Chapter 667 (2/2)

Randidly slowly spun, seeing the familiar ashen and lava covered world where the Patron of Ash lived. Finally, he spun all the way around and was looking at the Patron, who still held that tiny ember in his hand. Such was the heat from the ember that Randidly felt like he was being consumed from the inside out by a fire.

“Thank you for telling me,” Randidly said with a sigh. The pain was approaching unbearable, but he pushed that aside for now. He didn’t think the Patron of Ash would take kindly to a show of weakness.

Instead, he thought about his own choices. He had taken up a heavy mantle when he had decided to act more like a liege for Earth. It was a heavy responsibility, but he felt the world needed the power he could offer. It wasn’t difficult to see the parallels. But Randidly’s actions hadn’t, yet, had the same disastrous effect.

The Patron of Ash gestured dismissively with the hand that wasn’t holding onto the ember. “Your emotions are meaningless. Like my existence, my reactions have calcified. This is meaningless to me. You are a piece that I have raised for this purpose. Now, I simply must ask: will you take this burden from me?”

“...and if I refuse?” Randidly said slowly, looking solemnly at the Patron of Ash. In response, the Patron only smiled.

Sighing, Randidly tried a different tack. “Then what is the third secret.”

“You do not yet have the right to know,” the Patron of Ash rumbled. Now that they were once more in his world, lava and ash began to flow upwards and form a huge face around his constantly disintegrating body. That face expanded until it was the size of a large building, while eyes that cried tears of lava. “And here we are. You must make a decision, without knowing either of the consequences. Such is the lot in life when you choose the Path of the Fool.”

Randidly felt bitter, but mostly because it was difficult to deny that he had done some foolish things in his time. His rebellion against the creature, choosing the Patron of Ash at all, assembling his own Soul Skill, destroying a Skill because it exerted a strange influence over him…

Above all, Randidly had slowly realized that he was a very instinctual person. To follow his instincts could be of great benefit to him in some situations, but now he was faced with the inevitable eventuality of that path: a decision you know could burn you both ways.

Could he have avoided this…? Perhaps.

Out of habit, Randidly reached for his Skills, then smiled bitterly. His immediate instinct was to attempt to use Inspiration with Erode Image to weaken that powerful image of ash. That might change something. But, cut off from his Skills… Which was especially annoying, as the heat was starting to approach the point that he wouldn’t be able to hide the damage it was doing to him from the Patron. Fuck, to think being near the image of ash would be this painful.

That thought sharpened Randidly’s eyes. In a demanding voice, he asked, “Why can’t I use my Skills?”

“It is part of the power I possess.” The Patron of Ash rumbled. “Make your choice boy.”

“Make a choice…? You were never this soft-hearted, even when I came here. From the beginning, you were trying to kill me. Do you really expect me to believe I can say no without any consequences-”

For the second time in this discussion, Randidly froze.

“Oh fuck, it's worse than that isn’t it. All of this… it was just buying time to see how it would play out.” The pain in his chest made his vision swim. Randidly was on fire. Everything was burning away, even his consciousness. “There was never a choice; you have already placed that bit of ash inside of me.”

Loud and booming, the Patron of Ash laughed as the illusion that had covered them cracked and shattered.