Chapter 831 (2/2)

Randidly’s mouth pressed into a line. Instantly, he reached inside himself and gathered as much Aether as he could manage. If he wanted this to go smoothly, he would need to finish it quickly. A surprise attack was his best bet.

Besides, could Randidly stand up to Aegiant in a direct confrontation…?

“The quiet sort. I respect that about you.” Aegiant said, still speaking in a faux-conversation style that sent chills down Randidly’s spine, despite the heat. “My grandson was like that too, you know. Drak. You remember Drak? He was supposed to be a hero. The hero. For two hundred years, I put up with that damnable Spearman. I left everything I had, completely abandoning my previous Skills and images. I started from NOTHING.

“And I fucking did it. I created a series of images that didn’t have anything to do with a spear. It was all about the all-powerful sun in the sky. I even inspired the wave of changes in the Spearman School that saw it rise to prominence among the Schools.” Aegiant pointed his spear at Randidly. “And you… you walk in my son’s path and everything just turns to shit.”

There was an ugly expression on Aegiant’s face, so Randidly spoke quickly as he gathered Aether to himself and stockpiled Mana. On a sudden gut feeling, Randidly tried a brutally honest tact to buy time. “We both know it wasn’t my fault. Your son was weak; otherwise, he would never have been forced into that situation. He made a deal with a witch, and-”

“INSOLENCE.”

The ground rumbled in fear at the wave of rage that Aegiant released. The stone near him hissed as the moisture in the air was rapidly baked away, leaving it dry and hot and greedy. The nearby lava from the fountains seemed to burn even redder. With similarly crimson eyes, Aegiant regarded Randidly. “He was of my blood. He was not perfect, but he was mine. I understand that you are just a tiny figure in a world so broad you cannot imagine it. You were a talented youth that was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even I cannot deny that you possess an astounding talent. But you broke my kin. For that, I will break you.”

Looks like that didn’t work out quite as intended… Randidly reflected as he considered the figure before him. Randidly’s hands were tingling. He had briefly crossed blows with Versault, but the fact that Aegiant was the one who had come out of the portal…

And Versault hadn’t been serious. Aegiant was serious. And he was coming for his pound of flesh.

Aegiant and Randidly blurred into motion at the same moment. Aegiant’s spear was a fiery cascade of sunlight and vicious cosmic flares. The force of the light and heat melted the alabaster in the surrounding area after a second of exposure. The fountains twisted and toppled like sad wax figures. Spluttering, the lava dribbled down the sad of the destroyed fountains.

Randidly blinked. All was Ash. And since it was all ash, why did temperature matter?

It was a vicious wave of power that washed harmlessly through Randidly. Just as quickly, Randidly deactivated the Skill to conserve Mana and continued to rush toward Aegiant.

Aegiant showed his teeth. “Impossible. Truly, you are a delight. Fine then, let’s see how your spear work has improved.”

With the weight of a burning sun behind it, Aegiant thrust his spear forward toward Randidly’s chest. Cursing how quickly Aegiant responded, Randidly brought his spear up to meet it. As the Sun Stills. Let’s see if I can’t suck the wind out of your sails, just like I did to your grandson…

It was blinding, the sun that Aegiant conjured. Its heat scorched the skin until large scrolls of it curled up off of your arm like dried papyrus. Although it seemed incredibly small, the more you looked at it the more you were blind to everything else and aware of the minutiae of its existence. In terms of images, it was rock solid.

But all things turn to ash, Randidly thought coldly as his spear slid forward. As the sun advanced on in age, its weight grew too great for it. No longer could the combustion reactions continue with such vigor. And as that energy died, it dimmed further and further. Very soon, the weight of continuing on was too much to bear…

The spears met silently like two lovers slipping into one another’s embrace. Then the muscles in Randidly’s right arm were torn to shreds by the reverberations coming up through Acri. Even Acri whined in pain, a thin fracture appearing in its body. As the Sun Stills shuddered painfully, sending jagged mental knives through Randidly’s focus.

Onward, Aegiant’s blow continued, aiming to snuff Randidly out. And Randidly felt completely spent at that moment. There was a dull fuzziness to everything in the wake of the combat. The mental feedback left him in some sort of localized shock. Some part of Randidly knew that he needed to act to get out of the way of this, but that part of Randidly seemed so very far from the controls of his body.

So Randidly watched as the spear slid forward…

...and incinerated his left arm, the earlier contest having been just enough to deflect a death blow.

As Randidly stumbled backward, it took him several seconds to regain a coherent and efficient train of thought. And as soon as that happened, he began to sweat. Then the phantom of his left arm began to burn like hell.

Of all the fool things to do, challenging Aegiant to a direct contest?

And because of it, he had almost died. And left everyone who was relying on him without any support.