Chapter 1207 (2/2)

Continuing to pivot on his foot, Lord Miln spun until he saw the form of Ileot Swacc. With a wince, Lord Miln walked over to stand next to the crouching form of Ileot.

The ancient being was glaring down at the broken corpse of the Randidly Ghosthound duplication that he had made. Ileot’s fingers flexed and danced like a spider, as though he was considering how to deal with this.

Surely he cannot also bring someone back on the dead? That is… a poor choice, even at the best of times. Most people who pass beyond the veil are broken by the passage...

Lord Miln grimaced and shook such thoughts from his head. It seemed that both of them had underestimated the Nether King. Who would have guessed it could still produce such power even when half of its strange formation had been destroyed…?

Lord Miln cleared his throat to be sure Ileot was aware of his presence and then asked about the corpse, “Will this be a problem? I remember you mentioning how complicated karma could get if something happened to a duplication-”

“No, this is only a partial copy. That’s why it’s so inferior,” Ileot shook his head in annoyance. “That’s why I had to make a partial copy; the karma gets too complicated when you fully duplicate someone who is still living. Sometimes there are… consequences if something happens to one or the other. Safer to choose someone without any remaining karma in this life. No, it’s just… I’m angry. Angry things turned out this way. If it’s like this again… dammit, I cannot just- What the hell did I miss…?”

Lord Miln forced a chuckle. “Well, does it really matter now, does it? The losses were worse than expected… but it seems your attack drove the Nether King back. As long as we spin this right to the Nexus council-”

The look on Ileot’s face stopped Lord Miln dead. Ileot Swacc was sneering at him like he was a pitiful schoolboy. “You… you are more of a fool than even I suspected.”

“What?” For a second, Lord Miln was shocked. Then his bewilderment turned to anger. “Without me, none of this would have happened! It was your failure that brought us here, not mine. You were protected as requested.”

“If not for you undoubtedly making some sort of poorly timed lockdown at the military checkpoint, how could this have happened.” Ileot Swacc’s eyes blazed. His jabbed his finger violently forward. “It was your pointless actions that ruined-”

Lord Miln snorted and crossed his arms. “Lockdown…? At the military checkpoint…? Why the hell would I do that? Do you think I have sway enough to do that without someone asking questions?”

“Then-” Ileot blinked. Then a frowned. More to himself, Ileot muttered. “...is someone targeting me…?”

“...I’m going to overlook the implication that you were going to betray me.” Lord Miln turned away with a tight expression. “Instead, let’s figure-”

Lord Miln froze. His entire existence was plunged in ice. There was a figure standing at the edge of their small floating island, its body shifting and rippling. That terrible chill invaded every part of Lord Miln’s body as his eyes struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.

Ileot began to laugh. “Truly, you are so, so young. Do you think that the strike I unleashed was enough to wound one of this caliber…? Sure, we inflicted a fatal flaw in its formation… but its rage has not abated. It was always going to descend to this place to extract a personal price. In a way, it is… karma.”

The Nether King’s two lighthouse-like eyes beamed across the twenty or so meters between them. That gaze seemed to pin Lord Miln to his spot. The Nether King’s body was tall, perhaps four meters tall. It was also humanoid, possessing two arms, two legs, a torso, and a head. As for its body, it was made out of a strangely liquid material, so that its flesh always seemed to be weeping down its own body, dripping onto the ground and evaporating into a sizzling mist.

In addition, its form was constantly flickering, dozens of visual projections twitching and sliding sideways around its body. The effect was that the Nether King seemed to be in a constant state of motion, even when it was entirely still and staring over at Lord Miln.

“I suppose this has all turned to shit,” Ileot announced. “I’ll be taking my leave-”

Onnng.

The Nether King didn’t have a mouth to open, its whole body simply vibrated. This noise possessed none of the deadly power that its previous attacks had inflicted on the battlefront, but there also was a strange sense of… constriction that settled around them.

Ileot barred his teeth toward the distant figure. “You think you can keep me here? My caution does not mean I fear you. I have been avoiding that fate for far too long to stumble here. If you force my hand, I will tear you to shreds.”

Ong.

With steps that possessed a thousand cascading afterimages, the Nether King began to walk forward.