Chapter 135 (1/2)

Tartet and Dian glanced at each other warily. Although both didn’t want the other’s help, both knew that Randidly’s spells gave him an edge that was hard to overcome with pure spear work. As such, if they didn’t work together, it was highly possible that Randidly could overwhelm them from attacks from too many directions, and eliminate them. But they also didn’t want to take any concerted actions to stop it.

Randidly casually walked forward, waving his spear, unwilling to give them much time to work out their plan. A hole sprung up in the middle of the stage, large enough for a child to crawl into. And out of that, a dozen Root Spiders crawled out, skittering over the ground. Both Dian and Tartet gaped, unsure of what they were seeing.

Although he had wanted the Pollen of the Rafflesia plan to work, Randidly had never held out much hope. So he had been hollowing out a small area underneath the stage in the meantime, his two opponents suspecting nothing as he drank mana potion after mana potion, and began summoning Root Spiders.

The strange creatures began skittering towards Dian and Tartet, and both raised their spears, ready to meet them. Although they didn’t recognize them, they did have some sense of their strength, and they were only distracting, as always, the true threat lay with Randidly.

Randidly continued to stalk forward, walking closer to the two of them. The Root spiders circled around them, threatening, but not moving. His two opponents exchanged a glance.

Which was exactly what Randidly was waiting for.

The ground underneath Tartet erupted, thick roots springing out to drag him down, into the ground. Tartet cursed and struggled, his two vibrating spears ripping through the roots, but he still toppled forward from his initial momentum, falling into the hole, which was tightly packed with more Root Spiders. They leaped at him, showing their teeth.

Randidly turned his eyes to Dian. That trap would hold Tartet for a time, but wouldn’t be able to kill him. But once Dian was out of the picture…

Accelerating forward, Randidly ran, his Root Spiders leaping behind him. Her eyes sparkling, Dian raised her whip spear and swiped forward, the weapon extending and slashing outward. Without missing a beat Randidly sidestepped, and his spiders leapt over the strike.

Her face flushing, Dian lashed out more. But just like his Roots hadn’t worked on her, now that Randidly had seen her use the weapon, it was rather easy to avoid at this range. The true danger was when it was in close quarters, and a stray attack could break the skin and once more spread that poison throughout his body.

The potions and his own resiliency had been able to drive away most of the effects, but there was still a strange stiffness to him, that he wasn’t able to shake. His body could eliminate it well enough to run, but there appeared to be some residue.

So he had a vested interest in staying as far as possible from additional damage from those strikes. And as Randidly rushed closer, he hoped that his Spear Phantom’s Footwork was enough to keep the distance he needed to avoid those attacks.

Dian kept throwing strikes forward, but Randidly moved between them, and the Root Spiders came close enough to start leaping at her. Cursing, she stumbled backwards, slicing them away.

Randidly took advantage of the distraction and arrived before her, using Haste, Empower, and Mana Strengthening to push his Spear Phantom’s Footwork to a frightening level of efficacy. Raising his spear, Randidly aimed for the shoulder she used to hold her spear whip and used Phantom Thrust.

Her reactions, however, were still top notch. She spun away, losing a tuft of her already short hair as she ducked and twisted through Randidly’s follow up attacked. She raised her spear whip, but he wasn’t about to give her a chance to use it. While summoning Spearing Roots to attack her legs from behind, Randidly used Phantom Onslaught, unleashing thrust after thrust. If she refused to succumb to the precision stuff, better to drown her while he had her on her heels.

But she continued to surprise him. Twisting her feet in a weird way, she hopped a few inches off the ground, stepping on his Spearing Roots, using them to vault over his head and flip to safety.

Even so, she only had a brief second of respite before Randidly arrived, using Phantom Onslaught again. But her move had given her enough room to bring around her spear whip, and she was currently out of the range of the Root Spiders, so she was able to defend against his attack.

Or at least most of it. Perhaps if it was the only move, she would have survived without a scratch. But it had been refined through the clash with Tartet, and several of his thrusts during the Onslaught ripped large gashes in her shoulders and torso.

Gasping, she stumbled backwards, her eyes flashing. With gritted teeth, she said. “You-”

“Circle of Flame.”

A blast of fire expanded outwards, cutting of her speech and sending her stumbling backwards. His eyes glittering, Randidly advanced, his spear raised. After three steps, however, a spear burst out of the ground, vibrating fiercely.

Randidly immediately sensed it and dodged to the side, but it ripped into his calf, severing several very important tendons. He hissed in annoyance. They would heal, but it would take a while

“You imbecile, did you think that was enough to give me pause?” Tartet asked, bursting out of the ground. His scowl seemed carved on his face, but as he glanced to the side, towards the fellow challenger, his eyes narrowed further, and the scowl dropped away, revealing…