Waterborne Impuritas were not a possibility that had ever crossed Frost’s mind. She had always believed that the Impuritas were tied solely to their terrestrial Hearts.
The bleeding vessel of the Crimson Hunger left a trail of red in its wake as it charged into their direction. Its jaw snapped at the air, promising to tear through their ship.
Aboard the vessel were smaller Impuritas variants that Frost recognized, like the Macro Clumps, Angered Clumps, and Their Bodies – who took the form of abominations that wore fleshy, oversized hats that were in the shape of a giant hemoglobin cell.
< A more fitting name would be a Blood Vessel with the number of cell-like monstrosities it harbors >
Nav tried to shoehorn a joke.
As much as Frost agreed with Nav, she was too busy trying to figure out a way to take it down without outright eliminating it. The appearance of Impuritas ships presented the problem of Frost needing to remain covert.
Shooting them would allow them to respawn and tell the tale.
I’m not sure if they know I’m aboard, but I’m not willing to take the risk. The best course of action right now must be to board their ship so I can personally deal with them. I can probably get away with destroying ships before they know it, but there’s still a lot of risk in that.
“Why aren’t you shooting at it!? What do we do!? You gotta have something on your mind!”
Someone panicked. The world knew well what the Crimson Hunger could do to their ship. The approaching vessel was evidence of this.
“We can’t kill it normally. Not for the reasons you’re thinking. Believe me when I saw that it’s for the best that we take a different approach than slamming it with bullets.” Frost stated. “The problem is that I can’t outswim this ship, so I’m bound to be left behind if I end up in the water. But I think I have a plan.”
Frost’s calm demeanor neutralized their fear as her eyes moved to a coil of steel rope.
She followed it to the harpoons as she remembered how Galia rode a giant cannonball fired from the Behemoth into the City of Hearts. A flash of steam rose from her left hand as she dragged out a handful of string. She violently pulled until there was enough slack to cover the immense distance she planned to travel.
“Take this and keep me tethered to you.” Her Hired Arm took hold of the rope and tied it around her waist, giving Frost a firm nod.
“A-And if it breaks?” Someone asked.
“It won’t.” Frost promised in a deep tone.
Devouring everything on board will be a hassle. I can just kill them till their HP drops to zero.
“Will you leave their remains behind?”
No. I’ll let it follow us, and let it accumulate until we reach the Capital. I’ll clean it up when we get there.
“Miss Hero is right. That’s a Hungry ship. This ship isn’t equipped with the right weapons to take them on.” The Captain shouted. “A-At best it can take down a small-sized whale or great blue shark, but nothing like that! Let’s be grateful we’re not out on the sea!”
“What she said. That is no Leviathan or a creature of the Ocean Depths, but our harpoons will only guarantee certain death.” The First Mate added.
The Leviathan – the monster and not the train that harbored criminals – was a mythological creature that was said to live in the seas furthest away from the main continents of Elysia.
It was one of several major myths of the seas, which included the likes of Tiamat, and the fabled Ocean Depths beyond the deepest of abysses. They all contributed to the ocean’s alluring yet haunting siren call that only few could ever dream of confirming with their own eyes.
Even fewer could live to tell the tale, and those who did were often left so psychologically broken that they were considered delusional. No ballads were made for heroes who returned from an encounter with the nightmares of the seas.
The First Mate muttered with a hand beneath her chin.
“I’m not one to question someone who knows what they’re doing, but…”
“Don’t ask! You’ll be thanking me later!” Mae yelled out, knowing exactly what Frost’s battle plan was. “A-Amalgam! Those are like mini-Hearts! I-If you can kill them, then you won’t have to worry about the rest! Reap the soul of it and they’re all yours! Not every Impuritas can resurrect! Those ones are just fodder!”
Frost was surprised by how quickly Mae had swapped sides. Without this, Frost would have tried to eliminate all those aboard with her bare hands. She took hold of a giant harpoon that stuck out from one of the cannons and flashed her a thankful smile.
Her feather’s rustled, and with a single gesture to release the harpoon –
“RELEASE!” She commanded.
This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.
– She was launched from their ship with a deafening boom. The harpoon carried Frost over a hundred meters until she collided with the enemy vessel. Frost didn’t even have to use her magic to destroy it. She crawled into it like a worm, excavating through sharpened bones, and pure muscle like they were no more than red slush.
The sound of a beating heart brought her towards a bulging mass in the shape of a twisted heart, and before the vessel could even recognize that it was being attacked, she took a bite out of it like it was a freshly peeled dragon fruit.
Its teeth ceased its chatters, and the limbs that paddled it curled inwards like a dead spider. She fired a flaming ball into the air, signifying her instant success. But it was still too early to celebrate. More Bone Voyages entered the Isolation Sphere, alongside floating Flesh Clumps that littered the waters like ship mines.
