Chapter 923 (2/2)

Unfortunately, it seemed that the opposing side knew that ultimately, images were rather fragile things. If they were uncontested, they could exert extremely dangerous power. But there was an extreme way to break an image, even if you had no real images to use.

That is, you could use Skills.

Every Skill had an implicit image in it. That was where Skills drew their power. In fact, Skills could be viewed as tutorial images given to people by the System. Which meant that the Squads could brute force something akin to an image by relying on the number of Skills, but the difference in Attribute expenditure would mean that Randidly didn’t mind the trade.

Still, it was a relatively unsatisfying way to win a fight.

“You need to-” The woman bellowed as she looked at Helen’s rapid advance, but then she was forced to direct her attention back to the front. Due to her wild charge, Randidly had already arrived in front of her. The combination of the Inevitable Phantom Arrives and Spear Advances, Ash Trails broke the sound barrier as it rushed toward her.

She raised both of her arms and took the blow on directly.

Booom.

The force blew her body back almost a meter, but she absorbed most of the impact with her legs. Randidly blinked in shock and then twisted to the side, avoiding a sharp thrust from the rapier-wielding man. Before Randidly could counter-attack, the man had withdrawn and once more hidden behind the woman.

The woman grinned at him. “If you think-”

A scream cut her off. It seemed that Helen had reached the long-range Classers. That was good. Instantly, Randidly resummoned the towering form of the Ashen Phantom. Its empty eye sockets stared downward at the two individuals under Level 50 that dared challenge Randidly.

Ash filled the air as Randidly prepared his next attack.

The woman’s gaze snapped back to Randidly, forcing herself to allow the battle at the other end of the arena to sort itself out. “If it’s just power, I’ll handle it. One day, I’ll be Donnyton’s impenetrable shield. Today, I’ll show you how light the name of Randidly Ghosthound truly is!”

...how light my name is…?

Fury burst in his chest, rushing toward the core of his being. Instantly, another image began to activate, a terrible visage of a tree so old that it had achieved apotheosis. But at the last moment, Randidly gritted his teeth and suppressed the righteous fury of his Crown of Upheaval and Gloom.

Not yet. That image should be saved for later.Spear Advances, Ash Trails. As the Sun Stills.

Randidly spear became a blur, spiraling forward in a thrust that strained the limits of even his own Perception. The woman flinched and raised her shields, but that moment stretched. Somehow, Randidly’s spear was still rushing toward her too fast to see. But time slowly ticked past even as more and more weight gathered behind the spear.

They were frozen, each in their own space. Nervousness condensed around the woman, while Randidly slowly felt the dying heat of a sun shift to weight at the tip of his spear. And in that great weight, a gravity that could even warp time emerged.

The Ashen Phantom shrunk until it was only about double the size of a man. Standing behind Randidly, it reached its hands toward the woman like a beggar pleading for coin. The sadness and longing twisted in on itself as that desperate need turned to hatred.

“Isabella, you need to-” But the brother’s warning came too late. Randidly’s spear finally arrived, even as the woman, Isabella, twisted her shield to the side.

Her left shield shattered into pieces, but Randidly rather bitterly realized that she had managed to disperse most of his attack. The shoulder was probably dislocated, but the damage wouldn’t be serious.

Still, the force of the attack blew her backward into her own lines, knocking several people over. Randidly stepped sharply back to avoid a rapier that stabbed toward his throat. Such was the speed of his step backward that his ash continued forward, allowing him to activate All is Ash and fling himself a short distance forward.

Randidly condensed behind the man, surprised to see another rapier heading toward his current position. It was a little off, but the man rapidly adjusted his attack.

“Good prediction,” Randidly said, honestly rather surprised.

“Better response,” the man said sourly. The blade of ash Randidly created smashed the rapier to pieces before the man’s attack landed. He managed to step out of the wave of another thrust from Acri, but then Randidly could step forward and simply kick the man in the chest. With the Strength boost from his equipment and the blades on Randidly’s new greaves, the man flew backward like a ragdoll.

But before Randidly could follow up, the bulk of the Squads arrived.