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971. Diamond Pentacles
🕑 Added 2025-04-05 08:24:57 +0000 UTCThe Seventh Level was the closest to what the original Facility of the Old World would have looked like.
After the hidden doors, and past absurdly large corridors, one would find rooms spanning kilometers with rows of two-hundred-meter-thick pillars supporting the weight of the entire Site.
These were the pillars of its foundation. A window running along the length of each pillar revealed a steady stream of Liquid Nex. Excess Liquid Nex was kept here in the depths of the Site.
Occasionally, sirens would blare for a brief moment before a wave of dark liquid would flood through sections of the Seventh Level.
This was to flush out impurities into large drains at the lowest elevated part of the spanning room.
Serrated gates covered them – neither too large to let a person through, but small enough to dice them and ensure they wouldn’t live for long if they were swept by the wave.
Frost's Mimic of Amalgamation could not manipulate these traps.
Doors did not appear until one was close enough for them to open. Hidden doors stashed between the fabrics of space also existed, creating shortcuts that could only be used by those who had the means of accessing higher dimensions or could tear through space.
Chambers holding the Corrupted were at the minimum 50m x 50m x 50m in size.
Their vault-like doors were visible to the naked eye, as were the doors leading to sterile amenities. Nothing seemed to have been made for humans. It was inhospitable, and the alien architecture cared little for human life.
Then again, this Level was used to execute Corrupted.
Its sole purpose was to facilitate death.
Lailah
< Abraham’s design symbolizes the foundations that govern our world >
< They hide from plain sight. Are simplistic when broken down. But move as an unstoppable wave >
< Does this shape not remind you of a bunker? >
< It is inhospitable to all forms of life >
< He was the only Apostle I remember who knew the truths of the Stars and their Gifts that were left behind before it corrupted mankind >
< Yet he became the architect of a star that condemned mankind >
She narrated for both Frost and Jury as their groups went their own ways. There were no notable threats to be found by either sides – only traps. The Mimic of Amalgamation had to utilize multiple tendril-like limbs and tongues to deactivate dozens of traps.
This included rooms closing in on themselves, the floors morphing into a quicksand-like material, high-powered automatic weapons firing harpoon bullets made from an absurdly dense material, geometric shapes stabbing the air from all sides, or an ever-expanding liquid metal.
The latter’s effects were seen on Hayte.
A mere droplet splashed on his shoulder. It shivered and bit into his metallic chassis. At first, he did not notice it until it became apparent that his movements were being impaired. After removing his suit, he quickly realized that the gaps and seams between the layers of synthetic material were welded shut into a single block of steel.
Worse, was that the branches of this material had taken root inside of him. Attempting to remove the small growth would rip his body apart. The only option was the obvious one – die and revive.
Compound Binder was the unassuming name of this dark, leathery liquid. It belonged to the same Fallen Atelier who manufactured the Alpha Grade glasses. This compound was the Healing magic equivalent for machines, able to close openings and re-establish connections with a quick lather.
Put that on a human and it functioned like a parasitic cancer.
“Replication from the looks of it.” Jury noted. “You have [Cleanse], right Morgause?”
“[Cleanse] is not the appropriate magic since this belongs to the body.” Morgause corrected. “[Cure Disease] is the only effective way to remove these growths for good, aside from hacking the limb and allowing them to regrow. Barbarism at its finest. I used to think we’d keep using our gifted minds to solve diseases of the body rather than to resort to shortcuts.”
“For whom? The Healers, or the world?” Morgause was about to ramble on, but Horus cut off.
“Shut it for a moment blood-sucker. You hear that? Sounds like music.”
The revived Repenters didn’t hear anything. Neither did Morgause or Joy. Jury’s ears twitched on the other hand.
She recognized this jingle.
“A circus. The Blood Festival?”
“A Blood Festival.” Horus corrected. “It’s echoing. Good reason to start picking a weapon.”
She preemptively drew her blade. Her eyes narrowed as she openly contemplated whether it was worth fighting with the scabbard on or leaving it off given the nature of this anomaly.
“Usari wants to ask why.”
Hayte also didn’t seem to understand. Neither did Joy, and Morgause was a bit perplexed by this, though she trusted Horus’ instincts.
Jury then answered as she gave the room one last scan whilst leading the group forward.
“No, I get it. Think back to when we first entered this Level. We haven’t heard our own echoes. This place is sound proofed. Or when the alarms blared. We could only hear the ones closest to us.”
She explained, glancing at the walls.
The black and gold trees were replaced with an image of a blue…
Coin? Is that a magical circle?
She was taken aback. When had they changed? No, more importantly, when did they pass into what she now suspected was a Corrupted Zone?
“Relax.” Horus said, despite her being the one who called them to arms. “Not yet. The fact that we haven’t passed through a tangible zone either means we’re dealing with a pitiful Corrupted. Or… this is it. Our mission starts here.”
Usari knocked on her gun, as Hayte inspected his mechanical forearms where hissing noise could be heard. His hydraulics ran on his own biological fluids rather than others, as well as the undigested food from earlier.
Indeed, when revived, even the contents of their stomachs would be preserved, as well as their clothes, certain items such as personal weapons, etcetera – so long as it was psychologically considered a part of them.
“I thought White Midnight was supposed to be here. Not the Blood Festival.” Jury pointed out the discrepancy.
