"Amiya, calm down a little. Whenever it has anything to do with the Doctor, you always get flustered."
Seeing Amiya clutching the Doctor's hand so tightly, as if she might shake her apart at any moment, a nearby medical operator hurriedly wiped sweat from his brow and spoke up.
Kal'tsit stood to one side while the medical operators carried out basic treatment according to her instructions. After emerging from stasis, one usually needed time to adjust. The operators bustled about, checking the Doctor's blood pressure and breathing, while Amiya never once let go of her hand.
The Doctor was slowly waking, and Amiya tried to call out to her.
"Doctor… Doctor?"
A slightly hoarse yet clear voice responded, "You… who are you?"
The voice was quite different from what Felix remembered. In the past, when he listened to the Doctor give commands, all he ever heard was a calm, emotionless tone, as if she were a machine that never made mistakes, coldly issuing every order.
"You're like us, a member of Rhodes Island… and my most important companion."
"Doctor… don't you remember?"
The Doctor fell silent for a moment, as if processing the information. She blinked, then suddenly reached out, trying to touch Amiya's bunny ears. Seeing this, Amiya let her ears droop, allowing the Doctor to rub them a few times.
"…Can I really trust you?"
The girl's voice was filled with confusion.
Amiya's expression shifted slightly. "So… the Doctor doesn't remember me either. Even so, I won't give up."
Felix watched all of this with indifference. He glanced at the white-haired feline woman standing nearby with her arms crossed, looking unconcerned.
"Does sleeping in that thing cause memory loss?"
"The sarcophagus does not produce any side effects."
Kal'tsit looked deeply into Felix's golden eyes, trying to find even a trace of emotion within them. She failed, and turned her gaze away.
"Chernobog experienced severe tremors earlier. It's possible the storage process was disrupted. That was not something we could have predicted."
"Do you feel relieved?"
Felix gave a faint, indifferent smile. Seeing Kal'tsit's face stiffen, he continued, "Don't you think an amnesiac Doctor is what makes everyone happiest right now?"
Kal'tsit did not answer.
With Amiya's support and the guidance of the medical operators, the Doctor swayed as she stepped out of the sarcophagus. Her face was deathly pale, as if she had not slept well at all. Her gaze passed over Kal'tsit's face and finally settled on Felix. She had not said anything yet, but an unhealthy flush rose to her cheeks.
"I'll go find ACE."
Felix turned and left. From his perspective, the likelihood of the Doctor pretending to have amnesia was extremely low. By now, he could read people's intentions from their eyes and actions.
Besides, he glanced at the affinity value between himself and the Doctor. Even after her final plan had failed, their affinity had only dropped slightly and still stood at over twenty. Yet the Doctor just now had an affinity of thirty-five. That was clearly abnormal.
So Felix concluded that the Doctor truly had amnesia. As for why her affinity had suddenly jumped so high, it was probably because he had played a part in rescuing her.
ACE was breathing heavily as he held the line against Reunion's forces. He spat twice, blood froth splattering onto the ground. The Reunion Infected had called in reinforcements. Although Rhodes Island had brought a fair number of operators, most of them were green recruits. Against Reunion's reckless, suicidal style of fighting, the operators were quickly wounded.
ACE remained at the very front. He had already repelled two waves of Reunion's attacks. It had not taken much effort, but seeing the ever-growing number of Infected, even he felt a chill in his chest.
"Hah… hah. Is this all? Feels like it's still not enough."
Blaze wiped the sweat from her forehead, electric chainsaw upright, and let out a breath. "ACE, how much longer do we have to hold?"
"…Hold on until the Doctor comes out."
"Hey, that's basically saying nothing."
As the two traded banter, slow footsteps sounded behind them. ACE and Blaze turned their heads and saw Felix, a longsword at his side. His steps were firm and resonant, ringing like metal striking stone.
With just a single glance, those golden, scrutinizing eyes pierced every Reunion Infected present like drawn blades. They staggered back several steps at once, panic flashing across the faces hidden beneath their masks.
In that instant, it felt as though they were staring at some primordial beast. Terran instinct froze them in place. None dared to draw a weapon, nor did they even dare to turn their backs and flee. This was pressure in its purest form, an absolute domination of presence.
"T-this guy… could it be the King of Dawn of Tomorrow's Development?"
This group of Reunion players was relatively more concerned with self-preservation. They could clearly feel the overwhelming aura and murderous intent bearing down on them.
[King of Dawn Lv ?]
(Red Name)
[Description: ?]
[Threat Level: Warning! You have zero chance of survival] (Red)
"Holy crap, hostile status. Nope, nope, gotta go. I've got stuff to do back home, see ya!"
The moment the Reunion players threw out a scan and saw that the target's affinity was neither the green of friendliness nor the yellow of neutrality, but a glaring red that signified hostility, they immediately turned tail and ran. Not one of them dared to stay, afraid the King of Dawn would cut them down with a single strike.
"This…"
ACE was left speechless. He knew that Felix commanded an astonishing number of adventurers who fought for him and for Tomorrow's Development. Those adventurers belonged to an opposing faction, yet the moment they saw Felix, they scattered like mice before a cat. What pressured ACE the most were precisely these adventurers who had not yet made a move. They possessed Originium Arts that granted them a form of immortality, while he himself had only one fragile life. On his shoulders rested the burden of Rhodes Island, and he had yet to fully train his operators. How could he fall here?
The next moment, every Reunion member present felt as though they were standing at the heart of a volcano. They felt heat. No, it was more like a scorching wave of molten lava crashing toward them, far more terrifying and far harder to resist than even Reunion's leader, Talulah.
