Chapter 1128 (2/2)

With a soft click, Randidly’s mount launched him up onto a floating stone.

Randidly had intentionally struck out at a dense grouping of Nether Beasts that was surging through a tight opening between two of the defensive fortifications. Then Randidly had continued to push forward, attacking the rather more spread out forces that waited beyond, until he was able to hop up onto a large boulder floating only a few meters above the ground and survey the scene.

Honestly, the group Skill Flowing Momentum might be the only reason that the Riders were barely able to hold their own, even after Randidly cracked the formation of the Nether Beasts wide open. With space, the Riders could maneuver around the Nether Beasts, but their attacks weren’t able to puncture the bubble of their energy. Behind Randidly was mostly a cleanup crew, even if the respectable number meant that they also protected Randidly’s back from being mobbed.

Gaining twenty Skill Levels in only ten minutes really show the quality of the foe… but it’s going to take a lot more of this before Flowing Momentum has enough punch to turn the Riders into a real rival to Nether Beasts, Randidly thought with a sigh. Much more efficient just to use Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil… but if I want to avoid gaining the experience from them…

Randidly’s eyes began to glow. ...better to just aim for maiming the Nether Beasts with the roots.

*****

Vualla stood on the dusty slope behind Commander Terith’s fortifications, using her extremely acute eyesight to follow Randidly’s figure as he swam through the chaotic battlefield.

Strong, Vualla thought. And she couldn’t deny that when she looked out over the battlefield, she felt a flicker of envy at the easy grace that allowed him to be all but invulnerable among so many chaotic and hostile elements. Truly strong.

Honestly, Vualla had always supposed that if Randidly’s images were so capable, his body would be doubly so. And there was also the realization that despite the fact they ultimately became less useful and effective than images at their Level, returning to his body would mean that Randidly would receive the benefit of his Stats.

Yet how could Vualla watch Randidly now without acknowledging how high his Stats must be? Almost shockingly so. Vualla had vaguely had a sense of superiority when viewing Randidly’s images previously, but now...

It was akin to admiring several gleaming ceremonial blades and then giving them to their true owner and watching them be used. Randidly’s images had always been sharp, but Vualla had easily recognized that they were not long or extremely sturdy blades. As a solo image, the blade that Randidly Ghosthound had wielded had seemed… fragile. The rigors of battle had rapidly worn it down.

Yet now Vualla realized her mistake. Although the blade of her image had been made primarily to crush and destroy, Randidly Ghosthound did not aim for that with his images. It was not an image that was designed to be overwhelmingly powerful. No, he relied on the flexibility and capability of his body in order to create an opening where that image could cut and bleed his opponents to death.

More than that, Vualla could only look at the way that Randidly used his images and realize that they might be geared toward killing right now, but they were so much more than that. She watched him utilize his Grim Chimera image to make small, impossibly quick adjustments to avoid damage. She witnessed his Yggdrasil image lash out and weaken the surround Nether Beasts with roots so his followers could finish the enemy off.

She saw Randidly’s eyes glow with the emerald fire of his third image as he arranged a situation just so with soft touches and innocuous half-steps so that Randidly seemed to just canter forward and his foes bled and fell and died in his wake.

He’s a man who picked up the sword out of necessity, Vualla understood as she watched him move. Her eyes followed the minute adjustments of his hands and spear and the way they seemed so perfectly in sync with each other. Both were beauty in motion, death spun with gold and ash. He seeks strength to accomplish his goals, not to possess strength.

Vualla wrapped her arms more tightly around herself. Her eyes narrowed.

Because it was clear that it wasn’t stats that truly made Randidly strong. They allowed him to display his abilities, sure, but it wasn’t what made his blows heavy or his images so suddenly solid. Watching him here, it was clear that his images, across the board, had taken a qualitative step forward.

No, because Randidly had told her. In bits and pieces, he had hinted at it with his abilities when they went to fight against the Nether Gatekeeper.

Randidly Ghosthound could use Nether. Every one of his images… was grounded in a way that Vualla had never seen before. And it was so obviously powerful that Vualla was at a loss.

And how much more can you grow, Randidly Ghosthound? Vualla thought tiredly. Her wounded Fate throbbed and she clenched her fist. And how long will I need to recover before I can stand by your side on the battlefield…?