Chapter 1150 (2/2)

That’s an advantage.

The threads of the dark bead parted and finally revealed the Creature’s donated memories. In an instant, transmitted across the Nether between them, Randidly felt those memories as if they were his own.

Just like the Creature had hinted, they absolutely burned with the need for vengeance against the System. They were so potent and visceral that Randidly dare not look too closely, lest he get drawn into them. The part of him that understood how dangerous the Creature was grew very grave as he viewed these memories. They had all of the same vivid and implacable strength that the images he had seen from Nadia and Kailm possessed.

If what he had seen in the Creature’s expression when he revealed the pursuit had been a fissure, this was a direct hole to the engine of the Creature’s loss at the System’s hands. The bitterness, the frustration, the spasming muscles and the almost primal need to hurt something radiated outward from the memories. The space around the memories seemed to be physically boiling from the palpable negative emotions that rolled outward.

Yet the part of him that accepted Azriel’s argument couldn’t help but acknowledge how potent a weapon those memories would be.

It’s foolish to believe I won’t be affected by holding those memories, Randidly thought sadly. What if some of that callousness infects me? What if I start to treat the people of Earth in the same way? The people of the Alpha Cosmos?

As if he had spoken the words to her, Azriel replied quietly in Randidly’s ear. “She’s a wounded thing, that I cannot deny. But you can feel how vehemently she wants her vengeance; those emotions would not have been born in someone who did not care deeply about something. And what you are accepting are those memories. Not the current husk that bears them.”

The Nether Ritual shuddered and fell apart above him. The memories of the Creature were completely revealed, burning away the surrounding Nether and starting to cause a chain reaction that would likely send the whole space that had been compressed by Nether into a supernova-like scenario. And right as everything seemed to ignite, both Azriel and the Creature spoke.

Azriel said, “Trust me on this; if you call and fuel this with yourself instead of allowing the Creature to orchestrate the genesis… there will be a change. The Creature’s memories of loss do not exist in a vacuum, even if they are isolated now. The things you have endured to get to this point were not for nothing.”

The Creature sneered and said. “So… this is your choice. I cannot say that I am surprised. So, how will you deal with-”

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 87!

Just as the whole of the Nether Ritual shattered above and the huge mass of Nether began to settle into freefall toward those hideously potent memories, Randidly raised his hands. The three images once more surged to work. Ignition Essence became an emerald fireball that settled around the entirely of Randidly’s body, guiding him through the work. His Willpower flicked outward and seized the shattered pieces of the previous ritual, making them his own.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether RItual (A) has grown to Level 88!

Faced with Randidly’s determination, the whole of the surging Nether stopped dead. His arms trembled from the strain. A throbbing headache spiked out from his temples. It was too much, too soon, too fast.

But it was necessary.

It started with hope. And then it grew by faith and reaching out into the vast darkness for an answer.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 89!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether RItual (A) has grown to Level 90!

As he held everything upon his back, the shape was reassembled. The bones of a similar Nether Ritual were erected. Then the Nether Ritual began to greedily devour the surrounding Nether, rapidly easing the burden on Randidly’s body. And the weave of flows that Randidly created was markedly superior to the Creature’s; as Nether began to flow once more down below the platform to that tight heart and then refine itself up through Azriel’s body to bind the Creature’s memories, there was much less wasted Nether.

The amount that the Nether Ritual pumped up as excess to the surface was practically negligible. But that did mean that the result would be that much more potent and capable than what the Creature would have created. Randidly hoped that Azriel was right about the change that would happen if he shaped it himself.

On the trust that Azriel was right and convinced by the stated benefits, Randidly pulled deeply from himself and the bones of the Alpha Cosmos in order to fuel the ritual. Even without wasting any, the Nether here was insufficient; so Randidly pulled from deep within this world to gather the hidden Nether and the memories were dragged up along with them.

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 91!

Randidly released a breath and let himself relax slightly. The bright memories of the Creature were rapidly buried beneath the Nether and the small memories that floated upward from the bedrock of this place.

Randidly was extremely nervous. He regretted this decision almost immediately, fearing he exposed himself to weakness due to sentimentality. Yet there was one extremely convincing sign that what he had done was the right decision.

Just as he predicted, the Creature did not react to the reassembled Nether Ritual for several seconds. Then she looked up at it rather blankly. “You… my memories are still within that. What… are you doing…?”