Chapter 1337 (2/2)

Rose Calloway sighed and tapped her fingernail against the clipboard in her hands. “Is there any point to being here? The Order Ducis’s patrols are so extensive that we can’t even see Kharon from here.”

Ace leisurely tossed his black motorcycle helmet from one hand to the other. “There is definitely meaning in being here. I know you don’t have a top-tier grasp of images, but can’t you feel it? Every second that Kharon remains in place, a little bit more of that image seeps into this place. Randidly’s power has reached the point that he affects the terrain around him. Feeling that power… it helps me understand the way I need to improve.”

“And yet you seem to think that fighting against him is a smart idea,” Rose shook her head.

“I’m not fighting against him, I’m helping by serving as a foil. Look at all this,” Ace waved a hand at the peaceful woods and low hills between their current position and Kharon. Below them, a few groups walked along the low road that led to the nearest Manatech Rail Station. “Randidly Ghosthound forcefully founded the greatest alliance on Earth since the System to fight the first of many dangerous threats coming our way and people walk away from it feeling relaxed. Although Randidly tried to use his power to make them feel threatened, it has paradoxically only deepened their misunderstandings about the System; they feel like they can always rely on him to save them.

“Since explanations from the Ghosthound himself seem ineffective, someone else needs to step up in his place and teach these people a lesson. He will be the carrot, and I the stick.”

Rose scribbled something on the clipboard in front of her, looked down at it, and then frowned. “You are using Rousing Speech again. You know I hate it when you try to influence me with Skills. It’s pointless, too. Aren’t I already your subordinate?”

“Bah, just a habit at this point.” Ace waved a hand. Then he clenched that hand into a fist. “The Earth has to survive. And Randidly and I are the only two who see it. We are the only ones willing to put ourselves out there to save this world. I won’t let him down.”

For a moment, Rose opened her mouth. She thought about pointing out the fact that she had watched Ace slowly lose himself to the inferiority complex that he felt toward his former friend. Or she thought about addressing the deep loneliness growing in Ace’s chest that Rose Calloway had been helpless against since things fell to pieces between Roy, Sydney, and Ace all those years ago.

She thought about pointing out that Randidly definitely did not think they were in this together, and would likely have responded very violently to many of the things that Ace had been doing for the sake of the ‘Earth’.

But deep down, Rose shared the same pessimistic view on people that had driven Ace to this point; she didn’t believe they would come around on their own. They would continue to fall back on selfish infighting at the first opportunity. So even though his methods were growing increasingly wild, Rose closed her mouth and said nothing as Ace looked with almost feverish eyes in the direction of Kharon.

Her thoughts would likely have turned into a stewing form of depression if not for her hand quickly sketching out something on the clipboard. She glanced down out of reflex, then groaned in pain as the strange sigil her hand had carved onto the paper seemed to pierce upward through her eyes and directly into her soul. Someone was utilizing their Fate, and considering the power-

Hastily, she shouted. “Ace!”

“I feel it. Heh. Tell him hi, from me,” Ace said with remarkable cheer for a man about to abandon a comrade. Then his whole body turned red and he exploded in a wave of blood that splattered across the stones beneath them.

Rose was just about to frown in annoyance, but then the world behind where Ace had been standing parted and a taloned hand reached out and ripped through the air with enough violence that Rose’s hand spasmed trying to capture the Skill he used. Then there was a slightly awkward pause before the very human form of Randidly Ghosthound stepped out through the portal and looked around.

Rose hadn’t seen Randidly Ghosthound and several years, and he hadn’t really changed physically. But his force of presence… almost immediately, to Rose’s senses that detected the use of Skils, he became the center of the world. Even just standing there, there were at least a dozen powerful passive Skills operating.

He pursed his lips when his eyes landed on Rose. “I felt the Creature’s memories so I… huh. I suppose that makes sense. So it was you and Ace who took them?”

“...yes,” Rose said as she raised her chin. The very air still trembled from the ferocity of that last claw attack that had missed and her heart was pounding at the lie, but Rose refused to be cowed. She stopped marking down Randidly’s Skills; there wasn’t any point. Besides, there was no reason to throw their two companions under the bus, especially when Ace had been effectively monopolizing the memories for himself. “Ace says hi, by the way.”

Randidly’s expression creased in a dark expression. His emerald eyes glowed brightly, despite the afternoon light. His black hair fell messily across his head, but the intensity of his person seemed to seep slowly out and fill the air. It was like the longer she stood near to him, the more she could feel him. I get it Ace, this is why you still wanted to look toward Kharon. Because you could feel this influence.

After clenching his jaw, Randidly shook his head. “...so he has a surprise for me, huh?”

To her surprise, the physical presence of Randidly Ghosthound was enough to make Rose open her mouth and prepare to tell him about it almost immediately. And her hand didn’t even move; so he hadn’t used an extra Skill. He just has enough force to him that I instinctively wanted to explain the plan…? He has become even more monstrous.

“...yes,” Rose eventually forced out through gritted teeth.

After clicking his tongue, Randidly Ghosthound turned away and took a step back through the portal. As it slowly began to close, he looked back over his shoulder. “Fine. Let him know that if he attempts to do anything foolish with those memories… I’ll have a surprise for him.”

Then the portal closed and Rose collapsed, struggling to control her breathing.