Chapter 137

198. Prism

The bombardment, which made the entire square tremble, lasted for several breaths, and everyone watched this heart-stopping battle with tense tension.

As the last spear churned up the mud, all fell silent once more.

Yukina held her breath, gripping the longbow tightly in her hands; the air was so quiet she could almost hear her own heartbeat.

"Is she dead?"

"I didn't kill her."

Shinomiyami Nami's voice came through the earpiece, and in response was Efnir's faint, soft voice.

"But she's not far from death either."

Efnir slammed her finger down, the wind pressure scattering the smoke and dust, revealing the bombarded ground in Efnir vision.

As far as the eye could see, the ground looked like a large chunk of cake had been ripped out; not a single marble tile remained, leaving a deep, indented depression. The hooded girl lay limp and helpless in the very center of this depression, looking utterly disheveled.

Her body was surrounded by a spear bathed in flames.

One by one, the light guns transformed into starlight and slowly dissipated into the air, leaving behind fragments of flesh, blood, and wounds. The curtain of light guns fell inch by inch, revealing the outcome of the battle to everyone.

Yukina was the first to let out a soft cry.

The hooded girl's appearance could be described as "miserable".

Under Efnir's relentless barrage, her hands and legs were completely obliterated by the fierce blows of countless spears, and her blood stained the ground a chilling red.

The girl, who had lost both her legs and arms, could only lie on her back in this position, panting with her mouth open, but only spitting out mouthful after mouthful of blood.

Efnir narrowed her left eye slightly as she slowly descended from the sky.

At the same time, rings of light and flame formed at the severed limbs where the hooded girl had disappeared, then tightened inch by inch, using powerful pressure to stop the blood loss from the girl's limbs.

The flames locked around the hooded girl's neck, forcefully pulling her up from the ground, bringing her bloodshot eyes to the same level as Efnir's gaze.

Even with such severe injuries, the girl didn't even flinch.

She simply stared at Efnir, as if examining something new and intriguing, a subtle sense of unease that made Efnir frown slightly.

From the very beginning, Efnir had never experienced the emotion called "fear" in the young girl.

They also seem to have no idea what pain is.

Efnir's had experienced this eerie sense of incongruity at some point.

That's when you're facing an "Angel".

This subtle feeling further convinced Efnir that the hooded girl before her was inextricably linked to the Apostle; in fact, Efnir had never been so close to the truth behind it all.

Without a doubt, the girl is a very important clue.

That's why Efnir didn't kill the hooded girl completely, but only stripped her of all her mobility.

I won't kill you.

Efnir looked directly at her, his gaze carrying a chilling, crimson edge.

"But your life ends here. Embrace death and burn yourself out. I will pry everything out of you and kill everyone behind you, leaving no one alive. Nami—"

Efnir connected the call.

Can you send someone over?

"Received! I'm now..."

"You... are indeed very special..."

Seemingly ignoring Efnir's murderous words, the girl weakly raised her eyelids and stared at Efnir with a gaze that was not one of hatred, but rather one of strange excitement.

Blood spilled from the corner of her mouth and flowed down her neck.

"Efnir... I will remember you..."

Before Efnir could process the hidden meaning in the girl's soft, murmured voice, a sudden burst of static crackled through her earpiece, and then Efnir's communication with Shinomiyami Nami was cut off.

"Nami?"

Efnir frowned slightly and called out softly, but received no reply.

"I'm really interested in you, but... you're too early..."

The hooded girl continued to murmur. Efnir glanced at her warily, then looked sideways in the direction of the helicopter.

But what she saw before her made Efnir pause for a moment.

In Efnir's view, everything seemed to be shrouded in a thin white mist, the air currents mixed with the smell of dirt and burning flint, the noisy helicopter engine, the surprised and worried looks of Yukina and Furan... everything seemed to be separated by the hazy white mist.

The air was very quiet.

It's like watching a silent movie.

The noisy electrical hum in the headset became erratic, producing a piercing, glass-like grating noise.

Efnir's gaze sharpened slightly. She raised her hand, and the Apostle Power rose from her body, pointing directly at the hooded girl's waist.

Strangely, the light spikes pierced through the girl's body without leaving any Trace —it was as if Efnir was shooting at a hologram; her attack passed right through the girl.

"--!?"

This scene made Efnir frown deeply.

What did you do?

"You showed me something very interesting... We'll meet again..."

Efnir was met with the hooded girl's indifferent gaze and a blinding silver light.

Her figure vanished inch by inch, right before Efnir's eyes, without any warning, starting from her hair and gradually dissipating. Even her body broke free from the restraints of Efnir's radiant light and slowly floated into the air.

Like a phantom, it cannot be grasped.

Efnir's eyes widened in shock at the scene before her. Without hesitation, she clenched her fists tightly, and the immense Apostle Power pressed down on the girl like a tidal wave. But the blinding flames passed right through the girl's body, leaving no Trace.

"Don't even think about escaping!!"

