Arknights' Lock of Heaven

If it were a contest of strength, Manticore would be no match for this lord, but she was an assassin who didn't need a direct confrontation; she could simply kill her target quietly.

As it is now.

Seeing him bleeding profusely yet still struggling, a sense of pleasure suddenly welled up in the lion scorpion's heart.

If it were the old her, she wouldn't have had any thoughts about it.

Because in the past she was just a blank slate, and those assassins only taught her how to kill.

However, she learned a great deal on Rhode Island.

The emotions that normal people should have: lamenting birth, aging, sickness, and death; exploring life; good and evil; right and wrong.

Logically speaking, a qualified assassin should now finish him off with one last stab to confirm his death before quickly leaving the scene to save himself.

Any accidents would be unnecessary. What if someone came looking for him at this moment? What if someone noticed something was wrong...?

But the Manticore did not do that; she simply watched as the lord struggled little by little, gradually despairing.

In a daze, she recalled her past.

"Same as always, spin the bottle," the man in the white mask said. "Whoever the bottle tip points to takes the mission."

Everyone stood silently in a circle. The bottle didn't care who it chose; they were all the same.

The bottle stopped in front of her. She took out the note and quietly withdrew from the crowd.

"All the instructions are on the note inside the bottle."

The man added.

He would say these things every time, as if he were tacitly acknowledging that there were new people here.

The Lion Scorpion didn't know who had actually come or gone; sometimes there were only three or four people here, and sometimes as many as a dozen.

She felt that even the captain didn't know, because the voice of the person wearing the white mask had changed.

That mission went wrong.

After completing her mission, she left the target location as usual.

But this time, it was just aimless wandering.

My body was filled with a familiar feeling of hunger, and the sensation of my consciousness slowly withering away due to lack of water.

This situation often occurred during prolonged periods of crouching. She could assess her current physical capabilities, and if she was on a mission, she wouldn't make a mistake.

However, each previous mission had a designated delivery location, where she could rest once she arrived.

But this time, the note didn't say...

She was abandoned.

Mantico wandered helplessly through the desert until he finally collapsed on an ordinary patch of sand.

She was unfortunate; she was born without anyone to teach her, without family or friends, without anyone to see her, and without anyone to communicate with her.

She was also lucky; in the very end, near the sandy area where she collapsed, there was a safe house on Rhodes Island.

Rhodes Island operators found her collapsed near the safe house, barely alive, covered in a layer of sand, just like most people who encounter natural disasters in the desert.

They gave her some lightly salted water and left her in a shady spot near the village.

Then, the operator saw her again on the spaceship returning to Rhodes Island.

Yes, that's how Manticore arrived at Rhodes Island in such a confused state.

333 A boring farce

Every time he recalls this past, the lion scorpion feels a chill run down his spine.

If I had been less injured and more patient back then, I probably wouldn't be living the life I have now.

Yes, she attacked the Rhodes Island operator who had saved her.

Like a wild beast.

A wild beast that knows nothing.

Of course, this wasn't said by Stormeye, the operator who was attacked.

He was good at heart, and didn't say anything after learning about the lion scorpion's situation.

That's what the lion scorpion himself thinks.

My past self was like a wild beast wandering in civilized society, yet out of place in this world, unaware of good and evil, right and wrong, only seeking a full meal and survival.

Why attack Stormeye? The reason is simple: she didn't know what a flying machine was; she just followed Stormeye into that strange machine in a daze.

No one had ever done these things for her in her past.

No one saw her collapse on the ground and offered her help; no one gave her water or food.

When she encountered something she couldn't understand, she was terrified and helpless. Then, she tried to figure out from her meager past experience that it was an enemy.

Haha, isn't that incredible? Even the Lion Scorpion thinks so now.

She wondered if she had really been brainwashed by the desert sun back then, to come to such a conclusion.

Based on this conclusion, she managed to launch a sneak attack on Stormeye using her own abilities.

Fortunately, it was only a close call; Operator Stormeye was unharmed. After blocking her attack, he was speechless to find that the little girl had already fainted...

In the end, they brought her back to Rhodes Island.

Fortunately, nothing irreversible happened, a fact that Lion Scorpion is still grateful for today.

Actually, no one blames her, really, after learning about her past.

You can't expect an assassin organization to teach her what is good and evil, what is right and wrong, how to be a person, how to live, or how to understand the world.

After all, they are an assassin organization, not saints who wish every assassin were a tool without their own thoughts.

How could I possibly teach her these things?

Fortunately, she was already learning these things at Rhodes Island.

The will to survive in the eyes of the Vaiva man beneath his feet finally dimmed; no matter how strong his will was, he could not stop the blood from flowing from his body.

he died.

So casually, a lord who ruled over tens of thousands of people was killed by her like a chicken, lying in a luxurious hall, dying without any dignity.

However, the lion scorpion doesn't care about any of that.

Just as she didn't care about this person, even now, she doesn't know the name of this noble lord.

I don't want to know.

This was just a minor incident; she was simply passing by when she was reminded of the past, so she acted on impulse.

It's not about making a fuss or trying to salvage anything.

She knew that perhaps what she was doing didn't have much meaning.

Even if one lord is driven away, another lord will eventually come to rule this place.

Just like back in Kazimierz, looking at the streets littered with corpses, she asked Xia Yu in bewilderment, "What's the use?"

Xia Yu simply shrugged and said, "I'm happy."

The lion scorpion was very puzzled and asked, "Isn't it to change the world?"

She still remembers Xia Yu's expression.

There was a touch of sadness and a hint of melancholy.

He said, "I was just venting my anger."

As for changing a country or the world, these killings alone are not enough.

Far from enough.

That day will come eventually, but not now; however, I can afford to wait.

At the time, the Manticore didn't quite understand. After all, look, those high and mighty oppressors were hanged here. Wouldn't the others be terrified? Aren't they afraid?

Do they dare to continue?

As it turns out, they dared!

On a whim, the Lion Scorpion did not leave the manor after the lord's death, but instead used his abilities to hide.

Quietly observing this luxurious mansion, which seemed to belong to a completely different world from the starving corpses scattered outside.

The deceased lords were not without relatives; on the contrary, these hereditary nobles had no shortage of relatives.

Watching the deceased lord's uncle, his six-year-old son and wife, along with several illegitimate children and the former lord's illegitimate children, all mingling together in a lively and chaotic scene.

The lion scorpion watched quietly as the chaotic lord's mansion transformed into a bustling marketplace, with everyone scrambling and fighting for what seemed like a lively scene.

After all, this is a hereditary territory with a noble title... Everyone wants it, and no one can refuse it.

Gradually, the arguments turned into fights, the fights into poisoning, and then assassinations began...

The lion scorpion even spotted a very familiar figure.