The Legend of Randidly Ghosthound

As soon as Randidly called out the words, Alana’s instincts began to scream in warning. Goosebumps sprang to life up and down her arms. Although it ran counter to her entire strategy, although the burning inferno she carried within her chest demanded immediate violence, she had not survived the System this long by ignoring her instincts.

She sidestepped. A culling wind swept across the arena, from Kimpap to the spot where she had been standing previously. A wicked curve was carved in the floor of the arena in a split second by the lashing strike that whizzed past Alana. The whole stadium shook; Randidly suddenly floated at the base of the stands, absorbing the force of Kimpap’s attack with his body after it ripped its way through his Nether barrier.

In a single moment, Alana’s opponent had completely seized image control in the surrounding area. Kimpap smirked over at Alana. Behind her back, a massive, shadowy face grinned. Its bleeding gums sprouted skinny spear teeth, giving it the horrifying mouth of a miniature whale. For eyes it had two deep abysses, holding nothing and drinking in the sights of the world.

The air whispered to Alana telling her that she would die. Kimpap raised her spear for another attack. The blade was slightly curved and the rest of the weapon was matte black. Only the edge of the blade shimmered in the dimming light.

Yea. Alana’s hands began to sweat with nervousness. But she couldn’t prevent a grin from stretching itself across her face. Light began to radiate from her body but was quickly devoured by the gloomy atmosphere. Her Fate transformed, pearly wings stretching above her head. This is what it’s supposed to be like. The First Revelation: Advance.

Golden fire surged around Alana as she launched herself forward. Kimpap’s figure blurred, but with Alana’s high Stats she kept up with the movement. However, Kimpap took a very familiar route to meet her; she was utilizing Azriel’s method of striking the Revelation at the perfect angle to disperse the force.

Alana adjusted at the last second even as Kimpap made another adjustment to counter her. Both their spears bent at the rapid calculation right before impact. Alana’s spear arrived in time, deflecting Kimpap’s attack. Around her, a river of orange and gold fire surged forward, to inflict some damage-

The revelation shattered. Alana didn’t even have time to react before a second spear drew a searing line across her side. Cursing, Alana hopped backward. Above the arena, the horrifying face with its thin teeth leered down at her. A shadowy figure hovered in the space to Alana's right, where the strike had originated. It held another dull spear that ended in a curved blade.

Her eyes narrowed. This woman… is a Tellus Master. Her images can move independently of her body.

It was a method of honing images that wasn’t very popular on Expira, mostly because Randidly didn’t rely on it for his own power. Maybe even most people didn’t know it was possible. Randidly instead chose to combine his three images into one powerful whole rather than separating them into independent actors. Against more powerful foes, Randidly’s strategy made sense. But against individuals around your strength, an image moving independently was a dangerous prospect.

Alana’s pulse rose to the challenge. She lowered her spear even as the two Kimpaps, one shadow and one Tellite, moved to surround her. Even as the arena became gloomier, her wild smile remained fixed in place. The Second Revelation: Struggle.

Momentum and energy surged through Alana’s body. She feinted forward then pounced at the image Kimpap. A thick burst of orange first spun around the tip of her weapon as she struck. The image body would probably reform, but attacking it seemed the unpredictable option. Her spear blurred into a dozen thrusts, fangs of orange-gold fire to rip into this image being.

What Alana hadn’t expected was that the shadow Kimpap would just grin, showing those ugly teeth. It thrust a shadow spear forward on a whispering line that somehow severed the core of Alana’s image. For a split second, she simply hung their, her momentum dispersed. In a much more efficient method than the one Azriel had come up with, her Skill had been broken.

The follow-up thrust caught Alana in the shoulder, even as she tried to shimmy out of the way. And even as she managed to open up some space from the image projection, the real Kimpap slammed a kick into Alana’s wounded side. Grunting, she crashed to the ground and rolled several meters.

The darkness intensified. Alana heard the jawbones of skulls clacking as they tried to speak to her from the abyss.

She popped herself back up to her feet but both foes charged forward, radiating that horrible and chilling certainty. The air tasted like Kimpap’s image. It didn’t reveal itself fully, but it continued to spread and dominate the area.

Alana gritted her teeth. She couldn’t let it continue like this. She refused to go down so easily, even if Kimpap had the power of a Tellus Master. She licked her lips. Her Willpower marshaled itself for another pulse. “The Third Revelation: Anguish.”

Power and pain surged through her limbs, hand in hand. Her veins were on fire, her muscles were steadily tearing themselves to pieces to contain the force passed down from the god she followed. The sizzling conflict between her image and Kimpap’s crackled around her body. If she couldn’t resist her opponent’s power directly, she would at least use that strain for her own purposes.

Kimpap’s eyes crinkled at the edges as she approached, holding her spear like she was cradling an infant. “What an interesting Skill. Very unique. No wonder the Ghosthound believed it necessary I go all out on you. But this… won’t be enough to slow me down.”

Both Kimpaps moved, that strange mixture of gentleness and chilling deadliness. Alana deflected the first spear and then spun her weapon around for a jarring block on the second. Her wrists and elbows ached, the tendons of her arms pushed to the limits even after only two impacts. Then both Kimpaps unleashed those whispering thrusts, tearing holes in Alana’s images and cutting deeply into her thigh and forearm.

