Randidly could only shake his head at Sulfur’s whining. “Relax. You are not being replaced. But it’s time I have a working arm. Besides, when I have two working arms, I’ll be much more willing to get into melee fights again.”

Although the sort of foes I’ll face on Earth might leave something to be desired… but Randidly left that thought unsaid.

Again, Sulfur constricted unwillingly, but then slowly began to withdraw its living components from Randidly’s left arm. The hulking arm that Randidly had largely just used as a hammer recently began to visibly wither and dry. The thick muscles and heavy fingers turned to carbon and then began to flake without the essence of Sulfur supporting it.

...Honestly, it was flaking away too much. Quite a large mound of debris was being created as the large limb fell to pieces.

Maybe should have just done this in the Alpha Cosmos. Randidly grimaced. In the wide space of his Commander’s tent, the sudden pile of charcoal was a little attention-grabbing. But honestly, Randidly supposed that having a subordinate clean this up without asking any questions was an overlooked benefit of his current situation.

After the material fell away, it slowly revealed the corroded and smashed bloodsteel of Randidly’s original arm. The combination of exposure to Sulfur and Nether Gatekeepers had left the originally stirling metal rather pitiable and marred. The exposed pieces of metal fell to the ground in large chunks, the original scalemail having been filled with too many holes for it to survive.

Eventually, Sulfur had completely withdrawn. And while Sulfur continued to mope, Randidly took Sulfur completely off and examined himself with the fingertips of his right arm. The skin of his left shoulder was soft and supple, but then...

Sighing, Randidly looked at the stump of his left arm. No matter how many times he looked at it, it was always strange. The flesh was weirdly pink. Just seeing his body end like that where he used to have a limb was off-putting.

Randidly let his hand drop to his side. But this is why I made a metal arm. So I don’t have these thoughts every time I take off my armor.

Over the past three days, Randidly had carefully forged thousands of rings for the scale mail arm, incorporating the updates that Wendy had recommended in her letter. The gleaming arm of volcanic glass sat on Randidly’s desk, having been carefully assembled into the correct shape. With a deft manipulation of Authority of the Burning Heart, Randidly floated the shimmering metal arm and pressed it against his shoulder.

The metal felt oddly warm against his skin. He released a breath. What came next was going to be the hard part.

Congratulations! Your Skill Record of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 249!

At this point, Randidly could apply Engraving directly onto a surface through Mana manipulation, which was the only reason that Randidly could Engrave while attaching the limb to his body. Which allowed him to assemble the whole working at once, rather than doing the Engraving on the arm separately than the shoulder.

Doing them apart would still work, but those sorts of breaks would have minute flaws in the balance of Mana across the Engraving. So Randidly was glad to be able to do it all at once. Lines of Mana began to spiral across the surface of metal and flesh as they were slowly woven together.

Hissing, Randidly pressed his eyes closed and relied on Grim Intuition to continue. It wasn’t a debilitating pain, but injecting Mana into the flesh of his own shoulder was definitely not a pleasant experience. Painful was the wrong word. It was… alarmingly foreign. For all that Randidly used Mana quite naturally, it wasn’t a physical energy. So the interaction of the two was quite a bit forced.

Of course, the lines of manipulation to move the limb could be done all mentally to avoid this. But there was something instinctive about tying those impulses directly toward the old muscle groups that were still present in Randidly’s shoulder. And Mana burrowing into those muscles was why his shoulder currently felt like it was being dipped in lava.

And I would know, I’ve had to swim in lava before, Randidly thought with an aggrieved expression. His Mana carefully wove its way outward, creating a complicated set of runes that radiated out from his shoulder across his back. His spine prickled in warning as Mana neared the nerve ending superhighway. The lines of Mana also began to swim down across the metal arm, gradually building the control system that would let Randidly manipulate it.

Randidly had considered creating a particular Engraving to improve the power of the arm, but he had ultimately decided against it. For one, most of the power would come from his own images and the metal’s compatibility with those images. In addition, the Engraving he had planned was complicated enough as it is; he planned on making the limb almost fully articulate. With the complicated interaction of energy transfer runes, adding more seemed exhausting.

Congratulations! Your Skill Record of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 250!

