She snapped back to the present sweat pouring down her face crouched in the middle of the grand working The chains in her offhand rattled and strained almost managing to fight back and recover some of their stolen power
You are distracted Elhume boomed out his words His blurry form tilted his head to the side Why
Devick barely suppressed a giggle Im sure you can feel it We are approaching the end of an era Isnt it exciting Ah even for me I like to savor moments like this
Elhumes energy projection released a noncommittal rumble and the Actus Suprem bent back over her work Hand by hand she tugged on the chains leading to the disparate Grand Fates pulling them closer Her grin widened She glanced sideways once more looking at the notifications she had been given for even briefly connecting to that alternate Aether structure inside of her clone
Congratulations Due to your incredible honing of your image your Skill The Bloody Claws of Insanity has earned the Skill Designation Deviant
Deviant Skills signify exemplary development in individual Skills altered to the cusp of varying from the typical Rarity structures Effects of Skills are slightly boosted
Congratulations Due to your incredible honing of your image your Skill Bleak Breath of Pandemonium has earned the Skill Designation Deviant
After teleporting her back to within the Alpha Cosmos Randidly straightened and faced forward His body burned with barely controlled fury he had teetered on the edge of this confrontation for long enough They had the direction and now they just needed to open a path
He took two sharp steps moving from his starting position to the head of the column He unleashed the Dread Homunculus the being focused on advancement spreading its arms wide in the face of the crystallized Aethers pressure Watching Devick endanger herself had lit a whole new fire in Randidlys emotional sea
His energy came easily His fury cackled and swirled together tighter and tighter creating a drill He carved open the energy pressure of the glittering mountains leading the Vulpis squad between the high walls of the crystallized Aether
Almost immediately the pressure ticked upward Randidly grinned as he sensed several small side passages sliding open as they approached Porcelain automatons filed out of the openings spinning and activating Hundreds of the defenses swarmed toward their position While Yggdrasil might currently be tied up stabilizing the experiment in his chest
Alana Donal poked him with the butt of her spear Nope not for you This sort of stuff is why we are here
Vulpis Squad Raymund Ballast bellowed Shred them
As Randidly restrained himself the forces he had trained roared and charged against the tide of porcelain dolls rushing toward their position Charlotte Wick bounded forward past the front of the line her aura forcing back the mist of the crystal citadel without Randidlys assistance Her image became a massive club of natural energies she hammered down and shattered the first wave of opponents
DiOrtho Vant spun forward a moment later his machine god image screaming and grinding A half dozen porcelain dolls split perfectly in two from his strokes and those around the targets cracked and sputtered messily hacked past the point of sustainability
Behind them Raymund Ballast grasped with his hands and borrowed the energy from five hundred of the dolls As they stalled out the Vulpis Squad released another roar and conjured a grand image that covered all of them A massive spectral Vulpine punched and the debilitated dolls exploded
Randidly released a breath and stilled his anxious body his turn would come
He allowed the Vulpis Squad to lead the charge with some small support from the representatives of the Upper Sonara Society They rampaged forward destroying and breaking the automated defenses in their path The pressure from Elhumes crystallized Aether increased as they proceeded deeper the long shadows of the ravine growing but the group didnt slow down Randidly plucked up all the destructive kinetic energy tugging away energy that would impede his warriors leaving blasts that caused porcelain dolls to stumble
Ahead of them the echo of the Actus Suprem skipped her way forward
More and more continued to rush out of the openings along their passage Randidly wondered if they proceeded down the most dangerous path or if this whole place had been thoroughly built up Considering the amount of time Elhume had ruled from here it could have been either
Behind him the kinetic storm grew violent enough to churn and shred through any porcelain dolls missed in the rapid charge The significance above grew darker signaling how much more dangerous this conflict would become
Worst of all the density of Aether in the air continued to increase The passage through the ravines was clogged with the Aether mist Randidly grimaced they were approaching the point that it wouldnt be strange if drops of liquid Aether naturally condensed here
Charlotte Wick barreled her way forward huge swipes of her paws empowered by the emotional ghost Randidly had given to her She could physically bludgeon open their passage And all at once she blasted through the last line of defense The tight passage of the ravine opened up into a wide chamber The Vulpis Squad glided after her finishing off any stragglers and filling the open space not clogged with porcelain doll bodies
In the silent open space Techetadore Ballast floated above the Swacc Family army his eyes half closed uncomfortably bright due to the covetous spirit possessing him
Chapter 2368
Raymund Ballast knew he should be looking at the battlefield as a whole measuring the strength of the opponents waiting for them but his heart hijacked control of the rest of his body his eyes locked upon Techetadore and refused to budge
His brother had seen better days Even since their last encounter he had earned visible marks of suffering
The gaunt and hollow sag of Techetadores cheekbones as though this flesh were just the mask worn by the creature beneath had Raymunds eyes blazing Now that the Ghosthound had explained the situation Raymund could see the signs of the insidious hand upon his brother While the body did indeed belong to Techet a capricious slimy creature had made itself a home within his limbs It leered out through the eyes of his precious brother
Next to him he felt a heavy paw press down on his shoulder Easy If we charge straight into their midst it will not go easy for us Fight smart in the face of odds and we can yet win
Raymund tore his gaze away and looked at Charlotte Wick With the additional emotional ghost she had received from the Ghosthound her previous solid image had evolved into a rawer weapon one that pulsed and seethed with power The Primal Ground sat at the heart of this offensive fueling it with an irresistible nudge toward growth Each step forward saw energy flowing up through their feet and increasing their momentum
But now heavy layers of cool mud and rich dirt wrapped around Raymunds body an often unused aspect of the image His heat and fury seeped out of him draining through the porous soil His heavy breathing slowed and he could look around with eyes less clouded by Techetadores situation
Charlotte was correct this would not be an easy fight Raymund frowned A flat field
They waited for us here Charlotte nodded
The crystal mountains still rose around them but they had proceeded into a large open chamber A few meandering cracks distantly above them allowed light and mist to seep down and precipitate down through the room The main feature of this chamber appeared to be an elaborate mural painted on the ground depicting what Raymund assumed to be the birth of the Nexus Perhaps in happier times or during the rapid growth of this mountain range it had been assumed this room would host extravagant balls
Now it housed an army
Several recognizable Swacc Family members stood in rigid formation above an army of at least a thousand Yet the number of images released by the regiment tripled that Each warrior possessed at least one Armament with the more decorated members of the Swacc family bristling with the exaggeratedly large and serrated blades or wave patterned armor Chaotic as though their energy might be it at least blazed