Randidly casually investigated the situation in his body while Lay’mel trembled in front of him. At moments like this, silence was an effective weapon; allowing Lay’mel to make up horrible truths about what would happen to him was much more effective than Randidly trying to threaten him directly. And it also helped take the edge off of Randidly’s implacable wrath toward this constant threat to him and his Squad.

From what he understood, Lay’mel was constantly plotting against him, endangering his recruits in the process. In Randidly’s mind, that was a deep debt to pay.

Previously, the jump in his Stats, particularly the growth of Dreadful Alacrity and Primordial Nether Juju, was so abrupt and vast that his physical form had difficulty keeping up. His new cells could properly express his power, but his old cells simply weren’t built to the same specifications. Which required Randidly to methodically rip off his muscles and allow them to heal back.

In his chest, Randidly used his blood to rupture his veins and spread through his body. Once he possessed the freedom, he scraped away at his organs, taking a bit of the inferior biological matter with each pass. The process was uncomfortable, but Randidly manipulated his blood skillfully. Soon, the entirety of his insides was cleansed and regenerated.

And I bet that visual is the reason he’s petrified. Randidly glanced at Lay’mel. Then he reached up with his right hand and ripped a hole in his skin right below his diaphragm. All the contained blood and old, weak biological matter flowed out and splattered on the ground. Lay’mel looked like he would be ill.

Randidly’s skin was steadily growing back across his bare muscles, but the former Drill Sergeant’s eyes were wide and blank; he was perhaps constantly reliving the vision of his teammates getting slaughtered as he stared at the chunks of flesh spread across the ground. Randidly favored him with a wicked smile as he raised his leg and stomped down. His foot ruptured and he scraped it against the Nether Pinion to make room for the regenerated flesh.

Honestly, Randidly’s first impulse was to kill Lay’mel and be done with it. But in the current situation, he could think of another use for the man. It was a gamble, but being a part of the Swacc Family meant that this individual was rather well informed. Right now, Randidly dearly wished for concrete details concerning the undercurrents within Military High Command.

Snorting, Randidly raised his hands and slapped them against his ears. His eardrums shattered and blood dribbled down his head and neck. As the flesh rapidly healed, there wasn’t much difference in hearing, but the delicate mechanisms of his ear were now much more robust. Randidly considered trying to scrape away bits of his brain to let his grey matter improve, but that seemed a bit… reckless.

With the increased power in his arms, Randidly went for his joints and tendons next, ripping out long sinews and tossing them to the side. All the while, Lay’mel was shaking like a leaf.

When his body was satisfactorily healed and remade, Randidly produced a cloth from his interspatial ring and began to dry himself. Not that he minded, but he thought that looking like some sort of bloody zombie would make communicating with his subordinates slightly awkward. Then he released a bit of the Stillborn Phoenix’s image to motivate Lay’mel. His left eye shifted into a black hole. The ominous sound of the black hole devouring air and emotions in the surrounding space finally seemed to pierce through the fear and reach the former Drill Sergeant.

Lay’mel paled further so that his skin was as white as a blank sheet of paper. Yet at least he finally realized that Randidly wasn’t going to speak any further. “I- I-...! You… you shouldn’t k-kill me too c-c-casually-”

“Why not?” Randidly chuckled. “The Swacc Family has a grudge with me anyway, and messaging is currently restricted by this situation. Isn’t the best option to eliminate all evidence that this encounter happened while I can? And you, Lay’mel Tuuellethe, are a very dangerous piece of evidence.”

“I w-won’t-” Lay’mel began to stutter, but Randidly silenced him with a look. Lay’mel’s expression grew heavy. Both knew that even if Lay’mel didn’t want to report the issue of this failed ambush, he would have no choice. As long as he lived, the Swacc Family would seek him for information regarding Evick Swacc’s demise.

Seeing that realization finally come over Lay’mel’s face, Randidly smirked. Then he spoke slowly. For now, he could afford to wait on making this decision. “Well, aren’t we in the same boat? Pursued by the Swacc Family for becoming involved in incidents having nothing to do with us? If you come with me now and provide some information, I’ll let you live.”

Lay’mel gave Randidly a blank look that said ‘we are definitely not in the same boat’, but he didn’t dare verbalize those thoughts. Instead, his visage was clouded as he considered the implications of what Randidly was saying. Some of his fear went away and Lay’mel turned thoughtful.

For Randidly, it was a calculated gamble. Although the Swacc Family wouldn’t have any proof, he doubted that the Swacc Family wouldn’t be able to find out that he was responsible for the death of Evick Swacc. Perhaps Randidly would be able to frame another faction for their deaths, but the Swacc Family would likely still start the investigation with him, the actual target. And besides, to frame someone, Randidly would need more information. Hence his attempt to strong-arm Lay’mel.

In addition… Randidly could control the expectations of the Swacc Family if he kept Lay’mel alive. After all, the prowess he demonstrated to kill Evick Swacc and his groups was far from his full strength.

“I… this… okay. What information do you need?” Lay’mel said uneasily.

