Arknights, but the Family Has Fallen Yet Again, Again, Again: Section 13

Why did this feel a little too villainous?

Oute shook his head, then sent Specter a telepathic message: Don't pursue a cornered enemy. Come back.

As the master of the dream, he sensed that this battle was already over. The bandits who had yet to enter had severed their connection to his mindscape and vanished from this borderland. There would be no point in continuing the hunt.

After sending the message, he withdrew his attention from Specter.

Feeling that attention leave, Specter walked toward Oute with a trace of disappointment. She stared at the deer woman hiding off to the side, holding Oute's hand, and her crimson eyes suddenly froze.

"My Lord... guide these lost souls to their place of rest..."

Such scripture flowed from her honey-colored lips.

Skadi stepped over the bandit leader's corpse and stood at the opening in the dense forest, gazing into the distance.

At the end of the pitch-black woods, a towering sea cliff stood out prominently. A sprawling yet ruined cluster of buildings could vaguely be seen there. Lowering her gaze from the top of the cliff, she saw a crescent-shaped harbor at its base. Within it, a small town that seemed to show traces of habitation loomed faintly into view.

Skadi stared at that endless expanse of black water.

It was the sea.

The moment she realized that, the scent of the sea abruptly became distinct from every other scent.

To Skadi, the Originium Arts of land-dwellers had always been strange to begin with. Being suddenly dragged into this place during her sleep, a place supposedly "trapped in a time loop," was not all that hard to accept.

Or rather, she had already been trapped on land. As long as she was still inland, exactly where she was trapped... did not make much difference.

As long as she was still inland.

Without a word, Skadi returned to the other three.

"...Why does this bandit have one of these statues too? Isn't it inconvenient to carry something like this around?"

Alina curiously held up another twisted little sculpture.

"Maybe it's a local custom?" Oute raised a brow without answering directly. "There's another chest here. Alina, come take a look."

The deer woman did not grow suspicious. She curiously opened the trapped chest and, amid ordinary antiques, twisted sculptures, scattered family crests, and thick property deeds, pulled out a ring.

A dull, dust-covered golden band was set with a warm yellow gemstone.

The Sun Ring!?

Oute inwardly rejoiced at his lucky hand.

This was one of the best accessories in bright environments.

Sun Ring: A dim yellow gemstone, a hazy ring... as though hope were about to fade.

Stats: When light is above 75, +10% damage; when light is above 75, +5 Accuracy; +10% stress received.

It provided a plain but solid 10% damage boost and a precious 5 Accuracy, at the familiar cost of 10 Stress.

Alina, however, was somewhat disappointed. "These things may be very valuable, but..."

But if they wanted to leave this place, they needed to explore more. Yet to explore this place, they still needed proper supplies. Considering issues like unfamiliar food and water, relying on berries and hunted game for provisions in such an unfamiliar place... was not a long-term solution.

"There's a town ahead." After briefly revealing that much, Skadi turned to Oute. "This is by the sea. I... Laurentina and I both need to avoid bleeding as much as possible. Otherwise, it may attract unnecessary enemies. I hope..."

Skadi looked at the nun who had wrapped herself around Oute's left arm and shut herself off again, then said helplessly, "I hope you can make her understand that."

The Long Night of December 23rd

Moonlight poured over the wilderness like water.

A spark flickered across the plains. Then, a completely ashen piece of charcoal in the campfire suddenly collapsed.

Skadi abruptly opened her eyes.

When had it happened...?

At some point, the borderland had expelled the orca woman.

Yet she did not immediately wake up. Instead, she passed from one clear dream into a hazy one.

There, she and the Laurentina from her dream had chatted happily, while their surroundings gradually transformed into the seafloor...

Skadi shook her head, casting loneliness and melancholy from her mind.

"Rhodes Island..."

Though she could not quite figure out what had been a dream and what had truly happened in that strange place,

Skadi still grasped the key point: Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals.

At the same time, to the north, in Chernobog, at the Reunion Movement's temporary command center.

