Chapter 1400 (1/2)
As soon as the amber pyramid congealed into a recognizable shape and began to attack Neveah directly, Randidly realized what it was: Kaan Swacc’s Fate. And from it emerged something that was not a true image. Instead, the profound emotion of loneliness radiated outward into the surrounding area with Neveah as its target.
Randidly leapt forward across the deep gashes in the ground that the battle thus far had created, feeling through the Soulbound connection how Neveah’s mind was struck and broken by those emotions at a shocking rate. Gritting his teeth, Randidly once more transformed into the Grim Chimera. He thrust forward with his bone spear and shot toward Kaan’s back.
It was foolish not to think of Kaan’s Fate… but damnit, Neveah, snap out of it!
Randidly unleashed a burst of mental energy through their connection. For the briefest moment, Neveah stirred. But the aura radiating from the amber pyramid swiftly buried any of Neveah’s resistance. Although her physical body was powerful, Randidly was beginning to realize that Neveah’s mental strength was much more vulnerable to attacks.
Her pain was felt distantly by Randidly, and every dagger of agony she felt became a fire of rage in Randidly’s chest.
Randidly’s eyes remained fixed on Kaan Swacc’s Fate. A Fate that he had practically disassembled into a liquid form and spread through his body as blood. Why had he done that…?
A Fate is the tool to assist the Class, which is an Aether construct made with Nether Principles. The Class is the prayer to reach a dream, while the Fate is the culmination of the first 50 Levels of a Class. In Nether terms, the Fate is the beginning of a bridge to the dream, in Aether terms it is the condensed emotions of the journey the Class holder has taken… Yet he dispersed it into this form and made it part of his body…? Would it provide some passive bonus to his physique...?
Actually, now that I sense the way he utilizes his Fate… This sensation is familiar. It’s almost like what liquid Aether does is elevate an image to the status of a Fate for a brief moment… by crystallizing emotion and energy, it becomes fuel for an image. A fuel powerful enough that a simple image becomes a tool to help realize the ultimate dream upon which everything is based...
Surging forward, Randidly thrust his spear at Kaan’s undefended back. The pyramid tuned to Randidly released a new image, impacting his attack and causing him to drop the previous train of thought. For the moment, he just needed to deal with the concrete realities of the fight; the details could wait.
Kaan glanced over his shoulder with luminous eyes as Randidly approached. The image Kaan had chosen was one of impending death. Yet the Grim Chimera simply cackled and accelerated forward even faster. When hadn’t the Grim Chimera needed to struggle across the jaws of death? Kaan’s hand whipped up to block the thrust of the bone spear, but then Randidly twisted and lashed out with his leg, striking the thigh he had impaled earlier.
Kaan grunted and stumbled, unable to activate his defensive Skill in time. That gave Randidly a bit of confidence as he considered the wounded figure in front of him. Although Neveah was struggling, Kaan’s mobility had been severely hampered by the accumulated wounds. His defense was strong, but he didn’t possess the same monstrous recovery power that Randidly had.
Tune your body all you want, it’s so damaged that I’ll tear you to pieces, Randidly thought, fueled by a bubbling rage. Kaan set his feet and unleashed a powerful chop with his hands, but Randidly broke through the System limit on physical powers with ease, stepping forward and to the left and then forward to the right. He moved with such speed that Kaan blinked in confusion until Randidly’s elbow smashed into the small of his back from behind.
Randidly hopped away as Kaan spun around, more goopy blood dripping from his wounds. Now he stood between Kaan and Neveah, but in order to help her, he would need to address Kaan’s Fate. Direct attacks likely wouldn’t work, so he needed-
The pyramid above Randidly released a new image: one of certainty. Instantly, the Grim Chimera image overlay on his Randidly’s flickered and faded. Which left Randidly standing in a swirling cloud of Nether, his chest rising and falling rapidly with his heavy breathing. His brow furrowed as he stood in strained stillness. Rage urged him to attack, yet with all three of his images tuned, Randidly was cautious.
Kaan’s face was twisted into a triumphant grin. Two of his pyramids empowered his body, one each suppressed Randidly and Neveah, and the Fate pyramid continued to unleash waves of emotional attacks against Neveah. That left two pyramids, one floating above each of his outstretched hands as he regarded Randidly. “This has been… educational. But now it’s time for you to perish. I have finally caught you, Randidly Ghosthound. I see all of your powers. And compared to me, you are… insufficient.”
Randidly opened his mouth to reply, but suddenly he was struck with an otherworldly force. His vision twisted… and then snapped back into place. What he saw was two worlds pressed tightly on top of each other. On the one hand, he saw the shattered slope, strewn with cracked stone and dirt. Kaan was about ten meters down the slope, his shoulders hunched with a large wound on his chest and another on his thigh.
On the other hand, Randidly saw that familiar area of suppression with the endless darkness and the stone floor. Nausea struck Randidly as he stared out at the two landscapes yet was separated from both, but he suppressed it. After a few more seconds, understanding snapped into place. Kaan Swacc had tried to isolate Randidly once more, but whether because of his serious wounds or the fact that his Willpower was stretched to cover so many of his pyramids, he hadn’t quite succeeded. Randidly hadn’t been teleported and he still had access to his Nether.
Yet he hadn’t quite failed, either. There were two worlds pressing on top of Randidly and even his powerful body couldn’t do anything about it. Stuck in that crack, Randidly was frozen. At least he could still move images-
The Grim Chimera manifested itself with an impressive roar, but it was shattered just as quickly by the sense of certainty from the floating pyramid. In a world without chance, the Grim Chimera’s struggle was meaningless. It could only wait for its ordained death.
Immediately after, Randidly tried both the Stillborn Phoenix and Yggdrasil. But that infuriating pyramid floating above Randidly released counter-images that had been tuned to him. For the Stillborn Phoenix, it was hopelessness and failure. For Yggdrasil, it was the inevitable weakening that came with the passage of time.
A groan escaped from Randidly’s mouth. His muscles positively thrummed with the strain of trying to move, but he couldn’t get his body to budge. His thunderous heart was completely caged.
Kaan pursed his lips and looked at Randidly as he began to hobble forward. “How strange. I’ve never seen anything like this… but still, it appears to be effective. Just wait, spy. Once I deal with your companion… I’ll extract all the answers I need from you.”
Randidly’s rage exploded again, but he quickly cut through it with the knife of necessity. Anger would get him nowhere right now. Kaan had bound him and now focused on eliminating Neveah. Truthfully, Randidly wouldn’t have been able to deal with several of Kaan’s methods if not for Neveah. So the prospect of continuing the fight without her…
No, those are just the logical reasons. Randidly’s eyes burned. Rage was birthed in his heart and extinguished at a rapid pace. Every muscle of his body screamed to be able to explode into motion. The truth is… if this piece of shit tries to harm Neveah… No, he’s already harming her. The way her mind is shuddering… I haven’t felt this powerless since... Damnit... Damnit...!