Flowers Planted with Care Become Willows (Continued)

—I didn't intend to kill her, I just made her pass out.

As she thought this, her heartbeat and blood flow unconsciously quickened slightly—a destructive urge, the strange feeling of crushing Persephone's wrist on the bed, filled her. It spread around her, making her unconsciously... grit even harder.

Apply more force.

A little harder.

Until the girl in his arms stopped moving. Until—

She suddenly shivered.

The hand loosened, and the white-haired, red-eyed girl fell to the ground with a soft 'thud'. This was because of a severe lack of oxygen to her brain, causing a temporary shock. If this continued, Skadi might be completely finished in a while, perhaps becoming the first Abyssal Hunter in history to be strangled to death in the wasteland.

Skadi is not dead.

But he was not far from death.

While, given her physical strength, simple suffocation might take over three hours to become fatal, if her spine were crushed and her central nervous system destroyed by finger pressure, then even someone as strong as Skadi would not be far from death.

"What's wrong with me?" Surtr instinctively took a step back. She looked at her white hands, which were clearly part of her, yet felt somewhat unfamiliar. "I... I only wanted to knock her out."

—So why didn't I just go around behind her and knock her unconscious, instead of taking this unnecessary step?

"I did this to lower her guard so that she wouldn't resist and end up hurting herself."

—Ridiculous. If I were to act directly and forcefully, Skadi wouldn't be able to harm herself even with all her might. Just as she couldn't leave a single mark on me even with all her strength. If I wanted, I could even dislocate her jaw before she could bite off her own tongue.

His expression shifted between light and shadow, his gaze flickering unpredictably. Surtr carefully recalled every subtle change in his emotions, peeling away and analyzing the feelings that preceded his actions.

She came to a conclusion.

—I am enjoying myself.

—I... enjoy the feeling of dominating and hurting others.

—No, not other people. It's the people close to me. I can derive happiness from this.

A terrifying thought surfaced in her mind. She instinctively wanted to reject it, to deny it. Yet the facts before her and the memories in her mind both proved it to her. Proved that this was indeed her predilection, her true nature.

She still remembers what kind of person she was before she traveled through time.

An ordinary, mediocre person, unremarkable and unproductive. Her favorite pastime is playing computer games. Through virtual battles and virtual killings, she releases the pent-up frustration from the oppression she endures in society. Then, the next morning, she's a quiet, well-behaved, beautiful young woman again.

She calls herself an LSP (Likely a person with sexual innuendo) because in her past Arknights, she was indeed very interested in those erotic games. She always identified with the male protagonist or the one in control. And in those game storylines, there were always dark chapters where those who were in the 2D world were the ones who took the lead, but in the 3D world, anyone who dared to show their face would be met with a heavy blow.

She thought she would only think about it in her head.

In the past, she had indeed only ever thought about it in her head.

But now—

"Why... why did I become like this?" She reached out and groped around in the air behind her. Only when her fingertips touched Laevateinn did her mind calm down a little.

Just a little bit.

—I just want to get along well with everyone. I just want to have a few friends!

—I...I don't want to hurt them. I just want to protect them, take care of them, not let them get hurt!

"No, no, this is wrong!" She subconsciously took two steps back and shook her head vigorously.

She denied such behavior. But she did not deny the fact.

Because no matter what, no matter how she tried to justify it, Skadi, who had almost lost her life, fell at her feet.

—I didn't kill her; I finally stopped.

—But I can indeed derive pleasure from killing her... Ah, is that why Persephone treated Theresia the way she did? Then... will I become like her in the future?

—If only I had known this would happen. I shouldn't have opened that door two days ago!

His heart clenched violently, and the newly opened door to his heart trembled slightly. A faint light flickered within its deepest recesses, as if it might vanish into nothingness at any moment.

Until--

Until a slight burning sensation came from my fingertips.

Burning pain, the pain of being scalded by flames.

In this world, there is only one kind of pain that can make her feel pain. And it is only the flame of pain.

"Laevateinn ..." A familiar touch came from her fingertips. The only thing in the whole world that could put her at ease was quietly held in her palm.

They remained silent, offering their support without uttering a word.

So she took a deep breath.

"I... am Surtr."

"It's not someone else, not a past life, not some random thing, it's just Surtr."

"I will stand here, I will do anything, I will make any judgment, all for one reason."

"For no other reason than that Because I Am Surtr."

Close your eyes and slowly exhale the hot breath you inhaled. When you open your eyes again, all the hesitation in your gaze has vanished.

Repeat it three times to rediscover yourself; this is Iron Rule that has never wavered.

She gripped the sword tightly in her hand.

"I need to think things through calmly. I cannot let a momentary emotional lapse lead me to rashly overturn a decision that I have carefully considered."

"... Let's go back to Chernobog first. Hand Skadi over to Persephone; with her ability to open a briefcase, it shouldn't be difficult to persuade Skadi and correct her flawed logic."

"Then, I'll think about it more carefully."

Her toes touched the ground, and the land within a hundred meters radius was covered with spiderweb-like cracks. Skadi, who had been unconscious, was lifted into the air by the shockwave, and then she grabbed the deep-sea girl by the back of the neck. She then headed towards Chernobog.

She remained within the invisible realm of distorted light and shadow, and the distant distance was rapidly shortened in a very short time.

It took her fifteen minutes to leave Chernobog and reach the ruins to the south.

On the way back, she spent less than ten minutes.

The city beneath her feet was exactly the same as when she left. And as she gracefully landed on the top of the research building where Persephone was located, she saw the Maiden Doctor from Rhodes Island standing on the edge of the rooftop.