Vengeance. The collective hatred against Raoul – the Wise Black Wolf – was the driving force of their mission to eliminate Cer, Ber and Res. This did not mean the Crimson Hunger thrived solely to take down Raoul, however. Rather, Raoul was but one piece of their puzzle of hatred.
Additionally, this hatred stemmed from not only the denizens of the City of Spades, but from the Monkey Brothers. Their encounter in the Derma Layer was far more premediated than she could begin to comprehend. But these thoughts were fleeting, because right now, she needed to stop as many Hearts from beating.
12,500,000 HP was still a staggering amount, but it was considerably easy to whittle down with their combined efforts. Frost’s flames combined with her DEF nullifying Punches physically carved each and every Pillar of Hatred, as well as the side of the Heart. Its innards spilled. The floodgates opened, and the tens of thousands of Their Bodies – the dehumanized flesh slimes – tumbled and scraped against the burning floor.
Nearly all of them had already perished due to the oppressive Electric Field. She could only hope that their passing was painless as she condemned the Complex Heart with one hundred flaming hands.
“There’s nothing we can do about it. At that point they’re better off dead, and you know it.” Res uttered in passing to Frost before she disappeared and unleashed Electric Lances one after another.
“Tch… Impuritas… I can’t believe all this death is just a means to an end to you!” Frost lashed out, her flames suddenly intensifying as her emotions continued to climb. “All this hatred breeding more hatred. This grief doing nothing but fueling whatever fucked ambition you Impurtas are chasing!”
“You are no different from us, Amalgam! Is your ambition to exterminate all, to bring forth that flame of prejudice down upon our world not condemnable as well!?” The Memory Bistro spoke in a gargled tongue, incapable of pronouncing certain words due to the state of its jaws.
The vocal chords within vibrated as it appeared along the membranous body of the Complex Heart. No matter how many times it perished, it would eagerly return to taunt Frost and her triplet friends. Ber specifically.
But so far nothing had gotten to her yet. So long as her sisters fought alongside her then Frost was confident in her mental state. However, her heart refused to sit still, and the Die Agnosis which was clamped around her neck began to hum a subtle tune.
It was the sound of a heartbeat independent of all else. At first she thought she was hearing her own but to her surprise, it was close. Almost as if she had the end pressed against someone’s chest.
“The Complex Heart is bleeding a substantial amount of Nex. I’ve made a similar observation with the Blood Festival Heart. It appears that the closer it comes to death, the more Nex it releases.”
Meaning!?
“Meaning there is some sort of emotional shift occurring within the Hearts themselves. They are entities after all. Of organic material, however disastrously arranged they are… it is funny.”
What is!?
“That a well-put machine can never be truly considered ‘alive’. But abominations of flesh are allowed to carry a semblance of a soul. I thought it was funny. I can neither tell if it is ironic, sad, or hilarious from my oblique perspective.” Nav must have despised the beings like the Impuritas were able to exist in their ‘incomplete’ forms.
Nav did not know it, but it had expressed envy.
“I take that silence as malice –!”
“If trying to help these people you churn up like fodder is condemnable, then I have no fucking qualms being judged by you or anyone in this world! If these people hate me, then what do I care!?” Frost shouted, obliterating another section of the Heart. “In the end
Complex Heart | HP: 3,000,000
Her flames intensified once again as blood ran down her face like tears.
“In the end, it’s my choice. I want to make all the right ones along the way.” Frost’s fist remained fixed in place, clenched against the burning air. Surrounding her, deep within the hollow, gored cavity of the Heart were sacks of meat which produced all manners of entities.
And beneath them were the deceased Their Bodies. Frost felt each gaze of their slimy cadavers as they began to sizzle, boil, steam and eventually disappear.
“… but even I’m willing to admit that not all my choices are the right ones. Unlike you and everyone else, I take no pride or pleasure from trampling on lives. I lived my life wanting to save people.” Frost’s hand eventually drooped beside her as she cocked her head up and saw the same paper ball Ber had touched.
