//////// < WARNING > ////////
< APOCALPSE >
< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET HUMS ITS DIRGE >
< The Castigation Bird Seeks To Punish All Sins >
The warning stirred Jury’s heart with unease. The last time she saw this same message was when Frost transformed into the Crowned.
A bird of apocalyptic proportions smothered the skies as scarlet Sins invaded the lands. An Apocalypse-Classed Corrupted promised the annihilation of a Kingdom. It was not a threat that could be dealt with using Moons or Stars.
The 2nd Branch recognized this and lifted their weapons towards the horde of Wrath-based Sins, all the while avoiding the gazes of the Castigation Bird.
Castigation Bird
< One sin written in one thousand words, but their voices unheard. One judgement made by one thousand eyes, yet theyu could not see. One punishment ordered for the thousand condemned, and it will be just >
AFFINITY: Judgement
LEVEL : 300 ORIGIN : Folklore
HP : 750,000,000
ATT : 150,000 MAG ATT : 150,000 ATT DEF : 120,000 MAG DEF : 120,000
MP : 1,200,000
RESIST : 2,500 AGI : 12
These were Jury’s stats in comparison:
LEVEL : 220
Beholder
NEX : 175,000,000 NAME : Jury HP : 500,000 ^1,500/Min
MP : 200,000 ^250/Min
AGI : 90 RESIST : 260 (+45) AGE : 27 ATT : 13,500 (+1,200)
MAG ATT : 15,000 (+1,200)
O : 205 D : 150 ORIGIN : Original ATT DEF : 10,000 (+300)
MAG DEF : 9,000 (+300)
S : 0 E : 0
Galia’s were obviously higher than hers as a true level 250 Beholder, but it didn’t change that Jury was capable of producing Beholder Skills comparable to one. Jury also did not possess a Corrupted Zone that the Beholders of the Nexus possessed, which was capable of overruling the Corrupted Zones of Eternal Night and lower Corrupted, as well as weakening a Woe of the Fallen Star.
However, much like Jury, Beholder Umbra and Galia also did not have this power.
After all, they were not poisoned by their Gifts, hence why they were not burdened by anomalous effects, like how Beholder Knalzark could not interact with the world due to his ‘gravity’, or how the Golden Tickets were produced autonomously by Beholder Carpalis’ Faustian Bargain.
“Begin a blanket attack and probe for its weakness!” Galia ordered from the frontlines.
The 2nd Branch and Time Reverberation personnel evacuated the immediate premise. Instead of attacking their enemies head on, they began encircling the city to avoid being caught in the crossfire of the Beholders.
The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.
“My brave soldiers will search the city for the Phylactery.” Galia gave another word before snapping her fingers.
|| Heaven’s Fall ||
Trails of light soared through the skies before suddenly curving upwards to strike the body of the colossal bird. Each of these one thousand projectiles of light were capable of levelling an entire building, and yet, they minimally damaged the beast.
Shards of light and pale particles resulted from the impact against its vast body, like bullets striking snow.
“As for the Repenters? The Impuritas?” Simonia asked before she could leave.
“Send them in to further test its abilities. Jury here will be my right-hand.”
“Yes, O’ Galia.” Simonia disappeared from Galia’s sight precisely as her master held her fingers together once again for another snap. Again, lights soared across the skies.
|| Heaven’s Fall ||
“Let me begin with a preface.” Galia began. “You can see the names of certain Skills, just like the Aspiring Moons. But can you see the description of those attacks?”
One of the great slits quivered above them. Having already witnessed what the Castigation Bird was capable of caused a dangerous shiver to run down Jury’s neck.
“Names only! Galia – We should move –!”
“Calm down.” Galia was not as concerned as Jury. “Did you receive a telegraphed Skill?”
Her voice was far too calm for the situation at hand. Jury would have called her insane, but she quickly understood that this was far from the first Apocalypse Corrupted Galia had fought.
No, it was strange from the start. Galia knew this Corrupted was here. Plus… she didn’t look afraid. Was she excited?
“Nothing yet!” Jury cried.
She slammed her tail on the ground to propel her out of the way as Galia stood her ground, gazing upwards with a devilish grin.
“Galia – MOVE! YOU CAN’T JUST STAND THERE!”
Jury also took it upon herself to begin her own volleys of Beholder Skills against the near immobile Corrupted. With so much Nex in her reservoir, she could use [Retrocausality] as much as 175 times.
However, she would have to use it more than 180 times if she wanted to defeat the Corrupted. This assumed that Retrocausality defaulted to the Smite version which dealt 4,000,000 damage.
|| Retrocausality – Smite ||
A pale, monolithic weapon emerged from a tear in space. It took aim at one of the exposed eyes of the Castigation Bird. The Conditions had not yet arrived, so she relied on biological context cues to figure out its weakness.
It has to be its eyes!
