The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

“How did you know I was here?” Randidly asked quietly. Although the Web had narrowed somewhat as Randidly descended, the space was still massive. His words echoed off the walls.

Velio Dunn wagged a finger at him with his other hand on his hip. “Shush. Why must you question the details of our meeting? It was ordained by fate. To always dig at the trivialities of existence is to live drowning in a sea of grey inanities. You completely miss the revelries of existing! Is that the way you want to live, Mr. Ghosthound?”

Randidly pressed his lips into a thin line. The reason he had decided to come to the Web was that the Stillborn Phoenix had been nagging at him lately and Vualla had casually offered the fact she was curious. He had presumed the field trip to be safe for two reasons. First, his experiments with truly powerful individuals indicated that no one could sense the activation of his Philosopher’s Key. Which didn’t mean that no one would have the ability to sense it, but that it was a relatively stealthy method of transportation. He was confident in its secrecy.

Which was why I want to know how, Randidly thought with a frown. Were you waiting for me… or can you track my movements…?

Second, Randidly had confirmed Edraine to be in her dwelling, on standby should an unfortunate accident occur. He had assumed that he would be able to send her a message when any sort of danger appeared. He didn’t expect Velio Dunn to arrive with some sort of array to cut off his ability to send messages. She had warned him to take care with the depths of the Web, but this...

Randidly’s gaze shifted from Velio and to the darkness behind the man. They were using the same array that suppressed messaging to hide their presence, but Grim Intuition was much more exacting than Perception; there were two figures skulking behind Velio. Based on the sophistication of the array… either they were simply geniuses when it came to Engraving, or this was a trap they laid here for him.

That was almost the more intimidating option. They had prepared for this.

“Bah, yes, I must admit that I did not come alone… but they have assured me that the array would not suppress your combat abilities at all.” Velio Dunn shrugged. Then, to Randidly’s surprise, he pouted like a toddler. “What was I supposed to do? You refused to finish our duel when I visited you. I was so exhilarated to meet someone who thrilled me with just a look...… and then you fled and hid. Do you know how that made me feel?”

Randidly’s gaze turned heavy. He was already tired of Velio’s ridiculous and self-absorbed way of framing their interactions. He released a breath; his heartbeat was steady even as his muscles tensed in the savored moments of preparations. His previously frantic mind had already settled upon the most likely way that this confrontation would end, but that Path was fraught with difficulty. So despite his distaste, Randidly decided to stall for time, in case Edraine could notice something was wrong and would arrive to assist, as had happened with Octavius.

Outwardly, Randidly smiled and pointed to his nonexistent left arm. “I haven’t yet recovered from our previous fight; perhaps we could push it back a few decades?”

Velio Dunn shook his head. The cool blue glow that was coming from his rune-covered sword was gradually spreading out to illuminate the Web. This assassin was preparing as well, with much more frightful results. “Relying on external help for power will only bring you grief, Mr. Ghosthound. I was doing you a favor; that metal limb was a length of chain wrapped around your potential. Honestly, you should be thanking me.”

Randidly’s smile faded. Although his heartbeat increased in frequency, he was still relatively calm. Because after listening to Velio’s last response, he began to realize something. He took a more exacting look at Velio. The muscular man continued to grin down at him, but the expression didn’t reach his eyes. In those delicate orbs, there was only a chilling intent to kill Randidly. The tattoos along the man’s arms seemed alive, undulating in the shadows.

Anticipation. Randidly thought. He’s savoring this.

“You are playing coy,” Randidly said, surprised at the realization. “You know just how unreasonable you are being. Do you get off on watching your victims think that they have a chance of talking you out of the duel…? Accidental victims my ass. Those eyes of yours… you love the sight of blood.”

Velio Dunn froze for a half-second. Then his expression shifted. The corners of his eyes crinkled and he released a booming laugh. “Ha! Hahahaha! Mr. Ghosthound, would you believe me when I say that the first time I saw you that I knew you were special? Heh. In fifteen hundred years… It’s probably been fifteen hundred years since I’ve been called out like that. If it wasn’t for the fact you reminded me of someone I hate… I might even let you live after I shatter your image. But… that resemblance dooms you.”

Velio reached up for his sword. Randidly watched the movement. The light from Velio’s sword began to surge. The muscles of Velio’s arm bulged. Randidly just pressed his lips together and watched. His images spiraled together in his chest, preparing for his defensive effort.

But as Velio seized the hilt of his sword, he paused as he was staring intently down at Randidly. The man reached up and scratched his cheek, as though embarrassed. “Umm… aren’t you going to do anything? This should be where you say something cliche like ‘if you think I’m the same me that you beat last time, you are making a mistake’ or ‘this time will be different’. Can you have an outward reaction? Truly, moments like this are the only way to break the monotony. Don’t ruin it for me.”

“You want me to help you enjoy your life… by regurgitating cliche lines back at you?” Randidly quirked an eyebrow upward. His nerves thrummed in his chest now that Velio was gripping his sword, but he couldn’t help but tease the man who came to kill him. “For someone who spends so much time complaining about how boring life is, you seem to be embracing the predictability. What’s so scary that you seek out and kill anyone with potential, Velio Dunn?”

Velio’s expression vanished, as though his emotional wattage had been exceeded and the breaker failed. What was left was dead flesh, still bearing the resemblance of expression but only out of necessity. There was only despair and darkness animating his feature. A chill ran through Randidly. It felt like he was looking at a thin sheet that had been drawn across a rotting corpse. Although the shape was blunted somewhat by the covering, Velio’s soul was so warped that the gross deviations from the norm were clear, no matter the obstructions.

Even worse, Velio’s image changed. That pale blue light radiating from his sword became suffocating. The array that isolated the two of them began to sizzle from the force of his presence. Randidly couldn’t tell what they were doing, but the two shadowy figures moved quickly to stabilize the situation.

