a small alcove of safety When you require sustenance you use it to cook your food For an individual such as you who has ranged far beyond the limits of secure locations your relationship with fire has become increasingly intimate

At this point the flames you wield have been indelibly marked by your particular touch They burn as emerald lively flames Their ability to illuminate demonstrates their ability to guide while the capability of your flames to annihilate flesh fills your enemies with fear You are able to weave joy and calamity together in a gleaming and immaculate form your accomplishments have earned you a powerful Skill

Congratulations Willpower Resistance and Intelligence +50 Congratulations You have gained the Skill Tempo of the Emerald Waltz Lvl 1

Tempo of the Emerald Waltz You have the ability to manipulate a particular variety of emerald flames Deploy the flames around you in two ways both as a larger avatar around your body and as a wide spread attack While in the avatar form the Skill can be incorporated into other attacks Size of the avatar and attack increases with Skill Level Ability to incorporate the Emerald Waltz increases with Skill Level Damage greatly increases with Skill Level (Please note it is possible to transform Tempo of the Emerald Waltz into a Skillset Please see your Village Spirit for details)

Congratulations You have completed the Flame that Burns Memories Path As you have continued to develop your flames you have brushed up against the ability for flames to interact with emotions

Emotions can connect to all of the elements But for humanity flames most closely mirror the intensity and capriciousness of their own soul As your understanding of both flames and emotions has deepened you have recognized the way that heat can warp everything as long as the temperature is sufficient Even memories arenÆt immune to that excitementÆ

Congratulations Mana +1000 Congratulations You have gained the Skill Memory Erasure

Memory Erasure Using the extreme heat from your flames it is possible for the user to remove memories from that target Depending on Control and Focus the scope of the ability changes The process is easier if the target is incapacitated The Skill costs a significant amount of Mana Please be warned there is a significant chance of negative side effects within the recipient Specificity slightly increases with Skill Level Mana cost decreases with Skill Level Chance of collateral damage slightly decreases with Skill Level

Congratulations You have completed the Pursuit of Alchemy Path To seek the ability to create something from nothing that is the ultimate pursuit of Alchemy And although the small methods and processes of this ancient pseudoscience cannot begin to rival the long and hard journey to the Pinnacle is not this method done in imitation of that same most impossible transgression against nature

Perhaps all those who seek power in the Nexus can be considered alchemistsÆ To step on the Pinnacle is ultimately an act of creationÆ

Congratulation You +200 Free Stats You have gained the Skill

Skill has been split and incorporated into Architecture of the Primordial Ways and Left Hand of the Nether Oracle Skill Levels will be maintained

Congratulations You have completed the Primordial Might Path Truly you are a specimen that has not been seen in the Nexus since ancient times Every barrier laid before you by the Nexus has now been shattered by your passage rather than being weakened through the experience you seem only to be emboldened In your figure dwells the shadow of figures that are now long extinct But during the formative years of the Nexus they truly stood with significant stature

Congratulation Your Stat Error Recalculating

Primordial Might and Nether Brawn have been integrated Your Stat has evolved into Primordial Nether Juju +100 Primordial Nether Juju Recalculating Skill Congratulations You have obtained the Skill Ancient Nether Fetish Lvl 1

Ancient Nether Fetish Your accomplishments in regards to your own body have given you some insight into the essence of an individual By absorbing some of your opponentÆs significance condense a Fetish of an opponent By damaging fetish you will deal a percentage of that damage to the original target Effect of Fetish does not decrease across distance Damage percentage with Skill Level Ease of creation increases with Skill Level Can have one Fetish per 100 Skill Level

Congratulations You have completed the Image Cooperation I Path As you proceed youÆve developed several independent images that aid you However such coexistence can quickly become complicated It is a Path that few have chosen but if a well trodden Path led to the Pinnacle many would have made it to that holy location As you take your first steps forward you can already feel the change come over you your ability to mix images will only improve as you proceed

Congratulations Willpower +25 You have gained the Skill Image Adjustment Lvl 1

Image Adjustment As you try and mix your images you have discovered a method to blur the edges of your images so they more easily assimilate with one another The process might take a bit of the bite out of your base images but the combined power you now wield will be well worth it Ease of combination increases with Skill Level Multiplicative power of the final image barely increases with Skill Level

Congratulations You have completed the Image Cooperation II Path You can be considered to have achieved notable results in the art of combining images With the force of your will and your inherent daring you blaze a Path forward into the abandoned and secret places of this wilderness Yet you can sense that this is only the beginning your Path may be smooth now but you see dark clouds on the horizon And the field in front of you is wide and unpredictable

Congratulations Willpower and Focus +40 Congratulations Your Skill Image Adjustment has evolved into Accomplished Image Adjustment Some of the drawbacks of the original Image Adjustment have been slightly mitigated

Congratulations You have completed the Image Cooperation III Path As you continue forward you have encountered setbacks in your search for the perfect method to blend your different images You walk forward through the Wilderness and encounter dead ends and roadblocks more often that you glimpse the light of hope Such is the difficulty laid before you that even you for all your determination and drive must consider whether to compromise

The problem in front of you has no easy solution

Congratulations Willpower Control and Focus +20

Congratulations You have completed the Image Cooperation IV Path Although your recent progress has been slow you have never wavered in your determination The reward might be sparse as you comb through the vast Wilderness for insights yet you possess the ability to see beyond short sighted epiphaniesÆ Pursuing this difficult Path is worth it of that you are sure It is just a matter of how far afield you need to travel before you arrive at your destination

Congratulations Willpower Control and Focus +20 Your Skill Accomplished Image Adjustment has evolved into Determined Image Integration Some negative effects have been mitigated

Congratulations You have completed the Image Cooperation V Path You have traveled far and wide to reach this small summit but it is worth it As you stand upon this peak you look down and see the possibilities stretching endlessly before you There is always more Wilderness in front of you but now you have obtained a capability that can never be taken from you

This is not the end but a new beginning

Congratulations Willpower +100 Your Skill Determinated Image Integration has evolved into Image Amalgamation Through repeated effort it is now possible to completely fuse several images Time requirement will decrease with Skill Level

Randidly chuckled dryly as he looked at the final notification of the Image Cooperation Path Then he glanced upward once more to where the giant jellyfish of black lightning was spread out and seeping wider and wider to obscure the sky But he was truly looking up past the conflict in the sky at the careful Aether constructs made by the Nexus which were forced into visibility as the strain on them increased

You your precious System RandidlyÆs eyes flashed with cruel determination Do you really think I need your help for managing my images This path is mine

Chapter 1616

Randidly barred his teeth at the visible portion of the meddlesome Nexus above him but then forced himself to relax The Grim Chimera rubbed its hands in anticipation as he refocused himself

Ripping through these Paths had cost a lot of PP but Randidly still had over thirteen thousand remaining After hesitating for a bit Randidly decided to gather a few more bags of spare fertilizer to make sure the Grim Chimera could grow well

Congratulations You have completed the Body Refinement I Path Your body is the basis of your entire strength with it you have the capability to directly endure the harsh environment that surrounds you You limbs can channel the power of your images even more efficiently You have chosen this simplistic Path choosing to spend your time and energy betting on yourself

Congratulations Uncommon Metabolism +10

Congratulations You have completed the Body Refinement II Path You are an individual who has habitually taken the time out of your day to sit and refine your body The results speak for themselves improvements are accumulating every day And although you must walk eerie Paths to reach the particular environments where your body can be tempered you do it willingly In the darkness of the Wilderness you continue to find Paths forward Your tenacity is developing into quite a horrifying conviction

Congratulations Endurance +30 Health Regen +200

Congratulations You have completed the Body Refinement III Path The precious resources required to improve your body are becoming increasingly scarce but you havenÆt waived in your zealous pursuit of improvement You roam through the desolate sand dunes claustrophobic forests and the frigid coastline alike seeking to find more methods to improve yourself Now that you have gone beyond the limits of conventional wisdom you must rely on your own experience to find a new truth

Hopefully that truth will be able to carry you to the Pinnacle

Congratulations Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae and Focus +30 Health and Stamina +500 Congratulations You have learned the Skill Body and Mind Symbiosis Lvl 1

Body and Mind Symbiosis The connection between your body and mind has become increasingly strong to the point that they benefit from each other When one is healthy the others run more efficiently As long as your Health is above 50% your mental stats receive a minuscule boost As long as your Mana is above 50% your physical stats receive a minuscule boost As long as your Stamina is above 50% your regenerations receive a small boost Effects increase with Skill Level

Congratulations You have completed the Body Refinement IV Path In front of you is a high and thick wall Many have warned you of its existence but your particular gifts have meant your wall is far out in the Wilderness Yet now here it is As foretold

As power accumulates in your body it is increasingly difficult to improve on that power After attempting a variety of methods you have seen some minor results but the speed of growth is incomparable to the past You sense that what you need now is not accumulation but a genuine transformation Your foundation has reached its limits

Congratulations Primordial Nether Juju and Dreadful Alacrity +40

Congratulations You have completed the Body Refinement V Path You have achieved an amazing accomplishment You have pushed your physical body beyond its base Stats in so many ways you have been able to completely transform your very state of existence Accumulation from normal practice has ceased almost completely but you did not let that stop you Now you are another tier of being entirely

Congratulations All Physical Stats +20 You have gained the Skill Domineering Impunity Lvl 1

Domineering Impunity Your very existence has become so tenacious that you have an inexplicable ability to avoid and recover from lethal circumstances User will drastically reduce one instance of overwhelming damage against them by a vast amount There is a cooldown between uses Damage reduced will increase with Skill Level Cooldown slightly reduces with Skill Level

After finishing the last in the sequence of Body Refinement Randidly released a long held breath His eyes swept sideways to the low hills and rolling plains around the Nether Pinion on which he stood Then he smirked and decided to ignore the flies buzzing nearby and consider the rewards he had gained after going through so many Paths

With the escalating costs of both the Image Cooperation and Body Refinement Paths Randidly had reduced his remaining PP to 7125 Which was still an immense amount but it was an amount he would keep in his pocket for now it would be worth it to keep some PP stored away to rapidly finish almost any Path that he needed

Randidly couldnÆt help but raise his hand and flex his fingers His bones creaked in protest from his vastly improved power and RandidlyÆs smile only widened He began to laugh raising his head and cackling Anyone watching would think he was insane but Randidly didnÆt care Even setting aside all the new Skills and evolved Stats all the PP that Randidly spent had a very concrete impact on RandidlyÆs power he had gained 4318 Stats in the past half hour

Even split across twelve Stats that was an average improvement of 359 per Stat With a shit eating grin on his face Randidly looked at his new raw Stats

Level 63 (19%)

Health(/R per hour) 13595/13595 (9627)

Mana(/R per hour) 12792/12792 (3163)

Stam(/R per min) 9475/9476 (3317)

Uncommon Metabolism (Un) 1335

Endurance 1100

Primordial Nether Juju 1485

Dreadful Alacrity 1670

Grim Intuition 1469

Reaction 1450

Resistance 1234

Willpower 1852

Intelligence 1278

Wisdom 1080

Fidelity of the Ascendent Moirae 2392

Focus 1365

Nether Sphere

Fang of the Primeval Betrayal

Weight 411

Scope 12 609

Influence 4009/

And as for the Skills IÆve gained RandidlyÆs grin became feral as he looked through his expanded Skill list after todayÆs festivities Some of the abilities that he gained by blazing through so many Paths were extremely useful The passive Skills especially could be developed to the point that they would provide quite a bit of benefit to Randidly

But RandidlyÆs eyes were harsh and calculating as he examined his new Skills There is a cost to increasing the potential of the Grim Chimera in this manner if all the Skills I sacrifice to its hunger are mediocre wonÆt there be only a mediocre effect Only if the Skills are powerful will the result be worth taking the time to do this

And as for the first sacrifice heh Nexus did you really think IÆd let you show me how to mix images When you even admit that the Skill dampens the original Skill IÆve already proven I can do this without your poisonous assistance

Within RandidlyÆs Soulspace the familiar form of the Grim Chimera appeared Its two tails flicked back and forth an ethereal tail at the top of his spine and a heavily armored tail at his waist both moving with two very different versions of sinuous grace Black armor stretched downward into a belt and then reinforced the joints in the Grim ChimeraÆs legs While his left arm was covered in dark grey armor the right arm was ethereal The Grim Chimera raised his head and chuckled releasing tremors throughout the Soulspace In the next instant he vanished

As the Grim Chimera reappeared Randidly gritted his teeth and endured the reverberations as his new Skill Image Amalgamation was shattered into pieces The Grim Chimera opened his mouth and began to feed Even if he prepared for it the Skill was still a part of him now destroying it was somewhat painful

