Chapter 1075 (2/2)

This second attempt was much more straightforward than the first. Within a few seconds, he had completely closed off the gushing Nether Well. While trying to catch his breath in the aftermath, Randidly turned to look at Kel’ev.

At that exact moment, Kel’ev spun to look at him, concern evident on his face. Both blinked at the other.

“How did you…” Kel’ev began.

With raised eyebrows, Randidly interrupted, “What the hell happened to you?”

When the Nether Well had approached earlier, Randidly had seen a surge of light and motion coming from Kel’ev. But Randidly was still floored when he looked at the man now and saw that the right side of his body seemed to have swollen into a body builder’s muscular physique and grown a thick coating of bristling quills across the top of his right arm. They fluttered as Kel’ev looked at Randidly, the tips a dark orange color.

At Randidly’s question, Kel’ev grimaced. “...perhaps there are more important issues at the moment than our relative secrets.”

“...yea,” Randidly agreed slowly. Then he proceeded to pick up Vualla’s limp form. But no sooner had he touched her arm than there was a rumbling wave of Nether that crashed against the group. If not for having hold of Vualla, Randidly himself might have been blown away by the abrupt force. Even more peculiar, it was like Randidly could hear someone speaking in a language he didn’t understand, with the noise hidden in the subtle reverberations of the Nether wave.

But the emotion was clear.

“The Nether Gatekeeper is coming,” Kel’ev whispered. “We have to go. Now.”

“Well, it’s not like I fucking wanted to sightsee here. Where do we need to go for the rendezvous?” Randidly spat out.

Kel’ev shot him a reassuring furious glance and then said. “The opposite side of the base from where we arrived. We were supposed to mark the location of the Nether Wells and then lead a mad chase through the remainder of the base, but now... There should be a small Aether Key floating there currently, although well hidden. So-”

Kel’ev faltered as another dense wave of Nether carrying the Nether Gatekeeper’s ire pressed against them. Randidly looked down at the unconscious form of Vualla. Without her strength, fighting against a foe like this…

Then Randidly shook his head. No, even at Vualla’s best she hadn’t been able to produce such strong emotions that would persist across such distance. If she had been able to, the Nether Gatekeeper would have been drawn over to her presence before she had the chance to destroy the Nether Wells. No, their only hope was to make it to that Aether Key.

And as usual, Kel’ev was completely worthless.

What did I even expect? Weird transformation aside, this guy is just a source of negative energy…

So Randidly closed his eyes and blasted himself outward.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 31!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 32!

Another wave of anger hit Randidly’s senses, scattering them for a split second. But then they snapped back together and continued the search. After all, Randidly had been expecting just such an outcome since he had exposed himself to the sensation of Nether.

But that fucker is getting damn close… Randidly thought worriedly as he felt a presence approaching them that moved with all of the brutal destructiveness and weight of a tornado.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 33!

“Got it,” Randidly hissed. He pushed Vualla up onto his shoulder and looked at Kel’ev with a mocking grin. “Or do you think you know better than I do about this?”

“Try to keep up,” Kel’ev snapped. But Randidly was amused to note that he fell in easily behind Randidly as they began to rush forward toward their goal. The only problem was Randidly quickly began to sweat as they continued to steadily accelerate. Bouts of dizziness nipped at the edges of his consciousness.

It was easy for Randidly to forget about his wounds after seeing Vualla being injured. But the lingering damage from those blasts of dense Nether remained. Forcing his image body to move quickly was aggravating them.

Okay, okay, this is easy, right? Randidly thought with a grimace. We have the direction, so all I need to do is worry about going forward… for the rest… ah, also don’t drop Vualla…

Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 227.