And so, using her newfound skills, Frost propelled herself forward and left behind a grand explosion of flames. Like Calfasio, she combined Flame of a Fleeting Ember with Final Onrush to increase her speed to tremendous levels. It also greatly helped that she only needed to move forward, further increasing her speed as a blazing afterimage followed.

The grass singed in her wake, and the air heavily distorted all around her. Before even 20 seconds elapsed, she suddenly found herself in the thick of the swarming creatures, annihilating them with her mere presence alone until she finally took one of the Collectors into her hand and thrust it into the ground, splitting it cleanly.

The resulting explosion wiped out another couple dozens more, leaving behind a scorched wasteland just a good twenty meters away from the 5 who struggled to keep themselves afloat with all these creatures at hand.

“YOU FIVE! I CAN KEEP THE FRONT CLEAR FOR YOU! YOU’RE HEADING FOR THE TOWN RIGHT!? JUST KEEP MOVING FORWARD!” Frost commanded them, inflicting Scrutiny an entire approaching legion much to their shock.

“H-Help? 1st Apostle? No – YOU HEARD HER! Get our Flock Captain straight to the healer once we’re there! Focus on the rear and our sides!” A woman relayed, entrusting their front entirely to Frost as she paved the way for them with a sweeping combination of her new skills and her Scrutiny. “Left is mine, take right! You, take the rear and you rotate as they make the calls!”

“YES VICE CAPTAIN!” A composed choir of battle cries filled the air.

How they managed to survive until now baffled her. She didn’t know if these people were foolish, suicidal, or needed to follow through with an unknown mission out here in the dead of night.

Whatever the case was – they were heavily injured, and their apparels were even worse for wear.

Frost feared that her heat would end up killing them if she moved too close. It was the downside of using the Iron Candle. Nav also warned that it would take a complete 24 hours before it could be worn again once taken off, leaving her little choice but to defend them until they at least made it to the town.

Either that or to make them give up just like what they did with the town.

They were all Justica Arms Public Defenders, each at around level 80. Stronger than Furio, but in the end, there were simply too many enemies to face at once.

15th Peace Flock

< 6th Branch Public Defenders >

Soul Rank: Violet | Atelier: Justica Arms

LEVEL : 80 ORIGIN: Human HP : 2,200 ATT : 1,500 MAG ATT : 1,500 ATT DEF : 200 MAG DEF : 500 MP : 1,200 RESIST : 30 AGI : 18

Another set of their sticks hovered around them like shields, periodically sniping off the approaching creatures with teleporting bullets.

Also, any of the paper tentacles that entered within a 3-meter vicinity was instantly disintegrated by a bullet that ricocheted all around them…

No, it didn’t ricochet. It was moving between different points in space, each connected by multiple magical circles that hovered around them like satellites.

These people utilized the power of the Warped Stone in an impressively offensive manner. She would have never thought to use teleportation magic to conjure bullets at a point-blank range. This meant that every single one of them hit their mark, managing to further penetrate through countless more afterwards.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

They laid waste to hundreds in no time.

“Thank you!” One would occasionally relay to her any time she slew or froze the Collectors for them.

Backfire of Dual Embers was her main offensive attack. It was relatively low cost, had good area of effect, and increased her Burn stacks to further amplify her power. Although that was hardly needed.

When her mana reached around 5,000 she relied completely on her fists and the aura of heat she exuded to do the work.

She did not scold, yell, or criticize them for their foolish endeavor. All that mattered to her right now was that they were fighting for their lives. She needed them to do everything they could to the best of their abilities, because she too wished for them to survive.

Now that she thought about it, these people were likely the backup Pinna spoke of.

The slightly larger variants of the Collectors dubbed as the Acquisitors were roughly the same level. The only difference was that they were shaped like paper, humanoid golems with an exposed chest cavity, reserved for a prey to be slotted into.

But they were burnt by her immense heat. No creature stood a chance against her. Unfortunately for her, she could not devour anything here. Just being within their proximity was enough to destroy them and was why she kept a 20-meter distance between her and the straggling group of Public Defenders.

