Chapter 459 (1/2)

Randidly rolled to the side and then was forced to perform a back handspring as Cyndra immediately adjusted, one of her knives slashing outward. Her blows were no joke, and he was barely healing enough to keep ahead of the accumulated damage he had received in those first two big blows, and glancing blows since.

Inside of him, all of his Yggdrasil Skills were working at full power, filling his Health, Mana, and Stamina pools, as well as aiding concentration. In addition, he focused the Righteous Indignation of Yggdrasil specifically hoping that it would slow Cyndra down.

No such luck, unfortunately. It truly seemed that she was powerfully resistant to different spells, which gave Randidly a headache. Although she hadn’t been specced specifically to shine in Endurance and Vitality, they still were about as high as his, just from the fact that she hadn’t destroyed herself, utilizing that huge amount of Strength she possessed. He didn’t have any proof, but he suspected it would be possible to raise one or two Stats so high that they became bound by other Stats.

For example, a high Agility being useless without increased Perception and Reaction, which was the thin space that Randidly was already using to slip by. At this point, Randidly was ready to move onto Plan B, but Lucretia assured him that Plan A was progressing well, so not to force it. But at this point, if something didn’t change soon-

Randidly threw up three Wall of Thorns, darting between them, also activating Twilight Manipulation to cover his hiding spot. Roaring with fury, Cyndra crushed through them, her eyes sharp-

Incoming, came Lucretia’s warning, and Randidly swore and produced his pistol, firing quickly hoping to catch some of the Creature’s probes. There were five this time, but as soon as Randidly moved, they leaped backward, as if they knew that he was going to fire immediately.

Suddenly dizzy, Randidly could only grit his teeth and pump out more Aether, some… vital part of him becoming increasingly weary. The strain of creating so much Aether, and having it destroyed, was beginning to wear on him.

The Creature laughed, amused, and Cyndra pursued him all the while, almost catching up to him, a knife swipe cutting just a few centimeters away from his wrist.

A surge of strength filled Randidly as he raised his spear and opened his mouth. “A Spear Advances, Ash-”

But as he began speaking, those fives probes rushed forward, like vipers, aiming for when both of his hands were occupied. Switching quickly, he produced the pistol again and fired. Luckily in this burning of Aether, he got two of the probes, but there was another, more grim realization; four more bullets.

Randidly hadn’t expected this portion of the fight to go on for so long.

In addition…

BOOM.

The room shook as a knife blow ripped a jagged gash in his Bone Cloak, cut through the meat of his thigh, and impacted the ground, shattering it. Luckily, the wound was relatively shallow, but by this point, his Bone Cloak was looking extremely tattered as if it was the castoff of a homeless necromancer, rather than the greatest equipment to come out of Donnyton.

Already, Randidly had noticed that some of the Stats were fading from it, although he couldn’t use menus to check the details of that. In addition, it was becoming harder and harder for Twilight Manipulation to be used effectively, so his plan of hiding and using Cyndra’s relatively lower Perception were hitting a dead end.

Feeling desperate, Randidly grimaced and said. “Call Grove Defenders: Control.”

There was a low rumbling in the ground, but Cyndra largely ignored it, raising her gaze to stare, as mild as ever at Randidly. Then she pressed her foot to the ground and shot towards him, advancing toward Randidly. Not willing to hold anything back, he activated Four Shaded Clockwork Domain, the two buffs for him, the two nerfs for her. In both cases, it was a small thing, a Skill he hadn’t had time to refine, but…

Every little bit helped.