18. The Forest of Eyes

“It keeps on going.” Frost’s voice broke the stagnant air.

They had been walking for 2 days now. The Accused steadily rose in numbers, but after the next day they almost completely vanished. It was just them now; all alone in this slanted abyss.

Frost had to wonder if they were getting closer at all. It was impossible to tell. The glowing forest never grew any closer. But she had no other direction to follow other than to descend.

During these silent days Frost took the time to teach Jury some new words. Expanding her vocabulary was the first step to understanding her better, as well as to allow her to express herself. Because as good as Frost was at reading faces, she was far from perfect.

“Eat.”

“Tired.”

“Good.”

“Bad.”

“Hurt.”

“Jury.”

These were the few words Jury managed to nail down. The context and meaning were still a work in progress since there weren’t many examples to use in this empty place. As expected, it occasionally resulted in a mass jumble of words like how she rearranged the words of her signature phrase.

The silence was deafening. Even the ruffling of their feathered ‘clothing’ was lost in the thick of the silence. The days passed by in a way that made little sense to her. It felt like her sense of time was finally being skewed the longer she stayed here.

Days are passing in the blink of an eye. Do dungeons or these Corrupted areas usually take days to complete?

“It ultimately depends on the Corrupted and whoever has the misfortune of wandering into their domains. If you sent someone to the bottom of a highly ranked dungeon, then years becomes the second likely answer. Death is the first.”

Makes sense. There wouldn’t be a way for them to get out normally. Iscario probably thought the same thing when he brought me here. Tch… He must have been confident I would either die or be stuck in an endless loop of suffering. Not that this is much different anyway.

Frost mentally spat; yearning for the day to claim that thing’s life.

* * *

Jury’s ration of Accused shells and innards were long gone now. It only took a single glance to tell just how starved she was. Never mind Frost herself, who constantly quarreled with her hunger until the eve of the next day.

A total of 5 days passed before the scenery began to shift for the better. The black canopy of an endless forest sprawled as far as the eye could see. These trees carried thick bouquets of black leaves on their branches, creating an incredible ceiling that shimmered with one thousand glowing lights.

The slope eventually returned to a flat plane. Looking back the way they came Frost imagined that they were in some sort of valley. The trees of the forest were distributed evenly to an uncanny degree. It hardly felt natural. But then again, what was natural about this place?

She took a deep breath and moved onwards, knowing that there was only one thing to do.

“Jury. Let’s find something to eat.” Frost said as they approached the tree lines.

“Eat bad skewered.” She nodded, clutching her stomach with one hand.

The first step she took into the magical forest felt odd. It was like she was trespassing into some sacred territory. In that moment she could sense the gaze of one thousand eyes scrutinizing her every movement, like she was constantly being judged on the spot.

Many silhouettes of creatures roamed within the forest. It was lit enough to see considerably further away now. But that was only the beginning of the abnormalities.

Accusers could be seen hunting a pack of Accused, as flocks of Witnesses merely watched on. A witch-hunt of sorts unraveled before their very eyes. But Frost and Jury didn’t have time to spectate. The opportunity for free food was laid bare for the taking, and so, they took it.

All of it.

Frost charged in and began to wreak havoc onto the Accused, crushing their shells one by one like pomegranates. Jury moved in and cleanly killed the Accusers in a handful of hits. Just like Frost, Jury had also been gaining levels in her offensive skills. To what degree was however unknown.

When all that was left were the 30 or so witnesses, Frost instantly began to consume the aftermath all in the audience of these birds. She was too hungry to even bother with them. Also, it was not like they could do anything either.

The Witnesses were a terribly sad existence.

Jury feasted on their remains as well, gobbling up whatever was laid in front of her almost as quickly as Frost herself. It was a putrid banquette fit only for monsters. But Frost could only see two people trying to survive in this hellish place.

When they were done, the Witnesses were harvested for their meat and feathers into the Dimensional Storage.

