Chapter 869 (2/2)

“And what’s the image?” Daniel asked hesitantly.

Randidly only smiled. Mrs. Hamilton’s frown deepened.

And then someone spoke up. Ed, who had remained quiet for the entire meeting, looked around at the people at the table as if they were idiots. “Are you daft? If it’s us, the image is obviously ‘Donnyton is the strongest,’ isn’t it?”

There was a strange reverberation at those words that Donny didn’t expect. As soon as the words were spoken, Donny had a warm feeling in his chest. He was the ruler of Donnyton, and possessed the Soulskill that mirrored Donnyton’s growth. Therefore, he could feel how true that statement was. How it defined every aspect of their governance and life in Donnyton.

Even hearing the statement, Donny wanted to nod and agree. That was the point, wasn’t it?

People came here because they were the strongest. People stayed so they could grow stronger. NCCs came because that strength guaranteed safety. And slowly, those within grow strong under the protection of those that came before. It was a self-reinforcing cycle that would continually cause Donnyton to grow.

After that realization hit Donny, there was a strange phenomenon as waves of that image spread outward from his resonating chest. The air began to hum. Everyone around him pushed away from the table, eyes wide.

They felt it, then. The entire town believed in this fundamental truth. There movements and actions seemed to sing it boldly toward the sky. Donny bobbed in the sea of silent voices, creating a symphony that seemed to govern the entirety of the town. Even without knowing it, everyone moved to the beat of this creed.

Donnyton is the strongest.

“Exactly.”

The humming abruptly stopped, as if cut short. The energy in the air floundered for a second, then collapsed. Randidly smiled pleasantly around at them all. “I was thinking long and hard about this, but considering Donnyton’s image… I don’t think there is any choice. That challenge against Donnyton’s Squads… how about I do it again?”

“Oh come on now,” Ed began. It seemed that finding his voice made it impossible for him to keep his mouth closed. “You are simply one man-”

But Randidly gave Ed a look and he stuttered to a stop and fell silent. Donny wished he knew the trick to that. If he could accomplish that at their weekly dinners, the proceedings would be many times more smooth.

“Have you considered the consequences…” Donny said slowly. “Both of what would happen to your reputation if you failed… and to Donnyton’s reputation if you succeeded? We aren’t an isolated Village anymore. Our actions have repercussions.”

But Randidly simply grinned. At first, Donny thought that Randidly was slightly embarrassed from the amused expression on his face, but then Donny felt something. The same way that the image of Donnyton inside of his chest had reverberated across the room and filled the air, he now felt a slight trace of another image. It was faint but as he reached out…

It was like raising his nose to the sky and sniffing after an unfamiliar scent. His mind meandered around to catch another whiff.

Donny grasped at the air for several seconds, unused to using this strange sensitivity toward images. After a few attempts, he managed to catch hold of the tail of the image that was emanating from Randidly.

Instantly, the scene shifted. Donny’s eyes widened. A pale crown of a light grey metal floated above Randidly’s eyes. Ash, emerald fire, frost, a cowled phantom, and an impossibly tall golden tree filled the air around him. Those images were superimposed upon each other, merging and growing, some in ascendance, some in repose.

More than anything else, however… was the weight that seemed to cling to Randidly. At the moment, the edges of Donny’s vision curled upward as Randidly Ghosthound simply sat and pulled everything toward himself. Even now, billions of small motes of light were fluttering in and out of his chest, flowing in different directions. Each time they passed through Randidly, that terrible sense of weight grew infinitesimally more prominent.

The world warped further. And all the while, Randidly just grinned at the people sitting around the table.

How long has he been enduring this…? Donny was aghast.

Suddenly, that light smile seemed like an impossibly difficult act of rebellion against the weight that threatened to annihilate Randidly.

“It is precisely because of the consequences if I do not act… that I believe the challenge between myself and Donnyton is necessary.” Randidly stated clearly to the room.