Chapter 897 (1/2)

Toad Lord Nirfik launched itself toward Randidly’s back in a rather refreshing manner. Such a direct advance… it was rather bold to challenge Randidly to a contest of Strength. Spinning, Randidly could barely contain his laughter. When the opponents just fought with Randidly, it simplified things immensely. There was no thinking to be found; there was only instinct and violence.

It was true that Randidly wanted to figure out the process of creating Feed that allowed the Toad Lords to dominate this world, but catching Roy was a much more pressing issue. On the balance, it was small potatoes compared to protecting Earth

Staying here to talk peacefully with Nirfik wasted too much of that time. Even if the Toad Lord was somehow willing to share the secret of the Feed, which he clearly wasn’t. And Randidly was not the type of individual who had a good track record of convincing others to help him. Most of the time he just fought things.

Which was why Randidly felt a bit… dirty at his current tactics.

Still… I can’t deny that what I’m doing right now is baiting him… Randidly thought almost sadly as the huge grey body rushed toward him. He watched with a detached fascination as Nirfik opened its mouth and launched its tongue toward Randidly with enough speed that even Randidly was impressed.

This was a dangerous attack. Nowhere near the killing potential of Aegiant’s spear, but this Toad Lord hadn’t gotten his position by skimping on the basics. Even after his poison failed, he had Skills enough to back up his attempt.

And what I’m going to do next… is kill him. His Crown flared to life, an acknowledgment of the path that Randidly had chosen.

Rather than striking at the Toad Lord physically, Randidly reached out for the bubble around them both. He touched this strange underwater building that made the Under Cities possible. Even now, he couldn’t quite figure out what the material was that formed this barrier. But one thing was for sure; a portion of it was made out of biological materials. At its base, it was a modified version of algae.

Therefore, it was a plant.

Therefore, it was Randidly’s.

Even as the tongue blurred toward Randidly, he simply smiled faintly. He was, after all, currently acting in the role of a Demon Prince. To finish it thusly would send a large message, and likely involve no one but the Toad Lord in front of him. No innocent lives would be lost. From there, he could move on South as fast as he could.

Randidly reached out to the membrane that formed this bubble and squeezed.

The membrane shattered. Before the tongue could arrive, Randidly used his impossible high Control to funnel that organic matter into a thousand spikes. Moving at a speed incomparable to the tongue that was surging toward Randidly, those spikes were yanked inwards as if they were metal dragged by a magnet.

With a soft squelching noise, the spikes of algae turned Nirfik into a honeycomb. They hit him with enough force to spray blood in every direction as they ripped the grey skin apart. Its eyes widened, trying to process what was going on. Its tongue lost its vigor and sailed harmlessly past Randidly.

Then, with a crash, the water claimed the space that had been Nirfik’s personal swamp, washing away the corpse of its one-time master.

*****

Ed felt sweat bead and drip down his neck. In fact, he was so flustered that his illusion that hid his mustache from his face faded to nothing. He couldn’t maintain the concentration and his mustache surged back to bushy relief.

“Take a step back,” Regina barked and Ed was happy to comply, although his body was stiff and sore from the several seconds where he had been completely frozen. He stumbled over the shattered remnants of a wrought iron table that had been shattered by the obsidian man’s passage.

After all, she had just summoned a barrier to block the strange obsidian man in front of the two of them. If she had not intervened, Ed would have died. Smashed aside like a bug before a car. Like the two grotesquely twisted corpses twitching behind the obsidian man.

The obsidian man’s face twisted in an expression that was obviously amusement. He raised his hand and checked his knuckles. “Oh? To think the average Level in Donnyton had risen so high that any riff-raff off the street could stop my attack… I’m somewhat disturbed. Dear me, I’ll likely have nightmares”

“Riff raff…? No. Simply a doctor.” Regina barred her teeth in a naked show of aggression against the obsidian man before her. The two considered the other carefully. Ed glanced between them. It was clear to him, at least, that Regina was the one of the two that was much more willing to wait. The other cafe-goers had largely all fled the square, moving in hushed silence in every direction away from these attackers.

They were within Donnyton proper, after all. Help would come.

Unable to stop himself, Ed took several more steps backward away from the two of them. His breath came in pants and it seemed like not enough oxygen was being gulped down by each mouthful of air. Some part of him knew he should run, but he was also one of the leaders of Donnyton. Even if he couldn’t fight very well… he should be here.

Right?

Earlier this morning he had only been worried about the two new cafes that had sprung up in what people were not referring to affectionately as the breakfast quarter. Then, before he could even react, there was a scream and a crash. Ed had looked up from the table where he had been examining his accounting books to see a dark figure rushing toward him.

A figure with as much size and momentum as a battering ram rolling out of control down a mountain.

Ed was many things, but a man of action was not one of them. His rise in Donnyton had everything to do with the addition of modern life’s amenities to the post System world. Therefore, Ed had seen that figure and faced the truth that he was about to die. And he had been very sad about it.

At that moment, he wondered what Bekany would do without him. She was better with finances than she let on, and likely had a fair amount of money squirreled away. But if he wasn’t there to pamper her, who-

Well, it wasn’t worth thinking about now. But if Regina hadn’t stepped forward in that split second and conjured a barrier…

Even as Ed’s shocked mind was rehashing the events of the last several seconds, the obsidian figure surged into motion. Clearly, he wasn’t willing to simply wait until reinforcements came. He spun around the side of the translucent hexagonal barrier that Regina had summoned and thrust his arm forward.

Then, to Ed’s disbelief, the rest of the towering obsidian man’s form seemed to rapidly shrink while the arm extended like a drill toward Regina’s side. It hummed unpleasantly, aiming for a point high in her chest.