Chapter 1661 (2/2)
The Jackal-headed Pinnacle Seeker licked his lips and looked Randidly up and down. The air around them was hot and still. “Have you made your preparations?”
Claudette raised a hand to cover her small smile while Randidly sent another message to Helen and opened a portal to the Alpha Cosmos. Helen walked out, cracked her neck, and then moved off to the side to observe from a safe distance. Randidly rolled his shoulders and produced Acri and Sulfur, allowing the two living pieces of equipment to stretch and engage in their own preparations.
Then, with that seed of bitterness from looking at the Obsidian Duke’s planet slowly germinating in his heart, Randidly grinned vicious toward his opponent. His hand tightened on Acri’s shaft. “I’m ready.”
“The rules are simple!” The Dusk Jackal bellowed, his voice bouncing off the sloping walls of the river basin around them. The force of his voice smacked against the stillness of the air and left it shattered and broken at his feet. The walls of the canyon loomed above them like bored sentinels, here to prevent a fearful captive from running away from his fate. “Since you can be considered one of the younger generation… we cannot stake our lives and honor on such a minor agreement. Instead, there will be a time limit: should you survive six hours, it will be considered your victory.”
Randidly’s mouth twitched, but he didn’t say anything.
The Dusk Jackal settled his muscular body into a crouch. The perfect bulges and lines of his physique reminded Randidly in mind of a formula one race car. The beastman flexed his hands outward and hatchets appeared in both of them. The light within the basin began to become filmy and glittering, as though everything was sifted through a filter. The richness of color began to fade, leaving in its place variant, metallic hues. “We begin… on your move, Seeker Ghosthound.”
Seeker Ghosthound, huh… Randidly was briefly distracted from his rising desire for battle by that mode of naming. Do you not know that I was employed by Military High Command… or are you telling me that such a thing doesn’t matter? Not so long as I seek to reach the Pinnacle…
Ha, somehow… hearing that is such a relief.
The Dusk Jackal continued to stand still, the coloration of his image bleeding outward. Randidly shook himself and marshaled his own abilities. He lowered Acri and allowed his Grim Chimera tail to extend itself fully behind him. His skin began to hum as blood accelerated through his veins. His heartbeat was even and strong.
His body shifted as the image physicalizations of the Grim Chimera manifested across his flesh. Some notes of the other two images were part of him as well, his left eye darkened and his veins turned golden, but this fight was another test for the Grim Chimera. And for Randidly’s new physical power.
Randidly adjusted Acri again and pointed the weapon toward the Dusk Jackal’s chest. Man is Proud, But the Chimera Takes.
The Dusk Jackal’s image flared up as Randidly accelerated forward and the light around him became almost blinding. He crossed his two hatchets and stayed in his crouched position to meet Randidly’s attack directly. The corner of Randidly’s mouth quirked upward. He’s probably not going to make this mistake twice.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
But Randidly was the one whose eyes widened when the two clashed. A huge fissure spread outward from the contact point, shattering the basin, but the Dusk Jackal remained standing in his original position. He had completely endured Randidly’s physical attack by suppressing the force with the breadth of his image.
As Randidly’s eyes narrowed in surprise, the Dusk Jackal spun forward, whipping his hatchets in vicious arcs. Randidly’s feet blurred as he stepped quickly around the blades and thrust his spear from a new direction.
Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 400!
The light around the Dusk Jackal intensified and both sides’ blows slid past the target. They spun away, adjusting their footing and preparing for another pass at one another. But to Randidly’s surprise, two shallow cuts emerged on his chest. He had dodged the physical weapons, but not the image.
The Dusk Jackal was trembling at this point. Drool oozed out through his yellowed teeth, flowing out of his mouth in thick and ropey clumps. He visibly attempted to lick away that drool and grinned over at Randidly. “Hehehe…. Now that I’ve drawn blood… your fate is sealed, you fool. Now, I’ll show you the true meaning of bloodlust…!”
Instantly, the intensity of the metallic light changed. Randidly’s spine tingled as he realized that a rust coloration was seeping up out of his small cuts and gradually darkening the surroundings. With a howl, the Dusk Jackal bounded forward.
A second later, Randidly’s Uncommon Metabolism kicked in and the wounds closed; luckily, the shifts in the Dusk Jackal’s image stopped. But the beastman was completely lost in the thrill now as he unleashed a flurry of attacks.
Randidly spun Acri as his blood quickened even further. Steam began to flow out of his nose as he breathed. Alright then, time to test the limits of this new body…!
With a quick step, Randidly ducked under the blows, ignoring the small cuts that the image still inflicted on his back. Then he hopped lightly up into the air and did a half somersault while turning, bringing his tail whipping straight up into the air. For a brief fraction of time, the heavily armored appendage pierced directly upward, like a solemn obelisk.
Congratulations! Your Skill Cosmic Necessity (M) has grown to Level 303!
Then the powerful tail came smashing down, taking the Dusk Jackal by the surprise and hitting the Pinnacle Seeker with enough power to forcefully embed him into the ground.
...unfortunately, in the next second, the Dusk Jackal leapt out of the hole with a gleeful cackle. Randidly pressed his lips into a thin line.