Because I Am Surtr

She clearly sensed the maiden before her breathing rapidly, sensed the heart pounding with unease and startled fury.

She let the white-haired maiden struggle discreetly, only for the utterly unyielding restraints to demonstrate their exceptional quality—and Surtr's rather distinctive "craftsmanship"—in the most straightforward manner.

"...Where are my brothers and sisters?" the maiden asked, her pale gray eyes as clear as pristine ice crystals.

"They're fine. You're my only target. There was no need to create more bloodshed."

"Why me?" she continued. "You know me well. Very few people know the name Yelena."

"Because you're about to die." She prepared a syringe, walked to Frostnova's side, and inserted it into the maiden's arm vein as the latter's brow faintly furrowed. "Originium Shards have already assimilated parts of your internal organs, bones, and many vital glands. They account for twenty percent of your body mass now, and at any moment, you could turn to stone or explode due to Originium Crystallization."

She made a "BOOM" gesture, then went to prepare another syringe.

"And I'm researching how to cure Originium Infection. Right now, I need an experimental subject with a sufficiently advanced infection. If you recover after this treatment—or at least suppress your infection rate below ten percent—it will prove that my research direction is correct."

"...That still doesn't explain why you value me so highly." The maiden narrowed her eyes. Even the stinging pain brought by the second injection could not suppress the sharpness spilling from her gaze. "Terminally ill infected people are everywhere. You didn't need to specifically capture a caster you'd already injected with inhibitors."

"You seem quite certain that I'll answer your questions?" The third syringe pierced Frostnova's side. Accompanied by a shiver that someone accustomed to cold should not have felt, the hospital bed she had been lying flat on rotated upright, allowing the bound maiden to stare directly at Miss Surtr's face. "And you don't seem afraid of me at all."

"You..." Frostnova's eyes widened slightly upon seeing her face. "...I know you! You're the famous 'Fire Giant King' among Bounty Hunters! We worked together before. Two years ago, you helped the guerrillas defeat the Emperor's Guards three times. Since then, you... mmph."

The fourth syringe entered her lower abdomen. A faintly warm sensation swiftly filled her abdominal cavity.

"Surprised?" Surtr smiled lightly as she connected several strange instruments to Frostnova's skin. "Are you surprised that the infamous fugitive known across Terra as the Ember Demon is actually a renowned Bounty Hunter? Or that I had already set my sights on you three years ago? I still have one of the candies you gave me back then. Of course, it probably has no taste to you now."

She watched as the wary look in the white-haired maiden's eyes visibly softened, and she was not particularly surprised by it.

That was normal... perhaps one of the benefits of being a transmigrator. As someone who had once completed the entire Arknights roster, whenever she encountered someone in this world with whom she had formed a bond in the game—or someone she was supposed to know in the "story"—she could always easily gain a fairly high initial level of favorability. Of course, it was only initial favorability. A certain silver boss's Truesilver Slash had taught her well that pushing one's luck was a mistake. But this time was different from back then—at least this time, she had no intention of abducting someone's little sister!

Besides, while she had not managed to truly change much over the past five years, it was not as though she had done nothing. The seedlings she had planted in the past had naturally reached the time to bloom and bear fruit.

—For the strong, forming connections was always easy.

Frostnova closed her eyes, her entire body relaxing as though she no longer showed any sign or intention of resistance. She exhaled a faintly cold breath, and when she opened her eyes again, her gaze at the Sarkaz had become complicated and confused.

"...If you had simply told me with that face, or approached me as the leader of the Bounty Hunters, I could have gone with you directly. Why did you have to do this...?"

"That would have conflicted with some of my plans, and fixing it afterward would have been troublesome... Raise your chin a little."

Frostnova did not ask what plans she had. Instead, she obediently tipped her head back slightly, allowing Surtr to place a metal patch beneath her jaw.

"Many people say the Ember Demon has gone mad. They say you were seriously wounded while assassinating the Emperor, and that you have to kill a hundred people every day and drink their blood to ease your symptoms. They also say you've already burned down many towns. Is that true?"

"It's merely a simple propaganda war. They don't dare let the Ember Demon—who once assassinated two Monarchs and escaped unscathed—gain allies and followers. But they did get one thing right. I was indeed injured, and I really can't display my former full strength right now... Take a deep breath."

Frostnova did as told.

"Hah... But you're still very strong."

"I'm nowhere near what I once was." Miss Surtr completed the final arrangement. She reached out and pressed several buttons, and the many instruments whose purpose Frostnova could not understand immediately activated, flashing with dim green light.

