Chapter 1146 (2/2)
As the Nether flowed easily out of them, the bands of metal groaned and collapsed to the ground. For the first time since Randidly had walked down the staircase, the constant smile that was upon the Creature’s face twitched and waned. “You… how did you do that?”
Satisfaction bloomed warm in Randidly’s chest like a sunflower. To see the Creature so confused was… a welcome feeling. This time, things would be different. The Nether spun around him as Randidly took a step forward. “If you wanted to test my ability to handle Nether, this is far from enough.”
“Yes but... how? If you can work Nether right now...” The Creature hissed. And then something dawned on Randidly that had the satisfaction in his chest dimming and wilting.
“...you legitimately don’t know. You cannot see outside my Soulskill, to what’s happening in the real world,” Randidly said in wonder. His emerald eyes narrowed as he considered the Creature in front of him. “...you are just another sliver of The Creature’s personality, left here amongst the old core of my Soulskill. I’m surprised you managed to persist through so many rounds of destruction and rebirth for the Soulskill, but still… you were probably just triggered by the surge of Nether inside of me.”
After hesitating for a second as it studied Randidly, the Creature opened Lyra’s mouth again. “...you likely have begun to rely on Touch from Beyond recently. I’m surprised you are aware of the term Nether but do you think this matters? The fact that you’ve had to rely on the devasting power of my gift just proves-”
What the hell are you saying…? Relying on Touch from Beyond…? How long has it been since I had that version of the Skill...
“You truly know nothing.” Randidly said slowly. His stomach felt… odd as he considered the Creature. Yet he didn’t wait any longer, instead proceeding directly forward toward the Creature. “You… you probably don’t even understand how much trouble your true body is in.”
This was a calculated gamble on Randidly’s part, but he wanted to confirm something. Or maybe he wanted to shift the conversation so the Creature would stop just seeming so… so...
Thankfully, the Creature took the bait, even as it lowered herself into a fighting stance. “Hmph, do you think I would fall for such an obvious bluff? I can sense plenty from the core of my existence. And if you are capable enough with Nether, then I will just beat you into submission the old fashioned way. Then we can have a nice chat about how we will proceed”
The Creature blurred forward. It was quite fast… but not so fast that Randidly couldn’t keep up. No, in fact, it was quite easy to keep up. The acceleration the Creature displayed was fine, but its top-end speed was relatively bland.
It was… disappointing. What Randidly felt in his stomach was disappointment.
No, this was a test that Randidly was designed to have triggered long, long ago. The strength of this shade made that immediately obvious. But Randidly wasn’t going to let go of this opportunity to suppress even a fraction of the Creature’s consciousness just due to a lucky break on his part.
Chimeric Avoidance. Nether’s Caress.
With almost the same series of hyper quick steps and sways that he used against the guardians to get here, Randidly maneuvered around the Creature’s vicious slash and twisted to strike at her back. As he did so, he gathered all that dense and available Nether in the air to create a blade in his hand.
The Creature spun around to block the descending blow with its arm, but it was still forced several steps backward by the clash. And Randidly didn’t miss the way that Lyra’s slender arm began to smoke and sizzle as Nether ate into the image the constituted this sliver of the Creature.
You idiot, I fought as an image for too long to not know how difficult it is. Randidly thought almost sadly. Why are you… why is it like this…?
As the Creature righted itself, Randidly raised his arm and pulled even harder at the surrounding Nether, causing his Nether’s Caress Skill to hum with the pressure of controlling so much Nether. It simply took far too long to this version of the Creature to recover its footing. It was… pathetic.
The blade in Randidly’s hand grew from a dagger to a long sword, then to a greatsword, and then to a towering pillar of dense and volatile Nether. His hand tightened, gripping the Nether blade and burning his skin in an attempt to inject a sense of reality to this almost surreal experience. Yet even with the pain, nothing changed. A small and impotent Creature in the form of Lyra still miserably looked upward at the blade that Randidly had conjured.
Time to fucking end this farce. What the hell is going on…?
Congratulation! Your Skill Nether’s Caress (M) has grown to Level 113!
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether’s Caress (M) has grown to Level 114!
Randidly felt an empty echo of enjoyment watching the projection of the Creature in front of him pale, but it was ultimately made completely unsatisfying by its low mutter. “How…?”
Randidly slashed downward, sending vast reverberations through the surrounding Nether. The Creature dodged to the side, but Randidly maintained his grip on the huge pillar of Nether and slashed again. And again. His arm continued to accelerate as Yyrwood Body of Yggdrasil and Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality merged together to urge him to impossible speeds.
When he finally caught it with a glancing blow, the Creature couldn’t help but reel backward. One of Lyra’s arms had been burned away by the Nether. The image of her flesh around the shoulder began to corrode from the dense Nether.
Yet the reason why Randidly didn’t follow up with another attack to shatter the projection in front of him was that the Creature began to laugh. “Do you think that your strength changes anything…? You can kill me if you want… it doesn’t matter. I’ve already accomplished my goal by being here…”
The Creature its one remaining arm and gestured to the dais on which Azriel now was lying. “You have two choices now that the ritual is activated. Accept this power which I give you… or release all the Nether and drown your Soulskill in it.”