Awakened: SSS Ranked Soul king

Around a few hundred meters away from the outpost's left gate.

"This is a good distance," Victoria said calmly, looking at the outpost from the distance.

Cyrus thought himself and his cohort too important, giving such conditions in a cooperation. Did he think they were helpless without them?

"Sure…" smiling bitterly, Jemie walked forward. In his hand was a black bow with intricate designs and a tight string. He looked like he was about to shoot a few things down.

"Yeah, aim with absolute precision," Victoria patted him on the back and went to sit beside Guilliman.

The left side of the gate was much more crowded than the right side; it was teeming with grand beasts, hence their decision to let it be.

However, this was no longer an option, so they had to find a way to enter that gate and slay as many beasts as they could. It was the first of many steps in getting to the tunnel down below.

"Hmmm," taking in a huge breath of air, Jemie's feet glowed with a particular luster as if they were braces on it.

Before they knew it, he was in the air, his bow nocked and his gaze fixed.

‑wang

The air around exploded in a puff as Jemie released an arrow made of golden energy. It flew through the air into the outpost and pierced a simple flower tucked right beside a wall.

Immediately after, a gust of poison smoke filled the air as a sort of defense mechanism.

In as much as the grand stage stalk beasts were dangerous. The most dangerous thing by far in the outpost were these little flower things and their poison.

They lay tucked away, hidden in corners by walls, but at the sight of any human they would immediately fill the place with poison smoke.

They were the real threat there, and their first course of action was to pick them off one after the other.

Meanwhile,

"Are you okay?" Guilliman, seated right next to Victoria, asked, seeing the look of vexation in her eyes. Clearly, being labeled as an ambitious woman who would get all of them killed stung her badly.

He could remember that was the exact reason she had stranglers like himself on her team. According to her, she didn't want to be blamed for anyone's death the same way no one would be blamed for hers.

"Never let anyone persuade you that strength and cowardice can coexist. This is but a cunning myth—a tool wielded by the powerful to keep the weak confined to their limitations—Nephis Grayback," Victoria quoted, then turned to look at Guilliman with the side of her eyes.

"Not everyone understands why I'm sometimes a bit extreme, I'm sure you do…but they seem to think I'm crazy. Who wants to die? Not me. I have a lot to live for; my father's powerful—I can get whatever I want, whenever I want. Why would I want to die?"

These extreme actions are what differentiate those who will sit at the top and those who will follow behind. I don't know about the rest of you…but I don't want to sit on the sidelines and let my fate be dictated by a bunch of idiots who were brave enough to go forward into danger and reap rewards," Victoria spoke with a firm tone.

Forget the fact that they had no choice, even if going back was absolutely safe. She would be against it. They were slayers; they were meant to kill monsters. Really, what was a mythic beast that they couldn't handle? Massive, powerful, and deadly, but she had seen these beasts turned to mince meat by powerful humans before—what was the difference between her and these people? Why should she be afraid of a mythic creature? Why should she be afraid of death?

"Haha, you're asking me? I can be a bit extreme myself, you know," Guilliman smiled.

Of course, taking the initiative was important, but also understanding risks and limitations was important. He was sure Victoria knew this; if not, she wouldn't have survived this long with only that mentality.

"Yes, I can tell," Victoria broke into a smile. It was nice having people who thought alike around; most of the members of the cohort saw her as this confident, crazy person who would win against every and anything…but she wasn't.

She was just brave and understood that risks were important for growth.

"Go easy on Cyrus, though… you understand why he's like that, right?" Guilliman suddenly spoke.

He could understand why Victoria saw the need to justify what she was doing. Deep down, she knew some people would die; she didn't hope for it, but she knew so she spoke to the only person that seemed to be okay with it.

But Guilliman also understood not just her point of view but also that of Cyrus.

From what he had heard from Morgan, a few people had already died in their cohort during this journey, so clearly Cyrus had no problem with taking risks.

Instead, he had a problem with others deciding what risks he should take, and it all stemmed from the feeling of his cohort being hijacked.

"I… understand. It's not my fault, though—he's just a shitty leader," Victoria sneered after nodding.

"Haha!! I know, right? No wonder Barthold chose to join you. That's saying a lot—I'm sure your recruiting speech went something like, 'you'll probably die, but if you follow me you'll die strong,'" Guilliman laughed, causing Victoria to be a bit embarrassed as his face became suddenly red.

That truly was what she said, though not in the same words.

"Uhhh…I'm done with the ones in this corner, let's move."

As they were both laughing, Jemie walked over and looked a bit confused. When did these two become so close?

"Oh yeah, we should hurry up before Mr. Cyrus stages a coup," Victoria smiled, standing up from the ground.

She then extended her hand and pulled Guilliman up with her.

"Weird," Jemie saw this scene and frowned with some realization.