The ground groaned as it attempted to contain the powerful and admittedly rough-edged Nether that Randidly fueled through the array. Luckily, the material didn’t collapse and the Nether Ritual successfully activated.

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 234!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Precise Nether Ritual (L) has grown to Level 240!

Visually, it looked like the space around Techetadore was squeezed by an invisible fist, warping the features of his face and body into a cartoonish leer. The Aether reverberations were alarming; even the aftershocks of that image being struck by its own power made Randidly grit his teeth. He had to desperately stabilize his Nether Core for a full second in the face of that blast.

Then, before Randidly’s eyes, Techetadore’s flesh turned grey and flaked away from him. In a split second, only a skeleton was left. In the next moment, even that skeleton crumbles to dust and was buffeted away by the shockwaves from nearby battles.

“He… is dead…?” Raymund was trembling as he pushed himself up in a sitting position and looked at the spot where his brother had been standing.

Randidly frowned and turned back toward the Engraving Guild. Purple-black Revelation energy flared in his eyes. “...no, but I suspect he wanted us to think that. I can sense… something. That same image that was within Techetadore’s body reforming within the Engraving Guild headquarters. With… significance that makes me believe that he took your brother’s body with him. But…”

Pressing his lips together, Randidly shook his head. Raymund seemed at least relieved by that answer and then leaned his head back against the ground. His subordinate’s eyes fluttered shut. As Randidly activated Yggdrasil and aided the recovery of the Foxman, he tried to unravel the problem of Techetadore’s body. How had the body collapsed and then reformed in another place…?

He wasn’t just trying to comfort Raymund, his Grim Intuition and Revelation of the Atramentous Threshold agreed this is what happened. But there were a few problems with this.

As far as Randidly concerned, there were two possibilities. One was that the Techetadore they had seen was just a projection. They hadn’t even been fighting the main body and both Raymund and Helen had been treated like toddlers. The second possibility was that, after being seriously wounded by the Nether Array, Techetadore had somehow managed to tunnel through space and escape back to somewhere safe.

The only problem was that Randidly had not been able to sense evidence of either of these possibilities. Which meant that whatever was living within Techetadore’s body was incredibly strong.

Well, it should be enough to have forced him back for now… but this also means that’s another foe I’ll need to look out for after this is done… Randidly glanced at Vulpine on the ground in front of him, lying with closed eyes and desperately gulping at the air. It truly seems like the Swacc Family considers Raymund a strategic level threat, due to his image stealing capabilities.

Randidly rolled his shoulders and sucked in a deep breath of his own. Yggdrasil’s image wasn’t just helpful for those around him. And break time was over. He might not be at peak mental strength, but he had recovered enough to assist with the attacks from the Engraving Guild.

But as Randidly turned to walk purposefully toward the battlefield, he saw Claudette hurrying toward him, holding up a wounded Helen. Randidly grimaced and spread out his Yggdrasil image. The invigorating energy sank into Helen’s body and immediately he could see her expression ease somewhat. She pushed away Claudette’s arm and sat on the ground.

“You alright?” Randidly asked after propelling himself over to the two women with a powerful step. He had seen Helen being knocked to the side, but he had his hands full stabilizing the space and preparing the trap. Plus, he had trusted that she would be able to endure that blow.

Helen offered him a lopsided smile as she pressed one hand into the ground and held the other to her chest. “I’ll live. That fucker was strong, though.”

“But congratulations, Mister Ghosthound,” Claudette said with a dazzling smile. “We’ve made it.”

Randidly tilted his head to the side and pursed his lips. “What do you mean?”

Claudette gestured, but not to the ongoing conflict between the Engraving Guild and the Pinnacle Seekers. Her finger pointed away from the intermittent clashes in the opposite direction, toward the battlefield where Military High Command was assaulting a Nether Spire. “Looks like they are about to finish up over there.”

As Randidly’s gaze followed her gesture, he saw a man raise an enormous bow that was wreathed in silver fire. He began firing off arrows that were so visually overwhelming that even Randidly had to avoid looking at them directly. The Nether Heralds were forced backward, allowing the bow-wielding man to reach the Nether Spire. He pulled back on his flaming bow and held that position for several seconds, gathering power. Even though Randidly was stabilizing the space and providing visibility, heat distortions around the man drew surreal waves that lapped outward into his surroundings.

Then the man fired the arrow and a massive roar echoed across the entire crater. The blazing arrow zipped forward and began to rapidly eat away at the Nether Spire. Within a few seconds, those careful Nether Rituals carved into the structure were completely invalidated. The material of the base was annihilated.

With a rumbling crash, the third Nether Spire fell. Significance began to pool wildly, leading to a widespread heaviness in the air.

