Chapter 930 (1/2)
Of all the breaks they had taken so far, this one seemed to fly by most quickly. Part of it was the slowly settling cauldron of emotions roiling in Randidly’s chest. Part of it was the furious series of discussions that sprang up across the crowd as everyone shuffled around, eager to seek a drink after the tension of the most recent rung.
But mostly it was because of Clarissa.
Almost exactly halfway through the break, she walked out onto the stage and began to grin at Randidly like a fool. Such was the genuine anticipation in her expression that Randidly couldn’t help but get caught up in the spirit of it.
This will be great, Clarissa seemed to beam at him. And Randidly saw no reason why not to let himself be swept away by the positivity.
Helen stood with her arms folded, sourly studying Clarissa. “I don’t like this shit. Where are the others? This rung is supposed to be against Squads Nine through Three. Why is it just her? The challenge is about to start. Do they think we won’t just fucking attack-”
But as she was muttering to herself, ten burly men walked out onto the arena, arranging themselves around Clarissa. To Randidly’s amusement, they weren’t looking at him at all; they loosely held their weapons and glared at Helen, as if daring her to make a move toward Clarissa.
Randidly chuckled. “They’ve started getting smarter about the challenges. All Skills have an inherent image, so to fight against us, they need lots of powerful Skills that can shake an image.”
“Which is why they should all be up here!” Helen hissed.
Randidly continued without pausing for Helen’s aside. “...which would be true if the Skills were coming from a single person, but if they are relying on separate individuals’ Skills to work together and disrupt me, they will need a lot more than two hundred; if it's from a group, those Skills interfere with each other’s budding image just as much as mine. Instead, better to have one individual who can produce a lot of powerful Skills to test me. Plus…”
Trailing off, Randidly looked over toward the still grinning Clarissa. “...plus, due to the qualitative differences in Mana and Stamina, spellcasters have an edge on the natural image they are given. Probably because the spirit of Mana Skills are a bit different. If there were anyone who could actually shake our images alone, it would be Clarissa. I suspect this rung is all about testing the limits of that.”
Randidly pointed to the tense group of men without bothering to suppress his grin. “They are just here to warn off the crazy woman who has been staring daggers at their Squad Leader.”
“I’ll fucking show them fucking crazy…” Helen cracked her knuckles menacingly. Almost helpless, Randidly shook his head.
Well, at least this way Helen will be able to sharpen herself in the match…
But Randidly’s expression shifted to something more serious as he considered Clarissa. It was foolish to engage in this sort of direct confrontation. It was unnecessary and would only give away more information about his own limitations. Yet Randidly was past the point where he cared about the smart thing to do.
It had shifted from guiding Donnyton to being purely a rebuke for their own weakness. And it seemed that his prior violence hadn’t struck that point home yet.
When the start was announced by the referee, Helen surged into motion. With a few barked orders the opposing warriors arrayed themselves into a tight clump and marched to intercept her. Very soon, the cries of battle raged across the arena as Helen fought to her heart’s content.
Yet Clarissa just grinned at Randidly. “It’s been lonely without you.”
Randidly raised an eyebrow, and Clarissa laughed. Her greying curls bounced around her bright face.
“I suppose you wouldn’t understand… when you left, you went to places where there were foes at your level to fight.” Clarissa said. Then she licked her lips. “Lyra was here for a while… but well, she didn’t stay s a human for long. I couldn’t judge myself against her. As for everyone else… well if they got close they could defeat me… but really, they are pretty weak, aren’t they? That’s why you are fighting now.”
Eyes bright, Clarissa raised her hands and stretched them toward Randidly as she took a step to narrow their distance. “I want to split the sky open. I want the ground to crack and seethe. I don’t want to dodge and hide from sword attacks… I want to throw around little bits of the apocalypse. I may be a Weather Witch now, but I want more.”
Randidly just looked at the elderly woman who had been a librarian and closet nerd for her entire life. He still remembered the zeal with which she took to the System. Despite the danger, it had been a way to live out her fantasies.
Yet at that novel joy faded… Randidly could imagine how it felt. To look around and find that everyone became obsessed with min-maxing, and no one tried to just do something cool with their new powers.
For the loneliness that Clarissa undoubtedly felt then, Randidly had some sympathy. But his spine hardened as he looked at her. Because rather than trying to help the world, she had let herself devolve into playing games. She had allowed Donnyton to coast in this direction.
“I’ll show you more,” Randidly said softly.
Clarissa cackled with glee. “Perfect! Let’s start slow, shall we? Even though I know it's dumb… I’m worried that you won’t be able to withstand the big stuff, yanno? So… Lightning Bolt!”
Storm clouds surged above, forming a dark blanket across the entire sky. Randidly’s eyebrows rose, but he shouldn’t be surprised; it was almost evening. Now, it would be much easier to darken the sky with a Skill. But Clarissa was still the first person to accomplish it.
It took several seconds, but those clouds darkened from slate to pure obsidian. From that inky black blanket, a huge pillar of lightning snaked down in a split second, aiming directly for Randidly.
But before the Skill could get close, the storm clouds rippled and were replaced by the huge image of a tree. Its emerald leaves rustled and it was like the pillar of lightning was never there. Aside from the vast canopy of the World Tree, there was nothing in the sky.
“Wow…” Clarissa gasped as she stared up at it. “It’s one thing to just see it… but it's so much more intense to stand in front of it. Fine then. Storm’s Fury!”
Once more the clouds gathered, forming into a tight knot that hovered above Yggdrasil and was able to resist the passive eradication effect that Yggdrasil exerted in the surrounding area. For several seconds, there was only a dull rumbling as power gathered in that tightly packed expression of Clarissa’s Skills.
Then a cobalt bolt of thunder shaped like a roaring dragon raced downward, heading toward Randidly. The air sizzled with its compact energy. Without moving, Randidly looked up and studied it critically. The effect of the Crown of Upheaval and Gloom activated and time seemed to slow to a crawl.
If just weather could shake the World Tree… wouldn’t that be too pathetic?
As the cobalt lightning dragon approached, the Deific Mien of Yggdrasil began to activate. The golden light emanating from every inch of the World Tree grew incrementally brighter. To behold this tree was to witness an entity that approached godhood. Lines of golden script spiraled up and down every inch of the trunk and leaves, illuminating the future.
It was an impossible monolith, and its radiating grace slowly ate away at the most recent attack. Bits of energy were ripped away from the main body and then devoured by the tree’s visage. This continued until the attack was nothing but a paper-clip thin whisper that struck the ground a few meters in front of Randidly and left a small smudge.
“Gathering Storm!” Clarissa’s joy was clear in her tone. “Cutting wind! Absolute Zero! Storm’s Fury! Storm’s Fury! Storm’s Fury! Prowl of the Thunder Liger!”
Huge blades of wind formed and rushed forward to cut at Randidly.
Rustle.
The temperature dropped so rapidly that frost skittered wildly out to cover half of the arena.
Rustle.
Dozens of thick cobalt blasts of lightning smashed downward, to be turned away time and time again by the golden brilliance that was coming from the World Tree. Slowly the blasts were penetrating deeper and deeper, but some inner ire seemed to be awakened in the World Tree as Clarissa continued her unceasing assault. Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil shook the sky with its fury, warping the space where her storm was formed, very quickly weakening the thunder strikes.