Locating the Phylactery of the Memento Mori’s Heart of the City became the 2nd Branch’s and Time Reverberation’s highest priority. Small but capable squadrons of Moons, Justicers and veteran Peace Flock were sent directly into the city to scour every inch for the hidden memento.
In the meantime, Jury and Galia fought the Castigation Bird within the confines of the indestructible city. Sky bridges withstood the bombardment of thousands of bullets; each of which were capable of leveling an entire neighborhood within the Nex Megalopolis.
[Retrocausality – Smite] and [Retrocausality – Angel’s Touch] did little to warp the environment to their liking, instead wiping out thousands of Sins in the blink of an eye.
But the indestructible nature of it was also an advantage. Jury’s Skills and Abilities lend itself to a controlled, urban environment. Large open spaces ironically limited her dexterity, as she could not use the environment to make quick adjustments to her speed, movement and her trajectory.
Here? Jury had buildings that could withstand the entire force of her body. Structures as thin as street lanterns did not bench an inch no matter how hard she kicked off from them. Even her tail did not leave behind much damage. One had to remember that her tail was the largest muscle group in her body by far, and had the grip strength to warp steel like it was no more than a sheet of paper.
Though even this was an understatement. Jury threw herself from building to building, utilizing her magic to whittle down the HP of the Castigation Bird. The 2nd Branch were their key in exposing the vulnerabilities of the Castigation Bird. So long as they exposed their ribs to prove that they had already been punished, then the Castigation Bird would be vulnerable to all forms of damage.
However, this was only true for its eyes. On the other hand, its body was impervious.
“A hundred eyes down! Hundreds more to go! Galia – 600,000,000 HP remaining!”
Jury shouted at the top of her lungs as her tail kicked off from the bricked walls of the central clock tower. Permanent laughter joined the infinite ticking of the clock. The withered Knight of the 2nd Order mocked their efforts like a broken record, taking his invulnerability for granted.
So long as the Phylactery was untouched, then there was no point in attempting to kill what would only return. Unless of course, one of them possessed a Soul-rending ability like Frost or Capralis. Memento Mori bound to the Heart of the City had a Memento of their own, and like the Phylactery, was tucked away from sight.
Were it not for the Castigation Bird, then it would not have been an issue for the Beholders to hunt it down. Furthermore, the resurrected 2nd Order Knights – who roamed the city heralding full-pale armor – were left to the Repenters and the captured Impuritas to contain.
“There may be more eyes than the One Thousand Eyed Bird.” Galia called as she saturated the skies with shooting stars.
They bombarded the exposed eyes that had wrongfully punished her 2nd Branch. Hundreds of them stood with their hands drenched in blood. Uncanny grins and giddy giggles left their lips as they presented their truth and lies written on their ribs to the Castigation Bird.
It was like they were opening bear traps that were lodged into their chests. A slight glimmer of gold could be seen on their hearts the very moment the Castigation Bird confirmed that they had already endured a previous punishment.
They juggled their self-castigation with blasting the chests of Vexed Consanguinities with spread shot. The various forms of Sins that descended from the gaping eye sockets were of no match for them, not when they were backed by Moons and Stars.
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“The Sins that pour from their wounds pose more of a problem than the bird itself. But there is that melody that plays above the laughter.” Galia nonchalantly announced, reaching forth into the air.
She stood atop one of the many sky bridges hundreds of meters in the sky, which was connected to various buildings. The city that once thrived here had no need for such dangerous architecture. A community of traders that valued equal exchange under the guidance of the 1st Branch were buried beneath the decaying bones that made up the foundation of the Necropolis.
Galia didn’t seem to be bothered by it. She had seen this scenery far too often, so there was no point in being emotionally moved by its loss. However, and perhaps due to the effects of the Castigation Bird, Galia’s expression darkened.
“All of the north belonged to my 1st Branch. There wasn’t a city that wasn’t controlled by Primus Ramus. But the number of personnel I kept was small. It was insignificant. A part of me always believed that beacon of light akin to that of the Nexus would be enough to ward off threats, but I was mistaken.”
A brilliant, dark magical circle formed. A black bullet larger than her body appeared from it, and she pointed it in the direction of the Castigation Bird. This was [Ultimatum], a Beholder Skill that dealt 10,000,000 damage in a single blow.
The bullet melted the surrounding structures in its wake like they were made of wax.
It burst one of the eyes of the Castigation Bird like a puss-filled wound. It happened again, and again, and again, to the point where it wouldn’t be a surprise if they defeated the Castigation Bird in the next few hours.
* * *
“How many mistakes does that make it now, ‘Lady Colorless’!? Or was it part of your plan to give them false hope, so that they could worship you like a false god!?” The 2nd Order Knight’s voice echoed throughout the city as Galia sealed her eyes, neither confirming nor denying his claims. “Faith alone won’t change anything. Puritas did it correctly. They commanded an Order that left the boundaries of Paradise to spread the word of our King –!”
Suddenly, the heights of the clock tower were engulfed by a distorting sphere. It began to melt like an ice cream cone left to sit in the sun, and the 2nd Order Knight’s laughter turned into a scream.
“Can we fight in peace already!? It’s bad enough that we can’t shake off this burning sensation in our chests. But to hear that waste of life try to get under your skin… Galia, why didn’t you get rid of him already!?”
[Localized Entropy]. This Beholder Skill allowed Jury to increase the entropy in a 50-meter sphere, and would homogenize all matter, like how one could imagine a gas distributing itself equally within a balloon.
Except this occurred with physical matter.
“With enough experience you’ll eventually reach a point where words will become meaningless. Let that bean resurrect. I wish to let them stir a while longer. I’m not one to enjoy instant gratification.”
“And let them degrade you till the very end!?”
“What’s said means nothing. You have much to learn if you are easily swayed by the words of an enemy.”
“It just doesn’t sit right with me!”
Galia could sense that Jury did this out of concern for her. It was misplaced concern. Galia wanted to say this. Beholders were rarely if ever moved by such a thing. It was so insignificant that it could even be overlooked. But Jury believed otherwise, which was proof of her infancy as a Beholder.
Still, Galia smiled to herself and agreed.
“Very well. Then I’ll let you deal with the annoyances. Don’t damage the Luminescence. Its song allows our personnel to oppress the Sins.”
“But for how much longer!?” Jury asked. She was aware that the more eyes the destroyed, the more Sins would pour into the world. “We don’t have enough Moons and Stars to deal with tens of thousands of Sins! We’ll be overrun if it gets to that point! Galia, are we really going to leave it all to them alone!?”
While they had Moons and Stars on their side, each of these entities were still Monsoon-leveled at the minimum.
It didn’t matter how powerful their side was. The fact of the matter was that they would be overrun in due course.
“Shouldn’t we divert resources to help them at least!?” Jury was prepared to take matters into her own hands.
Someone needed to assist them. Plus, it would be a massive morale boost to have one of them fighting by their side. Jury was the perfect person. Her speed was excellent, and her Skills did not risk friendly fire like Galia.
Not only that, but Galia was far more equipped to deal with the remnants of the Castigation Bird. Galia had planned this, but Jury had brought this issue up before she could address it.
It pleasantly surprised Galia.