Arknights, but the Family Has Fallen Again and Again and Again — Part 10

Skadi looked back at the path she had cleaved open with one blow and said, "Actually, I understand now."

The new path the Abyssal Hunter had punched through had already returned to a dense growth of trees.

"But we should still take a look. If we stay here, we definitely won't be able to leave." After saying that, Oute knelt on one knee again and covered Specter's hands with his own.

He said softly, "Specter, will you come with us?"

Specter nodded, swaying as she rose to her feet and wrapped both arms around Oute's left arm.

"Then I'll lead the way! After all..."

Alina looked at Skadi: violent breakthrough specialist, straight-line thinker, completely incapable of recognizing the route.

Then she looked at Specter: not in her right mind.

Then she glanced at Oute: had been unconscious all along and had only just awakened.

The Deer Woman smiled and took the lead.

Skadi moved closer to Oute.

She had already accepted reality—there would be no result from speaking with Specter as she was now.

She asked, "What exactly happened to Laurentina?"

Oute answered, "Specter came to Rhodes Island alone to seek medical assistance."

"She was already like this at the time."

"As you can see, it has been difficult for us to obtain any meaningful information from her."

The nun nodded but said nothing.

A flicker of disappointment appeared on Skadi's cold face as she continued, "Then what about this Master of All Things?"

"Why does the shark... Laurentina call you the Master of All Things?"

Oute said, "Rhodes Island currently believes that Specter is a nun from some church, and the god worshipped by that church should be this Master of All Things."

A church?

Skadi remembered that word.

Still, she could only pray that the airhead would not confuse this "church" with the churches of Laterano and Iberia.

"As for why she calls me that..."

Oute looked into Specter's brilliant eyes. Specter looked back and smiled at him.

He shook his head. "We're not very sure either."

In the end, Skadi chose to trust the hooded oddball before her.

Some mysterious instinct told Skadi that he was not lying and had nothing to do with this church.

"Rhodes Island... I feel like I've heard that name before."

Oute looked ahead at Alina and raised his voice slightly. "Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals is a medical company dedicated to solving Originium Infection."

Solving Originium Infection?

Alina's steps halted.

"Originium Infection?" Skadi softly repeated the term and asked, "On land, this disease seems to be terminal?"

"On land? You're an Aegir? An Aegir from Aegir?"

Aegir was not merely a race, but also a nation. Thus, this seemingly redundant phrasing had its own internal logic—just as an Ursus was not necessarily "from Ursus," an Aegir was not necessarily "from Aegir."

They were more likely to be from Iberia.

Incidentally, when used as a racial term, Aegir encompassed a huge collection of aquatic species that had nothing whatsoever to do with one another.

Heavens have mercy, sea urchins could actually be counted as the same race as orcas!

Yet wolves and dogs were considered two separate races!?

Magical Terra.

Skadi nodded. "Laurentina and I are both Aegir."

Oute was succinct. "I see."

The bounty hunter finally remembered that they had yet to exchange names. She introduced herself, saying, "Speaking of which, my name is Skadi."

"I'm Oute."

Skadi softly repeated, "Otter?"

To outsiders, she might have seemed like a cool and aloof goddess. But players all knew that she was not cold—she was simply airheaded.

"It's a Yan-style name. Ou is the surname, and Te is the given name. Oute."

"I see." She mimicked Oute's earlier words.

But Alina suddenly realized something. She turned around and said, "Wait, what language are all of you speaking?"

"I'm speaking Ursus."

Skadi also realized something and replied, "Victorian."

Oute glanced at her.

Not Iberian? It seemed she had already headed inland.

After the Abyssal Hunter Skadi awakened on Iberia's coast, she discovered that she could not return to her homeland, and that she would attract Seaborn whenever she remained by the sea. After a period of confusion, she decided to venture deep inland as a bounty hunter, keeping far from the ocean.

In the original story, it was during her time in Kazimierz that the old lynx noticed and recruited her.

"Yan," Oute said. "I'm afraid we don't need to worry about language barriers in this place."

"I see!" Skadi said.

"Master of All Things..." Specter tugged at Oute's collar, signaling him to look ahead.

They had returned to the old road.

Wait?

Oute suddenly realized something.

Four people?

That was the maximum party size for a dungeon run in Darkest Dungeon 1.

But the old road was the first tutorial stage. There should have only been two heroes...

If Alina and I don't count as combat strength, then Specter and Skadi make exactly two!

That's it!

Alina came first, so she doesn't share the same mechanism as this dream entry!

Does that mean that after I entered the dream, Specter was summoned first, and then she brought me into the woods?

Then Skadi was chain-summoned afterward?

So what did Specter want by bringing me into that little grove...

Oute looked at the circular saw by Specter's side, then at her lips, recalling her enticing lick.

Better be careful!

A carriage driven by shadows sped past and overturned before the four of them. The shield emblem on its compartment caught Oute's attention.

Come to think of it, Liberi don't seem to have many racial characteristics apart from their ear feathers, right? If I added some ear feathers around my ears, wouldn't I be able to take off my hood whenever I wanted?

Looking at the shield emblazoned with a raven crest, Oute said, "Let's follow the direction the carriage was heading."

"Though I don't have much fighting ability, Specter and Miss Skadi should be able to break through those... vicious people."

An unhealthy flush spread across Specter's pale cheeks. She panted, "...Master of All Things, I have no right to defy your will."

Who Exactly Was the Mastermind Again?

Skadi looked at Specter and remained silent for a long while.

She nodded as well and replied, "When we dance... fight, remember to stay a little farther away."

Oute and Alina both nodded.

After following the old road for a while, Skadi tightened her straps and gripped her greatsword.

She raised a hand, signaling Oute and the Deer Woman to stop.

"There are other people ahead."

Meanwhile, Specter started her circular saw without a care. Ominous words slipped from her lips. "Hehe... cutting... Some things should never have been gathered together in the first place..."

Alina could not help feeling afraid. She quietly tugged at Oute's sleeve and asked in a low voice, "Is she really going to be okay like this?"

Oute adjusted Specter's headscarf and answered, "Her medical records mentioned that she has a nervous system infection."

The nun smiled and narrowed her eyes. Though she was clearly a shark, she wore an expression like a cat's.

Catsharks were sharks too!

Then Oute pointed at the Originium crystals on Alina's body and said, "She has things like those in her spinal cord."

"To be frank, the fact that only her mind has been affected is fortunate in itself."

It was hard to say whether he had heard something or was simply following the script's design... A hooded bandit wielding twin blades appeared before the four of them.

He let out a strange laugh. "Hehehe! Look what I found!"

Oute rolled his eyes.

At this rate, there would not be enough Soul Hall elders to go around.

Skadi said flatly, "Hunter."

Then she added, "...Bounty hunter."

"And you?"