Goki was a Hunter, Yharnam's most professional Hunter, but still just a Hunter.
No matter what problem he faced, Goki could often only use one method—hunting.
Whether it was people, beasts, or Great Ones, Goki's solution was to hack them to death.
There was no other way; the number of normal people in all of Yharnam was countable on one's fingers. If they were mad, they were mad, beyond saving, so it was better to just kill them.
Anyway, Hunters also had Souls, and ringing a bell could still summon help for a fight, so an early reincarnation wasn't a bad thing.
But after arriving in Terra, Goki's methods increased significantly.
He controlled the Hunter's Dream, and the Hunter's Dream was a world created by the "paleblood"—the Great One, the Moon Presence.
Goki had to admit that, although he had refused the Moon Presence's grace to become her proxy and had not stolen her power to become the new Moon Presence through the third umbilical cord, the Moon Presence's power still remained within him in some form.
Two months passed, and Goki had not fully understood the truth of his power. He only knew that the power he had gained was attacked and stolen when he entered Terra, which left him as weak as he was now.
But one thing was certain: Goki had not become the Moon Presence, nor her kin. He was still himself, but he could wield some of the authority of a Great One.
Contending with other Great Ones, creating dreams, interfering with reality—Goki had initially grasped the method for this technique. (This feature wasn't in the game; Goki had to figure it out himself.)
Now, Goki could create temporary dreams, projecting his thoughts into others' minds to influence their thoughts.
This was an authority every Great One should possess, not unique to the Moon Presence.
Of course, this ability was still very weak. Goki couldn't, like a Great One, drive people to madness with infinite wisdom simply by being glimpsed.
To influence others' minds, Goki had to make physical contact with them and ensure their gazes met—eyes are the windows to the Soul, after all!
At the same time, his current power certainly couldn't achieve strange operations like hypnosis, memory alteration, or 1000% sensitivity.
Even when used on ordinary people, Goki couldn't influence their minds; it was incredibly weak.
Goki had often held Skadi's small face and met her gaze on the road, but it was always ineffective, only making Skadi shyly turn her head away.
However, for someone like Specter, whose mind was already corrupted by Seaborn and Originium, and was in a state of weakness and confusion, Goki could take advantage of her vulnerability to hypnotize her—no, to wake her up!
So, facing the dazed Surtr, this trick would work just as well!
During their brief exchange, a clear-headed Skadi successfully suppressed the disoriented Surtr.
"Skadi, don't let her draw her sword! Grapple with her, get close to her!"
"Eh, what's 'get close'—Got it, I'll try! That sword is very hot!"
Skadi's physical strength was top-tier in all of Rhodes Island, while Surtr's was just ordinary. Both of their Originium Arts adaptability was equally flawed.
The real danger was the demonic sword "laevatein" in Surtr's hand; the terrifying Originium Arts it contained were enough to melt any metal.
However, under the guidance of Goki, an excellent coach who knew everything about the two six-star Young Misses before him, Skadi successfully embraced Surtr and firmly gripped her wrist, preventing the demonic sword from swinging.
Even so, even if her invulnerable, snow-white arm was just slightly touched by the hilt, it was instantly severely burned, and her entire body was scorched by the freely flowing flames.
Nevertheless, as an Abyssal Hunter, she remained unshaken, looking steadfastly at Goki.
Even if Surtr was among the highest on the strength rankings, her strength was only in the game!
In the reality of Terra, Goki's Titi was still the strongest—Skadi was number one in the world!
And so, Goki also rushed over, holding Surtr's face just as he had done with Specter.
"See my eyes! Surtr!"
With a roar, Goki and Surtr's eyes met. Flames even more intense than the collapsing Flame Demon from before began to burn Goki's body.
He felt that the current situation was somewhat like Ghost Rider's judgment of sinners, except that Goki himself was the one being roasted and punished from the inside out.
"Whoa—that hurts, that hurts!"
The next second, accompanied by immense pain, Goki's thoughts entered a scorching space.
Unlike Specter's mind, which had sea and sky, Goki stood before a massive castle. The crimson castle had tall towers, but its main gate was tightly locked.
"Thief, robber!"
Goki looked left and right but didn't see Surtr. Instead, he found a giant forged of flames outside the castle, constantly roaring and furiously striking the indestructible castle.
That appearance was almost identical to the rapidly collapsing Flame Demon Goki had seen before.
"No wonder... do these bastards really like fighting inside other people's bodies?"
It was clear that, although both used fire, this Flame Demon was obviously not on the same side as Surtr. The divine being...
Following the principle of helping kin over right, Goki immediately considered this Flame Demon an enemy.
Although he didn't know why this Sarkaz girl's spirit was invaded by the god of Burning Wind Scorched Earth, Goki still intended to help her solve this problem.
