"Does it hurt terribly? What does that kind of pain feel like?"
Beside him, Cortana's blue, glowing face froze for a moment, as if she were pondering what pain was.
"Cortana, focus the camera on Achilles' feet."
"Yes, Doctor."
Upon hearing Halsey's order, Cortana's holographic body flickered with a phantom image before beginning to assist with the operation.
William watched through the glass as the mechanical arm moved downward.
Then he shifted his gaze to the screen in the upper-left corner.
Achilles' feet looked "brand-new," without the slightest wound. They looked nothing like feet that had been pierced by an arrow.
"Turn him over," Halsey said calmly.
"Yes."
Under Cortana's control, four small mechanical arms gently lifted Achilles and turned him over.
The result was the same.
Seeing this, William combined it with the inscription from the tomb and turned to the perpetually aloof Halsey, guessing, "Catherine, does this demigod have an incredibly powerful healing ability?"
"Maybe." Halsey did not deny the possibility.
However...
For a mighty warrior who was half-human and half-god to have been tortured to death by pain would have been truly pathetic.
That was probably why, three thousand years ago, people had glossed over the cause of Achilles' death when writing the inscription, so as not to tarnish his sacred image.
Then.
Halsey said to Cortana again, "Cortana, first try drawing blood simultaneously from Achilles' neck and heel."
"Yes, Doctor."
Before Cortana had even finished responding, she had already set two mechanical arms equipped with needles to work in sync.
Crack—!
The metal needle at his neck snapped with a crisp sound as the mechanical arm gradually applied force.
It could not be inserted.
By contrast, the mechanical arm at his right heel operated smoothly. The needle easily pierced his skin, and scarlet blood flowed through