Chapter 1227 (2/2)

But after the Xyrt Brigade Squad arrived four days ago, they had immediately begun working weaving something around the Nether. Something extremely familiar. Even the interviews regarding the disappearance of the Squad Leader from the Xyrt Brigade had waited until they had the initial perimeter set up around the Nether King.

“...I can’t tell for sure, but the weave they are creating looks very similar to how the Nether King originally was. They might be… attempting to restore the Nether King to its previous form. Where the engine in its chest was restrained…” Randidly spoke slowly. His language underplayed the truth that he saw, but it was pretty clear that the weave was exactly the same as the one Randidly remembered ‘opening’ to distract Ileot.

But despite his ambiguous statement, Vualla’s eyes narrowed in understanding. “As if the original Nether King we fought had already been… treated by the Xyrt Brigade. As if it is an artificial construct.”

“Yes.” Sighing, Randidly stood and rolled his shoulders. Even now, his left arm ached slightly. Sulfur hummed apologetically and Randidly used his right hand to pat the armor that still covered his left arm. I’ll need to make another left arm when I have time… I’ve gotten quite a bit better at Engraving since incorporating the Akashic Records into Yggdrasil, so I should be able to create a pretty good replacement limb…

But while Randidly was distracted, Vualla’s sharp mind continued to cut at the issue at hand. “You also said that you gained quite a few Levels fighting against the Nether Beasts, correct? Just like most soldiers can Level up their Great Fates by fighting against the creatures of Nether… if the two energies were as incompatible as they make it seem, where does the experience we get come from?”

“Vualla, experience has always been a rather nebulous concept-” Randidly began to caution, but she already worked up quite a bit of momentum.

“You are the perfect example: both Aether and Nether mix freely in your body and your growth is positively explosive. Heh, do you know how much I need to work to stay ahead of you in terms of strength? Using both Aether and Nether seems like a secret that’s been purposefully kept from us. Quite convenient then that there is an eternal war between the two energies. And when a Nether King is wounded the Xyrt Brigade arrives to weave something around it?”

“It’s definitely suspicious,” Randidly repeated. But then he reached out and squeezed Vualla’s arm. They simply had too little information. “There’s definitely a secret there. But there’s one fact you are ignoring right now; the war against Nether was going on in the life of the original Vualla, even before the Xyrt Brigade was founded. So the war was probably originally real.”

“And the easiest way to find the truth is to rise in the ranks of the Xyrt Brigade,” Vualla said quietly. Her azure eyes were bright as she looked over toward Randidly. All of her energy disappeared and she simply stared at him.

I have to do this, Randidly Ghosthound. Don’t try to stop me.

Just because you have to do it, doesn’t mean I have to like it, Vualla Meteo.

They didn’t speak, but they didn’t have to. At almost the same moment, both of their eyes softened. With a sigh, Vualla leaned forward and pressed her head against Randidly’s left shoulder. Randidly rolled his eyes at her weird fixation with overly large limbs but didn’t say anything about it.

For a few minutes, they simply were near each other.

“I’ll be safe,” Vualla said as she straightened. When Randidly gave her a suspicious look, she laughed and elaborated. “Safer than you. Aren’t you worried you have your own ancient Nexus citizen active on your home planet.”

“Honestly, I’m pretty sure she predates Nexus citizenship,” Randidly admitted while thinking about the Creature. “But yea. It’s hard for me to believe she’s going to let things end like this after I banished her from my Alpha Cosmos…”

At the mention of the Alpha Cosmos, Vualla’s smiled. “I still need to visit the world that lives inside your body. Hopefully, the Xyrt Brigade has vacations too…”

After exchanging a few more light pleasantries, Randidly left and returned to his tent. But when he arrived at the drab canvas, he immediately brightened to see that there was a familiar, animal-looking soldier waiting outside of his tent holding a scroll. As Randidly pondered what the man’s name was, he walked up and smiled.

“That for me?”

The soldier nodded, met Randidly’s eyes, flushed, looked at the ground, and then offered Randidly the scroll. But the strange reaction triggered something in Randidly’s brain. After a brief frown, Randidly’s expression cleared up. “Your name is… Heiffal right?”

“Yes sir,” The soldier said with his gaze still on the ground.

Inwardly, Randidly sighed as he took the scroll from Heiffal and unrolled it. This young man was one of the duplicated individuals that had managed to survive Ileot’s strange mental attack due to the stabilizing influence of Salazar. Which was obviously a blessing, but the situation of the duplicated individuals grew increasingly complicated during the Xyrt Brigade’s investigations.

After all, the didn’t report to any of the original Commanders that were on the frontlines. If they used their actual identities, it was unclear how high command would respond. During the rebuilding phase, it was rather simple for the group that only numbered about eight hundred to slip under the radar. Especially with Lady Iellaya’s assistance. But Lady Iellaya had quite the headache trying to figure out what to do with them.

If Randidly hadn’t been planning on taking a vacation from his place at the frontline, he actually planned on helping them. They could be transferred to his newly created Commandership and probably slip under the radar.

But based on what they went through, they will need a lot of support… they’ve dealt with a lot of shocks recently… Without me or Salazar there grounding them, some of those mental wounds will resurface. And even some of them have already…

For a brief second, Randidly pressed his eyes closed. It was something of an open secret that there had been originally twelve hundred or so duplicated survivors. Yet every night, the guards would turn a blind eye to the East gate and allow soldiers to walk alone out from the refugee camp toward the Great Rift.

Despite the bitter plight of the duplicated individuals, Randidly’s mood improved as he read the scroll. His request for a vacation had been approved by high command. Upon the first of the month, Randidly would be free for six months of vacation leave. He wasn’t quite sure where they currently were on the Nexus calendar, but Randidly was under the impression that meant he would only need to be here for a little under three weeks.

When Randidly lowered the scroll to thank Heiffal, Heiffal instead spoke and interrupted him. “Sir? Can I ask you a favor?”

“What is it?” Randidly asked. Heiffal’s anxious voice made him cautious.

After another hesitation, Heiffal quickly said. “Well… we understand that you are going on vacation. And we… a lot of us… don’t want to be here anymore. On the front lines. And no one will miss us when we are gone… So we hope… we hope you can take us with you.”

Randidly blinked. He hadn’t even thought to try and smuggle all the duplicated individuals out. For other people, it would be almost impossible. But for Randidly…

Randidly Ghosthound smiled.