Chapter 948 (2/2)
“Isolate!” Beryl shouted.
There was a flash of light as the magic circle around Randidly erupted with brilliance. Almost immediately that light disappeared and revealed a furious Randidly still glaring at Mrs. Hamilton. The pressure from his eyes smashed into her, fresh as a spring dawn. Willing her heartbeat to slow down to normal levels, Mrs. Hamilton stepped to the side so that Randidly was no longer glaring directly at her.
Randidly’s gaze did not follow her. Instead, it remaining fixed on the spot where she had just stood. Mrs. Hamilton released a breath and then sent a message to Alana.
It’s time.
Alana’s reply was not what Mrs. Hamilton wanted to hear. If I leave now, Helen will likely overwhelm Dozer.
Mrs. Hamilton’s fingers were moving as fast as she could move them, gathering a net of strings around Randidly. But defeating him is the win condition. Regardless if Dozer falls, all of this is over if we can hurt Randidly now. Hurry, before-
The ground around Randidly cracked as he threw himself directly up into the air. Cursing, Mrs. Hamilton tightened her net, but he had reacted too quickly. He shot directly upward, escaping her web before it could even be woven.
Mrs. Hamilton could only stare grimly up at Randidly. Then she prepared for his descent.
*****
The abrupt return of darkness to Randidly’s life was shocking and not what he had expected from the drawn out cast of a Skill. He had been curious about the magical formation that they were attempting to work on him, but confident that he could it even to the last moment; he had been completely surprised by the emergence of Raina from Donny.
So… that bundle of Aether was another person wrapped in a Skill, Randidly thought bitterly. Even now, he gritted his teeth at the thought of Raina’s abilities. Extremely dangerous, will warping abilities. That Mrs. Hamilton used them against him…
But that brought Randidly back to the problem at hand. He believed he was gritting his teeth. But there was actually no way of knowing whether he was. Rather than the previous darkness he had encountered in the prison, this new darkness was total. It was less darkness and more oblivion. Rather than not having access to light, Randidly didn’t have access to the information from his eyes.
Or from his hands, or ears, or nose, or skin. There was nothing around him. The last thing Randidly remembered was the word ‘Isolate’ and then everything was cut off. In this oblivion, he was stranded.
Alone with his thoughts, surrounded by the remnants of his enemies.
However, he still had access to his inner world, which allowed him to see his Stats and Attributes. It seemed he wasn’t affected by any other unusual states or wounds, and his Health hadn’t decreased at all. Therefore, it seemed likely that he was simply denied access to his senses; he hadn’t actually been hurt or moved.
So he immediately leapt upward, to buy himself some time to figure out what to do next.
Without the feeling of his body or the air touching his skin, the sudden series of commands he sent to his unresponsive body felt... extraordinarily strange. More than that, Randidly had to focus his already taxed mind in order to remember how he had been standing exactly before he had been cut off from himself.
If his understanding slipped even a little, he would just be a sitting duck flailing around on the stage. But if his powerful Control could perform perfectly…
Randidly grinned. A setback, sure. Long term, Randidly would lose if he could not finish this battle quickly. Even his Control and Intelligence would slip up eventually. But Randidly had already been born again in darkness. He did not fear the demons that emerged without the veil of the world.
In fact, Randidly was now counting on them.
What is within, without. What is without, within.
Images bloomed around him. The sound of the Grim Chimera’s heavy breath came from above him. From this close proximity, Randidly could even feel the immense amount of heat radiating from the Chimera’s cursed body, and hear the labored breaths that revealed how much pain it endured just to survive.
But Randidly also felt something else as the Grim Chimera raised its head in the darkness. His grin widened.
In the oblivion around him, as the Grim Chimera’s aura spread outward… it eventually encountered obstructions. Areas where its aura couldn’t easily penetrate.
Other individuals who resisted.
Individuals who used images. One, in particular, was walking directly toward him, throwing off the scent of wind and battle and glory and victory. A glittering valkyrie, riding to slay the monster.
Well, hello.