Chapter 606 (2/2)

“Fine,” Randidly said shortly. Honestly, even these flurry of attacks weren’t turning the tide. There were simply too many Wights in the air.

But there was one way that it had changed the course of the battle: the entirety of one of the Hosts was swarming towards Randidly’s position, drawn by the eye-catching Incinerating Bolts that were killing the Wight’s companions. Randidly spared them one last glance that was something like amusement before he crouched down and began to produce ingots and hammer out more tower shields. It would take more than this Psychic Poison to shake his men holding up shields. They would need-

The Witch King screamed loud enough to penetrate through Randidly’s aura of Silence, and Randidly grimaced. Yes, they would need to bring the fight to the wall. Above them, the Wights began to descend and held up their hands. Strange, elongated claws formed on their hands and they slashed threateningly as they fell from the side.

Randidly cursed just as a few of his men set aside their shields and the Wights pulled up at the last minute. The Wights behind them fired down Psychic Poison and the spear users went down groaning and swearing at whatever pain the poison inflicted.

“Shields up!” Randidly roared. “Shield one hand, spear the other! Only move to attack when they are close enough to be stabbed! They aren’t gonna fight fair, so don’t try to meet them.”

But then the Wights were all around, so many that they blotted out Randidly’s sense of the rest of the battle even with the Perception boost provided by the Crown of Yggdrasil; there were simply too many enemies to keep track of in the small area around him even for Randidly’s high Intelligence and Perception.

Half finished, Randidly handed off the shield he was working on and stood. The compelling reason for him to continue attacking the Wights he had missed by thinking strategically. On an individual basis, Randidly’s spells kept the Wights honest. They couldn’t just float above and bombard the spear users if they were being bombarded back.

With a light touch, Randidly leaped upwards amongst the Wights. Many pulled back, shocked by the abruptness of his rise. Soon, he was in the thick of them. Grinning, one Wight rushed forward and raised his Spectral Claws to rip at Randidly’s back.

Feeling slightly bored, Randidly lifted Acri and sliced the fool in half. Jesus, were the Wights just as bad as the spear users? Since he was up here, at least use your advantages to press-

And just as Randidly was thinking about it, several attacked him at once, flying at him from different directions. As he was simply sailing through the air, there wasn’t an easy way for him to dodge.

Not that he had to. Acri once again knocked the attacks of them all aside and wounded two of the attackers. That was when the group backed up and prepared to shoot Psychic Poison at him. Immediately, Randidly used Phantom Half Step several times and appeared near the largest group.

“Circle of Flame.”

As the explosion rocked the group and sent several Wights screaming from the sky, Randidly used Phantom Half Step on some of his men on the wall to pull himself back down to safety. It was a very Stamina intensive move that he had just used, but it would give the Wights something to think about and he wasn’t using the Stamina much anyway.

Humming to himself and considering the battle, Randidly drank another three Mana potions. The headache was growing worse. On the wall, at least in Randidly’s area, the fighting had moved into an awkward melee. Some Wights had descended and struck out with their Spectral Claws, but most still flew above and threw down Psychic Poison. The spear-users on the wall blocked as best as they could with the shields, but most were painfully awkward. They should be getting better, but-

Then Randidly froze. They wouldn’t get better. Without Aether, there would be no Skill development. Leaving them as actual amateurs, as opposed to the usual System empowered amateurs.

Growling, Randidly expelled an even larger cloud of Aether from his body. It was dissipating quickly, but it would hopefully give the fighters nearby a chance. That was all they needed to hold the lines until someone did-

A screech smashed against Randidly like a physical force, sending him stumbling. His crown trembled. At the last second, he activated Ashes to Ashes as a blur shot down at out the sky and hit the back of his neck.

The world froze slowly and grew cold. He became ash that dispersed and hissed as it ate into the diaphanous cloak around the large body that had attacked him. As he reformed, he considered his opponent gravely.

The Witch King. One of five in the Wight armies. Likely above even his own current Stats and Skills.

The smile grew like mold in darkness across Randidly’s face. It was about time he faced a challenge.