< The Fourth State Has Manifested as Hope >

< Any possessed Corrupted with the matching Affinity may have their skillset and abilities manifested as a Corrupted Zone >

< I believe there is only one appropriate option! >

< Asterism’s Corrupted Zone Has Manifested >

There were no greater words to hear. No greater hope than having hope itself by their side. The woes of countless depraved souls were alleviated in an instant. A fantastic constellation of brushstroke stars filled the entire cavern sky.

It wasn’t just located above them, but it extended even as far as the City of Vocals. They twinkled and shimmered as if beaconing them to raise their spirits and arms for the final push.

The scenery was something straight out of a children’s picture book, and Frost felt her heart pounded passionately as she knew that every one of Stella’s friends were up there cheering them on.

Relief flooded through the Painters and the frontline warriors who fought bravely against the Aspirators alike. The death of the colossal Big Red Heart combined with the beautiful display that seemed to lift their hearts infused their beings with hope.

Then, one by one beginning from Broker – A victorious cry broke loose and spread amongst them like a plague. Their hopes were infectious, and their dreams of overcoming the ordeal were finally on the cusp of being realized.

“JURY! RES! The Aspirators are yours!” Frost cried as she gently rested Aster against a soft pile of earth. Then, Frost rushed straight towards the collapsing carcass of the Big Red Heart, which she ravenously began to devour with all 100 of her Touch of Golds.

< Stats of the Big Red Heart gained >

< Unique Ability Gained >

< Heart of Aspiration >

< EFFECT: Know what will drive their hearts forward >

< Let’s never drown in our aspirations. We must be determined to rise above >

The star-like hairclips that surrounded Frost peeled and joined the stars as she finished up from the giant carcass. The entire night sky seemingly revolved around her like she was the galaxy’s core. Nebulae burst from varying stars, showering the world with its beautiful haze that neither hampered their vision nor irritated their senses.

Rather, the cosmic dust did nothing but guarantee the life of those within. No one could perish on Frost’s watch anymore. The hopes made her feel uncharacteristically giddy as her heart finally sewed itself up, somehow twice as large this time to accommodate her overflowing hope.

Nav then suddenly revealed something.

< CONDITION: All allies of the Amalgam are inspired so long as they have direct line of sight with your Asterism. Realization and Awakening criteria fulfillment chance slightly increased. If inspired enough; then a person may fundamentally reach greater heights >

< SUPPRESSION REQUIREMENT: Cleanse the skies of its stars >

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Collapse the body that holds the stars together. In other words, you >

< Do you think that fish can stop you now? >

< When you have your very own CONDITION? >

< “Go get them! We’ll keep watch over Aster and the others!” >

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Frost grinned at the prompts Nav flashed, as well as the voices of the stars.

“I wonder what’s going through his mind right now. There’s a couple of ways I’m thinking I can pick it apart. Hah… Let’s catch ourselves a fish!” Frost could not wait to strike him down.

She took a running stance and was about to anchor every single one of her Touch of Golds into the ground, wanting to slingshot herself straight for the City of Vocals.

But Jury had a better idea. With her newfound strength she was easily more powerful than Frost, and if she hugged her tight enough then she could probably snap a few bones.

“Frost! Give me your tentacles! Trust me!” Jury called out. “I’m going to hammer throw you all the way to the bad fish! Please don’t get dizzy! And – GOOD LUCK!”

She hauled a bundle of Frost’s Touch of Golds and began to spin on her heels. The sheer force and combined mass caused her to drill straight into the ground, creating a borehole that reached up to her thighs as meters of earth cracked and crumbled.

The vortex they created sucked in various dust and debris from the fragmented lands of the Triple Paw Complex. It all blended into one great soup as stars joined the giant merry go round. And then, with one final swing, Jury released Frost and sent her flying so fast that the air erupted with multiple turbulent explosions.

A trail of dust followed her like the tail of a comet as the stars surrounded her. Various Aspirators marched onwards from the barren wastes she zoomed over like a shooting star. The light of her tentacles returned all at once, and the combined illuminance caused her to outshine every star in their artificial night sky.

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

“GET AWAY FROM ME AMALGAAAAAAAAAAAAM!” The Bloody Herring screamed in terror.

The shadowy clouds were no match for Frost. As much of the world it tried to enshroud, it did little to stop her advances. The thick stew of darkness nearly engulfed the auditorium where the Bloody Herring hid.

But little did he know that Frost possessed an attack perfect for piercing such foul darkness.

She sucked in a lung-full of air instinctively, and like a vacuum, the surrounding stars gathered around her and created a beautiful accretion disk as they dissolved into superheated matter.

Frost was no stranger to astronomy, and she immediately recognized the celestial phenomenon this attack mimicked.

A quasar. Or blazar? Same thing. So that really does make me some metaphorical black hole.

“Literal more like it. You’re eating the stars. Possibly the children too –”

< “Don’t listen to that lazy monotone voice! We’re happy to help!” >

Frost suddenly found herself laughing like all her troubles had suddenly disappeared. Somehow, the Corrupted not only had its own personality to flaunt, but could even communicate directly with Nav.