Soon, the first Reunion fighter fled. Then a second, a third. When Amiya emerged from the basement supporting the Doctor, with Kal'tsit beside her, they happened to see Reunion members fleeing in utter disarray.
"…Ah."
Sensing the danger the group had just been in, Amiya's small face grew solemn. "It's not just the Ursus military. There's even more Reunion."
"You ran into the Ursus army?"
"Yes, but only a small detachment. They're government forces. ACE scouted that their main unit is moving toward the city hall."
Dobermann hurried over from the far side of the ruins with a squad in tow. Seeing ACE and the others, she finally let out a breath of relief.
"We were blocked by Reunion, but thankfully they withdrew very quickly. We managed to regroup."
She gave Felix a respectful nod, then shifted her gaze to the hooded girl who looked as if she had just woken up, curiously surveying her surroundings.
"This… is the Doctor?"
There was unmistakable doubt in Dobermann's voice. From Amiya's words, she had heard that the Doctor was someone worthy of respect, a learned individual, an outstanding battlefield commander. Yet the person before her looked more like a Columbian university student than anything else. The image simply did not match.
Amiya noticed Dobermann's confusion, but she did not rush to explain.
"The route we came from has already been occupied by Reunion. Some of them tailed you here."
Kal'tsit looked toward the shadows cast by a nearby building, where white-clad Infected stood watching from afar. They merely observed, with no intention of approaching.
"Lord Felix, how should we proceed?"
"Dr. Kal'tsit, are you asking me?"
Felix turned to look at her, a hint of surprise in his eyes. He almost wondered whether this was a fake Kal'tsit. The real one would never ask him such a question.
"Communications with the Rhodes Island landship are down. Reunion has cut off Chernobog's power grid. With the city paralyzed, our communications are being jammed as well."
Amiya spoke softly. "I can't contact Closure anymore."
Ahead, more Reunion Infected were gathering. It seemed they had realized their numerical advantage and were preparing to give these outsiders a brutal lesson. Behind them, deeper within the buildings, screams continued to echo without end.
"Amiya… what do we do?"
The Doctor felt a chill run down her spine at once. That was the reaction of an ordinary student. She instinctively grabbed Amiya's hand and hid behind ACE and Felix, only then finding a small sense of safety.
"Can… can we win?"
Amiya looked to Dobermann. Dobermann cast a guarded glance at the squad she had brought with her, all of them fresh recruits. How were they supposed to survive a battle like this?
And yet, they had no choice but to fight. This was the path Rhodes Island had chosen.
"Felix… big brother…"
The situation was no longer something a simple squad operation could resolve. Felix drew his sword.
This was the first time many had seen him draw a blade. Though a massive, almost exaggerated lance was mounted on his back, he had no intention of using it. Instead, he unsheathed a longsword with a black hilt and a silver blade.
Kal'tsit's gaze shifted the moment she saw the weapon. When she looked at Felix again, understanding dawned in her eyes.
The sword was named Scorching Expanse. Kal'tsit did not know much about it, but from it she sensed something familiar, the aura of a black crown. This weapon had likely once belonged to a Sarkaz King, or had at least been wielded or forged by one.
In truth, Felix himself did not know its origin. He had obtained this ancient-grade longsword while excavating a tomb. After using it, he found it suited him perfectly. It could transform into a blazing blade, striking enemies with flame. Perhaps its original master had been a flame attributes sarkaz.
Blue fire began to spread before Felix, unfurling like a carpet laid for royalty. It flowed smoothly down to the ground, igniting everything within sight, burning, reducing it all to ash.
The Reunion Infected immediately felt flames licking at their feet. The courage they had mustered to face Rhodes Island vanished at once. Now, they wanted nothing more than to flee.
Those caught too close were swallowed outright by the fire, their bodies reduced to ash.
Whoosh.
The flames dispersed with the wind. Where a dense mass of Infected had stood moments before, only a few dozen remained.
Felix sheathed his sword and gave Dobermann a nod. Her expression hardened.
"Reunion has very little fighting strength left. All squads, follow orders and prepare to engage."
Her voice was firm. She looked to Amiya, who nodded in return.
Dobermann then turned to the Doctor. "Rally the teams. This is the moment for you to prove yourself. Given the situation, we can't afford to hold back."
The Doctor looked at the remaining Infected charging in with reckless desperation, then felt the expectant gazes of the operators around her. She almost wanted to point at herself and say, "Me?"
But there was no time for her thoughts to wander. Facing the charging Reunion fighters, she spoke on instinct.
"Defender to the front. Snipers, open fire."
The young operators carrying round shields stepped forward without hesitation, forming the first line. They locked into a stalemate against the strength of the Reunion Infected, but it did not last long. From behind them came the sound of crossbow bolts tearing through the air.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
The bolts struck the Infected in the head. They fell to the ground, lifeless.
The Doctor snapped back to herself, letting out a couple of startled sounds. Seeing Amiya's eyes shining with excitement, she did not know what to say, and could only scratch her head and smile foolishly.
Kal'tsit watched the Doctor with a complicated expression. She then glanced toward Felix and relaxed when she saw that he paid no attention to the Doctor's command.
She truly feared the Doctor might still be pretending. If Felix sensed something amiss, he might cut her down without hesitation. But Felix did not seem like that kind of person. Kal'tsit believed that after walking this land for so long, she understood what sort of man he was.
Felix looked toward the floating device at his side. The invisible drone was reporting data to him in real time. Ursus civilians were evacuating urgently toward the outskirts of the campus, with a good chance of reaching the unoccupied southern gate within an hour. From there, they could escape.
How long until the Catastrophe struck?
Felix lifted his gaze to the ashen sky.
Four hours remained.