But Randidly steeled himself and allowed the Grim Chimera to run wild

Body and Mind Symbiosis Domineering Impunity Ancient Nether Fetish Memory Erasure Tempo of the Emerald Waltz all of the high potential Skills that Randidly had obtained along with his boost of Stats were taken by the Grim Chimera in the brutal feastÆ inside RandidlyÆs Soulspace Each loss planted a resounding ache in RandidlyÆs chest that was steadily growing but he didnÆt make a sound through the entire process

Randidly could feel each image as a fistful of sizzling sparks of potential that the Grim Chimera gulped down Individually the Grim Chimera was more than powerful enough to snuff such sparks out Yet as they steadily gathered inside of it hissing and popping and jumping as they interacted with one another

And when all the new Skills had their Aether structure shattered and incorporated by the Grim Chimera the image began to prowl amongst the unused Skills that lurked in RandidlyÆs Soulspace The pressure in his chest had grown but not beyond acceptable levels Even those Skills that were born of his Class werenÆt safe In the face of the Grim ChimeraÆs hunger nothing was sacred

Iron Skin Counter Spray Holy Sap Reckoning of the Bleak Dawn Farming Acid Resistance Sewing the potential of each of these Skill itself was small Maybe only a single spark in the whole of the Skill most of them were common Skills after all And getting rid of the Skills with Levels required some return of the PP that Randidly earned but it only amounted to a few hundred in all even as he devoured almost twenty Skills

In this manner the bundle of sparks that the Grim Chimera was carrying began to change

Randidly studied the Grim Chimera with narrowed eyes as he continued to endure the recoil from the widespread Skill destruction If it was any of the other images this method wouldnÆt work The Stillborn PhoenixÆs maw is too wide to even notice the potential it consumes Meanwhile YggdrasilÆs energy is too focused on growth it might sabotage itself by allowing strange images to fester within it

But the Grim Chimera the Grim Chimera is the balance between the forces of life and death Its main goal is to survive

So survive And show me that you were worth this investment Tsk some of those new Skills were actually pretty interesting

Randidly could feel it now a ball of strange energy pulsing erratically in the belly of the Grim Chimera With the addition of the common Skills all that shattered and raw potential was nearing a boiling point So RandidlyÆs image quivered and sank to the deepest parts of his psyche so it could digest the image bits it had consumed

In the meantime Randidly refocused on the world around him just as everything seemed to fall to pieces

Ruummbbllee

Faster even than he had anticipated the Aether defenses in the sky snapped Very quickly the surrounding space fractured Just as Randidly was mobilizing his non Grim Chimera images to rise and protect the surrounding space the Aether defenses that were shattered snapped back together in a new formation Shimmering geometric walls appeared around the surrounding space

Randidly pursed his lips as he glanced around Seems like Commandant Wick had a backup plan He allowed the break to happen to relieve some pressure and then separated the shattered space into roomsÆ which will make the Aether protections more difficult to shatter but it also makes movement dicey

Randidly glanced around at the light being refracted through the strange walls Honestly it resembled being suddenly teleported to the inside of a crystal The edges were foggy and slightly opaque but Randidly could sense the thin flows of Aether and Nether intersecting in those walls creating a bridge to another nearby space

But right now Randidly had other concerns Because he could also sense that the way space was folded would severely hamper any sort of observational Aether mechanisms in the area Which meant he could get some exercise without any watchers knowing the new state of his body

Randidly grinned around toward the spot where the flies were currently buzzing Come on out

The first figure Randidly saw was a chubby and broad shouldered man built like a barrel of butter But behind him was the familiar and sour face of LayÆmel Tuuellethe The whole group stunk of the Swacc Family He could see the cruel violence in their eyes

RandidlyÆs smile widened The perfect guinea pigs

Chapter 1617

As LayÆmel crept slowly up in the thick shadows of Evick Swacc and his cronies he couldnÆt tear his eyes away from the confident smile that hung on Randidly GhosthoundÆs face Their plan to ambush him had even benefited from coincidence almost as soon as they had arrived the space had shattered and locked them in a small area alone with the Ghosthound Providence was giving them the opportunity they had hoped for

Yet the whole situation stunk LayÆmel face twisted as he scrutinized the Ghosthound Why the hell is he so confident He possesses capability sure but

Evick Swacc paused and put his hands on his hips as he looked over toward their target Heh even if you know we are here what does it matter Today is the day you die Randidly Ghosthound But since we have some privacy why not have a long and painful talk DonÆt think your transgressions have been forgotten no matter what the officialÆ story is We will flay the skin and muscles from your back until you spill what truly happened to Ileot Swacc

The Ghosthound didnÆt even bother to answer He simply flexed his hand and produced a long and elegant spear whose blade looked like a leaf The Ghosthound leveled the spear at Evick Swacc and smiled

It was an unequivocal challenge

Bahahah This is how it should be ItÆs no fun if I donÆt get to play around a bit first Evick chuckled He produced his own weapon a massive ax with a crimson blade As he leaned the weapon against his shoulder slow and heavy drops rolled off of the stained metal LayÆmel had heard that this token cretin of the Swacc Family soaked his ax in blood when he wasnÆt using it just for this effect

But for all that this cretin was the bluntest instrument that the Swacc Family possessed he was still a true member of the Swacc Family his strength was real The Ghosthound just lowered his stance and waited with his half smile still intact

EvickÆs mouth twitched His opponentÆs silence was starting to annoy him Instead of continuing to speak to Randidly Ghosthound he placed both hands on his massive ax and raised it above his head LayÆmel could practically see the slow machinery of the manÆs mind labeling the Ghosthound of a fool and therefore not deserving of the pearls of wisdom that dripped from his lips

The only language all fools understood was violence

Evick stomped and accelerated forward leaving drops of blood in his wake He arrived in front of the Ghosthound and swung his weapon in a sharp horizontal sweep The Ghosthound smoothly moved the head of his spear to meet the attack

The two weapons smashed into each other and impact shattered the ground beneath their feet Cracks snaked outward and weakened the already sundered Nether Pinion But LayÆmel felt a quiver of fear in his chest in the conflict Evick Swacc was sent stumbling backward off the Nether Pinion but the Ghosthound remained firm The smile on the GhosthoundÆs face widened as he looked down on Evick Heh is this it Well it will have to do

A single step The Ghosthound took a single step forward and it felt to LayÆmel like that barefoot pressed down on his fluttering heart At that moment LayÆmel was completely sure that they were all going to die on this day

Then something very strange happened

The GhosthoundÆs right arm exploded in a mass of gore like his skin was a balloon filled with so much liquid that it could only pop Flaps of skin and torn muscle were flung in every direction His torso and chest were covered and sprayed gore The Ghosthound paused after that one step and looked down at his arm with obvious confusion There was a somewhat awkward silence as Evick Swacc regained his balance and looked up to see the spectacle

At first LayÆmel thought that he had underestimated Evick SwaccÆs attack But Evick looked just as confused as the Ghosthound for a few seconds Then his face twisted into a smug smile of self satisfaction Hoh You surprised me a bit Even if you had to rely on exceeding your bodyÆs limits to do it itÆs impressive you could block my blow But playtime is over come on boys let’s beat this shit stain into the ground

Seven thuggish but lesser versions of Evick Swacc spread out around the still befuddled looking Randidly Ghosthound As one they began to clamber onto the Nether Pinion They produced their various clubs and cudgels and slapped them against the meaty flesh of their palms in order to demonstrate the threat they represented Yet the GhosthoundÆs confusion was impenetrable He was still staring down at his ruptured limb with a frown on his face

The flesh was visibly knitting back together but the bone of his forearm and elbow was still bare LayÆmel could see the Ghosthound experimentally tightening his hand around the shaft of his spear and more of the muscles of his arm tore

EvickÆs snort was the signal of the attack He moved forward lowering his weapon so the metal blade skittered across the Nether material and threw up sparks as he charged forward This time he came prepared his image of a metal masked butcher manifested in the air with its cleaver raised When he reached Randidly he planted his foot and spun around whipping his large crimson ax upward in a diagonal cut

Finally the Ghosthound snapped back around to notice the oncoming threat His spear flashed upward and deflected EvickÆs slash with a resounding clang And somehow it seemed that all the Ghosthound needed to do was glance sharply upward and EvickÆs image turned blurry and harmless

Once more that sense of fear came pounding back to the forefront of LayÆmelÆs mind

And once again it departed in the next instant

One of EvickÆs goons charged forward from the side and whipped his weapon around The Ghosthound noticed and pivoted to deal with the new threat but something happened in the movement Either he truly had pushed his bodyÆs limits or perhaps he was just unlucky with the movement but the speed at which he twisted ripped open the skin of his left thigh Another gushing pop of blood threw gore everywhere and set the Ghosthound stumbling As he forced himself to complete the movement the tears began running higher up the leg underneath his shorts

The Ghosthound planted his other foot and brought his spear up to defend against the attack but when the weapons smashed into each other the calf of his planting foot was shredded as one of his bones seemed to collapse and splinter Wheeling backward he managed to regain his footing But as LayÆmel watched those same tears seemed to be spreading upward past his waist and across his midsection The wounds began to seep blood

Most strangely of all the Ghosthound continued to just look down at his body in confusion completely unresponsive to his steady degradation There still wasnÆt even pain in his eyes It was just a blank curiosity

Like sharks EvickÆs minions inhaled deeply through their noses to catch the scent of blood Then they charged forward and unleashed a flurry of blows toward the Ghosthound to try and secure the honor of incapacitating this foe of the Swacc Family

A muscled individual brought a heavy iron rod down at the Ghosthound in an overhand blow that the Ghosthound noticed at only the last second lost as he was in the color of his own viscera Yet such was the current unstable state of the GhosthoundÆs body that the block whipped upward so fast that it passed through the impact point before the goonÆs attack could make it In the process the GhosthoundÆs back and shoulder erupted in a bloody mist

It looks like his body cannot handle his movements LayÆmel blinked

Due to the GhosthoundÆs miscalculation the heavy iron rod smashed into his shoulder But it appeared the rumors of his physical prowess werenÆt exaggerated he didnÆt even stagger after getting hit by such a heavy blow His skin and muscle continued to shred as the Ghosthound shifted but it was almost like receiving the attack hadnÆt inflicted any damage at all

Bahaha This almost isnÆt even fun A goon with a wide smile across his face cackled as he pounced to right behind the Ghosthound The Ghosthound swept his spear around with enough force that the ground began to rumble but the blow again was almost helplessly prescient It cut the air a short distance in front of the triumphant goon so quickly that LayÆmel realized that the man hadnÆt even noticed

A shallow cut appeared across the bridge of the manÆs nose

The goon smashed his cudgel against the GhosthoundÆs unguarded side and was rewarded with an explosion of blood Those tears spread so that his entire torso began ripping like paper soaked in water The goon steadied his stance and raised his weapon for another strike but another goon was faster

This attack was the most bombastic and exaggerated of the assault on the Ghosthound thus far this man had built up a head of steam then leapt into the air to deliver a dropkick toward their targetÆs back The Ghosthound jerked around and knocked the man backward with his left arm but the manÆs display was rewarded with the largest explosion of blood

Shredded skin and blood splattered across the surface of the Nether Pinion

The goons smiled at each other with a knowing look enjoying how helpless the Ghosthound was under their combined assault The Ghosthound for his part now stood on the shattered Nether Pinion with his shoulders heaving His torso was bare and slick with blood Yet the worst of it was the hanging masses of mangled flesh around the locations where he had been struck

With that strange look on his face the bloody Ghosthound reached over with his metal left arm and began to tear off large chunks of his flesh He ripped from his arm from his stomach from his back his waist then he reached down and began to rip away at his legs Evick Swacc and his henchmen were more than willing to allow him to do so in their minds watching their prey struggle was half the fun

To their eyes this was desperation

Yet the GhosthoundÆs face didnÆt convey even the hint of pain The confusion had slowly receded revealing only a steely determination He didnÆt flinch as he methodically ripped away the torn flesh of his body and tossed it to the ground Yet strangely the Ghosthound didnÆt appear to have lost any of his muscle mass even as he tore himself to shreds

If anything he seemed even more ominous than he had previously And LayÆmel couldnÆt help but notice that although he was slick with the blood from the earlier strikes there were no wounds that he could see As the Ghosthound tore away the broken excess of his flesh what remained beneath was smooth and whole

I canÆt believe we fucking shelled out the money to hire Velio Dunn for you Evick Swacc hissed He advanced slowly as though he was simply going for a stroll with his ax raised That some shit like you could really keh

Evick Swacc swayed Instinctively he dropped his ax and brought both hands to his neck where a spearhead had just flicked up and out so quickly that he hadnÆt noticed that the wound until he realized he couldnÆt bleed Evick staggered looking at the Ghosthound with disbelief on his face The next second his eyes flared with fury and life

