Chapter 240 (2/2)

“...I don’t think anything comes to mind.” Randidly said mildly. “Which brings us to my real question… after speaking like this, what do you intend to do in regards to our match today?”

Dian was silent for a long second. Then she said. “Are you sure you don’t have anything to tell me about Shal’s behavior?”

Randidly’s smile curled upward. His mana flowed outward naturally. There was nothing for him to say to her.

“...I see.” Dian said finally. “If you choose this path… I don’t believe there will even need to be a match today. Right here-”

Randidly controlled the roots he was connected to, flexing slightly. As he destroyed the path of energy flowing through the runes, they flickered and died, throwing them into darkness. Instantly, Randidly activated Spear Phantom’s Embrace and moved smoothly backwards and out into the tunnel.

Dian’s shout seemed more distraught than angry, and she didn’t appear to pursue him. After gaining some distance, Randidly stopped and looked at the dark doorway.

“Wait.” Dian said plaintively, and Randidly summoned his spear, pointing it towards the doorway, but staying still. In the doorway, nothing moved, which if anything, made Randidly more cautious.

But Dian was apparently being honest, because she calmly walked out through the dark doorway, unarmed. “If you insist, we can fight on the platform, but I will defeat you. My instructions were very clear. Investigate Shal’s behavior, watch for Lucretia, and prevent the Spear Phantom Style from maintaining its rank. I cannot let you win here and enter the top 8.”

Randidly frowned. “That seems rather petty. Dishonoring a Style just because they are cursed.”

“Aemont brought it upon himself and his ilk by consorting with Lucretia.” Dian snapped, her eyes burning. But there did seem to be some hesitation about her, as if she understood how insisting on this would run counter to Randidly, and make him unwilling to help her. But she likely didn’t understand how THIS and only this had been his goal the past two years and had all been leading to this one victory.

Make the top 8. Preserve the prestige of the Spear Phantom Style for another generation. This was what it had been all about. The long days, the exhaustion, the wounds, the vicious battles and fights… it was all for this.

Randidly tried to control his rising temper at the thought of Dian taking the moral high ground. Well, it didn’t matter. He would crush her, one way or another. If anything, his talk today didn’t change much but make their rivalry more simple. There wasn’t any complex master-rivalry between them, making Randidly hesitate. This was a person whose stated goal was to prevent Randidly’s stated goal. Someone he would grind to dust.

As he turned away, Dian spoke again. “Please. You don’t understand the danger that Shal is exposed to. For a long time, he has been the hope of our-”

“But you put a geas on him to alter his mind,” Randidly interjected. “You’ve controlled and monitored him without really talking to him about what he might represent. Is the prophecy about Shal being important to the Calamity even true? Or was it something one of the Central Styles made up in order to protect the son of one of their disciples?”

There was no answer from the darkness, so Randidly kept walking, feeling slightly sick to his stomach. Even if it was a combination of both motivations… That didn't justify their methods.

It took him some time, but Randidly found his way out through the tunnels and into the sun. It was warm, especially after the cool underground. With extreme care, Randidly breathed in, and then breathed out.

For the first time in a long time, Randidly felt motivated. Not just the determined motivation that he attacked most goals with, but Randidly was filled with a vicious surety that he would crush Dian. A pointless individual moving to the beat of someone else’s drum couldn’t defeat him, especially not now. At this moment, his emotions and Aether filled him, making him burn.

Still, Randidly would need to address the things she said eventually. Shal’s disappearance might not just be something that happens periodically, and in fact be related to something more troubling in relation to this woman who always seemed to make Shal insane. Lucretia.

It might be a gift from Lucretia.

And with the strange phenomenon that Bertarn spoke of… There were too many things going on at once. It gave Randidly a headache. So for now, time to focus on the goal directly in front of him.

Defeat Dian.