Chapter 283 (2/2)

“I have never… this….” Drak couldn’t seem to reach a conclusion with his words, and just seemed to be spewing his fury. Slowly at first, but then with greater volume and intensity, the audience began to cheer, swelling to a deafening roar of approval, to see the poster child for the great Styles reduced to this by a spear user off the street.

It gave them hope.

“Shut the fuck up.” Drak growled, the audience finally giving him something to center himself on. A wave of oppression spread outwards from Drak, sweeping the whole arena. Randidly saw Aethon Thai’s face twist into something akin to shock as it hit him, staring at Drak.

For his part, Randidly felt very little from the wave of oppression. Or rather, perhaps he had just dealt with the effects of the giant sun for so long, that this lighter force wasn’t anything worth writing home about. But to everyone else, first experiencing it…

And Randidly had to admit that the scale of it was daunting…

Drak turned his burning eyes back to Randidly. “Fine, you win. I can understand somewhat why Azriel would use you. She wanted to see it, yes? The skill that gives me so much confidence. The skill with which I have never lost…. It is the first of the Skills of the Breaking Dawn Style, and the one I have spent the most time learning. Now… consider yourself lucky. It has been a long time since I was forced to use this.”

Randidly didn’t feel very lucky or vindicated. Because at the moment, he was distracted by a scrambling at his insides, as Lucretia continued to rummage around. Through their connection, he could feel her desperation.

How-

But then something clicked, and he had an idea.

Drak slowly began to walk forward. “Dawn’s Warm Glow.”

Light surrounded Drak, suffusing his body. Instantly, his wounds seemed to bother him less, and he moved faster, beginning to trot meaningfully towards Randidly.

Randidly opened up his Soul Skill, allowing Lucretia to reach in. This needed to be done perfectly. He needed to outmatch her without letting her damage the Soul Skill…

Inwardly, a deep monster smiled. There was… a possibility. A gamble, which would remove some of his versatility, but…

The thought of it filled Randidly with a wild joy. What was battle without struggle?

Inspiration. Superiority.

The skills twined together and he felt something… shift. Just a little, but there was now a confidence inside of him, at his core, that would never shake. Randidly could never fail. He needed three things. A gift, a plan, and a seal. The gift was easy.

Randidly reached into his soul skill, and felt the state of things. Instantly, he implicitly understood the great war that had occurred there, and the man who was offering his life for peace. Randidly picked him up, and filled his body with Aether, using that Aether to project him at Lucretia’s location.

But to maintain that connection, that balance, something else was needed. Through the connection between them, Randidly pulled, drawing meaning from Lucretia. Thoughts, memories, feelings, techniques, images… everything.

He pulled and pulled. Somehow, the weight of fate settled behind him, drawing Lucretia through the hole into his Soul Skill. It was a gradual process, but soon…

But even as he did that, Randidly felt Lucretia’s influence, find its bearings, curious and scared, but not injured from the transfer. Slowly, it began to explore Randidly’s Soul Skill.

Which was undesirable. Gritting his teeth, Randidly made the spear that was Lucretia’s second gift to Aemont slide into himself, going through is body and into his Soul Skill, picking up speed. Because of their connection, Randidly pressed, forcing it forward. The Soul Skill buckled somewhat at this, and Randidly felt a splitting white pain in his body, but he continued to press.

The Spear descended, spearing through the barrier of the Soul Skill, sliding, shrinking, impaling Lucretia’s meaning, before it spread too far. It shrieked, and struggled, but the spear sunk into the ground, binding that insidious meaning still, at least for now.

Randidly opened his eyes, looking at the glowing figure walking towards him. Lucretia would be slowly drawn into him, sealed within his Soul Skill by that spear. But… that did leave him without a weapon.

Randidly cracked his knuckles. Somehow, he didn’t believe it would be a problem.