Chapter 1141 (2/2)

“Destiny has chosen you two,” The old man had whispered to the two girls. “It will not come tomorrow, or in a year… or maybe in ten. But someday… you will need to face it.

“You two only have one life, shared between the two of you, split between two bodies. Somehow… somehow you are a miracle of life that you both have survived to this point. But miracles do not have an easy Path forward. Likely to rid yourself of the sickness that afflicts both of you… one of you will have to die. Die so the other can benefit from the half of its life that is currently missing. Or someday, you will die together as two rotten halves of a whole.”

For a very long time after he emerged from the borrowed memories, Randidly stared upward at the same bland surface of the tent. The slight mental exhaustion made a rather unfortunate return to him, leaving him feeling drained.

Yet he could not avoid this issue. So Randidly rolled his shoulders and focused. Time trickled past as he reviewed the fractured memories several times. Sighing, he eventually pushed himself up into a sitting position and cracked his shoulders. This world… so many small tragedies played out on a grand stage. And when those small tragedies afflict those with power… they are magnified into something extremely dangerous and tragic.

Randidly shook himself and stood, instead turning his attention toward his other foci for his Fate. But the lingering feeling of those undeniable, demanding shakes that gripped Illym kept tugging at his attention. It was difficult to lose the echo of that helpless chill out of his mind.

“Ah… fuck me,” Randidly muttered. He flexed his hands so violently that his knuckles cracked. Acri slithered questioningly down his upper arm to present itself for use, perhaps recognizing the emotion contained in the harsh gesture. At first, Randidly shook his head, intent on continuing to focus upon his Fate, but then he hesitated as Acri rubbed his spearhead insistently against his forearm.

...one of you will have to die…

“Certainly a hard message for a child to hear. Probably harder still for the parents…” Randidly shrugged his shoulders and thought of the fiery repressed fury of Kalim, and the patient vision of Nadia, who he had encountered at the Fate Armory. And he thought about how both had ended up beaten down and broken by what had happened to their children.

...Although I haven’t seen the specifics of what happened… it seems pretty clear by the way they are now that they didn’t find a way around this destiny… Randidly thought sadly. His hand tightened on Acri. Because the truth of the matter was that even with the foggy memories of a child, Randidly had caught glimpses of the power of those two.

Yet they had not succeeded. They hadn’t been enough.

Some part of that failure haunted Randidly, indicating that if he continued, he too wouldn’t be sufficient to succeed at his grand mission to dismantle the villainy of the Nexus. If they couldn’t manage it… how could Randidly?

That seed of doubt continued to swim in the back of his mind, no matter how Randidly tried to push it away and focus on his upcoming Fate. Perhaps he would have continued to stand there, letting that doubt take root if Acri hadn’t hummed in frustration and inflicted a small cut on Randidly’s head.

His blood bubbled up crimson but filled with small gleaming emerald gems. And Randidly couldn’t help but laugh an let his chin fall to his chest. “You’re right. Even if I cannot accomplish now… even if they couldn’t accomplish it then… that doesn’t mean that will always be true. So for now… focus on what I can do.”

Instead of fighting with his insistent and probably correct weapon any longer, Randidly put his other hand on Acri and walked out of his tent. Like spring-loaded children’s toys, both Zauna and Salazar were thrown upward to their feet as Randidly walked out of the tent and appeared before them.

“D-d-d-do we h-have another m-m-mission?” Salazar squeaked. His scaly arms were wrapped around his torso, nursing the shallow remnants of a wound on the ribs he had sustained in the large scale Nether attack. Because their assistance around Randidly hadn’t been necessary, Randidly had ordered that they go assist with holding the line. Zauna had managed it alright, but Salazar…

The tragedy is he is probably the more powerful of the two, Randidly thought tiredly as he looked at his wounded subordinate. But his fear… he carries it with him constantly. Unless he can find a way to manage it…

“Not yet,” Randidly finally said. Then he forced some cheer into his expression as he smiled at both of them. “But if either of you is interested in a spar… I was about to go train.”

“I-I’m okay.” Salazar raised his hands and gestured frantically to push Randidly away. Then he snake man returned to his seat, his gaze fixed on the dusty and cracked ground. Randidly’s gaze lingered on the man for several seconds, torn between going with his planned training to clear his mind and trying to do something about Salazar’s funk.

...but the honest truth is that, right now, I might be just as frazzled as he is. Randidly thought as the smile faded from his face. The truth of Nadia and Kalim’s failure still tainted his outlook. Then Randidly clenched his jaw. And this… is definitely an area in which I am extremely weak. I know how to lead by example… but to directly cheer up a subordinate… ah damn, it sucks to think that Donny is probably a better leader in that manner than I am…

Randidly shook his head. But isn’t that why I left Donnyton to him…?

“...I’ll do it…”

Randidly blinked and turned to find Zauna looking at him with a stern expression.

Suddenly, Randidly grinned, one hundred percent genuine. “...alright then. Let’s work off some of the tension we have, shall we?”