“He’s sucking in Nether.” Lord Miln wrapped his knuckles against his desk. “And am I the only one who is noticing that his Skills have notes of Nether embedded in them…? True, it boosts the power, yet…”

Ileot Swacc shook his head sorrowfully. “You just pointed out that Randidly Ghosthound is absorbing Nether. What would he do if he didn’t produce Nether in his attacks? Eat it?”

Complaining to you is a waste of time. A vein throbbed in his temple, but just as quickly he let the issue go; after all, Ileot Swacc and he were tied too closely together now to let a small matter like this come between them. Especially when the points that Ileot were making were so annoyingly reasonable.

Instead, Lord Miln focused his attention once more on the actions of Randidly Ghosthound. Lord Miln was torn between annoyance and amusement as he watched the two lashing out and dodging while both holding their ground. “How long will this pathetic battle last?”

Ileot chuckled lightly and tucked his hands behind his back. Both stood on the very peak of the rocky outcropping and surveyed a vista that allowed them to see the entirety of the chaotic battlefield. The Great Rift pulsed above them and the blue veins continually threw down fistfuls of Nether Beasts toward the ground. With the dense Nether energy released by those impacts, the visual distortions were growing tiresome, even for individuals as powerful as these two individuals.

But both of their gazes were focused to their left, where Randidly Ghosthound had been drawn into a brutal and bone-crunching fistfight with the most pathetic excuse for a Nether Gatekeeper that Lord Miln had either seen. It was an affront to all the value that Lord Miln had placed on the boy’s body that he hadn’t even been able to overcome this insignificant foe.

It was a continuing affront to Lord Miln’s pride that a boy who was an insubstantial image only a short while ago was also managing to possess immense strategic value.

Aether and Nether surged against each other across the whole of the front and slapped against each other in a cacophony built from thousands of straining bodies. Many died in the churning impact between the two forces, but even Lord Miln could see how this remained a reserved engagement. Aside from the two foes fighting in front of Lady Iellaya’s camp, no other real powerful individuals had yet entered into the fray.

What Lord Miln was currently forced to watch was thousands of worms squirming their way against each other.

If Randidly died or was wounded in this fight, Lady Iellaya would likely be forced send her second Abiodun to deal with the threat, and the Nether forces would bring the hammer down to eliminate that camp that had played its hand. If the Nether Gatekeeper was overcome, the Nether would send a much more capable job to finish the job that its first minion had failed.

In both situations, the Nether forces would seize the initiative after the battle had ended. And there was nothing Lord Miln could or would do about these hypothetical scenarios. The numerical difference between the two sides’ number of Nether Gatekeeper power and above individuals was too vast. The Aether forces could only endure.

Lord Miln gritted his teeth as he focused on those two distant figures who were taking a small break in their furious exchange of blows. The slugs were clearly gassed from their extended exercise. Yet even if Randidly Ghosthound might be bleeding and panting in a disgraceful manner, the Nether Gatekeeper was just as bruised and exhausted. Both had pushed themselves physically to the limits of their bodies. Somehow, the boy completely ignored the sea of dense Nether being thrown at him and just transformed the confrontation to a fistfight.

And that had already been going on for twenty minutes.

Ileot Swacc giggled. “You are only annoyed because you cannot be annoyed based on the current situation. Although it appears like a stall, we are gaining quite a bit of momentum from the current state of affairs, are we not?”

Lord Miln grunted noncommittally. Yet his eyes hadn’t missed the strange aura that Randidly Ghosthound was producing to strengthen the soldiers around him. It had started by only affecting Lady Iellaya’s group, but the edges of it were slowly spreading outward to the next-door camp. Even more importantly, the Nether Gatekeeper’s Nether pulses might be neutralized by Randidly, but Randidly continued to reap the lives of the surrounding Nether Beasts with his roots.

...For god’s sake, his leafy spear is crawling around and killing hundreds of Nether Beasts too. Lord Miln was stretched by the glee he felt at the predicament the furious Nether King must currently find himself in and sympathy for said King’s experience also being frustrated endlessly by Randidly Ghosthound. Because as soon as Randidly became too injured to continue, Lord Miln fully intended to intervene and ‘protect’ such a valuable asset for his own safety.

Just as Lord Miln had done with Commander Terith. Hopefully while avoiding the same tragic fate that had taken consciousness away from Commander Terith. But it was impossible to predict such things.

Accidents happened in war.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“And on your side? You could not convince him to allow you to duplicate his valuable body?” Lord Miln said as he turned back to Ileot Swacc, the mysterious benefactor that Lord Miln had gambled so much to appease.

Ileot shrugged, seemingly unruffled. “Surprisingly no. It appears he does not value the life of Vualla as much as I anticipated. Not that I blame him; this version of Vualla is extremely uninteresting-”

Both froze at the same moment. For a second, a weird sense of pressure had descended across the battlefield. And from the expression on Ileot’s face, he was just as surprised by the sudden pressure as Lord Miln had been. Even the visual variations around the Nether Beasts were cowed by that pressure.

