Chapter 607 (1/2)

As Randidly grinned at his opponent, the thing grasped with its cold hands. Above him, a vicious claw condensed at such a speed that Randidly only had time to swear and throw himself backward before it crushed the spot where he was previously standing. The air shuddered and cracked with the force of the spell and the keening wail of the Witch King sent a tremor through Randidly’s crown.

It followed up with an equally quick thrust with its actual hand, and this proved much more difficult to deal with. Even as he shrugged to the side, a chunk of Randidly’s shoulder was ripped out by pearly claws. It wasn’t even the speed of the attack; what Randidly couldn’t catch was the movements of the creature underneath its diaphanous cloak

When a person attacked, that force came through the shoulders and elbow and finally the hands to thrust the weapon. With the Witch King, none of the joint movements prior to the final attack were visible. Randidly needed to react solely to the attack itself, without any forewarning.

And the Witch King was faster than he was.

To add insult to injury, just as Randidly was regaining his balance, one of the men under him rushed forward and physically body checked the Witch King. Or tried to. The Witch King slashed with its pearly claws and the shield and man behind it were split like butter. Then it raised its head and screamed.

A wave of Psychic Poison exploded outward and knocked Randidly and a few other spear-users nearby were knocked backward. With the cleared out area, more and more Wights landed and began to run forward to flank the other defenders on the wall while their compatriots continued to bombard from above.

Scanning the broken remnants of the defenders, the Witch King hummed in contentment. His gaze lingered on Randidly for a split second, but then it turned away and began to float upwards.

Even as Randidly’s body hit the ground and he felt the wooden battlements beneath him crack, he snarled and pointed. From the wooden base beneath them, dozens of spikes shot upward, impaling the newly arrived attackers. They screamed in agony, and Randidly blazed in denial with his Crown of Upheaval and Silence.

But then he faltered, as something strange began to grow in his chest. It was self-doubt and existential dread, it was the pain of constant struggle to survive in a world that didn’t care about you. It was the surety that there would always be someone stronger, someone more capable, and the people that had chosen Randidly as their defender would die disappointed.

It was, a part of him whispered, the Psychic Poison. His skin began to twitch, and then boil as the whispers grew more and more insistent. But as his body almost mechanically got Randidly back to his feet, his eyes blazed emerald.

“You will be silent,” Randidly hissed, and the voices cracked and were broken. Then burning along his skin continued, but he ignored that as he doubled down on the slaughter of the invading Wights. Barely five seconds had passed since the Witch King descended upon this portion of the defenses, but Randidly’ squad was completely scattered and isolated. A few struggled valiantly to both defend against those attacks from above and the harrying blows from the Wights that had landed on the wall. But he watched three fall as he straightened.

No more.

The vines were more than enough to break the bodies of the Wights that were pouncing downwards. Although their attacks were sharp, their bodies were brittle and broke easily. Those spear users that were still upright quickly spotted what was going on and moved to surround Randidly. But with a sharp gesture, he sent them back to man the wall.

Because 20 meters away, the Witch King removed his claw from the chest of the salt-and-pepper hair man who had brought the reinforcements and turned to glare at Randidly. There were dozens of Wights screeching and flying in between the two, but their gazes locked.

Just to see what happened, Randidly shot an Incinerating Bolt at the Witch King’s face. It waved its hand and shattered the magical bolt.

Well, it was worth a try.

Just as Randidly’s Perception was slowly starting to spread outward and account for a larger portion of the battlefield, the Witch King charged at him and once more his entire focus narrowed. This opponent was stronger than him, and not just a little. If he hadn’t had a move like Ashes to Ashes to avoid that first blow…

This time, the Witch King flicked its claw and Randidly felt the space around him condense and then wrench him. There was a force there, and once more Randidly found himself thrown backward with nothing he could do. One of his ribs popped painfully and the force of the strange Skill threw him off of the edge of the battlements.