It went up in flames as the ceiling suddenly collapsed.
The Heart did not have long left to live. It would be one of many moving forward. The Memory Bistro endlessly tried to unravel her mind, but Frost refused to listen. She had known for a long time that speaking to the Impuritas was futile. Neither greed, their hearts, or their direction could be changed, and therefore, Frost – standing in a pile of flames and corpses – understood fully that the only language that they spoke was violence.
< The Second State Has Manifested as Civilization >
Suddenly, her Touch of Golds doubled in length, and the blue glow beneath her hair intensified. The walls of the Complex Heart collapsed inwards, revealing a grey sky that shone a brilliant blue for the first time in its history.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Her Big Blue Diamond was bound to be useful for the 6th Branch when they finally arrived.
“… the severity of the disease in your mind and heart is incurable. Amalgam… it is no wonder the Sect of Gears cannot understand you, nor that Enigmatic hybrid of a Beholder.” It uttered; its voice drained of whatever mockery it once possessed.
Somehow, even though it could not die, the Memory Bistro choked up in fear.
“If this kind of world is your paradise – then I’ll never stop until it’s all cleansed from your Hearts!” Frost vowed as a blue tear in space suddenly appeared, and through it arrived her trusted Hired Arm.
“Big Frost!?” Cer exclaimed cheerfully. “Heh! Back up of the back up is here!”
“We’re going to need all the help in the world. Or at least someone to direct Justica Arms in the right direction.” Res said as she and a silent Ber slowly approached, staving off the heat.
< The Hired Arm requests a weapon >
< All weapons encountered may be purchased to arm her. The first weapon is free. The weapon purchased will bear half of the stats of the original weapon. If the original weapon is given outright, then the damage will be doubled >
There could only be one weapon suitable for her militaristic alter ego. And so, she threw the Justica Longarm towards her.
Justica Longarm
ATT : 3,000 MAG ATT : 3,000 RANGE : 400m
The woman saluted firmly, nodded, then took immediate aim and fired upon the Memory Bistro, obliterating it unceremoniously in several succinct shots. Steaming holes were drilled into its head as the worms within spilled and caught alight.
The Complex Heart had finally fallen in only a matter of minutes.
“One down, another hundred to go. No dent made in the heartbeats. Hired Arm. Glad you’re here to help.” Frost sincerely thanked, happy to see that she wasn’t engulfed in flames like herself. “I just have one order for you. Something I’m no longer capable of while I’m stuck like this. Please. Save as many lives as you can. You’re in charge with everything behind us.”
It nodded, saluted again, and twirled the Justica Longarm with splendor and marched away. But not without stopping by the triplets, giving each a salute. She lingered on Ber for a short before swiftly disappearing into the backstreets.
“Not that difficult compared to Corrupted, huh?” Cer poked Res and Ber with an elbow. “Wanna turn down the heat so we don’t gotta shout to get your attention!?”
“I would if I could. You three doing ok?” Frost asked, gazing at Ber specifically.
“Could be better.” Cer sighed.
“So far so good.” Res said confidently, also sending a sidelong gaze at Ber.
“Fine so long as you stop asking.” Ber sharply retorted. “I understand that we’re targeted, but we can take care of ourselves. I just didn’t think there’d be so much residual animosity held against Raoul.”
“Don’t kid yourself Ber. It’s not residual. You remember who came right after the 2nd Branch waged war with Scarlet Logic?” Cer corrected. “Demoted from a Star to a Wayfarer, then demoted further to Galia’s lapdog. Nothing wise about that idiot. From Solemn paw to this – of course people are going to want to take us with them as well. Didn’t think that those monkeys were one of his victims.”
The scorn they had for Raoul was immense, but there was an air of discomfort. Uttering his name was like a taboo to them, but deep down Frost could tell that they did not think too harshly of their brother. Rather… they seemed to wish that he wasn’t so distant with them from what she gathered.
“Ber. Let’s go. We’re right here, ok?” Res comforted. “… no one’s going to take your hands. I promise.”
