1041. The Overjoyed Angel
Joy was correct to assu that the Drones would keep moving in a single direction, but what she hadn’t noticed was the white mist that rose from the calcified remains of the Drone she killed.
“Pheromones.” Orth ntioned, softly placing a fist into her hand like a gavel.
There was no semblance of urgency in her voice, let alone her actions. Her sky-blue eyes remained hollow. Joy could not even find her own reflection in those eyes.
“It was calling for backup. Amazing. They noticed so quickly.” Neither was Thras concerned about the rapidly approaching swarm.
It was just Joy. The lights flashed again. They wanted her to flee, but Joy’s legs couldn’t move.
“Malgam…”
She dug her heels into the earth this ti and brandished her claws as two additional arms erged from the sides. Without warning, a Drone ca flying in her direction, and she caught it with her claws.
“GAAAM!” She cried, flinging it away as she aid her other hand at another Drone.
And another, and another… They did not stop bouncing around the forest. When one died, another two appeared. It forced her to bring additional arms to keep up with the demand. All the while, her HP dwindled with each consecutive blow.
Joy | HP: 52
“Prickly…” Thras said as one of the Drones latched onto her back.
She didn’t even attempt to remove it. Neither did she have the strength to do so. Thankfully, the fur seed incapable of penetrating their flesh.
< “Stab. Stab. Stab!” >
However, these were wasps.
As one would expect, they carried a blade-like stinger at their rear end. Orth and Thras had been relatively calm throughout this ordeal.
But it was not until this appeared that a flicker of color filled their eyes.
Terror.
It was unmistakable.
Joy had seen the color of terror countless tis as the Observer Upstairs. But terror typically ca because of the fear of death. Yet the twins, who easily had enough DEF to survive for hours on end, were frozen in terror.
“MALGAM!”
*Tear*
Pieces of Joy’s precious dress ripped as she sent a flurry of slashes at the Drones targeting the twins. The stingers retracted into their bodies, and they calcified into pale eggs by the feet of the twins.
But this had left Joy open to nurous grazing blows, which had further reduced her HP.
Joy | HP: 21
She was on her backfoot, and the twins had yet to recover from their sudden terror. Impact after impact left Joy bouncing from one Drone to another. Pain riddled her entire body as she watched her HP dwindle.
The blood dripping from her torn sleeves may as well be hers. She didn’t want to think about what happened when her HP reached zero, fearing that it may manifest. But she couldn’t look away from the grim reality staring back at her.
“MALGAM!”
Her cry went unanswered. There were no Skills, nor any powers she could use to save her.
Joy | HP: 10
All save for the dots of light that promised salvation.
“GAM!” Joy cried again, sidestepping a Drone and holding out one of her twelve floating arms to the twins.
She was asking for the Healing Serum.
“MALG– AM!”
“Thras… Snap out of it. Healing is being requested from us.” Orth whispered.
“… Yes. She’s willing now.” Thras injected her with the Healing Serum.
But nothing changed once she felt the sharp prick. Thras may as well have emptied Serum H into Joy, because there was no effect to be found. This was because there was nothing to heal. Healing Serum only worked on physical wounds.
The nature of this place was not physical in the normal sense.
They were using MP as HP, after all.
A look of despair befell Joy as another Drone crashed into her. Few others tackled the twins down, their razor-sharp fur clawing at unbreakable flesh and apparel. Joy flailed like a beached fish, hoping to break free but to no avail.
Joy | HP: 5
Was it over? Joy forced herself to stop struggling. If she kicked or lashed out again, then she would certainly die. But even if she did nothing, she would still lose the remainder of her HP/MP…
… Suddenly, red tendrils erged from the satchels the twins were carrying. They were barbed with bladed tips made from bones. The muscular limb whipped from Drone to Drone with perfect precision, impaling the Drones like at on a skewer along the elongated bone.
Low-Output Healer Guards
Portable Edition Symbiote
Soul Rank: Nil | Atelier: Pending?
LEVEL : Nil
ORIGIN : Ignis
HP/MP : 300
ATT : 350
MAG ATT : 0
ATT DEF : 100
MAG DEF : 0
RESIST : 25
AGI : 30
Low-Output Healer Guards
< A product of Dr. Ignis. A low-tier personnel protection Symbiote from the Healer Symbiosis line. Commonly used in sling-backpacks. Designed for concealnt carry. >
“MALGAAAAM!?”
They had that the whole ti!? In their satchels!?
Joy didn’t know whether to feel relieved that they were saved, or furious that they didn’t ntion they had a weapon capable of protecting them.
Also…
Who is Dr. Ignis?
The blue prompt spoke as if she was supposed to know who this person was. Were they close to Frost? Or were they what the Nexus called a Beholder? An enemy? Likely not, since a Healer was using their product.
“Oh, so it works when we’re attacked. I didn’t know. I thought it was faulty.” Orth nonchalantly gurgled.
