From the moment Goki entered, he felt a gaze fixed on him.
Of course, it wasn't Skadi; Little Orca would check on him every now and then to see if he was still there, and her initial gaze wasn't that gentle either. Goki had long grown accustomed to her Battle Intent-filled eyes occasionally sweeping over him.
But this time, from the moment Goki entered the temple, a Little Scorpion had been staring at him, looking him up, down, left, and right.
He knew her, but she didn't know him.
"Wow... you can really see me... How about now? Can you still see me?"
Wagging her purple tail, almost as long as her own height, behind her, her large purple eyes sparkling, the tiny Manticore girl stood before Goki.
Beneath her dust mask, her cute little face was taut, and the Originium crystals on her body emitted a faint glow, as if she was fully activating the Originium Arts used for stealth.
Her racial talent allowed for invisibility, and her Originium Arts could reduce her presence. Coupled with oripathy, these two abilities had achieved a perfect Fusion.
However... this trick was useless against Goki.
"Mm, you can mostly disappear, and you're exceptionally blurry, like 1080P turning into 360, but I can still see your outline—and those beautiful, light purple eyes."
Goki casually crossed his arms and chatted with the somewhat shy Little Scorpion in front of him—since she had been observing him, Goki couldn't just ignore her.
From someone else's perspective, Goki seemed to be talking to thin air, but from Goki's perspective, the Manticore in front of him had a clear outline.
When she fully activated her Originium Arts, this outline still remained.
"Can no one else see you? Not a single person?"
Goki was especially happy chatting with this girl, whom he had, ahem, used quite a bit when he was the Doctor—no, that's not right either, anyway, he was very familiar with her.
Manticore, the little assassin who had "attempted to assassinate" him last night, and a future Rhodes Island Special Operator.
She was a very useful ground-spike Operator, and her area-of-effect slow was a great helper for dealing with ghost-type enemies and unblockable enemies like Patriot.
While Ethan next door could still stun, the probability was low and relied entirely on luck, which could lead to high blood pressure and other ailments. Also, Goki couldn't afford to be as rich as he was at the beginning of the game, exchanging six hundred red tickets for Ironhide, so for him, Manticore was more comfortable to use.
Alright, that's even weirder.
But... it really was comfortable!
Manticore's background was limited to Operator personnel files, with no side stories or main story appearances. However, connecting it to Sargon's background, plus the "assassin organization" Manticore belonged to, it was hard not to think of the "Hashashin" brotherhood of assassins in the desert.
Nothing is true, everything is permitted, and all that.
In short, Goki was quite fond of this somewhat timid but always eager-to-make-friends, introverted Little Scorpion; he would always bring her along during early game.
Although yesterday, Manticore had secretly climbed into his bed at night and stung him.
But considering Manticore's good attitude in admitting her mistake, apologizing on the spot, and even telling him how to make the antidote, plus her cuteness, Goki decided to forgive her!
Of course, it was mainly because she was cute—he was a pervert, so what!
Goki knew this little assassin was a good child.
Due to oripathy, Manticore couldn't control her invisibility effect on her own. Except for a schizophrenic Nightmare Operator on the Island, no one could see her normally, which made Manticore especially eager for friends and accustomed to communicating with a notebook.
But for some reason, Goki could see her figure—to be precise, he could only see her outline and her sparkling large eyes.
"No... as long as you can see a part of me, and know I'm here, I'm very happy, hehe..."
Seeing Goki's direct gaze, Manticore's face flushed again. She shyly turned her head to the side, thinking to herself:
["Wahhhhhhh!!! I'm completely exposed, my whole body is exposed, how shameless! I'm such a bad woman!"]
The feeling of being looked directly in the eyes still made Manticore extremely shy. She could only hug her protective suit, barely making herself feel a little better.
That piercing gaze swept over Manticore, making her body exceptionally hot, as if it was peeling away the Little Scorpion's clothes.
It was simply, too, too, too stimulating!
To say something a bit outrageous, she really wanted to kidnap Goki to her dormitory and then... have him stare at her all the time! Look at her completely!
"Gao, Goki... the poison I injected yesterday, it must have hurt a lot, I'm sorry..."
While she was enjoying herself, thinking of what she had done to Mr. Goki yesterday, Manticore felt waves of apology.
"It's nothing, I have professional antidotes here. But you, chatting with me, your mission target, won't your employer find out—don't be nervous, I'm not trying to trick you into talking."
Looking at the Rhine Lab researchers gathered around the altar, studying with unknown instruments, and the out-of-place Elwin, Goki could guess that he was the one who sent Manticore to "teach him a lesson."
But Manticore just shook her head gently, a beautiful smile playing on her lips.
"My only mission... is to protect Mr. Parvis's safety. If you are not his enemy, I will not interfere... Previous projects only affect approval ratings, and we charge extra service fees. If I don't want to do it... I don't have to, hehe."
Hearing Manticore's words, Goki raised an eyebrow... Alright, even brotherhoods have to keep up with the times. It seems Columbia's influence on Sargon was more than just these pioneer groups.
"Don't worry, Mr. Parvis and I have no conflict of interest, at least for now."
