132. A Clash of Hearts

The emotions in her heart exploded in spectacular fashion. Her Touch of Golds licked the air further than ever before; her total body span now exceeding 100 meters from one end to the other.

They slithered through the narrow passages, latched onto walls and mounds, and flicked chaotically in tune with her burning heart. And yet the destruction she caused was minimal. Horrified screams naturally engulfed the city at the mere sight of the behemoth; but those that were touched by the golden tentacles were bestowed with a foreign, longing warmth.

It was a comfort that their ‘home’ could never grant them.

Despite Frost’s rage and the emotions that caused tens of thousands of Nex to accumulate; she was not so ignorant to trample on the weak that surrounded them in this battlefield. She demonstrated a fine level of control over the Touch of Golds.

And yet despite how gentle it all appeared, it did not detract from the unbelievable potential she possessed. The priority was to sever the Instruments. It would be easier to simply… annihilate them.

But Frost was not like the Impuritas… A false, so-called ruler… A so-called ‘star’ that cared little for the suffering of others.

Leitmotif’s perspective of civilization was unacceptable.

The Bloody Herring’s existence was unacceptable.

Frost, from the deepest recesses of her blazing heart, wished to erase them from the face of the world. Thankfully, she was not the only one. Her desire resonated with her closest companions, further increasing their stats thanks to the Beaten Desires Etched Coin.

“Q-Quite the voice… You’re… not hurting them. That gentleness. How…?” Bhodie was at a total loss for words as she witnessed Frost’s near omnipotent prowess. While her companions unfortunately could not spare all those in their path, Frost could manage her own strength.

“That’s Frost you’re talking about! Since the start… since we first met, she’s never wanted to hurt anyone!” Jury shouted for the world to hear as she zipped through the city lanes like a streak of light.

LEVEL : 125     < Aspiring Beholder >
NAME : Jury     HP : 85,000 ^40/Min     MP : 5,000 ^5/Min     AGI : 200 (Limit)     RESIST : 220 (+45) AGE : 26     ATT : 7,500     ATT DEF : 3,060 (+300)     O : 105     D : 40
ORIGIN : Original     MAG ATT : 0     MAG DEF : 1,520 (+300)     S : 0     E : 0

“A scary monster told her to run away! But she took its hand and saved it from its lonely forest! And they weren’t the only one! Snap… Ignis as well! That’s the kind of person Frost is! Don’t you dare –!” The ticking of Jury’s heart travelled through the Touch of Gold.

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< “Their desires must be unified. But it must first be suppressed.” >

< “Dreaming of a past immortalized in our mother’s lullabies. We yearn for that past and aspirate in our sleep, hoping to never wake up.” >

As frightening as that enigmatic heartbeat was to Frost, it was also comforting in its own right. Her beating became erratic, as did everyone else’s. Frost could feel everything through her Touch of Golds as her companions bestowed hell onto this twisted city.

Jury and Res were afflicted the strongest by this Corrupted Skill as jets of black smoke were flung across the city skies, enshrouding the light that Frost emitted from the rest of the layers above. Everyone unanimously took 15,000 damage as a result of their resistance.

However – Their hearts could not be suppressed. As much as it wavered, it only served to add fuel to their impassioned hearts.

“DON’T YOU DARE COMPARE YOURSELF TO FROST! People like you… Who don’t try to see what’s wrong themselves, don’t have the right to judge anyone!” Jury sternly defended Frost, understanding the depths of her lover’s lament when it came to the loss of life.

“Untuned blasphemy. Only the truly Divine may judge! That extinct race will never bless the likes of you, who openly embrace the Amalgam! That form – For you take on the bodies of the Corrupted is unfair for us who wish to further achieve our greater self!”

The hideous, double voice announced.

If only Leitmotif knew who he was talking to.

But it was for the best that he didn’t.

“Don’t blame me for what you’ve turned yourself into! What makes you think that’s my problem!? You call me the destroyer for your own convenience because you can’t, for the life of you, accept that maybe you’re the ones who are destroying everything!” Frost argued, unable to contain her emotions. She was like a volcano, and every word that left her lips were tephra.

Ignis, Cer, Ber and Res grinned with bared teeth to Frost’s words as Bhodie and the Scarlet Healer could only watch on as if unable to believe their eyes.

“I’ve seen… I’ve been to hell and back. Monsters that make people bleed just by looking at them. But you are so beautiful.” Ponea clasped her hands together as if offering a prayer.

“Amalgam… That Prophecy of fire. But that desire to protect… They were wrong all along.” Bhodie whispered.

< [Beaten Desires] >

“The irony is that you still cannot see the devastation you inflict on our beautiful city!? OUR CITY OF VOCALS!?”

“Theirs… This – THIS IS YOUR CITY. NOT THEIRS! THIS – YOUR PARADISE IS THEIR HELL! IF YOUR PROPHECY IS ABOUT ITS DESTRUCTION – THEN IT’S A SELF-FULFILLING PROPHECY, DRIVEN BY YOUR GREED. YOUR DESIRES! I WOULD HAVE NEVER STEPPED FOOT HERE IF IT WEREN’T FOR THAT STAR’S BETRAYAL!” Frost’s voice was omnipresent.

