Asura in Arknights

“It’s alright, she’s your sister after all.” Adele understood Maria’s feelings at the time, so she didn’t complain too much.

"Well... we should go to Sarah's place now."

They've already wasted a lot of time here, and if they wait any longer, it might get too late.

But... what about her sister and her two companions? Maria couldn't help but look at her sister.

“We’re also planning to visit Miss Sarah with you,” Margaret said. “Shining and Liz are both very skilled doctors; they might be able to help.”

“Well…” Maria glanced at the two of them, then nodded hesitantly, “Alright then.”

However, this was only because of her sister. Maria didn't believe that the two Sarkaz were any great doctors. In her mind, Sarkaz and doctors were two completely unrelated words. Moreover, even if they were doctors, could they compare to the doctors in the top hospitals of the Great Knight Territory?

She didn't take Margaret's offer of help seriously at all.

"Then let's leave it at that."

"The hospital is not far from here, let's go there together now."

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It took them a while to get to the hospital where Raine was. Adele registered them and then let them all in.

"Sarah, we've come to visit you." Adele pushed open the door and came in with Maria first.

Since Ryan had not woken up, Sarah simply moved to the hospital, so that not only Ryan, but also Sarah could receive immediate medical attention if any health problems arose.

The hospital in the Great Knight Territory has a unique feature: as long as you pay enough, you can stay there as long as you want. Li Ang had clearly given them a lot of money, and now a whole medical team was taking care of the couple, so any problems could be detected immediately.

“Miss Maria...you’re here too.” Sarah looked terrible and greeted them listlessly.

“Sister Sarah…” Maria was also very worried when she saw Sarah like this.

She walked up to Sarah and said mysteriously, "Sarah, you'll never guess who else came with us?"

Hearing Maria's words, Sarah perked up a bit and guessed, "Could it be Mr. Marner?"

But if it were Mr. Marner, Maria wouldn't need to say that.

“It’s not my uncle!” Maria muttered, then lowered her voice and said, “My sister… she’s back.”

Upon hearing this, Sarah instinctively looked towards the door, where she saw Margaret, whose hair was completely dyed black.

Margaret stepped into the room and said, "It's been a long time, Miss Sarah."

Chapter Forty-Eight: Treatment

"You are……"

A hint of confusion flashed in Sarah's eyes, but it quickly turned into surprise as she recognized Margaret in disguise.

“Marga…”

"Yes, it's me, Miss Sarah."

Margaret spoke first, interrupting Sarah before she could say anything.

Her identity cannot be revealed at this stage. If Sarah calls out her name and someone else overhears, things could get complicated.

Not long ago, Shining had just killed the leader of the Unarmored Alliance, which temporarily relieved their troubles. However, if the Unarmored Alliance were to react, the entire Great Knight Territory would likely experience another round of turmoil. Now is the time for them to keep a low profile.

"Oh, sorry." Sarah quickly covered her mouth, then remembered Margaret's sensitive identity.

"How have you been all these years?"

Upon seeing Margaret, whom she hadn't seen for three years, Sarah couldn't help but smile despite her haggard appearance.

Although Sarah is nominally a maid of the Nearl family, the Nearl family is a very traditional knightly family and does not have as many bad habits as ordinary nobles. Sarah can be completely regarded as a member of their family.

Before Margaret was expelled from Kazimierz, Sarah and Margaret were very good friends. However, Margaret was a bit old-fashioned, and even though they had a good relationship, she still stubbornly called her 'Miss Sarah'.

"With the help of friends, it's not bad."

Margaret then changed the subject, saying, "Miss Sarah, I came here specifically because I heard about your husband's situation."

"How is your husband now?"

Sarah's face fell, and she replied, "It's still the same as before, there's no sign of improvement, and the doctors can't find any cause."

"Then, may my companions take a look at his condition? My companions are all excellent doctors, and they should be able to help with the current situation."

As Margaret spoke, Shining and Liz entered the ward one after another and bowed to Sarah.

Sarah hesitated slightly as she looked at the two Sarkaz women in front of her.

Because of Raine, she had no prejudice against the Sarkaz, but it wasn't so easy for her to trust two strangers like that. However, considering that Margaret was the kind of person who would never lie, Sarah finally decided to believe them this once.

Anyway, the doctors here don't have any treatment options. If this continues, Sarah might resort to desperate measures, so it might not hurt to let these people try.

