For a brief second, Randidly Ghosthound moved so quickly that Helen couldn’t capture his form at all. One second Shal and Randidly were so close they could reach out and touch each other and the next their movements briefly tore the surrounding space and rendered their figures as blurs.

A projectile cut sharply upward into the sky, rapidly heading for the spatial wall that formed the ceiling of this isolated location.

BOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Compared to the other fights between images around them, this confrontation wasn’t particularly eye-catching. The spatial wall distorted slightly from the impact, but the construction of Aether and Nether was not something that could be damaged with physical means. Yet what shocked Helen was that as the speeds shifted to less overwhelming levels, the launched projectile turned out to be a rather miserable looking Shal.

Mid-air, the man spat out blood. He gradually began to fall back down as his sharp eyes fixed on Randidly. Yet the expression on his face was one of immense glee as he shouted out above the chaotic battlefield. “So, this is the reason for your confidence?!? A Strength that can crush all obstacles?!”

Due to the fact that hundreds of other powerful individuals experts were clashing every second in the vicinity, that voice was quickly overwhelmed by the image reverberations. Compared to the screeching Crimson Thunder Eagle and or the Thousand Armed Alabaster Titan, this small voice was smothered. Neither Randidly nor Shal had even unleashed their full images so far. Yet Helen couldn’t tear her eyes away, even for a second.

In response to his master’s words, Randidly spun his spear and pointed it upward. Shal allowed gravity to run its course and began to accelerate downward. He shifted his spear between his hands carefully, seeming to measure its weight.

Helen refused to breathe, afraid she would again miss their movements. While being careful to avoid drawing the attention of the powerful Pinnacle Seekers nearby, she activated her Tides of Blood Domain at a very shallow depth and allowed it to spread out toward this specific portion of the battlefield. Even if she couldn’t follow their movements with her eyes, she could observe the action as long as she could read the air currents around the two combatants.

Next to her, Raymund folded his arms across his chest. “So that is Shal? Is the Ghosthound… holding back…?”

While Claudette had stepped forward to stand with Myrwyn and other Pinnacle Seekers, Narthalla and the other eight members of the Holy Frost Society remained back with Helen and the others. Having been rescued by their group, they curiously watched the Ghosthound too. At Raymund’s words, Narthalla looked over with a frown. “That move… was still the Ghosthound holding back?”

Helen shook her head slightly. “It isn’t that he’s holding back… right now, the conflict is one of spear Styles. It is… difficult to explain to outsiders.”

What is even more difficult to say is that Shal keeps fucking avoiding it.

When DiOrtho opened his mouth to say something, Helen gestured sharply with her hand; above them, Shal’s aura began to sky-rocket and she wasn’t willing to miss any more of this fight for Vant’s nonsense. As Shal shot downward, his spear turned golden and began to elongate. By the time he had covered half the distance to the ground, his spear was almost four meters long and released waves of golden light. The spear undulated in the air around Shal, wreathing him in a holy glow.

Meanwhile, Randidly cracked the ground as he leapt upward. The Nether Flames across his body had grown more erratic, leaping off of his body like miniature solar flares. Shal’s avoidance of the Style comparison seemed to have gotten under Randidly’s skin. Again, his strategy was direct and unrelenting, simply thrusting Acri forward in a powerful assault.

Shal’s hands twitched and he wielded his Golden Snake Spear like a whip, flicking the blade unpredictably through the air. Then he twisted the weapon and the previously Phantom-esque display receded like a mirage, in its place was simply a hero’s bold direct thrust, which perfectly impacted Randidly’s attack.

DOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNGGGG!

The impact of the two metals rang out through the surroundings with enough force to seep into the surrounding few conflicts. The duo drew a few short looks before the other combatants continued to face their own opponents.

Neither achieved an advantage as they smashed into each other. Their two spears possessed equal force, even while one relied on an image and the other didn’t. In the next moment, Shal spun his comically long spear and sent a far-ranging slash toward Randidly’s shoulder. When Shal began the movement the spear’s four-meter length made the blade seem far away, but then it practically materialized right above Randidly’s body. The undulating movements of his spear deceived the eye; even Helen, who relied on her Tides of Blood Domain simply to observe, reeled from the acceleration.

Randidly didn’t even blink as the spear approached. The deadlock between the two thrusts had robbed him of his momentum, but he simply raised his spear while hanging in the air. Even as Shal’s attack was howling toward him, he cut sharply upward with his spear.

Yet there was something exceedingly uncanny about Randidly’s strike; natural energy seemed to gush from his body. It surged along his limbs, its passage causing the spectral Nether Flames to flicker. As he moved, Randidly seemed to have less in common with a humanoid than with a wrathful volcano or a natural spring in an untouched grotto. The vibrancy hidden in the unadorned movement was astounding.