The air trembled and the metal masked butcher flared to life its arms raised and its cleaver bloody Even looking upon its back LayÆmel couldnÆt help but tremble The raw power the image possessed was enough to crush him

The Ghosthound simply shrugged the wide smile creeping back across his face Sorry My body hadnÆt caught up to my improvement yet I had to adjust a bit But now that IÆve lost the rust time to get serious

Light began to ebb and run around his left eye A milky and bright event horizon appeared there and within that boundary was a deep and endless blackness The metal masked butcher screamed in fury but all those emotions were sucked away Soon its fury turned to fear as its edges blurred and the visceral colors of its shape began to vanish Before the pull of that darkness nothing could endure

Evick Swacc gestured frantically for help right before his image vanished and he collapsed The goon stood around with blank expressions on their face unable to believe what they had just witnessed

Was Evick Swacc someone who could really be so easily suppressed

The Ghosthound spun his spear and then snapped it to a stop in a horizontal position Then he crouched down so he was closer to the ground and then slowly raised his spear And quite ominously a giant sideways stone pillar rose with the spear

What the One goon gasped just before the Ghosthound thrust his spear forward and that stone pillar accelerated so quickly that one second that goon was a person and the next he was just paste

The other goons finally began to panic but the GhosthoundÆs movements were so quick that it was impossible for them to react His spear swam gracefully in front of him cutting through air and flesh without any perceivable change in difficulty In his wake he left a trail of slumped bodies As the last goon turned to flee the Ghosthound cut from afar and used the brutality of the stroke to bisect the man with air pressure The torso kept falling forward while the legs stumbled and collapsed

The Ghosthound chuckled and turned to the frozen LayÆmel And you what should I do with you

Chapter 1618

Randidly casually investigated the situation in his body while LayÆmel trembled in front of him At moments like this silence was an effective weapon allowing LayÆmel to make up horrible truths about what would happen to him was much more effective than Randidly trying to threaten him directly And it also helped take the edge off of RandidlyÆs implacable wrath toward this constant threat to him and his Squad

From what he understood LayÆmel was constantly plotting against him endangering his recruits in the process In RandidlyÆs mind that was a deep debt to pay

Previously the jump in his Stats particularly the growth of Dreadful Alacrity and Primordial Nether Juju was so abrupt and vast that his physical form had difficulty keeping up His new cells could properly express his power but his old cells simply werenÆt built to the same specifications Which required Randidly to methodically rip off his muscles and allow them to heal back

In his chest Randidly used his blood to rupture his veins and spread through his body Once he possessed the freedom he scraped away at his organs taking a bit of the inferior biological matter with each pass The process was uncomfortable but Randidly manipulated his blood skillfully Soon the entirety of his insides was cleansed and regenerated

And I bet that visual is the reason heÆs petrified Randidly glanced at LayÆmel Then he reached up with his right hand and ripped a hole in his skin right below his diaphragm All the contained blood and old weak biological matter flowed out and splattered on the ground LayÆmel looked like he would be ill

RandidlyÆs skin was steadily growing back across his bare muscles but the former Drill SergeantÆs eyes were wide and blank he was perhaps constantly reliving the vision of his teammates getting slaughtered as he stared at the chunks of flesh spread across the ground Randidly favored him with a wicked smile as he raised his leg and stomped down His foot ruptured and he scraped it against the Nether Pinion to make room for the regenerated flesh

Honestly RandidlyÆs first impulse was to kill LayÆmel and be done with it But in the current situation he could think of another use for the man It was a gamble but being a part of the Swacc Family meant that this individual was rather well informed Right now Randidly dearly wished for concrete details concerning the undercurrents within Military High Command

Snorting Randidly raised his hands and slapped them against his ears His eardrums shattered and blood dribbled down his head and neck As the flesh rapidly healed there wasnÆt much difference in hearing but the delicate mechanisms of his ear were now much more robust Randidly considered trying to scrape away bits of his brain to let his grey matter improve but that seemed a bit reckless

With the increased power in his arms Randidly went for his joints and tendons next ripping out long sinews and tossing them to the side All the while LayÆmel was shaking like a leaf

When his body was satisfactorily healed and remade Randidly produced a cloth from his interspatial ring and began to dry himself Not that he minded but he thought that looking like some sort of bloody zombie would make communicating with his subordinates slightly awkward Then he released a bit of the Stillborn PhoenixÆs image to motivate LayÆmel His left eye shifted into a black hole The ominous sound of the black hole devouring air and emotions in the surrounding space finally seemed to pierce through the fear and reach the former Drill Sergeant

LayÆmel paled further so that his skin was as white as a blank sheet of paper Yet at least he finally realized that Randidly wasnÆt going to speak any further I I You you shouldnÆt k kill me too c c casually

Why not Randidly chuckled The Swacc Family has a grudge with me anyway and messaging is currently restricted by this situation IsnÆt the best option to eliminate all evidence that this encounter happened while I can And you LayÆmel Tuuellethe are a very dangerous piece of evidence

I w wonÆt LayÆmel began to stutter but Randidly silenced him with a look LayÆmelÆs expression grew heavy Both knew that even if LayÆmel didnÆt want to report the issue of this failed ambush he would have no choice As long as he lived the Swacc Family would seek him for information regarding Evick SwaccÆs demise

Seeing that realization finally come over LayÆmelÆs face Randidly smirked Then he spoke slowly For now he could afford to wait on making this decision Well arenÆt we in the same boat Pursued by the Swacc Family for becoming involved in incidents having nothing to do with us If you come with me now and provide some information IÆll let you live

LayÆmel gave Randidly a blank look that said we are definitely not in the same boatÆ but he didnÆt dare verbalize those thoughts Instead his visage was clouded as he considered the implications of what Randidly was saying Some of his fear went away and LayÆmel turned thoughtful

For Randidly it was a calculated gamble Although the Swacc Family wouldnÆt have any proof he doubted that the Swacc Family wouldnÆt be able to find out that he was responsible for the death of Evick Swacc Perhaps Randidly would be able to frame another faction for their deaths but the Swacc Family would likely still start the investigation with him the actual target And besides to frame someone Randidly would need more information Hence his attempt to strong arm LayÆmel

In addition Randidly could control the expectations of the Swacc Family if he kept LayÆmel alive After all the prowess he demonstrated to kill Evick Swacc and his groups was far from his full strength

I this okay What information do you need LayÆmel said uneasily

Randidly simply smiled in response and turned away The questions could wait until later and he wanted to keep LayÆmel off balance He hopped down off the blood and gore spattered Nether Pinion and walked to one of the crystalline wall of the fractured space LayÆmel blinked and hurried after him Did I say something

Quite for now Randidly said sharply His senses flowed outward through the strange Aether barrier following the flows of energy As he examined the surroundings Randidly had to admit that what Commandant Wick had done was rather impressive Whether the Nether King had wanted to contribute or not its powers had been inadvertently incorporated into this strange stasis Nether became the bridges between the isolated spaces As long as those inside the space understood enough about Aether and Nether it was possible to travel between the separated zones

Releasing a breath Randidly closed his eyes and let his senses wander outward

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 245

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 404

Congratulations Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 247

However Randidly quickly frowned as he opened his eyes Even with his significant capabilities in this area the way the energies of the barriers were layered made it extremely difficult to see the way the spaces connected to each other The changes in information through the two alternating energies meant Randidly only had a vague sense of the spaces adjacent to him and further that was completely shrouded

He also had an impression of the direction he needed to travel to reach the core of this maze of fractured space but the journey would undoubtedly be complex And from the way the spaces were clustered so that the deeper he went the more enemies might be present The only saving grace was that if it was this difficult for him others would have an even more difficult time

RandidlyÆs eyes flashed and he glanced over his shoulder at LayÆmel Come here

Even if he couldnÆt find the core area he had found his first destination in the surrounded islands of space Seeing RandidlyÆs serious gaze LayÆmelÆs expression fell Apparently RandidlyÆs voice was rougher than he had intended because the man began to panic I please please donÆt kill me I can tell you about the different factions in the Swacc Family their secret bases

And youÆd probably watch gladly while I go there and clash with the hidden monsters of the Swacc Family Randidly snorted But anyway thatÆs that and this is this Just get the here over here

As Randidly narrowed his eyes he realized that the familiar wiggling lines extended from his outstretched hand toward LayÆmel Seeing that LayÆmel still hesitated Randidly pressed his lips together and focused on the flowing natural lines So Ripple of Amenonuhoko can also be used like this huh

Now that his Control had evolved into Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae Randidly could almost gently caress the leylines that spread out from his touch At his gesture a wind around and spun above them before sweeping down and pressing into LayÆmelÆs back Taken by surprise he could only stumble forward and allow RandidlyÆs metal hand to clamp onto his shoulder

Even while LayÆmel was twitching with fear Randidly turned away from him and pressed his hand up against the edge of the fractured space He connected with those bridging energies A split second later there was a wrenching sensation and they appeared in a new area which was an entirely empty stretch of plains

Randidly didnÆt stay here long reaching once again and teleporting them through to their first destination When they arrived Randidly finally let go of LayÆmel and hopped across the low hills of this area At the top of one of the hills a camp was being erected Randidly smiled with pride to look at his Vulpis Squad working so quickly Yea thatÆs right learn and grow

Randidly didnÆt bother to hide his aura as he approached so the Lancers that were with the group immediately noticed him A few seconds later he felt a light resonance with the three inheritors of his image So by the time that he walked up to the camp the leaders of the groups were waiting for him

They saluted Randidly as he scrutinized them In response he smiled Good it seems you werenÆt too close to Commander Shilling when space destabilized That will make things easier Movement through the shattered space is possible but its best for most of you to remain here Raymund and DiOrtho come with me

The two nodded and walked over to his side After one more long glance to inspect the solidified and strengthened images of his recruits Randidly turned away His gaze went to his Lancers and turned thoughtful The way his Skill had evolved altered his relationship with the Lancers it was for the best that he address that now

Randidly paused and turned around Charlotte Wick strode forward looking at him with an intense gaze At her back was Jieu Ronault and Vizzeret Clamman Looking at them it was easy to anticipate their thoughts

Charlotte opened her mouth to continue speaking but Randidly raised a hand to stop here I can see your intent You want to accompany me as well correct After experiencing the way your three images can work together you understand your capability Which I wonÆt deny is significant But you donÆt understand the threat of what we might encounter where we are heading

Still Randidly hesitated Then he shrugged Well IÆm not omniscient perhaps you have improved more than I expected If you want to come you just have to best Raymund You can even fight three against one And to make sure that your leader doesnÆt throw this opportunity

Randidly gave Raymund a deep look If you lose to them you wonÆt accompany me deeper into this place

RaymundÆs face twisted into a deep frown He understood the implication if Raymund did not overcome these three he would not have the chance to locate his brother

Seeing the understanding in his subordinateÆs eyes Randidly turned away Alright take care of it We donÆt have much time so fight immediately I need to address my Lancers so IÆll be waiting over there Come find me when you have a winner

Chapter 1619

After speaking the Ghosthound turned and walked quickly away in the direction of the LancersÆ camp Jieu Ronault followed their leaderÆs movements with focused eyes Although he was still clearly their Head Drill Sergeant the aura he revealed was completely different than he had possessed in the past

Something had changed

Part of it was that his one image was particularly suppressed but also the Ghosthound now seemed intimately connected with the natural world It had always struck Jieu as strange that he chose not to wear any sort of foot covering but now that choice seemed entirely natural The figure of Randidly Ghosthound lived and breathed nature That almost carnal vibe to his person only added to his strength

Somehow he had embedded himself in the environmental forces of existence As a flame element Jieu was exceedingly curious about such a capability The more he learned about the Ghosthound the more curious he became

But for the moment Jieu stopped examining Randidly Ghosthound and looked at Raymund Ballast who had stepped up in front of them From the determination that radiated off of his tall and robust body it was clear that Raymund took this challenge very seriously Jieu wondered at that fact He wished to join the expedition to prove his worth yet there was something extremely personal about the set of RaymundÆs shoulders

Apparently it wasnÆt just JieuÆs acute senses that picked RaymundÆs reaction up because Charlotte spoke softly to the Foxman You clearly have some personal stake in this But you should also recognize the value of this opportunity for all of us We can seize that chance You might not have witnessed it but our combination attack is overwhelming We can help Randidly

Demonstrate such overwhelming capability For me Now Raymund growled as he adopted a fighting stance His eyes were so intense that it was difficult to meet his gaze for an extended period of time

