Galia froze beneath the eye of the storm like a martyr awaiting death. She was enraptured by the artificial eye of the Castigation Bird which hovered in the skies. Jury glanced above and saw what captivated Galia.

An enormous blood moon formed in the center of the spiraling Castigation Bird. The blood pouring from its hundreds of gaping wounds gravitated towards the low-hanging moon. Sins ceased to be produced, but there was already countless swarming the world where it did not matter.

Still, Jury watched the spectacle with a look of dread. She clawed her way through a mountain of Sins, tearing her way towards the city that held Galia.

“GALIA! GET OUT OF THERE! IT’S PREPARING FOR ANOTHER ATTACK!”

Her screams were unanswered. Galia would have also realized that this accumulation of blood was meant to destroy her. But she didn’t react. She remained stiff, her arms hanging by her side as her chin tilted upwards towards the dark red moon.

What was left of its once many eyes stared down at Galia with palpable contempt. They never left Galia. But more than that, Jury could feel that those gazes were plastered on herself too. It scrutinized her as though accusing her of a crime she never committed.

< What was seen was the truth >

< What wasn’t seen could only be translated by word of mouth and in written testaments >

< Alas, verification of evil relied on the color of their blood >

< It was the proof of their wrongdoings >

Jury relentlessly pushed onwards. Her claw scraped the earth as her tail was used to propel her forward like a bullet. She flew like a wingless bird, cutting down armies of Sins as she rushed towards the bridge where Galia stood.

< “Would there be a day where we would be punished?” >

The voice of the Castigation Bird was heard for the first time. Jury could never hear the fathoms of the Corrupted as clearly as Frost. They were usually given to her in the form of prompts by Nav. But here, just for this instance, she could not only read them without Frost’s presence but hear them.

She looked down at her claw then reached for her heart, feeling it whirl with a ticking stronger than what she was familiar with.

[Retrocausality – Temporal Distortion] shouldn’t have given me new abilities. I don’t feel different. Am I changing again without knowing why? I’m not even in the presence of the Nexus. Nav… Is something happening to me?

< Unknown >

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< But you have gained several overall levels from this encounter >

< Your overall level is currently 240. It was previously 220. You have gained levels in Tail Evolution and several Beholder Skills due to continued use >

< If I may? >

“Please… I need to know. At least before I can reach Galia!”

Jury leaped over the walls of the city and pinballed herself from building to building in Galia’s direction.

< You are nearing level 250 which may explain the changes you are experiencing. Level 250 is when a Beholder fully matures. However, without the light of the Nexus, you may not be able to gain anything until this is over >

“So it was that…”

It bothered Jury to say the least. No, Jury wanted to groan and complain to Nav’s ears about this unexpected change. She didn’t know what it would introduce, nor did she know what would change about her. It had just been her tail and heart for now, but how long would that last?

The effects of the Castigation Bird afflicted her with such thoughts. It couldn’t be helped when she looked at her claw and read the name Qliphoth Corrosion.

Jury, upon reaching the same bridge as Galia, stared into a pair of eyes that reflected the starless world above. Galia’s nebula-colored eyes stared off into another world far from this as she clutched at her chest.

“The same as me…?” Jury uttered, seeing the slits in Galia’s dark, textured arms. “Your arms. Is that the Curse of the Descent, or is it like mine? Qliphoth Corrosion?”

The slits opened, revealing eyes that matched Galia’s own.

Though Jury said this, there was nothing to indicate that Galia’s arms were afflicted by Qliphoth Corrosion. What she saw was only known as the Curse of the Descent; the Impuritas-causing phenomenon that occurred as one descended or ascended through the physical layers of Elysia.

“Different… Gah… Tch. Galia! Wake up! Why can’t I…? Approach you!?”

An invisible force interfered with Jury as she tried to reach Galia. She could hear the Beholder faintly mutter to herself, and in that instant, she knew what was happening to her.

“There came a moment where I thought I was truly righteous. I believed in every lie I told myself. I followed a star amongst a constellation to a land of endless dunes in what felt like a recurring dream.”

“GALIA –! YOU CAN’T LISTEN TO HER!”

But no matter how much she flailed, screamed, or tried to push forward – she would be repelled by the force. The Beholder who just slaughtered thousands of Sins, each of the Monsoon Level at the minimum, was being flung back across the length of the bridge like a puppet being dragged by an invisible string.

Suddenly, a grueling, agonizing pain bubbled from the depths of her chest as she stood beneath the eye of the false moon. She fell to her knees, her hands cracking the brickwork under the immense weight of the Castigation Bird’s gaze.

“Galia! Don’t… lose it all here! Elysia… whoever you’re talking to – It won’t do anything good for you! You don’t need her! You have us! I’m right here already! Just why… are you Corrupting right now…?”

< It searched high and low, near and far, shallow and deep for those who went on unpunished >

< All Sins will be drawn out from those who bleed >

< It shall be proof of their guilt >

She groveled meters from the feet of Galia. The weight alone crushed her lungs as blood dripped from her lips, but still Galia stood unfazed by the pressure as though she had acclimated to it long ago.

< “The line of right and wrong became blurred through continued arbitrary punishments. They knew what they did. The punishments were endless so that the bird itself could never be punished.” >

< [Because It Has Been Delivered] >

“You’re looking for a reason to punish us…” She groaned.

Jury’s vision began to wane.

Pressure built into the base of her eyes. She knew they’d burst with blood. Her right hand had already swollen due to the immense blood rush. The blood within yearned to break free and join the blood above, as did the blood that poured from their personnel’s ribs.

A rapture of blood was the last thing she saw as she tried to reach towards Galia, hoping – praying – that she would not corrupt. Her vision disappeared, but she could still hear and feel the world around her.

Screams. Galia’s muttering. And voices unfamiliar to me are talking… I can’t die here… Pathetic… I can’t even stand. Do I have to tear open my ribs… so that I can stand a chance like them?

Jury dragged her hands along the ground towards her chest. The friction and the sheer weight made it feel like she was scraping them against a micro plane. When they reached her chest, she felt both the warmth of her right hand and the frigid chill of her claw.

Frost… I’m scared. I’ve felt this before. I’ve been in this place. I know this touch. How were you able to love it, Frost? How…?

A moment of clarity flashed in Jury’s mind. That chilling sensation combined with the darkness behind her eyelids, and the screams, the muttering – it was eerily familiar to her. It was not a memory of the past.

It was her very own memory; a memory drawn by the power of the Castigation Bird who sought to expose a sin for it to rightfully punish.

A tear slipped past her eye as she was taken back to a time she had long forgotten.