Arknightcraft Modpack
Chapter 467: I Get the Logic, But Why Is Your Head So Long?
The map within this dream was even larger than Steven had imagined.
As he continued onward, the only things he saw were Reunion members still searching for survivors—and, from time to time, those survivors being discovered and slaughtered without hesitation.
The city around him had already fallen into utter ruin. Shops of every kind had been violently broken into, and bloodstains and corpses still lingered in front of many storefronts. These Infected, who had fully devolved into rioters, could no longer be called human.
The closer Steven drew to the heart of the chaos, the tighter his brows knit together. He simply couldn't understand the actions of these Reunion members. Even if it were for revenge, it should never have gone this far.
What confused him even more was that those who should have stepped in to stop this madness—the leaders of Reunion—seemed to be actively encouraging it instead, urging their followers to continue down this frenzied path.
It was like watching a group of lunatics accelerating toward their own destruction, staging one final performance before the end. Anyone with even a shred of reason wouldn't allow their subordinates to behave like this at a time like this.
"It really makes you wonder what this dream is trying to show me," Steven muttered, rubbing his chin.
"Is this some vision of the future? Or is it meant to mess with my head, make me waver? But the problem is… I don't really care about Reunion in the first place. Whether these people are digging their own graves or not has nothing to do with me."
Even Steven himself couldn't quite figure out what to make of this dream anymore.
And then, a wave of scorching flames surged down the street ahead of him, swallowing everything in its path.
Only then did Steven finally see the first truly familiar face in this dream.
At the far end of the flames, a pure white light burst forth—so blinding it could practically burn out one's eyes. Steven instinctively turned his face away, yet at the same time, he already knew who was responsible.
After all, there were only a handful of people on all of Terra capable of producing such a top-tier high-beam headlights effect. And with that unmistakable Originium Arts signature, Steven didn't even need to think—only the Radiant Knight, Nearl, could pull something like this off.
Shielding his eyes, Steven continued walking toward the light. Noticing that the heat waves and flames on the ground were being pushed back by that brilliance, he squinted and glanced toward the center of the scene—
And there, he saw several more familiar figures, protected beneath that radiant glow.
The most eye-catching one wasn't Amiya—who looked like she had grown a few years older—but rather the middle-aged man clad in heavy armor, wielding a massive shield and helping Nearl fend off the attacks coming from ahead.
Ace.
One of Rhodes Island's elite Defender operators. Normally, he would be deployed alongside other elite operators, but at least for now, Steven could see no other elites on the field besides him.
As for the rest, they only deepened Steven's confusion.
Aside from Nearl and Ace—both undeniably top-tier Rhodes Island elites—the only one guarding Amiya was Dobermann, the instructor usually responsible for training new recruits back on Rhodes Island.
Given how much Kal'tsit valued Amiya, how could she possibly be content with assigning only this handful of operators to stay by her side?
As long as Kal'tsit's brain hadn't malfunctioned, Amiya should at the very least have either Kal'tsit herself standing beside her—or one of the Abyssal Hunters.
Of course, that wasn't the only thing puzzling him.
What also caught his attention was the strangely dressed individual being supported by Amiya's small shoulders, hiding together with her under the protection of Nearl and Ace.
That person was clearly wearing a Rhodes Island operator's coat, complete with the familiar Rhodes Island emblem embroidered on it. However, her hood was noticeably larger than normal—so large, in fact, that it seemed deliberately oversized. On top of that, she was also wearing a mask, making it impossible to see even her eyes from the outside, let alone her facial features.
Still, judging from her build—and the subtle differences that barely separated her figure from that of a man—Steven could at least confirm that she was female.
And then there was the name floating above her head.
[This Username Has Already Been Taken]
The moment Steven saw that bizarre ID—one that somehow perfectly matched his understanding of gamer naming conventions—he immediately connected the dots.
So this was the legendary individual who was supposed to be the protagonist of this world.
The so-called Doctor.
With curiosity written all over his face, Steven stared at the Doctor, who looked as though she had just been dragged out of bed, her entire body radiating weakness. He casually walked straight up to her and leaned in, examining her closely.
The heat wave from the front had nearly dissipated by now. Nearl's full-power combat capability was no joke—blocking that attack was entirely within expectations. And thanks to that, Steven's eyes, which had almost been burned blind by the glare, were finally usable again.
As he took a closer look at the Doctor—who, judging purely by outward appearance and physique, looked very much like a young girl—Steven noticed something… rather interesting.
Her head seemed unusually… long.
It was as if her bodily proportions simply didn't align with those of a normal person. The way her hood bulged upward, stretched into a strange elongated shape—either her head was absurdly long, or her neck was abnormally extended. In any case, no normal person should be able to prop up a hooded coat into a literal pillar like that.
For a moment, Steven genuinely didn't know how to even begin mocking her physical structure.
But just then, a voice rose from behind him.
A voice far more familiar than the Doctor's bizarre silhouette.
Steven instinctively shifted his attention away from the Doctor and turned toward the direction the Rhodes Island operators were facing.
And there stood a girl he knew all too well.
She was standing there calmly, one gloved hand raised and directed toward the place where Steven stood.
"You will pay the price for killing your own kind."
"And I shall grant you an ending that I personally adore—"
"Destruction."
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Note: Character Illustration is in this Google Drive:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1iuyfwNVFHzIi9H4rWNT_lAm7jTSiah_M
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If you want to see more chapter of this story and don't mind spending $5 monthly to see till the latest chapter, please go to my Patreon[1].
Latest Chapter in Patreon: Chapter 567: The Original Is Still Better[2]
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https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed[4]
[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/156361807?collection=55713
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/55713?view=condensed