The hare has no name. I am nothing but an animal lurking in the shadows.
HP | 69.0 + (2.34*lvl) |
DEF |
Trigger | Dialogue |
---|---|
Identity Acquisition | The hare has no name. I am nothing but an animal lurking in the shadows. |
Morning Greeting | Without your calling, the shadow dissipates under the sun. You may focus on your business of the day, my lord. |
Afternoon Greeting | Your luncheon is prepared. Now, I retreat into the shadows to ready myself for the assault you foresaw would unfold over this meal. |
Evening Greeting | All in position. Give us but the smallest signal, and this husk of hares shall descend and blot out the very moon—the very last light your foes shall ever see. |
Chatter #1 | Impertinent as it may be, I must impart to you a word of advice. Hold us close as tools in your hands, my lord, but never close to your heart. The loyalty of beasts lurking in the umbra lies with the title, not the one who wears it. |
Chatter #2 | Where a shadow falls, two shall spring from whence it fell. Were we to be captured, we will dissipate like the traceless dust; we will have never heard nor seen of you, my lord. |
Chatter #3 | I have no interest in the other Heishou, for I already know all that I must know about them. You needn't inform me of which Pack you wield, or the individualities of whom you wield. Were you to regale me of them nonetheless, it shall be but the ephemeral play of shadows, to be forgotten soon since. |
Post-Uptie Chat 1 | There is no more to be done here, my lord. The other hares are scouring the building in search of more to graze on. If you have no remaining commands, I will excuse myself... but I will remain vigilant of other lurking beasts. |
Post-Uptie Chat 2 | The cover of darkness provides a great advantage to the beasts... Do you understand? Your life was forfeit the moment this hare locked its eyes upon you. |
Idle | ……. |
Uptying | Your foe has been eliminated. To where must I hop next? |
Deployment | I accept your command. |
Stage Entry | Through the dead of night. |
Viewed in Battle | My lord, to be present here in your person is— No, my lord. Please, do speak your will. |
Commencing Attack | I will cut them down. |
Enemy Stagger | What a pathetic cry. |
Staggered | ... Kah. |
Enemy Killed | You're finished. |
Death | I may die here... but... the Mao branch shall... |
Check Passed | Effortlessly handled. |
Check Failed | ... Let us find a hare better suited to handle this. |
Victory Cry | I have carried out your command. The Mao branch has suffered significant losses, yet it is not for you to worry. More of us shall appear to fill the void. |
Extra Conditions Fulfilled | They are now in the shadows. Once the Sweepers finish their night's labor, once the day breaks anew, those seeking traces of the departed shall leave empty-handed. The umbra dissipates in the sun's light. |
Defeat Wail | My failure is not the failure of our Heishou Pack. I am but one of many beasts... for I am nobody, nothing at all. More will arrive in droves to erase this failure. |
Heishou Mutation [Mao]
If this unit has <<((LegStrength))Strider【Mao】>> and the target has <<((BurstAgility))Deathrite【Haste】>>, deal +5% damage for every <<((LegStrength))Strider【Mao】>> (max 15%)
A Husk of Hares
SHAMROCK x 3
1 ally with the fastest Speed: when attacking targets with <<((Burst))Rupture>>, deal +10% damage
Gain 1 <<((Agility))Haste>> next turn (once per turn)
Blinkstep
Blinkstep
Blinkstep
Blinkstep
Perforating Kill
Perforating Kill
Perforating Kill
Perforating Kill
Cursewrit Butcherblade
Cursewrit Butcherblade
One night in Hongyuan, brightly lit under its artificial light.
The child's yellow eyes glimmer menacingly in the shadows as she stares down at the thief.
Done running? It was embarrassing to watch.
I knew that the Mao branch were supposed to be fast, but... this is...
Did you really think you could outrun a hare? Foolish.
The thief had snatched a rather important shipment as it was en route to the child's lord.
She received the command to capture the thief a whole two hours after he'd already made off with the shipment, but...
... it took her less than thirty minutes to catch up to him.
The Backstreets of Hongyuan teems with a chaotic jumble of buildings, but to a Heishou like herself—who roamed its alleys nightly and fought in every corner of the District—it was easy to anticipate the thief’s escape route.
