Chapter 1636 (2/2)

As Randidly arrived and began to lash out at the Nether Heralds, he sent Helen a message. You had a breakthrough?

Although her left arm was cradled against her side and clearly broken from the beginning of her desperate struggle against the Nether Heralds, the usual surly and moody Helen was practically beaming. She radiated self-satisfaction like a sun produced light. My Tides of Blood Domain evolved into the Depths of Horror Domain. Heh, the Rarity of this Skill broke past the limit and is actually Transcendent. Kekekeke, I’m going to kill so many dumb fucks with this.

Randidly smiled wryly and didn’t bother to respond, but was inwardly rather surprised that her Domain had become a Transcendent Skill. It seemed that the risk of bringing her to this dangerous place had paid off.

But for now, he let those thoughts go. He raised Acri and waded forward into the melee.

When he fought two Nether Heralds at once, it wasn’t possible for Randidly to engage in such self-sacrificial tactics to inflict a fatal wound; the combined power of two Nether Heralds was enough to make an already sore Randidly wince. In addition, the significance between the two of them could barely restrain his Nether Core, taking away some of his edge.

But when Helen started to mobilize her new Domain and restrict them, both gave up and began to flee. Randidly was surprised to see these Nether forces not willing to fight to the death, but this was a quicker solution anyway. He waved to his subordinates to let them go, watching the Nether forces leave via a different spatial wall.

In all likelihood, the Nether Heralds wouldn’t split up in front of him again. Randidly pressed his lips together and felt a pang of regret.

Helen was busy flaunting her new Domain in front of Vant and Ballast, so Randidly walked toward the five miserable figures that remained of the Engraving Guild contingent. The other Pinnacle Seekers had begun to arrive through the spatial wall and Seeker Thunder Wing came to join Randidly.

The spiky-haired Pinnacle Seeker looked at Randidly with serious eyes. “Want me to take the lead here? They hate my guts already. The weird layers here keep messages from being sent, but if anybody had a way around it, it would be the Engraving Guild.”

Randidly originally intended to agree, but paused when he looked at the five surviving individuals. His eyes flickered in recognition and his Nether Sensation Skill gave him a better understanding of the situation. Seeker Thunder Wing meant well, and for that, Randidly was willing to handle this tricky situation for him. “...thank you for the offer, but I don’t mind.”

The Engraving Guild had chosen its position well. They stood directly on a small outcropping of land that rose above the luke-warm water, giving themselves sold ground on which to make their stand. The central figure was a distinguished-looking humanoid with extremely smooth, pale green skin. Truly, he looked quite like a stereotypical alien from the culture of Expira. On his jacket were various ornaments that appeared to denote status or rank. He regarded the approaching Randidly and Seeker Thunder Wing coolly, as though they were just as much of a threat as the Nether Gatekeepers. It was clear his pride was still intact, no matter his prior situation.

Flanking the alien humanoid were two larger individuals covered in thick plates of armor. It wasn’t possible to see their features but from their scratched and dented weapons, it was clear that these two were capable enough guards. On the far side was a young humanoid with a deep wound across his chest. He looked warily at the new arrivals, struggling to stand up straight. The final figure, opposite the wounded individual, just seemed to be exhausted. The old man was breathing heavily, looking at the ground with a blank expression.

Before Randidly had even addressed them, the central alien spoke in a brusque tone. “Do you expect thanks? You’ve already broken several Nexus ordinances by destroying the defenses we left in our wake. Should the Nether take advantage of that opening- Hey, what the hell do you think you are doing!?!”

Randidly had raised Acri and the weapon sensed his intent, instantly spinning its three heads together to form a gleaming blade. The two guards moved a beat slower than their ‘leader’, clearly also taken by surprise when Randidly moved without bothering to speak. By the time they had raised their weapons, Randidly had already pulled his arm backward and ripped Acri forward. The wind whistled across the blade as it cut through the air.

The exhausted old man’s eyes flickered in recognition, just as he was pierced through the heart. He blanched and raised his gaze, looking incredulously at Randidly. The solid ground around them flickered with intricate and dark lines as a dense aura of Nether emerged from the solid ground, but just as quickly as it arrived the Nether Ritual was forcefully suppressed by Randidly.

Perhaps originally this member of the Nether Lattice could have resisted Randidly’s Weight, but doing so with a spear through his heart was entirely impossible. He looked toward Randidly in surprise, seeming to be completely blindsided by this man’s ability to sense the trap that lurked beneath their feet.

And for good measure, Randidly had flooded Acri with the most destructive and vicious Nether that he could generate. Even as his body was pierced, his Nether infrastructure began to collapse as Randidly’s Nether ate away at his foundations.

Randidly watched the member of the Nether Lattice collapse. Because his Nether ate through the strange connections of his Nether Core, Randidly received a surprisingly in-depth understanding of the Nether constructs that were present in the Nether Lattice. Even if he received nothing else from this trip, this bit of understanding was worth it.

Then he ignored the flabbergasted surviving survivors and studied the Nether pattern beneath their feet critically. Although the exact construction was different, it followed a similar pattern of inverting images within a localized area. Had things turned violent and Seeker Thunder Wing thoughtlessly relied on his images to force these members of the Engraving Guild to capitulate, they would have activated the Nether Ritual immediately.

And based on the complexity of the lines that Randidly saw, even someone of Seeker Thunder Wings caliber would have been mentally wounded if this array was activated in close proximity to his image.

Seeker Thunder Wing looked at the ground and then at Randidly. “You… can sense the petty machinations of the Nether Lattice?”

Randidly nodded, his eyes still on the patterns. Although he had seen a similar construction before, familiarizing himself with this sort of thing was quite valuable. “But now that it’s been neutralized, I’d appreciate it if you could convince these others to share their secrets with us. On a personal note… see if you can discover anything about a team sponsored by the Swacc Family and led by a man named Shal. He should be traveling with the Engraving Guild contingent.”

Seeker Thunder Wing chuckled coldly as he looked at the survivors. “It would be my pleasure.”