Like a massive tree with an ax driven partially into the trunk, a portion of the Nether Ritual splintered and ruptured underneath the goblin’s Skill. Once the flaw became a part of the body, the weakness made some sort of collapse inevitable.

It was one thing to witness such a massive working being built as a road to the sky. The sheer amount of energy, both the defensive parts and the whole functional flows, defied imagination. It was altogether another to watch the materials come tumbling down in a veritable landslide. A wall of darkness rumbled down, obscuring all else, ripping through the intervening clouds and demolishing every other influence.

The Nether in sheets as a bleak, annihilating rain.

Randidly watched its approach solemnly. Even more intimidating was the fact this was only a fraction of the Nether gathered to create the Nether RItual now tumbled downward in an inky, billowing sprawl. Yet Randidly could see the land would be stained by this for decades to come.

Intermittent twitches lingered in the memory, keeping Randidly from unleashing the full force of his Nether Core in response to the sudden rush of energy. The darkness leaked out in every direction, devouring the sky. He especially wanted to remain cautious since he would soon utilize his Nether Authorities and strain the memory foundation even further. His Nether Core accelerated, toeing the line between powering up and respecting the balance. He plucked up waves of energy to create friendly patterns, lightening the load even before it arrived. Otherwise, he would have no chance of completely preventing any interference in Sulfur’s transformation.

Randidly felt himself raising his hands in the face of the falling darkness, only to belatedly realize he currently only had his right arm. He hissed in annoyance and considered perhaps creating a scrawled limb to serve as a stand-in for a time, but tossed that idea to the side. Not only would it take time he didn’t have, but the hand only served as a focus for his attention. In the end, it was a crutch. He could handle this on his own.

Randidly glanced to the left; his skyislands would be hit by the periphery of this collapse, but the energy wouldn’t be inherently dangerous on its own. Weaker individuals would have difficulty breathing, but their bodies should adjust rather quickly to the increased Nether content. Few had the sensitivities of the current Sulfur.

He could focus his entirety on this task. Which he needed to do because he sensed this Nether had achieved a density that filled him with admiration. He wondered how long the Nether Kings had toiled to create this vicious flood, to briefly channel Pine’s power.

Right before the flood of Nether crashed into his body, his eyes pierced through the waves of Nether and saw the beginnings of an altogether different threat. Cerulean, who overcame the condensed Nether blast from Bleak Sky almost instantly with no ill-effects, shot toward the base of the Nether Ritual. One of the final three Nether Kings peeled away from the Nether Ritual and moved to meet him. Even the dragon Nether King, which had apparently recovered in the past few minutes, drifted up out of the ground and launched attacks to keep Cerulean at bay.

Underneath the hanging curtain of the hemorrhaging Nether, the conflict over Malloon neared its climax. Randidly’s heartbeat quickened.

Cerulean’s powerful, predatory image smashed into the defenses of the Nether King and created dense shockwaves, both of kinetic force and image. Randidly’s eyes twitched as those waves mixed freely through the chaotic flow of Nether. Even for his mind, too many sources mixed to create an unpredictable mass of energy vectors. Seriously, all those energies aren’t even canceling each other out?!? Sulfur, you have literally the WORST timing…

Randidly cracked the knuckles on his right hand for good luck. Then the wave of force arrived and he lost himself in the constant rush of generating eddies, repurposing flow, gathering strength, crushing concentrated gushes of energy, absorbing kinetic energy, drawing a swirling maelstrom around his body, and cradling Sulfur safely in the eye of the storm.

More and more cutting blasts of energy required his attention. His skin hissed and burned; the dense Nether was just as dangerous as he had feared. At the start he chained his responses together, but the short interval between new threats meant he couldn’t afford that luxury. Within only a few seconds, he moved entirely on instinct, relying more and more on his Skills and his powerful Stats to give him an edge.

His mind hummed, setting down the truth of his own exhaustion because he did not dare fail here. Before this test, he marshaled his full capabilities. He had crowned himself the Moirae of Ripples, a Pinnacle, imageless Skillset for wading into these situations with his head held high. Now it was time to earn that title with sweat and grit.

A huge onslaught of Nether rushed at him from the side. Reverberations of a dispersed Nether King attack echoed around and struck at him from behind. A jagged shard of Cerulean’s Predation tumbled through the waves of Nether, hiding in the shadow of the more plentiful energy. The newly appeared Nether King manifested its authority and the goblin woman utilized another image empowered Skill to hamstring his attempt.

Broken rays of energy and image mixed with the onslaught, making Randidly’s efforts even more perilous.

Congratulations! Your Skill Unpredictable Eddy (L) has grown to Level 835!

Congratulations! Your Skill Philosophy Within the Boundless Deluge (M) has grown to Level 933!

Randidly’s eyes glittered as he traced the path of least resistance for his storm, deflecting the opposition’s energy where he could and breaking it where he needed to. His manipulations were swift and harsh, the surging waves of Nether being slowly converted by the waves of Nether Weight emerging from his body.

As soon as his instincts detected a Path, he advanced. The Nether continued to burn even his body when it splashed against him, burning holes in his Egg’s Illusory Plume. His limbs had begun to tremble from the strain, but he could not falter now.

Not with Sulfur behind him, innocent and vulnerable.

His right hand traced out esoteric patterns. Randidly wrung out every drop of insight into Nether he possessed. Yet he had to do more than that. The chaotic mass of energy sometimes coexisted, but sometimes Aether and Nether reacted to each other and created even more complicated dangers.