The burning in Randidly’s shoulder slowly faded as he began to lace the Mana for the Engravings with pure Aether. Still strange, but more familiar for his body that had been flooded with Aether for years. The Engravings began to shift. This wasn’t just a limb, but a living piece of metal that would be bound to Randidly’s body. The glowing lines of the Engraving crisscrossed the limb, creating a vast maze of meaning and power.

Almost intuitively, Randidly incorporated some of the principles he had seen in the weave the people from the Xyrt Brigade made around the Nether King. It was a bowl to fill with power but also a cap on that power. The arm would use that cap as a way to resist corrosion. Energy, following Randidly’s will, spread out across the surface of the arm.

And where Aether went, Nether soon followed.

While Mana formed the core of the lines, Aether covered the outer surface and Nether lined the inner surface. The energies flowed freely through the metal arm, gradually achieving equilibrium. A thin film of Mana balanced intense flows of Aether and Nether. The energy began to flow faster and faster through the limb.

The fires in Randidly’s shoulder surged forward once again as the final connections were established. Flesh and metal were bound in that they were both the conduits between the two forms of energy. There were pressed together by the two energies until they gradually merged. As the two energies seemed to flare up, the strangeness transformed completely into pain.

Randidly snorted and his glowing eyes snapped open in the dimly lit Commanders tent. The light from his arm and bare shoulder was almost blinding.

Congratulations! Your Skill Stigma of the Lifeless Phoenix (L) has grown to Level 232!

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Congratulations! Your Skill Record of the Primordial Ways (M) has grown to Level 251!

Then Randidly released a breath and everything became quiet. Darkness returned to the tent. He regulated his breathing and checked on his status. When everything appeared fine, Randidly turned his attention to his arm. The surface appeared to have darkened in the process so that his left arm was almost entirely black.

He raised his arm slowly, watching in fascination as bright white lines ran across the limb and mimicked the presence of ‘muscles’ across in inanimate object. When he flexed his fingers, white lines rapidly radiated out across his inert hand, injecting life into the motion. His arm responded almost immediately, feeling very similar to his original arm. Although the tactile sensation was a little bit muted, Randidly could compensate with Grim Intuition. Compared to the previous attempts, this was definitely the most successful.

Should be much stronger too, Randidly smiled to himself. The only problem would be if I need to do something stealthy… hard to hide when every movement produces light. but honestly, when was the last time I tried to rely on my Stealth Skill…?

Satisfied, Randidly allowed a cooing Sulfur to crawl back across his torso and cover the still stinging runes that connected flesh to metal. With the last of the necessary preparations for returning to Earth finished, Randidly threw himself in two a frenzied rush to finish the minor details of his departure in the next two days.

He spoke with Salazar and Zauna and settled the reorganization of the troops. He made preparations for the arrival of the representative of the Swacc family. He thoroughly sharpened each of his images as best as he could in preparation for his return. Then he took a long nap, bringing himself back to his most prepared state.

Until finally, Randidly was given official leave by Lady Iellaya to go on six months of vacation. Smiling, Randidly led Salazar and Zauna away from the frontlines and along the supply path. After an hour of walking, the trio passed through the military checkpoint and declined the offer of a carriage ride to the nearest teleportation station. Instead, Randidly walked directly into the wilderness.

After repeatedly determining they hadn’t been followed with Grim Intuition, Randidly hefted the Philosopher’s Key and opened a bridge to Earth. He beckoned to his subordinates. “Come on. It’s time I show you my world.”

Then Randidly stepped through the portal and returned to Earth.

*****

Tatiana looked up sharply, immediately tense as her instincts informed her something had abruptly changed. After working with it for some time, Tatiana could sense that something had agitated the spirit of Kharon.

Moving quickly, she vaulted over the desk and arrived at the window of her office to check the surrounding sky. Almost immediately, she relaxed and shook her head. The moss spirits were out in force, filling the sky like a hundred thousand emerald fireflies. They danced and spun, rejoicing. Their joy was infectious and there could only be one reason they would respond so powerfully.

Or rather, only one person who would make them this way.

A second later, the weight of Randidly Ghosthound’s image settled over Kharon like a blanket. His return resonated with the work he had poured into this place previously in a way that Tatiana didn’t truly understand. Or perhaps it was the work of the Eidolon Crucible.

“So you are back,” Tatiana said with a smile. And she was sure that the entirety of Kharon, at least the original population, could feel it.