Efnir spread her arms wide and shouted, and a surging, blinding white light enveloped the girl like flames, but the girl's figure still faded away little by little.

"It's no use, give up."

The girl's voice grew weaker and weaker as her figure disappeared, remaining unmoved no matter how much Efnir attacked.

Or rather, it's like light passing through water, leaving no Trace.

"By the way, the Apostle you're looking for is in Liujin City..."

Leaving behind those words, the girl's figure completely disappeared from Efnir's sight. The scratching noise in her earpiece gradually faded away, replaced by calls of voice.

"Efnir! Are you alright... Efnir!? Can you hear me!"

"Naoko! Naoko, are you alright!?"

"Senior Efnir..."

Efnir stared at the empty ruins, her lips pressed tightly together, remaining silent.

"Damn it... damn it!!!"

Efnir roared furiously, and the ground seemed to be struck violently, kicking up dust.

She was panting, and raised her eyes to look at the distant horizon where the setting sun painted the sky red.

"Senior Efnir..."

"Naoko!"

Shinomiyami Nami and her soldiers came into view, and Yukina and Furan also ran towards them.

But when she arrived in front of Efnir, Yukina froze.

"Naoko... your eyes..."

Efnir and Yukina looked at each other.

In Yukina's view, the gauze over Efnir's right eye had disappeared without a trace.

Her right eye gleamed with an eerie purple light.

199. Dust

Move the time forward by one hour --

Only Efnir and Nishizaki Yuki were in the room.

Nishizaki Yuki returned to the United Hospital after receiving an emergency dispatch order. At this time, Kanade Kotone is still at the Orderkeeper Headquarters medical department organizing documents.

Strictly speaking, Nishizaki Yuki came specifically because of Efnir.

After the battle with the hooded girl codenamed Codename H, Efnir was immediately sent to the United Hospital. The purpose was to examine the effects of Apostle Form on her body, to provide treatment and bandages, and to investigate the abnormal changes in Efnir's right eye.

Apostle Form is a dangerous power that can cause permanent damage to the body, so physical examinations cannot be taken lightly. As a result, after the battle, Masaki Hina immediately ordered Efnir to come to the United Hospital for treatment and examination. Meanwhile, Shinomiyami Nami, along with Furan and others, took Efnir's battle audio and video recordings back to headquarters and began a targeted investigation.

Many questions remained unanswered, and at this point, the task was handed over to investigators at headquarters.

Lying on the examination bed, Efnir put on the medical eye patch she had prepared for herself, covering her right eye, and sat up.

"What was the result?"

Efnir lowered her gaze and asked softly, her delicate voice revealing no emotion.

"No abnormalities were found in your body... but... this is the first time I've encountered a situation like this with your right eye."

Nishizaki Yuki, a cigarette dangling from his lips, stared at the medical report in his hand, his brow furrowed in worry.

The Dregsification of the tissue would lose their vitality and "Mutation," turning into a dark gray-black color, which should be the case. However, after Apostle Form, Efnir's right eye retained an eerie, deep purple color. The purple pupil remained unchanged even after the Synchronization was broken, and upon closer inspection, one could even detect a dim purple glow deep within the pupil.

The only difference is that after entering Apostle Synchronization, Efnir can capture some subtle purple light in her already blind right eye, which slowly wriggles and flickers like dust flowing in the sunlight. In addition, Efnir can also see very blurry light in her right eye.

This situation will disappear after the Apostle Synchronization is dispelled.

In short, Efnir's already blind right eye will regain a small portion of its vision with the awakening of the Apostle Synchronization, and it will also be able to see some "strange dust" whose true nature cannot be determined. This phenomenon of "vision restoration" will disappear when the Apostle Synchronization is dispelled, and there will be no change as a proxy or in its normal state.

This is a strange phenomenon.

For Nishizaki Yuki, this was a new discovery that had never been recorded as a case.

Moreover, the so-called "dust" that Efnir saw was not a visual illusion caused by her eye injury, but something that actually existed. It was an unknown substance or energy body that would respond to changes in the Order Force and the Corruption Energy, because it would be sensitive to Efnir's Apostle Power.

However, Nishizaki Yuki tested all the instruments and equipment, but none of them could detect those "dust particles".

This was a very unexpected discovery, but it is also a discovery of great research significance.

Nishizaki Yuki was thus plunged into deep thought.

Efnir sighed, braced herself with her hands, and struggled to her feet.

Beneath her clothes, thick bandages were wrapped around her, the old, torn wounds bearing a heavy burden on Efnir, but she gritted her teeth and refused to utter a sound.

"Let me know if you find anything."

"Hey? Wait, where are you going?"

Nishizaki Yuki snapped out of her reverie to find that Efnir had already put on her coat and pushed open the door to the hospital room.

"I'm going to headquarters."

"Wait... what are you doing..."

"It's okay, I won't force myself."

After saying that, Efnir closed the door.

"Naoko!"

As soon as Efnir left the examination room, she saw Yukina running up to her.

"Naoko, are you alright...?"