Lady Iellaya and her ugly brown scaled serpent with raven wings gradually hunted down and eliminated the remaining Nether Gatekeepers on the left flank, resulting in the entire side getting a sizeable break to regroup. In the wake of that slaughter, it was comically easy for her to spread her wings and simply smother the Nether Beasts remaining.

The common soldiers could breathe a sigh of relief.

Opposite the battlefield, another one of the Aether camps fell. The two isolated camps dropped to one and none of the other forces on the flank could spare anything to help that lone remaining camp hold out. Soldiers collapsed before they were truly dead underneath the weight of the army surging toward them and were trampled until they stopped breathing. A huge mass of Nether Beasts was sweeping around to the supply track, using it to bring an even larger force to bear on the remaining camps. They tightened like a vice, hoping to crack the unfortunate camp that was now holding the ‘flank’.

Kailm and Nadia methodically pushed the Nether Gatekeepers attacking the Aether headquarters back, allowing large contingents of Lord Miln’s forces wearing violet armor to gather in neat ranks.

Directly opposite Lord Miln, the figure of the Nether King slowly stirred. Blue veins in the Great Rift began to twist and gather, ponderously constructing the grandest array that Randidly had ever seen from the Nether forces. In terms of rituals, it was on another scale altogether from apparatus they used to bring out Nether Gatekeepers. The entire darkness of the Great Rift opposite them seemed to be filled with the squirming lines of those veins, always stretching outward, always connecting and weaving.

Those phosphorus flair-like eyes continued to burn, carefully weighing the proceedings. They radiated hate and determination. They made no secret of their intention to slaughter everything they currently surveyed.

Humming to himself, Randidly continued to work. The only other foreign distraction that entered into his notice was the fact that the grand formation that covered the battlefield was slowly shifting. No longer was it in its defensive phase: it had transitioned back into a gathering situation. Rapidly, Randidly could feel the formation trying its best to create a fake Nether core in his Nether-dense body.

Probably means Lord Miln will move soon. Randidly spared a glance for the rocky outcropping. Yet then the formation changed again after sitting in the gathering phase for a short time. This shift was to something that was… obviously more offensive in nature.

Shaking his head, Randidly did his best to ignore the posturing of the two Supreme Commanders. His hands guided flame to grow tall and hot. Where his hands could only handle one thing, his Skills covered the rest. His Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil steadily ground up the bones of powerful monsters that he had extra from his work on Kharon. This was mixed with some of the raw ore that Randidly had remaining. For good measure, Randidly liberally mixed his blood into the resulting concoction.

What Vualla wanted most of all was weight, so Randidly didn’t worry too much about the ratios of materials. All that mattered was that the final product was evenly mixed. He even added some of the strange grey putty that resulted from Aether and Nether combining chaotically. It wasn’t a particularly strong material, but it was resilient. And also it seemed to possess a steady mass while having variable volume.

Because obviously who can understand energy using the laws of physics… Randidly thought with amusement. As if to underline the ridiculousness of his current scenario, Randidly also earned a Skill Level in Spriggit’s Tinkering.

The mixing was a process that Randidly was intimately familiar with. Luckily Authority of the Burning Heart still possessed the same deft gravity manipulation aspect that Influence of the Molten Core possessed, allowing Randidly to thoroughly heat and mix the different inputs without requiring all the complicated equipment that he had left on Earth. He could simply sit next to the bemused Vualla and whip up an alloy.

While Randidly was meticulously separating the bits of putty within the mixture, Abiodun walked over and surveyed the working with suspicious eyes. Randidly had erected a small heat flume by heaping dirt up with roots, so it was a pulsing silvery orb hovering over an emerald and orange flame inside of a dirt steeple. The surface of the metal ball pulsed and rippled as Randidly continued to mix the alloy evenly.

Abiodun’s gaze slid sideways to Vualla. She watched him blandly, her expression not even twitching underneath the weight of Abiodun’s disapproval. Her delicate blue eyebrows and his heavy stone brow were certainly an interesting juxtaposition.

Randidly coughed lightly to hide a grin.

Harrumphing, Abiodun shook his head and turned away from his staring contest. “You have fifteen minutes. Don’t be late.”

With a few blinks, Randidly refocused on his work. It only took him a few minutes to finish up the mixing, then Randidly proceeded to the most difficult part: the hammering.

