As the man they called the Ghosthound walked almost serenely forward and cast a long and dark shadow, the featureless Mynway turned to address Claudette. “Miss, if that man proceeds out onto the battlefield, the reverberations from the other confrontations-”

“Can’t you feel it?” Claudette exhaled and licked her lips. Her dark eyes began to glitter. As she stared at Randidly’s back and those strange spectral flames that flickered across his body, she couldn’t muster up the gumption to follow him. The pressure was a totally unique and unfamiliar sensation It was different from what she experienced near the Frost Matriarch, a pressure that made establishing an image in that space impossible. Nor was it the dominant physical disintegration that a Nether Herald could mobilize.

Rather than Claudette being suppressed by Randidly Ghosthound, it was like his very real existence made her understand that she was fake and feeble. The very substance of the space in front of Claudette urged her not to take action against this man.

“...certainly he seems… capable.” The featureless Mynway allowed. Meanwhile, almost a dozen powerful images smashed against each other in the surrounding area. The alabaster titan struck the golden orb and smashed it into the ground. The raincloud weeping black drops expanded and riddled the space a bit to their left with caustic liquid. “But the collateral damage-”

He gestured helplessly; after defeating the golden orb, the titan charged toward a glowing green greatsword. The clash of the two images caused space above them to shudder, but as both attackers refused to concede, the pressure mounted. A split second later, the forces ruptured the surrounding space and sent spatial cracks ripping in every direction. One of Mynway’s subordinates that was assisting on that battlefield was crushed into a bloody paste for daring to be too near.

Claudette shook her head slowly, her eyes still straight ahead. As one of those cracks snaked down toward Randidly, it rapidly slowed. Only a few meters away from the spear-wielder, space stabilized and the reverberations vanished. Sure enough, her instincts hadn’t lied; there was something universally authentic about the Ghosthound that even strengthen the fabric of shape. Next to her, Mynway couldn’t figure out how to react to this phenomenon.

In twenty meters in almost any direction from Randidly, the forces of the Pinnacle Seekers and the Nexus Labor Council were locked in the sort of high-tier combat that left the environment sundered and broken. Yet his pace never changed, his gait remained even.

When Claudette had met Randidly, she had been instantly suspicious by how casually he had treated her. Considering her family, it was obvious his attitude was a facade. She had seen similar attempts before, so she decided to treat him casually and wait for his tune to change. Yet he hadn’t reacted when she had flirted, or been ingratiating, or when she had brought the attention of Seeker Thunder Wing directly upon him. Finally, now, she understood why.

This whole time, the man Randidly Ghosthound had been looking forward, toward this confrontation. And such was the intensity of his focus that the entire world aligned with him and did the same.

She was just a side character to him, no matter who her family was. Likely, she would quickly vanish from his mind after they parted ways. And while she had initially balked at that realization, she couldn’t deny it any longer.

Where did this man come from…? Claudette wondered as she watched him finally reach his target. The man Randidly Ghosthound was staring at finally looked back at him.

*****

Influence +6!

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 359!

Congratulations! Your Skill Conviction of the Celestial Cataclysm (T) has grown to Level 392!

Congratulations! Your Skill Nether Sensation (L) has grown to Level 406!

Influence +4!

Due to an extraordinary accumulation of significance, Weight +10

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 360!

Influence +10!

Randidly’s heart ached as he looked at Shal.

Unwilling to let his attention waver in this important moment, Randidly Ghosthound deftly reached into the Aether apparatus around him and switched off his access to notifications. The notifications were coming too rapidly and, at the moment, he didn’t need them at all. He let the task at hand consume him. He tried to take a calming breath as he stepped forward but his muscles wouldn’t stop clenching. The muscles of his jaw were trembling.

He took another step forward.

Randidly felt… insubstantial as he walked across the battlefield. The other sounds around him faded as Shal’s figure filled his vision. Somehow, he was beyond the impacts and sounds of the nearby conflicts; he was ethereal. He drifted forward like an unwilling spirit.

Randidly’s Nether Core spun faster and faster, gushing Nether through his veins so quickly that he was briefly worried whether even his powerful body wouldn’t be able to handle it. Yet not only was his body withstanding the endless river of Nether being channeled through him, but his cells were thriving under its influence.

With every step, the density of Nether in his body deepened. And in the next moment, another powerful wave of Nether pumped through him, forcing the already accumulated Nether down and compacting it. In response, his image physicalizations steadily manifested to balance out the energies he held within his physical form. Nether flames flickered up and down across his arms as he subconsciously released his Weight to steady himself.

Each step was a dizzying rebirth. If Randidly ripping off his flesh earlier was his body catching up to his Stats, his current situation was the result of his Aether and Nether reworking itself in the same way. And despite the warning Randidly had seen in his Glimpse of the Shallah Path, he didn’t attempt to stop the transformative process.

Weirdly, seeing Shal here rid Randidly of the last clinging bits of hesitation. Each step on this chaotic battlefield was both literal and metaphoric, carrying Randidly further down on his own Path.

And of course, the entire time, Randidly couldn’t tear his gaze away from Shal. His master appeared and disappeared abruptly in a thirty-meter area as he brandished his spear. It appeared that he was in charge of several powerful images users of the Engraving Guild, assisting them against the Pinnacle Seekers’ attacks at key moments.

But Shal… Randidly bit his lip. Your expression… your image… why do you seem so exhausted…?

Randidly’s pounding heart froze at the moment that Shal’s piercing gaze happened to finally land on him. Their eyes met and Randidly could see even more deeply into the emotions of his master. What he found there began to catalyze his emotions, transforming them into frustration. This should be a joyous occasion. Randidly had expected himself to feel proud and confident facing his master.

