Chapter 249 (2/2)

Randidly took another step forward, even as the ground sunk beneath him. The heat continued to rise, slamming back against his body, going beyond its previous levels. In his body, the weakness was systemic, and he could barely continue. So he leaned forward, and just let his momentum carry him.

If the only way forward was to become ash… so be it. Because he refused to back down.

Only 1 meter away, Randidly just leaned forward, stretching his arm out, as he slowly began to fall towards it, his hand reaching. His skin, then his muscles and tendons, caught fire and burned away, and a vicious, insane pain ripped up his arm. But Randidly couldn’t stop now.

Still, when he tried to control his arm to grab the sphere, there was no response; the physical necessities for movement had burnt away. So he simply fell forward slowly.

This his eyes began to glow emerald.

This streams of blood, protected by a dense layer of Battle Intent, ran up his arms, taking the bones of his hand and wrapping around them. His head throbbing, Randidly continued to force forward with his will, pressing and pressing, and the blood hurried, wrapping more and more completely around his hand.

At the same time, the pain in his head grew more deadening, causing the edges of his vision to blur. And the Battle Intent around the blood, controlling his hand…

But he reached, disregarding all else. If Sydney was alive… if Ace was alive…

He would pay the debts he owed to people here, and then return to Earth. For now, at least Sydney seemed fine, although the fact she was consorting with skeletons…

As with all things, to accomplish his goals, he needed strength, more and more. Because hanging over Earth was still the Calamity. If they had lived this long, he wasn’t letting some monster of the System end their lives.

Stretching, Randidly’s hand extended, and his hand….

…..

Above, the Patron of Ash watched silently, as the hand landed on the sphere, and a wave of burning heat exploded outward, a heat far beyond what it had previously released, annihilating the boys flesh, and leaving only the bones. As the Patron watched, the bones fell a bit, but were then engulfed by a strange burning energy.

Humans, it thought, were profoundly strange creatures.

The crimson glass cracked, and most of the black liquid dropped back into the earth, burning its way to the core, but a small drop hovered there, then began to float towards the bones. It split up into innumerable smaller drops, and then spread out, going to each bone, piercing in and settling in the marrow. The bones very rapidly began smoking, their color changing to a dull, deep grey.

But… that didn’t mean they were unlikable.

Blink.

Randidly started awake, sitting up promptly vomiting. Grimacing, Randidly straightened after his body was cleansed, and then the trembling started, resisting his every attempt to control. Very soon, he was seizing on the ground, his whole body burning. His whole body… no… the pain was concentrated in the bones, slowly spreading out in waves, flooding his whole body.

He reached for his Aether, and began to rotate it, resisting the pain, but it seemed like there was nothing to fight against the pain in his body. So he could only lay back and allow the strange spasms and pains to continued, gritting his teeth.

The last he remembered, he was on the final ring, reaching for the sphere. Did this mean he had touched it, or…? Was this some strange backlash for failing to pass the test and become an Anointed of Ash.

But his worries were unfounded. After around 10 minutes, the strange pain tapered off, although the heat in his body continued, if anything, growing stronger. After he could control his body, Randidly straightened, sighing, and was met with several notifications.