Chapter 1249 (2/2)

Eventually, he found the destroyed camp that Helen had probably kicked down a few days ago. Most of the people were pale-faced and sweating as they endured a portion of the agony of the man Randidly was attacking right now. It seemed he had a much-diluted form of what Randidly shared with Neveah, which allowed him to shift pain and damage to others.

Still, it’s not like this will stop me. Randidly produced the Philosopher’s Key and slid it into the air. As he turned the key, he ‘locked’ the karma around the former pro-basketball player and cut off all of his connections.

Immediately, the man’s laughter stopped and he began to shriek. All the brave words vanished. Panic contorted his face into a vicious grimace as he Health practically evaporated beneath Randidly’s powerful Skill. James Kelly continued shrieking until the moment he died, his voice full of pain and confusion over what happened. Randidly looked down at the corpse in front of him as the gentle smile faded from his face. I suppose this is… justice…

He suddenly felt quite tired. Randidly turned to the completely unaffected Helen. “Alright, let’s head back to Kharon.”

But Helen cracked her knuckles and grinned as wisps of smoke curled upward from the man’s corpse. “Why hurry? My instincts are screaming at me how dangerous you are… what about a spar for old time's sake? Who knows, I might have narrowed the gap between us.”

Randidly couldn’t help but smile despite the off-putting stench of roasted human flesh. He supposed he should have expected something like this from Helen. The woman craved exciting conflicts even more than he did. And while Randidly had been forced to endure the grueling hell of the frontlines, Helen had been wandering around Earth, fighting against foes who wished they would someday catch up to her. She had no real peers on Earth right now.

With a flourish, Helen produced two training spears and tossed one over to Randidly. Immediately afterward, ripples of blood spread outward from Helen to taint the air surrounding him completely.

Yet Randidly simply spun his spear and smiled toward Helen as she started to frown. “Having some difficulties with your Tides of Blood?”

“What the hell happened to you?” Helen spat out. But the bloody discoloration in the surrounding air became increasingly thick as she refused to back down. It seemed that she hadn’t been joking about her image; it had gotten much stronger since Randidly had seen her last. “Your body resists… but if you think I’m not still gonna try to rip you to pieces, you are a fool.”

Helen planted her foot into the ground and rushed forward to Randidly so quickly that she left afterimages in her wake. But as her Tides of Blood Skill continued to tug at Randidly, it continued to find very little purchase.

In a way that Randidly hadn’t really understood until he came to Earth, having Nether worked into the fabric of his body made him naturally resistant to other people’s images. On the frontlines, everyone’s image was basically strong enough that it didn’t make much difference. But on Earth, that natural resistance became a gulf that was impossible for most people to cross.

That gulf was wider than the extent of their images already.

Helen’s spear flexed and bowed as she abruptly swiped it up toward Randidly’s neck. Without relying on his images, Randidly took a sharp step back and brought his own training spear up in a thrust toward Helen’s midsection.

She spun sideways and the image of the Hellfin Tuna loomed over Randidly, biting down toward him. Randidly didn’t even flinch, simply setting his feet and relying on the powerful physicality he had gained after becoming a Nether Gatekeeper tier of energy density to resist the strike. The imaginary jaws closed around Randidly but his thrust shattered the image… and revealed the determined stare of Helen.

She came at him with a thrust and then twisted her spear and brought it around in a sweep when he pushed the thrust to the side. She brought the butt of her spear around in a smashing attack but Randidly sidestepped to create some space. More and more blood-red waves spread outward to fill the surrounding area, making them seem to be suspended in a cloud of blood.

Helen pirouetted on her toe and the tip of her training spear jabbed forward. Weaving his torso to the side, Randidly avoided the strike only to find that she came with fully six other sharp thrusts. Step by step he retreated, waiting for his chance.

Randidly retaliated with a sharp jab or two as he moved, but Helen leaned her head to the side to avoid them and continued to charge forward. Spinning his spear, Randidly finally lowered his stance and planted his feet; he would not be moved from this spot. Helen saw his determination and grinned manically.

She unleashed a flurry of vicious thrusts and Randidly focused and parried every one of them. The rapid tak-tak-tak as their two wooden training spears crossed became the cadence of their fight.

Tak-tak-tak-tak!

“Can you go faster?” Helen’s grin widened. Randidly’s eyes narrowed.

Tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak-tak!

Eventually, Helen slowed down her onslaught and took several steps backward. The crimson color of the surrounding air became increasingly dark. Helen’s image billowed outward and the Tides of Blood was filled with ominous shadows as they neared a depth where true monsters lived.

“This… yes this is why I followed you…” Helen’s eyes were entirely crimson now, seemingly wet with tears of blood that she somehow prevented from rolling down her cheeks. “Don’t disappoint me now.”

She threw herself forward, her limbs empowered with the image rather than using it to weaken Randidly directly as she had fruitlessly attempted in the past. She was like a tornado of cuts and spear thrusts and she rushed forward, emanating a terrible aura of danger that even Randidly could free through the dampening influence of Nether.

And this is why I left Kharon and the Order Ducis in your care. More and more Nether billowed outward from Randidly as the weight of the moment grew and grew. The surrounding currents of crimson energy curdled and bubbled, but persistently resisted the corrosion. Randidly’s smile widened. I suppose what I owe you for that effort is to show you the next tier of strength you should be aiming for.