Berserk

Rita didn't have time to see what psychological effect Durandal was having. Touching could tell her where something was wrong, pressing could tell her what had happened, and pinching could... she really couldn't help it.

Seriously... Durandal's skin... how did it grow like this?

It was as tender as a baby's.

Finally, she checked Durandal's face to see if she had a concussion or any other brain trauma.

After a rough check, Rita finally breathed a sigh of relief. Durandal's injuries weren't serious. In medical terms, they were just minor injuries. As long as she used the medicine and rested for a few days, she would be fine.

She pulled out the [Yu Long] with a backhand motion, put one of Durandal's arms over her shoulder, and with a slight effort, helped Durandal up from the ground.

Durandal also pulled out her weapon, smiled embarrassedly at Rita, and didn't dare to say anything. She felt that Rita might be really angry...

Uh... should I try to coax her? But I don't know how...

Durandal was still thinking about what Rita liked, while Rita, with a blank expression, was also thinking about how to let Durandal know that what she did was wrong without hurting her self-esteem.

After all, who didn't have some untouchable reverse scale when they were young?

Both of them were thinking about how to coax the other while quickly leaving this area.

But they hadn't taken two steps when Durandal suddenly felt her heart skip a beat, and Rita also noticed that something was wrong.

Wasn't it... a little too quiet?

It had been on its back before, but Parvati had made quite a bit of noise... but why was it so quiet now that it was in such a narrow place?

"Watch out!" Li Sushang's voice came at this moment. From the very beginning, after Rita had assigned everyone their tasks, Li Sushang had been wandering at the edge of the ice fog. Wherever Rita went, she would maintain a certain distance.

She was constantly repeating the task of supporting Rita in her mind, afraid that she would forget Rita's task by accident, or let herself get distracted.

So, being on the edge, she had witnessed everything, watching how Parvati had escaped from that narrow gap in a twisted posture.

At that moment, Parvati's hard body seemed to melt, turning into a puddle of liquid, and then it wriggled back into its original form.

What was that?

Li Sushang only felt her vision blur. She thought she saw a person appear beside Parvati, and then this strange change occurred...

And when Parvati turned into liquid, Li Sushang only felt a strong sense of disgust, annoyance, everything was eroding her mind, trying to drag her into madness.

The cold around her had no effect. On the contrary, the Xuanyuan Sword, which had been warmed by her hand, gave her a precious bit of clarity.

But time was still delayed. Parvati had already come up behind Durandal and Rita, and it had an extra layer of ferocious ice armor on its body.

---||---

"To hate out of fear... to kill out of fear..." Outside the scene, in a place no one could see, a dark figure was cloaked in a robe made of night, revealing only a pair of tired eyes.

His laughter was insidious, making people associate him with the word "villain" from all angles.

"Come on... let me see what kind of power the person who dealt with that arrogant fellow in ARC City has, and what kind of threat you pose to me..."

"With such a threat, I can't sleep well..."

As he spoke, he suddenly paused. His already stooped body looked towards the mountain, and his insidious laughter gradually faded, leaving only an annoyed "tch," before he turned and quickly fled.

But Parvati, which had been left behind, now had several dark patterns on its body, and a crimson color representing tyranny was surging on it.

A short charging animation appeared. Durandal, who had turned around in a hurry, reacted first, decisively pulling Rita and about to start running again.

But the sudden sharp pain from the leg she usually used to exert force made Durandal slow down by half a beat. She had forgotten that she was already injured!

It's too late!

Fortunately, several sharp sword qi came from behind. Although they didn't cause any substantial damage, they still relieved Durandal's half-second of being stunned. Instead, Rita pulled Durandal and quickly moved away.

But this time it wasn't a laser. Parvati opened its mouth and spewed out a raging blizzard. The huge range instantly enveloped the three of them.

Durandal and Rita were directly blown away by the blizzard. Li Sushang, on the other hand, stuck the Xuanyuan Sword in front of her, then crouched down behind it to avoid the snowstorm.

If one were to look from the mountain at this moment, they would clearly see a certain area suddenly turn into a patch of white snow.

And the sky, which had been clear just before, was abnormally dark... it looked like a heavy rain was about to pour down.

No, it was a blizzard.

A blizzard that had almost never appeared in the south.

After rolling in the air twice, Durandal regained control of her body. In this blizzard where she couldn't see anything, Durandal held Rita tightly with one hand and swung the [Yu Long] with the other, accurately finding the ground by instinct.

Catching the now-fixed [Yu Long], Durandal finally stabilized. The two of them were like fluttering flags, relying on the [Yu Long] as a flagpole to drift in the blizzard.

A sudden coldness came from her face. Durandal was startled, and a shallow cut appeared at the edge of her peripheral vision.

This is—ice shards?

Sharp ice shards were wrapped in this storm. The small ones were no bigger than a grain of rice, and the large ones were the size of peanuts and lentils, but these ice shards could all, without exception, use their own speed and sharp corners to unknowingly cut a wound on a person's body.

These ice shards came crashing down. Durandal's pupils shrank. She decisively tightened her grip, moving Rita's position from her side to her chest, a head shorter than herself.

As long as Durandal lowered her head, Rita could completely avoid the direction the ice shards were coming from.

This storm lasted for a full ten seconds before it stopped. When the visibility finally improved a little, Rita opened her eyes.

But at first glance, Rita saw Durandal, whose armor was tattered and covered in scratches.

The two landed on the ground. Durandal fell to the ground, exhausted. Some scattered components of her armor also fell to the ground, making a crisp sound.

"Lady Durandal?" Even Rita herself didn't realize that her voice had a slight tremor.

This time, Durandal didn't respond.

And not far away, Parvati raised its forelimbs, preparing to stomp.