Randidly Ghosthound Nether King Hungry Eye toiling in a memory in order to understand and prepare for the present slashed
Congratulations Your Skill the Wrathful Calamity Rends has grown to Level 1005
Congratulations Your Skill (Domain) HelenÆs Sea Cradle of Unlikely Lives has grown to Level 1163
Congratulations The aspects and authorities gathered together with your Domain Skill have merged together to form a singular attack Congratulations you have activated Ghosthound Shreds the Shroud of Erebus to Bare Chaos Due to power Skill Level manifests at 2000
Congratulations You have broken the previously held record for Skill Levels Congratulations due to your actions you have been rewarded with the Miracle Maker 0/10000 Path Calculating additional rewards
You are the first in the history of the Nexus to have pushed a Skill to Level 2000 A Mille Deux has been achieved for the first time With each step you have moved closer to the Pinnacle Echoes from this event will rebound throughout the Nexus What an Incredible Accomplishment
While shocking notifications flashed in front of RandidlyÆs eyes his left hand moved through space and left wreckage in its wake His hand crashed against ElhumeÆs fist There was a moment of struggle An image met against the combined force of HelenÆs legacy But despite the ambiguous nature of Skill Levels the outcome was decisive
Randidly overwhelmed ElhumeÆs punch Annihilation shuddered and collapsed
All the force thrown out by a being on the cusp of the Pinnacle vanished The air crackled hollow and dangerously close to an implosion The strain Randidly felt from supporting the memory with his body increased Yet he had made it to the time limit
A single second to go He raised his glittering eyes and grinned at the blank face of Elhume At least I can say this for your current selfù you handle your losses a lot better than you have in the past
Yet that moment became two Fiero finally flew up and arrived at Mae MyrnaÆs side She looked at him with bitter eyes her gaze cutting from the Vulpine to Elhume With a shake of her head she turned and flew away taking the Monarch of Karma to rest on a nearby ridge From her reaction she also was aware of what Fiero and Elhume had done
But whatÆs this Randidly frowned He felt several fluttering pulses that he couldnÆt really understand from ElhumeÆs image The second passed and then another arrived yet the Pinnacle event didnÆt begin It lingered on the cusp The doors had been thrown wide but nothing crossed the threshold And while it waited in the wings of the present his body continued to deteriorate Underneath the additional strain of this burden the wounds he had gained blocking ElhumeÆs strike couldnÆt heal
For the first time in years his reformed body began to break down
ItÆs not enough for the image to be ready RandidlyÆs eyes widened in recognition As Don Beigon said you need three elements A shape a foundation and a moment Right now my presence here my images prevent them from possessing a moment His expression sank further Do I really need to just completely pull back my images and allow it to happen But then
What will Elhume do with his power once he reaches the Pinnacle
Chapter 2325
Randidly could feel the mandate of possibility looming over this particular inflection point but this was not yet his limit Gritting his teeth he allowed his racing mind to rip through all the possibilities available to him Suddenly he felt torn If Elhume were allowed to reach the Pinnacle there would be consequences But maybe as long as he could figure out a way to disguise his images
Elhume punched for the second time once more unleashing a blast of force that could drill down to the core of the Nexus and leave this place an annihilated husk His expression was solemn as he watched that roaring pyre of annihilation manifest All three of RandidlyÆs images were mostly exhausted from the previous conflict SulfurÆs spikes had grown dim there would be no more massive strike from HelenÆs Domain The physical strain continued to tighten around his body
To put it simply the situation seemed hopeless
It always ends up like this doesnÆt it Randidly muttered
Still crouching behind him Devick snorted You spent a minute lecturing me earlier about how great it is to be unreasonable DonÆt go soft on me now Hungry Eye Become the monster youÆve always been and devour all the benefits for yourself
Heh Not all of the benefits Randidly sniffed He settled down into a crouch His heartbeat quickened For the second blow he didnÆt intend to meet it directly But he called on his exhausted images building a defensive combination
With hopefully a bonus result at the end
At first Randidly still felt worried looking at that blast of pure annihilation Elhume unleashed but it passed through the area that had been affected by HelenÆs Domain Skill and abruptly slowed Randidly could only shake his head in wonder not only had that Level 2000 Skill completely demolished the power of the opposition but it had left in its wake an intractable sort of Aether that slowed even ElhumeÆs near Pinnacle punch It was a slight weakening but Randidly believed it to be enough
Before he could decide what to do about an Elhume at the Pinnacle he needed to make it through this next attack
Absolute Insight of the Smoldering Abyss Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil Cloak of Utter Night
Congratulations Your Skill Absolute Insight of the Smoldering Abyss has grown to Level 1042
Congratulations Your Skill Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 1093
A vast curtain of darkness settled across RandidlyÆs body He looked out from within the defensive barrier with the vicious survival instincts the Songstress of Absence had used to claw her way out of the Abyss Thick veins donated by Yggdrasil created a framework of energy transference that stabilized around his body
Even though Randidly could not move he stood tall and endured
Congratulations Your Skill Cloak of Utter Night has grown to Level 1095
Congratulations Your Skill Aureate Arteries of Yggdrasil has grown to Level 1046
The waves of force slammed against the Cloak of Utter Night but it was a Skill borrowed from one of the statues in that strange sea Randidly had discovered It could not be easily penetrated not by this force just beneath the preeminence of the Pinnacle And as each wave crashed against RandidlyÆs defensive line he made minute adjustments to the flow of energy He borrowed lessons from Yystrix to shape Aether to make other Aether miss it The rebounding waves of force began to resemble other shapes
In particular Aether Engravings designed to hide from Elhume
A muscle in RandidlyÆs leg twitched He worked his jaw slowly If I push myself now if I utilize Aether and Nether to the fullest I still have a bit more left I could test the limits of my GhosthoundÆs Deviation Rarity Perhaps perhaps if I perfectly unify three images I can rival the Pinnacle
Perhaps Neveah said
He rubbed his thumb against the reassuring presence of Acri in his hands but you think that is not a good choice
I do not think it is the best one Neveah answered We can define Ghasthund now and move on Because do you want to be unconscious for the next several hours after you manage to tear these benefits away The memory will collapse soon so we need to move quickly Both to settle matters with the Nether Arbiter and to prepare for what waits outside
Randidly held so much tension in his body he shook with it It was hard harder than most decisions he had faced Because previously he had only needed to push himself forward Difficult as taking that path might be it was at least simple And now he needed to let go He needed to trust Neveah and Lucretia
He needed to trust that the alchemy he could create with help would be superior to what he did on his own
When framed like that it was actually quite an easy decision But it required Randidly Ghosthound to set aside his pride No matter how powerful he had become letting go of control did not magically become easy