Charlotte looked at her two companions Jieu shrugged unperturbed Vizzeret barred his teeth radiating a clear intent to prove himself against the VulpineÆs blatant threat As the three seemed to be united in their desires they mobilized their own images and prepared for battle

CharlotteÆs Primal Spirit raised its antlered head and glared at Raymund Vital energy flowed in the air around its body Vizzeret raised his head and howled his Obsidian Wolf condensing behind him From the earlier battles the Obsidian Wolf had become increasingly streamlined to the point that the sharp contours of its body gleamed with murderous intent as it stared over at Raymund

Releasing a breath Jieu reached into the depths of his soul and stoked the azure and black starfire that formed his core Although there wasnÆt an extremely obvious change the flames of his body grew thicker and more vibrant The three images swirled together manifesting in the same space with none of the rejection of normal images The three had improved their ability to cooperate earlier today gaining a powerful advantage on any battlefield Their energies freely twined together and released a palpable pressure

Raymund just waited a baleful light in his eyes He didnÆt manifest any image He would clearly give them the first strike

Vizzeret roared and gladly took that honor His explosive acceleration had him cross the distance between him and Raymund in only a second As he did so he was howling Obsidian Fang

Charlotte moved quickly as a follow up releasing several pulses of life energy that strengthened and empowered Vizzeret and Jieu Their combined pressure thickened A green light clung to both the Obsidian Wolf and around JieuÆs flames For his part Jieu flicked his hand out and threw out several Starfire Bombs that hovered in the air around Raymund The attack wasnÆt very accurate but as long as Raymund was hasty in his escape he would trigger a Starfire Bomb and come to regret it

Yet RaymundÆs movements were unexpected He simply reached forward with one hand and grasped at Vizzeret And as he grasped forward both the hovering figure of the Obsidian Wolf and all of VizzeretÆs momentum vanished Then Raymund turned and seized the air ripping away the waves of invigorating life that CharlotteÆs Primal Force released Finally and still casually he reached up and seized the Starfire Bombs

All of their mobilized images vanished leaving the battlefield in a strange and silent state

However Jieu noticed that there was a change to Raymund Behind him above his three tails of flesh blood and fur there were three new spectral tails One gleamed obsidian one glowed with a soft green light and the final had the hint of flickering starfire These spectral tails flicked back and forth behaving exactly like his normal tails

But those spectral appendages gave Jieu a bad feeling Can he

Raymund sighed and shook his head in the face of his three shocked subordinates Such a lesson with be brutal for you three but it is a necessary reminder And also perhaps you should take my response as a sign of your ability Truly this attack is quite powerful in the right hands

As he said so he raised his arms and the light from his three spectral tails dimmed All that stolen energy began to congregate in his hand He looked at the three of them with a peaceful expression Then he opened his mouth and spoke a phrase that sent chills down their spine because they were the ones that invented that very Skill Jaws of the Primal Starbeast

While Raymund took care of his overzealous subordinates Randidly walked over to meet with the Lancers They quickly formed up into neat rows when he approached but RandidlyÆs ability to read emotions had grown quite a bit from when he had originally created the Riders The rigid rows were an overcompensation for their nerves In addition their most recent evolution meant that they possessed a much higher degree of independence

Beyond even the growth of their mounts and the weapons they wielded the Lancers could now possess very different personalities So as Randidly examined them all he could feel the confusion and seething undercurrents of unrest amongst them

Which was exactly why Randidly had come here he planned to address the change before things could develop out of control

as you are undoubtedly aware our relationship has shifted Randidly began slowly Over a thousand Lancers looked over him uneasily as he spoke Before you were my summons existences that depended on me for life and energy That reliance has waned as you have grown stronger but a thread of energy tied us together With the most recent evolution it is now possible to sever that binding

An imperceptible shiver ran through the Lancers For the first time in their existence these Lancers possessed fear about their own futures They realized abruptly that now that such a binding was isolated Randidly Ghosthound could cast them aside if he wished After living as part of a collective for so long even the most independent amongst the collective felt existential dread when they realized they might someday be alone

To walk along on your Path requires experiencing loneliness but it also fuels growth Randidly reflected rather sadly I need to strike before that fear begins to warp them in unwanted ways

Randidly cleared his throat I want to reassure you that this ability is only held by you I cannot sever the connection between us from my end Only you hold the reins to your future

A wave of relief swept through the assembled Lancers just as the shiver had gone through them But privately Randidly could only shake his head in resignation It seems like none of you understand how much harder it is to have control in situations like this The temptation will always be there in the back of your mind Well you will soon learn

One of the Lancers stepped forward the leader of the Legion of Impenetrable Bulwark who rode armored rhinos He bowed Rest assured my liege that if any Lancer dares defy you we will hunt them down

Thank you for your enthusiasm Randidly said with a soft smile But I am here to tell you to do exactly the opposite Going alone is difficult enough without fearing the repercussions of your former family So donÆt hunt down those that decide to go on their own In fact please support them when you can when it doesnÆt detract from your own mission DonÆt forget that you come from the same source and also donÆt forget that although the severing is permanent I can always use capable helpers You can follow me even as an independent being

The leader of the Legion of the Impenetrable Bulwark looked at Randidly in shock From the expressions on the other Lancers it was clear that they also didnÆt expect this sort of generous attitude from Randidly

Even the Eagle Lancer who stood a little bit off at the head of a group of the 100 or so Lancers with unique growth Paths who Randidly privately believed would be the first of the group to split off seemed bewildered by RandidlyÆs reaction

Randidly just smiled at them all Ah is this the feeling of growing older In terms of time this body has experienced with the shaft itÆs been almost ten years within the System That makes me thirty two Heh IÆve got the Vulpis Squad and now my Lancers to guide

Shaking his head Randidly dismissed those pointless thoughts Instead he looked around once more and got to the point of his visit And the reason I am here today is to ask if any of you would like to go independent IÆm probably going to anger some powerful factions in the recent future Following me will become increasingly dangerous these people will definitely seek revenge Only now by having unilateral control lives will you understand what you stand to lose by your association with me If you want to separate yourself from me you had best do it now

A Lancer would NEVER back down in your time of need my Liege The leader of the Legion of Moist Bounds urged his mount to hop forward with a self righteous expression on his face To do so would be to cast aside all honor

Enough Randidly said quietly Are my words so light that you can hear them and ignore them DonÆt look down on those who go alone Each of you Lancers are now individuals you have your own concerns

The leader of the Legion of Moist Bounds blinked rapidly Perhaps if they had this conversation had occurred in the future the Lancer would have been filled with embarrassment and hidden fury Likely the Lancer would have buried that reaction but it might have festered there But at the moment all these independent emotions were too fresh The Lancer could only look at Randidly with the hopeless regret of a misbehaving puppy all instinct and shame

Randidly walked forward and put his hand on the LancerÆs shoulder A childhood friend of mine once told me something very wise that IÆll share with you now never combine being assured in your own decision with being dismissive of anotherÆs Live your own life to the fullest and respect the decisions of your fellows

Which brings me back to my main point Randidly turned away from the frog riding Lancer and looked across the assembled ranks in front of the Lancers Does anyone wish to become independent

By heading off the issue Randidly hoped both to speed up the shift in the emotional maturity of the Lancers and also keep the peace between them Especially since Randidly wasnÆt sure how dueling for Fangs would work once one became independent creating an amicable relationship between the groups was important

Even if he took steps to prevent it Randidly believed the chances of him being able to prevent any Lancers from cutting ties with him was small As long as there was a Path there was always going to be someone who followed it

The Lancers in front of him shifted uncomfortably and looked at the ground in front of them But they were clearly monitoring their surroundings waiting to see if there was anyone who would dare to abandon their liege Even if Randidly had made his attitude clear he couldnÆt force the Lancers to be friendly toward someone who abandoned their creator with the evolution of the Skill he had lost that capability

Randidly glanced over toward the Eagle Lancer But even that individual had a tense expression on his face and only looked at the ground It seemed it was a bit too early Randidly sighed inwardly and turned away from his Lancers But just as he had refocused someone spoke up behind him

If if itÆs really alright Randidly paused and turned around to see that a Lancer really had stepped forward Then I would like to be independent Liege err sir

Randidly blinked The Lancer in front of him wasnÆt one of the leaders of the various Legions or one of the unique growth paths He was just a normal Lancer from Legion of Marching Cadence whose mounts most closely resembled camels The camel huffed out a breath staring blankly ahead while its Lancer squirmed

But I do have a request The Lancer continued He reached up and scratched his cheek Can I have a job

Chapter 1620

A job Randidly blinked several times as he confirmed that he had heard the LancerÆs request correctly He had just been prepared to offer the Lancer passage to his Alpha Cosmos to start a new life for himself but to provide a job

Once more he examined the Lancer in front of him for any sign of the deviant trait that marked him as the individual who would choose to go alone But although he could sense the nervousness from the rider and the apathy from the mount Randidly could truly not find anything particularly special about this individual

And seeing rather ordinary features Randidly began to laugh Well I opened myself up for this And although this Lancer used to be just a member of the Legion of Marching Cadence this choice will change him A seed masked at the moment will someday bloom

Fine I actually have a job for you Randidly said when he managed to rein in his chuckles He coughed lightly to restore his distinguished visage and pointed across the hill to the valley below There is a rather twitchy man over there that will be accompanying me as we head deeper through these shattered space Your job will be to keep track of him Make sure he stays out of trouble

Yes sir The Lancer said awkwardly Oh also I want to have a name I want it to be Kerwin

Randidly looked at the Lancer in front of him with more and more interest Then your name is Kerwin Nice to meet you As for the rest of you I have another task for the group

Turning back to the group of waiting Lancers in tight rows Randidly spread his arms and closed his eyes The groups’ emotions were complicated and conflicted while watching RandidlyÆs interactions with Kerwin But that didnÆt matter so much because he was going to provide them with an exhaustion diversion

He activated his Lancers of the Baleful Crusade Skill steadily condensing almost five hundred figures in the valley beneath the hill Unlike his previous usages of the Skill these figures were slight and short Their mounts were the size of dogs running around happily

The Lancers were stunned as they watched the energy flow out of Randidly and condense into these juvenile versions of themselves

Congratulations Your Skill Lancers of the Baleful Crusade has grown to Level 326

Congratulations Your Skill Lancers of the Baleful Crusade has grown to Level 331

Randidly released a breath and lowered his arms as the flow of energy waned Then he looked over at the leaders of the Lancers Now that you have changed the way your people develop will also change The youth of your race and their mounts will need to spend some time growing before they obtain their true strength More than anything else it is the responsibility of all those gathered here to raise the next generation There is no greater gift you can give the future Lancers than more choices than you had

As he finished speaking Randidly glanced below Immediately his brow wrinkled Several of the youth Lancers were familiarizing themselves with their new bodies They began to clamber awkwardly up on their mounts which were almost smaller than the teenage looking Lancers Soon the duos were all racing each other shrieking and whooping as they enjoyed the sense of freedom and speed they could find on their mounts

Randidly coughed and turned away Well it should be fine to leave child rearing to the Lancers

He returned to the camp and met Raymund and DiOrtho From the placid look on RaymundÆs face and the three ethereal tails flicking behind him Randidly didnÆt need to ask who had won amongst the Vulpis Squad Instead while Kerwin collected LayÆmel and dragged him over Randidly tilted his head and asked How much more can you use those images

Raymund lifted his chin and sniffed the air His fox ears flicked as he considered Hmm The impressions I was able to take have already grown pale Perpetuating the images is not my forte Perhaps twice more I may use them but it must be within the next three hours

Nodding Randidly also produced his PhilosopherÆs Key He sent a message and then opened a portal to the Alpha Cosmos To his surprise several seconds passed without anything happening He frowned slightly Time ticked past and Kerwin brought LayÆmel over Yet the figure they waited for still hadnÆt appeared

Finally after about five minutes Helen stomped out of the portal To RandidlyÆs surprise her hair that was usually so immaculately braided cascaded freely down her back Randidly tilted his head to the side Are you alright And is your hair wet

I was taking a fucking shower Helen grumbled as she readjusted her leather armor and tied it more tightly around her torso Hopping lightly on one foot she readjusted her belt and then tightened it Next Helen reached up and dragged her fingers quickly through her hair The long damp strands clung together and gleamed like dripping molasses when it caught the light

Her hands blurred as she began to twist her hair and twine it together into her familiar braid She threw a glare at Randidly as the thick strands wound tightly together squeezing the moisture out and dripping onto her shoulders What am I not even allowed to behave like a person Do I not possess rights Am I supposed to just be sitting around waiting for your call And YOU

Helen rounded on DiOrtho and jabbed a finger at him You are a fucking married man Where the hell are your eyes wandering

