Because I Am Surtr Chapter 19

"The words of the strong carry weight; the words of the weak are worthless. This world had always been this way. It was so in the past, and it remained so now."

Then she saw scarlet heat waves boiling up around the giant.

The giant was ready.

And the giant's shield and halberd followed in rapid succession.

Fortunately, Arknights' bait hadn't killed me yet. Though operators getting personal storylines was a bit troublesome. But the setting of Infinite Flow Dream Realm existed precisely for this—after Chernobog was over, I could visit other worlds, slipping Arknights content in between, and wouldn't have to worry about getting stabbed in the back.

Also, I knew Patriot's throat hadn't actually gone bad at this point in time, but considering the need to portray his character traits... let's just say he burned out his throat early. ()

Section 18: Another One Settled

One slash split apart, one halberd came together; one meant life and death, the other decided victory and defeat.

The battle ended in an instant, and from the very beginning, Bodegard had not possessed even the slightest chance of victory.

The armor covering his entire body had been shattered. Of his heavy, sturdy greatshield, only melted and fractured metal remained. His halberd, along with his black mask, had been split down the middle, exposing his savage face—where Originium growths had already spread to his features—to the scorching air.

He could never have won from the start—how could an aged, gravely ill, solitary general contend against world-shaking flames that made all Terra tremble? He had exhausted every ounce of strength and employed every tactic he could conceive of, yet the final result was still nothing.

The Fire Giant King was called the Fire Giant King because, when Surtr fought at her "full strength" in that form, entwined flames swirled around her, forming giant-like armor that enveloped her body. Within that flaming shield lay layers of high temperature, high pressure, and force arranged into an ideal self-sustaining structure. Not even an army, not even naval artillery, could easily shake it in the slightest.

The disparity in size and strength had been leveled, or even overwhelmingly reversed. He held no advantage whatsoever in skill or stamina, either. And when Laevateinn swung down several times in succession, its forty-meter blade striking continuously, victory and defeat were decided in a manner utterly devoid of beauty and beyond all dispute.

He had not even managed to make Surtr breathe any harder, nor had he forced a single bead of sweat from the flame-haired Sarkaz. When every muscle in his body cried out in protest and he fell helplessly to his knees amid the shattered ruins of the battlefield, he saw Surtr's outer flaming armor recede, while the Flame Sword in her hand gradually dimmed into a dark crimson-black.

The flame-haired Sarkaz landed lightly on the ground.

"I won. You lost. I give the orders, and you obey." Surtr looked at him, her tone as calm and unruffled as before.

—Naturally.

—A victory of this level presented no difficulty to her.

"You are... the victor. You have... the right." The Wendigo, no longer attempting to rise, answered her.

"Reunion Movement has already failed. Talulah has proven herself unfit to be a leader. And I don't believe the Infected should bear the infamy of destroying and occupying a city. Especially an Ursus city with 'such weak defenses'—you should understand what that implies."

Chernobog's weakness could even be called abnormal. Anyone with a brain could see that Ursus had to be tacitly permitting this from behind the scenes. Had Surtr not arrived here at this moment, taking this mobile city would have been scarcely more difficult for Reunion Movement than taking an abandoned ruin.

Entering this city meant becoming an Ursus pawn, to be driven at its whim.

"Even... poison... can quench thirst." Bodegard panted as he struggled to rise, blood still streaming endlessly from his many wounds. His body was recovering quickly, but Miss Surtr had no intention of interfering further.

"Yes, I know the Infected needed a banner to unite behind. And that banner had to be planted on sovereign land before it held value. Taking Chernobog was a crucial step. It meant the Infected group would rise from a rabble into a force that could stand in the open, one with a stable base. So even knowing it was an Ursus trap, you still stepped into it. Because you wanted to dance on a blade and bargain with a bear."

"The Infected... have no other choice."

"I know. Which is why I'm offering the Infected a new choice." Surtr snapped her fingers, and a ball of flame appeared at her fingertips, taking the shape of a Landship.

"Perhaps you don't know this, but the place I recommended to your daughter is called Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals. And the predecessor of Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals was Sarkaz Babel Tower—you should know what Babel Tower's greatest legacy was."

"...A Landship?"

"To be precise, a special mobile city-state, somewhat smaller in scale but exceptionally mobile." Surtr gave a slight nod. "It is a relic of an ancient civilization, with tremendous adaptability and potential for expansion. More importantly, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals is at the forefront of all Terra when it comes to curing and unraveling Originium Infection."

"In other words, even if drug research fails, Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals can develop into a mobile city that provides shelter to the Infected, without triggering sovereignty disputes like Chernobog. And if the drug research succeeds, the circumstances of the Infected will immediately change beyond recognition. Of course, more importantly, I stand with Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals."

