Chapter 1148 (2/2)

In the opposite direction.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 61!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 86!

The Nether resisted at first simply by virtue of its immobility, but slowly it began to trudge in reverse of its previous path. The huge mass of Nether below began to suck Nether back into itself, both the runoff that flowed up to the surface and the dense strands of Nether that passed through Azriel toward that dark seed that the Creature had created.

There were a few more tremors through the ground around them, but as the Nether began to move things normalized to a low roar of momentum. Of course, the Nether Ritual’s destruction was hastened as Nether forced its way through it in reverse, but it still bought Randidly some time.

Because the problem with the third plan was that a dual trap was laid by the Creature in it. If he created his focus with this bead it had prepared, some powerful portion of the Creature’s will would be at the core of it. And if he attempted to remove that piece of the Creature’s will before he made his focus, that image that the Creature had sacrificed would once more go back into its hands.

And Randidly had difficulty believing that a weaponized Creature would calmly let him foil its plan.

Randidly glanced sideways at the Creature. It’s grey eyes, only slightly lighter than the grey and stern hair of its new form remained fixed on Randidly. “Do you yet hesitate? It is a sign of weakness that you still cannot make this choice. Is it too hard for you? Well, there will be no gradual easing of difficulty after this. You might bear my weapon, but the weight of responsibility waiting for you will only grow-”

This was Randidly’s Soulskill, and he had had enough. Now that the Nether was maintaining itself somewhat, reversing its motion through the Nether Ritual, Randidly flexed his authority. This was his body. All here was within his domain. This was the Alpha Cosmos, born of his flesh.

And he demanded that the Creature leave.

There was a soft gust of wind. The whole of existence around him trembled.

Nothing happened. It was like Randidly’s mental fingers tried to find purchase on this foreign existence within the Alpha Cosmos and only scrambled against marble. It seemed that the Creature fit perfectly into a hole that Randidly didn’t even know existed. It was flush with the edges of him. Which was a result that certainly hadn’t happened the last time that the Creature had invaded his Soulskill.

The Creature continued talking as though it hadn’t even noticed his efforts to evict it. “-until the day comes that you can truly fulfill your Fate. You can end this System that has persisted far beyond its limits.”

Randidly didn’t respond to the Creature, still shaken by the previous failure. No, what had shaken him was exactly how little effect his attempt had. It hadn’t even noticed. Otherwise, the Creature would definitely gloat. He was missing something here. For all that he had dominated the Creature in terms of power, that was only due to it having given its image to this unraveling bead in front of him. He could not allow himself to forget that again.

This was still an ancient monster whose understanding made it extremely dangerous.

Rather than focusing on this foe that he was fighting, Randidly turned his attention toward Azriel in this fleeting moment as the Nether howled above him in a gliding motion. His senses spread out across her body, trying to quickly determine if she was alright. The short answer was yes… but the more he looked at the changes that had occurred within Azriel the more Randidly gritted his teeth.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 62!

Her mind hadn’t been touched by the Nether, but her body had been thoroughly modified. It was now apparent that all of Azriel had been slowly been groomed by the Nether passing through her to become a ‘bubble’ for the dark marble that had been floating down toward her. Now that the grand Nether Ritual was unwinding, that process had been stopped. But the energy passing through Azriel continued to slowly taint her physical presence with Nether.

It was somewhat impressive that Azriel’s body accepted the changes so harmoniously; Randidly couldn’t detect a sign of corrosion between the Nether and Aether that she was. But she had almost completely become a creature of Nether. Much more so than Randidly, who maintained a balance that was quite favorable to Aether inside of himself.

Perhaps that was why even the Creature was so impressed. Randidly’s eyes were worried as he scanned his friend’s body for any signs of Nether’s touch. It seemed that whatever her master had done… had weirdly prepared her for this. Or given her a persistent flaw that allowed this to happen...

Yet Randidly’s revery was interrupted as Azriel’s eyelids fluttered. After a second of confusion, her clear crimson eyes flashed and focused on him for a split second. Then she pursed her lips and scanned the area around them.

Randidly hated speaking like this in front of the Creature, but some part of him just didn’t care. His voice was raw with emotion as he said, “Azriel… are you alright?”

Although she didn’t really seem able to move, her clear gaze conveyed her thoughts quite effectively as she locked eyes with Randidly. All part of the plan.