39. The Listening Bird

< CONDITION: The Listening Bird can only be damaged by the loudest. The most silent will be forced to expose their sins when the Listening Bird demands >

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Listening Bird is defeated when its HP reaches 0 >

An unharmonious collection of screams shook the entire forest. The voices of hundreds emerged from the depths ahead as Frost and Jury quickly rushed back to the caravans to warn them of the threat. She entrusted the lives of the women to the Decanid and its fellow Anids.

Only the Octanids remained, standing guard over the caravan as people began to gather outside in utter confusion. Their arms were primed for battle, but they did not know what this enemy truly was.

“THERE IS A CORRUPTED COMING! IF YOU CAN’T FIGHT THEN STAY INSIDE OF THE CARAVANS!” Frost’s roar was heard by all.

The confusion persisted, with some questioning the legitimacy of this information while others, like Furio and Via, instantly prepared themselves for the worst and began to fortify their position.

“Jury! We’re heading straight for them!” Frost exclaimed. “Keep your voice up! The condition wants us to keep shouting!”

“Right beside you!” She nodded, finally revealing her clawed hand in all its magnificent glory. “It’s a Monsoon-classed Corrupted! It won’t be nearly as hard as the big, skewered beast!”

“I had a feeling as well! Plus, it’s HP is considerably lower! But I’m more concerned about them than us.” Frost admitted.

The reason why they dashed head-first into the fray was to keep the Corrupted as far away as possible from the others. There was no telling what it was capable of. Not to Jury or herself, but rather to normal people.

People who did not possess ridiculously high health pools like themselves.

They moved like bullets in the eyes of the Adventurers. Even the level 75 Furio found it difficult to gauge their speed. Frost’s image of a healer wavered before their eyes, but that was the least of their worries, as the screams continued to grow louder.

And second later, Frost and Jury came face to face with a truly horrific enemy.

A 2-meter-tall bird emerged from the reddened fog, draped in a cloak of grey feathers. Its wings were non-existent, and neither did it possess any obvious limbs. The cloak dragged along the dirt, hiding its legs as it cocked its owl-like head to the side.

Its eyes were hollow, and from its ears oozed blood that formed coagulated letters as it dripped onto its shoulder. These letters moved around its cloak, forming incoherent nonsense as it laughed with a permanent, twisted smile.

“AH HA HA HA HA HA!” It laughed as Frost yelled out at the top of her lungs in response, adhering closely to the condition. She only just managed to beat out the combined screams, and with a devastating [Double Punch], she cleanly mashed her fist into the face of the Corrupted.

Listening Bird | HP: 72,650

Her punch was easily strong enough to send it flying. Thankfully, she had gripped it with her free hand and imprisoned it here with every intention to pummel it to death. Jury cleaved into its feathers with relative ease as they both exchanged the intensity of their shouts.

Unlike the One Thousand Eyed Bird, these feathers were relatively normal.

“AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!” It laughed as it had its body beaten, stabbed, cut, and gnawed off by Frost’s maw.

It tasted of iron. Rich, bitter iron, and her jaw sunk into it like it was made of a congealed liquid.

She quickly realized that this creature lacked any DEF stats. All her attacks were hitting their maximum values. Yet there was hardly any damage on its body to show for these. To her shock, it simply regenerated its lost body parts with the coagulated words, as if its entire body was composed of this like a fantasy slime.

Additionally, it also seemed to be immune to her Scrutiny.

Listening Bird | HP: 61,000

< “They were always so happy to see us… so loud as well.” >

Nav recited these words from nowhere.

“Nav!?” Jury exclaimed, confused by these words.

“What are you talking about!? Is it going to attack!?” Frost became wary, even though her foresight saw nothing of the sort.

“No… These are from the Corrupted itself. Something is being relayed to me by it!”

Frost had no idea what it meant until she had a closer look at the Listening Bird. The letters that dripped from its ears formed this exact phrase along its feathered coat. Before she could understand it any further, the sea of screams suddenly caught up to them.

Their attacks were instantly rendered useless, for they could no longer beat out the combined screams. Something then emerged from the reddened fog. Abominations of flesh screamed as they dragged themselves forward, all missing their eyes as their mouths were permanently pried open, and their skins peeled to show only the vibrant-red flesh underneath.

In the center of their chest was a heart in the shape of a bitten apple.

