The Depths smelled like rot, blood, and, for some reason, melted caramel.
Julius's stomach growled like a Kraken on a bad day.
"Reinhart," he mumbled, one eye half-closed. "I can't feel my legs."
"You've said that five times in the last ten minutes."
"I think my legs are eating themselves, man…"
Reinhart ignored him, scanning the terrain. The ruins had faded into a more open cavern — blue-glowing crystals hung from the ceiling like teeth, and puddles shimmered with unnatural reflections.
Then Julius gasped.
There it was. Sitting on a stone like a gift from the heavens:
A perfectly roasted drumstick. Slightly glowing. Smelled like smoked honey and spice.
"FOOOOD!!!"
Before Reinhart could say a word, Julius lunged, mouth open, and chomped down on the mysterious meat like a starving beast.
"JU—" Reinhart started.
Too late.
A sudden whoosh cut the air. Wind-charged pressure exploded from behind.
"That was mine."
A figure blurred into view — tall, edgy armor barely holding together, eyes baggy, cloak torn. He looked like someone who hadn't bathed since he fell into the Depths.
A Voidwalker.
A bad one.
"Y-you—" The Voidwalker hissed. "I spent days marinating that thresher meat with actual Depths pepper. You think you can just eat my meal?!"
Julius was mid-bite. "Thresher meat???"
He gagged slightly, but then chewed again. "Eh, not bad."
The Voidwalker snapped.
He raised his sword — a ridiculous chocolate-themed weapon with a cherry pommel and frosting edge.
The Fondant Splitter.
Wind condensed around the blade as the Voidwalker launched forward, aiming a headshot at Julius with deadly speed.
But right before it could land — CLANG.
The sword halted. Inches from Julius's temple.
Reinhart was already there. Arm raised, one foot planted solid in the earth, his own weapon still sheathed.
His eyes didn't blink.
He didn't even look angry.
Just... tired of this nonsense.
The Voidwalker looked at his blade in shock.
"Wha—"
Too late.
Clatter.
The Fondant Splitter fell to the ground.
Julius glanced at it, eyes wide.
He said nothing.
Just leapt.
CHOMP.
Gone.
In half a second, the Voidwalker's prized family weapon — forged from the sacred Cocoa Caverns of the Sweetlayer, gifted by his grandfather on his 10th birthday — was devoured.
"..."
The Voidwalker stared at the spot. Then stared at Julius.
Then just… started crying.
"G-grandpa gave me that…"
Julius, chewing loudly, reached into his pouch and tossed a slice of his pocket Megurger toward the Voidwalker.
"Aight. Fair trade."
The Voidwalker looked down at the soggy, lukewarm, possibly expired megurger slice.
Then at Julius, who was now full and slowly tipping backward with a snore.
"You little—"
He lunged again, fists raised, fury boiling.
But just as he reached him— WHAM.
Someone slammed into him from the side.
Not a monster.
Not Reinhart.
Just a streak of panicked wind, arms flailing, eyes wild.
Subaru.
"MOVE I'M BUSY—"
The Voidwalker was launched off the platform.
Straight.
Into.
Layer 2.
Reinhart's eyes widened. "Wait—"
Subaru didn't even turn around. He shouted over his shoulder:
"Too far for me to think about it!"
And just like that, he was gone again. Wind trailing behind him like a storm that forgot what direction was.
Silence Returns
Julius snored under the rock.
The Voidwalker was gone forever.
Reinhart stood still for a moment, eyes scanning where Subaru vanished.
"...I miss when the worst we dealt with were crabs," he muttered.
A gust of faint wind blew by.
It smelled faintly of cooked meat.
Side Chapter 13.5 – "I Miss the Surface…"
A quiet cave.Shimmering water. A flickering lantern.And the distant sound of a crab choking on a rock. Somehow.
Julius sat against the stone wall with a megurger in one hand and the last melted trace of the Fondant Splitter stuck to his cheek.
Reinhart crouched by the edge of a shallow pool, watching the way the ripples curved unnaturally — even water didn't behave right down here.
"So..." Julius bit into the megurger and talked with his mouth full. "How would you rate today on a scale from, like, bad... to catastrophic?"
Reinhart didn't answer right away. He looked at his reflection in the water. His hair was a mess. His shoulder was bruised. And there was a faint chocolate smear across his sword from earlier.
"Catastrophic," he said finally. "But only because the Voidwalker cried."
Julius held up a finger. "He did cry hard, man. That hit different."
A beat of silence passed.
"You know," Julius added, "I think that sword might've actually been cursed."
"Everything in the Depths is cursed."
"Yeah, but this was deliciously cursed."
Reinhart chuckled under his breath.
Then Julius leaned his head back and stared at the jagged ceiling.
"Rein... is it always gonna be like this?"
"Like what?"
"You know. Dumb. Wild. Like... we barely live, and then something even dumber happens."
Reinhart considered it.
Then said:
"Yeah. Probably."
Julius sighed and nodded. "Cool, cool. Just needed to mentally prepare."
They sat like that for a while, with no real goal, no pressure. Just two friends sitting in the belly of a cursed world, having barely survived another nonsense encounter.
Then Reinhart, softly, started humming again.
The same haunting tune from earlier.
Julius didn't stop him this time.