"Abyssal Hunters are connected by Bloodline."
Skadi had mentioned this phrase to Goki many times; it was a slogan often on the lips of Abyssal Hunters.
This was not just some corporate culture slogan, but a real, existing phenomenon.
When Abyssal Hunters approached each other, their Bloodlines would respond to each other, sensing each other's presence.
Just like… siblings.
Clang!
When a dark figure rushed forward from behind the fleeing Quintus, Skadi had already felt an instinctive summons.
The next second, the circle drawn by the mechanical greatsword was interrupted, and the Abyssal Hunter's dance of slaughter also stopped halfway. Skadi halted her killing and fiercely swung her sword in the direction from which the immense threat emanated.
Screech—
The Aegir alloy blade met a rapidly spinning, solid object, erupting in a shower of sparks, as dazzling as holding a firework stick.
And illuminated by the surrounding firelight, Skadi saw… a nun.
Seeing that familiar yet strange face, Skadi, who had been exerting her full strength to swiftly slay Quintus, immediately forced her muscles to rein in her power.
"Uh, you are—who are you again?!"
With one party trying to pull back her strength and the other charging with full force, the opposing energies caused Skadi to retreat a few steps. She then gritted her teeth, lifted her long leg from beneath her red skirt, and kicked fiercely, finally separating herself from her attacker.
"Goki—over here! Hurry!"
Momentarily flustered, Skadi hesitated, then parted her red lips to call out to her friend.
Clang—Thud!
The folded Saw Cleaver opened in mid-air, its transformation strike slamming into a hard wrist-foot, shattering the last lurking "oddity." The crab-like limbs beneath it truly became completely defenseless targets.
Bang!
A blood-stained mercury bullet pierced through, and Goki dealt with the last gun-wielding cultist.
Ultimately, a group of cultists without military training, despite their powerful weapons, were simply easy targets in front of a Hunter.
Upon hearing the clang of metal and Skadi's call, he immediately abandoned the remaining Seaborn, injected his right leg for blood transfusion, and his left leg for bullet blood extraction. He then swiftly ran past the burning fuel to Skadi's side.
"Coming, coming—oh my."
And seeing the other figure in the firelight, Goki couldn't help but widen his eyes.
White hair, red eyes, standing before Skadi was a beautiful woman.
She wore a black headscarf, resembling two shark fins, and a grey-black trench coat.
Although at first glance she appeared to be a stern nun, a closer look would reveal a pair of black garter stockings on her full thighs beneath the trench coat.
If it weren't for the high-speed rotating circular saw in this Nona's hand, effortlessly cutting through floor tiles, Goki would definitely have shouted—"How lewd!"
However, the nun Nona before him, with white hair and red eyes just like Skadi, was someone Goki knew.
"She, she is, an Abyssal Hunter—that's an Abyssal Hunter's uniform! At least the inner layer is!"
The inherited call in her Bloodline, as well as the other party's appearance and somewhat familiar fighting style, allowed Skadi to confirm that the woman before her was an Abyssal Hunter!
Originally, Skadi believed herself to be the last Abyssal Hunter, that all her companions had perished in that final battle. But upon discovering the existence of another Hunter, immense joy immediately surged into her heart.
"I won't comment on your Abyssal Hunter's setting of using garter stockings as a uniform—do you know her?"
Beside her, Goki sighed, looking at this familiar Operator, and could only pretend not to recognize her for now.
[Haha, speaking of which, Quintus was the bastard who performed Oripathy experiments on Specter. It's perfectly reasonable for Specter to be here now—no wonder Quintus planned to attack Skadi with liquid Oripathy.]
Specter, another Abyssal Hunter, Skadi's comrade.
She was a 3-block Guard, with area-of-effect attacks, automatic health regeneration, and an immortal skill lasting fifteen seconds. One could say that even a Troll Warlord and a Barbarian King combined couldn't compare to her; she was a Doctor's good helper and good wife!
Unlike Skadi, who began to wander after coming ashore, Specter was captured by the Abyssal Church after landing and subjected to inhumane Oripathy experiments. Her mind teetered on the brink of madness and sanity, and under torture and indoctrination, she became a nun of the Abyssal Church.
The liquid Oripathy within her body, even diluted, could contaminate a small country.
If Goki hadn't been there, Skadi would have chosen to stay away from cities, naturally never finding this compatriot.
Much later, Specter would escape the Abyssal Church during a brief moment of lucidity, and after being rescued by the medical organization Rhodes Island, she would then coincidentally reunite with Skadi.
For many years before this, Skadi had believed herself to be alone.
But now, due to Goki's intervention, their reunion seemed to have been brought forward significantly.
"I guess I know her, she's from the Second Squad, I'm not really sure what her name is... I don't have many friends."
Hearing Goki's question, Skadi suddenly felt a bit awkward, and could only indifferently adjust the hat on her head.
Even among Abyssal Hunters, she was not very good at socializing, and never actively invited others to dances, so it was natural that she wouldn't know a member from another squad.
