Chapter 1395 (1/2)
Kaan Swacc walked slowly forward in the shadowy area in which he had captured Randidly. Other than the ground beneath their feet, it was an area of absolute darkness. His footsteps on the strange stone floor echoed outward, a cool counterpart to Randidly’s laughter in the isolated space. The shimmering, metal skin of Kaan Swacc was dull and lifeless in this dark area. But Kaan’s leering mouth was open and without teeth, confirming his identity.
Kaan’s eyes were narrowed as he approached Randidly. “How? How did you subdue the Aether Mines without activating them?”
Randidly didn’t bother to answer. Instead, his Grim Intuition rapidly examined the surrounding area. As Randidly and Neveah had suspected, even though they had been near to each other when the suppression arrived, only Randidly had been taken to this strange area. It was clear that the production of this space was a Skill and one with a pretty focused target. As the source of Nether, Randidly had been taken away.
For whatever reason, it hadn’t occurred to Randidly that Acri, who had been slithering around and sulking after being retrieved from its murder spree by Randidly in preparation for this fight, wouldn’t be pulled along with him. Which was an oversight.
That meant that the first portion of this fight, before Neveah succeeded in piercing into this area of suppression, would need to be fought without a spear. That made Randidly scrunch his forehead with worry. His heartbeat was a steady drumbeat now, his veins spreading the tremors of that powerful muscle contraction through his whole body.
I suppose I’ll need to rely on physical power then… Let’s put this arm through its paces.
“Even if you don’t answer, it won’t matter,” Kaan had no teeth to bear as he walked forward, but he did pull back his lips and reveal the dark maw of his mouth. The sight of the toothless hole filled Randidly with revulsion. Still, Randidly could tell how chaotic the Xyrt Brigade member’s emotions were by the fluctuations in his image. But with every step, Kaan controlled himself and focused. His eyes were locked on Randidly. “I’ll get my answers from your broken soulspace when I rip you to shreds.”
Kaan’s image became suddenly oppressive. Floating in the air around Kaan Swacc, strange pyramids of shimmering brass and silver turned over slowly. When they brushed against each other, a deep resonance blasted outward. Each time it hit him, Randidly’s breathing grew heavier. Even though it wasn’t currently being weaponized, it was the image of a Special Investigator of the Xyrt Brigade.
After dueling with him in his Fatepiece several times, Randidly was beginning to get a general understanding of Kaan’s image. In a way, he was similar to Randidly; he took his time working up to his strength. But whereas Randidly was just foolish, Kaan warmed up to fighting in a very purposeful manner. Plus, his Skill Levels heavily emphasized defense, giving him that option.
Although it was in a manner completely alien to Earth, if Randidly had to describe Kaan Swacc’s image, it was with one word: instrument. And the first few exchanges of a fight for him were a very focused tuning. Those discordant resonances resulted from Kaan brushing away the dust.
Between this fully revealed image and Lady Iellaya, Randidly wasn’t sure who was more powerful. And this was the foe that he had to defeat to protect the Earth…!
I can’t stop shaking. Randidly looked down at his hands. Even his metallic left arm was trembling. His fingers tightened into fists. A constant bubble of excitement filled his limbs. Did I really miss this so much…?
BA-DUMP, BA-DUMP, BA-DUMP, BA-DUMP.
Designing Kharon Academy and guiding the Earth is important… but some part of me loves this violence… I shouldn’t try and deny that part of myself in the future. I need to accept my desires.
“Have you nothing to say for yourself, spy?” Kaan Swacc said again in the silence. He stopped walking forward, staring at Randidly Ghosthound.
Randidly didn’t bother to answer. Instead, his smile stretched wider across his face. His three images burned in his chest, each wanting to manifest and contest the space against Swacc’s image. But Randidly kept his images back for now. From his previous battles in this space using the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, the more Randidly used his images here the more Kaan was able to zero in on the specific image and damage it.
