Chapter 1140 (2/2)

“I brought you something, as repayment.” Vualla produced a glass flask from behind her back and popped off the cork. “I figured it was only fair… and I bet it will really hit the spot after the battle.”

Randidly grinned despite himself as he took the flask. She brought him… liquor? Could they even get drunk with their high Stats? Well, if the Nexus made alcohol tailor-made to affected them even through their Stats… Yet with how tired Randidly already was, a sip or two would likely ensure that she needed to carry him back to his tent.

...or was that exactly what she was aiming for…?

But all it took was a single sniff of the flask to stop Randidly’s thoughts dead. He looked at Vualla in shock, then drank from the bottle. His adam’s apple bobbed twice as the refreshing and tart juice slid down his throat.

Randidly wiped his mouth. “That’s fucking orange juice.”

Laughing, Vualla nodded. “Yea. It’s my favorite. And honestly, I don’t know much about you, so I just thought…”

After taking another drink, Randidly asked. “How did you get orange juice… out here? With Nether trying to kill us constantly…”

“It helps to know someone in the supply train.” Vualla winked. But then Vualla looked somewhat guiltily over at the bottle. “Ah… It’s only…”

Randidly tipped the bottle up and finished off the rest of the orange juice in a huge gulp. “God that’s amazing. But are you alright? I watched, you know. As you fought against the Nether Gatekeeper… and crushed it. Congratulations.”

After shaking herself, Vualla smiled a tight smile at Randidly. She scanned his face for several seconds, then relaxed into a nod. “Yes. I did. And… I wish I could cut off its head and take it back to my father’s grave. It obviously wasn’t the Nether Gatekeeper that killed him, but… its proof. Proof that I’ve become powerful enough to make him proud.”

“I’m sure he was always proud of you,” Randidly said quietly.

Vualla shook her head, but she didn’t reply. Instead, she turned away and looked up at the Great Rift above them. “There is one good thing about this war, you know. It will spur us onward. Force us to find our own Paths. I can feel it already. I don’t think… I don’t think I could have managed this in my past life. Without… you know...”

Randidly nodded. “We will keep getting stronger without having to sacrifice ourselves. We can grasp power while still caring about things other than power.”

“One fist at a time. One step at a time further down our Path,” Vualla’s eyes began to release a soft azure light.

As Randidly’s eyes grew emerald to mirror her intensity, he showed his teeth. “Using the walls in front of us to climb higher and higher. Until that day finally comes…”

Pirouetting on her heel, Vualla twisted until she faced not toward the Great Rift, but the high rocky outcropping of headquarters. “...that we can tear down this Nexus that has exploited us.”

“Brick by brick,” Randidly turned to follow her gaze. The embers of heat in his chest from the Nether RItual began to stir inside of him. He wondered if she could feel them too.

“Pound of owed flesh by pound of owed flesh.” Vualla hissed. “There will be a reckoning. A debt is owed to us, Randidly Ghosthound. It is not the head of a Nether Beast that I want to lay on my father’s grave.”

Randidly licked his lips. “And we will collect, won’t we, Vualla Meteo?”

Then the two shared a smile, but there was not soft emotions or kind fondness in their expressions. For a split second, the Grim Chimera faced the specter of the first Heretic in the System’s existence, both anticipating the price they would exact as vengeance. Their eyes reflected the rivers of blood they would traverse to reach their goal.

Their mouths were slightly open, revealing an almost mirror perfect pair of hungry ambitions. The fire between them swirled higher, carrying them along with its momentum.

”Or we will die,” Vualla said lightly. Her hand reached sideways and took his.

”All things die,” Randidly's chest burned with heat.

”All things?” Vualla asked, and now Randidly was sure that she felt it too. The ritual passing between them. The promise.

The Path and the beginnings of a Fate.

The heat had become so intense that Randidly could barely speak. The words came out in a whisper. ”All things… Even the Nexus.”