True Lies (Continued)

At least five times.

She didn't know where this feeling came from, and it was only a fleeting sensation in her perception—she was startled at first, then abruptly stood up. Just as she was about to do something, her PRTS terminal was forcibly connected!

"Operator Nightingale, use 'Sanctuary' immediately! Fill this room with your Originium Arts if you want Kal'tsit to stay alive!"

The voice belonged to the Doctor from Rhodes Island, but it was more urgent and slightly harsher than before. There seemed to be an unimaginable authority in that voice, so much so that she chose to obey immediately.

She reached out and released her power. An invisible yet tangible energy field immediately expanded outward from her, instantly filling the entire intensive care unit.

But that hand still melted into a ball of boiling magma—boiling, yet it didn't burn Kal'tsit's flesh. Even though the spreading magma melted away most of the bed in an instant, the Miss Lynx, half-submerged in the magma, was completely unharmed, not even flinching.

"Doctor!?" Liz's eyes widened. She carefully maintained her Originium Arts and asked in a low voice, "What happened? And that hand... that hand looks familiar?"

"Never mind that, maintain your Originium Arts and move towards the door."

"But Kal'tsit..."

"Stop being useless—" The voice on the other end of the communication suddenly rose, then was suppressed again. "... Don't worry about her. That magma has biological recognition capabilities and won't actively harm her. Now, listen to me, don't do anything unnecessary, maintain your Originium Arts, and head straight for the door. I've arranged for someone to meet you, and I'll tell you the whole story later."

Liz hesitated for a moment—after all, she was an old woman from the time of the Sarkaz Babel Tower. She still held a certain degree of trust in Persephone's abilities.

"I understand." She nodded, raising her staff and taking a step towards the outside of the intensive care unit while maintaining her strength. She pushed the door open with her shoulder; the corridor outside was even darker than before—she couldn't see the view from the windows, the moonlight, or the stars. It was as if the night had materialized, engulfing everything outside the hospital.

Turning slightly, I saw the lava spreading within the intensive care unit. It quickly expanded from most of the bed to half the room. All the metal objects melted and were engulfed. All the wooden, plastic, and plastic items were also consumed. Even the floor and walls began to soften; everything except Kal'tsit turned crimson in that instant.

If we act now, there might still be a chance to pull Kal'tsit out of there.

"I advise you not to do that. Those things are stable now, but if you remove Kal'tsit from it, it will see it as an attack... It won't kill you. But it will get out of control, expand outwards and never stop. And when that happens, many people in this city will suffer." Persephone's voice continued. But unlike his past practice of projecting his image onto his retina, this time the Rhodes Island Doctor did not reveal his image.

"What is that?" Miss Liz couldn't help but ask.

"Something that concerns you, and many others on Rhodes Island. That's all I can tell you now; the rest will have to wait until you leave."

"It's someone I know, isn't it?" Miss Liz bit her lip lightly. "That hand... I smelled a familiar scent on it."

"Yes, but I can't tell you whose hand it was right now, lest everything become irreversible."

This could be considered a well-intentioned cover-up... but the cover-up may no longer be effective.

"... You mean there's still a chance to salvage the situation, as long as I do as you're told, right?" Operator Nightingale changed her form of address from the familiar "you" to the somewhat distant "you (formal)." "I understand, please give me your orders."

"Take a step to the left, and don't panic when you hear the sound of a window breaking. Control the power output of your Sanctuary, and make sure the speed at which the power weakens is synchronized with and complements the area where the darkness is spreading."

She obediently did as she was told.

The sound of shattering glass came from behind, and a thick mass of darkness poured in from the window—the night was dark, but it didn't seem evil; instead, it reflected a kind of sacredness. It was as if it were the divine realm of some dark underworld mother, moving in sync with the contraction of her sacred domain techniques.

It was less that she was cooperating with the darkness, and more that the darkness was cooperating with her. However, when the darkness replaced the sacred realm and touched the lava on the ground, the magma that had been calm just moments before began to boil and shake violently.

