Chapter 776: Hello, My Name Is Gavial, Friend. What Is Your Name?
The heavy metal doors of Specter's specialized medical ward hissed open. Amiya and the Doctor rushed inside, immediately met with a scene of utter chaos.
A green-haired woman was gritting her teeth, her muscles straining as she pinned down a thrashing figure in a torn nun's habit. The patient—a white-haired, red-eyed Abyssal Hunter—thrashed wildly against the examination table, her face twisted in a mask of pure, feral madness.
The thick, green crocodile tail swaying behind the medic slammed against the floor for balance. Spotting the newcomers, she barked, "Amiya! The straitjacket! Now!"
"Right away!" Amiya's long bunny ears stood on end as she scrambled toward the medical cabinet.
"I'll lend a hand too!"
A tall, curvy Feline with flowing dark hair burst into the room. Blaze didn't waste a single second, throwing her considerable weight into holding down the frenzied nun.
It took the combined, grueling effort of all three of them. The heavy canvas and reinforced buckles of the white straitjacket were pulled tight, locking down every joint and limb. By the time the final strap clicked into place, the afflicted Specter was completely immobilized, reduced to violently twisting her torso against the padded table.
Amiya wiped a bead of sweat from her brow, her chest heaving. She looked at the two operators who had stepped in. "Blaze, Gavial... thank you for the help."
"I rushed over the second I heard the alarms. Thank the stars she didn't tear down the walls this time." Blaze let out a heavy breath, patting her generously endowed chest, which still trembled slightly from the intense exertion.
"Tsk. I was right in the middle of her routine checkup when she just snapped. Her condition is deteriorating faster than before." Gavial ran a hand through her messy green hair, clicking her tongue in annoyance. She was technically a medic, but her Archosauria physiology and raw physical power were the only reasons she hadn't been ripped apart by the Abyssal Hunter's sudden outburst.
"Let's get the suppressor in her first," Amiya said, her voice tinged with helplessness.
Specter's mental degradation was a constant, heavy shadow over Rhodes Island. When lucid, she was as calm and polite as a gentle lady of the church. But the moment an episode struck, she turned into a frenzied beast. During her last armed rampage, she had taken her massive buzzsaw and carved straight through the facility's reinforced bulkheads.
"I've got the suppressor right here."
Gavial rolled her sore shoulders and grabbed a heavy-duty Originium Suppressor syringe from a nearby tray. She flicked the needle, stepping up to the writhing nun.
Just as the needle's tip hovered millimeters from Specter's pale skin—a large hand clamped down on Gavial's wrist like a vice.
Gavial's reptilian pupils shrank to pinpricks. An unfamiliar presence right behind her? Without missing a beat, she pivoted, her thick, muscular crocodile tail whipping through the air with a vicious, whistling rush of wind, aiming to crush the intruder's ribs.
"Relax. I'm not an enemy."
Ren stood there, looking completely unbothered. His free hand casually caught Gavial's proud tail—a strike packing enough kinetic force to warp solid steel plating—stopping it dead in its tracks as if he were catching a tossed pillow.
"Gavial, wait! He's not an enemy!" Amiya cried out, before her eyes widened at the figures stepping out from behind him. "Dr. Kal'tsit?"
And Skadi. And Gladiia.
The Doctor had already slipped past the group, circling Ren and inspecting him from head to toe. The familiar aura radiating from him was unmistakable.
"It's me. Long time no see," Ren said, a faint, amused smile playing on his lips.
"It seems he really isn't hostile." Blaze lowered her guard, scratching the back of her head in sheer bewilderment. "Wait, Dr. Kal'tsit? Weren't you guys just in Lungmen? How did you pop up in the middle of the containment ward?"
Kal'tsit stared at Ren's profile, her expression an unreadable mix of shock and complex calculation. He had used some unfathomable method to bypass all of Rhodes Island's security and teleport them across half the continent, dropping them precisely in front of Specter's bed.
"Not an enemy..." Gavial muttered, feeling the iron grip on her wrist and tail loosen. She pulled back, shaking out her arm, now entirely unbound by Ren's overwhelming power. "Sorry about that. I felt a completely foreign presence sneak up on me and my instincts took over."
