Sulfur hummed pleasantly even as Randidly flexed his right hand and popped a finger back into place. It was great that one of them was enjoying the experience, but Randidly felt rather exasperated that his armor now-made-right-arm wasn’t more concerned with the current state of affairs of Randidly’s body. Honestly, Randidly was stunned that Sulfur was able to so blithely ignore the effects of Nether and continually create more armor.

I suppose while so much available kinetic energy, the slow corrosion by Nether isn’t much of a problem, but still...

The Nether Gatekeeper raised a pair of arms and drummed its fists against its chest in an obvious attempt to raise its own spirits. Which enabled Randidly to spare slightly more attention to the surrounding battle. Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil slashed out at exposed limbs and underbellies, easing the pressure on Lady Iellaya’s soldiers.

Congratulations! Your Skill Absolute Grasp of Yggdrasil (T) has grown to Level 283!

Congratulations! Your Skill Ruinous Drive (Ru) has grown to Level 61!

Although the fact Randidly switched to a largely aiding role meant he wasn’t receiving any experience for killing the monsters, his Skill Levels continued to climb rapidly upward as the fight against the Nether Gatekeeper continued. Part of it was the battlefield, but also a significant portion of it came from the extra attention Randidly could spare for each individual task since his Intelligence had reached one thousand. That extra emphasis seemed to have a multiplicative effect on his growth that could really shine on such a chaotic battlefield.

Very quickly, Randidly hurriedly let the surroundings fade away as the Nether Gatekeeper rumbled forward again. Grim Intuition narrowed to this one figure in front of him. The Nether Gatekeeper struck out with a half dozen short jabs with its own left arms, forcing Randidly to either endure them with his right arm or open himself up to a cross-counter punch from the Nether Gatekeeper when he mobilized his empowered Sulfur arm to handle the powerful punches.

It was an annoyingly effective strategy, but one that Randidly was able to use his annoyingly wide stable of Skills to render much less effective.

Emerald fire danced across Randidly’s right hand as he called on Ignition Essence. It answered his call, but the specter of Illym was also present in the fire in its erratic streaks of orange. Part of that was that the fire now also burned Randidly, but it compensated for its self-damage by becoming incredibly destructive in its own right.

Congratulations! Your Skill Ignition of the Emerald Essence (L) has grown to Level 159!

Congratulations! Your Skill Fire Resistance has grown to Level 192!

Some of the Nether Gatekeeper’s jabs slammed into the torso armor that Sulfur provided, but others Randidly deftly deflected with his hand wreathed in emerald fire, leaving painful-looking distortions across the pseudo-flesh of the Nether Beast. They wouldn’t restrain its movements much, but they certainly looked painful.

Hopefully more painful than having to get jabbed in the side repeatedly, Randidly thought sourly as he stepped to the side but still received a jarring punch for his trouble. Because of the constant threat of the Nether forces getting a foothold, the two foes stayed very close to one another. Randidly dared not retreat much further.

Congratulations! Your Skill Monstrosity’s Appalling Physicality (A) has grown to Level 246!

Randidly’s wounds tightened painfully as he hopped slightly to the side to avoid another punch. Honestly, if this continues for much longer-

Yet before Randidly could finish that thought, a huge roar echoed across the battlefield. All eyes were drawn upward to a huge, pitch-black claw that rapidly appeared above the blue veins. Rather than an image or a Skill, this thing seemed to be a manifestation of raw emotion, sent directly from the Nether King. After flexing its long fingers, the enormous claw shot downward and rapidly began to shrink as it descended. It soon became a rumbling pinprick of black light that shot downward toward the battlefield.

Randidly didn’t overlook the fact that the claw was heading directly for him. But at least he had some time to address that threat.

Because even if he wanted to move backward or prepare, the Nether Gatekeeper surged forward to pin Randidly down with a tenacious string of attacks. It dropped its strategy of trying to suppress Randidly’s left arm and simply wanted to suppress him. All of the energy that it had been conserving it released in an explosion where punches were blasted outward like shrapnel.

Sulfur was immensely pleased with all the orbiting sources of kinetic energy, but Randidly was not. He smashed forward with his left arm with a straight that knocked aside an uppercut and a jab to impact the Nether Gatekeeper but earned himself a punch to the gut and the chest for his troubles.

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Competing against these six arms was extremely tiresome.

The Nether Gatekeeper leaned forward as though he expected Randidly to retreat from his repeated blows, but Randidly’s eyes blazed. You think you I don’t have some reserves remaining too? Ignition of the Emerald Essence! Molten Fang of the Pariah! Man is Proud, But the Chimera Takes!

Randidly was only a short distance away from the Nether Gatekeeper, but his movements were sure and sharp as he prepared to make this foe pay for underestimating him. He raised his hand and brought Illym’s terrible willingness to inflict damage burning emerald and orange across his hand. Then his hand became a spear, burning with the horrible vengeance of the Grim Chimera.

