Bab 47: Scarlet Serpent
Boom—
A car parked on the side of the road was cut in two by Rita's scythe. The high-energy battery, sliced open by the sharp blade, immediately erupted in flames.
In the midst of the sudden blaze, a flash of a blade was reflected in Rita's surprised eyes, landing heavily on the armour on her side.
A bit of blood seeped out. Her surprise turned into admiration. "I thought you were only relying on the Gem of Conquest to last this long. I didn't expect you to have the courage to attack me. It seems I underestimated you."
At this point, Mei was already exhausted. Only by fighting a genuine S-rank Valkyrie did one truly understand their terrifying power. Even though the energy remaining from the Gem of Conquest in her body was still supporting her, she was already at a loss on how to deal with the combined pressure of their skill and strength.
"Enough talk. I won't go down that easily." Her hair had become dry from the heat of the flames. Mei took a deep breath of the scorching air. The muscles in her arms were aching from the continuous clashing of weapons, but she struggled to make one last slash.
"Die! …Ugh." Violet lightning seemed to flash in her light purple eyes. However, after exerting all her strength to execute the slash, she didn't see Rita fall down. Instead, she saw a shadow of herself flying out.
Bang—
Her flying body slammed against the hood of a car. The metal instantly caved in. Yet, her momentum still didn't stop, and she crashed onto the ground.
The sharp pain in her abdomen seared through her nerves. Her widened eyes were filled with disbelief. From Rita's heavy roundhouse kick, she felt like her stomach fluids were about to be kicked out. The terrifying power instantly crushed her ability to fight. After rolling several times on the ground, she finally couldn't hold it back, vomiting a mouthful of blood.
"Trying to be tough is meaningless. When your strength can't match your promises, struggling will only bring tragedy."
Her weapon flew out of her hand. Mei could only watch as the sharp scythe got closer and closer. Rita, like a grim reaper about to reap a life, walked step by step towards her.
"Goodbye, Raiden Mei."
The sharp tip of the blade reflected a bright light under the moonlight, then, in an instant, came down with a slash. The moon was bright and clear.
Shhh—
The blade cut through flesh. Blood splattered, sprinkling the concrete floor.
"…"
A thick cloud of smoke and gas spread rapidly. Rita didn't even have the heart to worry about Mei, who might have escaped. A strong sense of anger filled her, but she quickly pressed down on the wound on her shoulder.
That's right; the blood that had just splattered was Rita's.
…
"To dare interfere with the work of a Schicksal Valkyrie, your audacity is rather excessive." Enduring the rage, Rita pulled a bandage from her equipment on her waist and barely patched up her wound. But now, she would be greatly hindered if she wanted to keep using the scythe.
The newcomer didn't say anything, just silently walked out of the shadows.
A strand of fiery red hair cascaded down like a waterfall. A white half-face mask covered the upper half of her face, revealing only mismatched grey and orange-red eyes through the eyeholes.
Murata Himeko silently picked up the katana dropped by Raiden Mei. As for the katana that she had thrown during her sneak attack, it was just an ordinary standard weapon. Ren's industrial system was not yet fully established. So for now, he could only steal them from outdated military groups, similar to the sniper rifle from before.
Seeing Himeko, even her inner anger was replaced by shock. Rita stared intently at the current Himeko puppet. Fiery red hair, orange eyes, the signature chest…
"Murata Himeko? Shouldn't you have died in the Imaginary Space?" As the one who assisted Otto, leading to the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void, Rita naturally knew the details of the entire battle. The fight had ended with Himeko's death and the Herrscher escaping. Yet, the last person she expected to appear had appeared.
Himeko didn't speak. Her current appearance was still quite different from her original. Although some parts were very similar, upon closer inspection, the differences were easily noticeable.
Indeed, after a ten-second standoff, Rita shook her head to herself. "No, you're not her. There's no erosion from the artificial Stigmata, nor the energy of the Gem of Serenity, nor was the hidden door left on the God-Killer Armour by the Overseer triggered."
"Who exactly are you?"
Slowly raising the katana in her hand, Himeko decided to abide by Ren's request and not reveal herself. But as she was about to directly engage, Ren suddenly took over her control.
"Good evening, Miss Rita." A rather playful voice came from Himeko's mouth, instantly attracting Rita's attention.
"Oh? You're finally willing to talk. I thought you were just a silent wooden puppet."
Although this mysterious woman had finally broken her silence, Rita felt her danger level rise sharply.
"How could that be? I just came to say hello to Miss Rita. As for accidentally letting Miss Rita's prey get away, that was purely an accident. I apologize." Ren spread his hands. He was itching to have Rita finish off Mei. But he was also well aware that that possibility was low. Mei was investigating on her own, so Theresa wouldn't be without any preparations. That smoke and gas was her contingency plan. Rather than waiting for Mei to escape and then engaging Rita, it would be better to take this chance to sneak attack and weaken Rita's strength.
This wasn't being despicable. Could anything a Herrscher did be considered despicable?
"But I don't think your attitude is apologetic. And a person who's always hiding is more than a little suspicious."
"Oh, it seems I forgot to introduce myself. I thought Miss Rita had already guessed my identity. After all, the snake has already targeted you, hasn't it?"
Rita frowned. "You're with World Serpent?"
"You're very perceptive. As for whether or not I'm from World Serpent, does it even matter?" Ren was silent for a moment, then added as if he had just remembered, "Uh, I think I could be with World Serpent. How about Scarlet Serpent as a codename?"
"Scarlet Serpent? It certainly fits your red outfit, but Schicksal's snake-catching skills aren't bad. As long as we capture you, it'll be easy to tell if you're a real snake or not."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone