A week after the trio’s talk on the edge of Lady Iellaya’s fortifications, Randidly Ghosthound kneeled next to the still breathing corpse of Ileot Swacc and sighed. Of the original three, Lady Iellaya was not present, occupied as she now constantly was by re-establishing a semblance of command on the frontline.

Only a half-meter away from Randidly, Ileot’s face was twisted into a grimace and his eyes were squinting with the strain of making out a distant object. His own hands were at his throat, the fingers tense with the strain of squeezing his own windpipe shut. The hairless skin of Ileot’s neck was sweat and red.

The most ominous detail of the strange posture was that the tips of Ileot’s fingers were almost completely covered in a black substance. The latex-like covering of the duplicated Vualla had seized control of his hands and used them to wrestle Ileot into eternal submission. Thick, bulging black veins wound their way up from Ileot’s fingers to his arms, showing the extent of the influence that the duplicated Vualla wielded against him.

I guess this too, is karma… Randidly thought as he studied the scene. Even with his windpipe almost entirely shut, Ileot still released whisper-like breaths. And Randidly couldn’t extinguish the fear in his heart that Ileot would manage someday to revive himself, just like the original Vualla had.

Vualla says the original assured her that it was only because of the energy that I donated to Vualla that she was awakened… and it was only because of the very direct connection between the original and the array on the frontlines that she siphoned off enough energy to eventually manifest in Vualla’s body. Randidly’s emerald eyes were chillingly cold as he looked toward Ileot’s helpless form. Even those though events are positively impossible to be duplicated, as long as Eliot still lives…

Eliot, the duplicated version of the original Ileot, had not awoken yet from the coma he was sent into from his experience near the Nether King. Randidly knew that the safest choice was to kill Eliot, but also knew that wasn’t really an option. Especially when it seemed like Eliot’s life would flicker out at any moment all on its own.

Yet Randidly also knew that letting Eliot live was the choice he needed to make. Because justifying the death of an innocent in order to save others later reminded Randidly of Lyra’s arguments about working with the Creature.

“It’s almost creepy,” Randidly said softly to distract himself from his line of thoughts. Vualla unsteepled her fingers and nodded in agreement. With both of her hands, Vualla gathered up the waterfall of her azure hair and tied it back into a ponytail, barring her neck and jaw.

They were in a small stone alcove some distance in the opposite direction of the Great Rift away from the refugee camp. Until Vualla was ready to head back to the Nexus proper and make the switch between the original Vualla’s body and lleot’s, this was where she stored the breathing corpse. With the refugee camp largely healed and regrouped, Randidly finally found the time to come out and see what remained of the foe that could duplicate entire worlds.

As he suspected, Randidly felt no comfort in seeing Ileot so restrained. If anything, it made him more wary of a comeback. Still, putting to bed his worry about Ileot wasn’t the main reason Randidly had come out here.

Standing casually, Randidly glanced at Vualla and asked, “When are you leaving for the Inverted Spire?”

Vualla raised her arms over her head and cracked her knuckles. “Another week. Lady Iellaya’s been telling me as much information as she can about the Xyrt Brigade, but there just isn’t that much that is known.” Then Vualla shook her head in exasperation. “They launch offensive’s into the core realms of Nether, but there never is any concrete result from those offensives. In addition, one of the Xyrt Brigade’s claims to fame is the very low fatality rate… but how important can these missions be if so few people perish while deep in the Great Rift…? It’s not called the Safe Rift for a reason...”

Even though Randidly wanted to ask Vualla not to go, he kept his mouth shut and just smiled. Her departing worried him more than Ileot did. But Randidly couldn’t decide if it were his instincts giving him that worry or his own possessiveness trying to keep his crush near him. With the Philosopher’s Key and the Aether connection, it’s not like distance means that much. But… this last week has been nice. Sparring here, spending time together...

Instead of vocalizing the confusing longing in his chest, Randidly opened his mouth and said, “The Xyrt Brigade would have you believe that is simply because of how powerful they are.”

