Sultry outfits, bunny suits, maid uniforms, and bikini armor.
Otherwise collectively known as the four horsemen of Frost’s apocalypse. H9’s streets were infested with these apparels. The smaller settlements afar were relatively sane, but the deeper and closer one went to its major city, the more they became commonplace.
Brothels. Clubs. Shows. Massage parlors run by Aquatids with an ending that could only lead to one thing. Inns for various overnight recreational activities. And of course, with brick walls for that extra privacy. Or wooden if one fancied a certain ambience.
This did not mean that normal people didn’t exist. It was a sophisticated blend, with various districts within the cities and towns which separated the residential area from the ‘red light district’, otherwise called ‘The Elven Zone’, a play on the Corrupted Zones. Just for lust since Elves were on both extreme spectrums of purity and debauchery.
Frost remembered the stoic man that escorted D-13, and then turned to an Elf advertising an inn with a face desperate for a certain kind of attention. Never had Frost set foot in such a place. At least to her memory.
“You never know. You could have been the connoisseur of brothels in a past life.”
Please Nav... It’s scary because that might not even be a joke.
They avoided the wide streets of the Elven Zones and stuck to the narrow paths. The architecture was more of the same, except the buildings here were much larger than usual to accommodate the large number of people that lived in H9.
Each Sector was home to roughly a hundred thousand unique individuals. H9 was easily 300,000 due to the combination of people flocking to this place of promised carnal desires, and because of all the children that were produced as a result. Thankfully, the settlements were built in a way where it was highly unlikely for a child to be exposed to these things, usually by placing the two districts on opposite sides of the city or town.
Now that Frost thought about it, why was it the sex-oriented cities that had the most advanced urban layout? The districts were a fantastic idea that bundled certain businesses, interests, and developments together.
The other Sectors had everything packed together throughout the city. For example, Frost hadn’t come across a town with a set residential. Markets and stores were about the only ‘district’ outside of H9. As a result, everything felt claustrophobic despite the colossal roads that cut between them.
Here? It was cleaner and moving through the city made so much more sense. It felt modern in a way. On the topic of population – H9 was not the largest, and the 5 to 6 million population of the Nex Megalopolis was only accounted for individuals registered with the Guild and the Golden Thumb.
The City of Spades was speculated to house another few million unaccounted souls alone.
Ateliers could not impose on an Atelier’s turf no matter the circumstance, unless of course, it was a direct violation of a treaty or seen as traitorous. This meant that Scarlet Logic were free to do whatever they wished to those few million within their territory.
Or in their case, do nothing at all. The people were subjected to the cruelty of their own. Monsters in skin and flesh. Frost’s emotions simmered in her heart as they moved through H9, enjoying the sights.
At one point they were catcalled by a group of men, only to have Frost instantly shoot them with Scrutiny. Due to her slightly heightened emotions, she did this out of reflex before she realized what they were trying to do.
It worked out either way. And it wasn’t just men, even women tried calling out to them. But they weren’t persistent. Generally when one failed an entire district would leave them alone. Frost’s group exuded status beyond most Adventurers, and the feathered coats was too similar to a certain neighboring Apostle’s.
H9 was certainly a unique place. The closer they reached H10, the less Ber needed to shield Ignis’ eyes. Morality was certainly different here, but she figured that Earth also had places like this. Frost liked to think of herself as someone morally upstanding, at least compared to the people here. It was no mystery that some of her values had been deteriorating since arriving in this world.
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Her patience had grown thin with the wickedness of monsters and people alike, to the point where violence and death were perfectly reasonable outcomes to deal with them. Frost thought about the people in the City of Spades and pondered on their everyday life.
* * *
By noon they reached the borders of H9. Away from the city and again travelling through barren plains of green, they were surprised to find that the world had come to a halt. They at first wondered if it was a giant wall that for some reason bordered H9 and H10. But the wall was simply too massive, and the distant outer walls of the Nex Megalopolis rose to match its height.
