Chapter 1394 (2/2)

So all that was really required was that first move. But while it was simple, drawing out such a commitment was not necessarily easy.

Neveah’s fingers continued to rapidly move, Mana flowing down to impress into the ground. The stone burned and hissed, releasing a small amount of smoke as she engraved. What she was creating now was an isolation barrier derived from Yystrix’s tomb. Having known the importance of such a barrier if they were to resist the Nexus, this was the second most decrypted of the ten areas. Therefore, Randidly had some confidence that it could block Kaan Swacc’s perception. Or at the very least, it would obscure the details of what was happening within.

Although the Ways kept Kaan from being seen by normal means, they provided no additional benefit for him seeing out of them. He would need to pierce through this barrier the old fashioned way.

Just as Neveah had circled a ten-meter area around Randidly, his fingers flexed. Most of the tingling had left his arm. Finally, he was adjusting to it. Having the benefit of practicing with the limb would be better, but Randidly had to be sure that Kaan Swacc was watching for what followed to work. And while Kaan Swacc probably didn’t watch the entirety of the forging process, he would definitely look over to watch Randidly attach the arm. Which was why it was important that Neveah immediately start the barrier, to keep his focus here.

Randidly Ghosthound was reasonably confident that he had accurately identified two traits of Kaan Swacc. And those would be the man’s downfall.

The first was his genuine desire to best Randidly. In this case, he was determined to reveal Randidly’s Nether affiliations. Even being abandoned by the Xyrt Brigade and left on Earth hadn’t shaken his resolve. Perhaps that would change with time, but it had only been a week. His passion still burned hot.

All the better for him to respond overzealously.

Randidly’s eyes narrowed. The timing had to be close to perfect. Neveah’s fingers continued to draw. There was only one stroke remaining in the barrier and Randidly opened his arms and released the full power of his Nether Nebula. It spun outward-

Neveah finished the stroke and the area around Randidly was isolated. As per their earlier agreement, she took a step backward and immediately began drawing a second circle around the first. This was rather useless in terms of vision obstruction, because if one such barrier could be broken, then the second could as well. But the actions just needed to give the (hopefully) watching Kaan Swacc the smallest sense of urgency.

Inside that barrier, Randidly focused on what he was about to do. The confrontation against this member of the Xyrt Brigade was only seconds away. This fight would decide the fate of Earth and give Randidly a reasonable approximation of where he stood in the Nexus hierarchy. Thick waves of Nether bubbled out, filling the surrounding ten meters.

Even Randidly was surprised by how much his Nether had changed during the time that he had been suppressing it. The initial blast outward threw out semi-solid chunks of Nether that had formed under Randidly’s iron will, but the wave that followed behind that was thick and oily. It was possessed the consistency of molten metal, swirling in that small area around him.

This Nether he didn’t suppress into a thin disk. Instead, he allowed it to flow freely, gradually prying apart that thin layer in which Nether was allowed to exist within the Nexus.

One second, two seconds, three seconds…

In each of those moments, Randidly let himself dwell on the weight of the approaching moment. Both for Earth… and for himself. This was the first time he was trying to seize control of Fate and manipulate the Path walked by another. He was relying on his own understanding of an opponent’s nature to plan for the future. If Randidly had claimed to have had any skill with human interaction, everyone who knew him would have laughed.

Yet suddenly, Randidly felt the beginnings of confidence in this area. This was different. He wasn’t trying to relate, he simply wanted to use past behavior as an indicator for the future. If anything… this was closer to math than art. Wreathed in Revelation energy, Randidly’s eyes never strayed from the Paths to the Future.

Congratulations! Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold (T) has grown to Level 285!

Randidly submerged his consciousness in the vicious current of Nether whipping around him. Currently, his Nether was flowing on wild instinct, making up for the time that he had suppressed it. That dark energy crashed through his body like a liberated river, smashing through his resilient veins. The Nebula began to spin, faster and faster, thickening his Nether even further. Within that energy of memories, Randidly thought about Kaan Swacc.

For a moment, right before Neveah had closed off her barrier, Randidly had displayed Nether to anyone who was watching. Kaan Swacc would have seen it definitively for a split second: Randidly Ghosthound had utilized Nether.

It was exactly what the Swacc Family agent had been waiting for.

But then Randidly was isolated by Neveah’s barrier. And this was where the second aspect of Kaan Swacc would be weaponized by Randidly. Even though Kaan had been waiting for this moment, no perhaps even because he had been waiting for this, that brief sight of Nether would give the man the smallest sense of doubt.

Just like that? He used Nether after hiding and denying it for so long? Kaan Swacc would think. Then he would check the Aether Mines again and find they hadn’t been deactivated by contact with Nether. That small bit of doubt would grow a little bit larger. Then Kaan would look again and see Neveah creating another barrier.

The second trait Randidly targeted was Kaan’s military training with the Xyrt Brigade. Perhaps Randidly wouldn’t have thought of it before, but meeting Captain Quill and the disciplined members of his Clan inspired him. He had seen how different protocols were drilled into their bones. In that way, the Xyrt Brigade resembled military groups on Earth.

So Kaan Swacc would want to be sure about what he saw. He would pierce through the first veil and peek at what Randidly was doing.

Nether formed a chaotic storm around Randidly. The ground beneath him was already beginning to corrode, despite his best attempts to keep the Nether mild. It was a delicate balance he was striking, allowing his Nether to run loose but trying his best so that no traces would spread beyond the limit of Neveah’s veil.

The Grim Chimera grinned manically, manifesting and raising his head to roar with pleasure; It sensed the impending violence. The energy of darkness congealed and swirled. The density continued to increase. Randidly could feel visual distortions beginning to appear in the air around him. Space began to shake and come to pieces.

Four seconds. Five seconds.

There was ripple across Neveah’s barrier. Someone was peeking. Randidly grinned. Gotcha.

Because, while Kaan Swacc the Special Investigator might in normal circumstances see Randidly’s Nether as the confirmation he had waited for, Randidly was trusting that would be overwritten by a far older and more powerful instinct. Kaan Swacc peered through to see what Randidly was doing and encountered dense Nether.

He was a Xyrt Brigade member, first and foremost. His instinct, when surprised by powerful Nether, would manifest itself.

He had fought Nether for too long. So he would fight.

That familiar area of isolation slammed into place around Randidly, cutting him off from his Nether. And Randidly Ghosthound stood arms akimbo and laughed.