"So, you will not permit... the Infected... to bear infamy?"

"Also because Reunion Movement has accumulated far too many evil deeds over recent years." Miss Surtr lightly flicked the edge of her blade, making Laevateinn emit a series of dissatisfied hums.

"The persecution of the Infected is inevitable. Having seen so much of the world, you should understand that oppression and exploitation will never disappear unless productive capacity makes tremendous progress. And if a class wants to fight for its interests, then that class and its allies must become the majority."

"The strong devour the weak, and the fittest survive. Even if we disguise it with the splendid outer garment called 'civilization,' society still operates according to this rule. A powerful class has the right to make rules because it has fists. A weak class can only choose obedience, because they are weak precisely because they are few."

"People can be strong or weak, but the overall balance of strength between classes does not change. Producers, as the majority in number, should naturally be the strong class. Yet because the Infected exist at the bottom, these workers and farmers, who should possess strength, are divided and weakened, becoming a disadvantaged majority incapable of uniting and unwilling to resist. What the Infected must do is eliminate the divide between themselves and the producers at the bottom, becoming part of that powerful majority."

A blazing crimson glow suddenly lit up in the Wendigo's eyes.

"Originium Infection... cured..."

"And I hold part of the key." A flame ignited once more along the Laevateinn in Miss Surtr's hand. "I spent quite some effort convincing your daughter. And as a seasoned old general who has seen much of the world, I imagine you do not need me to teach you these matters."

She read agreement in Bodegard's eyes.

"What... do you intend... to do?"

"It's simple. This."

The next instant, the burning Flame Sword pierced the Wendigo's chest!

He let out a muffled groan, his hands rising instinctively, but the streams of flame surging through every part of his body cut off all his movements. He could clearly feel his flesh dissolving and the Originium fragments within him evaporating, yet the instinct of his Wendigo bloodline still surged on!

"Be grateful for your Wendigo bloodline. My flames will burn away most of the Originium inside you, while your bloodline will help you regenerate. Of course, without an altar, this will leave you weakened for a time, and such a rushed experimental environment cannot completely remove every trace of infection from your body. But it will at least let your lifespan continue as normal. It will let you live long enough to reach Rhodes Island's main Landship... You will meet interesting people there. At least, they'll be very interesting to you."

He heard the Sarkaz woman whisper in his ear, heard her pronounce judgment upon Reunion Movement.

"Reunion Movement must perish here. This is both for the Infected's already miserable reputation, and to settle their sins of wantonly slaughtering future comrades of the same class. Hanging landlords and capitalists, I can pretend not to see. But harming innocent civilians means they deserve retribution and suffering."

"Now, sleep well, Bodegard. Though this sleep may not be very comfortable."

A fiercer stabbing pain came from the blade. Then darkness and suffocation turned into a tide, utterly drowning him within it.

Surtr withdrew her sword.

She watched as the Pureblood Wendigo before her went from lucid to unconscious, watched the Originium growths covering his body vanish beneath Laevateinn's blazing flames—and could not help silently praising him. The willpower to endure such flesh-searing, bone-breaking agony, and to adapt to that suffering in turn, was not something an ordinary person could possess. This old general before her was clearly worthy of her repeated attention.

"Truly remarkable regenerative ability. If this were a sealed laboratory, I'd be confident of removing the vast majority of the infection from your body in one go. I wouldn't have to be as cautious as I was with Frostnova, terrified that one wrong move might lead to disaster."

She tilted her head and sensed him slightly. The Originium reaction within the old general, whose flesh and blood were being rewoven through regeneration, had already fallen to a relatively low level. From what she could tell, perhaps around five percent?

It was not a safe figure, but neither was it dangerous. Miss Surtr, who had played through the original plot, knew that with the ritual's aid, Bodegard had been able to continue fighting even with an erosion rate above forty percent, when most of the tissues within his body had crystallized. The current course of events was clearly already very different from that timeline.

"At least his stutter's been cured." Miss Surtr nodded. "In any case, the issues with Frostnova and Patriot, this father-daughter pair, have more or less been resolved. They should bring their troops to join Rhodes Island and become reliable support for Little Rabbit. Hmm... what was I supposed to do next?"

She shifted her gaze past the still-unrelenting wall of flame toward the area where Chernobog lay—ah, right. It was not over yet. There was still Talulah to deal with. And some small fry as well...

Mephisto, Faust, FrostNova... According to W's intelligence, FrostNova had already headed for Chernobog. With her commission, Miss W would probably do some work too. However, considering her characterization in the game, as well as how Miss W had always remained in a slacking state in the forum's ongoing posts, Surtr felt she might need to verify things herself.

But...