Fran waved her hand and quite obediently switched the memory segment.
The scene on the bed instantly dissipated, shifting to the private room of the Mandala Tavern.
Several people sat around the round table, their gazes cold and vacant, fixed on a newcomer wearing a black wind-cloak.
Bang!
The person angrily smashed a white porcelain teacup on the ground, letting out a dark, snarling curse. The juvenile form of Cistanche gradually shed its nearly transparent camouflaged state among the broken porcelain shards, revealing its original flesh-colored form.
"Nikolas, putting this thing in the refill... what do you mean by that? Is this the hospitality of the Stellar Abyss Society?"
"This is an invitation to enter greatness."
Nikolas looked at the still-writhing Cistanche on the floor, slowly bent down to pick it up, and caressed it in his hand as if heartbroken.
"Do you really wish to refuse?"
Seeing the glimpse of deathly emptiness deep in his eyes, the Nightmare Guest suppressed his anger, his expression becoming as still as water again.
"So it's like this. Heh, never thought you'd die here."
"How pitiful."
Hmm... Nikolas and the Nightmare Guest seemed to be old acquaintances.
Just as Fran wanted to see how the whole event unfolded, the surrounding scene abruptly plunged into darkness. The memory information also became extremely unstable, with large, irregular tears appearing in the surrounding light and shadows.
The device was, after all, flawed; the amount of effective information it could extract was limited.
"For now, that's enough."
Fran removed the connected lines with their electrode pads from her forehead, ending the reception of the memory information.
After completing this, she looked at Sigrid beside her.
"So, isn't it amazing? Full-dimensional memory extraction. Besides simple images and sounds, there's also scent, touch, even the original owner's fleeting emotions in that instant."
"Mhm... it was indeed very realistic."
Sigrid placed her hands in front of her abdomen, hiding the not-yet-faded blush on her cheeks, helping the doctor tidy up the instrument and the unused materials.
Fran quickly restored the operating room to order, then thought of another matter that needed urgent handling.
"This month's house call payment is somewhat special; some preparation is needed. To be safe, better to call Sister Haida over."
"Should I go to the Secrets-Hunter cult, or..."
Her amber eyes sparkled with a cunning light, as if she already had an idea.
---
Haida traversed the long street of pale mist within the door and stepped into the Fog Street Clinic.
Under the grey-white sea of mist, the entire district was hard to distinguish between dawn and dusk. But as the surrounding light grew dimmer and dim streetlamps with a dim, fiery yellow glow lit up... one could tell night had fallen.
At the time, Haida had already gone to sleep, but for some reason, she suddenly felt a touch on her face.
When she opened her eyes, she found Luyala leaning over her bedside, carefully pressing her hoof against Haida's face.
Compared to the keratin texture of ordinary deer hooves, her hooves had a glass-like translucence. Radiant light was contained within them, dreamlike and illusory.
"Hungry?"
Haida gently stroked the soft fur on Luyala's neck, preparing to take her out to forage.
"Nah."
Unexpectedly, upon hearing this, Luyala quickly shook her head, then picked up a letter with her mouth and handed it to Haida.
The blue-green wax seal was in the shape of a small deer hoof, probably pressed using her hoof as a stamp.
With some confusion, Haida squinted her eyes and opened this unexpected letter.
[Dear Sister Haida, I hope this letter finds you well.]
[My sincere apologies for disturbing you at this hour, and I hope for your understanding. However, if you have some spare time, please come to the Fog Street Clinic within a day. The identification of a certain consultation fee may require the assistance of a 'Head Nurse.' After the matter is concluded, I will pay you additional remuneration.]
[— Fog Street Clinic. Fran Herschel.]
...
"Does Dr. Fran need help?"
"Nah!"
Haida looked at Luyala. The fawn then gave a slight nod, confirming her thought.
