Arknights: The Cycle of Light and Darkness

"—I am not water."

Revy chuckled lightly and once again assumed an attacking stance, while all the Xuanjia soldiers tensed their nerves, looking towards their defensive positions. As soon as Revy appeared from any angle, any point, what awaited him was a gathered torrent of steel.

But Revy did not move, did not vanish, nor did he use the bizarre, impossibly fast movement technique he had used before.

His right claw was raised high, its black crystal-like finger blades gleaming with an eerie, self-illuminating radiance.

The slashing claw did not touch any armor; it seemed to be swinging uselessly in the air.

However, as Revy's hand fell, five Xuanjia soldiers standing before Ao Jue silently collapsed.

"Wh—"

Ao Jue's eyes widened.

What kind of attack was this?

He couldn't quite understand. An attack capable of piercing the heavy armor of the Xuanjia soldiers and silently eliminating these personal guards couldn't possibly be a simple attack method.

Poisonous strike? Spatial attack?

Shaking his head, he banished these thoughts from his mind. Ao Jue clenched his fists, but his heart was not as calm as his face suggested.

The well-trained Xuanjia soldiers almost instantly filled the gaps that appeared when their vanguard fell.

"Regulus Harvey—you are trying to provoke me."

The Great Yan First Prince did not spare his subordinates another glance, nor did he feel any pity for their deaths. But now, he questioned Revy with a face as cold as frost.

This was the second time this man had slapped him in the face; if this hatred was not quelled, how could he ever be King!

"No, I'm simply telling you a simple truth: I want to kill you, and the Xuanjia soldiers cannot protect you."

Revy met Ao Jue's gaze with equally cold eyes.

Platinum and Qingjin were still missing. The man before him had embroiled himself, Rhodes Island, and his assistants in a political struggle, and now, he still wanted his life, as well as Platinum's and Qingjin's.

The mindset of those in power was truly terrifying. If he had no power to resist, this place would probably just gain another corpse to be disposed of at any time, and even traces of his existence would be gradually erased.

So... since they had already ripped off all pretense, it would be a fight to the death!

"I'd like to see if your attacks, Regulus, are faster, or if I have more people!"

Ao Jue seemed enraged by the disrespect. With a wave of his hand, Dragon Claw soldiers and Xuanjia soldiers surged forth from all directions, evidently having been ambushed nearby all along.

"You truly think highly of me... this number, it's already half an army, isn't it?"

"If necessary, I can even mobilize an entire army to fight you." Ao Jue gritted his teeth; at this point, he no longer had his previous leisurely composure: "However, you should focus on surviving first."

Upon hearing this, Revy suddenly grinned, a perfect smile, eight teeth, so bright that it made one feel he had remembered something joyful.

"I mean... if it's only this much, then don't blame me for being impolite—Overload Mode · Claws of Lamentation!"

— — — — Divider — — — —

His head was still buzzing, and his entire body ached as if it were tearing apart.

Perhaps... quite a few places had already torn open.

His ribs were definitely broken; every breath now was excruciatingly painful, to the point where he wanted to give up breathing altogether.

Fingers... his right hand's fingers seemed to be able to move, but his left hand couldn't—it was probably severed from the arm.

Legs? His legs seemed fine... right, since they weren't directly subjected to the impact.

The bow was on his right side; the alloy bow had transformed from an elegant W-shape into two ridiculous V's... how ironic, the bowstring still connected the two pieces...

The quiver... where was the quiver? ...

The quiver was on his back, and there were still arrows... but without a bow, they seemed useless...

So much pain... so tired... so much pain... so tired...

Turning over, Qingjin struggled to prop herself up with her still-intact right hand. The intense pain wracked her body, distorting her beautiful face. She bit her lip tightly to suppress a groan, but blood trickled down her mouth.

(How long... has it been since I last suffered such an injury?)

Qingjin couldn't remember. As far as she could recall, ever since taking over as "Qingjin," she had never encountered such a dangerous situation during a mission.

The moment she was thrown, she truly felt as if a high-speed battle vehicle had smashed her to pieces...

*(All enhanced for defense and impact force, so the shield is the real weapon?...) *

Calmly analyzing the culprit that had left her in this state, Qingjin gritted her teeth and fumbled in her quiver.

With a soft "click," an arrow was drawn from her quiver.

"At this point... this is the only way."

Carefully recalling every detail of the man who had thrown her, Qingjin gripped the arrow, pulled out a strip of gauze from a pocket on her waist with her fingers, and meticulously wrapped the arrow around her hand.

(How to snipe against heavy armor... Platinum, let me teach you... one last lesson.)