Rhodes Island does not exist.

In an instant, the lights that had been extinguished were all restored to their former glory.

The Reaper, lurking like a ghost in the darkness, was immediately forced to reveal its hidden form, and became as flustered as a thief caught in the act by a passerby.

But she was a professional assassin after all, so even this degree of wavering was easily concealed beneath her numb expression, leaving only a cold face.

To be honest, this was the first time the Doctor had seen her face in detail since she appeared.

Although the concepts of beauty or ugliness had long been eroded and faded in his mind by the passage of time, even so, when the Doctor saw the Reaper's face, he still realized her beauty in terms of universal values.

Moreover, this beauty carries a hint of something the doctor knows well.

Perhaps I knew her before.

"Tell that little girl she did a great job," Skadi said to the Doctor, while slightly adjusting the angle of her greatsword towards the Reaper. "As for you... now that you've lost your protection, you'd better think twice before trying to sneak up on us again—if you don't want to leave anything behind here forever."

"So she can't speak?" the doctor asked, looking at the two who were facing off. "I haven't heard her utter a single syllable with any linguistic meaning since the beginning of this."

“Forget syllables,” Skadi shook her head. “She barely uttered a sound; she fought like a mute.”

"Perhaps he really is mute," the doctor said.

“Don’t even think about it,” Skadi asked. “Have you examined her with your own eyes? Is she human or a monster?”

“Then we need to define you first.” The doctor looked at Skadi. “Are you human or a monster?”

“Of course I’m human… probably,” Skadi replied. “But why are you answering my question with a question? I’m the one asking you the question.”

“Because…” the doctor sighed, “her structure is exactly the same as yours, basically no different. So if you say you are human, then she is human; if you say you are a monster, then she is undoubtedly a monster.”

"And what about you?" Skadi countered.

"What do you mean, 'me'?" the doctor asked, puzzled.

"Have you ever used your abilities to examine yourself?" she asked, looking into the Doctor's eyes. "Since you've evaluated the species of me and the Reapers, shouldn't you also evaluate your own species?"

"I……"

The doctor didn't know how to answer Skadi's question.

Of course, this is not because he has never seen his own body.

As the holder of the ability, the first thing he looked at was the part about himself.

For example, one's own arm, one's own weapon, and so on.

However, the patterns on the weapon are visible, and the tendons in the arm are discernible, but the body and torso are not visible.

It was as if the place was made of a void, and anyone who stepped in would be drawn into an unfathomable vortex.

But just when the Doctor didn't know how to answer Skadi, the Reaper suddenly appeared to save the day from the awkward silence.

"boom!"

The familiar sound of airflow rang out.

No, the doctor is not familiar with this voice.

He had never even heard of it once.

What he found familiar was the sound that followed the "bang".

Although he hasn't heard it yet.

"It's a bomb! Skadi, get out of the way!"

The warning lines in his eyes and the pain in his right arm sent a double warning to the Doctor, which he eventually translated into words and delivered to Skadi, who was holding off the Reapers ahead of them.

Skadi was pointing her sword at the Reaper in front of her, while the Reaper was holding the high-energy grenade launcher on his shoulder, with white smoke billowing from the muzzle.

Because the shell had already left the barrel.

A white dotted line, like the smoke billowing from the mouths of gang members puffing away in a Sicilian opium den, drifted and lingered at the tail of the high-energy stone bomb, exuding an allure unique to this type of weapon.

But Skadi did not avoid it.

Her eyes were still etched on the Reaper and the shell he had fired.

The smooth edge of the sword reflected the crimson in her eyes.

Then, she raised her right hand.

The massive, heavy blade sliced ​​through the air and white smoke, flying towards the incoming cannonball with a sharp, piercing aura.

"Ding!"

When the high-energy stone encased in iron came into contact with another metal, a thin mark instantly appeared on its surface.

But that was not Skadi's original intention.

"boom!"

As soon as the fine marks appeared, Skadi immediately reversed the blade, deflecting the bomb fired by her opponent with the back of the blade, and then made a bold move.

She spun the cannonball flying through the air like a ping-pong ball, sending it hurtling directly toward the Reaper, who had no idea such a thing would happen.

-

Thank you segment.

Thank you othuyeg莫笑尘土 for the monthly pass, thank you.

Chapter 221 Two Hundred and Twenty, Transformation

"boom!"

Smoke and dust were everywhere.

Just like when the three of them were ambushed before.

The shattered fragments of Originium tore through the air, flying into the gaps between the walls and the human body, spilling out the heat that erupted in an instant like boiling soup under a lid, blooming cruelly in the riddled children's playground.

The Reaper showed no mercy; if this Originium grenade had hit Skadi, its power would have been enough to wipe out the Doctor and the Locked Circuit behind Skadi.

But Skadi stopped it all.

Her greatsword was not wide, and even compared to her strong and slender body, it couldn't stop her by half.

But Skadi stopped it all.

