That shadowy, cooling core of Velio’s former image continued to press against the surrounding space and destabilize the environment. Some very familiar discharges of electromagnetic energy crackled at the edges of the weapon. Randidly’s brows knit together. Standing before that naked blade, he could so very clearly feel the difference between his image and that of Velio Dunn, both in scope and detail.

Randidly had his own advantages, but he couldn’t help but feel admiration for the self-evident achievement of the opponent’s power.

Randidly could feel the length of time that Velio had dedicated to this image as he raised his sword and those strange strands of mist accumulated around the weapon. Blade, mist, and then crackling lightning bolts radiated outward. Randidly had been able to previously demolish Velio’s image defenses by relying on three separate images working together, but the purity of this darkness after Randidly had struck that blow-

Velio blurred into motion with his impossible heavy sword raised. Randidly narrowed his eyes and guided Acri to wrap around his arm. Take a rest and recover, buddy. I don’t think that blade… is something that we can meet any longer.

Acri bleated and wiggled in protest, but followed Randidly’s instruction. Which, more than anything else, just demonstrated how seriously the weapon was wounded.

Velio surged forward and slashed downward; Randidly spun sideways and avoided the strike, his skin crawling as he felt the horrifying destructive power that was clustered around Velio’s dark sword. His Grim Intuition made him all too aware of what his fate would be if he met that image directly. The tattooed man then raised his head and snarled at Randidly, bringing the blade around in a sweep.

Randidly unleashed a blast of gravity with Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and pushed himself and Velio apart. Velio’s body did slide backward, but when the sword swung around the whole way, it cut cleanly through Randidly’s image and Skill and Velio stabilized himself. There was an aura that spread out from the physical sword that completely severed everything it touched. Mist and lightning was just as much blade as the metal that shivered underneath the weight of bearing that image.

Randidly narrowed his eyes as his Nether and images gathered in his chest for his next attack. He had recovered from his previous offensive. He noticed two important facts about the current Velio, with liquid Aether gushing out of his side and crystalized Aether spreading across his body.

First, the crystalized Aether had spread across his right shoulder, most of his torso, and neck, but Velio’s movements in those areas hadn’t slowed at all. They also hadn’t increased in speed, which was a relief, but those crystals were pure, raw energy that jolted that image from being impressive to being deadly. Randidly would have appreciated if that energy boost would have at least slowed him down a bit.

Second, and likely it was related to the spread of crystalized Aether across his body, the destructive aura around Velio Dunn’s sword was slowly growing in size. The range of his deadly attacks was increasing with each second that passed.

The mist and lightning stayed in the same place around the image-bearing-blade, but a layer of dark oblivion had added itself to the mix.

Velio leaned forward and pounced. His dim sword ghosted back and forth in horrifying arcs that had Randidly retreating just quickly enough to stay out of reach. But then when Velio cut horizontally, Randidly created a burst of gravity and accelerated forward underneath the attack. He twisted around and brought his massive, armored tail smashed into Velio’s waist. The armored ridges of the appendage pulverized the image and cracked the crystalized Aether creeping down his torso.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cosmic Necessity (M) has grown to Level 311!

Velio grunted, but so much of his expression was now fractured into the glittering facets of crystal across his face that Randidly couldn’t tell how much he had truly hurt him. And when the man moved gracefully to bring his sword cutting through Randidly’s position, Randidly grimaced and hopped backward.

Unfortunately, he had underestimated the growth of that destructive aura for the counterattack. Sulfur hissed this time as the horrifying tip of that layer of oblivion growing outward from the sword drew a shallow ditch down Randidly’s chest.

The sword loomed in Randidly’s mind, filling him with the professional wariness of one killer meeting another during business hours. Nether and Aether surged together in Randidly’s chest. The flames of Nether Weight continued to heighten across his skin.

At this point, the crystals completely covered Velio’s expression. He resembled a sort of diamond golem, wreathed in ambient Aether energy as he lowered his shoulders and rushed forward with his sword dragging after him, partially hidden by his bulk.

Randidly huffed out a breath. With Hallucination of the Bloodless Heart and his powerful body, he danced forward by pushing himself to his physical and mental limits. Velio responded with two sharp cuts, aimed to keep Randidly back, but every second saw the quality and quantity of Nether radiating out from Randidly’s body grow more dense and potent. With that ambient Nether providing a growing amount of passive suppression to Velio’s movements, Randidly was unstoppable.

Once more, Randidly leaned and accelerated sharply underneath Velio’s attacks. His physical body and his fickle Chimeric Impunity earned him another shot at taking this fucker down.

Gotcha. Velio was turned to face him, but he was too slow. Randidly’s lower tail whipped outward and warped itself around Velio’s right arm. The horribly dangerous sword trembled and stopped moving. Velio flexed both arms to fight against the binding of Randidly’s tail, but for the moment, the danger was eliminated.

Barring his teeth, Randidly reached out and seized upon Velio’s crystal-covered throat with his metal left hand. His fingers tightened on cool and smooth solidified energy. The limb was severely weakened from blocking Velio’s attack earlier, but for now, it held him in place. Then Randidly raised his right hand and roared out all of his fury. Implacable Price of Exodus. Stigma of the Stillborn Phoenix. Pernicious Fang of the Shade.

The muscles and veins of Randidly’s torso bulged as he brought his fist smashing down on the briefly immobilized Velio. Primordial Nether Juju’s imposing halo spun together with the flames of Nether Weight to form an ominous momentum.

Crack!

