Chapter 670 (1/2)

Luckily, the Progenitor’s Influence had bought him the time. Unfortunately, that strength was clearly spent, and the Ashen Image was releasing a keening wail filled with vicious intent. There were grief and madness in the sound, but more than that…

...it was loneliness…?

Even if I was hated… that was still my source…!

Randidly blinked. Was the Ashen Image speaking…? Did it realize that the Patron of Ash was no more...? If so, Randidly had once again underestimated its intelligence.

I’ll...I’ll burn this all. Everything will be ash…!

The heat spiked upwards. Randidly swayed mentally. His Skills flickered, struggling to withstand the explosion of the Ashen Image’s power. It was hot and baleful. A doom for all that neared the ash. All would become ash.

With both the sickle and the gauntlet used, how could he persist…? On the strength of his images, Randidly had no illusions of overcoming the Ashen Image. Besides, his usage of Erode Image had taught Randidly how such a clash of images would often result in mutual destruction. If not facing it directly, then…

Caring and familiarity are the most important.

Skarch’s words once more grounded him. Because Randidly remembered a time where he had abruptly lost to Skarch in an image due. For some reason, his image just parted before Skarch. Afterward, she had laughed at him.

“Did you think it was only your own images that you could become familiar with? With enough exposure, you can become intimate with anything.”

Randidly felt a tingling in the back of the head. If this was the image that Ulaat formed at the beginning, then he knew its story. The Patron of Ash had given him the answer. A desperate hope to save the world. Frustration due to no one listening. Regret and fear, because of the destructive effects. Loneliness, because all else was burned away by the strength of the image.

“You…” Randidly said slowly in his Soulspace. To his surprise, the furious aura rolling off of the Ashen Image paused. But a second later, it redoubled in stubborn fury. But it was all the proof Randidly needed to try something.

Slowly, Randidly’s focus in his Soulskill moved forward. It formed a body in the space. Aether continued to rush through him without end to defend his Soulspace. The pain had turned into jagged bolts of lightning stabbing outward from his chest. It felt like he was drawing very deeply from Neveah’s Health in the wake of stopping the Patron of Ash from supporting him. Panic was rising in Randidly’s chest.

But he ignored it as he walked slowly towards the Ashen Image. Without stopping, he passed the line of defense of his most powerful Skills with the best images. Immediately, the pain seemed to cause fissures through his vision as everything began to shudder under the constant barrage of agony.

More notifications came up for Pain Resistance, Chosen of Fire, and Visualization, but Randidly ignored him. He was just happy that those Skills were still functioning.

Leave me alone! All of this… all of you… will be ash!

“I need help,” Randidly said simply.”I need strength.”

The Skills in the Kata of the Ashen spear began to vibrate.

I will help you do oblivion, the answer came quietly. It is all I can do for you.

“No, you can do more,” Randidly countered. Even in his mental form, he stumbled as he walked forward towards the Ashen image. It was a small thing, a tiny glowing ember burning brightly in Randidly’s Soulspace. Even now, Randidly couldn’t look at it directly. The terrible heat and light from it burned his mental vision. “You can save a world.”