The massive impact forced Bella to pull part of her consciousness back to her body.
What happened? After a long moment, she realized the ship she'd been on had crashed into a reef. Again.
Could she even stay in Japan? Were these waters filled with nothing but reefs?
She split her attention three ways, using only ten percent of her consciousness to control her body. This made her movements stiff and clumsy.
But she had no choice.
If she continued fighting Calypso's mirror, her body might drown.
If she focused on the external world, Calypso's mirror might break free.
Caught between two impossible choices, she could only use one hand to paddle, struggling toward the surface. Movements that used to be effortless now felt rigid as hardwood.
She knew her body was fine—Sadako had healed her external injuries.
Her sluggishness came entirely from her weakened consciousness. It was like trying to run advanced software on outdated hardware.
"Don't move. I'll help you." At the critical moment, someone assisted her.
A woman with a ponytail, wearing a tank top, circled behind her, supporting her under the arms and struggling to bring her to the surface.
"You're awake?" Lara raised her voice, asking anxiously.
Who are you? Bella felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if she had a fever.
Everything was blurry. From the touch against her back, she knew a woman was helping her, but she couldn't identify who.
She didn't know how typhoon classifications worked—only that the wind and rain were overwhelming.
Darkness surrounded them. Without the occasional lightning, they might as well have been adrift in a void.
Bella gave up paddling entirely, shifting all her weight onto Lara. She hastily activated her Eagle Vision to scan the distance.
"That way..." She pointed in a direction, then her consciousness sank back into the mental realm.
"What way?" Lara didn't understand, but after three seconds of hesitation, she began swimming in the direction Bella had indicated.
After swimming over a hundred meters (328 feet), Lara finally spotted distant rocks and a beach.
They'd actually been close to shore the whole time. The waves kept pushing them away, and the darkness had hidden the beach right in front of them.
It looked close but was still a hundred meters (328 feet) away. Lara dragged Bella through the water, struggling onto the beach.
"Careful. Enemies..." Bella whispered a warning.
Lara peered toward the beach. By the lightning flashes, she made out several shadowy figures.
Just then, a figure appeared at her side, raising a wooden club to strike her head.
Thanks to Bella's warning, Lara had a moment to prepare.
She tried to dodge, but the club still caught her shoulder.
This Lara wasn't yet the unstoppable force who'd one day take down an entire regiment. Unarmed and exhausted, she was beaten down in two exchanges.
"There's another one," someone said.
A man approached with rope to tie up Bella.
"You wanna die?" The moment a man dressed like a Southeast Asian fisherman reached for Bella's wrist, her eyes snapped open.
She'd kept Fudō Masamune clenched in her hand since losing consciousness, never once letting go.
Now it had its use.
Her body remained weak, unable to execute any sword techniques, but her eyesight was sharp.
Bella angled the blade upward—a subtle movement. In the pitch darkness, with the black blade, the fisherman didn't notice she held a sword. As he stepped forward, a muffled thud echoed. He stared in shock at his abdomen as the razor-sharp blade pierced through his belly and out his back.
The black Fudō Masamune was incredibly sharp. The fisherman had essentially impaled himself on the blade.
"Come on! Come at me! Try to kill me!" Bella felt she'd had the most frustrating day imaginable. What kind of random enemies thought they could mess with her?
She leaned on Fudō Masamune, slowly rising to her feet.
Sweat poured from her temples. Rain, seawater, and perspiration mixed together. Her lips were pale, her vision swimming with golden spots.
Bella assessed the enemies in the darkness. She'd killed one, leaving five.
These guys wouldn't have guns, right? The next moment, lightning flashed. She saw a dark gun barrel pointed at her.
They really had guns!
She jerked sideways to dodge, but in her current state, evading bullets was impossible.
A gunshot cracked through the air. She heard the handgun's report, then felt her shoulder hammered by a massive blow. She toppled backward, hitting the ground, unable to rise.
"Go. You two grab her." What seemed to be the leader barked orders. Two large figures approached Bella.
The bullet struck her shoulder. Blood mixed with rainwater, staining half her body red.
Bella had no time to worry about the wound.
She closed her eyes and listened, calculating their distance.
She lacked the strength to stand, but she could still swing a blade.
Fudō Masamune was a tachi—a long blade. Hearing them draw closer, she raised her head, bracing with her left arm while lifting her right. She swung hard.
One slash severed four legs at once. Blood sprayed. The two men screamed like slaughtered pigs, clutching their stumps and wailing.
With the island's medical facilities, losing both legs meant certain death.
"Bang! Bang!" The leader fired twice without hesitation.
Bella rolled to dodge the first shot. The second struck her back, aggravating the old wound from the tentacle beam. Pain nearly drove her unconscious.
Gritting her teeth, she channeled the agony into one final burst of strength. She hurled Fudō Masamune like a javelin, piercing the gunman's heart.
"Huff... huff... huff..." Bella's lungs burned like fire. She dug her fingernails into her palm, fighting to stay conscious.
One enemy remained.
Go pick up my sword. Pick up the sword!
She hoped he'd grab Fudō Masamune and have his life force drained. But today's luck had run out—nothing was going her way.
The last enemy carefully assessed her condition. Seeing she couldn't stand and had no weapon, he nervously moved to retrieve the leader's handgun.
"Aaah!" Just then, Lara grabbed a nearby rock, leaped up, and smashed it into the man's head.
She struck with all her strength. Once, twice, pouring every ounce of energy into the blows.
Smash. Keep smashing. As if venting her fear and anxiety, she pounded until the man was a bloody pulp, limbs completely still. Only then did she collapse to the ground in shock.
She'd killed someone. Killed a living human being.