She looked rather mild all things considered as she observed the surroundings You have done something you should not have
You are the Patron of Truth Randidly used his image to boom the words out when his mouth proved useless
She tilted her head to the side Is that what they call me now I am simply Duo but no I am not the original A ghost a reflection of a reflection
For a second she trailed off The blank expression on her face made it seem like she had forgotten where she was and what she was doing But then her eyes sharpened We must move quickly that Monarch cannot be allowed to be free I believe enough of me remains to repair the barrier but you must subdue the Monarch and give me the chance to do the work We do not have much time
Another wave of black fire surged from the depths of the sapphire lake Rather than trying to escape this time whatever horror waited down there targeted the few remaining bands of light With a horrifying crash the fence was completely demolished The few remaining luminous motes expanded into nothing within the lake Then a massive serpent of black flames began to swim up toward where Randidly and the Patron of Truth were floating
Suddenly it occurred to him that the strange detail erasure quality of the liquid remained constant So if that monstrous river of black flames looked intimidating from this distance if he spent enough time focusing on it to see its true form
Randidly mobilized his Nether Core spinning thick rivers of Nether through his body But when he tried to create versions of his image that could exist in this strange space of magnification they flickered and popped quickly Panic rose in his chest It wasnÆt just that the size was magnified but the edges were pulled out to align with the edges of the lake
When he just made a space based image to manipulate his body it was fine but when he tried to make a bound image
His Nether expanded but was siphoned away just as quickly The sapphire liquid had been too effectively made even without the fence of light And while Randidly had to adapt on the fly the serpent of black flames had probably had quite a lot of time to familiarize itself with the environment
In the face of these failures Randidly briefly hesitated What if I donÆt assist in sealing this being Based on the clues this is that ordained being of Karma From what the Patrons said it is an enemy of Elhume Elhume locked it down here in this strange place Perhaps releasing it will create exactly the sort of opportunity that weÆve been looking for to bring down Elhume
However he quickly dismissed that idea This being might cause chaos but Elhume took several Patrons to the fight against this MonarchÆ and apparently ended up cursed In addition two of those Patrons died soon after I donÆt want to create an even more dominant foe for myself
The serpent of black flames was nearing the choke point but Randidly remained calm His Nether began to move back inward spiraling to surround his Nether Core and then rotating in a peculiar pattern Parts of the Nether Core shifted and engaged With a click part opened up and revealed a beating heart of darkness that animated his significance His whole body buzzed finally causing a froth to emerge in the sapphire liquid around him
Then came a long shadow cast by Yggdrasil A thick trunk and a hundred bare branches stretched up grabbing at the surroundings like a starving beggarÆs fingers It was not an image just a connection so the environment couldnÆt dilute it The subtle shade of that thing didnÆt even seem to attract the attention of the serpent or the Patron of Truth
His Nether Core spun faster and faster so that even RandidlyÆs powerful body began to cramp The heart of significance sent reverberations through every inch of him A wave of pure power spread out as RandidlyÆs new weapon engaged The Mythic Rarity allowed Randidly to supersede the laws of this place albeit briefly
From the shadow of Yggdrasil a wingless dragon wormed its way outward Its eyes slowly opened showing deep wells of need that animated its desperate cravings Nidhogg opened its mouth and snarled toward the serpent of black flame revealing rotten teeth It was a twisted desperate creature that was born of RandidlyÆs particular significance
Just like Yggdrasil this being came from his upbringing and the ache he felt for stability But unlike the healthy expression of the world tree this wingless dragon only knew avarice It clawed at stability desperate to rip and take to fill the hole in its heart
With the power of his Nether Core RandidlyÆs mouth opened The First Authority Seize
Chapter 1868
Claudette dashed along the edge of a cliff while the sea of black flame raged to her right Huge waves intermittently crashed against the stone ground Since she had begun this portion of the treasure hunt the ground had been steadily eroded by those flames forcing her to leave the path and rush over rough terrain toward her goal
Her eyes flicked sideways then back forward No No hesitation Not now I need to be the sort of person who thrives here Or else
Don Beigon had installed traps along the path that engaged and shot all sorts of dangerous flames poisons and blades at her She stoically accepted these hits against her body and kept running The blades skittered off the flames eventually faded and the poison dribbled onto the ground without any visible effect For all that Yust was a hothead he certainly had a good idea when he had chosen to use RandidlyÆs body for this experience It made these sorts of obstacles a breeze
However she soon had to slow She saw a gleaming lighthouse in the distance that shined with enough force to be seen through the rising tide of black flames But an extremely complicated formation lay between her current position and that goal Based on the way the skin on her arms was standing on end it possessed enough power to even give Randidly pause
In the short time possessing this body she learned to recognize its keen instincts It seemed a hair of RandidlyÆs image lingered in the body woven into the physical form through image physicalizations And the instincts of those images were second to none
Just as she was considering how to proceed something strange happened
First there was a weird resonance in her chest Her body ached as it spread from her chest up to the crown of her head and then down to her bare heels Then her senses started feeding her unusual information right before her eyes all the color inverted itself White flames gushed over the pale cliff to her right while she stared toward a lighthouse of darkness The lines of the engraving in front of her went dead and inert while a strange luminance covered the ground
But the worst part was the horrifying sensation of rotten teeth plunging into her body seizing her and holding her in place The horrified breath was suffocating
When those teeth entered into her body that stubborn resonance grew a little stronger Claudette confused stumbled forward into the area covered by the formation It didnÆt activate She swayed blinked then continued forward The strange inversion made her limbs heavy and leaden but she wasnÆt going to miss this opportunity With great care she continued to put one foot in front of the other
She continued for a few meters after the formation when the inversion began to recede Unwillingly the impression of rotten teeth dislodged themselves from her body and vanished The colors returned to normal Her body once more felt light and powerful
Claudette reached up and touched her chest A small remnant of that dull ache remained What the hell was that
ahÆs breath heaved out her chest as the strange inversion pulled back and the world returned to normal Moving under its influence was difficult but Skull Shadow who turned out not to be Randidly after all had been completely immobilized by its touch She raised a fist but the spell had completely vanished before she could strike in a blast of Nether the wounded Skull Shadow escaped
Rubbing the back of her neck Neshamah turned to look at the two rebels They had largely retreated while she fought against Skull Shadow but now they regarded her with abject fear They too seemed to have been completely frozen by that brief inversion