Chapter 949 (2/2)

“I’m a knight, mum,” Helen mumbled. She straightened and rushed forward, aiming to get closer to Dozer before he could fully smash her to bits. But her current speed wasn’t enough. Even now, after she had obtained Level 50 and a Fate, she could still feel the tight bindings of Randidly’s Domain holding her back. As long as she wasn’t of this world…

As long as she was an outsider…

Why do you struggle?

Dozer’s eyes possessed no hint of malice or excitement. They were a vast expansive of brown, dispassionately observing her as she attempted to kill him. The tip of Helen’s harpoon slid upward. Although she was unable to reach Dozer’s throat easily, his heart was well within her spear’s range.

Yet she would not be as quick as Dozer’s club. She would be shattered before he could be skewered.

“I’m his knight,” Helen wheezed through gritted teeth. In her mind, a dark silhouette with burning emerald eyes and a pale crown stood behind her. His hands floated downward and touched her back with the lightness of a feather. The feeling of every finger was clear on her shoulders. His hands were warm.

I’m his knight… and he is my lord. In a way, we are one.

He gave her a nudge forward.

The constraints of the Domain loosened just slightly. So slightly Helen thought she might have imagined it. But for the first time, Helen wasn’t an ‘other’. She was his vast left arm that bound this world to the world inside of him. She was the knight of Randidly Ghosthound. She was a spear.

She was a bridge.

Randidly’s Domain rustled and trembled. Helen stepped forward.

When Dozer’s club struck her, it shattered her femur and sent her tumbling to the side. Such was the force of the blow that it had imparted upon Helen enough momentum that her eventually crash into the ground hurt more than the initial strike had. Luckily, he hadn’t struck her exactly in her center of gravity, and much of the force was dispersed by the spinning.

Otherwise…

Even still, Helen had lost her weapon and she felt her Domain slowly breaking apart. As the connection between the worlds faded, those deep monsters that were watching the two fight simply remained passive observers, mystified by the sudden appearance and disappearance of these small beings.

The sky above was dark and overcast. No stars could be seen. But the ground below shifted. Biting her tongue to stay conscious, Helen sat upward.

Dozer stood there, a harpoon sticking out of the middle right of his broad chest. He looked at Helen and grinned. “A good fight.”

Then he toppled over, leaving the panting Helen alone.

For several seconds she just coughed, trying to gather herself. She released her Fate, unwilling to simply let the harpoon remain in Dozer’s insides. Already, a team of Donnyton’s medics was scurrying outward to Dozer, even as the evacuation of the stands continued. By this point, over half of the stands were empty.

Below them, the ground continued to shift. Helen regarded the thick cracks uneasily. At this rate, the arena wouldn’t last through the end of this rung.

Abruptly, a sharp wave of mental pressure made Helen looked sharply upward. Floating in the sky, Randidly seemed to burn like a solar eclipse. The edges were blinding, but the core was infinitely empty and black. And as she watched, Randidly’s form slowly twisted and changed.

His left hand twisted and cracked audibly, its elbow and fingers extending into long, dagger-like blades. The skin rippled, shifting to deep grey scales in a heartbeat. On Randidly’s right arm, his hand twitched until a long spur of bone emerged from his palm, crimson with fresh blood.

Very quickly that bone extended, forming a spear-like shape even as his fingers withered to ash and bone dust around the newly appeared weapon. Dark veins spread across his body as two long bone tails emerged from his neck and tailbone. That pale crown he wore continued to burn, but his features faded away as a thin layer of skin grew to cover him. Then, all that could be seen were two dark smudged that indicated his eye sockets, and the dark gulf that was his mouth.

The Grim Chimera… is actually manifesting. Helen thought in shock as she stared upward. He’s using Skills to create an image, and then using that image in a way that should be possible only with Skills… this form… is an independent manifestation.

Which means… Helen thought in awe. Randidly Ghosthound is touching upon the Master level…

And to meet this monster at the location of its descent, a woman surrounding by the hot orange wind walked slowly forward. In her too, Helen could sense no animosity or hatred. Like Dozer, she did not fear the approaching fight.

No, as Alana moved forward… the only emotion she was projecting outward was joy.