Yet the only thought in his head now, witnessing Shal’s images and emotions, was to break the man’s jaw.

For a second, Shal faltered. Randidly’s master still looked as he remembered him, a well-muscled man with a shaved head and blue skin. A closed, third eye sat in the middle of his forehead. His features were strong and disapproving, like the natural setting of his face leaned toward a frown. Yet as Shal recognized Randidly, his face twisted in something between shock and resignation.

For the reciprocal reason, he wants to punch me, too, Randidly realized as the moment of their eye contact stretched.

But a split second later, Shal’s face quickly shifted back to a neutral, scrutinizing look. He landed on the ground and glanced around at the current situation; the Pinnacle Seekers who had been harrying Shal took a few steps back and let their images fade. For that, Randidly was grateful. He took several steps forward, more Nether whirling through him every moment. Tension rose in his chest from both men’s instinct toward violence, squeezing Randidly’s heart. As he approached to about twenty meters away from Shal, it even appeared that the spectral flames of his Nether Weight were growing larger. Significance rapidly flowed between the two of them, although Randidly couldn’t quite understand it yet.

In a tension-relieving return to their previous interactions, Shal favored Randidly with a sardonic smile. With an audible snap, he flicked his wrist and then raised his weapon. “You seem like a man who has confidence in his spear.”

“Shal-” Randidly began, but Shal immediately shook his head.

“We speak after, disciple. Come. Show this old man how much you’ve grown.”

Everything about Shal was outwardly as Randidly remembered him: the tone of voice, the demands, the fact that no sooner had Shal finished speaking than he attacked… this was the brutal master of Randidly Ghosthound. The one who he had stumbled across in a Dungeon he had entered due to interference from Yystrix and the one who had brutally beaten him until he had established a foundation of strength.

Randidly raised Acri, relying entirely on instinct. His mind was somewhat blank, barely managing to control the rampant Aether, Nether, and emotions that spun around within his chest. He still couldn’t quite understand the dread he felt as he looked at Shal. His Nether Core accelerated to the point that his whole being howled with it. Even as Shal shot toward him, Randidly took a stance and saw the thin and wavy lines of Ripple of Amenonuhoko spread out in front of him.

A glimmer of clarity returned to Randidly’s eyes. Violence, at least, was easier to understand than the growing hunch he had. For now… I don’t want to win this battle by overwhelming him with my Stats. Instead… let’s see how far my spear can carry me.

Right before Shal arrived in front of him, Randidly cut forward along one of the lines of Ripple of Amenonuhoko. The wind across the battlefield spun into a vortex above Randidly’s head and then shot down to push his attacks forward. Without any artifice, Randidly thrust his spear forward to meet Shal.

The move was direct and effective.

Shal’s eyes flashed and his spear flexibility spun in his hands. Despite the fact that his spear had previously seemed rigid, it now slithered forward around Acri. Of course, a twitch from Randidly allowed Acri to swat sideways and knock the attack away.

The wind finally roared past Randidly, slamming directly into Shal as the two neared one another. But Shal’s body blazed with the golden light of a hero, dispersing all the force Randidly had gathered with Ripple of Amenonuhoko. Randidly spun quickly, cutting toward Shal’s ankles. Shal hopped up in the air and leveled his spearhead toward Randidly’s heart.

Pressing his lips together Randidly twisted to the side. As the phantasmal shade in front of Randidly faded, a brutal spear attack shot at him from behind. His dodge meant that that Shal’s spear skittered harmlessly off of Sulfur’s defenses. Seeing his pupil dodge his sneak attack, Shal even had the cheek to grin at him.

Randidly snorted and lashed out at Shal with a palm. Shal instantly generated some distance with a Skill of his Spear Phantom, but this time Randidly smirked and twisted his hand; his palm strike had traveled along a line of Ripple of Amenonuhoko.

So just as Shal had created some distance, a pillar of stone erupted diagonally from the ground toward his lower back. Randidly’s Skill caught the man by such surprise that the stone smashed against Shal’s back and destroyed his stance. Randidly stepped forward and thrust forward with Acri once again with anticipation; this time, Shal couldn’t avoid a direct conflict of spearmanship.

As long as they crossed spears directly, Randidly had faith he could get to the bottom of the swirling negative emotions between them.

Instantly, Shal’s arms blurred. He seemed to become the body of a hydra, with nine deadly spear ghosts wriggling upward and flicking toward Randidly’s neck and shoulder joints. Randidly adjusted his grip on Acri and quickly spun the blade in a semi-circle, still while thrusting. It weakened the power of his thrust, but by relying on Ripple of Amenonuhoko, a blast of force spread outward from Randidly’s spear. The hydra heads were deflected. Whatever Skill Shal had used was dispersed.

Shal was stunned again, but he still reacted quickly in the face of Randidly’s vicious attack. Acri bit into Shal’s side, but the cut was shallow. In addition, Shal gripped his spear with only one hand while clamping his left arm over Acri. He leaned forward, clearly planning to use this opportunity to strike.

Randidly’s eyes flashed. I hadn’t planned on suppressing you directly with Stats, but since you took the trouble of hand delivering this invitation to me…

The muscles of Randidly’s right forearm bulged. His fingers tightened on Acri’s shaft. And when his body exploded into motion and produced a sonic boom with the violence of his movement, it was too late for Shal to react. Randidly’s front hand became the fulcrum as the back hand pressed sharply down on the end of the resilient weapon.

For a brief moment, he became a human catapult. With all 1485 of his Primordial Nether Juju, Randidly launched Shal directly upward.