Chapter 1048 (2/2)

In that same moment, Randidly felt three presences begin making beelines through the void toward his position. One was almost immediately on top of him, and the other two shot closer together to assist. Beyond them, Randidly could feel a huge concentration of Nether that seemed to be a much larger version of the Nether Key.

Thankfully, there was no response to his presence from that huge knot of void energy.

Spinning around, Randidly locked onto the position of the first foe that was nearing him. Wreathed in tight azure lines, a strange shadow cut through the Great Rift toward Randidly’s position. Emerald eyes blazing, Randidly locked onto it almost immediately. It seemed to possess two pairs of arms, but a thin film of shadow stretched from the upper pair of arms to its waist like bat wings-

Just as Randidly was trying to analyze the shape of the foe, it twisted sideways and slipped between two glowing azure veins and disappeared. Grimacing, Randidly twisted to the side as the batbeast appeared behind him in a swirl of patterned azure veins. Its dusky claw slid past Randidly’s side, forcefully impacting Randidly’s image just with the violence of the attack. A cold spike of agony hammered into Randidly’s side.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Resistance has grown to Level 76!

“You piece of fucking shit,” Randidly hissed. Once more he sucked violently in with Eternal Cravings of the Wraith to pull all the surrounding energy toward himself. Although he couldn’t actually drag anything useful from this Nether being, his overwhelming image of hunger that exploded outward was enough to daze the batbeast. It acted as a vast thunderclap that destabilized the Nether in the surrounding area.

Randidly’s Molten Fang of the Pariah sizzled toward its chest. But the batbeast released a low rumble from its chest and stepped backward into the swirling azure veins. After only inflicting a shallow scratch and a mild impact to the Nether being, it disappeared. The veins scattered like a spooked school of fish.

Randidly’s eyes narrowed. I suppose it makes sense… just like physics and geography are strange Aether rules that these Nether beasts don’t understand, these azure veins are an environment that I can’t figure out and it can take advantage of. Therefore, the first step in defeating this foe would be to destroy the veins-

The batbeast appeared once more, so close to Randidly that he couldn’t react in time, even with the benefit of Chimeric Avoidance. The batbeast’s two lower arms slashed out and ripped away sizable chunks of the Grim Chimera’s image. The wounds sizzled and burned as Aether and Nether met. All the previous planning that Randidly was engaged in was wiped away by a flood of white-hot rage.

Screeching in hate, Randidly took a sharp step forward and simply seized the batbeast’s head with his clawed left hand. Immediately, the contact began to burn. At first, the batbeast was surprised by Randidly’s decisively aggressive move, but then it began a flurry of attacks on Randidly’s exposed torso. Existential agony pounded against Randidly’s Willpower, but he began to laugh.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Resistance has grown to Level 77!

“Do you fucking think you are my equal?” Randidly’s eyes blazed like a supernova of emerald fireworks. His claw tightened inward and the substance of the batbeast’s head buckled. “Look at what this body can do and be appalled, cretin.”

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Resistance has grown to Level 78!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Resistance has grown to Level 79!

Although Randidly’s consciousness grew a little fuzzy around the edges, the batbeast’s struggles grew increasingly feeble and it whined in agony. Steam wafted upward from the wounds on Randidly’s chest and his claw around its skull. A second later, Randidly used The Chimera Weeps, But Man Mourns to pepper the batbeast’s body with gory holes.

The inky black flesh of the batbeast spasmed and then began to deflate like a punctured pool floatie. With a shudder, it collapsed in dispersed ichor that sizzled painfully against Randidly’s skin.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Resistance has grown to Level 80!

For a second, Randidly’s face was twisted with the intoxicating rush of triumph. Nothing else mattered but that warm thrill of victory. Then Randidly winced as the adrenaline began to pass and he felt the terrible wounds that disfigured his image of the Grim Chimera.

With two more foes coming to fight, this might be a bit-

Then Randidly felt something in his chest. There was a tremor, and suddenly it appeared like it was placed there deliberately for Randidly to notice. And it immediately seized his entire attention. For several seconds, he was frozen in shock. Even the instincts he had received from the Grim Chimera weren’t sure how to handle this new arrival.

“This… what the hell is this…?”