After all, Randidly had mixed quite a bit of the strange new metal he was creating. More than enough to make four gauntlets. In order to reach the weight that Vualla seemed to desire, he would need to smash these metals down to a more dense and refined state. As he considered how best to do the refining, Randidly used Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil to examine the shape and construction of Vualla’s previous gauntlets.

The meticulousness of the gauntlet’s construction was something that struck Randidly immediately, even though he had nowhere near the forging experience that someone like Sam possessed. But he certainly understood the importance of balance. And manipulating the gauntlets with his roots, it immediately became clear that the gauntlet was not just extremely heavy at the tip; a lot of the weight was distributed through the wide cuffs.

It was obviously impossible for Randidly to duplicate such a perfectly created balance in a short amount of time. No matter his ability to create metals, this was a matter that would require a master. But certainly, Randidly could carefully examine the construction of the gauntlet to see where the plates of metal were layered to achieve an effect that would hopefully be similar enough.

“I can’t make the fingers work in this short a time,” Randidly admitted as he began forming a dozen ingots of his new metal out of the floating blob. At the same time, he began to use some of his older bloodsteel to form an anvil for the tempering. Below the ground, Randidly created a network of roots that would distribute the force of his blows.

After all, this ground was already so cracked and destabilized from the conflict between Nether and Aether. Without some preparation, it would be impossible to find a location stable enough to allow Randidly to forge these heavy gauntlets.

Vualla shrugged. “As long as I can punch, that’s enough. For now, I suppose I’m completely confined to just that.”

Kinda admire how direct she is... Randidly glanced at the azure-haired woman in front of him, then back down to his work. Above the bloodsteel anvil, Randidly raised his heavy Sulfur arm and began to physically smash the ingots into shape.

Clang!

Clang!

Randidly couldn’t resist chuckling as he felt Sulfur’s obvious relish. Being waved around and slammed against solid objects. You aren’t above stealing even my kinetic energy, huh…?

Clang!

Clang!

Five minutes became ten, and then twelve. Randidly brought his fist down with greater and greater care, gently curving pieces of the new metal into elongated plates. Then he smashed them further, condensing them down into smaller forms that would fit into the gauntlet. The final color of this metal ended up being a light grey, something shimmery and sparkly.

Randidly ignored the color and continued to work. At the same time, he melted down more bloodsteel and created a frame for the gauntlet based on his continued investigation of Vualla’s original equipment. Piece by piece, the gauntlet came together.

At fourteen minutes, Randidly began to slip the heavy pieces of metal into the framework, creating a gauntlet. Certainly, in terms of weight, Randidly had accomplished his goal. The new gauntlet was probably three times as heavy as the prior gauntlets. Yet Randidly couldn’t help but wince as he tested the balance and felt how much of the weight distributed to the tip of the fist.

Yet as Randidly finished the assembly, there was a notification that flashed in front of him.

Congratulations! Your Skill Touch of the Ghosthound has activated! This piece of equipment has gained 10% of a single one of your Stat! The piece of equipment has gained +126 Control!

“It’s perfect,” Vualla said with obvious satisfaction as she plucked the silvery gauntlet from Randidly’s hands and slipped her hand into one of the prepared holes. Because it used the same measurements from her prior equipment, her hand fit perfect. She then produced straps of leather and began to toy with the bindings. Randidly rolled his eyes; she had taken the gauntlet before he could even look at its description.

But he truly had to move quickly to make it back over to see Abiodun. So Randidly simply leaned forward and pressed his lips against Vualla’s cheek. Then he pulled back and said. “Be care-”

When he met Vualla’s gaze, her eyes were just as bright and azure as he remembered that day when he had met her and she was crying. It was like a powerful sun finally burned through the cloud cover, its rays reaching down to the ground. Her eyes were so warm it was a shock to feel it on his skin. And before he could react, she took a step toward Randidly and kissed him full on the lips.

They held that for a moment, and then Vualla stepped back. “No, Randidly, you need to be careful. She-”

Then Vualla pressed her eyes shut and shook her head. Tilting his head to the side, Randidly asked, “She?”

“...Lady Iellaya,” Vualla finally said with a sigh.

Randidly pressed his lips together. Even without her continuing, Randidly believed he understood what she was trying to say. “I’ve noticed. I’m watching it. With as much attention as I can spare.”

Vualla grinned at him. “Don’t worry, I won’t let you die.”

“It would be bad form if such a dependable armorer died on you,” Randidly joked. Vualla nodded very seriously and he couldn’t help but laugh. Then Randidly hurried back toward Abiodun.