Chapter 1219 (2/2)
When Ileot spoke the short phrase, Randidly’s grin only widened. With those words, most of Randidly’s confusion was satisfied; even if he didn’t understand the situation, the clarity that Ileot had become an enemy took away all of Randidly’s mental stress.
The familiar sensation of the Grim Chimera’s wild glee during its earlier missions into the Great Rift returned suddenly to Randidly. The danger had his blood smoldering. But the current Randidly Ghosthound had gone far down the Path of Nether. If Ileot Swacc was going to force them to be enemies, Randidly didn’t mind demonstrating how much he had grown.
After all, Randidly sincerely doubted that his ability to use Nether was as grand a secret as the Alpha Cosmos. If he had no choice but to fight, there was no reason to keep this secret hidden.
His large Nether core began to spin even faster, slowly dismantling the surrounding cores. Ripples began to spread through the bubble around Randidly. Still standing perfectly straight and still, Ileot unleashed more blasts of power. As Ileot attacked, the image of the Grim Intuition came into being around Randidly and expertly wove its way through the blasts.
All the while, Randidly’s preparations continued in secret.
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 120!
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 121!
As Randidly quickly wove his Nether RItual, he brought the image of Yggdrasil to life behind him. He considered using the drop of liquid Aether but decided against it. He would save that for a decisive blow.
The enormous brown trunk shot upward, its twisting branches and golden roots spreading to fill the surrounding area. Golden script glittered mesmerizingly across all of the World Tree. For the first time since the fight began, Ileot’s eyes narrowed; it was clear he recognized the image as a threat. Yet after a hesitation, Ileot didn’t attempt to contest the spreading reach of the tree at all. Instead, he just conjured more blasts of white lightning and unleashed them all at once toward Randidly.
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 122!
Randidly grimaced as the six-shot volley Ileot unleashed crossed in complicated patterns too quickly for his eyes to follow. Without much choice, Randidly allowed one of the beams to pierce directly through the flesh of his thigh to avoid taking more serious injuries. To Randidly’s horror, he immediately felt the blast drain a fraction of his energy. Behind his back, that beam twisted around as though alive and aimed for Randidly’s spine.
The trick is to avoid them so they don’t build up any energy huh… With how much power it took, it probably can still circle around a few times…
Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Ritual (A) has grown to Level 123!
But as Randidly expertly used Chimeric Avoidance to avoid the one blast that curved around and the four more that Ileot unleashed, his face curled into a smile. ...it’s such a pity that I’m no longer bound by just relying on Aether to fight you any longer. Honestly… I might actually be stronger as a Nether Beast than as an Aether soldier…
At that thought, Randidly’s body began to ripple. His limbs stretched and darkened, transforming partially into the vision of the Grim Chimera. His two long bone tails swung impatiently side to side as he glared up at Ileot. Acri trilled in pleasure and spun together to form its enormous lance form. Sulfur hummed in understanding and the three heavy fingers it had on Randidly’s left arm gradually sharpened into wickedly curved talons.
Ileot’s eyes narrowed in annoyance at the same moment that the Ritual finished. Yggdrasil surrounded them, its branches stretching out in every direction, its roots forming a wide base. They fought beneath Yggdrasil’s auspices. As the curving beam twisted again to aim at Randidly and Ileot hemmed in his movements with more attacks, Randidly reached out and touched a gnarled branch next to him.
In the next instant, Randidly was gone. The blasts of white lightning passed harmlessly through the void he left behind. The leaves of Yggdrasil rustled.
For a long second, Ileot stood on his basketball court’s worth of stone and looked at the spot where Randidly disappeared with blank eyes. The beam that had pierced through Randidly gradually ran out of its stolen energy and faded like its fellows. With a sudden sharpness, Ileot looked up and saw Randidly holding a burning beacon of emerald and orange fire in his left hand while accelerating down toward him.
Moving with all of the power that Randidly expected from an expert of Ileot’s abilities, Ileot Swacc twisted and unleashed almost a dozen curving arcs of incandescent electricity toward Randidly. With so many at once, they resembled the jaws of a wolf, closing in to swallow him whole.
Yet once more, Randidly reached out and touched a nearby branch of Yggdrasil. With the same sort of capability that the blue veins in the Great Rift possessed, Randidly followed that connection and appeared at one of the innumerable roots of the World Tree. With Randidly disappearing once more, the roots and branches in the surrounding area shifted once more, wriggling outward.
Before Ileot could react, the remaining stone beneath him shattered and Randidly surged upward, the glowing ember at the center of a bonfire. FIrebird’s Lament.
Congratulations! Your Skill FIrebird’s Lament (A) has grown to Level 86!
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Congratulations! Your Skill FIrebird’s Lament (A) has grown to Level 101!
Flames blasted outward, knocking Ileot backward. Although the Skill wasn’t a powerful one, the evolved form of Verdant Nova had the most concussive force and rampant energies than most of Randidly’s abilities. In addition, it bought Randidly a split second to examine Ileot in close proximity. Because honestly, he hadn’t expected that Skill to hit. Both this and the prior movements were designed to draw out his strength so that Randidly could judge how aggressively he should engage in this fight.
Yet as Randidly studied his foe with Aether Detection, his eyes widened in recognition of what was happening in Ileot’s body. The reason he’s so stiff… is that he’s suffering from Aether Sickness! That last attack depleted most of his strength, and now that he’s suspended in the Great Rift! With how large his inner world is… with how long he lived… it must require a ridiculous amount of Aether to maintain his peak strength.
Just the Aether cost of supporting himself means he’s running at a deficit. That’s why these attacks are condensed and designed to steal energy for fuel… Ileot looks like he’s dozing off… because that’s actually what’s happening!
Although Ileot was something akin to an apex predator compared to Randidly… its ribs were showing through its patchy fire. It’s enormously powerful body had turned to eating itself in order to survive.