Chapter 638 (1/2)

Randidly felt the power of the Crown of Upheaval and Silence pulse with glee. It had been since the fight with the Witch King that he had last used it, and the warm rush of its power was a welcome addition to his fighting strength. With it active, the world seemed to slow to a manageable Level.

With a great effort, the Propagator puppet he had struck heaved itself back onto all fours. Its head twisted around, almost independent of its body, and the pale orbs of its eyes locked on Randidly.

Grimacing, Randidly looked down at his hands. While Azriel was slowly chipping her opponent to pieces with speed and Skill, Randidly had attempted to use the power of those bodies against the puppet to overpower it. It was… foolish, although admittedly a better plan than he had used against the Witch King.

KRRIIIIIIIIIIII!

The screech from the puppet was damaging, but Randidly ignored it and focused on his hands. Very rapidly, the numb pins and needles feeling was receding, leaving his hands once more in a whole condition. Acri buzzed with pressure and slithered down his arm to form the straight form of his spear once more. Randidly chuckled softly, feeling the glee of Acri. Although he didn’t obtain any experience from these strikes against the puppets and therefore couldn’t grow, it was the first time that the substance of Acri had really been tested.

This, finally, was a challenge to the intelligent spear.

Skarch was clearing an easy path through the Wights some distance away, but the remnants of those ranks were reforming and moving on to threaten Randidly. Snorting, Randidly spun Acri to test out the state of his hands. The puppet of the Propagator was straightening slowly, and before it could respond Randidly moved like a cold wind among the 20 or so nearby Wights.

One raised its arm and a ghastly claw condensed above it, but Randidly cut sharply left and avoiding its slash. He Countered with a stab the thrust Acri through the skull of the Wight, abruptly ending its life. Five bolts of Psychic Poison rushed at his back but Randidly used Phantom Half-Step to appear in the middle of the group.

Acri was like children’s laughter and temptation; it spread wildly and could kill gods.

These Wights were much less than that.

With a bounding leap, the Propagator's puppet rushed towards Randidly. There was a projected fury in its movements, but Randidly was all too aware of the gaze of that strange crystalline beetle that formed the true body of the Propagator.

Although he wasn’t sure of how it would work, it became clear to Randidly that this was the body that he needed to target with his Breath of the Spear Phantom Skill.

However, that strange body the beetle was walking on was slowly reforming. And every time Randidly tried to target the beetle, his focused slid strangely sideways towards the body.

The flesh of it was slowly regrowing, and the body regarded Randidly with bright eyes.

As the puppet crashed into the ground around Randidly, he rushed forward between its wide legs. Instantly, it spun on its hands, swiping at him. Randidly wasn’t sure if it was just his focus or the effect of the crown, but it was simple to weave through the thing's quick movements. Although it could reach a high top speed, it didn’t possess a great ability to change its direction easily.

It roared again, furious, and Randidly stopped underneath its legs and thrust upwards with Acri, using the Inevitable Phantom Arrives. The chilling form of Randidly’s mother floated behind him, its gaze locked on the puppet. With a huge crash, Randidly’s attack struck the puppet and chipped a huge piece off of its leg.

Within the next second, Randidly was forced to use When a Shadow Departs, Fireflies Dance to avoid the puppet when it simply dropped its body in an attempt to crush him. The fireflies wandered around and landed on the puppet, but Randidly was well aware that the damage that they could do to it was almost negligible.

Not that his damage appeared to be any better…

After a quick landing, Randidly hopped upwards to land on top of the puppet. Its body twisted as its arms folded back on themselves to grab at him, but Randidly ignored it and slashed Acri down at the body of the puppet. Just scratches emerged, however. Although it wasn’t surprising, it was somewhat frustrating that Randidly had no real way to inflict damage on this thing, especially with his Mana depleted.

It was perhaps foolish, but Randidly couldn’t fault himself for unleashing his Skill immediately upon sensing where the mass of Aether was centered. After all, how could he know that the thing would fucking live through it without a scratch? Although he had burnt off that host's body’s bottom half, as Randidly watched…

It was growing back.

The hands smashed into the location where Randidly just was, causing the puppet to howl again. Randidly’s eye narrowed as he landed on the ground and looked around. It seemed the puppet couldn’t utilize its large sonic burst unless it was standing, which was at least something-