When faced with the unknown he didnÆt question He grasped the uncertainty and experimented until he found the natural grip for his hand so he could wield it
Which was why even without being pulled into a Dungeon by Yystrix Randidly Ghosthound would have thrived
Neveah pursed her lips looking toward the Prophet to her mind that creature would be the greatest threat Yet it simply drifted sideways its eye on its chin transfixed by RandidlyÆs furious and rough movements The Patron of the Deep drifted nearby while Padraic remained hunched over the clay body of humanity struggling to keep the last embers of possibility alight in its chest
A low groan escaped RandidlyÆs lips He shuddered his way through another lashing wave from the force of time Rippling spatial distortions appeared around his body ripping the skin off of his shoulder briefly compressing his chest cavity to a dangerous degree He snarled is way through the pressure his hands curled into claws around the pearl Despite that Neveah could see the substance of that precious nacre began to chip and fade
A little of its glitter seeped out of the flaws even if the miraculous heart remained intact But how much longer would that last
I cannot understand this The Prophet ventured bringing NeveahÆs attention back to the untrustworthy Cult of the Savior leader It cleared its throat when Neveah glared surprisingly docile Let me rephrase I can see the purpose of what he attempted just barely I can also see the immense value it generated the lessons that Nether King Hungry Eye learned by seizing an object beyond the precipice of possibility yet why The Prophet paused as Randidly growled his way through another assault from time why does Hungry Eye now attempt to maintain it Even with great preparation it would be impossible
You seem very sure of whatÆs possible Neveah countered
Each of the mouth sockets stuck out a fat tongue Peh I ask with no ulterior motive The air between us crackles with the poor compatibility between our two images a fight will never produce a winner I simply wish to understand while he makes himself vulnerable like this
At this point the Patron of the Deep spoke Perhaps you strange horror the concepts of beauty and generosity flourish within the depths of his Nether Core Many find philanthropy to be the most rewarding endeavor
The loud crack of the ground fracturing cut off his words Energy danced in the air around Randidly as he layered his person between the vicious forces of time and the rapidly destabilized shape he had managed to create in the pearl The pressure built making his silhouette seem impossibly real and vivid Already his skin had turned a very alarming grey His eyes were shut but just barely like a freshly made corpse
RandidlyÆs hands surged into an entirely different sort of motion For a few seconds Neveah didnÆt recognize the strange shapes he made Yet to her surprise he seemed to be pulling an old old trick of YystrixÆs the one she used to try and hide her base in the Raid Dungeon from the SystemÆs attention quite a long time ago
The sneers came back to the ProphetÆs face Barely thirty seconds he has managed to protect that pure object Now I understand that the operations of Nether possess some of their own backward charm but thirty seconds is not enough to create either history or connection
RandidlyÆs body contorted A visible crack twisted up and down the length of the pearl The glitter in one of SulfurÆs spikes brightened And after a second of trembling the shape in the interior remained cohesive and complete For a little bit longer at least Randidly Ghosthound kept this object from breaking
And now failure The ProphetÆs gaze sharpened From its expression it had its own goals for the energy freed up by the shattering of the Pearl With that in mind Neveah flicked her fingers and gathered all the radiating forcing into a storm based around RandidlyÆs body
For now all I can say is not yet Neveah replied lightly Her fingers blurred into motion creating defensive Engravings around Randidly Not to protect him she didnÆt trust her interference wouldnÆt get in his way because she couldnÆt replicate his anticipation of the waves of time but to make sure the benefit they had labored for would be only theirs
She sat and watched as Randidly continued to fight the waves of time to a stalemate even without any resources remaining to him His images had faded The Stillborn Phoenix had slunk back into the core of him Yggdrasil could barely manage to pull energy through his veins and the Dread Homunculus could barely keep him from passing out Yet his emotional sea surged with forceful denial
Even when nothing remained but the certainty of failure he did not cease his struggles He managed to squeeze a fistful of Nether out of somewhere and used it to attack the next temporal wave directly The cracks spiderwebbed out but the pearl didnÆt shatter When the next wave came Randidly raised his left arm
The temporal force he had absorbed those strange principles the Soulseed incorporated released in a chaotic blast For at least one more wave the Pearl remained
What a waste The Prophet said through two sets of gritted teeth eyeing her defensive arrays
Neveah smiled sweetly You know the trick with Nether is to never underestimate a connection Never to dismiss a precedent even if its an extremely remote one You might see all this energy expended for naught but should we succeed should these energies linger around long enough for us to use we will fuel humanity with these long moments of struggle
No matter what adversity humanity might face in its future its descendants will possess an atavistic certainty the impossible can be fought Because for forty two seconds Nether King Hungry Eye showed them how
The next temporal wave and then the next one arrived and Randidly forced his way through them all gritted teeth and refusal to concede NeveahÆs heart ached watching him Not for the physical pain he endured but for the heartbreak she knew would be coming In RandidlyÆs current actions she saw more of him as a child fist balled and eyes watery wishing life could have been different
At forty seven and a half seconds a temporal wave arrived and Randidly failed The Stone of Boundless Nacre shattered Randidly howled his throat raw grief and exhaustion exploding out of his body
In a way it was perfect Because that last ditch resistance let Neveah sweep through and pluck up the remnant shapes from the Pearl before they could be damaged While he collapsed in a much deserved nap she picked up the fragments of his failure all glittering edges and grief
NeveahÆs eyes blazed as she brought those forces around the clay body of humanity to make the universe regret its folly
Chapter 2287
Devick couldnÆt breathe for several seconds Her ears rang from the clash of battle all around her making it clear she couldnÆt linger in this state for too long A few inches from her face the light slowly died in the animated armorÆs visor the Nether beingÆs life seeped out of its form
Besides DevickÆs fingers twitched I donÆt fucking think Hungry Eye would have even blinked at work like this He would have just done it
Her body shuddering from the strain Devick pulled her fingers out of the armorÆs chest cavity She left long stretches of skin from those fingers in the fucking rust bucket due to the violence with which she had punctured its defenses Both her Grand Fate and Malice had faded to just a flicker inside of her body
Even she didnÆt want to admit how close that had come to turning out a different way
When she finally pulled all the way out and stumbled backward it was just in timeù a howling anthropomorphic hyena whipped and ax through the space she just vacated The metal edge of the weapon shrieked as it skidded along the armorÆs front so loud and so close that it cut through the general din of battle and deafened Devick in a whole new way
She swiped almost casually with her other hand Malice barred its teeth spent but not completely and she physically ripped through the neck of the Nether Warrior and tossed its scowling head to the side