After blushing furiously DiOrtho was suddenly very interested in his own clasped hands Which left the disgruntled Helen with only Randidly to serve as a whetstone for her ire

In the face of HelenÆs glower Randidly could only wince and raise his hands in an admission of culpability considering the delay was only a few minutes he couldnÆt be too unreasonable Helen finished her braid and tossed it over her shoulder Then she pressed her hand against the back of her neck then frowned balefully when her fingers came away wet

Finally she snorted and wiped the remaining dampness on her leather armor Okay okay IÆm not mad just disappointed I had a massage scheduled for a half hour from now but looking at you all Helen glanced around Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the walls of the isolated space seems like I wonÆt make it back in time for my appointment

There will be plenty of fighting however Randidly said with a small smile Against strong opponents

Bah why do you think IÆve followed you for so long Helen asked in exasperation Then she chuckled seemingly in spite of herself Where you go there will always be fighting Okay so what’s the situation

Randidly glanced over at the hunched figure of LayÆmel Well YouÆre up Why are so many forces gathering Got any insight Then he looked at Helen and revealed a crooked smile This is LayÆmel He might end up being a liability for us so if he annoys you feel free to kill him

Helen understanding the part she had to play just from a second of eye contact with Randidly looked over at LayÆmel with renewed interest She was a hungry cat eyeing a sardine LayÆmel wrapped both arms around himself and shivered I well I donÆt know exactly but from what I understand everyone has come to obtain the body of the Nether King For those who have spent hundreds of years refining their image supposedly the body is a critical catalyst for reaching the Pinnacle

Randidly narrowed his eyes So another team from the Swacc Family will likely be present Do you know their abilities

Ah the Swacc Family wouldnÆt have sent anyone Except us because we had ahem our goals were unique At least the Family wouldnÆt send anyone directly LayÆmel shook his head When he saw Randidly looking over at him with a heavy gaze he raised his hands and shook them frantically Really IÆm telling the truth The Swacc Family doesnÆt need to fight over the Nether King Just like Military High Command really doesnÆt need to get involved with these fanatics Why do you think they are just letting all the independents flood in

But why donÆt they need to fight over it Randidly asked with a frown

LayÆmel glanced around And seeing everyone looking at him with curiosity he coughed into his hand and raised his chin a fraction Some of his fear seemed to ebb this man was the sort that enjoyed showing off his knowledge Ahem Well both Military High Command and the NLC and their allies including the Swacc Family donÆt need to catch their own Nether Kings they still have some captured corpses from the original Nether Wars The older specimens are said to be less efficient but they donÆt possess the same desperation to capture a Nether King And in any case they wouldnÆt want to utilize the body of the Nether King Meanwhile the independent factions

Randidly opened his mouth to ask why people were so interested in the Nether King but he paused before he could speak In his mind the images he had seen when he had completed the Glimpse of the Shallah Path surfaced The condensed crystal Aether and the grey chrysanthemum of Nether rushed toward each other to produce something of great value and incredible power Could that process be what these independent groups were seeking Was that truly a method of reaching the Pinnacle

But what did that mean for the relationship between the Pinnacle and the Shallah From what Randidly had learned from Yystrix the Shallah were the original race of the universe Could reaching the PinnacleÆ be some sort of atavistic accomplishment

Meanwhile LayÆmel continued to speak his tone wandering steadily toward condescending Well this information isnÆt that widely known in the Nexus And for someone like ahem for a prestigious Head Drill Sergeant like you who is heavily involved in military affairs you might not have had much contact with the largest and most mysterious group in the Nexus the Pinnacle Seekers Not to say that those in the two orthodox factions donÆt also wish to reach the Pinnacle but they give a great deal of deference toward the whims of Elhume which are strongly disapproving of anyone else approaching the Pinnacle

After all as the first individual to reach the Pinnacle Elhume well I wouldnÆt dare say Elhume feels threatened by others trying to replicate his accomplishment but he certainly has done his best to prevent anyone from repeating his achievement Meanwhile the Pinnacle Seekers will stop at nothing to locate even tiny advantages that allow themselves to improve Compared to the NLC and Military High Command there are actually quite a few more powerful and reclusive individuals in the Pinnacle Seekers The erratic and the ambitious would never deign to officially serve the Nexus These people act in the shadows unwilling to draw the attention of Elhume Heh although their actions might be cowardly they have no choice Ah but obtaining the body of the Nether King such an accomplishment might give those deeply hidden individuals the ability to take that last step and approach the Pinnacle So they will certainly not miss this chance

Will Elhume actually move for such a reason Will he step in and take the Nether King Randidly pressed his lips together No matter how much distance he had covered to bridge the gap between himself and Elhume he was very aware that his current achievements were only the beginning Stats could boost his ability but that casual damage of the glance that had shattered his Class was just the smallest drop of ElhumeÆs capability

But from what he had learned from Edraine ElhumeÆs actions were both erratic and rare It seemed the powerful husband of Yystrix had his own concerns

LayÆmel shook his head a confident smile on his face The Nether King wonÆt move Elhume It is just an ingredient only the act of ascending to the Pinnacle will earn his attention There are certain phenomena that are extremely difficult to hide when an individual breaks through to the Pinnacle When they have manifested in the past aside from the creation of Alymian by the mysterious second individual to reach the Pinnacle Elhume has arrived to interrupt the process Hehe you might be happy to hear that you actually have encountered someone who has tried to reach the Pinnacle and been blocked by Elhume Velio Dunn If not for having his image completely annihilated in that conflict do you really think someone as powerful as Velio Dunn would be a lowly mercenary

For now Randidly ignored LayÆmelÆs playful tone as he mocked his lack of knowledge Instead his mind returned to Velio Dunn In their first clash Velio had simply used a projection of him striking to annihilate all of RandidlyÆs resistance In their second clash Velio and his rune sword had nearly killed Randidly despite the interference of Edraine

Both those times Velio hadnÆt unleashed his full might And yet Velio was an individual who had his image completely annihilated

Well based on the timeline such a conflict would have happened thousands of years ago Randidly pressed his lips together So in the intervening years itÆs very possible for Velio to develop a new image But still

Randidly released a breath and pressed his eyes closed The information was useful but for now it was better to focus on the situation at hand So as we proceed itÆs very likely we will encounter the forces of these Pinnacle Seekers And am I right in assuming they wonÆt bother to give us deference just from my position as a Head Drill Sergeant

Heh if you dare boast too loudly of that identity they might even go out of their way to slaughter you LayÆmel snorted If you happen to head deeper and witness someone capturing the Nether King all the Pinnacle Seekers will band together to hunt you down to prevent word of who obtained the Nether King from leaking When it isnÆt related to their internal conflicts the Pinnacle Seekers protect their own

Randidly nodded slowly as he absorbed that information He also looked at LayÆmel with a hint of amusement Definitely worth it to leave him alive just to learn about the different factions Also had he not sneered about how my identity as a member of Military High Command would have made me a target I probably would have led with that without thinking too deeply Might even have made quite a few enemies

Ha so heÆs definitely trying to help me but this growing attitude His emotions are so straightforward and easy to read that IÆm almost going paranoid that IÆm being tricked by him into some deeper scheme

Yet every one of RandidlyÆs senses was telling him that his impression was correct LayÆmel was incredibly transparent So either LayÆmel was either a more insidious character than Randidly could deal with or he could really trust the elf looking fellow despite his snide comments

Honestly it was rather impressive that LayÆmel could adjust so quickly to new situations But Randidly had no plans to let it continue too far He glanced sideways at Helen and winked at her in a way that LayÆmel couldnÆt see Alright the useful information is extracted Kill him Time to head deeper into these spatial islands

Helen grinned like the cheshire cat as she turned and began to stalk toward LayÆmel

Chapter 1621

Seeing Helen approach LayÆmel stumbled backward His foot caught on a protruding stone and he fell on his ass Wha what No You d donÆt understand I have plenty more information P p plenty Without me identifying the various Pinnacle Seekers there is a significant chance of biting off more than you can chew

DidnÆt you just say that many of them are reclusive and they kill to protect their own How is it possible that you have information on which individuals are powerful when they hide themselves so well Randidly waved his hand airily Better to rely on my own instincts But thank you very much for your previous assistance LayÆmel The primer was useful

B b b b b b but LayÆmel began to squeak as Helen flicked her wrist and produced a gleaming spear Even when she didnÆt activate her Domain the air around HelenÆs spear darkened to scarlet Although Randidly would have previously claimed that it was impossible LayÆmel grew even paler

Meanwhile Kerwin crept over toward Randidly and spoke in a low whisper Uh sir am I still supposed to protect this man if you are the one attacking him

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched Still he now possessed an evolved Control Stat he was just barely able to keep his face stern in the face of KerwinÆs innocent comment Nearby his mount attempted to chew on a stone and spat it out in disgust Randidly kept his eyes frosty as he looked over toward LayÆmel Seeing that LayÆmelÆs arrogance had once again been dispelled Randidly nodded to Helen Snorting she spun the spear and put it away as Randidly turned to look at the nearby wall

Honestly Randidly was torn over whether to proceed deeper into this maze of isolated space On the one hand the Nether King and Commandant Wick were only the tip of the iceberg of powerful individuals who would also be heading toward the core area to involve themselves These Pinnacle Seekers were undoubtedly rushing there in droves Plus the deeper Randidly proceeded the more likely it was that he would need to reveal his true ability to survive Not that he was adamant about luring the Swacc Family to waste its manpower in a trap but it had been one of his goals

On the other hand there was his promise to Raymund to investigate Techetadore Plus Shal had appeared and was somewhere within these folden boxes of space Then there was the possibility that proceeding would provide him with understanding regarding the mysterious Pinnacle and the esoteric elements that could take an individual there

RandidlyÆs hands itched Something aggressive and primal drove him forward beyond the cerebral motivations With all this new power after having to completely shed his previous cells to handle the amount of energy he now wielded even he wasnÆt sure about his limits He wanted to test himself

Well I suppose at the very least youÆll be useful for identifying the NLC forces Randidly said coldly while LayÆmel shivered Then he turned away Alright no more playing around LetÆs get going

The group of six Randidly DiOrtho Raymund Helen Kerwin and LayÆmel (once Kerwin helped him to his feet) rapidly moved to the edge of the isolated space The strange combination of incompatible Aether and Nether sizzled and burned as it was forced into a flat plane Still fascinated by the construction Randidly paused for a brief time and examined the barrier before he pressed his hand up against it

With his Grim Intuition Randidly found the bridge that led deeper into the maze But before he pressed forward he paused and examined himself Deep within his Soulspace the Grim Chimera was gradually digesting all of the Skills that it had devoured In the process of refinement the shards of images were gradually being incorporated into the Grim Chimera They spread throughout its body forming a strange sort of natural array

Randidly was rather surprised to discover that the array within the Grim Chimera was reminiscent of a Nether Core The image wasnÆt actually making a Nether Core but rather it was incorporating the efficient flow of energy through a Nether Core into its body The process was slow but already thin threads of life force were running through it quite like blood

However Randidly couldnÆt help but be slightly disappointed as he looked at the energy flows This will definitely make the Grim Chimera stronger and soon it will finish with the digestion and the combat capabilities will be restored But it appears that the Skillset wonÆt be able to immediately evolve into a higher Rarity The seeds were planted and the fertilizer is abundant but IÆll still need a spark of necessity to take that next step

Randidly shook his head to settle himself Honestly it was quite greedy to both hope to revolutionize his Status screen and also evolve one of his images After all his images were the culmination of years of labor within the System Although he wasnÆt yet able to take that next step he was at least building up momentum Accumulation would eventually carry him where he wanted to go

And Randidly didnÆt doubt that he would encounter enough foes as he investigated this maze to give him a push in the right direction His metal hand clenched into a fist In the next instant he manipulated the Aether and Nether in front of him and his group appeared in the next isolated space

With his Nether Sensation Randidly had already realized that the next location was a dense forest that was lightly populated with Nether Beasts He glanced over his shoulder at the others and gestured sharply We proceed directly forward no playing around Kerwin try your best to keep up

The Lancer nodded Randidly stood still for a second after he turned to look forward Partially it was to allow his Skill Ripple of Amenonuhoko to activate and create the trademark wiggling lines in the air in front of him but the other part was to take full advantage of the secondary ability of Dreadful Alacrity After a period of stillness his acceleration would receive a frightful boost for a short amount of time

Meanwhile Randidly adjusted his mentality Right now I am the spear And heh what a throwback and a spear always advances

Congratulations Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm has grown to Level 393

RandidlyÆs emerald eyes glowed For a split second his aura flickered and morphed For a split second he took a step toward fooling the universe around him He wavered between his humanity and the cold implacability of an instrument of war He stepped forward immediately accelerating to a speed that blasted the surrounding area with a sonic boom He had chosen his moment perfectly so the wiggling line of his Skill briefly aligned into a straight path Randidly cleaved perfectly along that line as he raced forward

