Chapter 265 (2/2)

With a sickening crack, the head of Randidly’s obsidian spear shattered, and Randidly was thrown backwards, where he crashed into a building. The wall cracked and caved in slightly, and Randidly’s spine groaned painfully. Little needles of numbness ran through his arms and legs, especially present in his extremities.

“Holy fuck,” Randidly swore, a real fear rising in him. Already, he could feel his regeneration kicking in, trying to fix the problem, but a spine injury… he had healed through a lot since the System arrived, so he had considered himself largely invulnerable. But paralysis…. Could that be healed through? He hadn’t seen any real handicapped people in Shal’s world, aside from those people missing limbs…

The three assailants approached, spears raised. Randidly’s hands tightened to fists, and although the spear had shattered, Randidly was surprised to find that he was still holding something. It was still a spear, likely the “spine” of the obsidian spear that Randidly had been using previously.

They were taking their sweet time now that they had hit him and seen his weapon break, sidling forward, so Randidly shifted his grip, brushing away the broken obsidian shards, which glowed with a strange strength. Spine was an appropriate term for this spear, because it was long, yellowed with age, and made of smooth bone. Swirls of Engravings covered its surface, and for several long seconds Randidly got lost in the craft of it. The mastery in the strokes… the subtleties of the mana application…

Black Spear raised his namesake and pointed it at Randidly. “Die.”

“Inspiration. Circle of Flame.”

The world turned into an explosive inferno. The destructive force was compounded by the fact that directly behind him was the resilient stone home, so most of the powerful flames rebounded and went forward, left, right, or up. All of these directions being the standing locations of the assailants.

All three were sent flying, the heat and sudden explosive power burning away their robes and flinging their bodies back. As all the mana drained out of Randidly, he sighed, feeling profoundly tired. No rest for the wicked. And there was no telling whether that would be a finishing blow, even though they all seemed to have low Resistance, so it was probably better to run-

“You fucking bug.”

Black Spear staggered forward, his cloak burnt away, revealing a surprisingly young man with short, orange hair. Most of his leather armor had been charred and blackened, and to Randidly’s amusement, his boots had been burnt to ash, leaving only bare feet behind. But… it was also extremely discouraging, because several of the nearby houses had collapsed backwards from the force of the explosion. It looked like Black Spear’s armor had quite a few intricate Engravings that he could no longer make use of, but otherwise…

He had survived, his battle strength intact. The other two also staggered upwards from piles of rubble, but seemed largely weakened and winded, unable to participate as directly as they had previously. Both of these two had orange hair of varying lengths as well. It seemed like they were family members.

“I’ll squish you and grind your bones into flour, bake you, and have your loved ones use your remains to break their fast.” Black Spear said through gritted teeth. Randidly wished him luck in that endeavor, almost bitterly. He would be hard pressed to find someone who could be considered a “loved one”. Although he was close with Shal, they had been estranged, especially recently. Divvet was like a kindly uncle.

Marco Polo… Randidly frowned. Honestly, Marco Polo had disappeared while they were heading to Deardun, and he hadn’t ever given it a thought. Hadn’t he stayed after the others left…?

But Randidly was forced back into the moment at hand as Black Spear began to stomp forward, his eyes bulging with fury. Randidly looked at the pure, slender bone spear in his hands, checking the balance of it. Honestly… it felt perfect. Better by far than the bulky obsidian spear, although a lot of the power and weight had gone. It just… felt like…

It would be the type of spear used by a Phantom. There was a jet black stone set right below the blade that drew the eye, and was the only blemish on the bone surface. Randidly’s mouth twitched. When he returned to Donnyton, how would Sam react to seeing a bone spear done so well.

“Don’t you fucking ignore-” Black Spear began, but he was interrupted.

“Randidly, you are late. How long were you going to make me wait?” A voice asked, and Azriel strolled forward out from behind a ruined building, spinning her needle idly. “If trash like this push you hard, well…. Maybe my hopes in you are misplaced.”

Randidly winced. “It’s been a long day, alright? Just give me a hand.”

“You need not ask; these are foreigners.” Azriel said crisply. “And they will be delivered back to the Central Region with our condolences.”