Chapter 1193 (2/2)

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruinous Drive (Ru) has grown to Level 71!

Although he still was going to follow Abiodun’s relayed order, Randidly had some thoughts on the way that he could still affect the battlefield. Striding forward, Randidly pushed open the door to his tent. In their excitement, both the enlarged Acri and Sulfur who had encased his left arm began to hum.

Randidly could only shake his head at his plant’s enthusiasm for violence and look out over the battlefield. Yet just as quickly, he narrowed his eyes and spoke to the idle Zauna. “...where’s Salazar?”

Zauna flexed her stony hands and cracked her knuckles. “...down on the frontlines. He couldn’t… sit.”

Sure enough, Grim Intuition quickly located Salazar a short distance behind the stable form of Abiodun. Several exhausted Aether soldiers were crowded around him. Inwardly, Randidly shook his head at himself for being so distracted by the similarities in the changes between Lady Iellaya and Vualla’s shift that he had missed his subordinate moving.

Even from here, Randidly could feel Salazar talking to those soldiers. It wasn’t an offensive boost, but the visual variations around Salazar rapidly stilled as he enthusiastically orated. If Abiodun was stone and Randidly was a tree, Salazar’s influence was more akin to water. It was not exceedingly power, but it flowed through the broken cracks that Nether had created in the surrounding space and stabilized the situation. Even if it was just a morale boost to the surrounding groups, it was an effective one.

“He has a good heart,” Randidly said with a lot of difficulty. His heart trembled as he looked down at Salazar. After all, he was extremely clear on how weak Salazar was; even a three-star Nether Beast could devour the snake-man while fending off another soldier with its other hand. Yet even though he was weak, his peculiar vehemence while telling stories was enough to steady even the air.

Zauna nodded and crossed her arms. Randidly’s tongue was thick in his mouth, but some part of him was strangely comforted to look down at the back of Salazar’s head. Randidly wasn’t the only one struggling out here.

He wasn’t alone.

Tilting his head at Zauna, Randidly asked. “Do you want to fight too?”

She shook her head, but then added quietly. “...waiting for orders…”

Randidly resisted an urge to roll his eyes. What was it with these stone people and orders? Must be purposefully aggravating. “Go. I’m almost fully recovered and will rejoin the battlefield shortly. Warm them up for me.”

Without another word, Zauna hurried away, leaving Randidly alone on the high vantage point above Lady Iellaya’s camp. The roars of Nether Beasts and the sounds of Aether weapons hitting the fake flesh of the opposition drifted upward. Even with his Grim Intuition, the two forces slowly blended together; the bodies were pressed closely together in a chaotic stew of sweat and blood.

“This is war,” Randidly said softly. And as he spoke that word, he allowed all of the frustration over his own weakness to fall away. He wasn’t alone. He had allies that he needed to trust. Instead of letting his mind ferret at the strands of uneasiness that had recently manifested in his mind, Randidly reached to his belt and hefted up the Philosopher’s Key.

He didn’t attempt to activate any of the abilities, that would almost immediately negate all the gains that Randidly had made on the front of his mental energy, but Randidly carefully examined the key itself.

Its gold exterior gleamed dully. The two square teeth at the end of the key were refreshingly simple. It did not look expensive or powerful. It simply looked functional. Because ultimately a key is just a tool. What really matters is how the key relates to the world. And to find that out… the easiest place to look is at the owner.

The Philosopher’s Key, huh…

Ignition Essence stirred inside Randidly’s chest. He didn’t pursue any of those thoughts too deeply, but Randidly mused over his role. What could he accomplish? Where did his personal strength come from?

What was the Philosopher?

The assigned timelimit to the break ticked ever closer. And only a minute prior to the end of the four-hour break, several things on the battlefield changed.

Even with the assistance of individuals from the left flank, the right flank of the Aether forces finally buckled. One of the interior camps was completely eviscerated, leaving the two camps to its right completely isolated and surrounded by a season of vicious Nether Beasts looking on with hungry eyes.

Lord Miln’s familiar image stirred above the towering rocky outcropping. His personal forces began to move.

Lady Iellaya stopped toying with the thirty or so Nether Gatekeepers in front of her and surged forward, killing a half dozen in only five seconds. The black ichor of the Nether Gatekeeper dripped into her raven wings, blending in completely.

In response to these changes, the entire battlefield became aware of one thing: above the battlefield in the Great Rift, the Nether King finally opened his eyes. Its body wasn’t vast, but those two eyes burned like flares in the Great Rift. Not a sound needed to be spoken, for his hatred was sign enough that the state of the battlefield was about to change.