"Then I'll leave it to you two." Sarah bowed deeply to Shining and Liz.

"Please rest assured, we will do our best."

However, when they tried to enter Ryan's ward, they encountered an unexpected obstacle.

"Wait! What are you trying to do? You're not allowed to cause trouble in the hospital!"

The attending physician at the hospital stopped them. Visiting patients in the intensive care unit already requires very strict procedures, and allowing so many people in was already a lenient measure. Now that Sarah wanted to let all sorts of random people in to check on the patients, the doctor naturally couldn't agree to such a thing.

If anything goes wrong, he will be the one responsible.

After some arguing, the attending physician finally had no choice but to give in, "Alright... if you insist on doing it this way, then you will have to bear all the consequences yourselves."

"Also, I will report this matter to Mr. Li truthfully."

Looking at the group of women eyeing him menacingly, the attending physician felt utterly hopeless. What could he do now? He had a feeling that if he had refused earlier, the black-haired Kuranta would have knocked him unconscious... That woman's eyes were truly terrifying.

After dealing with the attending physician, they finally met Ryan lying in the hospital bed.

"Was he a lucky compatriot who escaped that war...?"

Shining said this softly, then solemnly said to Liz beside her, "Liz, I'm counting on you from now on."

"Ah."

Shining's formidable swordsmanship reveals her as a frontline warrior, tearing through enemy lines with her sharp sword. This fighting style makes Shining more adept at healing physical damage from swords, while Liz is more focused on healing injuries inflicted by Originium Arts.

She can even suppress the enemy's Originium Arts in direct combat, and extracting the residual energy from the spells is an easy task for her.

Liz waved her staff, and the pale blue crystal in the birdcage hanging at the top suddenly emitted specks of light, which fell on Renn, who was lying on the hospital bed.

In his sleep, Raine would occasionally reveal a ferocious and distorted expression. Even the doctors here couldn't find the cause and could only alleviate the symptoms with some medication. However, under the radiance released by Liz's Originium Arts, the expression on Raine's face quickly returned to calm, and he began to breathe peacefully.

Although she hadn't woken up, seeing this scene gave Sarah a glimmer of hope.

"How's it going, Liz?" Margaret asked from the side.

Upon hearing this, Liz shook her head slightly and said somewhat awkwardly, "He's not here, so I can't bring him back."

Although she didn't understand what Liz's words meant, her helplessness was very clear. The glimmer of hope that had just risen in Sarah's eyes was extinguished, and she closed her eyes in anguish.

What's more agonizing than seeing absolutely no possibility is the situation where you finally see a glimmer of hope, only to have that hope immediately shattered.

Liz wasn't very good at communicating with others, and it took Shining and Margaret some time to figure out what she was trying to say.

"You mean, he has no physical injuries, but his spirit isn't here, and your power isn't enough to bring her spirit back through the connection?" Shining pondered for a while before guessing.

Liz nodded, confirming Shining's guess.

"It seems... things really are as we thought, a little tricky indeed." Shining frowned and said in a low voice.

The conversation between the two left everyone completely bewildered, unable to understand what they were talking about.

"Can you tell me... what's wrong with my husband?"

Shining and Liz exchanged a glance, and then Shining pondered for a moment before slowly beginning to speak.

"To explain this matter clearly, we must start with a story from a very, very long time ago."

"That's a legend that has been passed down for many years among our Sarkaz people."

Chapter 49 The Legend of the Sarkaz

Before beginning her story, Shining checked the room to make sure no one could overhear their conversation before she spoke.

"You have all heard of the Requiem Festival, right? This festival evolved from the legends of our Sarkaz people."

Upon hearing this, everyone felt somewhat puzzled.

They had certainly heard of the Requiem Festival, which was one of the biggest festivals in Terra besides the New Year. However, they had never heard that the origin of the Requiem Festival was related to the legends of the Sarkaz.

However, upon closer examination, this is not surprising. The Sarkaz are one of the oldest races in the world, and they have existed for so long that anything with even a little history, if traced back to its origins, will more or less be related to the Sarkaz.

Shining paused for a moment, then continued, "On the day of Requiem, the souls of all the deceased return to this world to find a suitable substitute so that they may be resurrected."

"Only by disguising themselves as demons can people deceive these spirits and avoid the misfortune of having their lives taken by them. This is the true nature of the Requiem Festival."