The pale beam that the weapon fired after a short, low-frequency hum was indeed identical to the one fired by the eye. The holy smite struck the Castigation Bird’s eye with impeccable precision from such a great distance that Galia could not help but be impressed.
However –
“Zero… Damage…?”
– Jury immediately checked the stats of the Castigation Bird, only to find that its HP had not dropped by a single digit.
Castigation Bird | HP: 750,000,000
So does that mean…?
< Invulnerability… >
Nav cautiously answered, adding:
< The Castigation Bird is in an Invulnerable state. I’m almost finished with the calculations. I’m sorry if it’s taking so much time. Back then, it was instant while I was inside of your head. But there’s a delay now. The smoke is not making it easier for me >
It’s fine. So long as I can see their Skills then that’s all that matters. Invulnerability… just what we needed. That Condition made it so much harder for Frost and I to deal with the One Thousand Eyed Bird.
Jury had yet to receive an attack prompt from the Castigation Bird, despite it clearly using its Skills on the expendable Repenters and Impuritas.
“Galia! Zero damage! Nothing’s getting through it! It’s Invulnerable!”
“I wouldn’t have guessed. I was considering using smaller-scaled Skills to whittle down it’s HP. But we don’t have weeks to spare. I see. Invulnerability… It implies that there is a weakness.”
“Thankfully, that’s always been the case for the Corrupted. If it weren’t for that, then they’d be impossible to subjugate. But Galia – You’re standing right under one of its eyes!”
“It hasn’t opened yet.” Galia punctuated the chaos with a calm voice. “Step in with one foot.”
“Are you crazy!? Galia –!”
“Beholders never had peace of mind to begin. Have you every fought while riding the fine line between life and death? I’m asking little from you. Just one small step so we can gain much more from this Corrupted. I have a hypothesis. If I lose my corporeal form… then I trust you will turn back the clock for me.”
Just as Galia said this, the quivering eyelid tensed as another one in the distance shut.
< [Rightful Smite] >
“IT’S ATTACKING!”
Galia finally threw herself away from the gaze, standing at the very border beside Jury with. Jury stared at the woman, unable to comprehend how or why she wasn’t… afraid at all. There was no fight where Jury wasn’t wracked with fear, even when she was on the winning side.
Just what kind of life did she live?
“Did you see it?” Galia simply asked, snapping her out of her trance.
“I did. It came right before it attacked…” She tried to figure out what Galia was getting at until she realized something. “It didn’t appear until it was right next to us… but if it was based on distance…”
Another one beam of light smited the ground next to them, instantly vaporizing a band of Impuritas and Repenters.
She did not see it. Jury didn’t think much of the prompts, since Frost usually dealt with it. Also, Jury wasn’t as independent when it came to the prompts and identifying what was important in fight, as once again, this usually fell on Frost’s and even Nav’s shoulders.
It also didn’t help that Jury hadn’t actually fought a Corrupted entirely on her own to understand when, where and why a Skill was telegraphed. She knew that it was telegraphed slightly before the Skill was used, but that was it.
There was the One Thousand Eyed Bird which was mostly left to Frost, as well as the Listening Bird. She was asleep for the duration of Iron Candle’s fight. Asterism was defeated easily via a Realization.
The Heart of Ours however, was defeated almost entirely on her own, but only after letting Frost hold it off for 3 days straight. Then there was the Blood of Covenant and finally, the Crowned.
After all this time… I’m only just realizing it now!?
“It can’t be based on proximity. It has to involve me in some way. That’s when it becomes telegraphed.” Jury concluded, immediately relaying this to her Moons through the CognitO Transmitter.
So long as they were not terribly far away then communications were still active. It was an embarrassing oversight, especially since she considered herself capable, especially now as a Beholder.
But there was still a lot she didn’t know.
“I was wondering why the Aspiring Moons looked so silent.” Galia nudged Jury. “It’d doubtful that they’ll be targeted. We don’t know how much damage that does, but that’s the risk we take against a Corrupted. You’re far more in danger than I am. Avoid all attacks.”
“Do you think you’ll be able to survive whatever it throws at you?”
Galia nodded silently before throwing herself forward. She urged Jury to follow suit.
The two dashed alongside each other towards the walls of the city.
Jury observed the world around her. The Vexed Consanguinities, the Hemorrhagic Effigies and emerging Tablets of Bleeding Truths were oddly spared by the Castigation Bird.
“The Castigation Bird is supposed to punish all sins, but it’s letting them roam freely.” Jury’s Mantle of Sin caught on numerous types of ‘Sins’ as she passed by the members of the 2nd Branch.
The number of sins grew larger when she entered the city occupied by the Repenters and Impuritas, her mantle becoming heavier with its weight. Since attacking the Corrupted right now was a waste, she followed Galia around the city, observing the attack patterns of the Castigation Bird.