Chapter 1395 (2/2)

Being hit by those pyramids was the reason for many of his losses in the practice matches.

Randidly hopped lightly backward, knowing that the battle was about to change. The silver-blue pewter pyramid began to slowly spin above Swacc’s head, beginning to glow. That glow began to cover Swacc’s body. As expected, he began to tune. With an extremely quick movement, Swacc reached up and whipped away non-existent dirt from the spot on his chest where he had been struck by Randidly. Then he lowered his shoulders and charged forward.

Unwilling to back down, Randidly charged forward to meet Kaan. But he didn’t miss how this time, Kaan Swacc covered a sliver more distance than he did when they smashed together, trading blows.

DONNNNNNNNNG!

This collision was much more powerful than the previous one, due to the physical enhancement that Kaan was currently using to keep pace with Randidly. And to test the limits of the metal, Randidly had met Kaan’s palm with his own from his left arm. His lips curled back to reveal his teeth as he took a step back from the clash. Despite the fact that the damage coming through the arm should be reduced by half, the force Randidly experienced made even his powerful heartbeat stutter.

Just like that, Kaan Swacc had adjusted to rival his physical power.

But the jolt of pain from the clash was exactly what Randidly needed to push his body into overdrive.

BADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMPBADUMP

When Randidly exhaled, his breath came out his nose as two blasts of steam. The skin of his body began to redden as the blood pumping through his veins reached temperatures that were scalding. After shaking himself slightly, Randidly lowered his center of gravity and prepared to increase the speed of his assault.

For a second, he considered activating his images now to inflict some harsher damage against Kaan while the man adjusted to the limits of Randidly’s body. But just as quickly, Randidly decided against that. His current goal was only to buy time for Neveah to arrive. That was when Randidly would be able to strike a decisive blow. For now, he would simply rely on Skills.

So Randidly didn’t deploy his image, he just released a breath. The muscles along his arms and legs tightened. When Kaan Swacc lashed out again to take advantage of his powerful first strike, Randidly hopped backward.

The five metallic pyramids, other than the already tuned pewter pyramid, swirled around Kaan as he surged forward, perhaps a meter above his head. After creating some space, Randidly twisted around and accelerated back toward the metallic man. With his body at its peak state, he ripped through the intervening space and smashed his hand into Kaan’s stomach.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cosmis Necessity (M) has grown to Level 244!

Kaan grunted, but Randidly could feel that it was a shallow blow without Kaan even activating a defensive Skill. Plus, his reactions were quick. With his sharpened senses, Kaan was already bringing his hands around in two swirling defensive passes. Yet Randidly pulled his strike back just as quickly, releasing a sonic boom as he broke the speed of sound.

But as the humanoid stabilized himself, Randidly didn’t miss the way that Kaan’s eyes widened. Likely he immediately recognized that Randidly had pushed back the physical limitation of the System. That shock and recognition gave Randidly the opportunity to hop upward to the left, press his foot against Kaan’s floating silver pyramid, then flex the muscles of his leg to throw himself down in a brutal strike toward Kaan’s temple. His body exploded into motion.

Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes.

Again, Randidly moved quickly enough that as he struck Kaan, the humanoid wasn’t able to activate his defensive Skill in time. After the impact, even Randidly’s empowered hand ached. But he ignored the sensation. Kaan’s neck twisted and Randidly slammed his opponent’s torso down toward the ground as he transferred the domineering force. Although he used his hand in the attack, it was still a strike with the full strength of his empowered body. Unfortunately, the sound of Kaan striking the ground transformed his face into a sour expression.

Donnngggggggg.

Quick response, Randidly grinned down at Kaan and lowered his hands to his sides as his opponent slapped the ground and practically bounced himself back up to his feet. The resonance of the pewter pyramid intensified as Kaan whipped around to face Randidly, who was at that point once again leaping up to make use of Kaan’s pyramids.

Just as Kaan’s toothless mouth twisted upward in a sneer of triumph, Randidly lowered his leg from its path to step on the brass pyramid. Unluckily for you, I’ve already made that mistake in the past. Cosmic Necessity.

Rather than relying on the pyramids, Randidly conjured a cosmic orb and immediately used it to launch himself down at Kaan. But of course, having seen the maneuver in the past meant that Kaan was slowly accelerating to meet Randidly; when Randidly thrust downward with his palm, Kaan’s gleaming hands were already waiting.

It was annoying to admit, but Kaan would quickly overwhelm Randidly in grappling if it came down to that. Which meant that while Randidly was buying time, he wouldn’t try to close the distance or compete too directly with strength.

Chimeric Avoidance.

He twisted to avoid the grasping hands then took a step back. With that step, Randidly conjured two Cosmic orbs immediately and threw himself forward as the movements of Kaan’s hands ceased for a brief moment.

As Randidly rushed forward at Kaan, he opened his mouth and unleashed a blast of steam. It wouldn’t truly distract Kaan, but it was quite amusing to see his expression shift to bristling with fury while the blast of steam obscured his features. And in that second, Randidly pressed his right hand against Kaan’s chest. He reached into the void for something that would hit Kaan and hurt.

All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth.

Congratulations! Your Skill All Else Succumbs, Yet TIme Whirls (M) the Earth has grown to Level 170!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth (M) has grown to Level 179!

Randidly felt his being stretch to the point that he earned several Skill Levels in one go. The strain of using this Skill was still there, as Randidly’s consciousness was shredding into two timelines, then four when nothing came up, then eight, then sixteen. Yet he was happy to note that improving his physical body did a lot to mitigate the draining side-effects of its usage.

What he also didn’t like was the way that in that frozen moment as he searched through time, Randidly saw the metal pyramid he didn’t recognize begin to glow and resonate as it tuned to the Skill. But before whatever that reaction was, Randidly found a timeline where he had followed the path of rot down to entropy and ruin. For a second, that other Randidly stood there pressing his hand against Kaan’s chest. The other Randidly raised his head and laughed.

It was just a flicker, but an image manifested behind this alternate Randidly for a brief moment. It was the World Tree, but one broken and corrupted by Armageddon. The charred bark was cracked and oozing black tar. The tips of its vast network of branches were pointed upward like the pitchforks of a lynching mob. The roots were pale and eerie, like ghosts in old polaroid photos. The image was just as big as Randidly’s Yggdrasil and cast a long shadow even in this isolated place.

Then the true Randidly was wrenched back into place as the Skill finished. Sweat dripped down Randidly’s brow and he struggled to remain standing. Perhaps because of that brief moment of manifesting another Randidly’s image, his mind was slightly bleary. The mental drain of this use was extremely high.

Luckily, Kaan Swacc was worse. As he staggered backward and hissed out discordant notes, a black handprint remained on his chest. The edges of the mark sizzled. It took him a few steps to regain his footing and then he stood tall and glared hatefully at Randidly.

Randidly grinned back. But as all of the pyramids around Kaan began to glow, he felt a sinking feeling in his stomach.

During the practice fights… this always happened. There would always be a point where he lost control… and after that, it was very hard to fight him without relying on Nether. So Neveah… I hope you hurry.