Arknights: It Can't Possibly Be My Fault... Right? — Chapter 27

Chapter 27: Skullshatterer’s Request

“Alex… what exactly is going on…” Misha asked, her voice trembling with a deep, unsettling fear. Skullshatterer had suddenly gone rigid, his posture twisting as if some unseen force had taken root in his spine. The erratic, possessed nature of his movements sent a cold dread pooling in her stomach.

“Misha… right, Misha, listen to me. That traitor is right. You need to go find Rhodes Island right now. I will hold off Talulah to buy you time, and then all of you need to run…” Skullshatterer stammered, his words spilling out in a frantic, incoherent mess. He swayed on his feet, looking utterly hollowed out, as if the very foundation of his mind had collapsed to leave a completely different, broken person behind.

He continued to mutter a stream of disjointed syllables that Misha could not decipher, his eyes wide and deranged behind the visor.

A sharp crack echoed through the desolate ruins. Misha’s hand stung, suspended in the air. The heavy tactical mask was knocked askew, clattering against the rubble to reveal a face twisted in incredulous shock.

The slap carried a heavy emotional weight, though it inflicted no real physical pain on a seasoned fighter like him. Yet, that sudden, grounding sting was exactly what he needed to shatter the discordant shadow clinging to his mind.

“Alex!” Misha scolded, her tone mirroring the way she used to reprimand him when they were children. “Are you awake now? What exactly is wrong with you!” A quiet sob threatened to break through her fierce facade.

It made absolutely no sense. They had only just found each other in this hellscape, and his first instinct was to talk about throwing his life away and abandoning her all over again.

“Misha, I… just now…”

“My, my. What a touching display of sibling affection.” A cloying, theatrical voice drifted from the shadows, cutting off his apology before it could begin.

“It is you. Didn’t you run away?” Skullshatterer whipped around, his voice dripping with sudden, bitter venom. “Did you know about Talulah this whole time? You told me she had changed, so why didn’t you…” He knew logically that this disaster was not W’s fault, but the lingering paranoia from that dark mental intrusion pushed him to lash out. He simply could not rein in his temper.

“Why didn’t I tell everyone sooner so we could hold hands and solve it together?” W stepped into the light, staring at him with the distinct pity one reserved for a total idiot. “Is your brain completely fried, or did that dragon lady finally finish washing it out?”

She shook her head, marveling at how quickly the fearsome commander had regressed into a blundering fool. Looking at him without the mask, she had to admit he bore a striking resemblance to Misha.

“And how exactly was I supposed to know from the start? I only just figured it out myself. I thought her highness had always just been a tyrannical lunatic!” W snapped, her patience wearing thin.

Skullshatterer swallowed his retort. The fog in his head was clearing, and he quickly recognized how compromised his mental state had become. He shifted his stance, shielding Misha firmly behind his back. When the Reunion messenger had arrived earlier, they had brought his signature grenade launcher. He gripped the heavy weapon now, seeking the familiar comfort of its cold metal for self-defense.

“Hey, do you really have to look at me like I am the enemy? Aren’t we compatriots in arms?” W sighed dramatically. “Besides, I came all the way back here to point you toward a clear path out of this mess.”

“You are a mercenary, W. You do not understand. The Reunion Movement is…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. The Reunion Movement is your sacred home, Talulah is your loving mother, but take a good look around. She wants to slaughter every last one of you,” W interrupted, waving her hand dismissively.

Skullshatterer gripped his launcher tighter, fighting to suppress the boiling anger in his chest. “What exactly did you come here to say?”

“Look… Talulah is a monster. Even if you and I teamed up and threw everything we had at her, we still could not beat her.” W stated it as a simple, obvious fact. Skullshatterer felt a strange sense of deja vu at those exact words.

“Judging by that grim look on your face, you have probably guessed it. That is right. There is another person on this battlefield whom you and I could not beat even if we teamed up, and you have already had the pleasure of meeting him.” W gestured vaguely toward the distant Rhodes Island encampment, where Kai was currently staring down a glowing vial of sanity potion, locked in a fierce internal debate over whether to drink it.

“As for me, I happen to have a little business to discuss with that hooded man in their ranks, so…”

“Rhodes Island…” Skullshatterer muttered, his gaze drifting toward the barricades.

On the front lines dividing Rhodes Island and the Reunion Movement, the defensive pressure had stabilized significantly thanks to the intervention of the Lungmen Guard Department. The Rhodes Island operators maintained their tight formations, relying on their rigorous combat training to easily deflect the chaotic, uncoordinated strikes of the enemy. Yet, an unsettling atmosphere hung over the clash. For some unknown reason, the Reunion fighters were attacking with a suicidal ferocity, throwing themselves against shields and blades as if they had been stripped of all human reason.

“Someone is asking for you, Mr. Kai.” A Rhodes Island operator approached the rear medical tent, addressing Kai as he finished bandaging a wounded vanguard.

“Hmm? Who is it?” Kai wiped the grime from his hands, genuinely puzzled. Who would seek him out in the middle of an active warzone? Was it W trying to cash in a favor?

“It is… the commander of the Reunion Movement, Skullshatterer.”

“Oh. Him.” Kai tossed the bloodied rags into a bin. “Where is he holding up? I will go take a look.”

