IÆll keep her safe The man tipped his hat and crouched down next to Devick He pulled out a strange little workbench and began to tinker with a small hunk of metal
Westrisser cleared his throat and stepped forward I as well will ensure her safety
Your cooperation is appreciated Neveah nodded Then she too hurried away to join the area around Hungry Eye She quickly fell into step with Lowanna and assisted in the creation of patterns around his seated form They traced patterns out so quickly Devick could watch the arrangement around Hungry Eye grow and breathe As the two women worked flows of Nether visible to the naked eye condensed around him The energy rumbled dense and dangerous
She watched his shoulders rise and fall with his breath His veins swelled filling with as much energy as blood Devick had the impression that if Randidly lost control now the energies channeled in through his limbs would explode outward with enough force to destroy the world DevickÆs heart fluttered Seriously IÆm out of my depth and I fucking love it
Ahem girlie thereÆs one thing
Devick looked sideways at Hank He squinted up at the sky for a few seconds before continuing to speak When you make the attack say somethinÆ DonÆt let it be a silent sneak attack ya know I jusÆ have a feelinÆ it will work better that way Look your enemy in the face DonÆt flinch
Chapter 2330
Devick remained still waiting for her turn For someone who burned so hot and whose mood changed quickly it was a particular sort of torture
It took ten minutes for the hand holding the time dagger to grow numb but she didnÆt dare allow her strained forearm to fail She refused to let the weakness and nerves win
Grip grip grip grip Devick chanted mentally I just need to strike once I have plenty enough strength for that Squeeze it now and seize a future Force your way through the hole of possibility
giving that speech did Hungry Eye realize how much innuendo he was slinging at me I suppose not
Over the course of the same ten minutes the figures of Hungry Eye and Neveah became completely obscured by a massive edifice of Nether building itself up atop their bodies A monstrously large midnight snake seemed to have coiled around Hungry Eye as he began funneling more and more of the stored of significance of the former Nether Arbiter into his body It became a shadow mountain looming next to her Even with some of RandidlyÆs Nether moving through her body Devick had a hard time breathing
Lowanna had moved to the side as the Nether developed away from Devick and her two protectorsÆ Occasionally she could hear snippets of LowannaÆs conversation with Enmya over the rumble of the building potential of Nether
obviously his methodology isnÆt elegant but itÆs reliable almost to a fault With his body acting as a conduit there is minimal energy loss with no upper limit on how strong he can become In addition the simple structure means its easy to adjust as circumstances dictate
But arenÆt you trying to have me improve my own inner Nether patterns There is no point in me examining this I could construct a more efficient pattern
You are missing the point Enmya Are you being deliberately obtuse Which of you needed to bare your vulnerability in order to earn a partnership Yes constructing theoretically superior Nether Rituals is well within your ability However your comment about efficiency is completely off base Because while you are thinking about efficiency of Nether he considers the most efficient output via the available ingredients Notice how he wields his amazing pattern recognition ability in combination with his near indestructible body He doesnÆt need
The Nether building roared as the shape changed Four thick pillars of energy appeared around Hungry Eye Devick just observed the change but HankÆs eyes slid sideways to Westrisser ShouldnÆt ya go speak with yur subordinates They look itchy down there
They have received the proper training Westrisser sniffed But despite his decisive response the army lingering to their South appeared to be growing increasingly concerned by the shifts in Nether that Hungry Eye produced
Further discussion was interrupted by a sudden swell of energy in the sky Beyond the barrier created by Hungry Eye a blazing figure of energy could be seen Although the Nether wielded by Hungry Eye was the most potent force Devick had ever sensed this figureÆs aura didnÆt lose out She could only gape as the distant forces she had sensed earlier were no much more clear to her What the hell is that
My cue Hank grunted and straightened Devick had witnessed him fighting with the two small weapons strapped on either side of his waist but he pulled out a different weapon from his interspatial storage He took the small bit of metal he had been tinkering with popped open a chamber in the side of the long barreled weapon and inserted it with a flourish The weapon made a satisfying click as he snapped the opening closed and took aim upward
The aura around Hank exploded faster than Devick could believe She knew he had been powerful as a follower of Hungry Eye but she couldnÆt believe how quickly the force rolling off his body began irresistible His clothes seemed drenched in the warm orange red light of sunset Small dust devils formed on the ground and orbited his position The wind rose and rose singing a whistling song of victory
In the sky the burning energy humanoid began to rip his way through the edge of the barrier Hank squinted down the barrel Take a long ride off a short ridge ya prick
All the burning light radiating off of HankÆs person swirled together around his weapon But just as quickly as the barrel exploded and shot its brilliant shooting star of a projectile all of the energy seemed to fade his lanky frame He squatted down and then sat in the dirt setting his weapon to the side He had poured everything he possessed into that shot
The burning figure took the shot in the chest roaring with a voice thick with hate The space and time around the figure warped Two bright images clawed at each other for dominance Its power ripped through the distortions destroying the projectile’s power as quickly as soon as it manifested The more time passed the more it seemed like the burning figure could destroy the bullet had it not been encumbered Next to her Hank panted and wiped sweat from his brow Stubborn bastard
In the spirit of cooperation Westrisser raised his hands The feathers along his arms began to glow A pure white beam of illumination shot upward and crashed into the humanoid figure After a moment of titanic struggle the figure was forced back by the combined force of the two attacks The barrier around the memory rippled and began to reform as the interloper was pushed back
Hank and Westrisser exchanged a glance In the end Westrisser looked away first With a little bit of peace Devick could turn her attention back to the pulsing Nether building It had expanded during the brief invasion so she could no longer see any of Hungry EyeÆs other supporters She almost jumped when she looked because thin threads of Nether stretched out from the towering pillar of darkness toward her position
They approached in arcs along the ground first forming a circle around her and then twining slowly across the intervening distance in a curious reversal of the Nether patterns that had been drawn around Hungry Eye Both Hank and Westrisser moved back to get out of the way Westrisser bit his lip so hard it bled as he looked at the dagger in DevickÆs hand but in the end he made room without comment
With the third step Devick arrived at her destination
Malice spread out and covered her body with a few adjustments In the agonizing minutes of struggle leading up to this holding the temporal weapon had shaped her image In MaliceÆs right hand was a grey scythe that disintegrated existence just by touching it Flakes of oblivion wafted away time and space made ash by its proximity The flesh of MaliceÆs hand had rotted away revealing bone and tattered tendons Yet still she didnÆt release the weapon because she needed its hateful power