Many of YggdrasilÆs roots had been broken open sap leaking down across his limbs The spectral fantasms had been snuffed out of existence and it was only through the sheer stubbornness of the Dread Homunculus that RandidlyÆs flesh hadnÆt been flayed from his bones Perhaps in another thirty seconds he would collapse
Come on you held off time itself for over forty seconds You canÆt last thirty more against Deganawidah Randidly joked
His body was extremely unamused by this perspective It pointed out it had gotten to sleep for all of ten minutes between these attempts and half of his resources had been poured into the Stllborn PhoenixÆs transformation Likely over half The fact it could manage this much was already a miracle
Randidly cleared his throat and refocused Already he could feel his Fateset settling back down which allowed weariness to seep into his thoughts this had apparently just been prep work for a future bit of alchemy with Deganawidah With the goal accomplished his reserves suddenly vanished
His mind had been a new highway and all at once the concrete began to harden
But Randidly knew this was not a foe who would withdraw gracefully not with these wounds So he could only bluff
Well not bluffing Randidly admitted Just take the first few steps down toward mutual destruction and hope this bastard doesnÆt follow me
IÆve seen this pattern so many times Randidly loosed a low chuckle His emerald eyes flashed even as the Survivor of the Void sang of an absence that rampaged throughout Deganawidah You swear I will be crushed We fight You swear we will both cease to exist if this continues And we fight And in the end well over and over again I survive
You have not gone up against a force like the imperative animating me Deganawidah hissed
Randidly smiled with teeth of bleached and sharpened bones hungry for his next meal It was an expression he had to admit he had stolen from future Devick He gathered up the last scraps of his willpower Then letÆs begin
Chapter 2296
The ending was inevitable they were just two people surging toward its transformative entanglement
Why resist the inevitable
Why not embrace it
Devick sat up with a gasp in her dream only an inch from her lips pressing against Hungry EyesÆ For a moment she looked around in a confused daze no longer surrounded by the bodies of the slain foes the Nether King had defeated to claim her as his own Strands of her tangled hair kept getting into her eyes and mouth as clarity crept back Disappointment and amusement warred in her chest for a while she had been completely lost in the dream
It had been nice to drift without worries for a bit
She looked around She squeezed the comfortable leather of the couch on which she lay The piece of furniture was plush and luxurious enough she instinctively squeezed again Her eyes drifted across the cluttered shelves that covered the opposite wall filled with glittering brass objects ancient tomes and well sculpted awards Light filtered in through wide windows to DevickÆs left She heard birds chirping
Huh Devick was suddenly very conscious of the dried blood on her hands and face her mud covered dirty gremlin self dirtying the expensive feeling furniture beneath her Maybe I died mm truly what unending torment To think I am cursed to an existence in lavish comfort but forced to dream every night of Hungry EyeÆs amorous eyes just a split second away from our carnal communion I
Good you are awake The Ghosthound is busy at the moment but if you need anything please donÆt hesitate to make a request Opposite the windows a striking woman with hazel eyes looked up from a desk From the casual set of her shoulders and the intensity of her gaze Devick immediately wanted to slip inside this womanÆs skin and fucking be her She owned the entire room and as far as DevickÆs instincts could ascertain quite a bit of the area around it The woman gestured to the side This automaton has been assigned to you ItÆs name
BA Zethusala Madams A brass anthropoid stepped forward and bowed Devick could hear the soft clicking of its interior gears Beautiful bits of writing flared and slithered across its body before fading away I am at your service
Zethusala can provide you with everything you need Due to your relationship with the Ghosthound you can be considered my special guest I would like to give you greater context for whatÆs happening but for now it is enough that you understand that you are safe within a special zone maintained by Nether King Hungry Eye as you know him Now The woman shuffled some papers into a neat stack and stood I am hosting a silly meeting to placate fools In the meantime try not to cause any trouble
Uh Devick blinked Her dirty hand squeezed the couch again Of course
The woman gave her a sharp look as she walked past but nodded She opened the door to the room and each stilettoed heel produced an echoing click Waiting outside was a massive ogre wearing tiny glasses who bowed and followed after the influential woman as she proceeded serenely forward He began reading notes off a ledger to the woman but his voice was cut off as the door clicked shut behind her
Devick now sat alone in the office with the brass being Zethusala When she looked at it the metal automaton bowed again
She scratched her cheek her mind spinning The monstrous darkness given to her by HomewellÆs Lifeseal slithered up and peered out from a perch on MaliceÆs shoulder It couldnÆt comprehend the casual opulence it witnessed inside of this room
Devick resolved that someday she would own her own intimidating desk and brood across its important expanse at lesser individuals For a while she toyed with half formed ideas for silly pseudo important sounding titles She waited for a bit unsure of what she should do The birds continued chirping out the window When Devick realized that she really had simply been left here to her own devices she got up and wandered to the window
What she saw outside took her breath away Her pupils dilated Wow All this was this made by Nether King Hungry Eye
Uncommon Metabolism and EggÆs Illusory Plume slowed the significanceÆs charge for his core but the former was only an Uncommon Rarity Stat and the latter drew its power from the now defunct Stillborn Phoenix Nether hacked and tore to clear a path The muscles of his back tightened squeezing the wounds closed before the next wave arrived
However Randidly knew he now lingered on borrowed time
On the other side of this conflict the Songstress of Absence wept and consumed with her vast and hollow song Sorrow sprinkled through her silent ballads added power so that each time she opened her mouth the significance within Deganawidah vanished the way a concentrated beam of light scared away shadows The MonsterÆs Nether Core remained strong yet his surrounding Soulspace began to seriously suffer The blurring of the environment began to fade revealing the two to be standing still in the corpse of CeruleanÆs wrecked camp locked in a deadly embrace
Congratulations Your Skill SirenÆs Dirge of Bottomless Taking has grown to Level 879
Congratulations Your Skill Diffracted Corruption of the Avarous Impossibility has grown to Level 1021
Congratulations Your Skill SirenÆs Dirge of Bottomless Taking has grown to Level 903
RandidlyÆs head throbbed as the two attempted to lay waste to each other Neither hesitated as they twisted and controlled their respective energies to ravage the other Narrowing his eyes through a particularly painful impact Randidly considered his options He cradled in his pained psyche a fist full of willpower to be thrown behind either the defense effort or the Songstress of Absence
He looked in Deganawidah’s wide eyes and golden teeth all stuffed into the Nether MonsterÆs egg shaped body So much of the core areas of both of their powers had been stripped away They could peer into each other’s secrets and weaknesses
What he saw didnÆt quite manage to surprise him Randidly could see DeganawidahÆs hidden Penance tucked away in the farthest reaches of his power Deganawidah could see that the only cards remaining to Randidly were his Authorities and both understood how little they would be able to accomplish against Deganawidah