Chapter 1192 (1/2)

Four hours of break on the frontlines of a battlefield was a long time, even when there was quite a bit of work Randidly had to do to repair the accumulated damage to his body. Explosive growth left most of the soft tissue in his body depleted. His cells were tiny little furnaces, taking in raw Aether and transforming it into chemical compounds to repair and replace the strained muscles and nerves. At the beginning of the break, Randidly put a lot of his focus into the details of what was happening, but rapidly he allowed his body to instinctively take over the process.

Part of the reason for the transition was that focusing didn’t make much difference for the general bruising and repair Randidly had to deal with, but also Randidly didn’t want to squander the chance to give his Willpower a break. In one way, Abiodun and Lady Iellaya’s perspective was the right one; the battle had just started. He would need energy moving forward. The small difference of directing the healing was a minor drain on his mental focus, but his recovery would be all the faster if he cut out every exertion.

Randidly didn’t intend to wait in his tent a single second longer than the order directed.

And the final reason for the release of control, and the reason that wary was wary of additional distractors was that Grim Intuition continued to feed him information on the state of the battlefield. There was a strong temptation to shut out the information flow, but Randidly forced himself to not look away. When he still had to endure this mental strain, it was all the more important to rid himself of others.

Needless to say, the Nether Gatekeepers' impressive descent to the battlefield struck a brutal blow against the Aether forces. Fortifications fractured and failed. When a dozen Nether Gatekeepers could move together, they plowed forward through the defensive entrenchment without any real resistance. Especially on the opposite flank from Lady Iellaya’s camp, Randidly witnessed hundreds of Aether soldiers being melted into grey goo before the Commanders of their camps were forced to show themselves and defend their soldiers.

Even then, the Commanders at several of the camps could do nothing but give up ground in a steady retreat. Even if they were individually strong, there were simply too many Nether Gatekeepers attack each camp. With raw superior numbers they surged forward, overwhelming the defenses and destabilizing the surrounding area.

With this amount of Nether Gatekeepers, the average Nether Beast behind them was almost superfluous. But the small skirmishes that involved only the footsoldiers on both sides were decided in largely the same manner; by a difference in manpower. The grand formation continued to siphon away ambient Nether and give a defensive boost to the Aether forces, but it wasn’t nearly enough.

Everything was happening too quickly. The moral that had slowly built itself up while Randidly fought that single Nether Gatekeeper was obliterated.

Of course, the one under the most strain initially was Abiodun himself, the one who had so casually relieved Randidly from his post. Yet as the enemies surged forward his image blossomed upward from his figure, creating the phantom of a collapsing and shadowy ruin over this corner of the battlefield. Bit by bit, the edges of this storied edifice fell away and smashed against the oncoming Nether Gatekeepers.

Even if there were twenty-four Nether Gatekeepers that were coming toward him, Abiodun’s positioning for his attacks was especially canny. It was clear that the Nether Gatekeepers could forcefully overpower the image that floated oppressively in front of Lady Iellaya’s camp, but it was equally clear they would pay a cost to do so. And Abiodun reminded them of that cost as frequently as he could.

That ancient city was incomparably solid. Which was why its gradual destruction had enough power to cow even the Nether Gatekeepers for a time. The steady collapses smashed into small bunches of the Nether Gatekeepers, constantly reminding them not to overestimate themselves and challenge him. The air rumbled with the passage of these disintegrating slabs of stone. So the Nether Gatekeepers satisfied themselves with small attacks for now, chipping away at the image’s power gradually.

Even if he uses it intelligently, the image is literally being destroyed as time passes… Randidly pressed his lips together as he examined what was occurring in front of the camp. Will the image lose its power once it has been completely destroyed…? If so, what Abiodun is doing right now-

But then Randidly shook his head with an emotion close to disgust. If Abiodun was truly sacrificing his future potential for current power, it would make a certain amount of sense. They were truly buying time for something. And obviously Abiodun would consider his strength a worthy trade if he could assist Lady Iellaya.

Lord Miln only made his presence note with small strikes to assist his subordinates, but the battle in front of the rocky outcropping of headquarters was the most chaotic of the battlefield. Randidly turned his attention there to search for the individual who looked so like him, but he wasn’t able to locate the doppelganger. It was clear that he wasn’t currently participating in the fighting, but the total lack of presence also seemed to mean that someone quite capable was screening him from Randidly’s perception.

Still, Randidly watched that portion of the battlefield with complicated eyes for several minutes as he studied two individuals who he recognized fighting: Nadia and Kailm, the parents of Illym. The two that had long struggled with the fact they had given birth to two daughters who shared one soul, meaning one of them would have to die. And then when one finally died, they had to endure the truth that the reunited soul had been too wounded to continue for any longer. In the end, they were childless.

Even though Illym had largely given up her consciousness in order to escape her constant guilt and grief, Ignition Essence trembled as Randidly considered the two.

Nadia was a blazing meteor of flame, wielding two crimson phoenixes like they were daggers against the Nether Gatekeepers. Although Randidly couldn’t make out Kailm’s figure, it was always apparent where he was; he stood at the center of a maelstrom of acrid smog, churning relentlessly and forcing the surround enemies backward.

That same deft manipulation of solid images that Randidly had encountered when they tested him became a sharp-edged weapon that they wielded against Nether Gatekeepers. Even if they were so constrained by the numbers of the opponents that they hadn’t been able to eliminate any single one, they waved their hands and brought smoke and fire crashing down through the air. Nether Gatekeepers were knocked away like bowling pins.

Of course, more surged forward to keep Illym’s loving parents from gaining an advantage. There were almost fifty Nether Gatekeepers moving toward the Aether headquarters. And when even Nadia and Kailm could not hold their own, Lord Miln would lift his hand and blast some Nether Gatekeepers backward. In this way, that battle entered into a strange cycle of stalemates.

Inevitably, there was one battlefield that Randidly’s attention wandered back to: Vualla’s fight. When the rest of the battlefield became too difficult to endure or predictable, his attention switched right back.

Vualla was struggling to hold her own against four Nether Gatekeepers. The other four powerful individuals in that camp met the other four Nether Gatekeepers heading for their position and were clearly being pushed back. Yet what could be done? Already, it was Vualla who bore the worst of the Nether horde’s fury.

It was especially worrying right at the beginning. It was clear that Vualla possessed the capability to have an edge over a single Nether Gatekeeper, but dealing with four attacks at once… her heavy metal gauntlets slid forward through each attack, neither too quick nor too slow. The raw aura of destruction that Vualla utilized blasted out from each of her strikes. But she simply couldn’t keep up with the hungry circling of four foes.