But only after a few steps Randidly planted his foot with enough force to crack the ground and gradually slowed While his first movement had carried him across twenty meters his deceleration was finished in only three meters Yet after Randidly stopped himself the phenomenon he had initiated continued rapidly forward

Congratulations Your Skill Ripple of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 337

Congratulations Your Skill Ripple of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 338

Congratulations Your Skill Ripple of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 339

While Randidly now stood calmly in place the ground in front of him ruptured and cracked For a brief instant he had been a spear and activated his new spearmanship that could control the natural forces of the environment The ground in front of him was obliterated and cleared as though he had unleashed a freight train and strapped a bulldozer to the front of it

Trees were smashed to kindling as the attack raced forward Friction from the immense speed ignited the broken shards of wood as they were sent tumbling through the air so that the attack seemed to be riding a wave of fire No sooner had the unfortunate Nether Beasts in the attackÆs path noticed the approaching destruction than they had been ground up and obliterated by the constant churn of debris

Over the next several seconds the attack rushed forward and crossed the entirety of the isolated space The destruction only ceased when the attack finally reached the other side and crashed helplessly against the barrier of Aether and Nether In its wake a smoldering but cleared path now existed

Despite the powerful display only LayÆmel was left slack jawed The others just accepted RandidlyÆs capability as something normal and followed quickly after Randidly down the cleared avenue Even Kerwin seemed unaffected

His goal had been accomplished but Randidly viewed the demonstration rather sourly With his Grim Intuition everything within the isolated space was within his view Which was why he could easily determine the exact parameters of the clearing he had created Although the path was almost exactly five meters across for the entire isolated space

Damnit why the hell did the attack lean slightly to the left Randidly scowled at the ground as they rushed forward After crossing a kilometer the final result was only half a meter to the side but still I was sure the moving line was completely straight

Fuck is 2392 Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae still not enough Bah the stronger I get the more I realize how crazy powerful people in the Nexus can get Most probably arenÆt anywhere close to my Stats but with how long theyÆve been alive just how high has their Skill Levels climbed

Still his frustration vanished as soon as the group reached the other side With the huge display of power even the typically aggressive Nether Beasts had left them alone Randidly pressed his hand up against the barrier and closed his eyes to sense the situation on the other side Humming to himself Randidly opened his eyes back up and looked behind him

Looks like there are two paths forward from this point One will require us to cut through additional spaces but the other travels through a space that has been dominated by Nether forces Hard to say which is faster Randidly paused and tapped his finger against the spatial wall sending pulsing waves through the material Any opinions

Helen snorted DiOrthoÆs eyes briefly glowed Raymund cracked his knuckles

After looking around carefully LayÆmel said Ah perhaps the more roundabout route

Seems youÆve been outvoted Randidly said with a devilish grin Again he activated the energy in front of them and teleported them to the next area

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 246

Congratulations Your Skill Lesser Aether Inoculation has grown to Level 185

Chapter 1622

Randidly glanced around carefully at the surroundings when they arrived This most recent fractured space centered around a large sandstone canyon Tall stone walls hemmed them in on each side When the group appeared almost a hundred Nether Beasts and two Nether Gatekeepers deeper in the canyon noticed and focused on them With a roar a sea of Nether foes rushed to attack

And Randidly could sense that deeper in the canyon there were at least fifty more Nether Gatekeepers plus two Nether Heralds Which didnÆt even include the countless Nether Beasts His mouth twisted in annoyance I knew there were plenty of Nether Beasts here but even I didnÆt realize we walked into a place where two Nether Pinions had landed Looks like this place will require some light exercise

Still Randidly wasnÆt overly worried if their Nether foes just amounted to this much Two Nether Heralds should be just about right to work up a sweat He gestured sharply at his subordinates DiOrtho Helen clear a path Raymund stay here for a second I want to try something Oh and LayÆmel try not to make KerwinÆs job too difficult

After nodding Helen and DiOrtho both rushed forward Randidly noted with approval that DiOrtho took a step back and allowed Helen to take the lead Her Tides of Blood Domain surged out instantly turning the air in a ten meter area crimson And with every step that she took toward the enemies the color of her Tides darkened even further The edges gradually spread outward

Looks like she didnÆt waste five years in my Alpha Cosmos Randidly noted Heh the thickness of that Domain I wonder if I could still break it like I did in the past

By the time that HelenÆs spear lashed out toward the first unfortunate Nether Beast she was standing at the core of a twenty meter whirlpool of crimson flows After she bisected the first Nether Beast with her spear those in the surroundings were torn to shreds just from the force of her Domain Meanwhile DiOrthoÆs Ancient Machine Horror stayed concentrated around his body He shot forward to intercept the closest Nether Gatekeeper keeping his image concentrated to not affect HelenÆs Domain too much

Raymund quickly approached Randidly Randidly spun Acri and then settled into a fighting stance Once more the drifting lines of Ripple of Amenonuhoko appeared before him See if you can copy this Skill

Randidly cut sharply up through the air Around him the wind began to howl

Amongst the rippling lines that Randidly could perceive with his Skill there were several different varieties Generally he utilized the thicker and firmer lines and manipulated the ground beneath his feet Yet this time RandidlyÆs cut seemed to glide and surf through the air sliding forward in a complicated arc As he finished the strike the howling of the wind grew deafening All the air in the isolated space was mobilized

As the wind accelerated the edges of the natural force grew increasingly sharp Just as thirty meters of the Nether Beast army was shredded by Helen a whirlwind of blades descended upon a hundred meters of space The wind blades became a dragon that swooped down and annihilated everything within the tight confines of this area of the canyon Those unfortunate Nether Beasts caught were diced into tiny cubes before they could even react Only the Nether Gatekeepers in the area survived although they were crisscrossed with several deep wounds that spurted blood

The dangerous wind blade storm began to twist and writhe but before it could head deeper into the canyon Raymund reached out and grasped After the first attempt the Skill stalled somewhat forcing Raymund to grasp again But with the second attempt the Skill disappeared entirely

The wind blades glided on their previous inertia and harmlessly cut off chunks of stone from the canyon walls

Randidly grimaced in spite of the fact that Raymund was only taking action on his orders The sensation of having a Skill stolen was not a pleasant one It left him with a strange sense of helplessness as though he was briefly cut off from his ability to utilize the Skill Still with RandidlyÆs extremely high Willpower he could force the issue and quickly re established his connection to the Skill

Once he rid himself of the helplessness he turned around to inspect Raymund Sure enough behind the VulpineÆs back a new spectral tail had appeared In comparison to the three tails he had obtained from Vizzeret Charlotte and Jieu the new tail was constantly flickering like a candle about to be blown out by the wind However it was also double the size of the other three tails and radiated an oppressive aura

Raymund chuckled at RandidlyÆs sour look if you wish to know the truth that single act of appropriating your Skill earned me ten Skill Levels In terms of complexity your Skills are quite a bit more difficult to manage than Lady VuallaÆs Ahem Based on the success rate I cannot use this Skill for long Ripple of Amenonuhoko huh Let me attempt to utilize it

Raymund flexed his fingers and then slashed his claws through the air For a brief second his entire visage changed Randidly was shocked to discover that the Foxman could capture his expression almost perfectly Immediately the ground beneath their feet began to rumble but as the crack in the ground ripped outward it did not travel in the direction of RaymundÆs strike Instead it snaked rapidly to the right directly toward LayÆmel and Kerwin

Stop trying to kill me LayÆmel screamed as he hopped backward But his speed couldnÆt keep up with the attack And since Kerwin simply possessed the basic attributes of a Lancer neither could dodge the widening crack in time Both fell into the widening gorge in the ground

Which was honestly for the best because when the crack reached the side of the canyon the stone in the surroundings shattered and collapsed quickly tumbling down in a small landslide Had they not already fallen into the crack both would likely have been bombarded by heavy stones

Considering the Aether density in the isolated space the materials in the environment were quite dense The duo likely wouldnÆt have died from the landslide but they might have suffered quite painful injuries

Raymund coughed lightly into his hand The Ripple of Amenonuhoko tail flickered and died As expected your Skills are too cumbersome for me to wield effectively Targeting someone of your tier with my Skill is near pointless

Randidly didnÆt bother to hide his pleased expression Seeing Raymund so visibly failing to manage his spearmanship it was much easier to accept a small deviation in the long distance attack to clear the path in the prior space His high Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae definitely was the reason he could handle it

In the meantime Helen and DiOrtho had slaughtered their way forward until they had eliminated enough Nether Gatekeepers that two powerful roars emerged from the depths of the canyon Like a wave of flesh Nether Beasts howled and charged forward Yet they were just the appetizer the Nether Heralds were approaching and they were furious

Randidly spun Acri lightly Alright fight freely We need to cut through this space as quickly as possible

Meldoon Crum was inwardly sweating but he dared not reveal how much fear he currently held in his heart While his associates continued to strengthen the Nether Array he had to actually interact with the individuals they had captured Yet in MeldoonÆs mind he wished he had encountered a scouting party from basically any Pinnacle Seeker organization rather than the Holy Frost Society

And not only that but the leader Meldoon recognized She was the current favorite of the Frost Matriarch Claudette Beigon Even worse she was extremely famous in the Nexus Her disappearance would be noticed very quickly Not only had the Beigon Family founded itself in the Nexus in the Third Cohort and remained illustrious for thousands of years but Claudette was a particularly exemplary descendant

Not only was she considered one of the most beautiful women of her generation but she also fought a very famous duel against the Patron of Corrosion after she rejected his marriage proposal

And she had brutalized the man too

Meldoon could only rub his temples and attempt to buy time His squad had set the ambush as ordered and he had triggered it on the first group to have the bad luck to wander through but right as he had activated the array Meldoon knew he was making a mistake They were supposed to wait for high ranking Nether combatants to capture and use for experiments They had even chosen a relatively isolated space within the maze of spatial islands Nether forces should have arrived first

Yet somehow his traitorous hands had triggered the trap even as his eyes were absorbing information And in the next moment the Pinnacle Seeker squad was captured They stood now at the base of a small hill in the middle of a clearing the array covered a space about five meters in diameter Thick and pulsing black liquid formed the bones of the array heavily suppressing all Aether within its grip Yet Claudette Beigon stood there calmly waiting

After a few failed attempts to manifest her image she stopped struggling and stared at him Her dark eyes burned a hole through his flesh and seemed to peer at his soul And so Meldoon began to sweat Had they met each other in basically any other circumstance she could annihilate him It was only due to the preprepared Nether Array that their power dynamic was suddenly reversed

As the silence began to stretch Meldoon cleared his throat There is no need to be petty it is understandable that you are unable to escape my trap This move was prepared to restrain even a true Pinnacle Seeker As a subordinate even a valuable one you

YouÆve bitten off more than you can chew and you know it The blonde haired Claudette looked out of the Nether Array her voice cold enough to freeze some of MeldoonÆs sweat Her midnight blue armor was even more ornate than her nine subordinates She folded her arms and scrutinized Meldoon with a small smile You kill us the Frost Monarch will find out and then hunt you down to turn you into a popsicle You release us and I will kill most of your subordinates then report your name to the Fallen Seekers to teach other insignificant characters like you not to mess with the Holy Frost Society

You For a second Meldoon couldnÆt breathe Rage and fear pounded through his veins in equal measure He stared at the baleful glare of the blonde woman in front of him and struggled to think of something to say After sucking in several breaths he managed barely to forcibly reduce his blood pressure Please letÆs be reasonable There is no need to be so obstinate are you truly not afraid of death If we can come to an amicable agreement we can part ways today as though we had never met

The woman shifted her weight from one side to the other putting her hand on her hip She smiled almost sweetly up at Meldoon through the barrier of Nether that separated them If I would let a small impediment like this shake my determination to move forward how could I ever hope to reach the Pinnacle You claim I am but a subordinate but I still will someday reach the Pinnacle

This this isnÆt about the Pinnacle at all Meldoon spoke through his clenched jaw If you can swear on your image that you wonÆt report this interaction

All decisions relate to the Pinnacle The second in command of the captured squad announced Claudette glanced over her shoulder and nodded in agreement leaving Meldoon with a growing feeling of helplessness This was exactly why dealing with Pinnacle Seekers was so difficult they simply didnÆt possess reason

MeldoonÆs expression turned ugly but in his heart he knew that it would come to this from the moment he had mistakenly sprung the trap on the group A woman who dared fight against a Patron would not be intimidated by a relatively obscure figure such as him Fine then With no other choice I will eliminate you and destroy all evidence