“They beat me to it. I was going to tell you that now isn’t the time but, I guess with the whole theme of hope it makes it a little more appropriate to crack jokes. Unless you weren’t kidding?”

“I shall leave that to your imagination.”

After Frost’s chest finally brimmed with a bright, fantastic light; she exhaled everything all at once and unleashed her newest attack yet.

[Ray of Hope].

A jet of intense light fired from her chest like a miniature version of Jury’s smite. It sliced through the awful clouds of [Shattered Dreams] and carved the auditorium apart, leaving behind nothing but fragmented marble behind.

And there, gasping for air in the rubble was a reconstructed Bloody Herring. His limbs were made from the fleshy material of the heart, and his fishy face looked just like a mangled angler fish.

Frost was within seconds of finally reaching her target.

“THAT POWER SHOULN’T BELONG TO YOU! WHY IS IT YOU THAT CAN MANIFEST THE CORRUPTED! HOW WAS THAT CHILD ABLE TO BECOME CORRUPTED! IT’S ALL UNFAIR!”

Held in his hands were three distinct objects. One was the Train Core, another was a golden seed-like object, and the last was an Etched Coin. It was the Minor Hyperlink.

“WITH THIS SEED I WILL STRIKE DOWN CARPALIS! I WILL EMBRACE MY DESERVED POWER, AND YOU WILL DESPAIR–!”

However, the Bloody Herring did not realize just how fast Frost was moving. Not another word could leave his fishy lips as Frost crashed straight into him like a meteorite.

“Like hell I’ll let you die that easily!” She channeled every ounce of magic into healing him as she dragged his body across the entirety of the shattered auditorium, chunks of his body peeling as if he was brought to a cheese grater.

The Train Core slipped free from his hand as the golden seed fell into his mouth, suffocating him madly. The Train Core was the single most important object to Frost and knowing that she could acquire abilities by ingesting them; she lurched forward and snapped her jaws shut around the palm-sized object.

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Spatial Distortion I >

< EFFECT: Expend all mana to create a minor Spatial Distortion connecting your last known locations within both the Epiderma and the Derma Layer. Mana cannot regenerate so long as the Spatial Distortion exists >

< Attachment may very well be the root of all suffering >

“TELEPORT! GET ME OUT OF HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEERE!” Frost ensnared him within a cocoon made from her Touch of Golds as she felt the world around them suddenly shift.

It was the same sensation that accompanied her the first time she used the Hyperlink. Her cocoon hid the outside world as she sunk her thumbs into his throat, drawing congealed blood before she began smashing fist after fist into his body, firstly pulverizing his extremities then his face.

“MERCY – STOP – STOP – HELP ME! HEEEELP MEEEEEEEEEEE –!

< [Aspirating Aspirations] >

< [Beaten Desires] >

“DID YOU –!” Frost cut him off, taking his tongue and jaw with a clean swipe as the tips of her Touch of Golds dug into his chest like branches.

They did not devour him. They were there to stir up his innards over and over as they regenerated themselves.

“EVER STOP –!” She laid her frustrations into him fist after fist.

“WHEN THEY ASKED FOR MERCY!?” The miracle that was healing magic was put on full display. No matter how hard she hit him the Bloody Herring was always kept with a sliver of health.

“DID YOU –!” The Heart of Hours itself, which nestled in place of his heart, could not take any damage so long as she was not Determined.

“EVER STOP TO THINK –!” But that didn’t matter. If he died, then the Corrupted itself would perish alongside him.

“JUST HOW MUCH YOU HURT THEM!?” Death, however, was far too merciful for this aspiring star that could only choke on his hopes and dreams of becoming one.

“DID YOU EVER –!” She could not feel any pity as he begged for his life.

“REALIZE THAT YOUR ASPIRATIONS –!” His death was long awaited.

“WAS WHAT DROWNED SO MANY OTHERS!?” The only thing she dreaded was the after taste that would linger in her mouth after eating this… this miserable thing.

The torturous beatdown lasted for only a minute before something tapped on her cocoon on the outside. Her rage was suddenly quelled as she kept the Bloody Herring close.

“A…auh… F-Fool… Hmhmhm … You have fallen into… one of our lairs…” The Bloody Herring was suddenly invigorated, gurgling in laughter as he mocked Frost for her foolishness.

She didn’t know where they had been teleported to, and neither what rested beyond. But the gentle tapping against her cocoon made her believe that the Bloody Herring was deeply unaware of his circumstances.

Just like Leitmotif, he carried an audacious air of confidence, most likely because he couldn’t die. It had something to do with their soul, and whether Carpalis was involved in this was up in the air. Not that it mattered now. If she wanted to kill him, then she would have sunk her teeth into his face the moment he was caught.

But did the Bloody Herring know that she could erase him at the snap of a jaw? Likely not.

Suddenly, they heard another sound from beyond the golden nest.

It was a familiar sound that instantly caused her eyes to widen.

“Brrrr. Bzzzt. Brrrr. *Snap*.”

Her mouth curved into a wide smile.