Chapter 1187 (1/2)

Sulfur hummed pleasantly even as Randidly flexed his right hand and popped a finger back into place. It was great that one of them was enjoying the experience, but Randidly felt rather exasperated that his armor now-made-right-arm wasn’t more concerned with the current state of affairs of Randidly’s body. Honestly, Randidly was stunned that Sulfur was able to so blithely ignore the effects of Nether and continually create more armor.

I suppose while so much available kinetic energy, the slow corrosion by Nether isn’t much of a problem, but still...

The Nether Gatekeeper raised a pair of arms and drummed its fists against its chest in an obvious attempt to raise its own spirits. Which enabled Randidly to spare slightly more attention to the surrounding battle. Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil slashed out at exposed limbs and underbellies, easing the pressure on Lady Iellaya’s soldiers.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 283!

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruinous Drive (Ru) has grown to Level 61!

Although the fact Randidly switched to a largely aiding role meant he wasn’t receiving any experience for killing the monsters, his Skill Levels continued to climb rapidly upward as the fight against the Nether Gatekeeper continued. Part of it was the battlefield, but also a significant portion of it came from the extra attention Randidly could spare for each individual task since his Intelligence had reached one thousand. That extra emphasis seemed to have a multiplicative effect on his growth that could really shine on such a chaotic battlefield.

Very quickly, Randidly hurriedly let the surroundings fade away as the Nether Gatekeeper rumbled forward again. Grim Intuition narrowed to this one figure in front of him. The Nether Gatekeeper struck out with a half dozen short jabs with its own left arms, forcing Randidly to either endure them with his right arm or open himself up to a cross-counter punch from the Nether Gatekeeper when he mobilized his empowered Sulfur arm to handle the powerful punches.

It was an annoyingly effective strategy, but one that Randidly was able to use his annoyingly wide stable of Skills to render much less effective.

Emerald fire danced across Randidly’s right hand as he called on Ignition Essence. It answered his call, but the specter of Illym was also present in the fire in its erratic streaks of orange. Part of that was that the fire now also burned Randidly, but it compensated for its self-damage by becoming incredibly destructive in its own right.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ignition of the Emerald Essence (L) has grown to Level 159!

Congratulations! Your Skill Fire Resistance has grown to Level 192!

Some of the Nether Gatekeeper’s jabs slammed into the torso armor that Sulfur provided, but others Randidly deftly deflected with his hand wreathed in emerald fire, leaving painful-looking distortions across the pseudo-flesh of the Nether Beast. They wouldn’t restrain its movements much, but they certainly looked painful.

Hopefully more painful than having to get jabbed in the side repeatedly, Randidly thought sourly as he stepped to the side but still received a jarring punch for his trouble. Because of the constant threat of the Nether forces getting a foothold, the two foes stayed very close to one another. Randidly dared not retreat much further.

Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 246!

Randidly’s wounds tightened painfully as he hopped slightly to the side to avoid another punch. Honestly, if this continues for much longer-

Yet before Randidly could finish that thought, a huge roar echoed across the battlefield. All eyes were drawn upward to a huge, pitch-black claw that rapidly appeared above the blue veins. Rather than an image or a Skill, this thing seemed to be a manifestation of raw emotion, sent directly from the Nether King. After flexing its long fingers, the enormous claw shot downward and rapidly began to shrink as it descended. It soon became a rumbling pinprick of black light that shot downward toward the battlefield.

Randidly didn’t overlook the fact that the claw was heading directly for him. But at least he had some time to address that threat.

Because even if he wanted to move backward or prepare, the Nether Gatekeeper surged forward to pin Randidly down with a tenacious string of attacks. It dropped its strategy of trying to suppress Randidly’s left arm and simply wanted to suppress him. All of the energy that it had been conserving it released in an explosion where punches were blasted outward like shrapnel.

Sulfur was immensely pleased with all the orbiting sources of kinetic energy, but Randidly was not. He smashed forward with his left arm with a straight that knocked aside an uppercut and a jab to impact the Nether Gatekeeper but earned himself a punch to the gut and the chest for his troubles.

Competing against these six arms was extremely tiresome.

The Nether Gatekeeper leaned forward as though he expected Randidly to retreat from his repeated blows, but Randidly’s eyes blazed. You think you I don’t have some reserves remaining too? Ignition of the Emerald Essence! Molten Fang of the Pariah! Man is Proud, But the Chimera Takes!