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972. Another Bloody Herring
🕑 Added 2025-04-06 09:46:28 +0000 UTCThe threats they were facing were now of the Monsoon to Eternal Night Level. The gauge moved to the latter since they were now dealing with an active Genesis Stone. To make matters worse, it was operated by an Impuritas with a voice no different from nails on chalk.
“How do these things keep breaking anyway? Baaah. You’ll have to pay, some day! With no eyes it’s all hearsay and conjecture handed to me on a silver tray~”
“Isn’t it fun? Deep down, away from the sun we can all play the same game of catch and run!”
“But you won’t run, will you?”
Those were the last words the voice could utter before every rising pillar was destroyed. Once Jury donned her gear, she sank knee-deep into the ground. A ten-meter crater formed around her.
The floor could not withstand her immense weight. She moved her legs through the ground, unhampered by the ground. It glowed as it was bent out of her way, rolling like waves and rippling across the Site.
Her speed picked up, as did her weight.
[Heavyclad Body] increased her skill up to 10x. This paired with the Gravity Cores installed along her garbs increased this by another 5x. Together, she weighed over 50x her normal mass, which bolstered her ATT by 50%.
And with momentum, that went up to 100%.
ATT : 79,000
ENHANCED ATT : 158,000
Hundreds of meters worth of ground shattered with the mere swing of her arm. Hidden pillars, pitfalls, and trapdoors exploded in her presence. Every whip of her tail shook the Site. She was a walking force of nature – no, she was above it.
For Jury was a Beholder.
“Usari has seen everything. Usari has said a lot of bad things. Uhhhhhghhhhnnnnnghhhh. B-But that means Usari and company are safe now!”
Usari said in a hushed whisper, before she yelled. Her body was moving, but her eyes remaining glued to Jury’s back. The looks she, Hayte and even Icara gave were the same as when the common folk were graced by the presence of a Moon or Star of the Nexus.
The mere sight of a Beholder was worth burning into one’s memories.
“We are inexplicably damned.” Hayte regrettably claimed.
“Usari doesn’t think so! We have a Beholder by our side! Icy! You think so too! U-Usari is correct, right…?”
“Pros: A Beholder is here. Cons: A Beholder is here.”
Icara couldn’t stress this enough.
Beholders, historically, only ever arrived when a Region-ending threat emerged.
These were Apocalypse-leveled Corrupted. Entities so powerful that the collapse that followed could not be described with that word alone.
Annihilation. Rewriting. Convergence. Repulsion. Shattering… It would forever change a Region if left alone.
Even the briefest existence of the Crowned had left behind a sprawling city-like ruins in the middle of Sector C4.
It has still yet to be entirely explored.
“Usari wants to go back to being a primordial goop. This place is nuts!”
“Incorrect. It is made of a composite material with a similar brittleness to the chassis of my brethren’s Elder Brothers. 5% galvanized titanium. 20% adamantium. 35% of an industrial blend. 45% of a standard Beta blend (20% Omega. 1% Alpha. 79% Beta). Compared to Caldera Industries’ general blends which use neutron-crushed Adamantium dust (60%) for their high-grade metals.”
“Oh. Enlighten us about your blends. The Black Dove was interested.” Morgause commanded.
The Repenters were not alive to hear Frost’s query of these strangely named blends. It came as a surprise to them when Hayte revealed the exact formula used by the higher-ranking Infecta Rot members – the Elder Brothers.
“I know of the quantities and the technology that is used to create Beta, Omega and Alpha-grade material. The blends are straightforward, but pure ingots did require a substantial amount of Mortal Pulp to operate. Our Hearts – Our Mother’s wombs – are factories. Higher up we have Hearts that create and replace.”
“Doesn’t answer anything!” Horus harped.
“The tech itself belongs to a Fallen Atelier that went by the name of AlphaOM. An old Atelier with virtuous intentions. Their motto saw them strive to create the safest haven with the strongest material to survive the prophesied Destroyer of Worlds. Those metals now the condemnable Caldera Industries, and my own brethren.”
A deeply rooted hatred for Caldera Industries came out in those last few words. His crimson eyes emitted an aura of flames, but it soon extinguished like a candleflame striving to persist through a storm.
“Would explain why they’re so tough~” Horus hummed, taking out stray pillars as Jury carved the road ahead.
They chased her as she parried stray chains. Icara paralyzed as many as she could, bringing Morgause to question her origins. As a Witch, they were no strangers to understanding the depth of magic.
But her Level was 10. An extraordinary level of understanding was required to even freeze a spell for a second.
Yet she kept them frozen for upwards of five, even ten seconds.
Her grey eyes emitted a faint, sky-blue glow.
Multiple interlocking rings formed as inscriptions flickered through her eyes. A projection of the same image hovered inches away from eyes.
The deeper they went, the more relentless the traps became. Jury could only destroy so much without risking their lives. This was where Horus played defensively, taking on stray chains, magical circles and now – blue-crystal bullets that were fired from hijacked magical turrets.
Colors like Horus were more than capable of slashing bullets in midair with the flat side of her scabbard. Projectile-based weapons were oppressive against the masses but were useless against a competent opponent.
The halls gradually became narrower, the atmosphere carrying a blue hue and the distinct scent of coins. Iterations of trapped rooms attempted to stop them in their tracks, but Jury marched forward, dousing everything in her path in acid, or hurling a Gravity Core at impenetrable walls.
She didn’t play by the rules when they entered a confined space. She tore it up, exposing numerous hidden traps behind the walls, and blew open a fifty-meter hole with a single [Tail Whack].
“You’re approaching faster than I thought! Do tell me, is that power bought or was it sought? Understand this, effort and pain may pave way for gain, but if you were to ask me?”
This time, a hundred pillars fell from the ceiling as they approached the last stretch. An ominous blue star glowed in the distance. Deep within was the unmistakable golden light of a Genesis Stone.
“That is all for naught when it can be stolen!”
“[Explosive Cells].” Morgause recognized the magic. “Did they give up on entertainment? A flat-out bombardment would wipe us all out. I’m impressed. Using the Site against us. White Midnight did also have monstrously powerful magic to pierce through the elevator.”
She was impressed if anything, even though just one of these geometrically shaped cubes could reduce them to bare bones.
But Jury had everything under control.
The Impuritas did not seem to be aware of who they had angered. She leaped into the air and bounced from one pillar falling to another, moving faster and faster with each bounce.
“… Speed… Usari can’t see her anymore.”
“And Association bootlickers wonder why I bend over backwards for hands-on Ateliers like Justica Arms.” Horus sighed before giving Icara a sidelong glare. “The throes? Have they begun?”
A red warning text appeared along the rings in her eyes. It was written in an ancient language used by the Witches, appearing similar to the claw-like marks of the Demon language.
< Icara’s Emotional State Has Risen to The First State >
Icara, through a sudden surge of emotion, sprouted a pair of broken wings as a blue halo appeared on her head. Her angelic form launched into the air, wielding her lengthened staff. Several bluer rings surrounded the tip as she reached towards the ineffable light above.
< Icara is temporarily manifesting Icarus Fall >
Written words radiated from her body. These words were:
< “That star is still within reach…! Even if my wings must melt away–!” >