Screaming Gallery

LEVEL : 25     AFFINITY : Judgement     ORIGIN : Trauma     HP : 50
ATT : 120     MAG ATT : 0     AGI : 6

“W-What the fuck… are those…?” Frost uttered. “What is a Screaming Gallery…?”

“Those are – they’re people!” Jury yelled at the exact same time a prompt appeared.

< [Dismissed Confession] >

A sudden surge of pain engulfed Frost in her briefest moment of silence. The Listening Bird used this opportunity to flee from her clutches with immense speed.

“Frost!? What’s happening to you!?” Jury cried as Frost fell to her knees, clutching at her throat as she found herself compelled to utter terrible deeds that he had never committed.

This was not something her foresight could have seen. Her foresight only allowed her to see visible attacks as well as any observable changes in the future, including the state of herself.

However, this creature attacked her without moving once. And even though she saw herself fall, she failed to understand the reason why this occurred until it was too late.

“AGH… J-JURY… GO… CHASE IT!” She heavily resisted this urge to confess as she felt her flesh peel from underneath her wear. Before long blood began to drip as she looked up at Jury with eyes assuring her that she was fine. “LEAVE ME HERE! G-GO! I’ll… COME SOON ENOUGH!”

She did not heal herself. Not until she activated the Will of the Amalgam.

“Just be careful Frost!” Jury, understanding the severity of the situation, instantly gave chase to the Listening Bird. “Its speed is – why is that thing so fast!?”

It did not even run. Rather, it flung itself from tree to tree like an oversized jumping spider.

< [Unlying Tablet] >

The coagulated letters dropped onto the ground as it moved erratically, forming giant stones with red, etched text that hummed with a choir of unintelligible confessions.

Invisible chains pinned Frost to the ground as she periodically took damage. A total of 2,000 HP was depleted. Her massive HP pool gave her immense leverage against the Listening Bird, as did Jury’s.

But the same could not be said about the people behind them.

The screams of the Screaming Gallery were at their loudest as they surrounded her, screaming out at the top of their lungs. There were hundreds, each of varying heights, weights, age, and race.

But the one thing they all had in common were their skinless flesh, and the apple-shaped heart.

It was then when Frost realized why they were screaming. They were not so much the agony. Rather, they were screaming to drown out the sound of everything else. That way it would be impossible to damage the Listen Bird.

Even though she was freed from her chains, Frost felt the weight of the world rest atop her shoulders. These people must have been turned into these abominations by the Listening Bird. From how her flesh peeled to the insane drive that compelled her to scream like them – she realized something that caused her heart to wrench.

< The Will of the Amalgam Has Been Raised to the First State >

< There are no defeated Monsoon or lower Corrupted to draw skills from >

< CONDITION: Insatiable hunger… >

She salivated. But she could not bring herself to see these things, who were originally people, as food. Rather, she did the only thing she could do to end their suffering. Since [Cure Disease] and the rest of her healing magic failed to work on them, she, with a heavy heart, eliminated them one by one in a fit of rage as her breathing became unstable.

Her head told her they were no longer people. That they were dead. But her heart insisted that they were. Ultimately, they were Corrupted. They were already dead, but their cadavers and a piece of them were repurposed by the Listening Bird.

No matter how many she killed it was never enough, and so, she found herself retreating towards the caravan where the others garrisoned themselves for the oncoming attack. She had no skills or magic capable of taking multiple out at once.

It would take far too long for her to do alone. Jury was also incapable of accomplishing this feat quickly. But there was a certain red-haired Adventurer who could help immensely.

They were essentially fighting a clock. A clock that periodically chose the most silent to undergo a tragic transformation.

And just as she tried to relay this information – a scream broke out from within their ranks. One of the 3-meter-high tablets rose in between the parked caravans.

< [Sinless Repent] >

A man screamed out at the top of his lungs.

“I never di… I… I AAAAAAH! Y-You’re right! How… how could I have been so blind! It’s written there! I –I ATE IT! I ATE THE APPLEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! THE TEXT IS RIGHT! I WILL WEAR EXPOSE MY MISDEEDS RIGHT NOOOOOOOW –!”

Pop.

The sound of a fleshy explosion caused hysteria to break loose as people instantly scattered all over the place, fearing for their lives. In the place the man was now a Screaming Gallery. And in its chest was the same, apple-shaped heart.

Frost’s hunch was correct.

This was not going to be a dance of life and death between her and the Corrupted.

It was going to be theirs.