25. Heightening Emotions

The onslaught of False Accusers were no more than fuel for Frost. All it took was a single bite to claim their pitiful lives. The Scrutiny condition set them up nicely for a critical strike, allowing even Jury to take them down in one clean scratch.

50 quickly became 100. The maw of Frost made quick work of them, slaughtering them in the tens as she punched through them as if they were made of straw. The feathered blades also cut them down nicely.

Her breathing was rabid. Every part of her body screamed in unity for one thing only. To devour all that stood in her path to victory. The 100 slain became 300 before long. The fledgling Accusers were of no match for their combined prowess. It was their specialty in dealing with hordes of enemies to the dismay of the One Thousand Eyed Bird, which quivered periodically as it watched on.

Their attacks were unable to pierce Frost’s flesh. In a few instances Jury was hit cleanly by the bony wings. Though the damage she sustained was negligible at best.

Still, Frost healed her anyway with Greater Healing as the System force-fed her information. Thankfully, she wasn’t as blinded by the bloodshed like last time.

Her mind was perfectly lucid.

The last 100 False Accusers formed from what remained of the pale waste. It perfectly matched the number of False Juries they had slain prior. Another 600 of these awaited them at some point deeper into the battle, but for now Frost could only focus on finishing them off.

< Jury is under the effects of Scrutiny >

< [Biased Verdict] >

Frost anticipated this. She had been ticking down an internal timer at every 10-minute interval and was already by Jury’s helpless side as she froze mid-swing against an Accuser. She smashed its face in with a punch and threw herself aside with Jury in hand. Her foresight allowed her to determine precisely where these scorched trees were going to sprout.

And instead of completely dodging them, Frost swung her leg around at the last tree that sprouted before her in a fit of irritation. It was felled in an instant and managed to crush a number of Accusers.

“Can you stand Jury!?”

“Good!” She recovered the moment the tree was destroyed.

“Then let’s keep it up! That fucking bird can still attack from there… how annoying.” Frost spat and grinded her teeth, salivating at the sight of the giant sack of meat which was the One Thousand Eyed Bird. “Irritating. Tch. I can’t wait to judge you… Just you wait.”

It was a shame that it was invulnerable because she would have loved to sink her teeth into it.

Invulnerability was a state that completely negated all attacks or a certain type of attack. It did not matter whether it was the smite of some divine creature or the maw of an all-consuming monster like herself; nothing could ever hope of damaging it.

How did she know this? Well, Frost was already at the heel of the giant bird and snapped her jaw at it. There was immense resistance and a sudden explosive force that repelled her backwards. A magic of some sort protected it entirely.

A classic physics-breaking moment if she had ever seen one.

“Lucky you! It must be nice being immune to damage! I’m sure you can feel pain too, can’t you!?” Frost yelled something quite unlike herself as she mocked the giant bird.

It only continued to quiver as it always had. She turned back to the Accusers and finished them off with Jury. When the last one was sliced into ribbons by Jury’s claw, the One Thousand Eyed Bird shook its head left and right before it suddenly charged straight for them again.

< [Prejudice] >

It was erratic. Wildly erratic. Its behavior shifted almost entirely now, like it was acting out of pure desperation. It ran at full charge and allowed its sheer weight to drag it further into the forest, smashing through dozens of trees with tremendous power.

Its maw was left agape the entire time, as if hoping for something – anything to be scooped up.

“What’s wrong with you!? Are you afraid!? What the hell are you afraid for!? You tried to judge me, so why are you so afraid now that you’re about to be judged!?” Frost roared in response, her emotions somehow reaching to even greater heights.

She could not explain the sensation that overcame her, only that it caused her to act purely out of emotion alone.

What this emotion was remained unknown to her. But it was powerful. More powerful than anything she had ever experienced before.

< The Will of the Amalgam has Risen to the Second State >

< There are no defeated Eternal Night Corrupted to borrow Active or Passive Skills from >

< CONDITION : Minor emotional discharge until combat has concluded. Will of the Amalgam state decreases by all levels after battle concludes. State may also decrease by one level when heightened emotional state lowers >

This explained Frost’s sudden shift in tone. Her hunger was directed to something other than the flesh of the Corrupted, but she could not put her finger on what it was. The emotions that surged through her; that compelled her to act in such a way was not of wrath or the desire to win.

There was something that drove her deep within her soul.

“False alibies –” Frost yelled as she began the cycle of slaughtering the False Juries alongside her closest companion, felling them faster than ever before.

“– False Accusers –” The giant bird eventually found its way towards them.

A massive section of the forest was destroyed by its blind clumsiness. At least dozens of trees laid down their lives for this bird.

< [Prejudice] >

“– Your prejudice… What does it all mean!? Why do you judge when you cannot see anything!?”

The bird, to her surprise, did not even run straight at them. At some point it diverted its attention elsewhere and began to smash into every tree it could find, enacting its prejudice haphazardly. Frost’s words carried no inherent power.

She was merely spewing whatever came to her mind without filter. These words came from the heart more than anything, driven by the Will of the Amalgam that sought… sought?

What did it seek? What do I ‘want’…? What am I so starved of right now!?

“Frost…”

“Jury! Don’t relent! Keep on whittling down its numbers until there is nothing left!”

“Jury big good! Skewer bad beast!” Jury replied with a similar energy as they both thrust themselves into the air again completely uncontested by the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

The sound of shattering glass and the thunderous crack of felled trees became the ambience of the Black Forest. Their cacophony of only battle grew with intensity with every passing minute. The emotional tension in the strings of Frost’s heart were tugged unlike ever before as she salivated for a meal that she did not understand herself.

Prejudice… your damned prejudice lays waste to everything that isn’t even a part of our fight. Look at you judge everything in your path… and yet it was I who was called a monster. To be judged for no wrongdoing – to be judged for something I had no control of – to be judged for ‘what’ I am –

< [Biased Verdict] >

< [Prejudice] >

“CAN YOU EVEN CALL THAT A FAIR JUDGEMENT!?” Frost roared as the scorched trees returned. “YOU KNOW IT IS PREJUDICE YOURSELF!”

But she didn’t run away this time. She merely sidestepped them as they emerged and cut them down from their roots one by one.

The giant bird had intended to ensnare her and then charge in to bite her. But it severely underestimated Frost to a terrifying degree. Who was only supposed to be nearly a third of its level stood far higher than the beast could ever imagine, for this was no normal human or being for that matter.

Frost was an Archetype.

An Archetype with a human heart, and eyes belonging to the Corrupted denizens of the Black Forest.

Jury managed to flee the scene and continue her killing spree above while Frost stared down the approaching bird with unparalleled scrutiny. She yearned to judge it, for the bird had wronged her and all those in this forest with its prejudice.

She abruptly moved from its line of attack and watched it stride into the forest again.

And again.

And again.

The beast cried every hundred False Juries that shattered into the pile underneath, becoming more unhinged in the process. The thorns dug deeper into its coated flesh, nearly becoming one with it, bearing a near uncanny resemblance to a giant Accused.

After cycles of Jury’s scrutiny, the scorched trees, and its clumsy prejudice – another 400 False Juries were extinguished. And so, the bird waddled back into the center and cried:

“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

< [Fear of Retribution] >

It happened again. A shockwave thrust the last 200 bubbles even higher now. The waste convulsed and slithered into clumps, forming the pale birds that were the Innocents.

However, the names of 400 of these beings were different.

False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1
False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1
False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1
False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1      False Witness | HP: 1