At his gesture his fellows activated their own Nether Cores and integrated their Weight into the Nether Array Gradually the flowing lines of dark energy began to tighten around the ten member squad of the Holy Frost Society The Nether density sharply increased and black lightning crackled up and down the array Yet Claudette simply continued staring at him

Her dark eyes were infuriating Meldoon knew that standing in the center of such an array was agonizing He had experienced it himself when he had been chosen to receive a Nether Core Yet she didnÆt flinch at all

And soon Claudette grinned wildly up at him and laughed loudly Do you truly think you can hide the truth of this matter Maybe if one of the Engraving GuildsÆ elites were here but you You are one of the lowest members of the Nether Lattice that IÆve ever seen Even with your Nether Array the imprint left by my image on this world will never fade

YouÆve lived a blessed life but will soon be over Reality will reduce you to nothing but a prideful loser Meldoon was grinding his teeth as he carefully mobilized Nether within himself to flow in the appropriate pattern His eyes were bloodshot as the intensity of the Nether continued to climb The array tightened He was determined to be looking at the blonde woman when she finally died

Maybe then she could understand the stress that he had endured Maybe then she would see that it didnÆt have to be this way Maybe then

Behind Meldoon there was a slight popping noise Then an unfamiliar voice spoke

Alright LayÆmel prove your worth Who are these two groups of people

Chapter 1623

Meldoon CrumÆs emotional capabilities flickered and died like an old lightbulb as he looked behind him at the new arrivals They stared back at him curiously After being driven mad by the fact Claudette Beigon refused to concede even the smallest fraction thereby giving him no choice but to kill her and risk the ire of the Frost Matriarch this new unexpected variable pushed his mind beyond his limits They would make the truth of this matter even more difficult to hide He could only blankly stare at the group of six that was suddenly standing near the wall of the isolated space

His blank eyes wandered across the group reeling even further as he examined them He searched their figures for any sort of sense of reassuring familiarity something that would ground him in the moment but he could not find it One of the figures was a leafy humanoid carrying a lance and riding what looked like a camel covered in chitinous armor An elfen humanoid stood next to the lancer shivering lightly as he looked over at Meldoon

In that man Meldoon could observe a kindred sense of helpless fear

On the other side of the group a ram demon and a Vulpine looked around with interest at the two forces clustered around the Nether Array They spent a particularly long time looking at the armored troops of the Holy Frost Society causing MeldoonÆs blood to pound loudly in his ears Just by observing their well muscled physiques and auras of self possession both were intimately familiar with violence

But it was the middle two that Meldoon found the most fearful The one on the left was a lovely woman with her hair done up in a tight braid Every part of her seemed graceful and deadly Her arms were folded across her chest and her sharp eyes swept across every single individual present in the clearing Even from just her gaze there was a strange distortion in the surrounding space Everything she looked at was briefly dyed blood red

This was a woman who had taken many lives

The man on the right had medium length black hair and a black metal left arm that was covered with golden veins that pulsed as Meldoon watched He was tall and athletic less so than the two individuals on the right but still enough to evidence his capability His feet were bare Compared to his companions this black haired man stood with the most casual posture he clearly didnÆt feel even a hint of a threat as he examined MeldoonÆs squad and the trapped group from the Holy Frost Society

Yet what was most threatening about the man was the total lack of image that radiated off of him The air around him was still and peaceful Looking at the manÆs subordinates Meldoon wasnÆt fool enough to believe that he didnÆt possess a powerful image He simply had enough control that he could mask his image almost completely

Figures who possessed so much control over their image were rare even in the Nexus

But the question that Meldoon couldnÆt move past was who these people were His mind was fuzzy and repeatedly tried to place this assembly into a reassuring label but no sufficient category occurred to Meldoon Such a grouping seemed to defy categorization Not that there was anything strange about different races working with each other in the Nexus but since most individuals in the Nexus were descended from a powerful progenitor most organizations were rather uniform Even Pinnacle Seeker groups at least had a similar unifying image

Yet these people

While MeldoonÆs mind continued to stall out and sputter the elfen humanoid spoke Ah that appears to be a Retrieval Squad from the Engraving Guild See the insignia on their uniforms They likely came out to capture some of the stronger Nether individuals And that group by the great Lord t t t t t t that i i is C C Claudette Beigon

The barefooted man scrutinized Meldoon for a second then frowned at the elfen man DidnÆt we talk about useful information That name means nothing to me But she must be a Pinnacle Seeker right Since the Engraving Guild is willing to attack her

You I didnÆt I didnÆt want Meldoon snarled finally snapping back into a conscious state Being accused of attacking the Holy Frost Society when he had been forced to this by that stubborn bitch was simply rubbing salt in his wound His limbs trembled If she hadnÆt refused to kill him should he release her That pride was the only reason

Fellow adventurers

At this moment Claudette herself entered the vocal fray favoring the newly arrived group with a winning dimpled smile Although her image was related to frost her beaming expression had enough light and passion that even MeldoonÆs fury was briefly silenced I crave a boon Assist me in escaping this predicament and I will definitely repay the favor

This this shamelessness Meldoon hissed this time practically spitting She was suddenly willing to trade a favor for being released Why wasnÆt Meldoon the actual controller of the array able to take advantage of that opportunity

The ram demon pointed toward the trapped Claudette and her subordinates She craves a boon

Honestly seems like a good opportunity Pissing off the Engraving Guild isnÆt a problem theyÆve caused enough trouble for me already As the barefooted man walked forward his eyes began to glow Plus we get to earn some goodwill in the process

Meldoon snorted gratefully seizing onto the manÆs naked aggression as a way to overcome his sense of helplessness He unwound his Nether Core from the Nether Array in front of him and wheeled to face the approaching group He used hand signals to get his subordinates to continue trapping the Holy Frost Society while facing these recent arrivals While MeldoonÆs eyes were red rimmed he felt exceedingly calm After shorting his emotional circuits he sweated no longer

He had moved past that Now he only understood necessity

Sensing the change Claudette and her team unleashed powerful attacks on the interior of the Nether Array Tridents of ice slammed repeatedly into the flickering boundary But while MeldoonÆs subordinates couldnÆt crush them as he could they could still maintain the Nether Array while Meldoon dealt with these unfortunate interlopers

Can I do this MeldoonÆs heart was pounding But he forced himself to remain focused No I NEED to do this

Truly ClaudetteÆs earlier ridicule was correct Meldoon wasnÆt highly rated amongst those in the Nether Lattice He had only received his Nether Core in the past year The Engraving Guild had created a powerful shortcut to creating a Nether Core but it relied on being partially incorporated into anotherÆs Nether Core So a portion of MeldoonÆs Weight was taken by the superior that had given him this chance Until Meldoon reached 500 Influence and was able to bestow a Nether Core onto one of his subordinates he would remain relatively weak

Usually the powerful individuals within the Nether Lattice had at least ten subordinates with Nether Cores Achieving that feat would likely require a hundred more years for Meldoon Crum because a portion of every gain he made would be siphoned off to the one who had given him his Nether Core

But that didnÆt mean he couldnÆt handle an arrogant interloper now Especially when his squad had set up several back up Nether Arrays in this isolated space to handle unexpected situations As the barefooted man walked forward he walked thoughtlessly into a preprepared Nether Array Instantly Meldoon gestured sharply and his Nether Core began to spin A burning cage of Nether erupted out of the ground and trapped the man

Rather than being worried the man glanced around with the same aloof curiosity he had displayed before Oh The deployment of this ritual is pretty rapid And the way itÆs woven together haha itÆs like a finger trap isnÆt it The more force is applied from the interior the more intense the constriction it gets

Upon hearing the manÆs words Meldoon couldnÆt help but choke It wasnÆt possible that this individual truly could immediately see through the Nether Array right Very quickly the Engraving Guild officer reassured himself that the man must be bluffing he likely knew the details of the Nether Array beforehand and was now just taunting Meldoon

Meldoon narrowed his eyes as he felt burning hatred rise in his chest IÆll teach you to take me lightly take this All of my 37 Weight As long as I crush you in front of your subordinates I can still salvage the situation

Instantly the Nether Array constricted at MeldoonÆs direction 37 Weight only meant that he received 3 7% boost but that was across all of his abilities As he utilized his Nether Core his Willpower and his Stats that small boost incestuously multiplied his power perhaps reaching a full 30% increase in capability

Also MeldoonÆs eyes brightened as he watched the barefooted manÆs actions in response to the array activating It seemed his assumption was true although the man understood the mechanics of the array he didnÆt even bother to apply that knowledge He simply walked forward feeling the full force of the suppression that Meldoon unleashed

At the moment his physical body is slowly being crushed Meldoon managed to smile vindictively Every movement he makes will allow the array to absorb a little bit more of his energy Soon he eh Wait why why can he just

MeldoonÆs eyes bulged as the barefooted man continued to stroll forward The suppression of the array even with all of his Weight behind it didnÆt slow the man in the least Even more horrifyingly the man quickly reached the edge of the cage and continued to walk forward without stopping The elastic black bindings of the array stretched and warped as the man continued forward While the bindings should be as powerful as a refined metal alloy the manÆs Strength distorted the surroundings to the point that the Nether Array seemed to have been constructed out of chewing gum

Still with every step the array rapidly absorbed more and more power MeldoonÆs Nether Core spun faster and faster The suppression grew more powerful And Meldoon could guarantee that the Nether Array was working The ground within the array was slowly cracking from the force So why was this man so unbelievably powerful

The man continued walking forward stretching the Nether Array one meter beyond its original position His steps were steady as he moved first two meters then three meters forward basically walking directly toward Meldoon Rather than a dangerous Nether Array it looked like Meldoon had thrown a pesky black net across the man that he now carried with him as he moved

But at about five meters of walking with a few meters still between the man and Meldoon the man revealed a helpless expression and shook his head Finally his speed had slowed as the Nether Array accumulated more restrictive energy I guess itÆs a little arrogant to think I can just force my way through a barrier like this Nether is just a higher tiered energy

For a split second a spark of triumph flashed in MeldoonÆs heart Then the man gestured lightly and Meldoon felt an unexpected tug upon the flows of energy he manipulated through the Nether Array His spinning Nether Core was destabilized as it bounced off of something massive He was taken by surprise by the sudden intrusion but it wasnÆt just that MeldoonÆs Weight was shoved to the side without any difficulty

The Nether Array unraveled instantly Once more Meldoon could only stare blankly ahead It felt like he had aged several years in the past several minutes He couldnÆt understand how the man had quickly severed the Nether Array Why why is this happening

I just I wanted a future for my family I thought

After somehow unraveling the Nether Array around him the man turned and did the same to the Nether Array binding Claudette Beigon and her subordinates The man opened his mouth to speak but Claudette moved more quickly As soon as she was freed she spread her arms and an enormous image manifested above her head

In a vast frozen tundra the hilt of a sword stuck out of the ground The hilt was wrought in silver with a pearl the size of a childÆs fist forming the pommel The air around that exposed hilt was such a low temperature that even if the wind would dare wander too close it would be frozen immediately As Meldoon looked up in fear the pearl seemed to pulse and come alive

Like a pupil less eye of a monster that pearl trembled and locked onto Meldoon and his crew A wave of frost blasted outward from that image manifestation instantly flash freezing the surrounding space

Chapter 1624

Randidly rolled his shoulder and wiped some snow off his arm He pursed his lips even his hair seemed covered in a light dusting of snow After a second of piercing cold the temperature was once more starting to rise in the surrounding area He glanced behind him and nodded none of his subordinates had been harmed by the attack They were covered in snow but the blonde ClaudetteÆs strike had been aimed at the members of the Engraving Guild

Randidly looked at the five frozen figures their features still twisted into a look of horror But the worst by far was their leader who was only a few meters in front of Randidly and looked completely lost Inwardly he shook his head Kinda a shame Would have been worth it to capture and interrogate them for more information about the weird Nether Core that man possessed and these arrays

But in the end Randidly could empathize with Claudette After his experience within the shaft with Velio Dunn he understood how frustrating being captured was Since the people that Claudette killed seemed to be relatively minor figures they probably wouldnÆt have known much of interest And with his Nether Sensation just a look was enough to give Randidly some understanding of what was occurring with those Nether Cores

I could barely sense the connections from this guy to the distant cores but the way power was flowing was clear Randidly tapped his cheek So pyramid schemes exist everywhere even in the Nexus I wonder how vast this one truly is

For the moment Randidly focused on the members of the Holy Frost Society As the freezing radiation of the image dimmed Randidly first took a long look at their leader Claudette Beigon Her dark blue plate armor was obviously ornate and her eyes were dark and inscrutable He hadnÆt been the target of her image but Randidly was still rather impressed with how quickly she had reached the peak of her imageÆs power In only a split second a frightful chill had penetrated outward

