Chapter 709 (2/2)
Randidly grinned. This was a mistake.
Utilizing his high Control, he brought more and more plants from different directions to attack at Helen’s back. In that first two seconds, Randidly was surprised at her ability to cope. She was a literal walking lawn mower, making short work of all of the stabbing and binding plant life that surrounded her. What perhaps surprised Randidly most of all was how she was able to manage this with a spear. It just wasn’t the sort of weapon that was best used in slashing attack, and yet she was making it look like a machete in the tall grass.
But she couldn’t overcome stats. By the fifth second of being assaulted by the plants, her momentum had stalled out. The roots lashed and slashed until Helen strumbled, her wounded legs finally giving out. As she went down, the roots rushed to smother her, and Randidly felt vaguely disappointed in his heart.
For a while, something was building within him with the cold imagery, but with this…
More than that though, Randidly had been very circumspect in the ways he had been fighting. In the corner of his mind, he had known that this was a method that would likely win: the power of his Grasp of the World Seed was just too powerful. It could overwhelm anything a single person with a spear could do. But… perhaps what he had been looking for, both in the cool image and in the fight against Helen, he had been looking for an answer to the question of inner balance.
He had not found it.
Sighing, Randidly turned away from the sea of plant life crushing Helen to the ground and turned to the Referee to concede.
“...Not….. yet…..!”
There was a dull roar and Randidly turned back around. The air around Helen was filled with visible red currents of blood. Her eyes were almost completely red, and the surging of her Skill caused her hair to flutter behind her body. Her chest was heaving as she glared at Randidly. Rather than Skill, she was using just a flood of energy to blast away the nearby plants.
Randidly lifted his head, his eyes flashing. The Crown of Cataclysm and Gloom pulsed once more with power.
“Then come,” Randidly said, pouring more Mana into the surrounding plants. The swelled to twice their original size and were now as thick around as a human thigh, waving back and forth threateningly. Growling, Helen rushed forward, exploding outward with a wave of energy.
Randidly grinned. He could feel her pulling deeply from the Aether connection she had to him. She must be developing a Skill at this very moment or was fueling a new Skill. Either way, he welcomed the challenge. In his heart, all he felt was the cold. Any sort of thrill would be desirable. As of yet, Randidly hadn’t been able to prove to himself he should be beyond this. Hopefully, this would be the chance he needed.
In a way, he felt like he had all the pieces, he just needed to bring them together. But that was easier said than done. Stats, Skill Level, and image all needed to combine to form something greater than the sum of their parts. For that, he needed a challenger.
Helen howled in fury as she encountered the increased resistance from the plants. “IS THIS ALL YOU CAN MANAGE?!? HIDING BEHIND YOUR PLANTS?!?! WHY WON’T YOU FACE ME?”
Randidly said nothing, but his heart trembled slightly. There was something about her voice… somehow, Randidly sensed that the conversation topic had shifted beyond the match and the concession. And as such, his grim pleasure slowly faded away, leaving him with just the dull ache of his scratches and bruises. And, of course, the cold.
“Just be honest,” Helen said between deep gasps of air. But her spear was barely visible. It was a blurred force that ripped back and forth, clearing wide swaths of plants. It was impressive, even as Randidly felt a sinking feeling in his chest.
The audience seemed to sense the same thing too, and their cheers slowly drained away, as if someone had pulled a plug underneath the arena. With the silence and the coldness, Randidly’s enthusiasm for striking with the plants abated. Soon, there was a clear path between them.
Helen’s footsteps were loud as she walked toward Randidly.
“Confirmation means something,” Helen said as she lowered her spear at Randidly. “A promise means something.”
Helplessly, Randidly looked at Helen. Then he sighed. Something clicked in his head. For Helen, this wasn’t about the tournament, really. It was about fighting against the eventuality that Randidly would need to leave again. That his strength meant that he would be needed for greater things.
That they would never have another night to share a moment of passion. That their dinner date could never mean anything.
To that question, Randidly was rather helpless. They were from different Cohorts. Randidly wasn’t even sure what exactly that meant, but he knew that it was something that created an inherent distance between them. Was it something they could overcome? With Randidly’s Skills, there was little doubt they could find a way. But was that a path Randidly wanted to pursue?
He didn’t know.
Or maybe he did, but he remembered how they had fit together in that violent moment where he had needed to find peace. Maybe that memory of heat had meant that he had been unwilling to admit to himself that she was not a priority in his life, even as he given lip service to the fact that she would be more than a friend.
But passion had cooled. And what remained was…
Randidly froze, his eyes widening. What remained was… ash. Just… ash that had existed for a long time. And grew increasingly cold.
His eyes glowed emerald and a chill breeze crossed the arena.