The blurry energy figure within Techetadore blazed The First Fist unleashed for the third time filled Randidlys entire awareness It seemed to scrape against the walls of the crystal chamber as it rumbled forward carving out small bits of crystal that hadnt even shivered when Randidly had smashed against it
Randidly settled into a fighting stance He squeezed Acri For now he trusted his subordinates So much lay ahead of him on this crusade he could not play out his entire hand now His purpose was to delay while fighting for his life Because he refused to allow the light to dim in Raymunds eyes like he had seen in so many others
He refused to allow his subordinate to experience that raw vast isolating pain of losing someone precious as Randidly had when Helen died And he believed that Raymund Ballast would find a way to liberate his brother
Roaring he advanced forward and thrust his spear
Alana Donal He chewed out the words He released a pulse of the heavy image contained in his Armament She simply raised his spear and smashed the image pulse to pieces causing him to snort Do you think the student of my student can defeat me Step away or I will run you through
Alana kept her lips together motes of orange light drifting out from her pure stance But another voice cut across their confrontation Randidly isnt her master I am
A slender young woman materialized behind Alana her arms crossed in front of her chest More apparition than woman she possessed a tangle of white hair and piercing eyes Shal couldnt believe it Azriel Blanche You yet live If you wish to be shown the limits of your talent fight me yourself Do not send this girl child to die
This girl child has already stopped you once Shal Alana finally spoke She spun her spear and settled back into her stance The orange light around her felt strangely pearlescent and smooth And I will do it again
Besides Azriel raised her hands and wiggled her fingers at him I have given up the pursuit of violence you follow I hold a spear no longer
How can a student learn from a Master who does not use a spear Shal glared His mind bristled with wishes that they were not here that he could simply reach Randidly that he could prove
Azriel shook her head I pity you Shal You never understood the spear is just a tool like so many others A myriad paths to power exist Isnt Randidly proof
Any coincidence may masquerade as proof before the status quo reasserts itself Shal said His heart felt cold even as his mind boiled He needed to open his student’s eyes so he launched himself forward before he finished speaking He swept his weapon in an arc meaning to crush Alana sideways and hurry upward before the next conflict between Elhume and Randidly made the approach impossible
Yet the orange light around Alana sharpened Her spear caught his weapon bringing the two of them into a trembling deadlock But this was a foolish decision his eyes narrowed and Shal brought to bear all the wicked violence possessed in his Armament
The Second Revelation Struggle
Alanas energy turned frenzied Even still she couldnt overcome the power of the Armament but her image twisted and then slid sideways disengaging from him and creating some space Shal was bringing his weighty weapon back around when she spoke again
The First Revelation Advance
Shal jerked sideways His eyes widened despite his response she had taken a deep bite out of the shoulder with her spear Blood dribbled down his arm
Azriel laughed So this is your limit Shal I do not think you will be able to entertain Alana for very long with such enthusiastic attacks
If I Shal began to speak but then clamped his mouth shut Because what he had wanted to say was that this would have been over in only a few moments had he been wielding a spear as opposed to this vague metal hunk His teeth ground as he watched Azriels eyes turn crescent with mirth
He shook his head He raised his weapon glaring at Alana Donal She waited patiently for him the air around her filling with more and more motes of orange light Shal growled and unleashed a pulse of heavy violence pushing those motes out of the way He stepped forward his feet light trying to imbue his borrowed image with a bit of lightness
The lightness of a phantom The lightness of a serpent
Alana Donal gave him a penetrating look All the ugly emotions in Shal’s chest seemed to freeze The orange light around her body began to shimmer The Third Revelation Anguish
Chapter 2370
The Monarch of Karma tried to dream of a better life A simpler existence of farming and laughing with his son
But he woke up gasping every time he felt himself truly relax worried that his subconscious would start reaching grasping demanding the world exist in a certain way and he would fall headlong back into the cycle That he might forget for a moment his son had died might be struck again by grief and be twisted into another spiral His sleepless current situation needled him his past scared him the future he viewed with bleary sleepless eyes
More than anything he just wanted peace The Monarch of Karma pressed his hands against the ground of his small stone coffin drifting through the empty space At least the environment remained blessedly inert Recently he felt the tug of a grand flow of energy there seemed to be a current that had plucked him up and carried him along But a motion this small was fine Giving up control was a divine
His vessel jolted unpleasantly The Monarch of Karma sat up in surprise Another platform about double as large as his current one had knocked into his Now the two tumbled and spun lazily through space seemingly unwilling to part
The Monarch of Karma eyed this interloper to his self imposed exile suspiciously Waves of powerful emotion wafted off the new ground whether it had been sundered off a greater whole or used as a small platform he could not tell but it was obvious this place had served as some sort of holy site It had housed a powerful ritual and now just coincidentally smacked up against him A very powerful ritual from what the Monarch could sense
Despite his current even keeled current mental state he didnt dare look too closely Not because the land was that powerful but because of the possibilities his instincts might covet even in some small amount of power
This is always how it starts The Monarch of Karma muttered His body felt drained but he still forced himself to clamber over and pry the two pieces of stone apart He kicked this strange and mystic platform away Better to be rid of it than allow the temptation to linger
He settled back down to return to his rest that was not rest A dreamless non oblivion his awareness grating against him every few moments At the very least he returned to prolonged inaction He sought a state without desire as he meditated
Perhaps in absence he could find an answer But reaching such a flow state was easier said than done
To be frank he was bored For all that he didnt trust himself he also had been largely unconscious for the last well it felt like quite a long time So after a minute or two he glanced sideways in the direction he had kicked the stone platform for a little bit of stimuli He looked over just in time to see the platform bounce of one two three other drifting bits of debris which spun the platform back around and set it back drifting toward the Monarch of Karma
He let out an aggrieved sigh It always starts this way
Alana Donals nerves sang as she gathered her image power into her hands The golden orange holy light rippled off of her body and forced back the pressure of the crystalline walls Opposite her Shals face twisted into a scowl The heavy blade he swung back and forth could snap her in half their earlier clash while she activated Struggle had almost caused her liver to rupture and her shoulders to be dislocated from the few moments of contact
If she made a single mistake she would die
She sucked in a breath As above the Ghosthound struggled she would hold the line below She refused to fail Because her strange instruction from Azriel had truly taught her that there were many methods of attack even in battle The Third Revelation Anguish