984. The Amalgam Does Not Lose
They had reached the outside world.
It was a relatively flat plain filled with boulders. Erald trees guarded the distant edges.
But they were not out of the Maw of the World just yet.
“You will! What else will be left for you to devour after everything is over!? Your own friends!? Family!? Lover!? Who is to say that the you in the future will uphold your determination!?”
< The First Layer: The Forest of Wanderers >
< Maw of The World Depth: 7,000 ters >
“SINDER WAS EXACTLY LIKE YOU!”
< The Outer Rim >
< Maw of The World Depth: 3,000 ters >
A settlent resided at the edges of the Maw of the World.
Its opening spanned over one thousand kiloters. They flew above the Maw of the World, their clashes and flas drowning out the light of the moon and the stars.
“The weight of the world will co crashing down on you… And you think you won’t collapse!?”
The cosmos disappeared.
“I won’t. Never.”
Frost’s eyes replaced those stars.
She grabbed Lammy by the tail.
Lammy | HP: 1
//////// < WARNING > ////////
< The Will of the Amalgam Has Reached the Fifth State >
< All Corrupted Zones equivalent or lower than Apocalypse-Class are overruled by the Amalgam’s Corrupted Zone >
< There are no Paradise Lost Corrupted to borrow Skills from >
It was a sha that Frost didn’t possess the Icon of Judgent. Nor did she have another Civilization Corrupted to manifest its Corrupted Zone thanks to the Fourth State.
To this day the Fifth State was an enigma. Though the System stated that all it could do was grant her Paradise Lost-level Corrupted Skills, there was certainly more to it.
She was in control of her emotions despite reaching this State. But this was mostly because her emotions revolved around the assertation of who she was. Her grip was unbreakable, and Lammy’s warp began to malfunction in the presence of Frost’s Light.
“To collapse ans to lose sight of myself, or to accept that I’ve beco sothing else!”
Frost hurled her downwards.
Her grip was unbreakable. They plumted through the layers of the Maw of the World faster than they ascended. Frost could feel the strains imdiately. How it cracked at her belief, and how the weight of the world constricted her heart.
“DESPITE IT BEING YOUR FEAR!?”
Suddenly, Frost manifested a Corrupted Persona.
“I have to face it one day. You will as well. In fact. I’ll lend you a hand.”
< Borrowing the Active and Passive Skills of [CENSORED] >
< [CENSORED] has successfully been equipped >
< [Fear Attenuation] >
< I still recognized the silhouette of my fears behind the safety of my veils >
< EFFECT: Conjure the CENSORED manifestation of a person’s nightmares and strike them with it. They will take a recognizable yet concealed form. Deal 1,000 damage tis 2x by every 10 Trepidation Stack the target possesses >
< COST: 2,500 MP >
Frost’s body manifested as the inherent fear of Lammy. Her hair beca white, and her skin darkend to match Lammy’s own. A long, frayed tail followed her as did white feathers.
“Elysia…?”
The censored bars that covered Frost’s eyes and various features failed to conceal the identity of this person. The attack was weak, but Frost used it to wage a psychological war on Lammy.
“Do you think you can challenge a Star?”
Frost didn’t hold back. She spoke with the sa cadence as she heard Elysia use and spoke directly into the mind of Lammy.
“Shut up… SHUT UUUUUUUUP! LET GO! ELYSIAAAA! CAPTRUED STAR!”
“Chasing Sinder won’t bring him back. Tell , did Sinder ever look at you?”
“He did… Sinder… He… You – Capture Star…!”
They crashed through hundreds of ters of rock. Creatures turned their heads as they watched what they believed to be a flaming teorite descend into the Maw of the World.
They were already halfway through the descent in minutes.
“Sinder is dead. Why do you still believe he lives?”
“He does! HE DOES! I’LL PROVE IT TO YOU! CAPTURED STAR! SINDER… WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR TARNISHING HIS NA!”