The crystallized skin on Velio’s chest shattered, revealing the tattooed skin of his chest beneath. Randidly’s eyes flashed as Velio continued to overpower his tail and drag his sword toward Randidly’s back. But now that he had this chance, he wasn’t willing to easily let it go. He raised his fist again, but this time he pulled deeply from his Nether Core as he gathered himself. More and more Nether spun into his knuckles… until an innocuous grey bubble formed within his hand.

Bearing that grey bubble with his already strained physical body set his bones aching, so Randidly wasted no time in lashing out. His fist fell like the kind of meteor that could wipe out an entire species.

Congratulations! Your Skill Pernicious Fang of the Shade (L) has grown to Level 310!

CRRRAAAAAAAAACKKKKKK!

Velio’s body stiffened as Randidly’s second punch smashed apart both his image and then the gushing flow of liquid Aether that he somehow contained within his body. The Nether bubble that Randidly included within the attack suppressed the formation of physicalized Aether, so he could crumple Velio’s chest cavity and feel the satisfying crack of his bones. Yet before Randidly could thrust his hand into Velio’s chest and rip out his heart, the Nether Bubble shook and popped.

There was just a ridiculous amount of Aether circulating through Velio’s body. The natural energy that he radiated was probably enough to fuel the entirety of Nrorce’s world for a few days.

Randidly grimaced at the failure and then kicked himself off of Velio’s chest. The man swayed, too busy checking the status of his chest to follow after Randidly. The crystalized Aether across his body quickly spread out from his new wound, covering him in an even thicker layer.

His image is just a fraction of what it was when he reached for the Pinnacle… Randidly reflected as he observed Velio and gathered more Nether. But that shard that remains… that sword… is deadly. I thought that I’d still be able to hurt him if the sword was the only way he could use his image… but the amount of Aether he’s channeling through his body is monstrous…

Randidly’s emerald eyes flickered by a stray thought. Is it possible… that he also possesses an Aether Crossroads…?!?

Velio reached up and punched his own jaw, shattering the crystallized Aether there. Then he turned and spat out a mouthful of blood that floated in the weightlessness of space. Afterward, he turned to Randidly and did an approximation of a smile, but the crystals were already crawling across his skin, freezing his expression into a horrifying leer.

Randidly did some quick mental calculations. The more crystalized Aether covered Velio’s body, the more quickly the aura around his sword was spreading out with silent inevitability. By now, it stretched about a meter beyond the blade in every direction. And if Randidly drew deeply on his Nether Core, he suspected he could condense three Nether bubbles. But it would take a while again for his Nether Core to recover afterward.

If he took it, he would have one shot.

Acri hummed and tightened around Randidly’s arm, signaling that it was almost recovered. That was a relief, at least. Without Acri, he didn’t hold out much hope for seriously injuring Velio. And with his Soulseed…

Randidly grimaced as Velio raised his sword, the aura around it blazing and then ominously silent. He could not face that image directly… but this sort of conflict was definitely a victory for Randidly. His physical body and Nether had risen to the tier of capability that he could fight even powerful figures from the Nexus to a draw.

Randidly flickered sideways and let the horrifying aura of the mist-shrouded sword pass him by. Under ideal circumstances… but it’s still a victory. I’m catching up.

Velio twisted and cut sideways with his weapon and Randidly retreated again. Very quickly, he needed to make a decision. Because he could either continue trying to dodge the swirling aura that this crystal man produced and wait for the ten minutes to be up or he could condense those three grey bubbles and hope to inflict a serious blow on Velio before the supercharged image spread out to cover too much space.

Just like Randidly possessed the ability to survive through most things, Velio probably had similar capabilities. That was why he had managed to endure since the Second Cohort; killing him immediately was likely out of the question. But as long as he interfered with the gushing river of Aether within Velio Dunn’s chest…

Randidly’s eyes flashed. I understand how Aether Crossroads work. Somehow, there is a portion of an Aether Crossroads in his chest that has been consumed by the sensation of energy expulsion… but usually, Velio suppresses that with his powerful image. With the remnant of the image he tried to use to reach the Pinnacle.

He might not possess the Control to stem that flow of energy directly, but with my Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae… as long as I can reach into him…

Velio’s assault accelerated. The aura around the sword had stretched to a meter and a half while Randidly’s thoughts had been racing. It was a projected zone of annihilation and before it, Randidly had no choice but to retreat. He needed to make the decision now-

Randidly’s lips twitched. In the end, it was easy. A spear can only advance. I’m here. I’ve finally gotten here…! I’m not going to miss this chance to teach this fuck a lesson.

Then Randidly turned his attention inward. He didn’t currently have confidence in piercing all the way through Velio’s defenses, even with three grey Nether Bubbles, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. Within the core of the Grim Chimera, all those fractions of potential had coalesced into a singular sphere. The surface of that sphere released a golden light while it bulged and shook.

You are me, Randidly said to the Grim Chimera as its features began to warp and melt beneath the radiating energy from that sphere. His image physicalizations flickered in and out of being across his body. We’ve been training and struggling for so long… and its for this chance. This chance to finally take action. To prove that we aren’t insane for believing that we can change the Nexus.

Yggdrasil and the Stillborn Phoenix receded slightly. In the triplicate image activation, Randidly had felt the small note of disharmony from the Grim Chimera, just barely falling behind his other images. One leg of his stool was slightly different in shape than the others. But it was time that changed.

Error! Warning! Mutation detected within your Supremacy of the Grim Chimera (T) Skillset!