Chapter 1225 (2/2)

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Congratulations! Your Skill Reign of the Eidolon Crucible (L) has grown to Level 201!

With a groan, Randidly sat up and rubbed his forehead with his right hand. Then he released a breath and relaxed back into a laying position, savoring the sensation of simply laying in the warm tent. For a few seconds, Randidly was almost completely at ease.

Looks like the fight between Ileot and the Nether King resolved itself one way or another… Randidly looked around at the unfamiliar tent. Unless this is an elaborate trap where I walk outside the tent and Ileot begins to torture me… or could this even be a projected world? I shouldn’t discount that possibility, even if Grim Intuition didn’t trigger while I was in the Eidolon Crucible.

Randidly mobilized his Grim Intuition. Instantly, he could sense the tent and then the rather busy camp that sprawled around him. From the messy campfires and hastily made tents, it was clear that this was more of a refugee camp than a base, consistent with what Randidly would have expected after the huge confrontation between Aether and Nether at the frontline. As his perception spread out, Randidly felt the presence of both Salazar and Zauna, helping with the cooking fires and passing out food to the bedraggled column of soldiers that was patiently waiting for their meal.

Grimacing, Randidly attempted not to dwell on how many of the soldiers bore heavy wounds in the surrounding area. Most of the surviving soldiers had missing limbs that were only now starting to heal and Randidly’s Grim Intuition could clearly detect that their images hadn’t escaped the carnage. Of the large army of about eighty thousand that had begun the battle, there were only about fourteen thousand people milling about the camp.

Randidly’s Grim Intuition expanded outward, finally finding the familiar figures of Vualla and Lady Iellaya, as well as Nadia and Kailm, the two powerful individuals who guarded the Fate armory. Surrounding those individuals, Randidly sensed another few dozen forces, but other than that, it appeared there were no survivors from the battle.

There were no other refugee camps

Randidly’s hands clenched as he spread his Grim Intuition out even farther, eventually observing the battlefield directly. Much of the area they had previously been stationed, aside from the notable exception of Lady Iellaya’s fort, had cracked and fallen into the Great Rift. Even the rocky outcropping of headquarter appeared to have collapsed into that sparse darkness.

But Randidly’s focus was inevitably drawn to the corpses. They were twisted and dusty, bloody and horrified, tear-stained and smelling of shit. Nether Beast and Aether soldier lay together, locked into a distorted embrace. Some seemed filled with rage, as though they hadn’t even noticed that death came to them. Others were crying, their faces covered in salt and panic.

So many people died… Randidly could only sigh. Even though he felt so inadequate, it was hard to know what else he could have done. There are no perfect paths, only appropriate ends...

After a minute of letting the horror of war sink in, Randidly pulled back his focus and turned his attention to one last check to make sure he wasn’t currently in a projection world made by Ileot Swacc.

He pulled the Philosopher’s Key and felt the karma of the air. He thrust the key forward and aimed for the karma of the battlefield where Ileot and the Nether King had fought. No matter if his senses could be fooled by the projection, Randidly believed it would be almost impossible to hide the karma of the battlefield. And if this wasn’t the true battlefield, Randidly was confident that the Philosopher’s Key would be able to open a path to that location.

Luckily, Randidly found nothing even after several minutes of searching. Feeling a deep relief, he returned the Philosopher’s Key to his belt. There’s the possibility that Ileot could disguise even this, but it seems unlikely, considering how rabid he was toward the end… Seriously though, this Fate is quite useful. No real offensive power, but it terms of utility, I couldn’t have asked for anything more…

Considering that he had been left alone, Randidly quickly inspected his own situation. Finding himself well-rested, he chewed on his lip for a few seconds then decided to try and help the surrounding wounded. So Randidly turned his focus inward and began to refine a drop of liquid Aether that he could use with Yggdrasil to spread a general aura of healing. With the boost of liquid Aether, the process would be much less time-consuming.

An hour and a half later, an exhausted Randidly stared at the glowing violet drop of liquid that floated above his palm.

Looks like condensing liquid Aether is harder than I thought… Randidly’s mouth twisted. It also requires that the Aether have the opportunity to soak up my image, then be bound together by my emotions… Most of the older Aether I possessed that fit that criteria was used to make the first two drops of liquid Aether, while the rest was used to make this one. I can obviously flood myself with more Aether, but I’ll need to let my image settle into it before I can refine more…

With my images growing more potent, it shouldn’t take that long to shape the Aether sufficiently. But still, my access to liquid Aether will be much more restricted than I had thought… no wonder that people relying on System Aether have such difficulty creating liquid Aether…

For several minutes, Randidly struggled with the decision over whether to save this drop. But eventually, he could only shake his head sadly. It was a selfish thought, but part of being a ruler was making the hard decisions not to casually use his resources to help unaffiliated individuals. For now, Randidly would keep the drop of liquid Aether in reserve.

Besides, Randidly’s Grim Intuition had also sensed the presence of the dormant Nether King just beyond the edge of the Great Rift. Likely in the same spot where it had been while under the attacks of Ileot. Just in case they would once more need to fight the Nether King, Randidly planned on holding the liquid Aether back.

Therefore Randidly got up, twisted side to side to crack his back, and then walked out into the refugee camp to begin healing the surrounding people the old fashioned way.