“A fumbling princess seeking to cling onto the delusions of the past. A parade thrown for a wedding that will never co…”
“CAPTURED STAR!” Lammy had no other words to respond to Frost.
“Tell , is that what you are?”
“No… I’ll be the one… Who will take Elysia out… and give them the power to paint the world with their own colors! Their own light! Rather than to be tainted by you both! I’ll give Sinder your power, Captured Star! And he… he…!”
Frost’s body ached. The rapid descent caused flashes of darkness to invade her mind. An onset of despair clasped her heart as she struggled to fight over what she believed to be her sense of self.
Imnse hunger. The desire for the sweetness of mories. Hatred over the Impuritas… they were incomparable to the festering fear she had for herself. If she were to experience Qliphoth Corrosion… then what would change?
Would she be reduced to a dark sludge? Beco a man-eating monster? Was that all she was?
No.
“Sinder. Destroyer. That prophecy. Even my own fears– I myself have not changed from who I am!”
She was human.
That is all she was in her heart.
From the very beginning, and even now – Frost refused to let herself to lose sight of what she was.
The dunes of the desert appeared.
Crushing Lammy like this wouldn’t change anything.
Additionally, her Warp was beginning to stabilize.
She only had one shot at this.
With her infinite determination, several more strands of golden hair appeared, and her eyes beca ever more vibrant.
And finally, another piece of her halo was complete.
< Unique Ability Gained >
< ABILITY: Tempered (Third State) >
< Neshamah >
< EFFECT: Emotional stability over the Third State. You are not immune from Instability, however. Nex generated from the Third state and lower may be internalized into usable Light. You may now choose Affinities to manifest till the Third State >
If Nav was correct, then Lammy had a Qliphoth Field deeper within her body.
Therefore, she only had one Skill to use.
< [OOO] Maw of The Amalgam [OOO] >
< EFFECT: Bypasses Qliphoth conditional manifestations, including Invulnerability. Ignores all DEF stats. Cannot be stopped. The part devoured is reflected on the target’s Soul. Devoured part may not be healed. It is effectively erased from existence >
Frost thrust her fist into the chest cavity of Lammy. This ti, rather than her fist rely tearing flesh, she made contact with what felt like a shell. Her organs were tangible, and they were being protected by a thin mbrane of Qliphoth.
Inside, she noticed that a row of three organs – which were white crystal-shaped object – were struggling to spin.
She pinpointed it, smashed her fist into the Qliphoth mbrane, and reached towards that organ.
“UNHAND ! THOSE… ARE MY OVARIES FOR MY SINDER! OUR CHILDREN!”
“You’ve lost your fucking mind.” Frost spat.
But she didn’t destroy it.
She clasped onto one, and then, she activated one of [CENSORED]’s Skill.
< [Surgical Administration] >
< Extre terror nded only through extre thods >
< EFFECT: Permanently remove the organ of an individual. It may never be regrown. A piece of the soul will forever be scarred >
The reason why she had waited this long to get close was because she wanted that Warp ability. Destroying it would net her nothing. She’d have to devour Lammy entirely to gain that Ability, which was not feasible given that Lammy was on the verge of Warping free.
That was why Frost wanted to surgically remove one and keep it for herself.
She ripped it out as dark shadows erged to surgically detach it.
“You should’ve just left here if your goal was to keep away from the Site Core. You brought this upon yourself.”
It was a painful process, evident by Lammy’s screams. Once it had been ripped clean from her chest cavity, the crystals spun, and she Warped a considerable distance away, clasping at her stomach in terror.
Angelic Warped Stone
< An organ that allows the Angels to access the dinsions hidden from plain sight. Serves as a catalyst for instantaneous travel >
“My… Child…”
“The Warped Stone… Cos from Angels. Who would have thought. I suppose that ans Galia’s Gift From a Star in question cos from an Angelic Star with similar properties.”
