Randidly bit his lip as he observed Fatia Cerulean unleash the full force of his image. His blows were uncannily sharp and violent, distorting the air and then rending it. The sculpted image riding in his body erupted with the force of a tsunami. The physical movements were almost insultingly unrefined, yet each one forced Nether King Bleak Sky backward.

Honestly, Randidly reflected as he stared down at the impressive fighting in front of him, Standing on the sidelines and watching isn’t nearly as boring as I anticipated. I might not get the chance to test out my theories, but watching battles like this definitely fill me with inspiration. Just the way he utilizes his emotion to convey raw power…

His entire focus narrowed to the two domineering individuals clashing in front of the gates of Malloon. Bleak Sky only maintained the same stable amount of Nether power he utilized against Randidly, despite the massive flow of Nether through his body, so Randidly knew this wasn’t the Nether King’s limit. The being stalled for time, and quite effectively.

Even so, this wasn’t Fatia Cerulean’s limit either. Both had a dozen cards left up their sleeves. Bleak Sky began tainting the environment with a Nether-fueled mist and Cerulean just ripped his way forward to strike at the Nether King. Once the Nether became a heavy obscurement, Bleak Sky remarked that they could cease fighting now and simply wait for the Nether Kings he gathered to finish their Nether Ritual.

Obviously, Cerulean bared his fangs and began fighting with more intention to kill. His bloodlust became palpable. The internal image version of him practically salivated at the prospect. Yet even that ferocity couldn’t compare to his shock when Bleak Sky’s energy began to abruptly circulate in a very structured pattern, not like Nether energy at all. The pattern amplified and spread a certain sort of order through the Nether, which latched onto everything else and dragged it down with it.

The mist fell away, the ground, air, and sky stilling into a hollow facsimile of reality. The horrifying weight of the change settled around him, too, across the battlefield. A Nether King wielded a Domain on an order of magnitude that Randidly couldn’t believe. And finally, with the heavy waves of Nether gone, Randidly looked with interest toward the spot where the Nether Kings were creating their great Nether Ritual. Unfortunately, a completely unexpected variable threw him so much he simply blinked.

He blinked again. The blip didn’t vanish.

One of his skyislands, the expensive one with the ornate shopping plaza and the Hobfootie stadium, had used the cover of the Nether fog to drift much, much closer to where the Nether Kings were located. It had done this without his knowledge or approval. Counter to the prodding he had given the levitation Engravings controlling the island.

So many of his subordinates were located on that skyisland. Even with the brace- well, choker Randidly had given Devick, a Nether King would annihilate her without breaking a sweat.

His body blurred, torn somewhere between his heart-dropping worry and frustration. The air around his starting position exploded as he streaked across the sky. The manifestation of Bleak Sky’s Domain grabbed at him to try and slow Randidly down and restrict his usage of both Aether and Nether, but his physical body shouldered those burdens and allowed him to move freely.

When he exploded in the air above the skyisland to brake, he took a deep breath through his nose and ascertained the entire situation on the skyisland. Immediately, he located a rather hasty additional Engraving that had been carved within the sewers within the belly of the Skyisland. These acted as thrusters which had steadily pushed the skyisland in a single direction, while he was distracted by the heavy Nether in the air and the fighting between the Nether King and Cerulean.

Immediately, Randidly’s eyes narrowed. Because along with the details, he also saw the source. The Engravings hadn’t been done with his hand, but every aspect of this had the scent of Swacc’s irritating smugness all over it. Randidly’s mind spun. The wood? Again, his powerful senses combed through the donated materials, but-

Ah, Randidly’s expression darkened as he discovered a few ‘rats’ clustered together in the corner of his skyisland. Not the wood, the workmen hired to construct the gazebos. He probably paid off a few of the best craftsmen in the city, knowing that the Patron of the Deep would try and make something of the materials. Once they were allowed onto the skyisland with their apprentices and assistants, he just needed a few individuals who knew how to Engrave.

The working is blunt, but that’s why I didn’t notice it. It doesn’t interfere with the thrust my skyisland directly, just acts to subvert it. Fuck, Swacc…!

A massive blast of force shook the ground as Cerulean stopped holding back and clashed against Bleak Sky’s Domain in earnest. However, a ridiculous amount of Nether had been used to ground the working that stilled the environment around Malloon; even the raptor construct wouldn’t be able to overcome it quickly. If he could shake it at all. Meanwhile, Randidly released a concentrated pulse of Mana that scoured the extra Engravings off the island. A wrathful part of him wanted to seize the culprits and simply toss them off the edge of the skyisland to tumble to their deaths, but he restrained himself.

They weren’t the real enemy here. Just a convenient way to quench his fury.

Already the skyisland’s vector had gone back to moving away from the battlefield, but Randidly’s heart sunk. Another massive impact hummed against his skin. But his eyes went to the gathered other Nether Kings. While three maintained the massive Nether Ritual still being built, one rushed to intercept Randidly and his skyisland. His eyes glittered and he pursed his lips. I made a mistake moving to the skyisland so rapidly.

Did Swacc predict this, trying to draw me into the confrontation…? Should have fucking killed him when I had the chance, and damn the consequences.

Next time, I won’t make this mistake. The memory will do its best to force its way back to the original track, no matter what I do.