In addition, Randidly noticed that the bow wielder glanced over toward the battlefield between the Engraving Guild and the Pinnacle Seekers. For a split second, his gaze lingered upon the conflict. Then he turned away and Military High Command began to reform their squads and eliminate the remaining Nether Heralds.

“So long as Military High Command finished their Nether Spire first, the Engraving Guild wouldn’t have time to bring their main force against us.” Claudette continued to speak in a cheery tone. “Because when the final Spire falls…”

Randidly nodded in understanding. Now that he understood what she was talking about it, he could sense the shift in the air. The aggressive push with which the Engraving Guild had assaulted them had vanished, leaving in its place a dogged resolve to injure the Pinnacle Seekers as much as possible before the grand array completely collapsed.

Instantly, Randidly’s eyes sharpened and he looked toward the battlefield for Shal. His expression became twisted when he realized that his master had escaped after the intervention of Techetadore. Was that on purpose…? Did the Engraving Guild or the Swacc Family know how much Shal meant to him, and was therefore protecting Shal now to use him against Randidly later?

But on the other hand, Shal was always a capable survivor. Perhaps he simply had fled after Techetadore had broken Helen’s Domain and pursued Raymund.

Tsk’ing to himself for the oversight, Randidly glanced around to get a better understanding of the battlefield. As he did so, he couldn’t help but be impressed by Seeker Thunder Wing… and the Winged Serpent Pinnacle Seeker.

Seeker Thunder Wing was single-handedly suppressing the three most powerful combatants from the Engraving Guild. It was only due to his constant efforts that the Engraving Guild hadn’t been able to gain much ground toward where Randidly had based his continuing Nether Ritual. Meanwhile, the Winged Serpent had been steadily guiding his people’s battle against the frantic Nether Heralds toward the flank of the Engraving Guild battle.

As they neared, some of the furious Nether Heralds began to attack the Engraving Guild members simply due to proximity, easing the pressure that the Pinnacle Seekers were under. Very quickly, the person in charge of their opponents made a snap decision: the Engraving Guild began to retreat.

Without the distractions, Seeker Thunder Wing and Ozaer assisted the Winged Serpent against the Nether forces. Seeing them up close, Randidly was chilled by the power the four main Nether Heralds demonstrated. Each of their attacks shattered the ground and caused even the powerful Pinnacle Seekers’ images to falter.

Watching that gave him an epiphany: Randidly’s ability to manipulate and understand both Aether and Nether were probably the only reasons that he had the qualifications to remain on this battlefield. In terms of power… he was still coming up a little short.

But at the same time, he knew that his surviving here demonstrated how far he had come, even since he arrived in the Nexus.

“Honorary Citizenship Coin for your thoughts?” Claudette said, startling Randidly out of his observations.

He gave Claudette a sidelong glance. Then he shook his head. “...just thinking about how dangerous this place is. By the way, I have to ask: why are you so friendly toward me? You have a whole entourage of people wanting your attention. But you just seem to be simply acquiescing to their desire to talk to you. And with me, you have been seeking me out.”

“Perhaps I’ve fallen for your charms. Narthalla will be livid.” Claudette batted her eyes playfully at Randidly. Sitting on the ground next to them, Helen couldn’t stifle her cackle.

Only after Randidly scratched behind his ear and remained silent did Claudette sigh. “Well, I’ll put it this way. When people want to talk with me, no matter what I do or how I act, they don’t really want to talk with me at all, do they? I’m a tool, a means, to whatever goal they currently have. I’m a path to reach my father. That’s what those idiots are seeking: they don’t even see me as a real person. And you… well, frankly you want to ignore me. Don’t bother to deny it. I can tell.”

“Honestly, he probably wouldn’t have denied it,” Helen was well and truly rolling on a spurt of giggles now, to the point that she was clearly aggravating her wounds. Randidly gave her an exasperated look and fed more healing energy through her body.

“...ha. Perhaps that’s true.” Claudette’s smile faded somewhat. Then she shrugged. “Rigid and stubborn individuals can be a pain in the ass. And they can be extremely insensitive. But that same lack of sensitivity can be a relief, you know? It’s nice to know that no matter how I act, you won’t change your behavior.”

“You…” Randidly’s mouth twitched. “Was that… supposed to be a compliment?”

“Basically,” Claudette chuckled. Then her expression grew more serious and she pointed toward the Engraving Guild. “Look. It’s about time we headed back to join up with the Frost Matriarch.”

The main portion of the Engraving Guild forces had moved forward and ripped out the anchors for their Nether Spire. It didn’t dramatically collapse like the others, but Randidly could sense that the core Nether Array had been butchered; all four of the Nether Spires had fallen.

At the bottom of the crater, the shroud of darkness began to fully fade away. A massive edifice constructed of millions of small hexahedrons towered above them. The Nether density of the flows within it was inscrutable, even to Randidly. But one thing was clear.

The final obstruction had been removed. Now all that was left was to face the Nether King.