“Let them try!” Cer ruffled Ber’s tail, causing the woman to flush a slight red and smile.
“… It’s not that. It’s just…” Suddenly, Ber shook her head and suddenly hugged Res. “Nothing. I’m aaaaalll better now~!”
As much as Frost wanted to get moving, she knew how important these moments would be for Ber’s sake, and so, she kept a sharp eye on her.
“Slightly higher Nex than usual. But nothing significant. Any color changes in her heart?”
It’s blue. Looks normal to me so far. I can hear a separate heartbeat, however.
“From Ber?”
I can’t tell just yet. Also, I think it’s time. Nav. Give me the Iron Candle. I might as well go all the way with my flames. It’ll make this go faster. We have another 9 days until the Hyperlink in H10 is back.
“As you wish.”
The wax wing complemented her appearance and made her all that much closer to appearing like a traditional angel. With more fire magic at her disposal, she could easily stave away all threats thrown her way.
And speaking of an Angel –
– As the triplets finished up with their adorable huddle, and as they began to rapidly mobilize to the next Complex Heart, Nav revealed an interesting tidbit of information.
“The Memory Bistro only appeared on Jury’s end once. She described it as having been alarmed and disappeared before she could put it down. It is likely that they are fearful of Jury, and for a good reason. She is a Beholder after all.”
“I’d also be afraid. Her stats are doubled by the Diamond Counter, right?”
“Not currently.”
* * *
Somewhere down the line deep in the recesses of S4, the streets were in considerably better shape compared to what she was used to. The cracked walls and boarded up windows were but a thing of a past the closer they approached the next Complex Heart, which was situated along a railway.
This was the 20th Complex Heart, and the 50th between both groups. Only half a day had passed, and the subtle heartbeat never disappeared, all the while the one distinctive throb that pulsated throughout the city intensified as each Heart fell. Frost’s HP had hit a wall of diminishing returns upon reaching 12,000,000 – a number so ridiculously high that she could not even fathom what the Beholders were like, especially if the Heart of Ours was considered ‘soloable’ by a Beholder.
Nevertheless, this didn’t pull her mind away from the bizarre scenery around her. People wandered about in this weird sanctuary they had found themselves in. Her head spun as she also witnessed the Fragments of Ber in the distance, ravaging whatever structure stood in their path.
And yet these people did not seem to bat an eye.
Her first thought was that there was a CogitO related item present, and when she spoke to the triplets –
– They all looked at her like she was crazy.
Because they could not see anything she saw at all, and before she knew it, she heard the loud blare of a giant train. This train was the same ‘cruise liner’ used to transport them into the Nex Megalopolis, save that it was entirely encased in metal.
That train was a prison of pure steel, and the people about turned and pointed at it as the Fragments of Ber leapt right through them as if they did not exist. Her mind was numbed by this, made worse as the triplets wondered if Frost was about to hit another state when in actuality she was forced to question her reality.
Then, she saw something.
A black figure rushing for the train with speed near rivalling that of the train.
It was Raoul. A much younger Raoul compared to the one she saw on her first day in this world.
What… the fuck am I looking at?
“Your Atelier Item is resonating with this space. Or more specifically, with the Nex in the air. The emotions are ripe. I believe you are witnessing a manifestation of these emotions.”
Just like the weird pseudo–Corrupted Zone of the We Discarded Many. Why didn’t you say anything back then?
“Because I was unsure. I too can hear the train. From what we understand, core memories are stored by the Memory Bistro. It is the basis of their hatred. Your Die Agnosis may be able to interpret such emotions attached to those stored memories.”
So this is what? A manifestation of those emotions, turned into a memory? For us to watch?
“I too am uncertain. It is closer to an unformed Corrupted Zone. But this may be a prime opportunity to understand the root cause of their hatred here. If we are lucky, we may also be able to see the events in Grandis through these Hearts.”
And at that moment – the train was stopped dead in its tracks by a humungous, black shadowy wolf.