“You ask heavy questions for a man about to die,” Velio said quietly. “If you don’t plan on volunteering the information, I’ll drag out the source of your confidence and crush it. And just so you know, your teleportation trick won’t work twice.”

As Randidly shrugged, he would see the knuckles of Velio’s hand tightening on the hilt of his sword. “It’s no secret. And I didn’t want it to come to this, but I don’t think I have a choice. I have a superpower, just one. In most locations, it wouldn’t end up mattering. But here…”

“A superpower?” An expression of shock returned to Velio’s face. Then he snorted as some of his facade recovered. “Heh, is that so? Then I’m looking forward to it. With death below and death above, let’s have a fun duel- Hey! What the hell are you doing?!?!”

Halfway through Velio’s words, Randidly began to rapidly shoot downward. If there was one thing that he could trust, it was that Velio Dunn valued his own life. And considering the fact that Velio now considered Randidly trapped here, it seemed logical that even someone as powerful as Velio held some wariness toward the mass of significance below.

When he had confirmed with Edraine that she would be paying attention to his position, even she had warned him not to go too deep down the spine. The power there was a threat to even her. Hopefully, Randidly’s unique advantages would allow him to survive at the depth required to warn off Velio.

As Randidly shot downward, the presence of Nether in the air rapidly increased. In addition, thick geysers of dangerous emotions smashed against the sides of the hollow spine as they ran their violent course. Velio must truly have been caught by surprise because Randidly opened up quite a bit of distance before he began to move.

Randidly even used Man is Proud, but the Chimera Takes to explode downward with a little extra intensity. From the location where Randidly originally had been floating, the Nether content in the air increased from 5% to 5.5%. Then it shot up to 6% and then 7%. The air whooshed past his skin, leaving him tingling.

But then Velio was there, right in front of Randidly, with a vicious expression on his face. “Fucking kid. If you are just going to be suicidal, let me help you along.”

Velio Dunn’s hand on his sword twitched. At the same time, Randidly was mobilizing every bit of strength that he possessed. Revelations of the Atramentous Threshold. Chimeric Impunity. All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth.

Congratulations! Your Skill All Else Succumbs, Yet Time Whirls the Earth (M) has grown to Level 245!

As he did in the practice, Randidly didn’t search for a version of himself that could survive. Or at least, Randidly didn’t reach for specifics. With Revelation energy sharpening his vision and giving him a predictive edge, Randidly joined the collective sea of parallel Randidlys and rapidly gathered more and more versions of himself in the same hanging moment. To him, they were all data.

They were alternatives.

He observed them die in droves through their resonance, experiencing a horrible backlash from the extinctions in the process. It was mental strain on a tier that he had never experienced before. Each death was like a small emotional bomb that sought to infect and destabilize his images. Yet he couldn’t spare the attention to deal with that now.

After observing one thousand six hundred and three varying methods of moving through the present and feeling one thousand five hundred and eighty-two end in his death, Randidly slammed every ounce of himself into Chimeric Impunity. He slid to the side, seeking to dodge through one of those narrow possibilities.

1.4% survive rate from only the first blow...Randidly barred his teeth. And he calls this a fair duel? What a hypocrite.

But that was not all the preparations he needed to make to survive. Aside from the recently formed, still small grey bubble in his Nether Nebula, Randidly pulled all four of his other grey bubbles into his right hand. He didn’t attempt to meet the blow, simply struck at the space between them in an attempt to screen the attack. Time turned sluggish as the sheer mass condensed in his hand warped the surrounding space. Radiating waves of gravity rippled through the distance between them.

Velio’s eyes narrowed in mild surprise.

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 338!

…

Congratulations! Your Skill Chimeric Impunity (M) has grown to Level 340!

Randidly felt the bones of his wrist and forearm shatter. The entirety of his hand was simply numb, when made it seem likely the nerve endings in the appendage had just been annihilated before he could feel. The next thing he knew, he had slammed into the side of the Web, skidding and tumbling deeper down toward the mass of significance waiting below.

Randidly blinked several times as Yggdrasil wrapped its warm branches around his Soulspace and began to rapidly heal the mental and physical damage he had taken. The speed of his descent was quick, almost as quick as he had been going previously, just smashed downward this time by the force of Velio’s attack. His rattled mind gradually calmed down and Randidly immediately forced his gaze back upward, toward the figure of Velio Dunn.

The man’s wild smile had returned; his eye was filled with a manic gleam. “Hey, you’re pretty tenacious, you know that? It’s probably been a hundred years since I’ve faced a seed like you. But if you think this is enough…”

Perhaps the most horrifying detail of the picture was that the last blow was struck with Velio’s sword still in its sheath. Now, Velio gripped the leather piece of equipment and pulled it off, revealing his massive blade in all its glory. The gleaming cruelty in Velio’s eyes brightened.

He was playing with his food. It seemed that Velio’s enjoyment of this process wasn’t faked, at least.

Of course, Randidly didn’t have much spare attention to study the sword; everything about him hurt. The Nether content in the air around continued to steadily rise as he fell, nearing 15%. Some of the more powerful emotions surging through the air had enough potency to sizzle and blister against Randidly’s skin. Yet after Velio finished speaking, he vanished.

Feeling a sick sensation, Randidly twisted midair. Velio waited below, the blue runes on his sword glowing so brightly that it was almost blinding. “This is where you die, Mr. Ghosthound. Truly, it’s been a pleasure.”

Randidly looked down at his hand; the skin of his right hand flopped around like the slimy remnants of a popped water balloon. A bitter smile covered his face. I suppose it’s too much for this foe to look at me and have some deep realization about himself, leading to a mental breakdown, huh…?

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