Arknights, but the family has declined again, again, and again — Part 9

Yet even at noon, its light could barely penetrate this deep, shadowy forest.

Skadi heard that voice again.

That was right—it really was Shark. Laurentina's voice.

Though she and Skadi had not been in the same squad, simply encountering another Abyssal Hunter on land was a miracle in itself!

Skadi left the path, drew her sword to sweep aside the obstructions, and headed straight toward the source of the voice.

With the crash of a conspicuous giant tree falling, Skadi finally saw...

A nun?

Judging from the nearby paths, there should have been other roads leading here, though they would have required a few detours at most. Yet Skadi had forcibly carved out a new path through these ancient woods with her monstrous strength.

At the T-junction between the old path and this new one, the nun sat kneeling with her back to Skadi, while someone seemed to be lying across her lap.

Confusion climbed onto the bounty hunter's lovely face.

She tightened the strap in her hand, and the recoil from the blade made her modest breasts sway.

The nun seemed completely unaware of the movement behind her. She murmured, "My Lord... speak to me... I am willing to become Your messenger..."

"Laurentina?" Skadi called tentatively.

The nun turned her head, reaching for her circular saw.

Then Specter leaned down and breathed softly into Oute's ear. "My Lord, I must leave for a while. Please bear with it a little longer."

That warm, ticklish breath assaulted Oute's nerves.

He frowned and opened his sleepy eyes.

At first, all he saw was grass, but after turning over, he saw a pair of beautiful legs wrapped in thigh-high boots.

Hey, wait, I know these legs!

Bzz! Bzz! Bzz—

The circular saw started up.

"Wretch who disturbs my Lord's slumber!"

Specter swung her circular saw and declared to Skadi, "Even if you are my kin, you will not be forgiven!"

Skadi was somewhat stunned. "Wait! Shark! What are you doing!?"

"Protecting my Lord's peace!" Amid the whirring machinery, the circular blade lunged at Skadi.

The bounty hunter swiftly dodged the circular saw, tugged on the strap, and pulled her greatsword from behind her back to the front.

"Laurentina! Snap out of it!"

Skadi had no choice but to raise her sword and block Specter's attack.

This is...?

Oute stood up and looked at the two girls fighting.

One was Specter, whom he had met not long ago. The other wielded a two-handed greatsword and wore riding breeches without any inner lining, leaving her inner thighs entirely exposed.

Wearing riding breeches without inner lining was a highly distinctive outfit.

Specter and Skadi?

He desperately searched his memories, trying to find any clue. But his most recent memory was only of... falling asleep in the bedroom Rhodes Island had just prepared for him.

The two girls were locked in a fierce confrontation, but because Skadi had no intent to kill, she fought with considerable restraint. Under Specter's frenzied assault, she was actually having trouble holding her ground.

Specter! Stop!

PRTS did not turn his thoughts into words. And the wound on his sternum no longer hindered Oute's movements!

Could it be!?

Oute tried equipping accessories onto the two people fighting.

It still failed.

That only made Oute more certain.

The reason I could freely swap accessories during battle before was because combat on Terra did not count as dungeon combat for Darkest Dungeon 1.

And now...

Oute looked at the family signet ring bearing an iron crown on his hand and came to an understanding.

Just as a person instinctively knew how to clench a fist, while the exact strength of their grip required a dynamometer to measure, Oute had formed a qualitative understanding of this "dream," but quantitative certainty would require further experiments.

When I fall asleep, I come here—to Hamlet Town, the home ground of Darkest Dungeon 1!

My sternum does not hurt, so this is most likely a mental realm.

Then it is not strange for Specter to have come with me. She is an artist trapped in "long-term madness," so naturally her mental realm is more susceptible than that of ordinary people.

And Skadi was probably pulled in by a chain summon...

But why Skadi, rather than Gladiia?

In her subconscious, Specter should be a little closer to her...

This place was the boundary between Oute's mindscape and the world of Darkest Dungeon. The power behind it might have come from another world, but the way it was woven followed Oute's subconscious. Creatures from that other world were projected into this borderland and became "enemies" for slaughter.

They might display reactions that appeared intelligent, but in truth, they were merely shadows of life.

As Oute pondered, he softly said, "Specter, stop."

The nun immediately flipped backward, her graceful figure tracing an arc through the air. Her robes fluttered loudly, yet could not conceal Specter's full thighs, exposing a few pale slivers at their creases.

"...Lord of All Things..."

Her eyes were unfocused as she knelt beside Oute, fingers interlocked, and began praying softly again.

Skadi let out a breath and said to Oute, "That was a huge help."

But she quickly turned serious again, warily pointing the tip of her sword at... Specter.

It seemed Skadi was still shaken by what Specter had just done.

"Even so, what exactly is going on with Laurentina right now?"

"The Lord of All Things she keeps talking about..."

"And where exactly is this place?"

Before Oute could answer, a rustling sound came from the bushes.

"They only just arrived here as well, so I should be the one to answer that question."

The newcomer was an antlered woman dressed in Ursus attire.

Her features were gentle, and Oute found her somewhat familiar.

"Let us begin with introductions." The deer woman touched her chest and said, "My name is Alina."

"I arrived here a little earlier than you did."

Oute felt dazed. At this point in time, she should already be dead!

Then how did she get here?

Oute suddenly recalled the thought that had arisen in his heart when Talulah had been suffering.

Did I summon her too?

A very faint conditioned reflex pricked at Oute's nerves. It seemed so.

Chapter 11: Time loop × game lag √

Am I really dreaming here?

Oute looked toward Alina as the deer woman continued explaining, "Other than that unconscious gentleman, you should all have seen that carriage, right?"

"Every so often, it comes from the end of the old road, then overturns at that spot."

"But after a while, it disappears again, returns from the end of the road, and overturns once more."

Skadi asked, "Have you tried exploring in the direction the carriage comes from, or the direction it travels toward?"

The deer woman nodded. "If you walk a short distance toward where the carriage came from, you somehow end up back at the place where it overturned."

"But in the direction the carriage is heading, some vicious people are blocking the road..."

"Forgive me for asking, Miss Alina, but how long have you been here?"

Alina's expression dimmed. "I can no longer remember. The sun here is always in this position. All I can tell you is that it has been more than a week..."

The bounty hunter could not help asking as well, "Then... if we count by meals, about how many times have you eaten?"

When there was no way to clearly measure time, the frequency of eating barely qualified as a usable natural clock.

Alina replied, "It may be hard to believe, but here, it seems that as long as you do not exercise, you do not get hungry."

Oute's eyes shifted.

This was a game mechanic. In Darkest Dungeon 1, if the heroes did not move within a dungeon, they would not consume food.

"A time loop...?" Skadi seemed thoughtful.

Back in her homeland of Aegir, she had seen similar works.

But Oute already had a guess.

This was most likely because the current scene lacked the corresponding characters, preventing it from advancing to the next stage.

In the distance, another horse neigh echoed out.

"The carriage is coming again..." Alina said.

"If you see it for yourselves, it should be easy to understand, right?"