Lin Ye had thought that even Skadi would struggle against this many enemies. That even if she did win, she would still pay a hefty price for it. That's why he tried to will his injuries to heal as quickly as possible, so that he could help her out.
However, even without the Wave Leaping Strike or any sort of ability, Skadi proved to be more than what these terrorists could handle.
Be it the red-haired giants or chainsaw-wielding maniacs, nobody managed to stop her. The best they could do was block her sword three times. On the other hand, Skadi simply swung her sword like a stick in the simplest manner. Her attacks were nowhere as fluid as Yato's, but these simple, straightforward movements proved to be surprisingly effective.
But what's truly outrageous was that even when their blades touched her body, they only managed to cut her clothes open. Her smooth skin remaining unblemished, with their blades unable to even leave a mark, let alone a wound.
Lin Ye was beyond speechless at this point, and for the few enemies, who were still alive, the hopelessness of their predicament rapidly dawned on them. They may be terrorists, but they didn't want to carelessly throw their lives away yet.
"It's impossible. She's a monster!"
"Faust! Faust, we need you!"
"Mephisto?! Give us your order!"
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
The remaining terrorists start to panic, and without directions from their leaders, they were steadily pushed back to the stairway. Skadi, apparently content, made no moves to pursue them, which gave them some hope, as they turned to escape.
However, before they could take more than a few steps, a heavily wounded man with a shield in one hand and a dead originum slug in another, while puffing out smoke from the cig in his mouth, appeared on the staircase. While the group tried to decide what to do with him, he smirks and throws the slug at them.
"!"
The glowing parts on the bug start to rapidly expand. Seeing this, the terrorists knew right away that the slug was going to explode. However, in the tight confines of the staircase, there was nowhere to go.
*Boom*
ACE quickly raised his shield to block the rain of debris and body parts, a motion he had plenty of practice with today. When everything settles down, he limps toward Lin Ye's group.
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
While Silence treats A'sCE injuries, Lin Ye breathes a sigh of relief. Even though the fighting only lasted for two hours or so, E3 suffered heavy losses. Three of the team members had passed out due to blood loss. However, the good news was that nobody died.
ACE, as the team captain, did his best to check on his teammates, even though his injuries were the worst of the bunch. Setting aside OP operators like Skadi, ACE was probably the toughest and most resilient operator Lin Ye has ever seen.
After treating Ace, Silence proceeds to remove the arrow from Ifrit's shoulder with ACE's help. As Ifrit's guardian, Silence knew Ifrit's condition very well, which is why she wasn't too concerned that Ifrit might lose her life, but it still troubled her greatly that Ifrit was hurt at all.
Lin Ye turns to Skadi and asks, "How did you find us?"
Skadi glances at him while checking her clothes, "You told me."
"I did?"
"The Reunion Movement. You said you were attacked by the Reunion." Skadi pokes a corpse nearby with her sword, "These people were part of the organization. It seems I'm right."
Lin Ye tilts his head slightly, "You know them?"
"The Reunion Movement was started a few years ago by a group of Infected. I know them because they're accepted bounty hunters like me.", Skadi says, "After you told me you were attacked by them, I went to an outpost and asked around. Someone told me that a corporation had hired a group of bounty hunters to do something in Lungmen, and because we rarely go to Lungmen, that contract stood out to a lot of people."
Lin Ye pauses, "You mean the employer came from Rhine Labs, and the bounty hunters they hired were part of the Reunion."
"Um, but it seems the deal was signed privately, since there has been no update in the outpost."
"Still, how did you know we'd be here?"
"Um, but it seems the deal was signed privately, since there was no update in the outpost."
Lin Ye frowns slightly, "What do you mean?"
But before Skadi can answer Lin Ye's question, ACE walks over to Lin Ye with a piece of the originum slug he threw, "It's because of this thing."
ACE throws the bug remnant to the ground and says, "This thing is illegal and banned everywhere. Only the organization of bounty hunters would have the means to move so many originium slugs to the vicinity of Lungmen, but... this sort of information is highly classified. How did you know?"
Skadi doesn't say anything, acting as if she hadn't heard ACE.
ACE smiles, "I'm not doubting you. In fact, I'm very grateful for your help."
It seems ACE knows what kind of person Skadi is. After expressing his gratitude, he excuses himself to tend to his teammates. Seeing this, Lin Ye finally understood why Skadi had trouble socializing... because she wasn't sociable, to begin with.
"So you called me to tell me that?" Lin Ye asks.
Skadi shakes her head, "No. I only had the suspicion that they would set up an ambush here, and it was meaningless to say something that was unproven."
"Then, what did you want to tell me?"
"I only wanted to know where you were." Skadi says softly, "If you had answered my call earlier, you wouldn't have ended up like this."
Lin Ye smiles awkwardly, "That's true."
Then, he asks, "By the way, what did you want to tell me just now, about what you would have done if Reunion hadn't attacked us?"
"If you hadn't been attacked, I would have been on my way back to Rhodes Island."
Lin Ye pauses, "So... if we hadn't been attacked, you wouldn't have told us, and we wouldn't know what you did or that you came here?"
"Um." She nods, "What's wrong with that?"
Lin Ye is speechless.
"If you're fine, why would you want to know if I came or not?"
{Rhodes Island's Psychologist}
Draft by Demosama
Proofread by Demosama & PanzerComrade56
Edit by Jaqqy10