"Don't worry about it. You've got good strength, but it's not nearly enough to scratch me," Ren replied casually.
Gavial's eyes narrowed slightly, sizing him up. "You're definitely not weak yourself. The name's Gavial. What's yours? Let's be friends."
She spoke with the blunt, unvarnished honesty typical of the Sargon people.
Ren didn't answer immediately. Instead, his gaze drifted down to her neck.
Following his line of sight, Gavial reached up and wiped her neck. Her fingers came away smeared with fresh crimson. She clicked her tongue in annoyance. "Must have gotten nicked by her claws when I was pinning her down. Her raw power is absolutely ridiculous. Are all Aegir this absurdly strong?"
Standing near the back, Gladiia cast a cool, measuring glance at the Archosauria medic. Not all Aegir possessed such monstrous strength, but Abyssal Hunters certainly did. For this green-haired woman to wrestle a thrashing Specter to a standstill, even in her degraded state, meant she was far from ordinary.
"Hold still," Ren commanded softly.
Under Gavial's puzzled gaze, he raised a hand, his fingers lightly brushing against the bleeding scratch on her neck.
The hooded Doctor leaned in close, eyes widening behind their visor. "The wound... it's completely gone!"
Feeling the sharp sting vanish, Gavial touched her neck again. Smooth, unbroken skin met her fingertips. "How did you pull that off? Are you a Caster?"
To casually block her tail strike, she had assumed he was a Guard operator. She certainly didn't expect him to possess Healing Arts of this caliber.
"You could say that. Consider it compensation for startling you," Ren said with a nonchalant shrug.
"Compensation, huh..." Gavial blinked, a wide, toothy grin spreading across her face. "You're a pretty interesting guy. I think I like you a little."
"U-Um, excuse me!" Amiya took two quick steps forward, her bunny ears drooping with anxiety. "We really need to inject Specter with the suppressor now. Her vitals are spiking, and this state is incredibly dangerous for her."
Kal'tsit raised a hand, shaking her head. "No need."
Amiya blinked, completely lost. Why would the head of the medical department refuse treatment?
Kal'tsit simply kept her sharp gaze fixed on Ren's relaxed back. "Indeed. There is no need for the suppressor."
Ren closed the distance to the struggling Abyssal Hunter.
Sensing his approach, Specter's crimson eyes flared with a violent, bloody light. "Lord! Let me tear you apart!!!" she shrieked, her jaw snapping viciously as she lunged forward against her restraints, trying to rip his throat out with her bare teeth.
"Watch out!" Blaze yelled, her muscles tensing as she prepared to dive in.
But before Blaze could move a muscle, Ren simply raised his large hand and planted it firmly on top of Specter's white hair.
Instantly, the thrashing stopped.
"What's going on?" Gavial and Blaze exchanged bewildered looks. Why had the berserk Abyssal Hunter suddenly turned as docile as a kitten?
Skadi, Kal'tsit, and Gladiia watched with bated breath, their eyes tracking every minute change in Specter's posture.
They saw it happen in real-time. The feral madness bled out of Specter's face, replaced by a deep, tranquil serenity. The chaotic red glow in her eyes softened, returning to a clear, lucid crimson. She looked up at Ren, her posture shifting into that of a quiet, elegant lady.
"You've recovered. Why aren't you speaking?" Ren asked, his tone light.
For a being of his power, rewriting her physical and mental state was as simple as breathing. In that single touch, Specter's fractured mind had been completely restored, and the Oripathy ravaging her cells had been entirely erased.
"I... I simply do not know what to say," Specter replied, her voice soft, melodic, and entirely devoid of the manic edge that had haunted her for years.
Amiya gasped, her hands flying to her mouth. "Specter... she's recovered?"
To Amiya, 'recovery' meant a temporary return to baseline sanity, a fleeting moment of clarity before the madness claimed her again.
But Kal'tsit didn't waste time on awe. She strode forward, her medical instincts overriding everything else.
"Specter!" she demanded, her voice carrying absolute authority. "May I conduct a full examination of your body right now?!"
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