Goki looked up at the altar.
Around the altar, four pure gold statues, holding spears, pointed at the coffin sealed by heavy golden chains and countless mysterious ancient texts.
The four warrior statues had dog, crocodile, bird, and snake heads respectively. Their expressions were solemn, as if they were guarding the coffin forever, and each had a golden eye on their forehead.
On Earth, these might be some peculiar primitive worships.
But in Terra, clearly, these statues recorded four champion warriors with the Bloodline of the ancients.
—They were probably truly chosen by the Pharaoh.
Recalling the Old Witch Doctor's words, Goki understood that this might represent the battle with the Burning Wind Scorched Earth.
And what was sealed inside this coffin was clearly self-evident.
["Ha, this is troublesome."]
Although he said so to Manticore, seeing the researchers transcribing runes and already preparing hydraulic shears, Goki knew they might release something extraordinary.
And in his Hunter's instinct, a power burning like fire was continuously rising from within the Sarcophagus.
In Goki's pocket, the Spark's flame bottle was also emitting an intense heat.
Clearly, these researchers, like others in sci-fi movies, intended to release a power they didn't understand.
No, if the disaster on the Sargon border was also related to Rhine Lab, then clearly, they had already understood this power and wanted to try to control it.
However, it was clear that the power stored in this coffin was not on the same level as the flame giant from that day.
Clearly, It had already stepped into the Divine Power's Domain.
This power was not strong, rather quite weak, but it was more than enough to slaughter these mercenaries.
However, Goki had no intention of stopping them; instead, he silently observed everything.
He could feel that an exceptionally strange power also coiled around the golden sculptures, suppressing the rampaging power within the coffin.
["Infighting among gods, it's not uncommon."]
In Yharnam, different kinds of Great One had often fought each other.
Goki guessed that this God, symbolized by the "Golden Eye," was a relatively gentle entity, taking the residents of Sargon as Its followers.
But how much of this power could remain?
With the passage of time, the influence of the entity sealed here on the outside world grew stronger and stronger. Goki guessed that within ten years, whatever was hidden inside would completely break free.
By then, Goki wouldn't just happen to be here, and the Rainforest's fate might be even worse.
["Since my presence changed the plot, causing these people to come here and open this Seal early, I can't just abandon them—I'll see it through."]
Goki planned to deal with a part of the still-weak and restrained God of Burning Wind here.
Perhaps he alone wouldn't be enough, but he wasn't the only one here—Skadi was also present.
Hunters rarely relied on the strength of others and didn't want their battles to involve others, but Skadi was different.
Abyssal Hunters were connected by Bloodline, and the two of them were also connected by Bloodline.
Skadi would rely on Goki, so when necessary, Goki would also rely on Skadi.
"Mr. Parvis is in danger? What, where? Please, tell me! If Mr. Parvis dies... my graduation time will definitely be extended!"
Hearing Goki's words, Manticore immediately became alert, her small head darting around, searching for anyone who might attack her target.
But it sounded like she didn't really care about the old professor's life or death; her feelings towards him seemed to be about protecting her graduation thesis, and if he died, she'd have to delay her graduation.
"No rush, look, those charred mummies on the ground—"
With a slight smile, Goki casually patted Manticore's small head and pointed to the struggling corpses on the ground.
"These? They're dead, aren't they? They're all dried up, feels like they'd crumble if you touched them."
Manticore froze for a moment when Goki patted her head, then covered her small head with a blush and looked over with him.
"No, death is merely a state, Manticore. Look closely at their movements, at the direction they're heading."
Goki squatted beside two charred corpses and began explaining to Manticore—betting on the Old Hunter's professionalism.
Of the two charred corpses, one faced the outside of the door, while the other faced the altar. One had no ornaments, was dry and emaciated, while the other still had two golden ornaments that hadn't been plundered.
"Did you notice? The corpses with their backs to the door, facing inwards, all have golden weapons and ornaments, while those rushing out of the door have nothing—who are they?"
Feeling the faint and different energies within the two charred corpses, Goki silently drew the Saw Cleaver from his person.
"They are opposing entities. One side fought with all its life to break free, while the other sacrificed its life to stop these people, buying time for its companions to Seal the temple—they were fighting for their respective lives."
Not far away, the chains on the Sarcophagus finally shattered completely under the Originium Arts welding torch.
Bang—
The Sarcophagus suddenly moved, but it didn't open, startling everyone nearby.
Then, a scorching and terrifying aura flowed through the entire room.
"Roar!!!"
Accompanied by a hoarse and dry howl, on the ground, the charred corpses facing outside the door suddenly had crimson patterns flash across their blackened bodies. They all opened their eyes and suddenly climbed up, attacking the nearest enemies.
Crack—
But the corpse in front of Goki, opening its flame-burning eyes, found that it had lost its limbs and could only flail wildly on the ground.
The next second, its head was easily crushed by Goki.
"See? Speak of the devil."
Feeling the gradually rising aura around him, Goki took off his gas mask, tossed it aside, and hoisted the Saw Cleaver onto his shoulder.
"Skadi, Gavial—come on, it's time to fight!"
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