“Do you require my presence, Kai?” M3 asked, stepping out from the shadow of the medical canopy. Since the frontline pressure had eased, she had pulled back to the triage area to assist him with the incoming casualties.

“No need, just hold the fort here.” Kai raised the luminescent vial of the Originium sanity potion to the light. He still had no idea what the long-term aftereffects of this concoction would be, but with Talulah looming over the battlefield like a natural disaster, the Doctor had practically forced him to take another dose to keep his combat arts primed.

A short walk later, Kai found Skullshatterer sitting rigidly in a makeshift negotiation tent, looking entirely out of his element. The Reunion commander shifted uncomfortably, never having imagined a day where he would have to beg the enemy for help to slaughter his own kin. But he had no other options left. He absolutely refused to let that imposter wear Talulah’s face while marching his brothers and sisters into a meat grinder.

“So, let me get this straight. You are saying your glorious leader, Talulah, has been possessed, and the tyrant currently burning down the city is not the real deal.” Kai leaned back in his folding chair, crossing his arms.

Although Skullshatterer did not fully comprehend the arcane mechanics of being ‘possessed’, the summary was accurate enough. He gave a stiff nod.

“And you want to save your leader, but since you and W could not beat her even if you teamed up, you had no choice but to drag yourself here to ask for my help?”

Skullshatterer nodded again. Kai stroked his chin thoughtfully. He had no idea why the man insisted on emphasizing the hypothetical scenario of teaming up with W, but the core issue was crystal clear.

It was obvious W had spilled the truth about Talulah’s condition. Now, Skullshatterer wanted to cut off the serpent’s head but lacked the firepower to do so, leaving him desperate enough to seek out the very person who had just decimated his squads, praying Kai could pull the Reunion Movement from the fire.

“I know you have every reason not to believe a word I say, but…” Skullshatterer leaned forward, his voice thick with anxiety.

“Hold on. Who said I do not believe you? Did W forget to mention that I was the one who warned her about Talulah in the first place?” Kai raised a hand, halting the commander’s desperate pitch.

“This…” Skullshatterer choked on his words. W had conveniently left that detail out.

“And you just walked in here, not even slightly worried that W might be selling you out to us?” Kai sighed, marveling at the sheer tactical naivety of the man.

“So you already know the truth, which means you…”

“Hold on.” Kai raised his hand a second time, cutting him off again. “What obligation do I have to help you? Do not forget that our previous negotiations ended with zero consensus, and your beloved Talulah decided to crash the party with an army while we were talking. How do I know this is not just another one of your faction’s little traps?”

It was a blatant bluff. Kai knew exactly what was happening, and internally, he was screaming for Skullshatterer to hurry up and bring Misha over to the safety of the landship so he could secure her survival. But the rest of Rhodes Island did not share his meta-knowledge. He needed the Reunion commander to demonstrate some actual loyalty and grovel a bit to justify the alliance.

A heavy silence fell over the tent. Skullshatterer stared at the floor for a long moment before abruptly standing up, turning his back to the table. “In that case, I apologize for wasting your time.”

‘Wait, this is completely off script.’ Kai panicked internally.

“Hey, hey, what is the rush? Why are you walking away?” Kai shot out of his chair and grabbed Skullshatterer by the shoulder.

Skullshatterer’s gaze sharpened into a lethal glare. “What, is Rhodes Island a prison where one can enter but never leave? I do not blame you for refusing to help, but do not dare try to stop me. I will find a way to save her myself.”

“Are you kidding me? Where did you even learn to negotiate?” Kai flared up, dropping the aloof act entirely. “You are the one begging us for a massive favor, man! Who just turns around and storms out without looking back the second they hit a minor roadblock? Besides, how exactly are you going to find a way? Did you not just finish saying that you and W could not beat Talulah even if you teamed up?”

Skullshatterer scowled. “I said it is me and W teaming up.”

“Nobody cares about the exact phrasing!” Kai shouted.

“Sorry…”

The tension broke, leaving an awkward air in its wake as the two men slowly sat back down in their respective chairs.

“Where is Misha?” Kai asked, deciding to pivot to a safer topic to defuse the lingering hostility.

Skullshatterer slumped slightly, the fight draining out of him as he offered the truth. “I had W take her away from the frontlines first.”

“So you walked into the enemy camp to ask for help completely alone? Are you not terrified that we might just execute you while we have the chance? You are a high-ranking leader of the Reunion Movement, after all,” Kai pointed out.

“The moment I stepped foot in here, I abandoned my fear. Talulah is my savior, and the Reunion Movement is the only home my people have left. I cannot just sit back and watch that… thing out there tear it all to shreds.” Skullshatterer leaned heavily against the back of his chair, his voice cracking with raw exhaustion. “If you can save her, if you can pull the Reunion Movement back from the brink, I am willing to pay absolutely any price. I am begging you.”

Kai stared at the broken man across the table. He recalled a lore assessment he had once read about Skullshatterer. The community had always agreed that he was a man defined by a foolish, blind loyalty. For Talulah, for the dream of the Reunion Movement, he would gladly throw away his own life without a second thought.

“Fine, fine. I give up. Has anyone ever told you that you beg for help like you own the place?” Kai waved his hand in utter defeat, a dry, exhausted smile touching his lips.