Chapter 1713 (1/2)

That shadowy, cooling core of Velio’s former image continued to press against the surrounding space and destabilize the environment. Some very familiar discharges of electromagnetic energy crackled at the edges of the weapon. Randidly’s brows knit together. Standing before that naked blade, he could so very clearly feel the difference between his image and that of Velio Dunn, both in scope and detail.

Randidly had his own advantages, but he couldn’t help but feel admiration for the self-evident achievement of the opponent’s power.

Randidly could feel the length of time that Velio had dedicated to this image as he raised his sword and those strange strands of mist accumulated around the weapon. Blade, mist, and then crackling lightning bolts radiated outward. Randidly had been able to previously demolish Velio’s image defenses by relying on three separate images working together, but the purity of this darkness after Randidly had struck that blow-

Velio blurred into motion with his impossible heavy sword raised. Randidly narrowed his eyes and guided Acri to wrap around his arm. Take a rest and recover, buddy. I don’t think that blade… is something that we can meet any longer.

Acri bleated and wiggled in protest, but followed Randidly’s instruction. Which, more than anything else, just demonstrated how seriously the weapon was wounded.

Velio surged forward and slashed downward; Randidly spun sideways and avoided the strike, his skin crawling as he felt the horrifying destructive power that was clustered around Velio’s dark sword. His Grim Intuition made him all too aware of what his fate would be if he met that image directly. The tattooed man then raised his head and snarled at Randidly, bringing the blade around in a sweep.

Randidly unleashed a blast of gravity with Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and pushed himself and Velio apart. Velio’s body did slide backward, but when the sword swung around the whole way, it cut cleanly through Randidly’s image and Skill and Velio stabilized himself. There was an aura that spread out from the physical sword that completely severed everything it touched. Mist and lightning was just as much blade as the metal that shivered underneath the weight of bearing that image.

Randidly narrowed his eyes as his Nether and images gathered in his chest for his next attack. He had recovered from his previous offensive. He noticed two important facts about the current Velio, with liquid Aether gushing out of his side and crystalized Aether spreading across his body.

First, the crystalized Aether had spread across his right shoulder, most of his torso, and neck, but Velio’s movements in those areas hadn’t slowed at all. They also hadn’t increased in speed, which was a relief, but those crystals were pure, raw energy that jolted that image from being impressive to being deadly. Randidly would have appreciated if that energy boost would have at least slowed him down a bit.

Second, and likely it was related to the spread of crystalized Aether across his body, the destructive aura around Velio Dunn’s sword was slowly growing in size. The range of his deadly attacks was increasing with each second that passed.

The mist and lightning stayed in the same place around the image-bearing-blade, but a layer of dark oblivion had added itself to the mix.

Velio leaned forward and pounced. His dim sword ghosted back and forth in horrifying arcs that had Randidly retreating just quickly enough to stay out of reach. But then when Velio cut horizontally, Randidly created a burst of gravity and accelerated forward underneath the attack. He twisted around and brought his massive, armored tail smashed into Velio’s waist. The armored ridges of the appendage pulverized the image and cracked the crystalized Aether creeping down his torso.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cosmic Necessity (M) has grown to Level 311!

Velio grunted, but so much of his expression was now fractured into the glittering facets of crystal across his face that Randidly couldn’t tell how much he had truly hurt him. And when the man moved gracefully to bring his sword cutting through Randidly’s position, Randidly grimaced and hopped backward.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the growth of that destructive aura for the counterattack. Sulfur hissed this time as the horrifying tip of that layer of oblivion growing outward from the sword drew a shallow ditch down Randidly’s chest.

The sword loomed in Randidly’s mind, filling him with the professional wariness of one killer meeting another during business hours. Nether and Aether surged together in Randidly’s chest. The flames of Nether Weight continued to heighten across his skin.

At this point, the crystals completely covered Velio’s expression. He resembled a sort of diamond golem, wreathed in ambient Aether energy as he lowered his shoulders and rushed forward with his sword dragging after him, partially hidden by his bulk.

Randidly huffed out a breath. With Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and his powerful body, he danced forward by pushing himself to his physical and mental limits. Velio responded with two sharp cuts, aimed to keep Randidly back, but every second saw the quality and quantity of Nether radiating out from Randidly’s body grow more dense and potent. With that ambient Nether providing a growing amount of passive suppression to Velio’s movements, Randidly was unstoppable.

Once more, Randidly leaned and accelerated sharply underneath Velio’s attacks. His physical body and his fickle Chimeric Impunity earned him another shot at taking this fucker down.

Gotcha. Velio was turned to face him, but he was too slow. Randidly’s lower tail whipped outward and warped itself around Velio’s right arm. The horribly dangerous sword trembled and stopped moving. Velio flexed both arms to fight against the binding of Randidly’s tail, but for the moment, the danger was eliminated.

Barring his teeth, Randidly reached out and seized upon Velio’s crystal-covered throat with his metal left hand. His fingers tightened on cool and smooth solidified energy. The limb was severely weakened from blocking Velio’s attack earlier, but for now, it held him in place. Then Randidly raised his right hand and roared out all of his fury. Implacable Price of Exodus. Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix. Pernicious Fang of the Shade.

The muscles and veins of Randidly’s torso bulged as he brought his fist smashing down on the briefly immobilized Velio. Primordial Nether Juju’s imposing halo spun together with the flames of Nether Weight to form an ominous momentum.

Crack!

The crystallized skin on Velio’s chest shattered, revealing the tattooed skin of his chest beneath. Randidly’s eyes flashed as Velio continued to overpower his tail and drag his sword toward Randidly’s back. But now that he had this chance, he wasn’t willing to easily let it go. He raised his fist again, but this time he pulled deeply from his Nether Core as he gathered himself. More and more Nether spun into his knuckles… until an innocuous grey bubble formed within his hand.