Chapter 1057 (1/2)

When Randidly awoke, it was to a black and silent night. The thin light from Ignition Essence illuminated the inner portion of the grey tent, but its actual usefulness for distinguishing details was low. All Randidly could make out were several figures at the far end of the tent, with one of them being familiar. Yggdrasil sat at the far side, talking to two individuals who were standing outside the tent in a voice pitched low so as not to wake Randidly.

Instantly, Randidly’s focus sharpened to those two shadowy individuals. With a few sharp movements, he materialized on his feet. He half expected to find that Iellaya herself had come out to harass Yggdrasil, but instead, there were two unfamiliar figures at the door. One was a smaller and more brown version of Abiodun, a man completely made of rock and mud. The second was a thin man covered in scales and with the head of a snake.

Both were images. There was an ambiguous quality to their bodies that Randidly was beginning to recognize.

Sensing that Randidly awoke and was glowering at the new arrivals, Yggdrasil turned around. “Ah, good. It seems you had… a good dream. You were… ahem, laughing in your sleep. But these two are…”

Yggdrasil rustled his leaves as he gestured to the two figures. “This woman is Zauna. She is a relative of Abiodun’s. This man is Salazar. Lady Iellaya issued orders that since you had proven yourself in your first two missions… you would be sent to more dangerous areas in the future. Areas where you could make more of an impact on the battlefield as a whole. Therefore, you would need subordinates.

“In addition… I will be responsible for healing them.” Yggdrasil paused briefly. “But Lady Iellaya also informed me that as long as these two remain in fighting shape, I will need not use my talents on any others.”

That sharpened Randidly’s gaze. His eyes took in the pair once more. It turned out that the brown Abiodun was a woman. She didn’t appear to carry any weapons, but Randidly supposed most images didn’t carry weapons with them.

Meanwhile, the snake-man Salazar had two miniature scimitars strapped to his lower back. His long fingers were constantly wringing in front of his slight body.

Spies? Likely both of them. What a hassle. But if it kept Yggdrasil from being worked to the bone...

“Nice to meet you,” Randidly said through his teeth. Honestly, he was in a rather good mood after slaughtering his way through the images of Kharon. Even this strange ambush couldn’t shake his optimism. He had tried his best to not be too violent to the rather feeble images, but the tiresome experience of remembering what information he should and should not share had built up in his chest over the past several days; the images had been the perfect outlet.

And compared to Nether, the small individual images, even as one monstrous Aegiant replacement, were almost comically simple to overwhelm with raw force. It was like comparing someone who fought for sport on the weekends to someone who fought to stay alive. There was simply no tenacity to the images of Kharon. So Randidly took it upon himself to teach them the true brutality of images.

It would be worth it in the end, he knew.

I bet the main body will even thank me when we are all finally united...Randidly thought as his hand remained extended toward the two images. Salizar looked up at Zauna nervously while wringing his fingers without any visible reaction. Zauna nodded shortly and reached out to shake Randidly’s hand without saying anything.

Only after Zauna moved did Salizar seize Randidly’s hand with both of his own. “A p-pleasure. We have heard… heard much about you.”

A silent woman and a coward. The perfect sort of subordinates. Soon, dominion over the entire world won’t be just a dream…!

Setting aside his sarcastic thoughts, Randidly did realize that there was no reason that his Eidolon Crucible needed to be focused on only Kharon. The main body’s subordinates could be from any world. He made a mental note to talk to Yggdrasil about vetting these two more directly to be recruited into the Eidolon Crucible.

They were likely spies, but that didn’t mean there wouldn’t be other chances in the future. Even if it took some time, it might be worth looking into the option.

“Well, I need to spend some time training after that. I will see you both later,” Randidly said shortly. He nodded at Yggdrasil and walked out of the tent while brushing past Zauna and Salazar.

It was about ten steps later that Randidly stopped and turned on his heel. He glared back toward the tent. “Is there a problem?”

Both Zauna and Salizar were following him. Salizar glanced up at the stoic face of Zauna, then winced and offered Randidly a weak smile. “It is… d-difficult you know? For images l-like us around the camps. So if we f-f-f-follow you, at least…”

Randidly brought his claw and tried to rub the bridge of his nose. He almost punctured his eye with one of the sharp points of his talons. He calmly lowered his hand and hoped the large size of his hand kept his new subordinates from seeing his close call. When his face was revealed, it was glowering at the two of them. “Then return to your tents. Is there a need for you to wander around so late at night?”

“We w-will be staying with you and Yggdrasil from now on, sir,” Salizar said in obvious discomfort. His tail flicked rapidly back and forth behind him.

“Then it won’t be a long walk back to the tent, will it?” Randidly hissed.

But the two simply stood there dumbly. Zauna said nothing. In fact, she seemed completely unphased by Randidly’s obvious ire. It seemed that she definitely inherited some of Abiodun’s nerve. And as for Salazar… although he began to wring his hands more quickly, there was no other change.

From behind them, Yggdrasil said unhelpfully. “To be fair, I was told that Lady Iellaya ordered you to familiarize yourself with your new subordinates tonight. It might not matter much, but on the other hand…”

Sighing, Randidly just shrugged. “Fine, just stay out of my way.”

He had planned on heading back out to the border area and spending some more time working on his Skills. It didn’t seem like the presence of these strange two would make much difference to the process. If they were going to accompany him into the Great Rift in the future, they would see his capabilities anyway. And perhaps seeing them while in an Aether controlled area would lower their inevitable shock after seeing what Randidly could manage in the Nether.

Randidly’s eyes narrowed as a resolution formed in his chest. Not knowing the details this place and walking on tiptoes to avoid revealing my hand… it’s unsustainable. Now that these two are going to be following me out into the Great Rift… time to shift the strategy. Stealth won’t serve me well for much longer.

I need to have a candid conversation with someone around here that knows what’s going on. Considering Zagnal’s recent change in attitude… He’s no longer an option. Which probably means that the conversation needs to be had with Iellaya. And to sway someone like her, I need to prove my capability. Perhaps these two are a test for exactly that. Better to keep them alive then.

So Randidly proceeded to the no man’s land between the two camps once more, intending to spend some time training. But as he approached the edge of the camp, noises ahead caused his gait to slow. Glancing back at the two follow him, Randidly was relieved to see that both noticed his expression and moved stealthily in his wake.