Chapter 1499 (2/2)

But for the moment, Randidly focused energy toward his images, allowing the framework to return to the man’s image of himself before letting his body reconstruct the shape. As he continued to witness the fits and starts of healing before a sudden emotion demolished a minute’s worth of work, Randidly’s fury continued to mount. Even with all the assistance he proved, lingering holes remained in both this man’s image and body.

Whatever technique it was that had been used was obscene in the scope of its effects. Its power was overwhelming and bizarre. It was another bit of evidence that the Nexus was not someplace where he could casually offend others.

But no matter how horrendous the damage was, it wasn’t worse than what Nether could do to Aether. The combination of the two energies, when not aligned, not only destroyed but also warped the edges into a useless haze. Comparatively, these wounds to the image were clean, as though someone had somehow used an eraser to simply remove parts.

Plus, the man’s emotions gradually stabilized as Randidly eased his pain.

While the patient continued to sputter and breathe heavily, Randidly carefully did his best to approximate the lost portions of his image. All the while he kept a tight lid on the increasingly dense emotions in his own chest. The Grim Chimera’s aura caused the exhaled emotions of the Stillborn Phoenix to seethe; it bared its teeth at this obvious cruelty.

Which only agitated the pink and red emotions within Randidly, forcing Yggdrasil to work harder to suppress them. Plus, the emotions he was refining seemed to sense the vulnerable metal man. They cautiously tried to escape, only to be beaten back by the purifying light from a golden root.

Time gradually ticked past. The panel sat quietly, studying Randidly’s image while he worked. He did his best to keep all image reverberations for the Stillborn Phoenix and Grim Chimera contained. But that was secondary toward helping this man.

Blessedly, the Stillborn Phoenix finished exhaling and then began to suck away the dangerous emotions. Yggdrasil could then concentrate more fully on healing the man. The golden energy it released grew thicker, almost physical in its warm embrace. After a strained few minutes, the metallic man released a sigh. His joints began to loosen and straighten. His basic sense of self had been repaired to a serviceable state. His emotions were calm.

After his body had unfurled itself, he collapsed to the ground. But there was intelligence in his eyes as he looked up at Randidly. “Thank… you.”

“Just obeying orders,” Randidly said. His voice must have revealed his dissatisfaction because the bearman harrumphed.

“Soldier, I have a question for you.” Randidly warily turned to face the bearish man who had earned the wariness of the Grim Chimera. His dark eyes continued to drill into Randidly, as though he could pry apart his anatomy simply by virtue of his extended attention and understand Randidly’s secrets in that manner. The man cleared his throat. “You have my permission to speak freely. If I were to give you an order that would obviously endanger the lives of your hypothetical charges, would you follow that order?”

Randidly thought about it deeply. And from the intensity of Lady Iellaya’s stare, she wanted to him to add some deference to the answer he would tell this man. And perhaps some part of Randidly wanted to cave as well, which is why the rest of his personality railed against that impulse. The Grim Chimera that had allowed itself to be scarred and warped by the chaotic mass of emotions within his body peered out through Randidly’s emerald eyes with the utmost seriousness.

You are exactly why I want to become strong. Randidly thought. He stood straight and kept his expression even. “No. I would not.”

As the man loosened his grip on his own image, his dark eyes seemed to swell to fill Randidly’s vision. The rest of the surrounding details of the room were pushed out, drowned in that darkness. For a second Randidly tensed, but he forced both the Stillborn Phoenix and Grim Chimera to remain passive. He allowed Yggdrasil to recede before that darkness.

And in that nothingness, Randidly sensed the leering gaze of chaos. There were waves of space warping energy and seeds of psychological ruin. But above them all was an absolute imperative that usually contained those dangerous forces. As the bearman looked at Randidly, he lifted the lid from the pot and allowed Randidly to experience them directly. He displayed the raw horror within his own person. Yet it wasn’t that which even the Grim Chimera viewed with dread.

It was that cast iron compulsion that somehow managed to govern this cesspool of mutation and organic impossibility that drew Randidly’s wariness. That was a twisted strength of will that he had rarely seen in the past.

The lapping waves of that chaos crept closer. The hairs along Randidly’s right arm began to stand on end. The dwindling emotions within his body began to stir. But since Lady Iellaya was present, Randidly wouldn’t forcefully resist the image until he received actual damage.

As Randidly’s jaw began to ache from clenching, the bearman pulled his image back. His eyes were suddenly just dark eyes and the ominous heaviness in the air departed, leaving not a single lingering clue that hinted to the horrifying power he had displayed a few moments earlier. The man smiled. “...I suppose that makes sense. But you do realize the consequences of disobeying a direct order from a superior, don’t you?”

Randidly didn’t bother to answer. He simply glanced down at the metallic man next to him, who was only now regaining control of his breathing.

The bearman chuckled, but his dark eyes seemed to become even more antagonistic as he considered Randidly. “What if I requested that you wear full military uniform while acting as a Drill Sergeant, Commander Ghosthound, as a way to demonstrate the importance of discipline to your recruits? What would you do then?”

Randidly didn’t miss the way that the bearman’s eyes lingered on his feet. Inwardly, Randidly threw his hands up in the air. Are my bare feet really that unusual…?

“I trust you will do what you think is best for the recruits,” Randidly eventually answered. Emerald eyes met black ones. In his heart, Randidly settled into a realization; if this man would force the issue of him wearing shoes in front of the recruits, he wouldn’t bother with being a Drill Sergeant. Even more than the discomfort of wearing shoes, what Randidly wasn’t willing to put up with was a bully. And right now, that was what this man seemed to be.

What Randidly realized immediately after that was that the bearman seemed to recognize that resolve in Randidly’s eyes. The bearman’s smile widened.

But instead of the order that Randidly had anticipated, the bearman closed his eyes. He backed down. “...I will do exactly that. Congratulations, Commander Ghosthound. You will be our Head Drill Sergeant. Report to the Fifth Cohort Rally Station in six days for further orders.”