I see that the Anamnaworm is still intact.
There was a long and fat worm-like creature writhing in the thief's palm.
It was a truly hideous thing, its surface slick and its body wriggling in an unnatural and unpleasant motion... but that wasn't the worst of it.
The worst of it was its face.
Its features are arranged like those of a human face—yet its sallow flesh hangs loose, its hollow eyes staring into the distant void. A monstrosity.
Yet, the thief was holding this hideous thing as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
I must cut off your head here and now for stealing an Anamnaworm made from a noble one...
People from different regions, like the west or the south, might wonder what the purpose of this curious monstrosity might be...
... but an Anamnaworm wasn't like any other grub.
Anyone can gain the memories of the person who was used to make the grub by inserting it into their body,
and even once they have been mutated into this worm-like form, they are counted as people, not tools.
This particular Anamnaworm, currently held in the thief's palms, was created from someone of high prestige in Hongyuan with deep knowledge of the secrets of the family.
Various familial secrets of the lord were preserved within it in the form of a memory...
So letting a hostile candidate from a rival family obtain this Anamnaworm would amount to giving them a significant intelligence advantage.
Explain what motivated you to steal the worm.
Despite the thief's grave crimes, the child decided to ask what drove him to steal the worm.
Not out of pity, of course.
She was simply carrying out the will of her lord.
Perhaps the thief saw the slimmest chance for life through the child's cold, cold words?
He dropped to his knees and began to share a tearful tale of his own.
I-I only needed some money, that's all.
O-one of the other families approached me first, offering me enough riches to live the rest of my life without concern as long as I brought this to them.
Please, I had no choice but to accept the offer. My mother is very sick, and, and with her old age—
You lie. Do you take me, a beast of a Heishou Pack, for a fool?
Your "sick and old" mother died three years ago.
How do you already know so much about me...?
Now, the truth.
My lord has given you a way out of this hole you've dug yourself into, but know that the path is extremely narrow.
Should you lie any further...
The thief hesitated for a long time, sensing that he was likely walking on very thin ice.
…….
I... I was tired and scared of waiting for the restructuring days to come. That I might tumble down a hole I could never come back from.
The buildings within Hongyuan shift after every set interval.
The process is called 'restructuring', a redistribution of living spaces based on each individual's net worth.
The poor are fated to live in their ever-shrinking homes, feeling unsafe even where they should feel the safest.
It is unfortunate, yes... but to the child, a beast of a Heishou Pack, it mattered very little.
So it was greed, after all.
If that's all there was to it, then... we have nothing more to discuss.
T-take a single step, or if I see signs of your heels transforming... I'm inserting the Anamnaworm into my ear!
... You must have a death wish. Those memories aren't for the faint of heart. Besides—
W-wait, stop!!!
No, we've talked enough.
The sword hanging from the child's back began to shimmer with a sinister glow.
The glyphs were inscribed onto the sword using Q Corp.'s technology, and they activate and bestow power when a specific trigger is met.
And for this mission, the condition was... the Anamnaworm thief refusing her lord's mercy.
The child unsheathes her sword as her feet begin to crack and twist, transforming into digitigrade limbs—strikingly similar to those of a hare. Standing on her toes alone, she braces to lunge at the thief.
At this point, he realizes that his efforts were most likely for nothing. But as a last ditch effort, he leaped backward, and—
Agh... Dammit!
—hurriedly shoved the Anamnaworm into his ear.
Guhhh...
You can try inserting the Anamnaworm into your body... but I can get it back fully intact as long as I cut you down immediately.
You seem to have missed that part.
The child, who leaped forward in an explosive burst of speed, had killed the thief before he even had a chance to let out his final cry.
Normally, if one lingers too much after inserting the Anamnaworm into their body, the grub would assimilate with the host, unable to be removed until the conditions prescribed upon its creation are met...
... But the child managed to retrieve it without much trouble by killing the thief before the assimilation began.
My next mission...
The night is yet young for the child. There were more missions for her on the horizon.
To live in Hongyuan is to be mired in a constant vortex of dark conspiracies and battles. And as a beast of a Heishou Pack, the child...
... would have no rest and continue to hop between mission after mission bestowed upon her by her lord.