Chapter 281 (1/2)

Randidly pressed his own Aether into the spear, banishing the murky Aether he gathered from Drak and reclaiming some of the frustration and rage that Randidly had sacrificed to suck it out of his opponent. Although it was just a small cut in the hand, it was enough for the strange rune to act on that small wound.

Drak blinked, and then slowly looked up to stare solemnly at Randidly. Then his eyes turned ugly.

“You…. are a Devourer. A Heretic.”

Randidly said nothing, although he couldn’t help but shift uncomfortably at how familiar Drak was with the term. More than that though, Randidly couldn’t deny that in this case, he had purposefully sucked Aether out of his opponent as a way to get an advantage.

Even though he had clearly heard, and the crowd was murmuring, the referee said nothing. Which was all the signal Randidly needed.

Another hot barbed wire jab of Anguish went out, making the already trembling Drak flinch. For his part, Randidly made Spearing Roots smash Drak forward, towards him.

Which, he suddenly realized, was a mistake.

Because although he had now a deep Aether debt to pay, Drak was clearly very willing to dig himself deeper.

Not only was Drak moving at a speed that Randidly was hard pressed to follow when he was caught flat footed, he also simply punched Randidly, rolling forward from his crouch and knocking Randidly flat.

The spear followed, silent, the real threat. Randidly could feel it in the air, but was off his balance from the brutally strong punch.

Gritting his teeth, Randidly felt his world go grey. Silence spread. The spear pierced through his chest, killing him.

Ash to Ash.

As the other body disintegrated, another body formed, unfortunately still with a useless right arm. But he was behind his opponent. The world was strange too, strange connections and densities. It seemed that the audience had a palpable presence of heavy grey. Drak was thick and viscous too, colors and distortions flitting around him in this strange world.

To conserve his mana, Randidly let the effect drop and raised his hand, holding the spear and driving it into Drak’s side. One more good syphon of the Aether, and-

“That’s enough.”

Instincts kicked in again, also from Azriel. He was throwing himself backwards out of the line of the attack. It was instantaneous, so much so that some part of Randidly knew that it must have been a skill, splitting the air to aim for Randidly’s vulnerable neck.

Even afterwards, Drak didn’t stop, and Randidly’s eyes narrowed as he retreated farther, missing the tip of his left pinky. Just a small bit of flesh, too slow to avoid Drak’s retaliation.

A skill was good news, for the depletion plan. But there was also bad news. Because Randidly had felt the spear cut Drak as he dropped it, avoiding the first strike. The continued connection, growing stronger each time he used it, let him syphon Aether again, albeit more weakly without the physical contact with the spear.

But Randidly had acted quickly, and got a fair chunk of Aether from the wound. Only to find…

The Aether was different now. Thicker, and more familiar.

His Aether. Or…

Aether that he had gifted to another, regifted.

Drak straightened, the energy running through his body, making him glow slightly, his strong, blunt features almost disappointed as he looked at Randidly.