Randidly blinked Will remaining be a problem
There were a few seconds of silence Then No But one made it through
That caused RandidlyÆs eyebrows to rise One had made it through the combination of the Lava Golems Dinesh and Tykes Perhaps more came than they had been expecting He checked in on the Lava Golems and they all seemed to be fine so Randidly shrugged and focused on the room
Chapter 568
With a sharpened focus Randidly rapidly realized that the cylinder was lined with extremely dense runic engravings So dense they were that even when Randidly walked up to the thing he could barely distinguish the different strokes It was so overwhelming that Randidly felt his head start to spin as he looked
Someone who could weave Mana Engravings like this so truly this was the work of the Creature
Congratulations your Skill Mana Engraving has become Lvl 118
Scowling Randidly returned to scanning the runes on the cylinder There were so many that unless he focused he could barely make out a single one And what did it mean that simply looking at it was enough to cause him to have a Level up in that Skill In all his time studying from the encyclopedias that hadnÆt happened before
Which made Randidly dearly want to study it But at the same time the CreatureÆs Aether was here and there could be no one else with enough Skill to make these runes So then the obvious choice was to destroy it But where was that fucking insectoid
Randidly turned around and felt both with his senses and with his Lava Golems strange rock senses In addition Randidly felt with every plant in the surrounding mile The plants squirmed and touched but they came up with exactly nothing When Randidly opened his eyes he had to admit that he had no fucking idea where the insectoid went And that wasnÆt good
So he turned and regarded the cylinder He breathed in and breathed out Then he gestured and the Lava Golem took a step forward But as he did so a voice cut through the buzzing of the room
I have a question for you Mr Ghosthound
Randidly looked slowly up at the metallic insect that scuttled its way down the cylinder About halfway down its wings spread and it glided down to settle on the ground a ways away from Randidly
What price would you pay to defeat the Calamity In human lives I am curious As I do not sense a fellow incarnation around you it seems you have great power But if that was not enough How many people would you agree is a fair price to defeat the Calamity
Randidly blinked This was the CreatureÆs voice yes But what it was asking this was not like the Creature he knew
As he remained silent the strange thing continued to speak You are curious no doubt why I ask I ask because I have no doubt the consideration of such issues will bring you much displeasure As you have killed a fellow incarnation of myself it brings me a certain pleasure to watch you squirm
Glaring at the insectoid Randidly gestured again The Lava Golem rushed forward towards the cylinder As the molten figure was about to crash into it the insectoid barely even moved It simply watched At the last moment Randidly stopped it his eyes narrowing
you want me to destroy this Randidly said almost incredulously Was the manipulation here really that simple The Creature said something inflammatory to get him to strike
But Randidly could puzzle out no other motivation for the Creature to ask that question For all that it spoke in a different manner and behaved strangely it was still a fragment of the CreatureÆs Aether Yet why
Then Randidly paused With eyes glowing emerald he turned to regard the cylinder This this isnÆt just a power plant ItÆs also a prison Whoever is performing experiments is also able to
Randidly paused Did that mean were these runes really made by someone else Did a System based entity do this A Champion Or even a Judgement
The insectoid clicked in displeasure That is incorrect This is no prison It is a reminder
Ha how nostalgic A reminder Another voice cut into the buzzing Randidly turned and found that a middle aged woman was ducking through the hole he had made into the powerplant peering around She adjusted her glasses This is nothing but a tomb But it was a waste to let the corpse of a god lay fallow no So it was put to use Ignore the pest as best you can If I could wipe them out I would But as you have probably found
The woman raised her arm and Randidly tensed She was wearing an exosuit and a long barrel stuck out of her arm What Randidly could only describe as a bolt of lightning shot outward striking for the insectoid In a blur of motion it dodged and then skittered into the darkness and up the wall The woman fired several more times striking some of the monitors with enough energy to smash them to pieces but the insectoid continued to climb moving up into the darkness
Sighing the woman turned to regard Randidly once more Tenacity should be admired But it is frustrating this creature should be dead and yet it lives in that strange body Confounding But it gives me hope that there is more to learn in the world
Who are you Randidly whispered This is a tomb
Yes It seems from that thingÆs response to you that there are more incarnations of this thing Annoying but within expectations The woman walked forward towards Randidly That being was slain or at least its body was seized It is currently being used to power much of my facilities across the Zone Ah you may refer to me as Father Foster
Father Foster regarded Randidly coolly as though she was waiting for a response Randidly had none at least on the surface But inwardly he was thinking furiously Because Randidly believed he had seen Father Foster on a poster at some time or another He certainly had heard of her But this face he was looking at now it was strangely familiar And not like he remembered the face of Father Foster he had seen before
These are your facilities then Randidly said lightly He reached up and cracked his neck Regardless of the issue of the Creature perhaps being killed Randidly locked onto the fact that this individual ran these facilities It was it was worldshaking to know that another had killed an incarnation of the Creature But
How many people would you agree is a fair price to defeat the Calamity
This was why the insectoid had asked Randidly that question then To salt the earth between Randidly and this Father Foster Because that was what Father Foster was doing wasnÆt she Randidly didnÆt know the details but the experiments werenÆt done for the sake of experiments Always the Creature was playing games And this Creature was dead Could it be fake
I can almost read your mind right now Father Foster said abruptly as she continued to walk towards Randidly But we really donÆt need to fight I can offer you power More power than you can understand I can offer you eternity Life without death I can offer you
Incendiary Eruption Randidly interrupted The ground split and fire roared upwards But just as quickly Father Foster shifted The machinery on her left arm transformed into something like a shield and she held that downwards to deflect most of the blast of fire that smashed into her
Although the force knocked her back several steps she very quickly gained her balance again Randidly advanced towards her inwardly very miffed he had left Acri at home It would make this fight much more tedious to fight without a spear
Tsk fine I will delight and capturing you and figuring out how to extract your large Mana pool from that body of yours Father Foster said simply before her exosuit seemed to engage There was a click and the machinery began to hum as some internal engine engaged The air around her rippled and then she blasted forward moving so fast that even Randidly was surprised
He deftly twisted out of the way but she swerved to follow him He leaped backward and Father Foster raised her right arm and shot three lightning bolts at Randidly Grunting he rolled out of the way and fired Incendiary Bolts back at the other combatant
While swerving to dodge the bolts there was a moment where Father Foster touched her foot to the ground RandidlyÆs eyes flashed and another Incendiary Eruption smashed upwards hitting her with full force before she could bring her shield around But the humming of the engine in her exosuit just grew louder The metal began to glow with energy