Quinn arrived with reinforcements.
The vampires moved like a military unit—body armor, ballistic helmets, assault rifles, even a few carrying what looked like anti-materiel weapons. Someone had learned from the sniper deaths.
Before the operation, Quinn had contacted Deacon Frost. Deacon activated the familiar network, calling in favors from every human asset in the area. Tonight, this entire neighborhood would be "silent." No matter how loud things got, no police would respond. No witnesses would talk.
"These vampires are really something else," Luke muttered, watching through his scope as the armored column approached.
Body armor wouldn't stop silver bullets at this range, but it showed initiative. Someone was actually thinking.
He centered his crosshairs on the most obvious target—the blonde vampire giving orders.
Quinn.
"Alright, spread out and find—"
CRACK.
The sentence died with its speaker. Quinn's head snapped back, and his body crumbled to ash before it hit the ground.
The vampires scattered instantly. Not fleeing—dispersing. Taking cover, forming search patterns. They'd received Deacon's orders: either the hunter dies here, or they do. No retreat.
CRACK.
Another vampire dropped.
"There! Muzzle flash!"
"Move! Go!"
They advanced through cover, using buildings and cars as shields, closing the distance.
Luke smiled. Predictable.
"Riven, relocate—"
She didn't answer.
Instead, a thunderous CRASH erupted behind him—the sound of something massive colliding with something equally massive.
Luke spun around.
Riven was locked in a weapon clash with a woman. Their blades ground against each other, throwing sparks into the darkness. The woman's weapon was a greatsword—easily as large as Riven's broken blade—held one-handed like it weighed nothing.
And the woman herself...
White hair. Red eyes. A distinctive hood and cape. A weapon that looked like it belonged to a deep-sea monster.
Luke's heart nearly stopped.
"Stop! Riven, stop!"
At his shout, Riven disengaged, stepping back. The newcomer lowered her sword as well, though she kept her guard up.
"You..." Luke's voice trembled as he approached. "You're Skadi, aren't you?"
The woman turned to face him. Her expression was calm—almost serene—as she reached up and adjusted her hood.
"It's me, Doctor."
It's really her.
Skadi. The Deep Sea Hunter. An Abyssal creature from the world of Arknights, wielding strength that could shatter mountains. One of his most-used operators in the game.
And she'd called him "Doctor."
Just like Riven, she seemed to recognize him. Seemed to have the same bond of loyalty that came from... what? The hours he'd spent playing her game? The countless battles he'd deployed her in?
"Luke, who is she?"
Riven's voice had an edge to it. Something Luke failed to notice.
"This is Skadi," he explained quickly. "She's like you—a hero from another world. An... operator, I guess you'd call it. From a different place than Runeterra."
He tried to frame it in terms Riven might understand. Skadi was effectively a Guard-class operator—frontline combat specialist. Close to what Riven would be if she existed in Terra.
"A Guard operator, then." Skadi's expression didn't change as she studied Riven. "I'm an operator under the Doctor's command. Skadi, Deep Sea Hunter."
She'd felt Riven's strength in their brief clash. Since coming to the surface world, she hadn't encountered anyone who could match her blade for blade. This white-haired swordswoman was... impressive.
"Riven."
Riven kept her eyes on Skadi. Her hands were still trembling slightly—the aftermath of that impact. She'd been caught off-guard, and even so, it had taken everything she had to avoid being knocked away.
What kind of strength is that? Deep Sea Hunter? Like Nautilus—the Deep Sea Titan?
Then footsteps reached Luke's ears. Lots of them. Closing fast.
Right. The vampires.
He'd completely forgotten about the vampires.
In his defense, how could anything compare to the moment of summoning Skadi? Unless he suddenly dropped Jalter, or Lappland, or—
"Doctor, are there enemies?"
Skadi had heard the footsteps too. She glanced at Riven and Luke's expressions, reading the situation.
"Yeah," Luke nodded. "Enemies."
"Then I'll eliminate them."
She adjusted her grip on her greatsword, ready to wade into combat.
"Titi, wait." Luke grabbed her arm. "You don't need to fight this time. Riven, carry me out of here. Titi, follow us."
Skadi didn't resist the familiar touch. The nickname seemed natural to her.
Riven's eyebrow twitched. She said nothing, just scooped Luke up and launched them across the rooftops.
Skadi followed.
BOOM.
Luke looked back at the sound—and saw Skadi climbing out of a crater. The concrete where she'd landed had shattered like glass.
The little orca's weight...
He'd seen the memes. Skadi's species was Abyssal—essentially part orca. The jokes about her weight were legendary in the Arknights community. But surely they were just jokes? She sat on chairs and beds in Rhodes Island without destroying them. Normal furniture. Normal floors.
Unless Rhodes Island specifically reinforced everything she might touch?
BOOM.
Another jump. Another crater. Tomorrow, the city's road maintenance department was going to have questions.
Riven glanced back at the destruction, then at Luke. Her expression said everything.
She's not exactly subtle.
The vampires heard the impacts and followed the noise, abandoning their search pattern to chase the obvious trail.
Luke had Riven set him down at a vantage point. He picked off a few more vampires with the AWP while Skadi watched, her head tilting slightly as the targets crumbled to ash.
Interesting. What kind of weapon causes that?
In her experience, enemies died in more... conventional ways. Blood and viscera. Not spontaneous disintegration.
Was this some new Rhodes Island technology? Or something specific to the Doctor's other world?
"If she keeps following us like this, we can't stay hidden," Riven said quietly.
"Yeah..."
Luke looked at Skadi. Mountain-shattering strength. Incredible combat ability. And a weight that apparently required industrial-grade foundations to support.
Honestly, after seeing those craters, certain thoughts he might have entertained had thoroughly died. He liked his pelvis intact, and that went double for not being accidentally crushed in his sleep.
But her power was undeniable. He now had two women capable of solo-clearing vampire nests. Two unstoppable forces that could carve through any opposition.
"Riven, you and Skadi should intercept those vampires. I'll follow behind for cleanup."
The plan made tactical sense. Let his heavy hitters engage while he secured the drops from a safe distance.
"No."
Luke blinked. "What?"
"I refuse." Riven's voice was firm. "I won't leave you alone."
This was... new. Riven had never refused an order before. Never pushed back on anything he'd asked.
"I'll be fine," he tried. "I'll stay here, where it's safe—"
"No."
She wasn't budging.
Luke stared at her for a moment, processing. Something had shifted. He wasn't sure what, but something in Riven's demeanor was different.
"...Okay." He turned to Skadi. "Titi, can you intercept the vampires by yourself?"
"Understood, Doctor."
Skadi didn't question the order. She simply nodded and dropped off the rooftop, heading toward the approaching horde.
What followed wasn't a battle. It was a massacre.
The vampires had numbers, weapons, armor. They had Deacon's orders and the desperate courage of cornered predators.
Against Skadi, none of it mattered.
Her greatsword sang through the night, each swing cleaving through multiple targets. Vampires came apart like wet paper. Those who tried to flee found her already in their path. Those who tried to fight found their weapons shattered and their bodies bisected.
In minutes, the street was littered with pieces.
PLZ THROW POWERSTONES.
300 , 500 , 1000 for each milestone 1 Bonus Chapter.