Frost threw it into her Dinsional Storage. She didn’t know if eating an organ would grant her Warping abilities. She wanted to be on the safer side. The chances of getting her hands on another sample were next to zero now that Lammy knew what Frost was capable of.
“How could you?”
“I did what I had to. It was right there. So why wouldn’t I take it? I assu you have no problems taking what isn’t yours? ssing with the Sites Cores? Wanting to usurp Elysia? It’s juvenile to start complaining.”
Frost bluntly laid it out for her. She showed no rcy and prepared to begin her counterattack.
“This is the rule you’ve chosen to play with. My Moon triplets lived without ever knowing how much their mother truly loved them. My Ignis lost her father because of these gas of yours. Jury lost her childhood and her mories. I was left to beco a vessel for your side’s fucked up dreams. And this is your reaction?”
“… Will you be able to say the sa… when your loved ones die…?”
“It’d be an unjust death.”
“Aren’t you a hypocrite!?”
“Not at all. I believe we’re doing the right thing. Whether you agree or not is a moot point.” Frost grinned. “You say you’ve harrowed hell, but you’re acting like it’s the first ti you’ve ever had a wound. Look at you. You’ve been relying on your regeneration for so long that you’ve forgotten that you are mortal.”
Lammy actively Warped away.
She didn’t even attempt to ward Frost away.
“… I’ll kill that one. Joy. The Corrupted child. I’ll take her into the Subcut Layer. Your Jury… Think of what we can do to that–!”
An aura of imnse killing intent washed over her.
Why had it only appeared now?
“Make no mistake. If you so happen to put a single finger on them…”
///////// < WARNING > ////////
< INSTABILITY IMMINENT >
Lammy’s eyes widened. Her speed picked up, and she darted across the empty sea to avoid incurring Frost’s wrath.
Even though she had successfully kept Frost at bay, she had suffered a catastrophic defeat.
“THE SITE CORE IS OURS! YOU WILL LOSE THEM WHEN THE SITE DISAPPEARS! THIS IS NOT THE END CAPTURED STAR!”
Lammy was certain of this.
The silence she left behind was quickly filled by sifting sand.
Frost didn’t have much ti left.
Normally, it would be impossible to traverse thousands of kiloters without Longform Warp.
But she had an alternative.
[Raw Fragnt of the Warped Stone]. It was an Ability she had gained from devouring a fragnt of Galia’s Warped Stone. This would allow her to teleport to any Hyperlink Crystal she had visited or been tethered to.
This took at least 12 hours for minor Hyperlink Sites, and 24 hours for major ones.
She could easily teleport back to H5, rush to the facility, and descend all within two hours. But there was a better place to teleport than H5. But there was a minor network located in the Derma Layer.
This was where Caldera Industries Gigaforge resided.
She plopped down an Isolation Sphere and counted down from 72 minutes.
In the anti, she contacted Nav.
“Nav. What are our reinforcents looking like?”
< The Fang of the Head has made her move >
< She will be arriving to assist the Vermilion Moons shortly >
Frost gazed out into the Great Unknown.
Her eyes t with the Eye of Elysia.
It certainly did look like her eye. The person who coined the na must have known about Elysia.
She sighed and planned to use this ti to rest. She laid herself down, her arms behind her head and her legs crossed.
Peace at last. But after a short mont, she threw herself upright. It felt wrong to be resting whilst the others were still fighting.
“Hm… Huh?”
She quickly noticed sothing odd.
The Eye of Elysia was now right in front of her, when it had just been to the right of her.
Not only that, but the waters that surrounded the island had disappeared.
The eye stared at her in a way that said: “Follow.”
“Nav. Can we get Lailah or Michaela on the line?”
Lailah
< Follow the Star >
< I believe it is trying to guide you to where you need to go >
< I would argue against it if it were a different star >
< But I believe that belongs to Elysia >
< Will you follow Elysia’s Star? >
< Yes | No >
< Confirm? >
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