Chapter 1539 - Her Last Gift
The whole attack force was still quite a ways from the fortress, but they were able to see everything that was going on, and hear the noise that was happening inside. Not too long ago, they had seen the very Dalki Helen that they were all frightened to face with their lives, turn around and attack its own fortress.
The strange vine-like arms had all appeared in the fortress, and even now from a distance they could see Dalki being held up, their bodies pierced through and being chucked apart. A large explosion of power happened all at once as the Dalki were being destroyed. The next second, part of the fortress wall exploded and went flying, landing on the planet's surface.
Quickly, the others went to Sam, who was no longer trapped by a vine. The tactician rushed back to the others while also picking up Layla's disfigured arm. Since it was still in one piece and not too much time had passed, they should be able to reattach it with little difficulty.
Maybe even her green flames could do the job. As he returned, though, it turned out that the others were just as confused as him with what was going on. Layla was no longer in her True Hannya form. Due to all the Qi that had taken over her body, or perhaps as a drawback for staying in that form for too long, she wasn't even conscious at the moment.
"So you're telling me that Helen… I mean, the Humanoid Dalki just started to attack its own people because Layla defeated her in a duel?" Sam asked, to which he had a few people shrug their shoulders with relief on their faces.
"I think I might have some explanation for all of this." Logan chimed in. "The New Gen Dalki, I don't believe it is just referring to the humanoid Dalki we have seen, but also the three and four spikes. From the information I have gathered from the others. They didn't evolve into these spikes but were born this way.
"The humanoid Dalki are something different. Perhaps even an experiment on Graham's personal behalf. I doubt he was quite sure of the results himself, though. What has been created is something more on the lines of Borden. However, I imagine when creating such a Dalki he chose to omit memories, or perhaps even chose only selected memories.
"In a way, one could even brainwash a Dalki before they were even made to know that the humans are the enemy. However, such a process is not only very delicate and difficult, there's also no way to tell which memories have been erased and which ones might only have been suppressed. From the looks of it, Helen was a case of the latter.
"Fighting Layla might have triggered those memories in her. I'm not sure if Graham knew about that risk, or if they just cost too much to make, but I guess there's a reason why we haven't seen too many of them appear. In case something like this happened."
There was silence from the leaders that needed to make a decision on what to do next. Even now, the fight in the fortress seemed to be ongoing. However, at that moment, having received medical aid, Layla came to again.
"If she has her memories, then she's as real as the actual Helen to me… she knew about Quinn. She did all of this for us!" The young woman said, seemingly having heard everything they had talked about. She used her sword to hold herself up, still too weak to walk. "We have to at least help her to take down the fortress. No, before that, we have to heal her!"
The part about joining the attack, Sam certainly agreed with. As for helping her…
"I'm not so sure." Logan seemed against the idea. "She might look like Helen, and even have her memories, but I'm sorry, she's just a clone. We also don't know what Graham did when creating the humanoid Dalki, and without the data, we can't be sure she won't turn on us.
"When watching your fight, there seemed to be a trigger. Probably when you mentioned Quinn. Perhaps, while she is in control, this is what she has decided to do. However, can you guarantee that she won't change her mind?"
Although what Logan might have said was true, it looked like those in the Daisy faction had heard enough, and were already prepared to charge forward. The only thing was, just as they were about to, the commotion inside the fortress had come to a complete halt.
Seeing this, it looked like the group were on the move. Vincent, carried Layla on his back. While Dennis, and all those that were faster, including the vampires, ran ahead of the others. They were a little worried that the strange vines would pop out of the ground suddenly, but they never did.
When they finally reached the fortress, Vincent placed Layla down on the ground. They could see that the gates had been completely destroyed and taking a step inside it looked like everything else had as well.
The fortress had around a hundred Dalki, a mix of three and four spikes, yet none of them felt any signs of life inside. Blood splattered, holes and missing limbs of the Dalki. It had been a one-sided fight, that was for sure.
Eventually, after going through a few of the streets they had arrived at the centre, a square where the base would be used, and they could see a humanoid Dalki standing there in the centre. Her whole body, from head to toe, was bathed in green blood.
The figure looked out of sight, yet at the same time, there didn't seem to be a single mark on her apart from her chest. Eventually, Layla swivelled around to the side, and could see Helen standing there. A smile on her face. Only she might know what she had been looking at, and what her last thoughts had been… before her death.
She had died, but not before killing all the Dalki, and had died on her two feet standing.
"I didn't just kill Helen once…I killed her twice!" Layla punched the ground again and again, weeping. She couldn't stop her tears. Eventually, the rest of the Daisy faction and others entered the fortress. As they did, they all could see what Layla was crying over.
Peach went and carried Ivy over to her sister's body and placed her on the ground, and at that moment, everyone knelt down, paying their respects to the Daisy sisters.
They didn't get the chance to say their goodbyes the first time, but this time they could say goodbye to her properly. Even after death, even if this wasn't the real one. Many of their lives were saved after the Dalki attack.
Sam left the others to their goodbyes, many of the girls couldn't stop crying due to what happened, but he knew that as the leader he needed to decide on the best course of action. At the same time looking at the scene he had a thought in his head.
'A five spiked humanoid Dalki was able to take out one of these fortresses all on her own… in an injured state no less… it really is a scary thing… yet the latest report said that Graham was already a six spike...'
Entering one of the areas in the fortress that was somewhat still standing, Sam was having a meeting with the others, though Layla was unsurprisingly mentally absent.
"The fortress has been taken over, and we have managed to do so without losing our people. The Dalki no longer have any forces to rely on to support the main base. I've decided, as long as you agree to this.
"Layla, you've proven yourself as one of our strongest assets today. I don't know what happened, and you don't have to explain to me, but I think the others can do it with your help. You head over and join the Demon tier team. Take them out, destroy the Dalki main base, and get rid of any chance of them creating any monsters like this again.
"We need our strongest people to accomplish this task. I also want you to take Logan with you. He can gather information from the lab, and might be able to take it down without you guys even destroying the thing.
"As for me, Vincent, and Dennis. Us three will head back to the vampire settlement. We will get rid of the last attack force, and wherever Graham appears, we will be ready!"
Although Layla's mind was still elsewhere, she had heard everything that Sam had said. She wasn't too sure she was the right person for the job, but since their tactician deemed this to be the best, the Hannya agreed for now.
Looking at the sword, though, she could see it was no longer glowing.
'What happened back there?' Layla thought.
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