Whilst the Captain and the First Mate made evasive maneuvers to keep the ship floating, Frost leaped twenty meters into the air.
SEND ME TO THE NEXT SHIP! LAUNCH ME LIKE YOU’RE THROWING A LURE!
The Hired Arm allowed the rope to become taut before she ran down the length of the ship, swinging Frost towards the next Impuritas Vessel. She soared through the air, cleaving through the roaring winds before she slammed into another Bone Voyage like a rod dropped from the atmosphere.
The one-hundred-meter vessel submerged meters beneath the water temporarily. One could not overstate the sheer amount of kinetic energy the impact possessed. Flesh burned as a crater of cauterized meat surrounded Frost. No number of blades or nightmarish creatures that hacked, gnawed, scratched or attempted to ensnare could stop Frost.
The sea of red was simply shrugged off like they did not exist. Each powerful punch induced a shockwave that threw them around almost comedically, to the point where the Their Bodies unanimously began crying out:
“HELP MEEEEEEEEEE!”
One by one, they threw themselves overboard, resisting the order of the mini-Heart that demanded they fight. But their stolen, assimilated instincts took over, leading towards the only rational option against an impervious monster like Frost.
A part of people must still be alive somewhere inside of them, huh… The Crimson Hunger doesn’t deserve a place in this world. Unlike Mae, I can’t see a Crimson Hunger going against their nature.
“Infinite, debilitating hunger guides them.”
All for the sake of becoming complete…? What a fucked-up reason that justifies assimilating cities into piles of meat.
The innards of the vessel matched the interior of the red cavern. Colossal eyes could be seen lining the walls that were infested with Creeping Ivy. Without the Isolation Sphere, it would have been impossible to traverse here without being detected.
Suddenly, the rope connecting Frost with the Hired Arm snapped. The whiplash alone cleaved the Bone Voyage in half with a deafening thwack.
Luckily, no one was hurt on the Hired Arm’s side, although she did unfortunately lose an arm in the process.
Nav.
Frost clasped at the throbbing heart of the vessel.
“Yes Frost?”
There’s going to be a lot of places like this left over after the war in the north. So many pockets full of the Impuritas infection that’ll cause problems for years to come. And all for their selfish impulse to consume?
Haaah…
< Do you wish to equip Silence of the Stars? >
< Yes | Yes >
< Wearing Silence of the Stars >
… I hate this. From the bottom of my heart… I’ll scrub out every single one of them off the face of Elysia and chase them down to the depths of the Subcut!
Razor sharp teeth sank into the heart as Frost’s immediate surroundings were dyed black. An acidic, emerald glow was emitted by an illicium that grew from her spine and dangled above her head.
< Borrowing Active and Passive Skills of Silence of the Stars >
Two tiny versions of the illicium grew on her head like they were ears, and her apparel had a green trim around the hems as they became pleated like the fins of a fish. The vessel sank along with Frost on board, and it seemed like Frost would be left behind by their ship.
< Silence of the Stars has successfully been equipped >
However, this Corrupted Persona was built to thrive in aquatic environments. Frost wanted to hold off from using her Corrupted Persona early due to the 24-hour cooldown required after unequipping them, but this was the perfect opportunity to test its power.
< PASSIVE: Efflorescent Light of The Abyss >
< Are those stars that we see in the dark, or is that light a means to lure the desperate towards the maw of the unimaginable? >
< EFFECT: Enhance the effect of [Glimmers be Silenced]. All targets that perceive your light with less than 120 RESIST are afflicted with the Allure of Light Condition >
Allure of the Light
< Targets are incapable of perceiving light sources aside from light generated by Silence of the Stars. You become their object of fixation >
< PASSIVE: Maws in the Dark >
< What lurks in the darkness that the light hides from us? >
< EFFECT: Inflict guaranteed Critical Attacks on those affected by the Allure of Light Condition >
< PASSIVE: The Beast Where the Light Flickers >
< Only a self-proclaimed star knows if a star is real, or a figment of a larger beast >
< EFFECT: Move faster in dark mediums, equivalent to a full sprint on land. You may swim freely through any medium so long as you are in the presence of total darkness at half your AGI. You may not phase through objects >
< ACTIVE: Lights Out >
< Let them come close, be it stars or those who seek them. They will all be drawn like lost moths to a waiting maw. Let there only be one light >
< EFFECT: When you devour a piece of a target and their HP reaches 0, and are afflicted by the Allure of Light, you will devour the entirety of the entity >
There was nowhere for the Impuritas to hide. The darkness of the Underflow was Frost’s domain, and when she emerged from the waters bearing her monstrous appearance, the eyes attached to the Bone Voyages latched onto her unblinkingly.
Their world disappeared. The lights faded away.
And all they could see was the sole orb of light dangling over Frost’s head.