She then became aware that Infecta Rot may not be the only Impuritas here. That carnival tune, which sounded like gagging breaths, was unmistakably from the Blood Festival.
Eventually, the symbols along the walls turned into broken pentacles. Jury passed by an odd set of pentacles, not really understanding what they were. Morgause stared at them suspiciously. Calculations ran in her head as she took labored breaths.
Joy went to follow Jury ahead.
However –
“MAGICAL INSCRIPTIONS!” Morgause had to rip out her Nebulizer to warn Joy.
The mural of magical circles began to glow with a dangerous blue hue. The tune of coins dropping and various distractions played around them, attempting to draw their attention.
But Jury moved quickly. Her tail quickly brought Joy into the clear before a wave of a hundred blue chains shot out like spears. They ran from one end to the other. Woven between each chain-link were the faces of petrified people, embedded – no, fused with the chain and made to mimic play masks.
They entered and exited another magical circle just twenty meters away. One last magical circle glowed, and a laugh track played.
“Fuckers pre-prepared.” Horus smirked, slashing the wall with her sheathed sword to remove the magical circles. “They even had a fucking laugh track ready to fuck us over a tragedy. Haha~”
She deeply inhaled the air. The stench of coins, blood, and the disturbing musical choice caused her to smile wickedly.
“That’s them alright. Blood Festival.”
“… Since when could they use magical circles?” Jury rubbed Joy’s back.
But she couldn’t do that for long.
“J-Jur… Mam!”
She yelled, staring up as the mural above began to glow.
“More of them!?” Jury dodged.
The tip of her tail bloated before it fired a concentrated squirt of acid. It was so concentrated and congealed that it did not turn to mist despite how quickly it soared through the air. The orb-shaped ball of acid cleared over 500 meters with relative ease, and it melted the magical circles away.
More sprung up as parts of the floor rose, each containing a pre-prepared magical circle.
“This entire place is trapped. Heh. White Midnight must’ve taught them a few things!” Horus laughed, bashing the raised platforms with kicks. “Gotta be an army of these waiting for us ahead!”
“Usari’s bullets do nothing!” Usari started shooting distant magical circles instead.
“This is not the work of my brethren.” Hayte gave his missing arm a passing glance before brushing off a piece of torn clothing that was stuck to his stub.
Icara however, began scribbling into the air with a glowing finger. Seconds later, the rising platforms began to malfunction.
[Mana Bind]. This first spell disrupted the target’s flow of mana as long as the user was well versed with the underlaying principles of the target’s magic.
In this case, this clearly belonged to White Midnight, whose magic was well-documented. However, the fact that it did not completely block the mana meant one of three things:
The first was that the magic was simply far too powerful to stop.
The second was they had anti-tamper inscriptions to throw her off.
And finally… This was only partially White Midnight’s magic.
She quickly wrote:
“Don’t rely on my bindings. The enemy belongs to a trickster faction.”
She looked over at Morgause, then at Jury and wrote one last thing before she was split in two halves by a stray chain.
“Ignorance is their name.”
A wet clown horn mocked her death. One could only imagine the rage that would follow if one were to watch their loved one die in front of them, only to be ridiculed so childishly by their enemy.
“But ignorance is a part of being able to smile~ Why live in denial like our good friends from the River Nile?”
Then, to hear this overly vibrant voice speaking in rhymes…
It would drive anyone mad.
“Test. Test. Ah. The magical amplifiers are functioning. I know you can hear meeeee–!”
Jury slammed her fist into a pillar.
“Shut the fuck up.”
She instinctively crushed the correct pillar in a rare display of rage.
The stone crumbled as she dragged her hand out. Her tail made a sweeping blow, claiming another few dozen.
“Ju… Juju?” Joy couldn’t pronounce her name at all, settling on ‘Juju’ for simplicity. Her anger disappeared all at once as she smiled and cooped Joy into her arms.
But Horus shuddered.
Usari’s instincts caused her to make herself small.
“Joy~ You’re not hurt are you? Are you scared?”
“Mal…” Joy shook her head, but her trembling eyes said otherwise.
Jury could only smile at her and assure her that all was fine.
“Close your eyes. And your ears~ Can you do that for me?”
“Gam.”
“Beeeeep. Beeeeep. Hello again. Nice to see that you haven’t been discarded yet. But when all is done and set, you’ll bear witness to a sight you’ll soon regret. Or perhaps not, so do not fret. Strong intruders you are, but to think you’re anything but a threat?”
“BAHAHAHAHA.”
Shortly afterwards, the maniacal – clearly feminine voice – dropped an octave.
The music abruptly ceased. All semblance of joy, laughter, and ignorance was wrung out as their raw voice warned:
“How delusional.”
The music then returned, as did the carnival of infinitely appearing magical circles.
“… Hmmm… Frost put me in a tough spot making me bring you all along~”
Behind that smile.
That innocent, unassuming smile…
< Your Emotional State has Risen to the First State >
… belonged to a mother who would do anything to protect their child.
She reached into her Dimensional Storage and grasped a certain fuzzy cloak.
“We’re gonna break through. And we’re gonna make sushi out of this one!”
“… My Beholder. If I may ask? Why sushi, and what is sushi?” Morgause could not help but ask, though she grinned at the mention of such a sinister name.
It must have been a unique torture technique.
“I was just reminded of an annoying fish we had to fight.”
