Miss Surtr raised her brows slightly. With a wave of her hand, the drone floating beside her detached itself and flew to the side of the sleeping Provence. Persephone, who had planned everything flawlessly, had undoubtedly installed simple medical equipment on the drone. Yan Ke, meanwhile, paid it no attention.
Nine meters became seven.
"You can't beat me." Surtr gazed at the Bladeworks Master before her, her tone calm and ordinary. "Setting technique aside, you're inferior to me in both strength and speed. Besides, you're not proficient in Originium Arts and have no way to resist my flames. Even if I fought you as the Fire Giant King, you'd be able to withstand at most one of my strikes. The second would kill you."
"Does a Sarkaz who can withstand one of your strikes qualify to join Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals?" The Bladeworks Master continued forward, and the seven-meter distance promptly became six.
"Strictly speaking, Rhodes Island isn't a war organization... Probably not. But if you insist, I'll add a note to that effect on your employment recommendation letter." Surtr sighed and pressed her fingertips against the spine of Laevateinn, floating behind her.
She raised her eyes.
The Bladeworks Master's lips curled into a smile.
He stepped forward, charged, and leveled his blade.
The six-meter distance shrank to one.
Then the sound of metal colliding rang through the entire observatory.
The red longsword in the Bladeworks Master's hand shattered into hundreds of iron fragments. Sweat and heat poured from his body, transforming into shockwaves that blasted in every direction. He gripped the hilt tightly and took one deep breath, his face paling. After the second, his hands and feet turned cold. After the third, he collapsed at Surtr's feet with a thud, then fainted as sweat soaked the floor.
Surtr's hand remained pressed against Laevateinn's spine, unmoved by even a fraction. Only the tip of her foot had shifted half a step backward from where it had been.
"I told you, you can't beat me." The girl shook her head helplessly, then beckoned with one hand. The draft Provence had calculated drifted lightly into her grasp. Without even looking at it, she casually tossed it toward the nearest drone.
"Are you planning to recruit him?" the red-haired Sarkaz asked.
"If you need me to sign a joint recommendation letter, I won't refuse." The drone caught the draft, and Persephone's reply came through it at the same time.
"Fine. At least this operation wasn't completely pointless." She shrugged, though she felt no joy at having completed a side quest. After all, even if she hadn't appeared here, Yan Ke would likely still have joined Rhodes Island. Her arrival had merely added an employment test to the process.
She had done some extra work, but that was fine. They were all her own operators, after all. Spending effort and time on them wasn't a worthless expense.
She walked over to Provence, picked up the unfortunate big-tailed wolf who had taken a beating, and gently placed her on a researcher's seat nearby. Feeling the soft touch against her arm, she couldn't help grabbing that overdeveloped wolf tail and giving it a good RUA.
She felt that she somewhat understood Red now. A Lupo's wolf tail... RUA-ing it really was quite fun.
Soft and fluffy.
She couldn't resist giving it a few more **RUA**s.
Thirty-Ninth Section and Spice (Infused)
Provence.
Provence was a little wolf with a big tail.
The little wolf's task was to explore and identify the signs of an approaching flood.
And report the information needed to construct a dam to the Forest Sage.
I have to wake up... I need to send the parameters back...
The little wolf passed through the thorn-covered forest, where the animals were making a racket. She couldn't join their party, or she would definitely waste time.
So the little wolf searched for and avoided the animals' party. She successfully found the tallest tree. As long as she climbed into its crown, she would be able to see the river farthest away.
I have to go back... I have to do this... I... can't stop here!
The river overflowed, and the gathered waters roared furiously. The little wolf watched the flood's movements with concentration, using her claws to draw the flood peak's course on a sturdy leaf.
She looked and looked, searched and searched. Then she discovered a pointed corner formed by rocky terrain at the edge of the forest. If she used that corner as the foundation for a dam, she would surely be able to block the flood securely and effectively.
I am... Provence... the Cataclysm Messenger, an operator of Rhodes Island... I have to find Amiya. I have to tell the Doctor the parameters... I have to go back...
I have to go back... I have to go back!
The noisy animals suddenly fell silent. The little wolf uneasily carved the final stroke of her record. When she raised her head, a hungry Blade Beast was somehow already crouching on the other side of the treetop. Drool hung beside its dagger-like fangs, and greedy light shone from its scarlet eyes.
The little wolf tried to escape with the leaf, but the Blade Beast pounced straight at her!
I can't die here... The data, the parameters... Chernobog... I have to go back, I have to...
I... am the Cataclysm Messenger...
The Blade Beast moved with agility and cunning. The undergrown little wolf was easily pinned against the trunk. The last thing she could do was hide the leaf bearing the flood peak's record beneath her. But the Blade Beast's fangs were already pressed against her neck.
Did I fail...? Am I going to die...? No, the data... The data hasn't been sent back...
I'm sorry... Amiya... I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...
I...
The great tree seemed to catch fire. Flames spread, swept across everything, and engulfed both the wolf and the Blade Beast. In the final moment of her memory, the little wolf saw only her own burning tail.
Provence suddenly opened her eyes. Her fingers clenched tight, nearly punching several holes in the medical sheet beneath her. She instinctively tried to leap up, but a pair of powerful hands pressed her back onto the bed. She struggled and screamed, a roar bursting from her weakened body.
"Amiya! I need to see Amiya! I have to give the Doctor the data! I—"
"It's over!" The person restraining her answered in an equally loud voice. The woman's delicate voice was almost hoarse from shouting. The scene before Provence's eyes shifted from blurriness into overlapping afterimages, and then she felt herself pulled into a warm embrace. "The Cataclysm is over. It ended several hours ago. Someone resolved everything. Everyone survived!"
"O-over?" The Cataclysm Messenger asked in disbelief.
She shook her head hard, and tremendous strength suddenly burst from her slender limbs. With a cry, she broke free of the warm embrace and ran straight toward the nearest place where wind was coming through.
She could feel that there was light there. She could feel the moving air. It should be a window, and from there she ought to be able to see the sky directly from inside the room.
And then—
She saw Twilight.
Twilight, like the Milky Way, splitting the gloomy sky in two.
The enormous Cataclysm cloud had been cleaved completely down the middle by an unknown force, tearing open a blank passage at least ten kilometers wide through the radiant Originium cloud now spread in fish-scale patterns. Within the blank space, stars could faintly be seen glittering in the highest heavens. Then the evening glow covered them beneath a riot of colors.
Twilight.
So it really was twilight now.
The strength drained from Provence's body in an instant. Her legs went weak, and she was about to collapse when the person whose features she had been unable to make out earlier caught her from behind.
"It's over. From what I've heard, the legendary 'World-wandering Hunt' was the one who broke through the Cataclysm cloud. Before today, I'd never heard that anyone in this world had dared to wrestle with a Cataclysm cloud, much less defeat it. That lunatic... Still, thanks to it, everyone survived."
The voice rambled on, yet contained a strange familiarity. Provence remembered. She had seen the owner of that voice on Rhodes Island before. And that person's name was...
Before you continue