Because I Am Surtr

"You mean you want me to spare her life, and also tolerate her 'minor dissatisfactions' as much as possible?" Persephone gently tugged at her collar. "Fine, this can be considered part of the payment for the intel I received earlier. After all, if Rhodes Island needs me, they must recognize my strategic capabilities. Then, handling personnel issues reasonably is also a skill a manager should display."

"Are there any other requests?" she asked.

Miss Surtr felt something was off—not in a way that would harm her, but in a way that suggested someone else, besides herself, was about to have a very bad time. However, there was no meddling KP around to give her inspiration. So, she decided to keep this feeling to herself, treating it as a sign of her own vigilance and wariness towards Persephone. And beyond that—

—Ah, after having nerfed so many mud puddle encore scenarios. Could a development that clearly meets the prerequisites have a chance of manifesting?

"W currently belongs to a mercenary group. And the leader of this Sarkaz mercenary band should now be using the name Garson." She hesitated before finally uttering the name. After all, in that "mud puddle encore" post, the female Doctor with a similar character profile to Persephone, Xi, was killed twenty-two times consecutively by a Sarkaz centurion during her escape from the sarcophagus.

—Although that was just an encore post, a fan-made setting. But…

"That person is problematic. If you encounter him, don't give him a chance to act."

"You know him?" Persephone tilted her head slightly.

"It's just a feeling," Miss Surtr shook her head. "That person might have some kind of restraint over you... Never mind, pretend I didn't say anything. Just be careful, don't capsize in a ditch."

She nodded at Persephone and stepped outside. With a sonic boom and a sudden gust of air, her form completely vanished from the massive mechanical installation hall.

She was gone.

And inside the hall, the pale purple, unemployed Doctor fell into thought.

—No wonder you were willing to tell me your secret at the right time. Indeed, someone like you could never keep any secrets from me. Just from what you told me moments ago, you've already exposed too much information.

—But you don't care, you're confident you can defeat me even after revealing your hand. The ultimate 'power'... huh?

She walked to the window and looked at the gloomy sky outside. The impending Cataclysm was inevitable, and the chaos within the city was escalating.

She did not see Theresia's face in the Cataclysm clouds, unlike Surtr.

But…

—You can see through my Death Return, and yet you still worry about me capsizing... Is your ability precognition? Or parallel world observation? Or perhaps, you can directly gaze upon 'Fate' itself?

She shook her head.

Oh well, while the current information allows for many interesting deductions. Interesting and useful are two different things. To have an effect on someone like her, the accumulation of information would likely need to increase by at least three or four orders of magnitude. But before that…

"Kill all the Sarkaz mercenaries in this city, and I suppose the object of her concern will become a tangible entity for analysis," Persephone concluded.

The unemployed Doctor, no longer concealing her intentions, then leaped, floating down from the towering building like a falling leaf.

She had found her first target.

Meanwhile, at the top of the central control tower in Chernobog's core city.

Talulah made a gesture, signaling her guards to leave and deploy in the lower levels of the tower. Under her gaze, through the observation deck, she saw a pillar of flame suddenly rise from the black ruins of a distant building. With a momentum like a falling meteor, it crashed down onto the ground at the very base of the main control tower.

She had arrived.

She had given herself time to face her, or to flee.

She would ascend step by step from the bottom of the tower, clearing all obstacles until she reached her.

She always did this.

She was always like this.

Always appearing in unexpected places on her own, bringing hope to others on her own, just like the time she fell on the road where Alina was about to be attacked, amidst fire and sulfur—

—But Alina isn't here.

—She cannot be here at this time.

"Even at this moment, you try to offer me 'mercy.' You think my will isn't strong enough, you think I've been misled by others, you think I've just made a temporary mistake..."

"...But you are wrong."

"Everything I do comes from my heart, only for this moment, only for this place."

"Only to wait for you here."

She murmured, feeling the tremors from below the tower and the approaching heatwave—she smelled the scent of sulfur in the air. She saw the layered clouds outside the observation deck dyed a pure twilight.

Twilight, twilight, the twilight of the ruler.

But if twilight truly falls, how many thousands upon thousands of ordinary lives will perish, far more than the ruler? Even if they are pawns, even if they serve the ruler. When the disaster descends, what real difference is there between a city of riches and a single tattered garment?

The white-haired Dragon Girl held her sword, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

She would not hide, nor did she intend to flee.

She sat here, waiting for the twilight that was about to rush towards her.

Nebula M78, 756365104

ps: Played all night until past 2 AM... Sister 42 really does lower intelligence. The plot development is quite explosive, but fanfiction exists to resolve regrets!

Nebula M78, 756365104

ps2: To hell with timelines and such! Alina is alive in this worldline anyway! A mere butterfly effect, if I say 42 caught up, she caught up!

Nebula M78, 756365104

ps3: I didn't expect Arknights to release waifus in the eighth chapter... Just Theresia, she's merely a fellow worker with lofty ambitions. Just Kal'tsit, she's merely a foul-mouthed lynx. Only Precise is the true waifu who makes a direct move in the main story! — But this Doctor wants them all — And, Sister 42, even the Doctor is wanted.

M78 Nebula 756365104

ps4: So what if there are many fixed pairings? At worst, I'll become a ten-thousand-winged angel... I can love you and your wife at the same time. jpg.

Chapter 25: The Girl Climbs the Tower

The Flame Sword burned.

Molten lava flowed and scattered everywhere.

Yet the steps climbing the tower were unbroken.

"You are doing something foolish."

On the first floor of the main control tower, all sixteen greatswords were snapped. The defeated greatswordsmen were enveloped in heat, lying on the ground, struggling weakly, and soon stopped moving.