Chapter 906 (1/2)

Before Randidly departed Lucretia’s lab, he had one more question to ask. “Do you know… how large each Cohort in the System is?”

Lucretia shook her head. “No. But I can follow your train of thought. Undoubtedly, it is much larger than each of us would ever suspect. After all, the System has the ability to create a mirror world for the Second Calamity for each of us. That speaks… to a large background. And a vast array of energy and images at its disposal.”

Humming, Randidly considered that for several seconds. “...sometimes I wish I could have spoken with the Creature. Truly spoken, as equals. It knew so much, and all it did was torment and manipulate us. If I had that knowledge-”

“I wonder… think about this, then,” Lucretia said. “That knowledge made the Creature take those terrible actions… the truth about the System… just how terrible a weight must that knowledge have…?”

Randidly glared at Lucretia, who simply shrugged.

He didn’t like that sort of perspective, but he couldn't’ deny it might be true. Each locked in their private thoughts, the two did a few experiments with Mana Engraving before parting and returning to their respective responsibilities.

*****

Helen rammed the harpoon deeply into the skull of the sea beast in front of her. The skull cracked and split as her viciously sharp weapon bit deeply into its flesh. She brought the palm of her other hand up and slammed it into the but of the weapon, driving it even deeper.

Just die, you fucker.

The roar that the monster released caused the water in the surrounding area to vibrate and bubble. With two strong kicks, Helen swam upward, allowing the long chain attached to the end of the harpoon to stretch and give some distance between them while keeping the weapon inserted in the body of the sea beast.

Somehow, even as the bubbles frothed upward and obscured her vision, Helen knew that this long test was drawing to an end.

As though it had been waiting for Helen to create some space, the seabeast’s long tentacles slashed outward toward her like whips cutting through the water. They moved so quickly that they left long trails of bubbles in their wake.

But Helen simply twisted her body to present as small a surface area as possible and seized the chain. With a huge pull, she rapidly dived back toward the beast’s skull, cutting those meters into nothing. In her left hand, she twirled a wickedly curved dagger that was almost as long as her forearm. A chain was attached to the base of this too, forming the counterweight to her harpoon.

The tentacle attacks slowed as she neared its body and she kicked brutally to swim down toward its face.

The wicked dagger blade stabbed forward with the speed of a bullet, biting deeply into the beast’s eye. Again in roared, and the thing spun the water extremely quickly as it tried to throw Helen off. But she planted her feet on its scales and held both ends of the chain near the weapons it was connected to.

She rode that bucking seabeast while gritting her teeth. Blood pumped up through the wounds she had inflicted, dying the water in the surrounding area a deep red. The blood and bubbled mixed into a strange froth that made this corner of the sea look like hell. Slowly, Helen smiled.

Hurry up and die, fucker. I’m hungry. This Reaper needs to eat.

Again and again, it struck at her with its tentacles and fins, but Helen always clung close to its relatively much larger body. Systematically she stabbed her weapons into its side, using their curved blades to make them extremely difficult to remove.

More and more blood pumped out of the seabeast into the surrounding sea, so that it was impossible to see what was going on within that huge sphere of blood. Helen could sense several other scavengers of the Blood Sea coming closer, interested in the powerful tang of blood. But when they recognized the seabeast that was in its death throes, they paused.

What being would hunt a seabeast in its own habitat?

Helen’s smile widened further as she saw her fellow scavengers simply watching.

Sit back and watch. This is my prey.

Finally, with a heaving sigh, the seabeast died. Instantly, Helen felt something inside of herself shift and click into place. All at once she woke from the strange dream she had found herself in for almost a week. After a blink, she was back in Donnyton, standing next to the portal into the Level 50 Dungeon.

Her eyes slid sideways, searching and suspicious. Yet from looking around, it was clear that only a few moments passed.

Helen grinned and looked at her hands. There was a flicker, and then a bone Harpoon and dagger appeared in them, connected by a fine chain. So, this is my Fate.

*****