But... Dr. Fran herself was experienced, and besides, Sigrid was also at the Fog Street Clinic. What kind of consultation fee would make her feel the need to call for Haida to ensure safety?
As the dream faded, she immediately changed into her tactical sister robe for fieldwork, took the power sword "Nirvana," and came to the Fog Street Clinic without delay.
Seeing Haida push open the unlatched door, Fran blinked lightly, somewhat amazed by her efficiency.
Luyala hadn't been gone long with the letter before she arrived. Fran had just been about to take off her damp little leather shoes and black stockings to change... and just as she reached out, Haida was already there, almost bumping right into her.
"Good evening, Sister Haida. Sorry to call you over so late."
"Don't worry about me, Dr. Fran. I'm not sleepy yet."
Haida wasn't putting on a brave face by saying this.
After the surgery, her stamina and energy had undergone an almost qualitative change; even several sleepless nights wouldn't make her feel overly drowsy.
"Good."
Fran clasped her hands with some satisfaction.
"Then let's start today's consultation fee unpacking. It might be quite interesting, wouldn't you say?"
She didn't enter the operating room as usual. Instead, she walked out of the clinic, stepping under the dim lamplight of Fog Street.
This month's payment for the house call to Elsa was a "Fine Quality Unknown Individual," meaning... it might be alive and possibly possess some destructive capability.
"Please begin."
From Fran's attitude, Haida also roughly understood this situation would be special.
She let out a light breath, placed her hand on her sword hilt, and prepared for a potential enemy. Sigrid beside her also looked rather tense.
A light breeze brushed past. A hunched figure shrouded in a foul, rotten smell took form within the mist.
His steps were almost faltering, like those of a person in their twilight years. His ghostly green eyes carried a profound, chilling coldness that sent shivers down one's spine.
---
---
Smelling the nauseating stench of decay in the air, Haida's grey-hazel eyes grew serious.
She could already feel the undisguised, icy malice.
Haida lightly pressed the crossguard with her right hand, gripped the pommel with her left, and adopted a two-handed sword stance, calmly awaiting the approaching figure. The other's every step was slow and almost staggering, as if not yet accustomed to the body... or perhaps this was his most habitual way of moving.
It didn't seem like a living being.
The deep grey-white sea of mist gradually dispersed, clearing an area, much like an ancient gladiatorial arena.
Only then did Haida fully see the newcomer's appearance.
He was draped in already-rotted skin, with pale white maggots breeding within. Shards of broken bones were embedded in every gap of his limbs, causing a rattling sound with every movement.
Beneath this filthy blood and flesh was a mechanical shell forged of steel. He was shaped like a skeleton, his eyes like ghostly will-o'-the-wisps, carrying a terrifying, ominous aura.
"Some kind of humanoid construct?" She narrowed her eyes slightly.
"Flayer."
Fran's voice sounded quietly, soft and soothing.
Judging from the way she was stroking her cheek, she was quite interested in this fellow.
"An individual among the Necrons infected by a C'tan's curse. Possesses an uncontrollable, intense craving for flesh and blood, yet can never be satiated. Can only don skins, devour flesh, then let it all slowly rot away..."
Tap.
Before Haida could ask about the Flayer's specifics, he abruptly changed from his originally hunched, head-lowered posture, nearly charging towards the three with eyes gleaming.
The Flayer's movement was almost crawling, serpentine and ghostly; looking away for even an instant would cause one to lose sight of him.
In an instant, he was already closing in on Haida. His metal claws, sharp as blades, rose violently, seemingly eager to see the person before him turn into a pile of warm mincemeat.
"Such astonishing speed..."
Towards unknown things, Haida always exercised the utmost caution.
She raised the power sword "Nirvana," holding it vertically in front of her, blocking the opponent while simultaneously backing away to create distance. The slender metal claws and the power sword clashed several times, the sharp, tearing hum incessant.
Haida felt a throbbing pain in the nerves of her forehead, a warning at the intuitive level... If scratched even once by those claws, she'd probably lose mobility immediately, if not die.