The Requiem Festival described by Shining was different from what they knew; it was filled with a sinister and terrifying atmosphere. Coupled with Shining's long robe and hooded attire, several timid people even shrank back in fear.

"Of course, I'm not saying this to scare you. I'm trying to show that in our Sarkaz understanding, the 'soul' is a real thing."

Then Sarah seemed to realize something and blurted out, "You mean, my husband's soul is no longer here?"

Shining nodded.

After receiving an affirmative answer, Sarah was momentarily unable to accept it. Faced with Shining's somewhat unbelievable conclusion, she didn't know what to say.

"...So, do you have any way to revive my husband?"

“We have a way, but it’s not easy,” Shining replied. “First, we need to find out where your husband’s soul is right now.”

“According to the legends passed down through our people, the souls of all Sarkaz who die return to the embrace of their ancestors and flow through the bloodlines of all living Sarkaz. However… your husband’s soul has not returned to the embrace of his ancestors. The ‘Black Celebration’ ritual that I know of does not apply to this situation.”

In Shining's few words, she revealed a startling fact—the legends of the Sarkaz were not unfounded, and she even possessed the relevant rituals to recall a person's soul from the 'embrace of the ancestors'.

The quick-thinking Adele soon noticed this. She had many questions for Shining, after all, many of the things he had just said challenged the worldview she had formed over the years. But she also knew very well that now was not the time to ask these questions.

Everyone in the ward was watching Shining, waiting for her to give her next answer.

"However, we have some understanding of what your husband has gone through."

After speaking, Shining paused, then said to Sarah somewhat apologetically, "This... is related to something we're currently investigating. Your husband is probably an innocent victim who's been dragged into this, but I'm sorry, this matter is very important, and we can't disclose any related information casually."

After a long silence, Sarah finally raised her head and asked with a hint of despair, "Tell me, what do you want?"

Margaret, who had been standing nearby, immediately realized that Sarah had clearly misunderstood and thought that Shining and the others were some kind of con artists. She quickly stepped forward and said, "Miss Sarah, you've misunderstood. We don't want any reward. It's just that what we're investigating... is really very important."

Margaret hesitated for a moment, then said with utmost solemnity, "Miss Sarah, I swear in the name of 'Nearlight' that I will do everything in my power to help you rescue your husband."

Upon hearing this, Sarah looked at Margaret with some surprise.

Even Maria looked at her sister with some surprise, "Sister...you..."

Everyone present was well aware of what a knight's oath, made in accordance with his surname, truly represented, especially for a long-established knightly family like 'Nearlight'.

This means that no matter what stands in Margaret's way, even if her final fate is to be shattered to pieces, the knight, in the name of nobility, will still fulfill his promise.

“Miss Sarah, please rest assured, this is my promise to you.” Margaret placed her right fist on her chest, giving Sarah an ancient knightly salute, then turned to Shining and the others and said, “Let’s go, we should leave.”

Seeing them set off to leave, Maria instinctively said, "I want to go with you!"

“No!” Margaret refused decisively. “That’s too dangerous.”

After Margaret finished reading the documents that Shining had brought back, she knew things had gotten serious. She wasn't very confident about what she was doing, so how could she possibly involve her sister?

“But you swore an oath in the name of ‘Nearlight,’ and I am also a member of ‘Nearlight,’ so why won’t you let me help?” Maria argued so strongly that Margaret couldn’t find a reason to refuse.

"In short, no means no!"

On one side is the older sister who is obsessed with protecting her younger sister, and on the other side is the younger sister who is determined to help her older sister no matter what. Neither of them is willing to back down.

At this moment, Shining stepped in to smooth things over, saying, "Alright, Margaret, let your sister come along first. Even if you send her away now, she'll definitely sneak up on you later."

"Besides, we don't plan to do anything dangerous right now, so why don't we have her come with us to avoid causing any more trouble."

Seeing that Margaret was beginning to be persuaded, Maria nodded frantically beside her, as if afraid that Margaret would change her mind.

"……All right."

After considering her sister's personality, Margaret was finally persuaded. She said to Maria with great seriousness, "However, whatever you want to do at that time, you must get my permission."

"Of course, no problem! I love my older sister the most!"

Maria cheered on the spot, and Margaret could only give a slightly helpless smile as she looked at her sister.

At this moment, Adele, who had been watching from the sidelines, noticed that Shining's gaze had fallen on her.

She said, "Miss Eyjafjalla, would you like to come with us?"