In due time, their numbers began to dwindle as they migrated off to distant lands in search for easier prey. Their efforts were futile here; wasted on a being far too powerful for them to convert into a book or page.

In the end, all 6 of them were left alone, trampling over a land of charred grass which snapped at each movement. She waved at them kindly, garnering expressly nods of thanks.

“Are you guys ok?” She promptly asked, unequipping the Iron Candle when prompted by Nav.

“We’re fine! But our Captain is afflicted with the Paged disease!” A man carrying the unconscious man over his shoulder exclaimed.

“The healer there specializes in diseases. I’ve seen her cure it with my own eyes. Your Captain’s in safe hands. In the meantime, try to save your breaths.” Frost said as the heat surrounding her instantly disappeared.

A cozy coldness returned in its absence as the cracks and the wax wing disappeared, instantly causing the 5 to stare at her in awe.

“Relax. I’m not the 1st Apostle.” Frost assured, walking over to them. She assessed their HP and found that the Captain was on a sliver of HP left, slowly trickling away with each passing second. “Shit… he really was close to dying. Give me a second. [Greater Healing].”

“Heal?” One uttered, taken aback by her words. They expected her to pull out a red HP potion, but instead, she placed her hand onto the man’s shoulder and to their shock, she managed to cast healing magic of all things. “HEAL!? Wait – you… what – How?” The confusion was spread evenly between them, but their shock and fascination only further amplified.

“I can heal. I can also fight. Rather than being shocked, I’d like it if you said, ‘thank you’, instead. Still, that doesn’t change that I can’t cure tier 3 diseases. Let’s hurry back, alright?” She spoke in a deep voice that matched her overwhelming might, but also carried the signature gentleness of the healers they knew and loved.

Suffice to say – her very existence was a contradiction to all they knew.

And as expected, it still didn’t do much to quell their shock. Rather, it suddenly intensified yet again.

Because something else appeared behind her in an instant. A looming presence made them to gulp as a rush of air suddenly caused their hair and attires to dance.

Something had seemingly teleported behind her, but Frost knew that this critter had all the speed in the world in in all its 8 arms.

She made a strange smile that was meant only for Jury’s eyes when the familiar sound of an old tape recorder played behind her.

“Snap. You came alone, huh?”

Indeed. Snap proudly stood behind her, with one of its arms held slightly above its singular eye as if saluting. “Did the little me teach you that? Aha… you’ve… well, you’ve certainly grown.”

And grow was a severe understatement. It was almost as tall as herself and easily spanned a good 3 or perhaps 4 meters long. She imagined it going up to 7 meters if Snap completely flattened itself out.

Rather than the creepy hairs of a spider, its entire body was covered in a beautiful golden fur that felt like clouds when she went over to pat its head.

“Ignis is still asleep, huh? I see. Can you do me a favor, Snap?” Frost began as Snap communicated not with words, but with the sound of a moving camera shutter, accompanied with a soft buzz.

As strange as it was, Frost could understand it. Perhaps thanks to the Language of Judgement ability.

Snap didn’t even wait for her to finish speaking. It instantly placed its head between her knees and threw her up onto its back, causing her to gently laugh as the others stared with eyes agape, hardly able to comprehend their living fever dream.

A giant spider. A woman that healed, fought, and didn’t have white hair – it was all nearly enough to erase the pain of their hardships as Snap slowly crawled towards them, offering a ride back to the town.

“… Ma’am. As a Public Defender of the 6th Branch; I must thank you. We thank you. It’d be rude to ask you intrusive questions. Especially when you just saved us.” The vice-captain spoke, truly thankful for her help.

She wanted to say ‘but’.

Frost knew those bewildered faces like the back of her hand. It was the same kind she’d seen doctors make after telling a patient the good news before dabbling with the bad.

And although the woman said this, the revelation was akin to trying to digest a solid block of stone. It was not going to happen. At all, unless they had the fortitude to stomach it, and the mental capacity to comprehend this.

Suffice to say – there were indeed stranger things than the Corrupted in this world.

And a healer that can fight is certainly up there.

Way up there past the moon and the stars of the night sky.