“A cliff face?” Frost questioned out loud. Her high-resolution vision was not enough to discern what exactly she was looking at. A fine mist encased the world ahead, and it made the forests beneath the rocky walls appear slightly bluish.
“Lots of waterfalls. The mist is the result of them. Brandar is mostly plainlands, but that doesn’t mean it has one set elevation.” Res ended up explaining, also awed by the sight. “H10 and most of the Justica Arms branches like to sit somewhere high. H10 is unique because it’s built on top of an escarpment.”
Escarpment? Nav? Does she mean like a plateau?
“A plateau is the wrong choice of words for such a landmass. Think of it as where two relatively flat landmasses of differing elevations meet. That wall is the boundary that separates them.”
Unbelievable. I’ve never seen anything like that on Earth. Then again, I never really left the city that much.
“It’s huge… like the mountains of Grandis.” Ignis whimsically whispered, delighted by the change in scenery.
“Mountains. Plains… Escarpments. There are so many new things outside!” Jury was giddy with the discovery, her tail wagging like a waving flag in the wind as Snap made its rapid approach.
“It’s awesome… Hey, the train networks run closer towards the cities, huh?” Frost observed the pale, metallic beams running through the air in the distance where the cliff face was not as severe and sharp, but was more like a gradual slope. “And there’s Atlas. Just sitting there beneath the Nexus.”
In their direction they saw the Nexus in its complete glory, hovering beside the City of Hearts. And underneath it was the grey city of Atlas, shining like the untouched jewel of the world. Only the Blessed were allowed into that city, and their non-Blessed family members. But from what she’s seen, people still chose to live in the Nex Megalopolis.
“They say Atlas holds the Nexus in the sky. CogitO, Caldera Industries, a little bit of Inflow Direct – they’re the big three that run Atlas. From time to time you’ll see some foreign legionaries or crown wearers rock into Atlas. It’s where diplomatic issues are brought up. Lots of Exalted there.” Cer explained, baring her teeth all of a sudden. “Good luck breaking in there. It’s impenetrable from land, sea, and air. Get too close and –”
She snapped her jaws shut as she clicked her fingers and fired an electric bite at the tree lines. A clearing was instantly formed as birds burst from the canopies to flee like a black cloud.
“– You’ll get torn into a thousand different pieces. If you’re unlucky, you get turned into a noodle. How crazy is that!?”
“A singularity or gravity well is probably hiding there.” Jury noted. “Spaghettification. How brutal. That might be one of the worst ways to go.”
“That’s a word?” Ber genuinely asked. “I prefer noodlefication.”
“Noodles are thinner. It strikes fear into people’s hearts better.” Cer added, causing Ber to proudly nod in agreement.
“Exactly. Noddlefication. I get shivers every time.” Ber grinned.
“Huh? Why not stringification?” Frost chimed in unexpectedly tugging on a strand of steel string from her wrist.
Ber’s eyes instantly widened with dazzling wonder, and she crawled up to Frost, clutching onto her hands in amazement.
“Are you some kind of genius!?” She exclaimed.
“That’s the Amalgam for you! Revolutionizing everything one munch at a time!” Cer applauded.
Res winced and glared at Frost. She could not believe she had stooped to their level of stupidity.
Still, it didn’t stop her from smiling.
* * *
Snap scaled the cliffs. Atop was another vast plainlands that seemed to endlessly stretch as far as the eye could see. From their height they could see the entirety of the northern side of the Nex Megalopolis, and even the land bridge that connected to Grandis and Divas Pass. The sight was mesmerizing, and they took a moment to devour the world with silent gazes. When the cold breeze stopped, they resumed their journey onwards.
Another city approached, but the buildings were not limited to only two stories. Three, even for stories buildings could be seen from afar. And in the distance, they saw a purple spire reach for the skies.
It was a solid crystal mass with a pointy tip, and various branches could be seen jutting out from its sides, as if to allow a giant bird to perch atop. It appeared more like a shriveled tree more than anything else.
This was the Justica Arms 6th Branch, which housed the Peace Flocks, Justicers, Augurists and, most importantly –
– The 6th Apostle.