The "chieftains" of the Reunion Movement's "tribes" had gathered around a war table bearing a map, holding a meeting on behalf of their respective "clans."

"...Given that the above objectives have been achieved, although the operation had some flaws, Chernobog is now fully under our control," Garson said.

Talulah had changed out of her somewhat dirty long dress and into a uniform very much in the Reunion Movement's style. The dragon woman's willow brows were slightly furrowed. Though she wore the same face, that dark, alluring charm from before had entirely transformed into valor and killing intent.

She braced both hands against the table, her face frosty.

Fully under control?

Chernobog's howls and cries still seemed to ring in her ears.

With a dull thud, a conspicuous crack appeared in the sturdy wooden table.

The Draco instinctively reined in her strength.

"Talulah?" someone asked in confusion.

The dragon woman immersed herself in her tangled memories, searching for the connection.

After... that point in time, her sense of self had become lost amid surging rage and hatred. She had begun to stop at nothing, sinking ever deeper...

Looking back, she truly felt as though she had become Koschei!

But every terrible decision had come from her own heart, and every innocent life had to be counted on her own hands...

"Talulah?" Faust called the dragon woman's name again. "Do you need to rest a little longer?"

The last pure-blooded Wendigo silently watched Talulah before him.

Something had changed.

Or rather, changed again.

Just as she had changed after carrying a civilian's corpse back alone through that snowy night, this young leader had changed once more.

Had it been from personally witnessing the consequences of her own decisions?

A prosperous city had been breached by a disorderly rabble with no discipline whatsoever, and a Catastrophe had struck it as well. Chernobog, the City of the Black Snake, had become a living hell.

Too late.

Patriot hated those actions, hated Mephisto's atrocities, and hated Talulah even more for issuing such orders.

Without question, he would stop those acts... from continuing any further.

"...No, it's nothing."

In that brief instant, the dragon woman had already made her decision.

Whether the one who had planned all this was truly herself or the black snake hidden within her mind, she would take responsibility for it.

Not only for the Infected, but for the citizens of this city as well...

But as I am now... do I truly have the right...?

With self-doubt in her heart, she spoke. "Taking Chernobog is only the first step of our plan."

"We need this mobile city, but not merely its mobile landmass... Urgh!"

"Talulah!"

"I'm fine. My head just still hurts a little."

The dragon woman lowered her head. When she raised it again, the valor in her eyes and brows had transformed once more into that poisonous, alluring charm.

Her movement stirred the candle flames. They swayed, and the warped firelight cast her twisted shadow onto the broken, dirty white wall.

In order to continue the conspiracy Talulah herself had thrown off course, the black snake deftly pivoted. "...Returning to the subject, the mobile landmass itself has no value. Besides, the ill-timed Catastrophe destroyed large portions of this city."

She slowly continued, "We also need the manpower and resources to put it back into operation."

"In this region, there is only one place that can provide the Infected with those things."

A jade finger pointed elegantly at a spot on the map like a serpent's tongue. It was none other than Lungmen.

Responsibility? This is a necessary sacrifice. Their lives were not wasted. On the contrary, they are destined to achieve your... my great undertaking.

Though it was hard to say how much effort she had put into teaching her, seeing her "adopted daughter" entertain such naive thoughts time and again still left the black snake frustrated at her failure to meet expectations.

Feeling the turmoil within, the black snake clenched her silver teeth and became wary of that strange Originium Art.

Though "Obsession" had not affected the black snake herself very much, this defeat and Talulah's inexplicable awakening had nearly ruined her plans.

She had no desire to face Oute again in such a state.

Mephisto!

That brat had been affected too!

There could be no better test subject. She would use him to probe that man's Arts!

"In order to obtain everything we want from Lungmen, I need to dispatch an advance force to investigate its true strength."

FrostNova folded her arms, tilting her head slightly as she objected, "Wasn't this already agreed upon? Why are you bringing it up again now?"

Attacking Lungmen.

That had indeed been a prepared plan.

But not everyone supported it.

Or rather, quite the opposite. They had already obtained a mobile city for the Infected. At this point, hardly anyone would support such an unnecessary move.