"So... what are you planning to do?"

"After studying Originium Infection for some time, I reached a conclusion—the difficulty in curing Originium Infection lies in how Originium dust fuses and coexists with an organism's internal organs. Removing the crystals is not difficult. The problem is that the organs are damaged when the crystals are removed, and the human body can no longer continue functioning afterward."

"In other words, if there were a way to precisely remove every crystal fragment while simultaneously rebuilding the organs, curing Originium Infection would be feasible."

Frostnova stared at her, as though she wanted to ask whether she was joking—there was no illness in the world that could not be cured by removing the lesions and rebuilding the body's structure. It was like saying every computer malfunction could be fixed by replacing all of its hardware. But what doctor in this world could possibly do such a thing!?

But... She lowered her eyes and, unsurprisingly, saw points of starlight dispersing from her body—perhaps she should not have put it so romantically. But...

"What did you inject into me just now?"

"A targeted organ-regeneration agent. It can regenerate your stomach, liver, lungs, circulatory system, even your bone marrow—everything damaged by Originium—in a short time. It's ancient stock. After using this dose on you, I don't even know whether I can scrape together a second one. The glowing areas are dye markers, so I can accurately locate the distribution of Originium inside your body."

The white-haired maiden slightly opened her mouth. For the first time, shock and emotion that she could not conceal appeared in her ice-crystal eyes.

"You, you..." She did not doubt the truth of Surtr's words in the slightest. "Why would you waste such precious medicine on me...?"

"Because you're worth it. I've prepared for this for a long time, and I will never allow you to walk toward your end within my sight."

She beckoned, and the floating Flame Demon Sword obediently flew into her hand, allowing her to firmly grip its hilt.

"And next comes the Originium removal." She looked at the maiden, whose thoughts were clearly in some disarray. "You'll soon find out why I tied you up. I hope you're mentally prepared."

Then, in the next instant, the flaming sword violently pierced the maiden's chest!

Simple and Effective Pathological Treatment

Flames.

The sensation of raging fire burning through her body seeped into her bones.

The moment the sword pierced her, indescribable stabbing pain and suffocation drowned Yelena's body and mind in an instant. It was as though countless gigantic hands had reached out from the abyss, binding her, seizing her, and dragging her into eternal darkness.

Then, amid that darkness, a spark suddenly appeared.

"Don't be in such a hurry to sleep. There's still a lot you need to cooperate with."

Surtr's voice rang out, and the darkness and firelight before her immediately shifted. A pale expanse of earth replaced the ancient darkness and void, while snow falling from the sky accompanied the operation of mining machinery.

Yelena turned her head and saw Surtr standing beside her, carrying a massive flaming sword on her back. When she looked forward again, however, she saw a sight that made her eyes split with rage.

It was the pain etched into her memories.

Her parents had been arrested by the Emperor's lackeys on arbitrary charges, and she herself had been thrown into the mine alongside them. The day she was seeing now happened to be the day when the mine guards decided to casually kill some of the miners—making them draw black lots, then executing everyone selected.

"I remember this day..." she murmured. At the edge of her vision, she saw a group of fully armed soldiers cursing as they drove the miners toward the center of the mine. They used whips and boots, and crossbows on those who fell, gathering these terrified innocents together. Among the line of miners were many faces she recognized!

"Originium is alive. When it encounters a lethal threat, it instinctively gathers into the form of what its host fears most, making one final attempt at resistance. Of course, the reverse is also true. If that last struggle is broken as well, then its structure in the material world will disintegrate, turning into some... slightly easier-to-handle debris."

"...I'll destroy all of this right now." Yelena instinctively took a step forward, but before she could take a second, the burning Flame Sword blocked her path.

"What will you use to destroy it?" Surtr asked flatly.

"My Originium Arts!"

"What will you use to cast Originium Arts?"

"Originium..." The white-haired maiden parted her lips slightly. In that instant, she understood something. "...You can't use Originium to fight Originium?"

"It's good that you understand." Surtr nodded. "More than one person has done what I'm doing now. But in the end, they all failed. Because they always tried to use Originium against Originium. Yet they never considered that, even here—" She slowly clenched her hand into a fist.

"Even here, the Originium Arts I use still come from the Originium inside my body?" Yelena murmured.

The more Originium was used, the more its power was stimulated. What good was the finest medicine if the wound was constantly being torn open by brute force?