Chapter 1601 (2/2)
Congratulations! Your Skill Ruinous Drive (Ru) has grown to Level 141!
…
For the first time since Randidly had chosen his Path through the System, he had a slight headache for a very specific reason: he didn’t possess enough Control to accomplish what he was attempting.
Yet he gritted his teeth and continued to attempt it as he ran forward.
Congratulations! Your Skill Ruinous Drive (Ru) has grown to Level 163!
BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMM!
The ground beneath their feet shook and quaked from an enormous impact, but Randidly and his recruits simply hopped up in the air and let their significant momentum carry them forward. They were arching blurs through the air. For a few seconds, they were truly flying across the plains. By the time they drifted back toward the ground, the reverberations had stopped.
In the distance, a column of dust drifted up into the air and fuzzed the edges of their target. The impact site was right in front of them; their timing was rather good. Randidly grinned. “Alright, recruits. Let’s welcome them enthusiastically, shall we?”
The recruits nodded. As they neared the giant mound of Nether and the dust cloud drifted away, Nether Beast after Nether Beast ripped their way out of the Sphere and dropped to the ground. Due to the fact that the Sphere was about the size of a city block and every few square meters of surface area produced a Nether Beast every few seconds, by the time group arrived there was a sea of Nether Beasts waiting for them.
Hunchbacked bears with odd-numbered arms, flightless birds made of bone and talon, giant insects with twitching antennas, undead creatures with their flesh rotting away from their sagging bulk, giant metal constructs with glowing eyes… these Nether Beasts followed the principles of the Nether Beasts that Randidly had seen in the shaft; this was a true army of an uncontrolled Nether King.
In terms of power, these Nether Beasts seemed to be half again as powerful as those Randidly had encountered on the frontlines.
As soon as the recruits arrived, the Nether Beasts turned their gazes toward the newly arrived foes. With a roar, they surged forward to destroy these impudent beings of Aether. Kallum Xeruth looked at the surging army in front of them with bright eyes. “Looks like we are going to start with pest control, huh?”
“No need,” Randidly said coolly. Nether and Aether moved perfectly in tandem with his body. Perhaps it was because he had just encountered a limit to his Control for the first time in a long time, but he suddenly felt the need to make a statement. The air around Randidly was filled with the distinct sound of rustling leaves. He clenched his hands into fists. “If I’m here… quantity means nothing.”
The ground erupted beneath the Nether Beasts. Thorny roots ripped through the assembled Nether Beasts like scythes through wheat. Limbs were severed and lives were taken. If the Nether Beasts were a several-page-long math test, Randidly’s Skill was an industrial-strength paper shredder. In only a few seconds, he had completely decimated the accumulated army of Nether.
Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 355!
Congratulations! You have reached Level 63! +8 Stats distributed between Vitality, Perception, Resist, Intelligence, and Control, +37 Free Stats! +1 Stat to a Mental Stat. +1 to a Physical Defense Stat. +1 to a Mental Support Stat. +2 Control. +46 Health, +55 Mana, +50 Stamina, +6.5 to all Regenerations! +1 to Health and Stamina Regeneration!
Due to Guidance of the Wraith Adder, +4 Agility and +2 Bonus Stats!
Due to your Fatepiece the Philosopher’s Key, +3 Intelligence, Wisdom, and Focus, +4 Reaction and Grim Intuition!
Due to your Fatepiece the Dreamcatcher of the Long Night, +1 Grim Intuition, +1 Reaction, +1 Focus, and +3 Control per Level!
Due to your Fatepiece the Visage of Obsession, +10 Focus and -1 Control Per Level!
Randidly clicked his tongue. Forgot how much experience these fools give me… well, there are other ways to force the powerful forces out of the Nether Sphere…
Randidly produced his Philosopher's Key and opened a portal to his Alpha Cosmos. His recruits looked at Randidly with a strange expression, but he just waited as the Nether Beasts had a brief reprieve to regrow their numbers. Then a strangely leafy figure, riding a chitinous black rhino and carrying a long lance, cantered out of the portal. The Rider of the Baleful Court glanced around, bowed slightly to Randidly, then moved out of the way for the rest of his people to follow.
Randidly had intended to lend his Riders to Vualla, but he had forgotten in the chaos of heading into the shaft. But they would now serve as an effective measure to deplete Nether numbers without gaining him too much experience. The Rhino Riders came first, their steeds thick and powerful with a curving horn on their heads. The recruits watched with widening eyes as hundreds streamed forth. And after them, the spider-mount riders came out with their agile movements and flowing silk cloaks. Next came the controlled cadence of the camel-riders.
At about two thousand Riders, the third type tapered off. Randidly’s Ruinous Drive spiraled outward to cover them all. But next came the miscellaneous Riders that had evolved in different directions. Riders that road giant toads, a Rider on the back of a Preying Mantic, a Rider on the back of a massive eagle…
DiOrtho coughed into his hand. “These are… reinforcements.”
“Yes,” Randidly smiled sharply and threw his Willpower behind Ruinous Drive. “Now… go. Clear me a path.”