Although she had aimed the high-energy stone at the Reaper's location, making the blast radius as close as possible to its owner.

But Skadi still had to stop all of this.

Even so, she was still within the blast radius.

As the one standing at the forefront, she must bear the responsibility of protecting those behind her.

"Ska...Ti?"

As the smoke cleared, the doctor coughed and opened his eyes amidst the thick dust that obscured his vision, only to see a solitary, illusory figure standing alone before him.

The lavender tied to his right hand constantly reminded the Doctor of the current crisis with its stinging pain, and his eyes could clearly see the wounds on Skadi's body.

“This woman is a bit cunning.” Skadi gripped the hilt of her sword with her right hand to keep her upper body from losing her balance. “That projectile that just flew over was almost filled with fragments of Originium… If that thing had exploded at close range, she probably would have hurt herself.”

The doctor wanted to tell Skadi that there was no "if" or "what if".

This is not a hypothetical scenario, but something that is happening right now.

But he couldn't say it.

Since he wasn't the one who got hurt, how could he have the right to do that?

Only those who bear the scars have the right to joke about the cruelty of the battlefield.

“It’s alright.” Skadi shook her head, revealing half of her right cheek in the dissipating smoke and dust. Her expression was no different from usual, still as calm as ice. “I did this because I trusted you, so don’t feel guilty or anything if I’m injured.”

“Although I have no memories of anything outside Rhodes Island, I always feel that my life before was terrifyingly peaceful, and I rarely felt hurt.” Skadi’s words even carried a hint of ease at this moment. “So thanks to that, I have always been very confident in my strength, and I feel that this power is my responsibility.”

“But don’t worry.” She turned her head to look at the still unclear center of the smoke and dust ahead, her red eyes shining brightly. “This little injury won’t pose any threat to me… My bloodline won’t allow me to be so fragile.”

But to the PhD student, these words were just bravado.

Because the blue blood constantly seeping from her body had already betrayed her.

"Oh, right." She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth with her left hand. "What about that brat? How's the repair going?"

"It's still going on." The Doctor glanced at the closed circuit he had shielded in his arms during the shockwave and said, "I think it should be fine."

“That’s good. At least my efforts have some value.” Skadi looked up and sighed. “I hate it when my efforts are worthless. It makes me look like I’m doing something useless and I look really stupid.”

“Don’t let your guard down, Skadi.” Feeling the stinging pain in her right arm, the Doctor shook his head. “She’s only temporarily out of our sight, but she hasn’t disappeared yet.”

“No, I can see her,” Skadi said. “This dust doesn’t obstruct my view. She was the biggest victim of that previous rebound, and now she’s lying motionless on the ground.”

"call……"

As she spoke, she began to regulate her breathing.

Perhaps someone as powerful as her could recover from her injuries simply by adjusting her breathing—the Doctor couldn't help but think this.

After all, she is Skadi, she is the Skadi, how could he possibly care about such a scar?

So, as long as she's given enough time to rest, she'll definitely be able to—

Suddenly, the constant stinging pain from the thorns turned into a tearing, excruciating agony.

Lavender, like a child who doesn't know how to use its strength, bit down hard on an adult's arm with its two fangs.

Flesh and blood tore apart.

Pain indicates danger.

The depth of pain is indicated by a Geiger counter called Lavender, which quantifies the danger level of the surrounding environment so that the host can intuitively understand what they are facing.

So, what is the PhD student facing?

What happened around him that caused him such pain?

The lavender will not answer, because she cannot speak.

But the doctor's bright green eyes had already seen everything.

A female figure suddenly appeared between the Doctor and Skadi, and thrust two sharp blades straight down into Skadi's back.

The speed was so fast that the doctor dared not admit it.

He preferred to believe that his own eyes were deceiving him.

However, he was wrong in the end.

After all, vision might deceive him, but Originium Arts, which only speak the truth, will not.

The figure emerging from the green light cast a shadow over his world.

“Skadi—!”

He tried to shout, but it was too late.

It wasn't because his message wasn't disseminated in a timely manner, but because the Reaper simply didn't give him any time to react and spread the message.

"laugh--"

So, the two sharp blades naturally sliced ​​through the air, and then, following the trajectory of that relative vacuum, they cut through Skadi's flesh and pierced into the gaps between her tendons and bones.

Deep blue blood splattered, like crushed blueberries.

"S-"

The warning that should have been delivered was ultimately reduced to a single word.

Even a single syllable.

But this single syllable created a huge distance between him and Skadi.

Perhaps one day, many years from now, the professor will recall the distance between these syllables when he looks back.

"cough!"

The blood vessels in her back were severed, and her internal organs were destroyed by the piercing blade, causing Skadi to spit out a mouthful of blood mixed with human tissue.

Holding a greatsword and keeping watch ahead, she was now unable to turn around properly to deal with the attacker due to an attack on her back.

Two sharp blades held her bones in place on both sides, while the Reaper's body tightly bound her joints.

She wanted her dead.

The Reapers want Skadi dead.