The raw potency he could produce with the Skill was a testament to Randidly’s abilities to generate complex and profound images. His Visualization Skill must be overwhelmingly high.

Still, Helen frowned; despite the dense natural energy around him, the energy didn’t have much of a restrictive effect before Shal’s enormous, image-empowered slash. But in the next moment, a pillar of rock exploded out of the ground and reached Randidly’s position in the blink of the eye. Twenty meters became nothing before Helen even knew what was happening. And then Randidly rode that rock up past Shal’s attack, passing harmlessly beneath it. His spear was aimed at his master’s chest and approaching fast.

Shal spun his spear back before his body, forming it quickly into a golden spiral with which he attempted to use to smash Randidly’s attack away. But somehow, Randidly’s spear was suddenly howling with the essence of the wild and uncontrollable wind and hopped forward. His thrust was direct, yet it somehow completely bypassed Shal’s convoluted spear arcs and threatened to cut Shal once more.

“FINE THEN!” Shal bellowed. He exploded in waves of image power that smashed into Helen’s dispersed Tides of Blood Domain and made her grit her teeth in pain; she couldn’t even imagine what sort of pressure that Randidly was stoically enduring at the moment. Immediately, a figure manifested in the air above Shal.

The figure raised his chin proudly, every movement filled with an air of righteousness. He wielded an enormous golden spear that was also a black-eyed, golden viper. Shal’s image phantom rushed forward, passing through Shal’s body and clashing directly with Randidly’s thrust. Meanwhile, Shal’s face warped in a Cheshire smile.

“Limitless Fang!”

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMM!

Both figures were blasted apart from each other by the collision. And both quickly recovered. Randidly spun his spear and guided the wind around him to cushion his movements as he fell to the ground while Shal roared and unleashed a pulse of golden energy. Both crashed into the ground and immediately stood up. As they stabilized themselves, they looked at each other with heavy expressions.

They had knocked each other sideways into nearby conflicts, so Helen could see both of their expressions in profile. Shal looked at Randidly with an intensity that bordered on madness. His eyes were bloodshot. Meanwhile, Randidly’s gaze was just as intense, but there was a delicacy in his eyes as he considered his master. They stepped and accelerated toward each other again, Randidly gliding along with the wind and Shal surging with a brighter and brighter golden light.

Randidly gestured smoothly with his spear as he sped forward, cutting into the space in front of him. Yet as he did so, clouds abruptly formed behind him. They rolled forward, only a few meters off the ground. That dense natural energy the Ghosthound released became even more chaotic and tyrannical as the clouds darkened into a rumbling thunderstorm.

“Viper Strike!” Shal screamed. The image of the heroic spearman wielding the golden viper cut forward, superimposing itself upon Shal’s body. Randidly Ghosthound, again, calmly thrust his spear. The thunderstorm rushed forward and consumed them both, screening the brilliant golden light.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!

Helen’s Tides of Blood Domain was obliterated. Even several hundred meters away from the impact, she felt the aftershock slap her face a split second later. Such was the power that both displayed that, for the second time, several of the surrounding fights slowed to cautiously observe these potent reverberations.

For a few seconds, the entire right flank of the battlefield stared at the churning grey stormclouds that were piled upon the ground.

Abruptly two figures blasted out from the sides of the cloud and skidded across the ground. Both quickly recovered and immediately raised their weapons. Neither seemed to have been seriously injured, but Helen could tell from his expression that Shal was livid.

“Do you truly take me so lightly…?” Shal growled at Randidly. As his face twisted, a red line opened across his cheek and a singular drop of blood marred his skin. It was a shallow wound, but one that filled Helen with pride.

Randidly, still wearing that sorrowful expression, didn’t bother to respond to his master. He simply raised his spear. Which was all he really needed to say.

Are you taking my spear lightly, Shal?

Next to Helen, DiOrtho Vant stirred once again. “Isn’t this Shal being a bit of a dick? Does he think it’s easy to stand against the Ghosthound’s Spear Skill? He should be glad he only got his cheek slashed.”

“You fool,” Narthalla whispered, surprising Helen. The other woman’s gaze was solemn as she stared at Randidly’s back. “You cannot spot the differences between them? This Shal is utilizing a comprehensive and refined image that is clearly a fusion between several potent images in their own right. Meanwhile, your Ghosthound… he’s neutralizing that complex image with just the basic image from his Skill. Now that Skill seems phenomenal, but still. How high must his Willpower be…?”