But at the same time, she felt a trembling and searing heat from the sword hilt she tightly gripped.
The indescribable familiar aura from the enemy seemed to make "Nirvana" recall that final moment bathed in blood within the fiery, burning winds.
Haida swung the sword horizontally, blocked by one of the Flayer's claws. He was also knocked back several meters by the force of this strike.
"Heh... heh! Heh..."
The repelled Flayer didn't rush into a second attack. He growled lowly on the spot, tearing at his own face, which now consisted only of a metal skull, with his claws.
Pain and torment were evident. It was hunger and thirst without satisfaction, emptiness without fulfillment, suffering without release...
Haida completely could not intuit or comprehend the existence before her on a spiritual level, because his shell contained no spirit of any form; he was an absolutely pure mechanical construct.
But for some reason, she still sensed a trace of distant, icy despair.
That feeling perhaps did not come from from the cold mechanical body before her, which had fallen into madness, but rather from the long-gone "trace" of some living being.
A tangle of thoughts flashed by.
Haida knew that at this moment, none of this was important. Neutralizing this Flayer's mobility and threat was the top priority.
She glanced sideways towards Sigrid beside her. Once the other understood, she lifted her sword and charged towards the Flayer who had fallen into frenzy.
Metal claws and the power sword's blade clashed again. In the absence of disruption fields and phase modules, the clash between weapons depended solely on physical strength... and the contest of power between the two sides.
"Sister Haida is about to win."
Fran pinched her chin with one hand, maintaining observation throughout, with no intention of intervening.
Letting Haida gain more experience with this special enemy counted as accumulating experience for her; she might encounter them in the future...
Soon, Haida showed a tendency to suppress the Flayer. But this Necron didn't just wait for death either. He raised his other metal claw, looking to tear open the face of the person before him from the side...
Just then, a searing, molten light like a solar flare struck the Flayer head-on.
After using the Ascend to the Bright Star ring Fran gave her to release a flash of blinding light, Sigrid transformed into sword form and came to Haida's hand.
Taking advantage of the enemy's moment of being struck, the sister swung her sword suddenly, striking the skeletal-like chest and abdomen of the opponent, leaving an extremely long molten scar.
"Hiss..."
The severely wounded Flayer suddenly crawled backward, his ghostly green eyes still fixed on Haida.
The craving for flesh and blood hadn't diminished in the slightest; instead, it grew even more intense, but simultaneously, a strange fear also emerged.
It was like a predator that had failed a hunt, preparing to retreat into the shadows to await the next opportunity.
This posture... was he trying to flee?
Haida's gaze darkened, keenly detecting his intent.
The Flayer raised a claw, preparing to slice through dimensions to temporarily withdraw from this bizarre sea of mist. But no matter what action he took, the surrounding environment didn't change at all...
"Heh... little one, dimensional movement not working anymore?"
Fran stood silently behind the Flayer. The tailbone of the Chimera Spine "Sphinx" quietly pierced out, running through his entire thoracic spine.
As the system maintaining power suffered structural damage, the ghostly green light in his eyes finally went out.
Ever since starting to use the Chimera Spine, for some reason, she had developed a certain fondness for skewering opponents through the chest. This form of damage could extremely directly cripple the enemy's mobility, and was very convenient... The only drawback was it was a bit too villainous.
She swung the tailbone, throwing this already battered and broken Necron onto the ground.
+++
T/N: Hey readers~! New Translator here! Before I say anything, I'd first like to thank the original author for creating this wonderful story. Without them, I wouldn't have the chance to share this adventure with you. I hope my translation does justice to their work, and that together, we can enjoy this story.
With that said, I'm happy to let you know I'll be uploading daily chapters. And for those who wish to support my work and gain early access, I've set up a Patreon where advanced chapters will be available.
[email protected]/PeakTL