Chapter 175: Little Cat Runs Away (Patreon)

There was one question that got talked about constantly among the Operators of Endfield's Terra Division. It ranked second among the hottest topics on the internal forum.

Who was the strongest person on the base right now?

Opinions were all over the place, but two answers had the widest support.

Saito, or Bozkasti.

The latter was a legend known throughout the Ursus military, and his dazzling record needed no introduction. Still, plenty of people backed the former, mostly Casters and the shield guards under Bozkasti's command. That unexpected crowd lent the argument a good deal of credibility.

In fact, if you weighed only raw strength in a head-on fight, Saito was of course no match for the Captain right now. The problem was that Bozkasti matched up terribly against him.

Even with the Red Form (Man-Eating Rite) boosting him, Bozkasti's stats weren't high enough to simply crush his opponent. Once Saito dragged him into a war of attrition, Saito, backed by an ample supply of Originium, would only grow fiercer as the fight went on. The Captain's Oripathy, meanwhile, had been treated to a safe level but still needed tighter control.

By the same token, beating the Captain was very hard for Saito too. All anyone could say was that if it dragged on long enough he would surely win, but how long "long enough" might be was anyone's guess.

But amid all the debating among these power-scalers, a third voice had always been there.

The Administrator.

That frail-looking girl. Only the Talos II Operators who had grown up on legends of the Administrator understood how truly powerful she was.

Supervisor Perlica had said when she arrived that the Administrator was in a state of partial amnesia and that things didn't look great. Even so, a weakened Administrator was not someone ordinary people could hope to challenge.

"But we still won this round~"

Watching the Sanguinarch, who had finally started taking the fight seriously, Saito suddenly said this out of nowhere.

"Hm?"

A flicker of doubt crossed Duq'arael's eyes. The confidence on Saito's face wasn't a bluff. He had already begun to acknowledge this man's strength, so his guard went up instinctively.

And at that moment, in his senses, the girl who constantly gave off a sweet scent had somehow slipped up behind Saito, one palm pressed against his back.

The armored humanoid figure before him, radiating a crimson aura, suddenly burst into dazzling golden light.

"What?!"

Almost in the next instant, Duq'arael cried out at the sight. Countless Originium crystal clusters were growing at terrifying speed, and in the blink of an eye they had crawled up the giant blood hand and onto his body.

He hurriedly reverted to blood and reappeared hundreds of meters away.

"Impossible… You're controlling Originium?!"

Duq'arael's eyes were full of horror. Even a Court ruler who had lived through countless ages couldn't help crying out at this. What had just happened before his eyes was enough to overturn the world's understanding of Originium and Originium Arts.

Since ancient times, every Caster had only been studying the possibilities of Originium's energy. None had ever touched its essence, much less controlled it.

If a person could truly control Originium through Originium Arts, wouldn't that mean she could, if she wished, even command Catastrophes at will?

The horror on Duq'arael's face gradually settled back into calm, though a heavier look had entered his eyes.

"It seems I can't let the two of you die so easily."

"Shouldn't you worry about yourself instead?"

Saito sneered. Still had the leisure to worry about others, did he? He'd do better to worry about himself. The Administrator's abilities weren't nearly as limited as his own.

The Administrator beside him said nothing, but gilded patterns had crept up her neck without anyone noticing. She held Saito's hand lightly, and her eyes behind the veil shone a brilliant gold. Her lips parted slightly as she murmured in her mind:

Originium, bloom.

That golden power swept over Duq'arael in an instant. The Sanguinarch was about to move, but in the next moment he found that half his body had somehow already been covered in Originium.

Impossible.

Had the earlier attack let Originium into my body?

Though it was somewhat counterintuitive for the ruler of the Sanguine Court, Duq'arael himself was not actually Infected. Even though he had drunk the blood of countless Infected over the past few centuries, as a Court ruler he had his own means of purging the Originium from the blood. Otherwise he could never have lived so long under Originium's assimilation.

Yet Duq'arael hadn't sensed the Administrator's strike at all, and the Originium had already taken root inside his body.

Feeling the Originium spreading rapidly through him, Duq'arael's expression finally darkened.

At this rate, no amount of blood would be enough.

He instinctively looked toward the two of them. The girl showed not the slightest sign of fatigue, and the speed at which she made the Originium grow was still climbing.

"…"

Anger surged up from deep in his chest, but in the end reason held the high ground. Duq'arael made no parting threats. They would only make him look more pathetic.

He simply committed those two faces to memory without a word, then dissolved into a cloud of blood mist and vanished.

"Did he run?"

Saito stared at the spot where Duq'arael had disappeared, still on guard. In his Originium sight, he could no longer sense Duq'arael's presence, and the Administrator beside him nodded as well.

But the next second, her body went limp and she collapsed into Saito's arms.

"You okay?"

The Administrator shook her head, looking a little tired. Saito's presence wasn't entirely a bad thing for her. Without the Origin Originium, controlling Originium no longer came so easily to her, but in exchange, most of the strain and contamination was borne by Saito.

In plain terms, her cost for controlling Originium had gone up while the contamination had gone down. In some ways that was clearly a good thing.

Right now she was just a bit worn out. It was still too early for her to stand against a Court ruler.

"Good work. Get some rest."

"Mm."

Slipping one arm under her knees, Saito lifted the Administrator into a princess carry. She answered softly, then drifted off to sleep.

Looking at that peaceful sleeping face, Saito felt conflicted. If he were just a bit stronger, maybe he could have faced the Sanguinarch alone and spared the Administrator this exhaustion.

He silently added Duq'arael to his list of debts. Next time they met, he wouldn't let the man escape so easily.

Having made up his mind, Saito took a spare vehicle out of Protocol Space, laid the sleeping Administrator in the passenger seat, and set off after the convoy.