The tuning of Kaan’s image was extremely dangerous.
The first goal of this fight was to buy time for Neveah to rip open a hole and liberate Randidly. Randidly believed that it was possible for his Philosopher’s Key to open a hole, but like when the Nexus infrastructure around Earth was damaged, it was difficult to do so while inside the space. To the point that Randidly did not believe Kaan Swacc would give him the time to make the attempt.
So his role was just to buy time. Neveah would break the seal and restore Randidly’s full fighting potential. The fewer of Randidly’s images that Kaan had the chance to tune to before that time, the better. Plus, she will bring Acri…
As though sensing his thoughts, Sulfur tightened around Randidly’s torso like a hug. With a small smile on his face, Randidly patted the dark grey armor. I know buddy. And I’m very thankful that you’re here.
Kaan Swacc’s eyes narrowed at Randidly’s blithe reaction; it was clear that he didn’t like being ignored. But both of them realized that talking would soon become pointless. Because as Revelation energy surged around Randidly’s body in preparation for the fight that was about to erupt, the dominant emotion wafting off of Kaan Swacc was excitement.
The two men’s eyes met. Kaan showed a smile with no teeth, metallic pyramids tumbling in the air around him. Randidly grinned widely, every muscle in his body gradually coming to life.
BADUMP-BADUMP-BADUMP-BADUMP-BADUMP
Kaan waved his hand and the metallic pyramids spun around him him. These six pyramids were each a different metal, ranging from silver, copper, brass, gold, pewter, and a sixth metal that Randidly didn’t recognize. Although, perhaps he truly didn’t know any of the metals, but they just looked similar to their earthly equivalents…
With a strange humming noise, Kaan Swacc angled his torso almost horizontally and rushed forward. Randidly’s emerald eyes flashed and the Revelation energy around his body thickened. From his few practice battles, the fact that Kaan was going for a direct assault was not a good sign; it meant that he was taking Randidly as a serious threat from the get go. It seemed that the thick Nether Randidly had released behind Neveah’s barrier had caught Kaan’s attention.
Randidly pressed his foot into the ground and accelerated forward to meet Kaan Swacc.
Congratulations! Your Skill Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold (T) has grown to Level 286!
Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 299!
After Randidly had broken through the veil of physical prowess left by the Nexus, it was almost too easy to tear through the limitations of physical space. As such, his form seemed to flicker as he rushed forward to meet Kaan Swacc, covering two thirds of the space between them. Kaan’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t panic.
Kaan’s left arm speared outward and Randidly ducked under it so quickly that he left an after-image to be impaled by Kaan’s attack. Just as quickly, Randidly surged upwards with a vicious uppercut that Kaan leaned backward to avoid.
Unwilling to let this initial clash go without striking any blows, Randidly’s newly refined left arm whipped around in a hook aiming for Kaan’s temple. But as though he had predicted the attack, Kaan’s arm was already rising to defend against the strike. A true metal limb smashed against Kaan’s metal looking forearm.
Doooooooooonnnnnnnnggggg.
Randidly winced at the resulting resonance that dispersed a portion of his force and turned it against him, but the strike also made Kaan take a half step backward. Relying on the momentum of his thundering heart, Randidly moved his right arm. It practically teleported upward from his side to a cocked position right below his armpit and then ripped forward to slam against Kaan’s chest.
The speed was just enough that Kaan hadn’t been able to mobilize his image in his defense. As such, his mouth twisted in a scowl and his eyes flashed. As soon as Randidly saw that reaction, he ducked down and twisted three times in quick succession to avoid the floating pyramids that cut toward him.
Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Avoidance (L) has grown to Level 255!
The gold, silver, and copper pyramids smashed into the stone ground of this isolated zone, making a small triangle around him. Randidly’s eyes twitched as those attacks cracked the ground before floating back up into the air. From fighting here in the past, he understood how sturdy the ground was.