The approaching Nether King looked like a sinuous, eastern dragon with brilliant emerald scales. Along the edges, the color faded to a warm brown, giving it a very natural appearance. If they met in other circumstances, Randidly suspected he would have a lot of affinity for this green dragon overflowing with life.

As it was, it opened its mouth and released a cutting blast of emerald energy. No warning, no banter, no conversation, just aggression. The beginning of the beam shot toward Randidly, but then it scythed downward to completely bisect the skyisland in half.

A little under twenty thousand people on the island right now, Randidly’s senses informed him.

Gritting his teeth, Randidly moved his body to block the attack. His Nether Core swirled and gathered up a surging wave of momentum, but that slammed into the impediment of Bleak Sky’s strange Domain. Most of the energy in Randidly’s body trembled and ebbed. So when he thrust himself before the Nether King’s breath attack, he relied mostly on his body to endure the beam.

Randidly hissed in pain as the attack slashed across his chest. As the beam fell downward, he shot after it and used Sulfur to block and keep the skyisland from being shredded. The arm hummed in its strange mixture of pain and pleasure at the energy absorbed, leaving Randidly feeling a bit of pity toward the pet he had raised to be a masochist.

When the Nether King finally closed his mouth, a steaming and burned Randidly spoke. “Nether King, I don’t wish to interfere in your fight. I’ll move my island away and allow you to continue about your business.”

“Denied,” The green dragon possessed a surprisingly deep voice that resonate in Randidly’s chest.

Furrowing his brow, Randidly asked. “Why?”

“Is any justification but the existence of bugs necessary to begin eradicating them?” The dragon’s lips twisted in an eerie resemblance of a cruel smile. “You, known as the Hungry Eyes, have become a traitor to your race. Do not think your transgression is unknown within Wyndaos. Had not the Arbiter urged patience, you would have already been dragged back to the holy city and executed.”

The Nether Arbiter, the being that held the Phaea for all the Nether Kings, knows about me? Randidly felt a flash of surprise. But then those thoughts were wiped away as the dragon stretched out the four small arms attached to his sinuous body and generated a half dozen brown fireballs around each limb. Nether rapidly began to shift and flow in a complex pattern around the Nether King, demonstrating very clearly it didn’t seem to be adversely affected by Bleak Sky’s Domain.

However, the attack quickly accumulated even more dangerous momentum. The Nether King barred its teeth while Randidly struggled to get his own patterns in order. “Go peacefully into the next life, so you might learn to bring honor to your retainers. Authority: Wither.”

For a brief moment, Randidly saw the outline of a massive tree within the Nether patterns this being generated so deftly. Definitely, the two of them had come from similar sources. He utilized a knack he developed fighting against Neveah in the energy games, taking a mental snapshot so he could unpack and reengineer the pattern later. But then the tree began to melt and swirl together, the patterns becoming degenerative and rotten. Auras of consumption and death hummed out from the brown fireballs, while a small tongue of black flame emerged in their cores.

The air around these projectiles began to corrode. Strange, black discharge condensed as the energy destabilized the molecular structure around it.

With a gesture, the dragon tossed the dozen fireballs toward Randidly. He flexed his fingers, feeling the buzz of more impacts from the distant battle smacking against his back, even though he was quite the distance from where Cerulean and Bleak Sky fought. Almost instinctively, he began gathering up what little pinches of kinetic force he could maintain through the Desolate Horizon Domain.

Meanwhile, he gathered his images to his body, manifesting the physicalizations. His efforts probably helped Cerulean against the Desolate Horizon Domain, but he couldn’t afford to care right now. He brought more and more of the pressure onto his shoulders. His body warned, his heart pounding. He barred his teeth. In the face of these sucking, destructive bursts of energy, Randidly mobilized his own Nether Core. The Fourth Authority, Randidly thought to himself. “Animation Nova.”

The dragon attempted to wither and Randidly filled the air with life, prying open the Domain with his body and moving into the crack. Even so, the effect was somewhat reduced by the presence of Desolate Horizon, but the inheritance he had received from the Origin Beasts could not be taken lightly. A halo of pure life radiated out from Randidly’s body, making him seem like a holy prophet. Those dangerous Witherballs shot closer. The first few crashed against Randidly’s aura and began to eat their way forward, destabilizing even the pure life he generated.

However, Randidly’s green eyes shone with an inner brilliance. His Nether Core might be currently restricted, but he felt his Fourth Authority keening its resistance with more and more volume. The radiated energy around his body grew denser and more stubborn. It seemed to whisper that this sort of foe was exactly what it had been born to fight against. Where the world sought generation and death, the Animation Nova would be born to protect and nurture the seeds of life.

The memory shuddered, unable to withstand the rapidly unfolding power of Animation Nova; even Randidly felt shocked by the instinctual vehemence of its response. As more and more of the Witherballs slammed against the energy he projected, they began to shrink and expend themselves.

Yet opposite Randidly, the emerald dragon Nether King did not simply allow him to weather this storm. With a howling growl, it conjured more brown Witherballs. “Authority: Wither! For how long can your hunger persist, traitor?!”

“Long enough,” Randidly whispered. The light from his eyes continued to increase as Animation Nova illuminated the surroundings. Beneath him, he navigated the skyisland away, burning up some of his Engravings to move it quickly enough to avoid this waterfall of smoldering hazel destruction.