"Don't be nervous, it's just a normal stress response. Now, turn right and start running."

Liz started running.

Behind her, the toes of something terrifying, eerie, and otherworldly suddenly rang out. A deadly threat materialized abruptly and rapidly approached her—she nearly screamed, but the guiding voice from within the terminal followed immediately!

— "Turn right!"

There's a wall on the right!

Liz hesitated instinctively for a moment, and in that instant, the wall she was about to reach suddenly shattered as if struck by a warhammer. Debris and bricks flew everywhere!

That was indeed a warhammer!

Because the next moment, a figure surrounded by a glowing light suddenly rushed out from the crack in the wall!

—Margaret!?

—Operator Nearl?

The fully armed Kazimierz knights grabbed Miss Liz around the waist. The next moment, Nearl smashed Nearl the barrier opposite the shattered wall with his shoulder armor and continued his charge!

Their eyes met, and Liz clearly saw in Margaret's eyes a predatory creature formed of lava pouncing and chasing after her! Its ferocious appearance was accompanied by scorching heat, and even with the protection of Originium Arts, Miss Liz could see the walls on both sides being scorched!

"You call this a minor stress response?!" she couldn't help but exclaim in a low voice.

"You're making a fuss over nothing. You just haven't seen anything big before," the Doctor replied, his voice barely concealing his rage.

The brief exchange ended there, and in the next instant, Liz, protected by Nearl, sensed the rapid shift between light and darkness!

They passed through the darkness and then stepped into the light.

She saw a crystal embedded in a very crude instrument, with the Doctor standing beside it, and then a dense darkness extended outwards. She saw this darkness, like a fluid, flow into the hospital and completely envelop it.

Beyond the darkness, however, the area was brightly lit and radiant. Many Rhodes Island caster operators, clearly having rushed there and weary from their journey, were somewhat clumsily casting a combined spell, creating a barrier of radiant light centered on operator Shining. This light enveloped the darkness, placing the area occupied by the hospital in a high-energy and stable environment.

Nearl then put the Nightingale down.

"Are you alright?" Kuranta's Kuranta voice was concerned, and the strength in her words invigorated her. She turned around and saw that in the hospital, the indistinct lava figures stopped at the boundary between light and darkness, and then disappeared back into the hospital shrouded in night.

"I'm fine," she said.

The accident was thus brought to a halt.

"... That's roughly what happened. Operator Surtr and I made a mistake while developing an Originium Arts... that would allow us to travel through outer space. I was too confident in my abilities, which caused Operator Surtr's consciousness to be damaged... She temporarily lost control of her body, and her power dissipated. Until her consciousness returned, I had to use some special methods to seal her body."

Hours later, in Rhodes Island's large conference hall, Persephone gave a brief, albeit somewhat embellished, account of what had happened at the research center. All the operators who were calm enough to listen and who needed to participate in the meeting were present and learned a portion of the inside story.

"How long ago is this 'before'?" an operator asked.

"It won't be long, she'll wake up in a week at the latest. Maybe not even a week, I can assure you of that. Because I'm certain of it."

"—What about Doctor Kal'tsit? What happened to her?"

"She'll be fine. Even if Operator Surtr loses consciousness, her body won't harm any Rhodes Island operators. However, she will react to members other than Rhodes Island operators, as well as to any proactive attacks. And I'm pretty sure Kal'tsit will wake up after Operator Surtr has regained consciousness."

"Is there anything we need to do?"

"No, the only thing to do right now is to maintain the operation of my sealed Originium Arts. Only this, and only this, will allow this incident to pass without incident. Apart from some buildings needing to be temporarily closed for their functions, and Chernobog needing to stay here for a short time, there will be no problems in the next few days."

"Is there anything else you want to ask, everyone?" The Maiden Doctor looked up at the many faces present, some of whom she had only met once, while others were quite familiar with her.

"—There's one last question." Amiya spoke up after everyone else had been silent.

"Who should be held responsible for this accident? I believe that in this sudden accident, I..."

"I'll take care of it." But Persephone interrupted her.