As the war waged within the city, streaks of magical gunfire struck down the approaching onslaught of Suppressors. Despite the immense range her Hired Arm showcased impeccable accuracy, and with her, arrived a steady bombardment of magical missiles.

Broker’s Arms.

Shards of ice.

Balls of fire.

Hails of rock.

And storms of arrows were flung from underneath the giant False Diamond to suppress the Suppressors. Her Hired Arm battled amid it all, and she created a buffer that allowed the Instruments to flee into the Triple Paw Complex whilst the Suppressors remained at the back.

The sight was utterly mesmerizing.

“It’s no different from Paradise! I… I will destroy your heaven, and free them all from their suffering! Why should someone’s paradise be the source of another’s TORMENT!? If that’s what civilization’s about… THEN WE ALL – MUST – CHANGE IT!”

< [Unwilling Unity] >

< “The smaller hearts converged into one big heart that we call called our own… To castrate us of our ability to reach for the things we cannot see.” >

Res suddenly unleashed a destructive fleet of electrical rays into the darkened sky. They cut through the clouds like arrows, dispersing the darkness as they bombarded the city center, the spire, and struck a portion of the emphatic star above.

At the same time, the Suppressors and now the Depravers rushed into one another, alongside the Instruments. A choir of horrific cries emerged from everywhere at once as their bodies fused into one; with one amalgamated heart beating for them all.

Breathless
AFFINITY : Civilization
LEVEL : 140     ORIGIN : Trauma     HP : 65,000     ATT : 5,200     MAG ATT : 1,200
ATT DEF : 3,200     MAG DEF : 4,000     MP : 1,400     RESIST : 500     AGI : 25

The beast of amalgamated flesh was also molded into a heart with as many feet and arms as were absorbed. These creatures now began to run around, gathering people into their ever-growing mass as they hoarsely sung for Leitmotif’s symphony.

Jury was fast to sever the ties of the Instruments before they could be caught. It turned out that only Instruments could be absorbed, not regular people. Furthermore, the one that spawned directly before Frost’s eyes was squashed into a fine paste by multiple tentacles wrapped into one, giant branch.

It was effectively devoured on the spot, and what remained was a pool of blood and a gorge that ran meters deep.

She did not gain any abilities, unfortunately.

“But your efforts will be for naught. Your hands won’t reach us. Before long we would have already eliminated that Beholder. Whilst you pretend to rescue lives; that Beholder will perish rather than to watch all she adores crumble before her eyes! Farewell, Amalgam.”

His voice disappeared, replaced by the resuming songs.

They were on a timer now. Frost did not know how long they had left until they disappeared, likely using the coins or the stolen Train Core. Frost was about to propel them all straight into the city’s heights until layers upon layers of black smog engulfed their skies, rapidly damaging them as Frost focused solely on out healing it.

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< [Shattered Dreams] >

< Grand Healing V >

< Restores 3,500 HP to self or target in contact. There is no wound it cannot heal over time >

< Cost: 50 MP >

This, coupled with their doubled stats and the passive healing of Touch of the Black Dove allowed them to remain alive. The damage applied at every 3 second intervals, and Frost was easily capable of healing upwards of a dozen times within that timeframe.

It was just a shame that her own stats weren’t doubled.

Furthermore, Bhodie seemed to be immune to this entirely, much like the civilians. And so, she kindly asked:

“Why can’t you take any damage?”

“I-I don’t know! But I’ve been exposed to that giant Heart that turned us into this so – Th-That must be it!” She could no longer form proper sentences.

Frost’s overbearing presence was too much for her feeble mind to comprehend, like her existence was a cognition hazard to the ordinary. But Bhodie was an Impuritas. She likely had some sort of ability that made them immune to the effects, as Ayel pointed out beforehand that the Painters were strangely resistant to the Heart of Ours.

Perhaps it was in the same vein that L.S, Broker and the Bloody Herring were immune to the Greed Counter. Even though they were separated by countless walls they should have been targeted by that Corrupted, and not to mention that she could not even see their values or what could bribe their hearts.

The abilities she gathered from the Civilization Corrupted were fickle at best. She had to attribute it to their nullified RESIST stat. In the first place, it was unknown just what the conditions were to activate these abilities.

It could be hidden, just like the Realization criteria.

In the end, she could only ask Bhodie to do the one thing that they could not afford to do themselves. Not when so much more was now on the line.

“Do you want these people to live?” Frost solemnly asked.

“I do. These people… Should not have their hearts taken away. The heart should be inspired.” She uttered, her philosophy mirroring that of Ayel, and presumably the rest of the Painters.

Satisfied with that answer, and as her feathers rustled, Frost asked her to lead as many people as she could out. Bhodie knew the whereabouts of the imprisoned Painters, and with their combined effort, the evacuation rate would increase exponentially.

After all, the city was massive, and Frost was not truly omnipresent. That way, the risk of harming innocent lives would be significantly reduced, and they’d finally be allowed to utilize their powers to their fullest extent.

Frost set her sights on Leitmotif’s citadel.

They needed to acquire that Train Core to thwart their plan. That way, they’d have all the time in the world to deal with the Heart of Ours.