Chapter 1575 (2/2)

Struck by a sudden idea, Randidly wove a new Nether Ritual as he was falling. The shape was extremely familiar. Nether Beasts surged forward from his movements, but Randidly didn’t care. He allowed the Stillborn Phoenix to manifest directly in his left eye, rapidly devouring the emotions in the surrounding area. With its surging size and unstable power, it rapidly blasted away all the Nether Beasts that approached Randidly.

Which of course drew more ire, but Randidly didn’t much care. His focus was on the woven Nether between his fingers.

He finished the Nether Ritual with a flourish. The connection bridged across time and space, connecting Randidly with Vualla. He felt her heat and her shock, replaced quickly by delight as she realized it was him. He smiled, enjoying the familiar sense of power he could feel from her image. She was certainly as impressive as always; she hadn’t been slacking in his Alpha Cosmos.

Around him, the Stillborn Phoenix continued to grow. The core of the black hole had grown so that the entire space around Randidly’s head was being bent and devoured in its maw. In the shaft that usually was only disturbed by emotions, a new horrifying wind was being born. It drew its fingers silently along the inside of the bone, seeking purchase to seize and devour.

Yet just as quickly as the delight flashed in Vualla’s heart, it was replaced by worry as she examined his state. Randidly… what’s… why do you feel so strange…?

My Fatepiece requires some self-sacrifice, Randidly replied awkwardly. Their connection expressed meaning directly to each other, but he understood from Vualla’s deepening confusion that his expression was ambiguous. He sent her a pulse of warm confidence. Don’t worry. The effect is temporary. But I… we might be here for a while. Is everything… alright…?

Heh. Randidly’s heart broke slightly as he felt Vualla set aside her significant worries and affect a cheery outlook through their connection. She easily changed the subject. These two recruits of yours Randidly… where the hell did you find him? With all the time you’ve given me, they are going to be monsters when we leave here.

Great. Thanks. I couldn’t… Randidly trembled and raised a hand to press against his chest. The surroundings snapped back into focus. How long had he been sinking downward…? His surroundings were filled with a sea of furious Nether Beasts. But the Stillborn Phoenix had taken this chance to swell until Randidly’s entire body was hidden by the warped space. His Nether Nebula was spinning furiously. I… I couldn’t do this without you. But I need to go. Stay safe.

You too. Came Vualla’s reply. Then Randidly ended the Nether Ritual and seized onto his emotional tether. He gritted his teeth for several seconds as he grew used to the pressure from the significance below. He was now at 82% Nether content in the air. And considering the increased distance for the change in percentage, he had fallen much deeper than he had originally intended.

Randidly glared around him. The Stillborn Phoenix had been running rampant while he was distracted, but Randidly swiftly pulled that wild energy back inward. Hundreds of Nether Beasts surrounded him now and they surged forward, perhaps believing that the shift was a sign of weakness. Hydras and minotaurs and enormous slimes and krakens lashed outward at Randidly to slaughter this interloper.

But his movement was one of preparation. With Randidly’s malicious smile, thick blades of gravity began to slash outward in every direction, shredding all of the nearby Nether Beasts. The Egg of Depression was like a machine gun before a herd of pigs, ripping through flesh faster than they could even realize what was happening.

Another small change occurred within the core of the Stillborn Phoenix as it reached out and devoured the surrounding Nether Cores. It seized upon something precious and began accumulating it within its own core.

But then Randidly suppressed his wild image. He sensed the surrounding area in a single moment; more Nether Beasts were converging, but he had time before they gathered. Randidly raised his hand and created a Nether Ritual to isolate himself. Then he sat down and meditated.

He had a new problem: he had proceeded so deeply into the shaft that the significance below was stealing away his Nether more quickly than he could produce it.

Yet Randidly’s newfound smoothness also prevented him from panicking. He began to manipulate the Nether inside of his Nebula directly, having it form a certain pattern that he had developed for his Nether Core. The Nebula was heavy, but Randidly sharply pulled the energy to suit his will.

The shape was not fixated on a physical medium, but Randidly’s time refining the structure of the Engraving hadn’t been wasted; even its merest form began to hint at the power it could eventually wield. Gradually, the influence the significance below could wield on him fell to a weak tug that Randidly hadn’t experienced since about the 50% Nether mark.

Then he rolled his shoulders, disassembled his Nether Ritual, and began to drift through the middle portion of the shaft as he gathered himself once more.

He had thrown himself into both the attack with Stillborn Phoenix and the restructuring of his Nether Nebula without thought, but in retrospect, he could feel how mentally exhausting both of those tasks were.

So he drifted, simply allowing time to pass.

The Nether Beasts had drifted away, not finding the source of the disturbance while his Nether Ritual hid him. Randidly studied the nearby Nether Beasts. The creatures here were definitely more intelligent than the manufactured version, but at the same time...

At some point, he yawned and stretched. Break time was over. Time to return to training.