What a joke, what was Sister 42 to him? She was beyond the level of a wife; she was practically the Shaman Grandmother of a clumsy doctor—a big Shaman Grandmother who could melt enemies with a high burst of twilight, do you like her?
She had diligently helped Goki clear so many difficult stages; it would be inexcusable for Goki not to intervene when he saw injustice!
"Alright, that's enough. You really like causing trouble everywhere—stop occupying a beautiful Nona's body!"
The next second, the previously burning sky was instantly cleared, and the pale Moon was pulled by Goki into Surtr's dream.
"Enough, it's you again, you little worm! I remember you. I will burn you to ashes—die!"
But this time, the Flame Demon was not so easy to deal with. Instead, it let out a furious roar, transforming a part of its body into a fireball, which it hurled directly at Goki with extraordinary speed.
"Ha, suit yourself. You should take a good look behind you."
Bang—
In the dream, Goki's thoughts didn't even bother to tumble. He took a direct hit from the fireball. Besides the searing pain, his mental link with Surtr began to destabilize, gradually pushing him out of this world.
However, the pale moonlight had also weakened the Flame Demon.
Just before Goki was about to be burned to ashes, he saw a headless giant, crowned and pitch-black, emerge from the shadows of the tall tower. It wielded a crimson greatsword nearly ten meters long in both hands and cleaved the Flame Demon in two with a single strike.
"Heh, not bad."
Vaguely, Goki seemed to hear Surtr's voice.
"Ha, who told you to provoke Shaman Grandmother Surtr?"
Shrugging, Goki's thoughts completely dissipated within the dream.
"Damn, damn, damn, can this be cured? The whole person is burned to charcoal—Oh my, you're awake!"
His thoughts returned to the real world. Goki coughed twice, opened his eyes, and found himself kneeling on the ground, while around the room, the flames had completely extinguished and disappeared.
"Goki, you're awake?"
Immediately after, he saw Skadi kneeling in front of him, skillfully injecting a blood vial into his thigh, and Gavial grumbling as she splashed green light on him.
In these two months, Little Orca had witnessed Goki's various ways of getting injured. Now, mere severe burns no longer made her panic.
"You two, especially you, Goki, are truly monsters—."
Looking at Goki's body, which was almost burned to charcoal but rapidly repairing itself, Gavial suddenly felt her duty as a doctor was not so important.
"At least the result is good, right?"
Goki sighed in relief, looking at the Sarkaz Nona who was now in his arms, once again deeply asleep, but whose skin was no longer so scalding hot.
Surtr's heart was still locked within that fortress. Goki knew that even if she woke up again, she would still forget many things.
She had thrown out a lot of information while conscious, but it hadn't helped Goki clarify the situation; instead, it had made things even more complicated.
Splash—
"Fire! Fire! Fire!—."
The next second, accompanied by a heavily flat voice, a basin of cold water was poured directly over Goki's head.
Goki turned around and saw Tomimi holding a small bucket, her little head turned to the side, pretending to look at the scenery.
"Your butt is itching again, isn't it, my Little Chief?"
After Gavial left the tribe, her Wild Will Tribe was temporarily led by Chief Temimi. However, Goki knew that this Gavial-only supporter would definitely have her own little schemes.
The matter of gathering a bunch of Gavial-only supporters and forming a "Fist of Gavial" tribe might have already begun.
"Wow, Gavial, look at Goki, he's bullying people again!"
Seeing Goki clap his hands and eye her big tail, Tomimi immediately hid pitifully behind Gavial, her dark golden eyes blinking, feigning distress.
"Ha... what a mess. Where did Shaman Grandmother go? Did she not strain her old back? Now we have even more questions for her—here, take her, keep spanking."
Scratching his somewhat dry, long hair, Gavial also felt a bit overwhelmed and casually handed Tomimi to Goki.
Soon, Goki arranged Surtr back onto the bed that wasn't completely burned. The room once again echoed with a series of slaps and Tomimi's wails.
"Gavial, why are you just watching! Have you betrayed me—I'm sorry, I'm sorry, don't spank my butt, not there!"
However, at this moment, an Aegir girl suddenly ran into the Witch Doctor's hut. Seeing the Chief lying on Goki's lap getting spanked, and her red little butt, she blushed but continued to report, looking a bit nervous.
"Chief Temimi, Gavial... those Columbia exploration team people are here again, and they brought many people we haven't seen before. Last time, Tomimi and Zumama didn't agree to their mining request. I think these people might be here specifically to cause trouble."
Hearing this, both Goki and Gavial narrowed their eyes.
Only Skadi remained uninvolved, carefully poking the greatsword in Surtr's hand, burning her fingertip again, and could only suck on it in her small mouth.
Subconsciously, Goki felt that the series of events happening today might all be connected.
"Let's go, we'll go take a look later—keep spanking the child on the way!"
"Waaah—I'm the Chief!"
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