*****

A towering ten-meter tall figure with three heads leaned against his right arm, cupping the chin of his rightmost head in his hand. Beneath him was a vast throne, and beneath that was a hundred hunched ogres trudging forward with their sweat backs supporting the towering figure’s palanquin. Trailing behind the throne was a large wagon train surrounded by thousands of grim eyed ogres holding huge mauls made of a strange blue iron.

The center head opened its eyes and squinted forward. The other two heads quickly followed.

“Halt.”

The calm word from the towering figure stopped the entire wagon train immediately. It was an order that couldn’t be disobeyed. Everyone froze. The tall figure scratched his chin, peering to the West where the portal to another world sat.

“Make camp here. Something has changed.”

The figure was obeyed immediately. The huge throne was set on the ground and then the surrounding ogres began to scurry and assemble a base around the throne to suit its majesty. The army marched forward and formed up in defensive lines around the base. The entire time, the figure’s six eyes were focused West, measuring the threat that he sensed.

*****

Thea looked up from the still critically wounded Bandit King and the completely exhausted Winged Serpent. It was a bitter truth, but the Nemesai were currently under a lot of pressure. The current Earth was too strong for them to do much. Some of the Nemesai wanted to wait until the limit on their images was released, but Thea-

Thea’s thoughts were interrupted as she caught a small movement out of the corner of her eye.

For the past year, Chrysanthemum had been her usual, ghastly self, without the slightest hint of the life remaining in her bones that had been consumed by spectral fire. She was an empty puppet that only obeyed orders, without any individuality. To the point that Thea was forced to mourn for her former partner every second she had to be near this replacement.

Yet now, without any discernible encouragement, Chrysanthemum raised her vast head and looked to the South.

Thea flinched and clenched her fists.

*****

In the finals of Donnyton’s combat competition, Ptolemy and Isabella Cortez fought for the crown. Due to the absence of Alana, Paolo, Kayle, Dozer, Annie, and Donny from this year’s competition, it had given some of the younger blood of Donnyton a chance to shine. With lessons from Mrs. Hamilton, Isabella had seized the chance provided for her and defeated several more established members of Donnyton’s Squads to make it to the final.

And the foe she found waiting there was a strange one. Ptolemy, a Level 68 Apprentice and one of the original inhabitants of Donnyton, represented the strength that allowed Donnyton to grow into the flourishing city that it was now. He wasn’t a man who often grabbed the spotlight and was even sometimes confused with others.

Yet his presence and power was a strong reminder that Donnyton wasn’t just built by a handful of people.

Mrs. Hamilton sat next to Donny in the place of honor, watching the fight idly. It was surprisingly close. And honestly, she was more surprised by Ptolemy’s performance than Isabella’s. The man had always been low key, but he had been absolutely unstoppable through the bracket to get to the finals. And now his calm and collected palm strikes put the more dependable of the Cortez siblings at a large disadvantage.

There’s always next competition, Mrs. Hamilton thought lightly as she watched Ptolemy seize the initiative.

Yet, right as Ptolemy was about to strike a decisive blow, there was a change in the air that only a few in Donnyton could sense. Mrs. Hamilton and Donny looked sharply up to the West. Ptolemy also froze and hopped backward, creating some space so his gaze could also turn toward the source of the disturbance.

Perhaps it was because of the prior challenge, but a second after the more perceptive people noticed it, everyone in Donnyton looked upward at the sky. The specter of the horrible beast that had defeated them in the challenge against Randidly Ghosthound floated above the sinkhole. It raised its claw and bone spear and howled.

The mark left by Randidly Ghosthound resonated with his powerful image as he returned to Earth.

“The man’s timing was always obnoxiously good,” Donny’s mouth quirked upward. “Only he could completely overshadow the combat finals of Donnyton…”

Mrs. Hamilton said nothing, simply looking up at the hanging figure of the Grim Chimera.

*****

A man in a crimson cloak leapt to his feet. With his face covered in shadow, he stared intently at the reflective surface of the blood pool in front of him. A ripple ran through the pool and his face twisted into a snarl. The bloodbeasts around him stirred restlessly, shifting their hideously deformed bodies.

“You… how can you still be alive…? God said…” The man muttered. Then his eyes narrowed to slits. “It doesn’t matter… soon, I will accomplish the mission God gave to me, and my lovely Ines…”