Vualla rolled her eyes. “While the original Vualla was controlling me to stop Ileot’s plan, I… killed a representative from the Xyrt Brigade. That’s why we had to do those repeated rounds of interviews yesterday, they were looking for clues on his disappearance… and I mean, he was strong, stronger than I am now, but the original Vualla could just rip-”

Abruptly, Vualla fell silent as er face grew slightly green. She pressed her eyes closed. It was only after she took an extra second to gather herself and shake her head that she continued speaking. “...he definitely wasn’t as strong as Lady Iellaya. And he was apparently a Squad Leader. He wasn’t just rank and file. They are definitely stronger than most, but they aren’t that invincible. It’s suspicious.”

And of course, you are someone who runs directly toward the suspicious things… and I cannot deny I would do the same if it wasn’t for the threat against the Earth...

Almost unbidden, Randidly’s fingers drifted down to touch the cool gold of the Philosopher’s Key. Instantly, complex lines of karma crisscrossed in Randidly’s vision. He couldn’t truly parse apart the karma to somehow understand people, but he could use the vision to detect what was connected to what.

Which was a very effective way of telling if the original Vualla was present inside of the Vualla that Randidly had first met. To his relief, she was not; she must be managing other preparations for recovering her physical body. He and Vualla were truly alone. Not that Randidly didn’t trust the original Vualla. But some of the original’s silence during their earlier discussions about the Great Rift reminded Randidly of the attitude of a faux-oblivious parent while children talked about a subject they weren’t quite ready to understand yet.

Being alone like this was probably why Vualla was taking the opportunity to bring these things up.

Well… Randidly glanced sideways at the twisted fingers of Ileot Swacc. Alone might be a stretch. But I don’t think either of them cares very much about our suspicions.

“...if you are saying that the Xyrt Brigade is hiding something, I agree. Because of that, it seems… dangerous for you to just walk into their training center. Considering your identity and their earlier planned cooperation with Ileot Swacc, it is practically guaranteed that they know… who you are.” At the last moment, Randidly switched from saying ‘what’ to ‘who’. “You are definitely the one who has grown the most on the frontlines, but it worries me that you were the only one singled out to join the Xyrt Brigade.”

“Are you saying I should go then?” She asked lightly. Her eyes flashed and she tilted her head to the side. Her heavy ponytail swung gently side to side.

Of course, I want you not to go. But… Randidly couldn’t bring himself to ask Vualla not to go. It wasn’t fair of him. After all, what would Vualla do if she didn’t go to the Xyrt Brigade training ground? Simply wait here on the frontlines for Randidly? After all, Randidly planned on spending six months observing the situation on Earth. She wasn’t an attendant that would just accompany him his entire life.

Stolen story; please report.

That wasn’t the sort of woman that Vualla was. That was exactly the reason that Randidly felt so connected with her.

Vualla’s mouth tightened stubbornly and Randidly knew that she could see the spinning wheels of his thoughts behind the hesitation. But instead of acknowledging it, she ignored it. Because a part of her had already decided that she needed to put herself at risk to understand the secret of the Xyrt Brigade.

We are both so hard-headed. The corner of Randidly’s mouth quirked upward without humor. I suppose we deserve each other. After all, I won’t discuss putting off my extended return to Earth either… we both have things we believe we need to do…

“Have you been able to sense what the Xyrt Brigade Squad is doing to the Nether King?” Vualla asked to bring the subject back to the original topic.

After nodding, Randidly reached up and rubbed his chin. “Yea and you’re right, that’s most of the reason that I think your suspicions are correct. The Xyrt Brigade isn’t trying to harm the Nether King as far as I can tell. They are… weaving something around its dormant form.”

“If not to injure… to suppress it? Perhaps its something like Lord Miln harvested the Nether Prince? A Nether King is likely more valuable.” Vualla frowned over at Randidly.

For a few seconds, Randidly hesitated. For the past week, the Nether King continued to be basically unmoving, only humming softly as it continued to refine Nether around it into a complex flow. In a way, the gradual increase in density in the area would eventually become a problem for the frontline, but they had already lost most of the original base and pulled back to their current position. The threat was one that wouldn’t manifest in the short term and therefore didn’t seem like it should draw the immediate attention of the Xyrt Brigade.

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.