Randidly simply smiled in response and turned away. The questions could wait until later, and he wanted to keep Lay’mel off balance. He hopped down off the blood and gore spattered Nether Pinion and walked to one of the crystalline wall of the fractured space. Lay’mel blinked and hurried after him. “Did I say something-”

“Quite for now,” Randidly said sharply. His senses flowed outward through the strange Aether barrier, following the flows of energy. As he examined the surroundings, Randidly had to admit that what Commandant Wick had done was rather impressive. Whether the Nether King had wanted to contribute or not, its powers had been inadvertently incorporated into this strange stasis. Nether became the bridges between the isolated spaces. As long as those inside the space understood enough about Aether and Nether, it was possible to travel between the separated zones.

Releasing a breath, Randidly closed his eyes and let his senses wander outward.

Congratulations! Your Skill Left Hand of the Nether Oracle (M) has grown to Level 245!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 404!

Congratulations! Your Skill Aether Detection has grown to Level 247!

However… Randidly quickly frowned as he opened his eyes. Even with his significant capabilities in this area, the way the energies of the barriers were layered made it extremely difficult to see the way the spaces connected to each other. The changes in information through the two alternating energies meant Randidly only had a vague sense of the spaces adjacent to him, and further that was completely shrouded.

He also had an impression of the direction he needed to travel to reach the core of this maze of fractured space, but the journey would undoubtedly be complex. And from the way the spaces were clustered so that the deeper he went, the more enemies might be present. The only saving grace was that if it was this difficult for him, others would have an even more difficult time.

Randidly’s eyes flashed and he glanced over his shoulder at Lay’mel. “Come here.”

Even if he couldn’t find the core area, he had found his first destination in the surrounded islands of space. Seeing Randidly’s serious gaze, Lay’mel’s expression fell. Apparently Randidly’s voice was rougher than he had intended, because the man began to panic. “I… please… please don’t kill me… I can tell you about the different factions in the Swacc Family, their secret bases-”

“And you’d probably watch gladly while I go there and clash with the hidden monsters of the Swacc Family,” Randidly snorted. “But anyway, that’s that and this is this. Just get the here over here.”

As Randidly narrowed his eyes, he realized that the familiar wiggling lines extended from his outstretched hand toward Lay’mel. Seeing that Lay’mel still hesitated, Randidly pressed his lips together and focused on the flowing natural lines. So, Ripple of Amenonuhoko can also be used like this, huh…?

Now that his Control had evolved into Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae, Randidly could almost gently caress the leylines that spread out from his touch. At his gesture, a wind around and spun above them before sweeping down and pressing into Lay’mel’s back. Taken by surprise, he could only stumble forward and allow Randidly’s metal hand to clamp onto his shoulder.

Even while Lay’mel was twitching with fear, Randidly turned away from him and pressed his hand up against the edge of the fractured space. He connected with those bridging energies. A split second later, there was a wrenching sensation and they appeared in a new area, which was an entirely empty stretch of plains.

Randidly didn’t stay here long, reaching once again and teleporting them through to their first destination. When they arrived, Randidly finally let go of Lay’mel and hopped across the low hills of this area. At the top of one of the hills, a camp was being erected. Randidly smiled with pride to look at his Vulpis Squad working so quickly. Yea, that’s right, learn and grow.

Randidly didn’t bother to hide his aura as he approached, so the Lancers that were with the group immediately noticed him. A few seconds later, he felt a light resonance with the three inheritors of his image. So by the time that he walked up to the camp, the leaders of the groups were waiting for him.

They saluted Randidly as he scrutinized them. In response, he smiled. “Good; it seems you weren’t too close to Commander Shilling when space destabilized. That will make things easier. Movement through the shattered space is possible, but its best for most of you to remain here. Raymund and DiOrtho… come with me.”

The two nodded and walked over to his side. After one more long glance to inspect the solidified and strengthened images of his recruits, Randidly turned away. His gaze went to his Lancers and turned thoughtful. The way his Skill had evolved altered his relationship with the Lancers; it was for the best that he address that now-

“Wait!”

Randidly paused and turned around. Charlotte Wick strode forward, looking at him with an intense gaze. At her back was Jieu Ronault and Vizzeret Clamman. Looking at them, it was easy to anticipate their thoughts.

Charlotte opened her mouth to continue speaking but Randidly raised a hand to stop here. “I can see your intent. You want to accompany me as well, correct? After experiencing the way your three images can work together… you understand your capability. Which I won’t deny is significant. But you don’t understand the threat of what we might encounter where we are heading.

“Still…” Randidly hesitated. Then he shrugged. “Well, I’m not omniscient; perhaps you have improved more than I expected. If you want to come… you just have to best Raymund. You can even fight three against one. And to make sure that your leader doesn’t throw this opportunity…”

Randidly gave Raymund a deep look. “If you lose to them, you won’t accompany me deeper into this place.”

Raymund’s face twisted into a deep frown. He understood the implication; if Raymund did not overcome these three, he would not have the chance to locate his brother.

Seeing the understanding in his subordinate’s eyes, Randidly turned away. “Alright, take care of it. We don’t have much time, so fight immediately. I need to address my Lancers, so I’ll be waiting over there. Come find me when you have a winner.”