Growling, Alana redoubled the flow of pain and power through her limbs. The heat was unbearable; she couldn’t remember the last time she had taken a breath. At this intensity, it felt like the blood of her god ran through her veins and left her body wrecked. However, she whipped her weapon around and crashed against Kimpap’s physical spear. She even earned a look of surprise from the Tellus woman when she tossed her physically backward with her force. She planted her foot and swept her spear sideways, aiming to crush the image projection in an even more brutal manner.

It countered with a tricky stab of its own and Alana recognized it would be a mutual blow if she continued on this track. Her pupils dilated. Behind her, a ray of light pierce down through the darkness and sent starbursts of color from her ivory wings. A faded image of a book slowly opened and told a true story of a man who changed everything about himself for power. The Fourth Revelation: Divinity.

All of her pain shifted and twisted. Perhaps it was because the source of her image was watching, but she felt the reflection of the Ghosthound’s power more clearly than ever before. That pillar of golden light thickened, pushing back the whispering gloom. Golden light leaked from her skin; in the end, she was an imperfect vessel for divinity. But for the first time, she began to carve at the foundation of Kimpap’s dominance. Her wounds leaked blood, but that blood contained a bit of pure consecrated energy that splashed on the stage.

With that impossible divinity housed inside of her, Alana adjusted her spear and severed the dominant shoulder joint of the image projection. Her movements were sharp and decisive, even as she sang with pain. Housing such power made her visual gradually blur; she couldn’t maintain the capability for long.

Alana adjusted her grip and jabbed the butt of her spear backward to deflect Kimpap’s physical follow-up. Again, raw force was enough to overpower the Tellite woman. Which meant Alana could level her spear and unleash a vicious tongue of orange fire that burst through the image projection’s chest.

The dizziness intensified, but Alana’s gaze, as she swiveled around to look at Kimpap’s physical form, didn’t waver. This was her chance.

Just as she rounded around to launch an offensive of her own, she felt a spear rip through her lower back from an unexpected direction. Gloom poisoned the pillar of light. The image contained within that attack was dense and suffocating. She took one stumbling step forward and the ivory wings extending from her Fate smashed down, breaking off the weapon. Alana’s Divinity sputtered and died. She twisted around, finding another image projection standing behind her.

“Did you think happiness was the only response to death?” Kimpap whispered. A new face appeared in the sky. Its teeth were just as blackened and thin, but the face was twisted into a grimace of pain.

Two images… related, but separate, Alana pressed a hand to her stomach and yanked out the front part of the spear. Bits of severed innards tumbled out of the wound before she pressed her hand against her stomach and used fire to cauterize the wound.

Even worse than the pain was the numbness. Too many of her Revelations had been broken too quickly. Her mental wounds ached.

Of course, Kimpap wouldn’t miss this chance. The three versions of herself, one physical and two image projections, circled around Alana. The expressions on those faces in the sky twisted into warped and exaggerated versions of themselves.

Not only were the thrusts viciously targeted to exploit Alana’s weaknesses, but occasionally they were empowered by that horrible whispering force. The longer they fought, the more wounds dotted Alana’s body. Her blood dried on her arms as she was forced into a flurry of motion and unable to staunch the wounds as they were carved open.

Alana slipped on some of her own blood, falling to a knee. The main body of Kimpap lunged forward. Alana activated Revelation: Struggle. Her image trembled, not used to switching between the Revelations in such short succession. But after a few sputtering seconds, light and pain erupted across her skin.

The ache doubled when Kimpap casually cut sideways into the image, causing whispers to surge in a mournful harmony. The gloom tightened and squeezed. Beneath that pressure, the Revelation shattered. The grimacing face projection of Kimpap was behind Alana and she had no choice but to reach again for the Revelations. The Fourth Revelation: Divinity-

The two faces that dominated the sky warped into a leer. The whispers grew louder and Alana’s body grew rigid. Kimpap’s spear riggled and aimed for that perfect source of golden light hovering near her chest. The wings of Alana’s Fate curled down protectively, but that thrust couldn’t be deflected.

Divinity shattered and Alana’s body crashed to the ground.

For several seconds, she just lay there, looking up at those horrid faces that loomed above them. Alana could hear her breathing but very little else; around her, the entire arena seemed to have fallen silent. Because of the haze of Kimpap’s image, she couldn’t even see Randidly. Alana squeezed her eyes shut.

After allowing herself a single moment of self-pity, she pushed herself to her feet. Kimpap inclined her head slowly. “You fight well. I will agree to a rematch in the future after you have time to polish yourself further. Goodbye, Alana Donal.”

Her lips were dry and bloody. But Alana couldn’t help but laugh, mostly because of how sure her opponent was of her victory.

Alana would give Kimpap this: she was quite professional as she moved to finish the match. She didn’t pause when Alana laughed, simply lowered her shoulders and charged forward. The curved end of the spear gleamed with promise. The two image projections spread outward, prepared for her to dodge.

Yet Alana didn’t feel fear. In fact, she felt relief. Because when Divinity broke, she finally felt something in her image shift. The limit for her power rose; now it was just a matter of reaching out and taking more.

“The Fifth Revelation: Want.”

In the next moment, Alana stepped forward as an avatar of orange-gold fire to meet the warrior from Tellus. And she wanted to win.

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