Chapter 569 (1/2)

Randidly absolutely detested enemies with great Endurance. The three-headed ogre, for example. Such was that beast’s defense that all of Randidly’s spells combined, and a Mana pool of 9000, could only burn away the thing’s legs to the thighs. Perhaps with more focus that damage would be enough to kill the thing, but Randidly wasn’t so sure. Besides, it wouldn’t have been nearly as easy to damage if Randidly had attacked its chest cavity, for instance.

Enemies of that sort simply… ignored most damage. The spells landed, but the monsters continued on without showing much damage. Generally, these enemies had powerful but slow attacks, so they were less of a constant threat, but they were difficult to kill. Especially for Randidly, when his build was so general.

But enemies who relied on speed and poise? Randidly loved those.

With her exosuit glowing golden, Father Foster spun away from Randidly’s Talon Strike, opening up some space to fire her lightning bolts at him. Randidly dodged to the side, but he had grown to realize that there was a small homing function on them. As long as he was only a few inches to either side, the bolt would curve.

Obnoxious, but like all attacks from the quick enemies, Randidly was able to weather this with relatively few ill effects. There was a numbness, but it did not linger.

Randidly advanced towards Father Foster, who considered Randidly with narrowed eyes. She took another few steps backward and then lashed out with her left arm. The attachment on it shifted into something like a lightsaber, and it sizzled past Randidly’s arm. Heedless, Randidly continued forward, using a Roundhouse Kick to catch Father Foster as she tried to recover from the slash.

Gritting her teeth, Father Foster pushed the suit to its next level. The golden light coming from the suit shifted and turned sky blue. The half metal, half human body blurred, and Randidly was blown away as he activated the Wild Phantom’s Embrace. It was a version of Spear Phantom’s Embrace had been altered to suit Randidly much more specifically. The main change was that it was a less versatile Skill; when Randidly used it, he could not dodge afterward. It was entirely focused towards that Counter.

Crack!

Father Foster stumbled backward, the ground beneath her feet shattering as Randidly hit her with a Talon Strike. Just as the suit was falling back down towards gold, she revved it again, and the suit began to hum with blue light. She practically teleported behind him and Randidly was forced to raise both arms to block the enhanced ax kick she aimed at him.

All the while, even while Randidly was high on the thrill of fighting an opponent who reminded him distantly of sparring against Azriel all those months ago, he was in a state of partial shock.

Because of what Father Foster had said. Because of what it had meant. Because… because if what Father Foster was saying was true, Randidly had wasted weeks.

Wasted was perhaps a strong word, but...

Father Foster opened up some distance between them, her suit shifting back to gold. It was clear that she was not maintaining the superior blue state, where she could rival Randidly in speed and strength. It was unclear to the part of Randidly that was fighting whether this was a feint to draw him in or a physical limitation. Honestly, Randidly was annoyed he didn’t spend more time studying exosuits. In his mind, his power would rise too quickly for it to be worth it. But as he was now fighting against an exosuit that neared him in power… it might be worth some investigation.

Still, Randidly was done playing around. He had dueled Father Foster for almost two minutes now, and Dinesh’s messages were becoming increasingly pointed. More enemies continued to come. It was time to end this.

But…

Father Foster was suggesting that the Creature in this Zone had been killed. The strange insectoid that possessed a tangible whiff of the Creature’s Aether seemed to agree. But… but how…?

Early on in the fight, Father Foster had been talkative. But as time went on, she became increasingly grim. So Randidly took it upon himself to start the conversation again.

“You truly killed the Creature?” Randidly asked. He couldn’t help himself. He paused in his attack, staring at Father Foster.

The middle-aged woman was panting. Her eyes were darting around. She eyed the door, then the cylinder, then him. Without speaking, her suits sound changed. The humming became more chaotic, while the suit shifted to blue. Then as Randidly watched, the arm attachments continued further, becoming molten red.

Fine then, time to end this.

The Lava Golem rushed forward towards Father Foster. It hadn’t exactly been hidden during their brief contest, but it hadn’t been moving either. But Father Foster ignored it, raising her arms and pointing them both at Randidly. For a second there was nothing. Then a spark crossed between the two arms.

Immediately, Randidly used Phantom Half-Step on the Lava Golem and pulled himself to the side. Light flashed from Father Foster’s arms, so bright that Randidly was momentarily blinded. At that moment, the Lava Golem’s sense of touch came in very useful. It continued to charge and smashed Father Foster in her side.