Chapter 1061 (1/2)

Inwardly, Zauna sighed as she considered the two sinuous beasts that shot out of the vast blackness below her and struck in a whip of Nether and violence, just as Mr. Ghosthound had indicated that they would. Interesting, that. She moved her body in front of the quicker of the two and forcibly endured its charge.

BOOOM.

Her body shuddered from the blast of Nether, but Zauna Tjak could sense that her torso could endure this level of impact. One of the many benefits of her people was that even their images were heavily reinforced with a hard outer exterior; it just came with the territory. No matter what, her body would endure.

Of course, she would need to, because the second Nether Beast looped around its companion and slashed at her leg with its antenna. Zauna channeled her image of eternity into her leg and the strike glanced off without leaving any lasting mark. But now the two were circling her, aiming for her blind spots.

Just break me, please.

Although her oath to Abiodun kept her from actually aiming for her own death, Zauna felt it justified to sneak a glance toward her commanding officer while the two beasts swarmed around her. That was a reasonable course of action in this situation, to check in on how his fight was progressing. He was facing against three of the Nether Beasts at once, after all. Protecting companions was an integral part of the army.

And one aspect of the oath Abiodun had extracted from her was that she needed to obey all of Randidly Ghosthound’s commands for the duration of his stay at the frontlines. So if he requested help now and she was forced to expose some slight weakness in order to rush to his aid-

Deliberately, she looked to the side. And then Zauna’s eyes barely registered the blur of motion before a flailing Nether Beast smashed into one of the two enemies that were circling behind her back. A split second later, Randidly Ghosthound himself crashed into the other Nether Beast in an explosion of gore and Nether residue. Some splashed onto Zauna

Is he… laughing…? Zauna tilted her head to the side. How can he enjoy this hell…? Wouldn’t it just be easier to roll over and die…?

He was laughing, too; it wasn’t her imagination. She watched as he twisted away from the flailing sludge he left of the first Nether Beast he smashed into and thrust his spear directly into the skull of the second one. Then he used his left claw to forcibly seize and rip the vicious antenna off of its head in a gesture so overpowering that Zauna was forced to admit that today was not the day she would finally be free.

Tossing the antenna to the side, Randidly struck again with his claw and ripped several deep gashes in the Nether Beast’s head. The beast that he had thrown earlier recovered slightly and lashed out toward him. But the Ghosthound simply breathed in a way that Zauna couldn’t understand and the colors of his body were abruptly so vivid and sharp that it hurt to look at him directly. And when he moved, he seemed to completely avoid the mundane difficulties of traveling through space and instead just displaced himself several meters away.

He was unstoppable.

His raptor-like leg stomped downward, shattering the Nether Beast’s skull like it was rotten fruit. Then grey motes of ash blasted out from him in a wave and gradually disintegrated the remnants within a few seconds.

Zauna floated in the vast darkness, completely still. Some part of her felt disappointment that this was not the day where she would finally die and be free from her oath, but the larger part of her was flooded with a grand sense of awe.

She watched the slow rise and fall of the Ghosthound’s chest as he breathed, here in the Great Rift. Which of course was impossible, because she was aware that he was an image, as she was. She could see small distortions at his edges were the Nether was eating away at him, but it seemed like some part of him was meant to be here, fighting in this lonely darkness. He seemed completely at ease.

More than at ease. He was thriving.

Perhaps he finally condensed his first star…? That does help you resist the Nether… Zauna thought dubiously as she examined his body. But she had received quite a bit of information from Abiodun as preparation for this repayment of her great debt. And from what she had learned from Abiodun’s explanation, the effect of earning a Nether Star shouldn’t be so sudden or drastic. Otherwise, the mortality rate of images on the frontlines wouldn’t be so gruesome.

“You alright?”

Zauna twitched several seconds later as she realized that the Ghosthound was talking to her. She nodded quickly, forcefully bound to answer honestly on a very surface level to any question that he asked. In actual fact, however, Zauna believed she could have worked herself up to a no if she had concentrated on her depression for long enough prior to him asking. But what would saying no really accomplish?

Then he would remove her from danger, thinking her status was related to damage from Nether. And she would lose her one outlet to end this life. Which was exactly the opposite of what she was aiming for.

It would be better if he believed that she was completely fine, so she would receive more dangerous assignments.