Chapter 1056 (2/2)

“Of course.” Yggdrasil’s branches creaked as he shifted. “I could not fully restore its strength, but I could trigger some of its latent potential with the image of timelessness that has been woven into me. Rather than healing it, it might be more accurate to say that I have taken away the lingering damage done by the wounds. But the lost portions of the image cannot be recovered by my efforts alone.”

Randidly scratched his cheek with his upper tail, trying to conceptualize what Yggdrasil was saying. So the strength wouldn’t return to normal, but perhaps Yggdrasil could remove the headache, as he had often done for Randidly. “How useful do you think is it?”

“Unfortunately, very,” Yggdrasil shook his canopy with palpable regret. “After receiving my assistance, that image was ordered by that rock man to proceed to the Aether Fountain. I followed at a distance to observe. It seems that part of the benefits of my healing process is that the speed of leaking Aether from the image is drastically slowed. It greatly raises the efficacy of the Aether Fountain process.”

Abiodun… just how dirty are your hands? Randidly’s claw twitched. The feeling of bloodthirsty competitiveness and strange sense of kinship that Randidly felt toward the stone man was extremely confusing to him. He simultaneously wanted to murder Abiodun and also team up to murder someone else with him. But there could be no doubt that Abiodun was the right had of Iellaya.

Lady Iellaya didn’t do anything without reason. This was calculated.

“They will come again,” Randidly said tiredly. Rather than the peaceful experience he had resisting the Nether, Randidly wished he would have been able to rip the skull off of some sick Nether monster in a burst of adrenaline. He needed to relieve some of his stress. “We need to figure out how to respond to it.”

Yggdrasil’s branches shifted. “There is a bright side. The experience allows me to sharpen my own image immensely. And there is an aspect of growth assistance to it that… the main body often forgets or does not utilize directly. If we allow this process to happen, I will improve. I have strength enough to assist Ignition Essence and a few other images a day.”

Randidly shook his head. “True, but it won’t just be a few other images a day if it is really so useful. It-”

Immediately, Randidly’s mouth twisted into a snarl as a heavy mental blanket began to smother his ancillary thoughts. “Perfect timing. Just when I needed some ways to blow off some steam, the images of Donnyton decide to swarm up to the plate.”

Shifting rapidly, Randidly laid himself down. Yygdrasil’s leaves rustled in concern. “Mmm. Try your best to not destroy any of them.”

Randidly fell asleep laughing.

The mist wrapped around him until it solidified into a thick and fluffy sea around him. Randidly floated downward, his eyes blazing like a chemical flare as he sunk deeper into the strange depths of the dream world. As his ‘body’ became subdued into unconsciousness by the strange Skill, clarity returned to his mind. Despite Randidly’s building rage, he couldn’t help but notice that some lingering wariness he hadn’t been able to eradicate was lifted away from him as he was taken by the skill.

Seems like it isn’t just another way to exhaust myself. Well, point for Eidolon Crucible. And the timing was at least reasonable...

This time, Randidly didn’t find himself in that familiar arena in Donnyton. Which, in a way, was a relief. He was awfully tired of that place, where he constantly needed to seize victory in order to protect himself and the entire world through the direction of Donnyton.

But perhaps this place held an even more troublesome place in Randidly’s heart. As he examined the surrounding, the sound of his heart pounding in his ears grew increasingly loud.

He was floating in a sea of lava, watching as that superheated metal and stone evaporated around him like it was rubbing alcohol. Floating above Randidly, the combined force of the thousand images of Kharon, was the faceless form of the sun. A strange amalgamation that served the role of Aegiant.

Heat hammered at Randidly’s skin. Compared to Nether, it was a rather mundane assault, but it did feel like thousands of fingers were scrabbling at Randidly to rip away his skin and feast on his core. The lava around him hissed and spat its heat in a malicious spray. Perhaps the most obnoxious part was the weight of the warped molten metal against Randidly, restricting his movements.

That shadow figure rippled as the multitude of images that formed it struggled to demonstrate their unique charms. This was more than just a constant spiritual raid perpetrated by the images of those who swore their cause to Randidly’s: this was also the chance for the images to prove themselves as capable.

But right now, Randidly didn’t care. The shadow of Aegiant raised his arms and screeched. The heat spiked upward as its power began radiating outward. Thin vapors of evaporated rock whistled up from the growing spear of superheated air that neared plasma.

“Is this all you have?”

Randidly spread his arms wide and began to pull himself up through the thick lava. His two tails sinuously twisted, pushing him upward. When he broke the surface of the lava, Randidly took a deep breath. His lungs screamed in protest, but the Grim Chimera just smiled.

“I always wanted a second chance at this. Perhaps this Eidolon Crucible isn’t such a bad thing after all.”