Chapter 1302 (1/2)

Honestly, the vantage of the action below would have been rather uncomfortable for them all if they had to peer over the edge of Wivanya’s wings to look down, if just because of the impending feeling that you were going to lose your grip on the scaly wings and fall off the edge. Alana had her saddle on Wivanya’s back, but the rest of them would need to rely on the few ropes Alana had designed into the saddle for this purpose and an acute sense of balance. But Alana quickly spotted another option.

With a subtle touch of her knees, she guided Wivanya through the drifting crowd of other floating viewers toward a large and rather deserted platform floating directly above the confrontation below. Although the air up here was thick with floating platforms wreathed with emerald energy, everyone gave this, the largest platform in the sky, a wide berth. It sat in the eye of the slowly rotating storm.

Wivanya landed gracefully onto the solid ground, only breathing out a small about of ice that immediately froze the platform beneath them so it appeared that when they touched down, a crystalline halo was summoned. Luckily, the platform didn’t even shudder underneath the sudden weight; it was probably large enough they didn’t matter much. Shaking her head, Alana allowed Hank to help Gertrude and Raymond off of Wivanya’s shrinking back and walked over to the two individuals already present on the platform.

Tatiana looked up with a smile, ceasing to speak to the tall, three-headed ogre next to her and turning her attention to the new arrivals. The ogre turned away and began to study the commotion below extremely closely. “Ah, Alana. I thought I sensed your image around Kharon. Stopping in early for a bit of last-minute birthday shopping…?”

Alana snorted as she moved to stand next to the other woman. Both peered serenely over the edge of the platform as they talked. “Ha, I suppose Kharon itself would be taking part in this farce of a gift competition. If that’s what you are asking, no, we don’t plan on taking part…” When Tatiana gave her a disbelieving look, Alanasmoothly continued to talk. “...but of course, in consideration of everything Randidly has done for me, I did prepare something special.”

“Of course, just a token of appreciation, I’m sure.” Tatiana rolled her eyes. Then the two women fell into silence as an impact below shook the very air around them. Some of the smaller platforms circling around them wobbled dangerously before control stabilized.

Alana tilted her head to the side as she looked down. “Is everything… alright?”

Tatiana grimaced. “Well, if things are not alright, we have a problem so big that I don’t have any way of dealing with it. So for now, I’m hoping that this is just… exuberance. That will pass very quickly. Before tomorrow.”

Another impact below erupted, once more sending all of the smaller platforms floating in the air swaying despite the distance between them and the fight going on below. Pressing her lips together, Alana peered over the edge and studied the conflict.

Randidly Ghosthound, currently wreathed in a strange, black energy that warped the very air around him, heaved himself out of a crater which had been created as he had been smashed into the ground by a powerful combination of Helen’s images. It was almost impossible to discern any of his individual features through the thick haze of energy, but Alana was confident that the assault that Helen had just launched against him didn’t injure him in the slightest. He cracked his neck casually while his energy burned the dust off of his skin.

The lack of injury was unfortunate because it was clear to Alana that Helen was nearing the end of even her prodigious mental strength. Her gaze was calm as she watched Randidly clean himself slowly off, but her shoulders were heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. The crimson color of the Tides of Blood in the surrounding area was slowly fading as she couldn’t maintain the peak concentration required for the Skill any longer.

In the battlefield below, a few moments of silence passed as both combatants realized that they had neared the end of their conflict. The remnants of a sizable stretch of forest and several low hills served as a testament to the intensity of the clash that was coming to an end.

Of course, some of the individuals on the other platforms didn’t recognize the silence for what it was. They whispered nervously to each other, looking down at the crater Helen had used Randidly’s body to created. Even if he quickly hopped out and landed back to face her, it was probably a memorable moment of weakness for Randidly Ghosthound.

Could you be doing this on purpose to teach Kharon the same lesson you insisted on in Donnyton? That invincibility never lasts forever? Alana wondered as she peered down. But that didn’t feel right to her. No… I suppose these people know that it isn’t about you being invincible, it’s about the work you put into achieving your strength that matters. Then this display...

Honestly, Alana wished that she shared the ignorance of the surrounding people. Because the emptiness that was wafting out of Randidly was intimidating, to say the least. In that swirling energy around his body, there wasn’t even a speck of an image. He was a completely black space in the world, ripping with power.

He was an empty hole where a sentence had been ripped out of the diary. Definitely present and a part of the world, but in a disturbing, negative way. He was connected without seeming to have any substance to him. To Alana’s senses that had been so tuned to images recently, it was extremely disturbing.

But it’s so strange, as he breathes, it feels like the world breathes with him… Alana narrowed her eyes.

But quickly Gertrude Collins proceeded to move to stand next to Tatiana and Alana, with Hank sauntering over after her with a nervous Raymond in tow. She frowned as she looked over the edge. “That’s Randidly Ghosthound…? He… he’s in such pain…”

“That’s an occupational hazard of becomin’ a fighter,” Hank drawled.

But Gertrude shook her head. “No, not like that. It’s like… he lost someone very important to him. And he’s-”

ROOOOOOOOOOOARRRRRRRR!