"Isn't it a bit too much?"
"Being too indulgent is not good. I won't acknowledge such a useless Master."
Looking at Artoria, who was pinned to the ground by five crimson spears and had lost consciousness, Kiyohime stepped forward with a bit of heartache and touched Artoria's face. But what was with that eerie, obsessive, perverted smile? Although she seemed to be rebuking Scáthach's actions, Kiyohime was actually very happy inside. This was the second time she had directly touched her Master's body. The first time, her Master had touched her voluntarily, but she couldn't respond, which made her feel very bad. This time, she was going to touch her fill.
"Eh!? What's going on?"
Before she could touch her fill, Artoria's body began to blur, slowly turning into golden particles and flying toward the sky. She hurriedly reached out, wanting to keep these particles, but unfortunately, the golden particles passed directly through her fair palm and flew toward the sky without any hindrance. Seeing this situation, Kiyohime couldn't sit still and cast an inquiring look at Scáthach.
"Her body in reality has recovered! Her spirit is being forcibly summoned back into her body. It seems this battle is over. I Hope she can understand her own flaws."
Retracting the five spears stuck in the ground, Scáthach spoke as she watched the particles flying upward. Possessing the mysterious Wisdom of the Haunted Ground, it was easy for her to obtain the knowledge she wanted, and because of this, she could quickly learn anything.
"I don't know when she'll come over next time. I haven't even had a proper greeting with Master yet."
Thinking of this, Kiyohime couldn't help but cast a resentful look at Scáthach. Fine! You're the only one who finished what you wanted to do, completely forgetting my existence. I wanted to have a good talk with Master, but I ended up being dragged into battle by you. From beginning to end, Master was so busy she didn't talk to me. You're too much, Miss Scáthach!
"I Hope this kid can make some progress next time and doesn't waste her talent."
Scáthach directly ignored Kiyohime's gaze, but she indicated that she hadn't had enough fun yet; that was just a warm-up exercise. She hoped that when Artoria came here next time, she would be stronger than she was now. If she couldn't be stronger, her arrival here would probably be even more miserable than this time.
When the conversation between the two ended, silence returned to the Land of Shadows once more. Aside from the silently wailing spirits, there were no traces of life left here.
"Mmm~! Pant! Pant!"
"Cough, cough! Still alive!"
Artoria, who was on a snow-white hospital bed, suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. She looked around in panic and found that the hateful purple figure was not there. While breathing a sigh of relief, she was also choked by her own saliva. Before Artoria could start feeling joyful, Maya and Helen Cho, who were accompanying her, were startled. They looked at Artoria with surprise and hugged her with red eyes.
"I'm going to die, get off me."
Facing the fragrant embrace of the beauties, Artoria clearly didn't appreciate it and pushed the two of them away expressionlessly. She still hadn't recovered from Scáthach's divine spear techniques; her brain needed a good clearing. However, the two also realized they had lost control of their emotions and didn't blame Artoria for her coldness.
"I'll go notify the others. Artoria, are you hungry? Do you need something to eat?"
Wiping away tears shed from excitement, Hope spoke to Artoria, who was sitting on the bed and hadn't yet recovered. She also needed to calm down now, so it was a good time to go out and notify everyone. This was also good, as she could get Artoria something to eat. Although this was the best hospital in New York and Artoria was in the best ward with nutritious meals, she still knew a bit about Artoria's appetite.
"Growl~ growl!"
Artoria didn't need to open her mouth to answer; the sudden sound from her stomach proved that it wanted protein-rich food, like meat! Meat! And more meat. The growling of her stomach and the resulting hunger interrupted Artoria, who was still thinking about Scáthach's spear techniques. Seeing the two people full of smiles, Artoria felt a bit embarrassed.
"Alright, I'll go get something to eat right away."
Hope said happily to Artoria before pushing open the door of the ward and walking out, leaving only Helen Cho to peel an apple for Artoria. Looking at the white room, Artoria sighed. The smell of disinfectant made her a bit uncomfortable, but there was no choice. She was really hungry now, and once she felt hunger, she couldn't focus on anything else.
"How long have I been asleep, Helen?"
Clutching her stomach and rolling around on the bed, Artoria felt that she must have slept for a long time this time, otherwise she wouldn't be this hungry. Artoria had never experienced such hunger before.
"You! You've been asleep for a full three days. The Doctor said if you didn't wake up tonight, you would become a vegetable."
Watching Artoria's childlike movements, Helen Cho spoke to her with a smile and handed the freshly peeled apple to Artoria, implying she should have a snack first, as it would be a while before she could eat a real meal.
"This girl finally woke up. Seriously, I told her not to go! She just wouldn't listen to me."
Just after receiving the call from Hope, Tony stood up excitedly and spoke to Pepper. Even the sleepiness from watching over her for two days and nights without rest had completely vanished. Looking at Tony, who was as excited as a child, Pepper, with her own dark circles, looked at Tony's dark circles with a smile. Now, the two could finally set their minds at ease.
Nick was just as happy as Tony. When he got the news of Artoria waking up, he was so happy! You should know that for the past two days, he had been stopping a certain pair of daughter-doting parents from imposing sanctions on Mr. Reed. Since Mr. Reed was a child prodigy favored by the Military, if something happened, it would be really hard for his side to explain, especially with a combat power like Artoria, whom he very much wanted to recruit into his Avengers.
As a 'pre-selected member,' it was also sad for him that something happened to Artoria, but there was no way to hold one person responsible for this matter because he had also just recovered. It could only be said that their luck was bad, and there was no way to blame a single person.
"Natasha, take a small gift to see the little princess who just woke up. Let her know S.H.I.E.L.D.'s goodwill. Remember to bring Sharon."
"Alright, Director."
After a moment of reflection, Nick dialed Natasha's number, intending for her to represent S.H.I.E.L.D. and make a gesture in front of Artoria. It would be great if she could leave a better impression of S.H.I.E.L.D. on Artoria.
"It's really a headache!"
Although the news of Artoria waking up made him happy, he still had many things on his hands. For example, the Mutant conflict in Canada, where the actions of Magneto and Professor X gave him a huge headache. This was no small matter; if not handled well, it could really increase the conflict between ordinary people and Mutants.
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