Chapter 866 (1/2)

Azriel released her breath and slumped against the tall pillar behind her. Her pounding heart sounded like the intense beat of tribal war drums in her ears, but she pressed her eyes shut and forced the beating to slow.

The battle is over. Foolish body. Why do you still fear this?

Rejt sat down next to her. “Woo, impressive. No wonder you are a friend of Randidly. Your ferocity is… impressive.”

“You were thinking intimidating, weren’t you?” Azriel said with amusement without opening her eyes. “Don’t worry, most men find me intimidating. Even… now.”

“Pah. I am Rejt. The Scarred One. I was marked by the Progenitor while he was still a god. It takes quite a lot more than that for me to be intimidated.”

Azriel was barely able to exercise her control and prevent herself from responding. He did not need her to pick a fight with the correctness of his words now. They had cleared the area surrounding this unlit lighthouse in the basin only by working together. Besides, she was tired. And it was not her role to correct this bold man.

A tremor ran through Azriel. I no longer know my role. I am… lost.

That was the truth that Azriel uncovered as she explored the mysterious world inside of Randidly. Her weakness was due to the fact that the image that had been given to her by her Master had been ripped out of her and destroyed. But the reason she wasn’t able to regain her strength very quickly was that the goal she had chased for her entire life… repaying her Master… was completed.

Azriel felt…

...adrift.

She opened her eyes and gazed up at the lighthouse above them. A calculating light appeared in her eyes.

Of course, even though she was growing slowly in her mind, she was still a step above anyone from this world. Most of them were still attempting to understand Skills and Stats. It was amusing that these people did not grow up within the embrace of the System, but it also filled her with worry.

Fear tightened its grip around her heart. After so long fighting for another… it was difficult for Azriel to think of her life as solely her own. And vastly more horrifying. Because soon, the people of this world would understand what they were missing and their speed of growth would increase by leaps and bounds.

If she continued at this rate, their growth would surpass hers, easily. Very quickly, she would be left behind.

More than anything else, Azriel feared that. Almost as much as she was infuriated by the caring look of genuine concern in Randidly’s eyes. Those eyes that said it was okay for her to be weak. But that was not the way of the work.

It was not okay to be weak.

If she was weak, she would be tossed aside.

She still had her old Class, but it was… rotting. She could feel it. The passage of so many dangerous images through her… it had warped her Class. Although the weight of the images had passed, the damage had not. It groaned under the demands she placed upon it. Very soon, it would collapse.

She had attempted to supplement that with the energy she obtained from Randidly. However, when she had stopped drawing energy from him briefly during her almost-Ascension, the bond between them had been… weakened as well. Filled with calcified images and strange eddies of meaning that polluted what transferred between them.

Everything within her was broken and weakening. Perhaps it would stabilize at some point, but…

Wouldn’t it just be better to clear it all out?

“I do not like the way you are looking at the Lighthouse,” Rejt said with a frown next to her. “Those are a national resource. You cannot casually use one for your own benefit.”

Azriel laughed as she reached up and pressed her hand against the Lighthouse.

Rejt sighed. “Damnit, this expedition was supposed to be my chance to do that.”

The rest of his words were washed away in an explosion of crimson light.

*****