Randidly estimated that the image that Claudette revealed was weaker than any of his individual images but only by a small amount And he didnÆt overlook the possibility that the attack she unleashed was just a portion of her power

Beyond her were nine subordinates that still had their weapons out They kept their tridents and scimitars at their sides but Randidly didnÆt miss the way they were eyeing them warily At the very least these individuals were powerful enough to feel threatened by him Randidly couldnÆt help but scratch his ear DonÆt they know that IÆm currently attempting to be very low key

Around the same time Claudette looked over to RandidlyÆs groups There was a certain methodical aspect to her examination where she spent a second inspecting each individual Then she favored Randidly with a sweet smile and bowed Thank you again fellow adventurers I thought I was a goner But it seems my Path to the Pinnacle hasnÆt yet come to its end Ah apologies about your subordinate

Suddenly Claudette faltered Randidly turned to the side and saw that Kerwin was using the butt of his spear to crack a layer of ice that had formed on LayÆmelÆs body Randidly turned once again to face forward and waved a hand DonÆt worry about it That man is the type to seem more pathetic than he actually is ItÆs part of his strength But more importantly are you also here for the Nether King

Indeed So you are a fellow Pinnacle Seeker Claudette said in an excited tone She gestured happily and her subordinates stepped forward We as your frozen subordinate informed you are members of the Holy Frost Society I am Claudette Beigon It is a pleasure to meet you

Seeing that Claudette offered her hand and bowed Randidly shook her hand politely Nice to meet you Miss Beigon IÆm Randidly Ghosthound

His actions earned him a loud sniff from ClaudetteÆs second in command who bowed along with her leader but gave Randidly the stink eye and tightly gripped her trident Helplessly Randidly could only shrug at her reaction which made him feel like a street urchin being thoroughly dismissed by a prospective mother in law

Ignore her Claudette rolled her eyes and then unleashed another dazzling smile Narthalla is convinced that the only reason a man would give me the time would be to conquer my body And you donÆt intend to conquer me do you Mr Ghosthound

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched at ClaudetteÆs rather direct manner of speech Looking at her smile it was hard to tell whether she did it on purpose or not no I do not I already have a person who is special to me

See Nary No reason to be such a scrooge Claudette said cheerily putting her hands on her hips Then her expression turned more serious and she looked at Randidly again Also I do not give my word lightly Since you have resolved my predicament I set aside my own gains and assist you in seeking enlightenment within these spaces As long as you do not fight against the Holy Frost Society or needlessly kill other Pinnacle Seekers your Path is mine for this period

Randidly frowned as he considered the implications of that offer He was somewhat uneasy both about having some other faction from the Nexus learn about him and because LayÆmel instantly recognized this woman

Seeing that Randidly seemed to be hesitating Claudette pouted Then her expression abruptly brightened Ah Also I have a tool of immense value It is a map of the area given casually to me by the Frost Matriarch so I could rendezvous with her Un u unfortunately it appears that my own abilities were insufficient and I was unable to properly read the map

Randidly looked at Claudette for several seconds She is apparently is a well known individual which might bring complications down the line But in terms of usefulness even if itÆs just the map her information about what is occurring here seem much more trustworthy than just relying on LayÆmel Two sources of information can fact check each other

Still better to make sure there is no confusion before we proceed

Randidly held up a hand as Claudette offered him the tiny cube shaped map in her hand I appreciate the assistance but I want to make one thing clear My affiliation is with Military High Command I hold the position of Commander If you arenÆt willing to work with me IÆll take the map as complete payment of your debt and we can part ways here

He might be able to extract more benefits from this strange woman if he didnÆt say this upfront but Randidly didnÆt want to be ambushed later if this information was revealed at the wrong time LayÆmelÆs explanation of the Pinnacle SeekersÆ opinions of the orthodox Nexus factions did not paint a rosy picture

Meanwhile Claudette frowned and her subordinate Narthalla showed an expression of shock Behind her the others seemed to tense After a second of silence Narthalla spoke That is why your name sounded familiar You are that Head Drill Sergeant under Commandant Wick Since we both know each other associations there is no need to fake cordiality Miss Beigon let us part ways with this group and proceed on our own If the Frost Matriarch found out we had joined hands Military High Command

Do you seek the Pinnacle Claudette interrupted still solely staring at Randidly

Randidly blinked and frowned But after a few seconds of thinking he responded as honestly as he could I want to change the Nexus and that requires power So IÆve always been refining myself If I need to reach the Pinnacle to have the influence I desire so be it ItÆs not my final goal but I sure as hell donÆt lack the resolve to reach for that place if need be

Claudette smiled again showing off very white teeth The motivations do not matter As long as you continue following your Path Finally Claudette broke off the intense eye contact Besides arenÆt we just moving together for a short time IÆm sure the Frost Matriarch wonÆt mind Nary She might even admire Mr GhosthoundÆs spirit

Influence +25

NarthallaÆs expression clearly expressed disbelief that the Frost Matriarch would think any such thing but Randidly didnÆt really mind Besides he was busy trying to rationalize both the absolute faith that he could sense radiating off Claudette when she looked at him after his answer and the abrupt increase in Influence Were they related

Did his explanation just generate Influence for him But Randidly couldnÆt sense any sort of Nether flowing between them Was it just a coincidence

Meanwhile Randidly took the cube from ClaudetteÆs hand For several seconds he couldnÆt manage to understand what he was looking at Everything was messily compressed It was certainly a map but the sense of perspective

But then Randidly discovered a few buttons on the side of the cube that played with the perspective As he adjusted the map a thought occurred to him He looked up at Claudette to find that she was still looking at him with gleaming puppy dog eyes Those were the eyes of someone who possessed almost no guile

RandidlyÆs mouth twitched Miss Claudette did you happen to adjust the map so its display was two dimensional

Yup Claudette said cheerily

Inwardly Randidly rolled his eyes No wonder you fucking got lost Well at the very least now that the map is restored to its normal state I wonÆt have to look for minute differences in Nether density to find my way forward

The map might be easier to look at in two dimensions but it was precisely useless in that form Such a warped perspective didnÆt manage to convey how to travel through the complex and misleading spaces layered on top of each other What Claudette did was a little like lining up the floorplans of a five story building horizontally and then deciding that the first floor was extremely far from the fifth They might seem that way in the drawing but that was because floorplans were supposed to be informative not representative of the finished product

anyway this is definitely helpful thank you Randidly looked around and nodded Only the frozen corpses of the Engraving Guild and the destroyed scrap of their Array was left LetÆs head a bit deeper then

Claudette nodded Narthalla looked balefully over at Randidly and RandidlyÆs subordinates just had various expressions of amusement boredom and serious focus Perhaps like his act of clearing a large path through the forest they were just sorta so numb from his previous activities that picking up a few stray Pinnacle Seekers wasnÆt worthy of note Impressively DiOrtho and Raymund had advanced to such a zen follower outlook in such a short amount of time

But I suppose they had the benefit of five years within the Alpha Cosmos he reflected as he walked across the clearing

When they reached the far spatial wall Randidly consulted the map and pressed his hand up against the tightly layered energy His senses spread outward and he could sense the nearest few islands of isolated space within the vast emptiness Pressing his lips together Randidly forced his Nether Sensation further outward through the tightly pressed planes of energy After a few seconds of intense concentration he was just barely able to feel the vague hint of other areas that were separated from their current position by a larger distanceÆ

Congratulations Your Skill Nether Sensation has grown to Level 405

Even with such a high Skill Level the layered energy makes it so difficult to sense the surroundings I suppose that Commandant Wick was doing it on purpose to weaken the Nether King Randidly thought in frustration Even though I can utilize both Aether and Nether it is still so obnoxious

Randidly felt around just in the nearby isolated spaces for almost thirty seconds to determine the situation both were empty He shook his head Heh IÆve grown spoiled because of how powerful Grim Intuition is This is the first time in quite a while that my capability to move outstrips my Perception Proceeding further isnÆt exactly time consuming but heading to these empty spaces still seems a bit of a waste

Randidly paused Then his eyes began to glow as he looked at the map in his hand Very soon he was laughing

Claudette tilted her head to the side causing her cascading blonde hair to sway Did you think of a funny joke

No just Randidly couldnÆt help but chuckle Decided to take a gamble This map is really useful everyone gather around and hold onto each other This might be a bit rough

Then Randidly turned back to the wall As long as I know the general direction of the destination with my ability to utilize both Aether and Nether canÆt I just burrow through the maze and cut out the wandering

Heading directly to the core might be a bit bold but letÆs head to the inner area shall we

Chapter 1625

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 251

Congratulations Your Skill Grit of the Ascendant Bane has grown to Level 406

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 252

Congratulations Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle has grown to Level 261

Coughing Randidly pushed all the way through the expanse of layered energies and arrived at a new island of isolated space Even he hadnÆt realized how difficult an endeavor he had chosen when he pierced past the available bridges As he shook himself to dislodge the buzzing numbness in his body he could only grimace while it was extremely possible for him to burrow through the space blindly with his capabilities dragging the others behind them had vastly increased the difficulty

There had been little choice but to utilize his Aether and Nether to push the pressure on his body And his body was strong make no mistake However alternating doses of very pure Aether and Nether still put quite a strain on him

At least thatÆs a bit of inspiration for my next training array Randidly thought sourly as he brushed himself off

For their part RandidlyÆs subordinates and the newly arrived members of the Holy Frost Society looked around curiously at their new location A few Nether Gatekeepers looked up from some Nether work on the slope below and growled but the isolated space was dominated by a mist covered lake and had very few Nether soldiers At a roar from the nearest Nether Gatekeeper a dozen of its fellows that surrounded the lake hurried over

Looks like itÆs just that dozen though

Randidly rolled his shoulders and focused on his breathing to shake off the discomfort he felt from straining himself to protect the people that followed him through the strangely folded space The numbness and the burning in his nerves gradually faded In the meantime both Helen and Claudette Beigon stepped forward the former raising a spear and the latter producing a sheathed bastard sword and holding it in front of her

When the two womensÆ eyes met HelenÆs irises flashed in challenge But Claudette laughed and lowered her weapon Ah very impressive Mr Ghosthound I had no idea your subordinate would be able to handle the Nether Gatekeepers Wow what an image Nary why donÆt you go contribute then

After speaking Claudette once more stored away her sheathed stored and the rising image of frost around her instantly dissipated The accumulation of frost on the grass by her feet ceased Instead Narthalla stepped forward wielding a trident in one hand and a scimitar in the other ClaudetteÆs subordinate also quickly lowered the ambient temperature in the area Narthalla sniffed as she looked over at Helen before charging out toward the approaching Nether Gatekeepers Each step she took froze the ground in a small area

LayÆmel watched the ice forming and sneezed miserably

Randidly almost snorted when he saw HelenÆs disgust as she observed the dual wielding Narthalla He could read her lips when she muttered fucking unnecessary Then Helen hefted her very simple spear and charged forward her Tides of Blood Domain spreading out to surround her The crimson flows rapidly accelerated and dominated the lakeshore

Raymund and DiOrtho glanced at Randidly but he waved his hand in dismissal and walked calmly forward the two women were demons incarnate even against the Nether Gatekeepers Since they wished to demonstrate their abilities it was better to give them that chance before sending assistance

One wielded blood while the other mobilized freezing cold but both could manipulate external elements and render even these empowered Nether Gatekeepers helpless Tides of Blood blasted Nether Gatekeepers backward and the waves of frost rapidly reduced the evasion speed of the Nether Gatekeepers Helen and Narthalla spread out but Randidly couldnÆt help but reflect how capable the two would be if they worked together It might be difficult to balance their images but the effects would be significant

Still Randidly didnÆt bother to try and force the issue Who knew how long they would spend with these members of the Holy Frost Society anyway The only real problem was that neither had much killing power against these empowered Nether Gatekeeper Both demonstrated that they were too stubborn to ask for help For now Randidly was willing to calmly walk forward and examine the portion of the slope that the Gatekeepers had been working on before the group arrived

Upon closer examination several mysterious characters were embedded into the ground Just looking at those characters set his Nether Core spinning there was significance at work here Randidly crouched down next to the sigils and flicked the mysterious material that was embedded into the ground Then he pressed his hand up against the baseball thick black cables and was surprised to find that the material felt warm

Randidly pursed his lips as his acute senses pierced through the materialÆs exterior Seems like this is a semi permanent Nether conduit Almost like a vein that would allow energy to flow IÆm not sure how they create this but after itÆs inlaid in the right pattern one simply needs to supply Nether in order to activate the Nether Ritual Even these Nether Gatekeepers will be able to produce powerful effects like this