Then it passed, likely mastered by the furious individual who released it. Lord Miln allowed himself a tight smile and tried to calm his beating heart. He always knew the power of the foe he was aiming for, but to feel that pressure... “It seems that the Nether King is being suitably annoyed by our problematic subordinate as well. Good.”

“...Perhaps.” For the first time since Lord Miln had met Ileot Swacc, his face was extremely serious. He squinted upward, as if searching for something. Then he shook his head. “At any rate, convincing him the old fashioned was always the safer, but it is a more inconvenient method. He even called my bluff by providing Vualla energy! Better still to use your suggestion.”

The mention of that caused Lord Miln’s mouth to twitch. He glanced to the side, where the 90% copy of Randidly provided by Ileot stood, waiting for orders. “Will it be enough? It appears that Lady Iellaya obtained the valuable energy before he could absorb more of the essence of the Nether Prince-”

“It will be enough.” Ileot nodded sharply. “In fact, making sure the image is attached to that face might be unnecessary; in the wake of the Nether Prince’s demise, the Nether King will want to kill us all. That little toy is just insurance to make sure that the Nether King will aim to kill Randidly Ghosthound first.”

Again, Ileot’s face turned extremely serious. His eyes went back to the continuing brawl that held the entire battlefield transfixed. “But we must hurry. One thing that Randidly providing energy to Vualla will do is accelerate the breakdown of the incubation buffer.”

That caused Lord Miln to freeze. “Will the duplication disappear early? If my forces aren’t poised-”

Waving a hand, Ileot Swacc gave Lord Miln an aggrieved look. “Of course not. Am I some two-bit charlatan? No, I am Ileot Swacc, the Duplicator. No, but the buffer provides a very important metaphysical function of plausible deniability. There is a… alleviation of pressure. It integrates with the world and prevents other individuals from realizing the duplication is present. With a chaotic battlefield like this, the point is likely moot. But after that…”

“That’s fine.” Lord Miln looked up at the Great Rift and unleashed a fraction of his image. His Perception pierced upward, prickling the Nether King’s sphere of influence. Instantly, Lord Miln felt that hatred and rage fixate on him. “Everything is to strike a blow at this foe. After today… none of it will matter.”

*****

Abiodun looked troubled after the messenger from Headquarter departed. “Is this a trick? Some sort of trap?”

“A chance to shoot myself in the foot, perhaps.” Lady Iellaya lightly stroked a serpent of fuzzy darkness that twined itself through her fingers. “But giving me free rein to launch a counteroffensive at any time I wish… I too do not like it. It feels like Lord Miln has a better read of my intentions than I thought.”

Abiodun remained silent. Because he knew what his mistress would say next.

“Yet… I suspect the depth of my new strength will leave him quite surprised.” Lady Iellaya smiled like a satisfied cat. Then she shook her head. “But you see how he so effortlessly dodged the question of the involvement of the Xyrt Brigade? Them being unwilling to intervene on our behalf… seems unrealistic, considering the size of the army in front of us.”

“Nether Kings are worthy targets, as well,” Abiodun hummed in agreement. “But this isn’t just Lord Miln earning the ire of his subordinates; failure to provide this intel could get him brought before the Council of the Nexus.”

Lady Iellaya drew her tongue slowly across her upper lip before speaking. “It won’t end up mattering if he earns merits by wounding a Nether King. But just where does his confidence come from…?”

Which, unfortunately enough, put a finger directly on Abiodun’s current anxiety about Lady Iellaya.

After a brief hesitation, Abiodun could not prevent himself from asking. “And your new Class and Fate… Are you… fully integrated with the changes? I feel… much has changed within you. The solidified potential fills you with possibilities, true, but it is a risk to discover your own limits on such an important battlefield.”

“It is understandable to be nervous, dearest Abiodun; we have finally reached our goal.” Lady Iellaya reached up and drew a finger across Abiodun’s stone cheek. “We have looked for this chance our entire lives. We’ve grown so much, waiting for it. But it is finally here. I know that our connection has changed somewhat by the workings of the Ghosthound, but the costs come with benefits. When I fill the sky with darkness, you will see that it has all been worth it.”

Abiodun bowed his head. Truly, whatever Randidly had done had changed the relationship between Lady Iellaya and her followers. Or rather than that, the sensitivity that Abiodun had grown reliant on during their long years of partnership with Lady Iellaya had been… numbed. Rather than serving as a connection between them, the potential that Abiodun had donated now had been transformed into Lady Iellaya’s strength.

This was always our goal. Abiodun reprimanded himself. Am I truly thinking of my own needs over hers…? I should be ashamed of myself.

Yet with his bowed head, Abiodun’s eyes focused on that serpent of fuzzy darkness that slowly twined across Lady Iellaya’s fingers even now. Strangely, It paused in its sinuous motion and looked up at him. Their eyes met like there was a spark of intelligence present in that small and feeble image.

For a split second, Abiodun could have sworn that strange and unexplained snake of darkness smiled up at him.

“How long have they been fighting?” Lady Iellaya abruptly asked.

“Almost twenty-five minutes,” Abiodun shook his head and looked away from the dark snake.

Lady Iellaya clicked her jaw. “Be ready. The Nether King won’t allow this game to go on much longer. And as Randidly starts to struggle, that’s when we make our move.”