Then his body shot forward, piercing through the bubble of the Nether Gatekeeper with the abruptly manifesting momentum.

Congratulations! Your Skill Man Is Proud, But the Chimera Takes (L) has grown to Level 191!

For the first time since the fight began, Randidly and the Nether Gatekeeper’s faces were only a few inches apart. Although they had consistently been only meters apart the whole fight, this new proximity was the sort that only enemies at the end of a confrontation would achieve. And in the Nether Gatekeeper’s eyes, Randidly saw fear. It knew how this duel would finally end.

Randidly grinned as his hand dug deeper into the Nether Gatekeeper’s chest and throbbed painfully from enduring his own vicious flames. Did you think I was in as much of a hurry to finish this fight as you were? No, we had plenty of time. Tiresome, sure. But worth it.

Ignoring the pain, Randidly’s hand groped forward until he felt the dense Nether core at the heart of the Nether Gatekeeper. His fingers tightened. Above, the dense claw smashed a hole in Lord Miln’s barrier and zipped rapidly downward. Instantly, the ambient Nether in the surrounding area began to skyrocket.

Still wearing a manic grin, Randidly sucked in a deep breath that was backed by the hunger of Cursed Appetite of a Wraith.

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Appetite of a Wraith (L) has grown to Level 268!

Congratulations! Your Skill Cursed Appetite of a Wraith (L) has grown to Level 269!

It was difficult to manage both, but Randidly kept the ambient Nether in the area from rising too high while also directly draining the resistance out of the foe in front of him. His eyes glinted like a wolf stalking through the underbrush as he considered the Nether Gatekeeper’s struggles. Energy flooded out through the punctured bubble, swirling in Randidly’s chest.

The Nether Gatekeeper attempted to push Randidly away with its free arms, but Randidly used the heavy and clumsy fingers of Sulfur’s arm to seize the topmost of its shoulder joints. Those fingers joined Randidly’s real fingers in rapidly tightening. Unlike the flame wreathed fingers in the Nether Gatekeeper’s chest, Randidly rapidly ground the shoulder joint to a pulp with Sulfur’s power almost instantly.

Yet Randidly could feel the edges of exhaustion circling around his mind. Struggling for so long had a cost. And even as he drained Nether out of the surrounding air and restored some of his vigor, the claw attack approached from above. He flexed his right hand, straining to the point that earlier reset finger once more popped out of place. The Nether core trembled but it did not give out.

Cursing under his breath, Randidly released his grip on the Nether Gatekeeper, pushed it backward, then smashed it directly in the face with an overhand haymaker with Sulfur who immediately hummed in pleasure. Even as the Nether Gatekeeper tumbled backward into the ditch and blew away all the Nether Beasts in the way, Randidly leapt backward.

The claw attack struck the ground at the point where Randidly had been standing only a second prior and cracked the surrounding ground. A wave of Nether that was too much for even Randidly to disperse impacted his chest and threw him back an additional several meters.

The surrounding soldiers didn’t even fair that well. Their skin and images simply began to hiss and sizzle as the dense Nether ate away at their bodies in seconds. Randidly looked on rather helplessly as their flesh deteriorated. Even after he steadied himself, it was too late to save most of the nearby soldiers. They melted like wax in a furnace. Their blood dried and evaporated and flaked away as their bones cracked and failed.

Randidly pressed his eyes shut as a wave of furious emotion threatened to overwhelm him. It took a great deal of control not to let his rage surge upward. Instead, Randidly almost numbly popped his finger back into place and surveyed the surrounding damage.

At the very least, the attack had opened up some space between the two sides. But it once more destroyed a large portion of the defensive fortifications toward the front. Unless they fell back to Lady Iellaya’s fort, which didn’t have the space to house all the individuals present, the reinforcements would effectively be fighting the sea of Nether Beasts straight up.

Plus, that Nether Gatekeeper is clearly wounded, Randidly reassured himself. If I have more time to help-

But again, life wasn’t that easy. Two more comets of Nether struck downward, slipping through the hole the claw had opened up before Lord Miln’s barrier could heal itself. The smashed into the ditch, throwing up clouds of dirt and scattered pebbles.

Randidly regarded the new arrivals coldly as they straightened. One was a giant dog, while the other was a being that walked on two enormous arms and had two rather deft legs hanging below its torso. Neither were quite as strong as the individual Randidly had been fighting, but both were close.

“Heh, seems like you don’t want this continuing for much longer,” Randidly released a humorless chuckle as he glanced up toward the Great Rift. “But did you think I was stalling just to bleed your footsoldiers? Hey Acri… have you been enjoying your meal?”