An impaled Drone waterboarded her until the tendril moved it aside, revealing a large eye embedded into its side.
“Dr. Ignis said it was a prototype because she wanted them to be tactically cuter. It doesn’t fit the aesthetic of the Healers. It scares the young Doves.” Thras murmured. “Act X said not to bring the Heavy Guards or larger Symbiotes. Said we’re not allowed to be carried.”
“Must always count our steps.” (Orth).
“Can’t touch slis too.” (Thras).
“But it’s for our own good.” (Orth).
“Verily.” (Thras).
Joy carefully pried the Drones off her body using her claws. A sliver of HP remained, and she was worried that the tendril might deliver the final blow, hence why she moved with caution.
It twitched in her direction, but upon locking eyes with her, it entered a lulled state and began swaying like a branch in the wind.
“Gam?” She wiped the blood from her face, confused as to why it reacted to her so strangely.
“Your eyes must remind it of Frost.” (Orth).
“Oh, Dr. Ignis is one of hers.” (Thras).
“Like Cer, Ber and Res.” (Orth).
“Cerberus.” Thras condensed their nas. “As Raoul would jokingly call us Orthrus. You used to hate it.”
“That was a long ti ago.”
Orth moved to Joy and offered a hand to help her up. She didn’t seem to realize she was holding out her clawed hand. Joy picked herself up, fearing that she’d accidentally prick herself.
Thras hadn’t moved yet. The faintest glimr of color returned to her eyes, before an even darker shade consud them.
“Mhm. When sister Eurytion was still around.” (Thras).
“And Geryon.” (Orth).
They wore a solemn expression and silently grieved those two people. Then, after a minute of complete silence, the two snapped back to normal, and they huddled around Joy.
“Healing didn’t work. Can we bring them to the Ascelepien?” (Orth).
“Will the Mothers recognize us?” (Thras).
“They don’t need to know who we are. Only what we are.” (Orth).
“Healers…” (Thras).
“Yes.” (Orth).
“Mmmm… Mwe… Werun. Der! (We run. There!).” Joy tried to communicate with them, but suddenly the two didn’t seem to understand her at all.
They pointed at themselves, then at each other, wondering what Joy was trying to say. Her arms began flailing around as her brows beca knitted. Joy had never been so frustrated before, if at all.
She could not read these two at all.
“GAM GAM GAM GAM GAM GAM GAM GAM!”
Orth began nodding her head, as if to say “Yes.”, whilst Thras nodded in tune with each “Gam,” like it was a musical beat.
“Gam. Gam…” Orth began repeating, and Thras did too.
Before long, all three were repeating “Gam,” for two different reasons.
Joy wanted them to move, and the two thought Joy was trying to summon Frost.
Suddenly, a branch snapped nearby. It couldn’t have been a small creature, since not even Joy was capable of breaking the ironwood branches. She was instantly on alert, but the twins had yet to stop chirping like hungry chicks.
“GAM!” Joy cried, hoping to scare whatever creature was approaching, only to hear a familiar voice call back.
“Joy! Is that you~!?”
“Juwy…?”
White strands were followed by the pale-white fur-coat of her mother Jury. Nothing about her had changed at all. At least not from what she could tell.
“Joy~! Aaaah!” Jury squealed as she erged from the fog. “And the twins! You’re safe now~!”
“Juwy?” Joy noticed sothing off about Jury.
She was overly… enthusiastic? The Jury she knew would have been much more worried about them, but here, she seed to be far too happy. Did sothing good happen? Joy wondered if Frost was the source of her joy, until there was a soft groan coming from the bush next to her.
“One second–!”
*Snap*
The sound that Joy had heard from earlier was not the snapping of a branch.
It was of a rib.
Hidden beneath the foliage, and dragged along by Jury’s tail, was an Act X Acolyte.
“Don’t worry about it. It was asking for the twins. So I thought I’d teach it a lesson.” Jury gloated.
A dangerous glint of light shone in her narrowing eyes.
Didn’t the Sovereign… Frost say to leave them alive?
“Don’t worry! This place isn’t completely attached to real life. Dying here won’t kill you for good! But I can’t say it’ll be good to die here either.”
There wasn’t a semblance of guilt in those eyes.
“Frost does this all the ti, but it’s never good for her. Hmhm~ Good, evil… It’s just that, isn’t it?”
Jury
The Angel
< No Stats are available >
“Joy, Orth, Thras – Follow . I’ll bring us straight to Frost~”
“Malgam!” Joy smiled as she was pulled into a loving embrace.
“Oh. You can sense the others?” Orth asked.
“You an the others, correct?” Whilst Thras requested clarification.
Jury lowered her head, revealing a fully ford golden halo that sat nested within her hairline.
“I’m not sure. Yep! We’ll find the others if they’re with Frost!”
She then tapped her nose playfully, concluding with: “I can sense Frost no matter where she is! Isn’t that amazing!?”
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