Chapter 86 (1/2)

Randidly felt the hot, hungry buzz of anger still in his chest, but flowing below that, cooling him swiftly, was a sharp sense of fear, and a prickling of guilt. The anger itself was exceedingly strange. It was the hottest thing he had ever felt, but it simultaneously was so numbing. It was an animating energy, that enraged him and made him heedless. If Ezzie hadn’t staggered into the room, distracting Randidly, would he have continued until he killed Tessa…?

Shaking his head, he forced his mind away from that topic, but was confronted with an equally vicious one; that hatred fueled, focused episode of Agony had increased the skill Lvl by 3, and it only took a dozen or so seconds.

Randidly had always known that mental state influences the speed at which levels were gained, but still… this seemed ridiculous. Was it that it was used on humans then? Or was it just that he truly, desperately wanted to hurt Tessa in that moment, for what she had implied about Sydney?

Either answer was disturbing. And it was one that he would need to answer clearly, in order to continue to grow stronger. He wanted to make use of the most efficient methods. If fighting against humans was the most effective…

If deeply, truly wanting to hurt your enemies was the most effective method….

If losing his morality was the most effective method...

Following a still whitefaced Ezzie, the two of them reached the roof. The apartment building wasn’t the tallest building in the area, but it was one of the highest, and the higher buildings were generally clustered downtown, which was a mile or so away, to the South. Therefore, his current vantage point gave Randidly a very clear view of the surrounding area.

From his observations, Randidly could only come to one conclusion. Franksburg, as it was now, was doomed. It was simply too large to defend effectively. It had been fine when they were only dealing with wandering monsters, but the monster horde would change things, and not for the better. Last night’s casualties, even with the help of the squad from Donnyton, proved that.

So Randidly took that violent lava anger, filled with strange pricklings of ice, still alive in his gut, and used it. He reached within himself, felt the source of his mana, the same source that he had so much trouble controlling with the grace of Lyra, and prodded it gently.

As he expected, it stoically had no response.

Grinning to himself, Randidly lamented this fact. If he could only figure out how to replicate Lyra’s skills…

But that was not his path, he knew. His path lay elsewhere. And he could only keep his eyes on the ground and move forward, lest he lose his grip on the weapons that he did have.

So this time, he grabbed his mana source, and pulled, dragging every drop of mana he could out. And then, with eyes burning emerald, he raised his hands.

****

Lucifer watched the caravan for Donnyton leave, his face serious.

Derek Quinn rubbed the stump of his left arm and asked. “...Did you also want to go?”

After a long time, Lucifer nodded slowly. “It was, a tempting offer. Luckily most of the Freedom Fighters have family here, or else….”

“At least they recruited mostly from the the University, and other odd jobs.” Derek Quinn commented, but Lucifer’s reaction of chuckling confused him.

“What’s so-”

But before he could finish the question the earth beneath their feet rumbled dangerously, the whole area quaking. Before either of them could even respond, the area to their immediate left and right erupted, thorny vines surging upwards, twisting and twining, snaking amongst each other.

Shuddering, the earth in some places cracked and fell away, revealing more thorny vines, some as thick as an adult male’s torso, with viciously sharp thorns that stuck outward like curved bayonets.

As they watched, aghast, these thorn walls, which were about 8 feet high, began to spread to the left and right, along the perimeter of their defenses. As it continued on, the height dropped, only reaching around 5 and a half feet at its lowest, but the wall of thorns ran immediately adjacent to their previous defenses, bolstering them immensely.

And at those locations where the Franksburg government had seen fit to put small gates, the walls split allowing continued passage.

Their view of the departing caravan, through the main gate, remained unchanged. Barely a ripple of reaction could be seen from them, as if they had been expecting this all along.

Even Lucifer, in that moment, felt a sliver of fear. Was this the type of world this was becoming…?

***

Congratulations! You have created an Inspired Wall of Thorns. Rampart of Thorns has been created.

Congratulations, Wall of Thorns has increased to Lvl 6.

Congratulations, Wall of Thorns has increased to Lvl 7.

Warning, all mana has been depleted. Mana will not regenerate for 24 hours.