“[Cleanse]. Jury, hold still for a second. Let me clean you. [Cleanse].”

Cleanse had the ability to also remove dirt and foreign objects stuck to the body. It helped in the keeping them clean, although it didn’t really matter to begin with. Infection was easily controlled with her healing skills anyway.

Frost honestly just didn’t want to be caked in blood, soil, and organs all the time.

“Better?” She asked.

“Good!” Jury replied with a hefty nod, making Frost smile.

“I thought you’d like to get cleaned up. We can’t get out of here any faster, huh? One thousand different lights in every direction… I think our best bet might be following one. What do you think, System?”

“Avoid the brightest one.” The System reminded.

I haven’t lost my mind enough to willingly leap at the One Thousand Eyed Bird. Not yet at least. 10,000 ATT… 300,000 HP. I’m half expecting to just explode if it so happens to graze me…

“… plus, we don’t know how it attacks either.” Frost finished before she set her sights towards the closest glowing eye.

They were like golden will o’ the wisps in a way. Little beacons of hope that beaconed her to follow. A part of her wondered if it was the right call to hunt these things. Was it a lure? Bait? A trap; like the light of an angler fish? She didn’t know.

But seeing as they had absolutely no other information aside from ‘Enact Judgement’, she had no choice but to go forward as she had always done.

* * *

The forest didn’t change much. The same giant trees that spanned upwards of 10 meters into the air were still spaced out a few meters apart. They were never too close or too far.

The light thankfully grew in intensity within only the first hour of travelling. The same denizens of the forest fought amongst themselves, becoming a common scenery no matter where they went.

In due time the creatures then disappeared as the trees began to express signs of combat. Giant, one-meter-long thorns littered many of these trees along the bark that faced the light. Upon closer inspection Frost realized that these thorns did not grow directly from the trees but were lodged in by an external force.

No. It was more than that. They looked like projectiles.

“[Appraise Object].”

< Level is too low >

Frost clicked her tongue in annoyance. It was frankly impossible to progress Appraise Object in this place. Everything was too high levelled to appraise. She kept her eyes glued to the direction of the light, assessing every movement ahead for any signs of danger.

Nothing but the light could be seen. Step after step, minute after minute – the group of two eventually made it to what appeared to be a large clearing. One of the burnt trees from the previous forests stood erect in the center.

But what was attached to it caused Frost’s heart to sink.

“J-Jury? That’s… another Jury?” Frost was unable to believe her eyes. “I-I thought you were the only one? Ugh… Shit. F-fuck…” She nearly hurled.

She thought Jury was the only one of her kind in this forest. But that was at the fault of her own naivety. She realized now that she should have known one thousand more of them existed. The beacon of light that shone brightly like a star were in fact its eyes.

Frost’s hand fount itself onto Jury’s arm. She wanted to know if this Jury was still here. Thankfully, the warmth was real, and Jury even grasped onto her hand to assure her of this.

Of all the things that hit her the hardest, it was this. The sight of seeing the child-like Jury hung along its branches caused unspeakable levels of emotion to brew in her chest.

It was despicable.

Hanged Jury
LEVEL : 65     ORIGIN : Trauma     HP : 0     ATT : 0     MAG ATT : 0     AGI : 0

< CONDITION : Cannot be killed or damaged >

< DEFEAT REQUIREMENT : Set it free >

< Frost… the Will of the Amalgam’s about to hit the first state again >

“So be it… let me destroy whatever the fuck that tree is.”

However, the Hanged Jury was not the only creature present. In the corner of her eye, she saw it. A giant four-legged bird donned in a thick layer of long feathers. But that was not all. Its chest suddenly split open like the petals of a flower, revealing a layer of teeth similar to the thorns they passed earlier, and a black eye that sat deep in its abyssal maw.

Righteousness
LEVEL : 70     ORIGIN : Disorder     HP : 5,000     ATT : 500     MAG ATT : 500     AGI : 2