Next to it the copper spikes twitched fitfully Wick stretched out a hand After a moment of dithering the cowed image floated to him and slid smoothly into his body he had trained this one well
Wick cataloged and restricted the other two potent image even while feeling quite pleased with himself The Ghosthound hadnÆt made any sort of mistakes but how could he know that Wick could wield the copper image so freely without revealing his true colors It was a long laid trap with his Ominous Horizon image lurking for exactly this moment
Of course the current situation wasnÆt ideal
Emotions gurgled in WickÆs chest frantically trying to rip their way out of his grasp Even the docile copper image wriggled as he compartmentalized and bound everything in his person As DevickÆs binding unraveled each second held a greater threat of their soul collective collapsing into a mass of chaos and destruction However this much he could still handle on his own
True power Wick spoke to the GhosthoundÆs stunned form even as the heavy grey clouds rolled together into a thick column above them Is controlling the entire fight Manipulating the details Never losing sight of your goal Never becoming caught up in the machinations of your opponent And in that You failed
However I am not angry Wick settled on his haunches in front of Randidly The oozing and twitching form of the rust colored flesh titan collapsed into a puddle and then oozed back into WickÆs body In fact you taught me a valuable lesson We both learned from this clash The combination of that improvement when we are one we will both benefit from your capabilities
Wick reached out At the moment he played a dangerous game The emotions were becoming more demanding wanting to run wild now that the walls had fallen Thin tendrils of grey curled out from his fingers meandering through the air toward the Ghosthound Yet Wick couldnÆt help but bite his lip He began to sweat
As those tendrils stretched out he began to work on a very familiar set of bindings Even his firm Willpower faltered as he erected the walls around himself Wick after cursing these very restrictions for most of his non blurred memories rebuilt the prison around his soul More tendrils spun out gathering momentum approaching their target The thickening grey mist forced opened the GhosthoundÆs mouth and dug in through his nose and ears
Wick could almost imagine he could hear Devick laughing
Because when he needed it even now that he had been freed it was in her hand that he spoke These choices were hers Wick moved with all the independence of a glove meekly cupping her hand
Wick didnÆt try to deny that truth But the reason his mouth tasted like swamp mud was how easy it was He had studied it from the inside so many times perhaps subconsciously assuming there was something profound to the working Some secret that would stump him if he tried to escape Yet now that he created it himself and found no such secret found that he had been in charge of his own destiny for so long
The mist formed a bridge The images within him were cupped in that grey haze bound by WickÆs wavering Willpower while the clouds infiltrated the body of the Ghosthound He would need to travel into his subconscious and merge them directly before he could fully bind the whole of the new themÆ together
He risked their attacks by continuing But Wick resolved himself to ignore them Each had power but they couldnÆt rival him with all of the combined force of DevickÆs childÆ gathered in one mental form He took another step
A new figure arrived on the edge of this subconscious world A collective consciousness moving in unison taking the form of a monstrous city with a thousand legs It scuttled over and crouched protectively next to the Ghosthound Wick could feel the weakness of each individual will that spun together to form this city yet together they possessed significant power A strange mouth opened up on the side of the city and motes of silver light swirled around
This time Wick stopped looking around at these strange developments with alarm He only just managed to keep his mental form together But just because he no longer moved that did not mean that the surroundings no longer moved One of the GhosthoundÆs images the massive eye of darkness with its swirling event horizon of syrupy light lowered itself down and released two ugly masses They shivered and resolved themselves into slugs their mouths and eyes and everything about them poorly shaped But the duo oozed forward placing themselves to the left and right of the Ghosthound Periodical ripples syncing up to the beating of his heart continued to spread out through the lake
The torrent of emotional force swirled through Wick his body resonating with its passage Despite the infrequent shivers he began twisting his focus His foe lied there with his eyes closed his face at peace But after laying a trap Wick wasnÆt going to make the same mistake as his student How long did you plan this
The GhosthoundÆs eyes flickered Then they opened the left side of his face lost to oblivion and the right dominated by a brilliant emerald eye Right before you touched me For a few seconds whatever you did genuinely knocked me out But how did you know I was awake
Instinct Wick grunted But his focus flicked sideways in a very revealing manner If the Ghosthound had truly been completely unconscious his mental defenses would not have manifested in such an intimidating manner
The Ghosthound shrugged suddenly standing Wick built up more and more force all the complex emotions that tasted the freedom now that DevickÆs bindings had been shredded and wished for more They struggled and Wick corralled that force preparing to release an oppressive image shape
But he needed a bit more time to generate something oppressive enough to suit his needs Wick offered the Ghosthound a wan smile Let me guess once I revealed that the grey cloud image was mine you switched your plan You would endure the attack and recover and then spring the trap on me when I came here to wrestle directly with your psyche
More or less If thereÆs one thing I have confidence in its taking a hit The Ghosthound returned the smile
Wick did his best to hide the humming vibrations Even his tight control was strained to contain the force he now contained But you made a mistake Even with these strange defenses youÆve gathered do you think it matters Once I touch you we will meet directly You cannot overcome me
This time the Ghosthound didnÆt answer But frankly Wick didnÆt care
After allowing the silence stretched for a few seconds he threw back his head and laughed Fine then LetÆs settle this
Wick gathered all the image potency he possessed with his last scraps of Willpower and shaped it around his body in a truly inspired manner Using the two images from the weaker passengers in his body he created an engine out of rust colored flesh and copper That became his body in this thought area which he prepared to accelerate
A strand no an entire stream of emotions broke off from WickÆs careful control and spiked sideways within the deepest area of the image shape It tore open one of the fleshy sides of the engine he still created all of the pressure suddenly hissing out The image he had worked so hard to generate began to sag
The Ghosthound chuckled Fine then LetÆs settle this
WickÆs eyes widened Those emotions Those were from the Ghosthound when he blasted me with them earlier And this entire time he somehow maintained a connection with them how the hell did he refine them to be so marked
But he didnÆt have time to consider The Will o Wisps burned forward The images released blasts of force That reflected wingless dragon snarled and snapped The city of many legs walked forward its power rising
All to drown out Wick
Chapter 1887
Despite his confident words to Wick Randidly felt vaguely numb and tingling in this mental form Whatever image the Commandant forcefully injected into him lingered even now despite both Aether and Nether lashing out at the remnants