Chapter 166 (2/2)

Because he had his own Aether spring that wasn’t the system approved source of Aether? But why-

It seemed however, that the Yeti was tired of Randidly’s lack of answer, and was determined to beat the answer out of him, if he had to. Which was becoming increasingly likely, as the chill worked its way deeper into Randidly’s body, even as his mana was directed… elsewhere.  As the Yeti began to stalk forward, and bulbs of ice formed behind Randidly, so close that at least one of them would blast him with its cold snap, slowing his movements even further, Randidly considered throwing away his Plan A.

But then a voice alleviated his worries.

“Yet again, foolish disciple, I find you without a spear.”

Randidly suppressed his grin, and said seriously. “I was just biding my time. Waiting for you to finish.”

Shal snorted, Randidly glanced at him. Although Shal appeared to be covered in blood, none of it seemed to be his; there were no wounds on his body. Behind him, the woman, Marco, and Teliph stood. Randidly didn’t need to ask what happened to the other man.

From the look in Shal’s eyes, Randidly also didn’t need to explain the mustached man’s absence; this level of casualties was expected. “Hmph, you have become dull from overtraining against weaklings. Since you were simply biding your time, you likely need no assistance to-”

“Obviously,” Randidly said with relish, finally activating the roots he had been so carefully controlling. The whole tower shook, and then chunks of it fell away as the roots Randidly had been working within the stone work wiggled back and forth, destroying the material that held the impenetrable material together.

The Yeti yelped as it fell down, the ground beneath it collapsing. Then it began to howl and roar. Not all of the tower collapsed, just large chunks of it, but the overall structure and shape stayed the same. After all, Randidly was worried about whether the portal would be maintained if he destroyed the tower. Plus, the core of the tower was made entirely of that material, and Randidly didn’t even know if he could destroy it. But he had certainly brainstormed this method to rid the upper floor of any obstacles.

Some parts of the floor seemed to be like a half built tower, where chunks of the material fell away after Randidly used his roots to destroy the mortar that held it together. The rest was relatively untouched, although Randidly destroyed most of the lower floors, causing the confused guards who were still on them, fighting against the mini-yetis, to crash into a heap at the bottom.

Randidly did his best not to think about how many of those men and women died during the fall, although it was becoming increasingly difficult to avoid feeling weighed down by their lives.

Unwilling to respond to Randidly’s small bragging as the Judgement was sent falling to the bottom of the tower, Shal simply walked forward with a snort. The others followed, although Teliph gave Randidly a strange glance. Sighing, Randidly followed. He felt suddenly very tired, and it wasn’t just the cold, although that still persisted, annoyingly.

They walked towards the center of the tower and swiftly found a few mini yetis, and the portal. But as they were approaching the flickering thing, the roaring from below grew louder. Shal gave Randidly a withering glance.

“Buy us some more time. If it follows us directly out, it might… complicate things.” Shal whispered shortly, as he led the rest of the group towards the portal. Almost unwilling, Randidly went back to the edge of an area where some of the masonry had fallen away to get a better view of the carnage below. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe getting rid of the Judgement was a good idea, but…

But when looked down through the hole in the upper layer, seeing how he had basically destroyed most of the floors, he could only think of the guards that he had killed. Randidly’s face tightened. Fucking, he knew… He knew this was necessary… He wanted the power that he could only get by walking this path…. So why was it so difficult to accept?!?!

The Yeti howled upward, finally done playing, finally displaying the full majesty of a Judgement. Bulbs of ice formed and bloomed all around it. Huge, draconic wings of ice stretched from its back. It bared its teeth at him as it raced upwards.

Fury filled Randidly’s chest, an urge to kill, but there was another part of himself, a part that had been asleep quite a bit for the past two years, but it was beginning to grow increasingly active, that just sighed; he was only angry because he was upset.

“Shut the fuck up.” Randidly whispered, his eyes narrowed. He raised his hand and shot several Incinerating Bolts downward. His training in that regard had paid dividends, because they managed to make it through the wave of cold surrounding the Yeti and punch holes in its dragon wings. Its flight path faltered, but then the creature bellowed, and the temperature seemed to immediately drop, as if in response to its call.

Randidly threw down 7 more incinerating bolts, ripping hole after hole through its wings, but with the boost of the cold, the ice reformed, and although Randidly’s attack had stopped it briefly, it now began to beat its wings and ascend upwards. It was only 2 floors away, and it reached out its hand, 5 ice bulbs shooting upwards.

“I said… Shut. The. Fuck. Up.” Randidly’s voice was cold, and his eyes burned emerald. He felt the power of Inspire fill him, and he used it to unleash a huge Incinerating Bolt that ripped downwards towards the Yeti.