His emerald eyes were wide. Yet purple-black energy swirled in his pupils. He peered past the Atramentous Threshold, glimpsing the sea of possibilities. He didn’t attempt to interpret them directly, he simply allowed them to press against his mind. He existed simultaneously in multiple timelines, guiding himself forward. He coasted on the waves of force, manipulating the echoes, guiding the broken remnants.

Congratulations! Your Skill Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold (T) has grown to Level 942!

Congratulations! Your Skill Motif of the Hungry Deep (P) has grown to Level 1008!

All became energy and motion. The hum of his brain blurred away shape. The great machinery of creation operated in front of Randidly Ghosthound without subterfuge. In its grand motion, he saw a pattern. He saw the interactions and side effects. Without rest, his right arm continued to swing back and forth, drawing small adjustments to keep his storm afloat. His understanding deepened.

Occasionally, he felt a moment of absolute insight. As though he could step to the side, somehow, and all the chaos would fall into place. Yet he couldn’t pause and examine the sensation. His right hand ached. He could only keep fighting.

Congratulations! Your Skillset the Moirae of Ripples (P) is evolving!

Recalculating… determining influences…

Error! Unable to evolve the Skillset beyond the Pinnacle Rarity! Recalculating…

Congratulations! Your Skill Philosophy Within the Boundless Deluge (M) has grown to Level 934!

Warning! If your energy is insufficient, the following process will result in sickness and death. The amount of energy required is extremely high. Please see-

The Pantheon has intervened… interpreting energy signs… deducing meaning… formulating easy explanations… estimating risks…

The notifications almost became a distraction as Randidly still had to deal with the flood of overlapping energy waves. He bit his lip to prevent himself from being distracted and moved smoothly to maintain his defensive perimeter. He missed a small blast of Nether and stepped in front of it, taking the brunt with his left thigh. Numbness spread through his limb, but he didn’t stop. With wit and preparation, energy seemed to disperse directly in front of him and Sulfur, maintaining the status quo even as the fight between Cerulean and the Nether King intensified.

Yet the notifications remained insistent, almost irking them with the flood of ambiguous text.

Warning! While under the purview of the System, it is not recommended to leave the Rarity scale. Rarity follows the demarcation of well-trodden pathways to reach the Pinnacle. It has been carefully considered and researched. To have a Skill labeled at a Pinnacle Rarity is a huge compliment from the System; it indicates there are elements paving the way to eventually reach the edge of possibility. However, as always with the Pinnacle, the number of Paths upward are infinite.

All one has to do is walk and the world will open before them. Only the destination is in doubt, not the worth of the journey.

Through the humming of the violent Nether, Randidly sensed the action happening in the core area. Cerulean used a raw blast of force to charge past the two defending Nether Kings and approached the base of the Nether Ritual. He raised his arm and activated a powerful Skill, his image piercing through the screen of dense Nether. Randidly’s eyes flashed. His right hand curled into a rigid claw and he lashed forward. A sharp blast of Cerluean’s predatory image aimed Randidly from below, but he cracked it into pieces.

Exhaustion settled across his shoulders, but to Randidly, it was the embrace of an old friend. He continued to move.

Congratulations! Your Skill Dragon Queen’s Sinister Tongue (T) has grown to Level 818!

Recalculating…

It is possible to create a new Rarity! However, some of the elements involved in approaching the Pinnacle will be adjusted and perhaps lost during the transition. It is impossible to determine if increased Rarities will result in increased performance.

If Rarity evolution is chosen, the result will vary based upon-

Recalculating…

Randidly blurred sideways, cutting his way out of the storm around him and Sulfur. As his focus narrowed, he could no longer maintain his energy storm. It had become a liability. His Soulseed/arm floated behind him, ferried out of the worst of it. A massive explosion cracked the ground and sky as Cerulean inflicted more damage on the Nether Ritual. The process of its completion slowed and another Nether King left to fight against the raptor construct, leaving only a single Nether King operating the grand pillar of Nether.

Randidly’s eyes flickered. His instincts whispered to him, guiding his path forward. Possibilities and information rushed through him so quickly he couldn’t even acknowledge them. Even with his extremely high Stats, he pushed himself to the limit coping with the chaotic surges of energy. His images each manifested only partially, supporting his mental function, while his body moved robotically to create the patterns he needed.

The numbness had spread from his left leg to almost his entire left side. Yet his body continued to obey his instincts, so it wasn’t much of a problem.

He landed lightly on the ground, turning his gaze upward. With the ground beneath him, the avenues energy could use to taint Sulfur was greatly reduced. He pointed and his swirling storm of force whooshed down to surround his body. He broke through the last few waves of Nether; one of the Nether Kings apparently found a way to cut off the portion the goblin had wounded.

It is impossible to guess what a new Rarity will bring. However, the Pantheon will endeavor to shape it to the best of its abilities and certainly the result will be based on the achievements of Randidly Ghosthound. Compatibility with you will be incredibly high.

Do you wish to attempt to continue with the evolution of the Moirae of Ripples Skillset?

Randidly’s body was slick with sweat. His chest trembled from the wounds endured so far and the effort it took to withstand the blasts. He assumed the rest of his body trembled as well, but it had all become numb. He barred his teeth up at the sky, where Cerulean manifested his violent spear and managed to land a vicious blow on the emerald dragon that knocked it out of the fight, likely permanently.

He was so close. He could look up and see them. And he could definitely survive their attacks. But more than that… He needed to take a step forward.

Evolve, the Grey Creature whispered. Randidly agreed.

Congratulations! Your Skillset the Moirae of Ripples (P) is evolving!