Chapter 1068 (2/2)

“When enough of those barriers overlap, there is a resonance; the physical body is affected-” There Vualla paused as she looked at Randidly. “Well, I don’t think images often possess stars. So I’m unsure how it would affect you. But if it creates a physical resistance that even bodies struggle with, its likely even worse for images. Symptoms manifest around five stars and each successive star after that makes it worse.”

...actually, I don’t think images would be affected more strongly by the bubble portion of Nether. Randidly’s brow furrowed as Vualla continued her explanation. The problem is probably that, even if the array takes out most of the Nether aspects, there is still a significant amount of Nether in the bubbles. And Nether and substance don’t mix well… So when a sufficient amount of Nether is present, it reacts adversely to a physical body.

“Is there an upper limit on stars then?” Randidly asked aloud.

“Ten.”

Randidly blinked. “So someone’s gotten all the way to ten, huh…”

But Vualla shook her head, causing her braid to bound back and forth across her shoulders. “No, I think the actual record is eight stars. After that, the individual couldn’t even move properly and retired from the frontlines.”

Frowning, Randidly asked. “Then why did you just say nine?”

“I honestly don’t know. An instinct, maybe?” Vualla flashed Randidly a smile. “Since it is physical resistance, I suspect that a sufficiently strong body should be able to resist the effect of the stars for longer than a weaker body could. Therefore, I think someone could get to ten if they pushed hard enough. Still, this is why most Commanders engage Nether Beasts sparingly. All of them are nearing that five-star state.”

Randidly gave Vualla an unamused look. She winked at him in response. “Would it help if I called it a woman’s intuition?”

Rolling his eyes, Randidly threw his hands up into the air. “Fine, so the bubbles make it difficult to move. But do they notice anything from the cores if there are that many gathered together?”

At the very least, Randidly hoped he would be able to find some useful information from Vualla in regards to the stars’ uses. But when she replied, Randidly was even more confused.

“Cores…? Oh, you mean like you sometimes feel break when fighting a Nether Beast? Although most people theorize that stars create something similar in us, it’s never been proven.” Vualla tilted her head to the side and carefully studied Randidly’s face. “After all, no one can sense Nether. So it’s just a theory.”

“...Yea…” Randidly finished lamely. Vualla’s eyes narrowed.

“Is there something you’d like to tell me?” She asked evenly.

Well, obviously yes, but… Randidly hesitated. Was it so easy to just tell Vualla that he had learned a Skill related to Nether? That he carried a Nether Well in his chest right now, even as they stood so close to each other?

Obviously not so simple. Randidly sighed. But out loud, Randidly said. “...yea. I do have… an extra sensitively to Nether. I don’t know if other people have them, but I can sense the cores of Nether inside myself.”

Rather than speaking out about the Nether Well, his ability to sense Nether was much more innocuous. And it would probably leak anyway when his two subordinates recovered. It was also an easy way to explain away a portion of Randidly’s accomplishments in the Great Rift thus far.

Vualla’s eyes stretched into happy crescents. “Really? You certainly possess many strange talents, Randidly Ghosthound. In another life… Well, nevermind. Who’s to say if we would even have met in another life?”

That made Randidly’s head tilt to the side. Both because it was an odd thing to say, and because the main body’s ire abruptly roared back with a striking intensity. Gritting his teeth, Randidly pointedly ignored it and asked Vualla. “Is there something you’d like to tell me? What would we be in another life?”

For the first time since they had met, Vualla hesitated. At the moment that Randidly had surprised her, she hadn’t hesitated to spin around and strike at Randidly. But now, she seemed frozen.

Silence slowly stretched. The air and land around them was dead, aside from the constant visual variance caused by proximity to the Great Rift. Randidly watched as the lines of her face stretched and flitted side to side. The joints of her overly large gauntlets moved with an oily silence as she nervously flexed her fingers.

“We could have been… together.” Vualla said so softly that even Randidly couldn’t catch the words. The only reason he understood was that his Grim Intuition had the uncanny to pick up speech from even the slightest movement of lips.

“...aren’t we together… now?” Randidly asked slowly.

“Until I go on this mission,” Vualla replied in a normal tone of voice. She took a step back away from Randidly. All of the tension in the air drained slowly away like it had been lanced with a needle. “To answer your earlier question… yes, I could get out of going. I could beg for mercy. I could go to my father and reveal myself. But I won’t.”

“Why not?” Randidly asked through gritted teeth.

“Would the woman who will destroy the System run away from a fight?”