"But, she certainly seems to have a problem—hey, you're an Abyssal Hunter, aren't you? Your enemy is behind you, that bastard is a Seaborn-worshipping madman!"
Looking at the "nun" who displayed a serene smile, Skadi asked, puzzled.
"Abyssal Hunter, I don't know. Nona, I am merely a nun of the Church. For you two to brazenly enter the cathedral, burn and defile this sacred place, and wantonly slaughter devout believers, is a betrayal of the divine."
Smiling as she looked at the two Hunters before her, the nun raised the long-handled circular saw in her hand.
Accompanying the mechanical whirring of the Aegir weapon, the sharp, pointed teeth began to rotate at high speed.
Behind Specter, Quintus, whose body had been half-severed, finally managed to fully regenerate his body with the repair of his twisted tentacles, and stood up, supporting himself.
"Yes, just like that, Specter! This is your chance to cleanse your sins. Hold back these apostates, kill that male Hunter, and I will give them their final gift—just wait, you heretics!"
His voice trembling with pain and rage, Quintus gave Specter his command. Looking at the raging flames around them, he jumped into a secret passage leading beneath the cathedral.
After a week of ideological indoctrination and drug control, Quintus was already able to control Specter in battle for short periods.
Although Quintus didn't believe that this Abyssal Hunter, whose physical functions had declined due to Oripathy, could defeat a peak-condition Abyssal Hunter, as long as she could delay her and kill that fragile male terrestrial, Quintus still had trump cards to use.
"Bring divine punishment upon the betrayers of God—dissect, tear, shred, all of it is, all of it is their salvation!"
After calmly and indifferently uttering these words, the garter-stocking nun revealed a cruel smile, brandishing her circular saw and charging straight towards Goki.
[Chainsaw hammer, it's a chainsaw hammer.]
Looking at the weapon in Nona Specter's hand, Goki's eyes lit up. As a Hunter, he coveted her big chainsaw—well, he also coveted her long black-stockinged legs, but he coveted the chainsaw more.
"Skadi!"
However, reason still made Goki realize the danger of the opponent, and at the moment the chainsaw attacked, he immediately agilely retreated a step.
Boom!
Her red skirt danced with the surrounding flames. Skadi stepped sideways, blocking in front of Goki. The great blade collided with the rapidly spinning circular saw, once again emitting a skull-splitting screech of friction.
"Your name is Specter, isn't it? Wake up! Or have you also been corroded by the Seaborn—"
Realizing that this Abyssal Hunter named Specter also seemed to be experiencing an abnormality in her mental state, Skadi subconsciously believed that she had also been infected by the Abyssal Church using Seaborn.
The earlier joy vanished, and an uncontrollable sadness once again emerged on Skadi's indifferent expression.
"Goki, just like before, I need to execute her."
Her body rotated, her muscles tensing. Skadi easily sent Specter flying backward, directly embedding her into the wall behind the cathedral, where the statue of the Iberian national deity hung—her strength was much greater than Specter's.
After a brief moment of sorrow, Skadi still took a deep breath of the hot air, shouldered her greatsword, and prepared to directly send this Specter on her way.
"Wait, Older Sister, wait, don't!"
However, as Skadi prepared to charge again, a pair of large hands unexpectedly wrapped around her slender waist, embracing her exposed lower abdomen from beneath her skirt.
"Ah!"
A delicate cry, one that shouldn't have come from Skadi's mouth, rang out. Skadi was startled, a barely perceptible blush crossing her cheeks.
"What are you doing, Goki?"
Turning her head, she saw Goki's somewhat anxious expression.
And Goki was also startled by Skadi's recent actions.
Good heavens, it's a good thing these two met at Rhodes Island in the original story. If they had met earlier, the Whale-Shark duo might really have become an Orca eating a shark!
Their love-hate relationship wasn't meant to be physical—Specter was also a wife!
"She can be saved, there's still hope! It's not a Seaborn problem—it's Oripathy!"
Seeing that this naive Orca was really going to act, Goki quickly reached out to stop her, his mind racing.
"Think about it, why would those Abyssal cultists attack you with Oripathy solution? It must be because it's already effective on Specter! She's affected by Oripathy, not Seaborn!"
Combining his understanding of the background story, Goki immediately came up with an explanation that Skadi could believe.
Releasing Skadi's hand, after a final enjoyment of Skadi's lower abdomen, Goki pulled out a handful of mercury bullets, gritted his teeth, and reinserted them into his left leg.
Recalling Kal'tsit's earlier examination results of his blood sample, Goki looked at the nun who was once again leaping out of the wall, his whole body's muscles tightening.
"Skadi, you go keep her busy... I think I can try something."
A crazy wife is still a wife!
Friendly reminder: The website is about to be revamped, which may cause loss of reading progress. Please save your "Bookshelf" and "Reading History" in time (screenshot recommended). We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause!