Chapter 259 (2/2)

Crack.

Randidly froze, abruptly aghast. The crack… came from his spear…? And sure enough, as he glanced quickly at the spear as he removed it from the ground, the obsidian had dozens of spider lace thin cracks running around the upper part of the shaft, right above the portion that thad been sunk into the ground.

But then Randidly moved his eyes forward, because it seemed serviceable, at least for now. And Ciel looked, slightly haggard, seemingly drained from her previous move, open.

Randidly’s grin stretched wide as he rushed forward, raising the cracked spear. He couldn’t breathe, and it felt like most parts of his body were bruised, but that was all to give Randidly this moment. Fights were not easy. They were simple, but hard, which was very very different.

And that was why they were worth giving your all to, and worth winning.

But Ciel’s face simply tightened, as if she were prepared for this eventuality. Her hands, which were still holding the spear aloft after her previous wave of force, twisted, repositioning herself, but Randidly was moving forward with Haste, Empower, and Mana Strengthening, so she had no hope of bringing her spear around for any sort of defensive posture. She would have to-

“The Shrike Cries over a Barren Land!”

Again the spear twirled around so quickly that it was impossible to follow with the human eye, and once more a wave of force ripped outwards. Randidly’s pupils dilated. He was rushing full tilt towards Ciel already, and most of his mana was gone. Even if he had the mind to do his previous barricade again, he might not have time, he might not have mana, and he might not do it as well this time, because he had been taken by surprise.

There simply wasn’t enough time to do anything eloquent, or reasoned. So Randidly went with his gut on this one, and did the one thing he truly knew how to do: advance.

The only motion he could manage is straightening his spear into a horizontal position, pointing the large, obsidian tip forward. But before he activated his skill, Randidly closed his eyes and felt the Aether within him flow, that icy boiling steam ripping through his veins.

One thing he noticed from watching Ciel repeat this move twice was the acceleration of the spear spin was instantaneous. One moment it was still, the next it was full motion. There was a power in that, a power that was somewhat similar to his own Idiosyncratic Cut.

The second Randidly existed in was bisected again, and then again and again, until he had an infinite number of extremely tiny bits of time for his thoughts to flit back and forth, examining this image.

But hers did not manipulate time directly, like Randidly’s did. Instead, it seemed her sheer power overwhelmed time, warping it as it activated. A sudden blast of force so strong that the bounds of time were rattled, just for a few seconds. Chains loosened, although not cheated or broken.

Power Randidly had gained, especially in terms of image and will, over the last several weeks. What he hadn’t had was a focus to apply that power to. Now Randidly could see its shape. A way to rip through space and time with tyrannical power. To dominate reality, to purely rip through it.

At Randidly’s core, a strange heat began to emerge, burning hotter and hotter, a swirling, small drop of black tar that existed in his marrow, now vibrating with excitement. It spread and grew, his bones beginning to ache as their internal temperature rose. But with all the other aches and pains that were assailing his body, it was just another blip that was drown out by the feedback from his overworked nerves.

His pupils glowed orange, while the emerald in his eyes intensified even further, becoming lantern bright. His eyelids snapped open, and he found himself face to face with a wall of air that was distorted with force.

All he needed was a spark. An… ignition.

“The Spear Advances, Ash Trails.”