253. Reaching For a Piece of a Fallen Star

The scenery was always the same.

Perhaps like the flames that arose from the chute, her emotions were quickly blowing up from the recesses of her gut into her throat. But even so, she remained entirely silent, drowning in the bloodshed like a possessed maniac.

“The amount of Nex you are producing is unbelievable, but something still continues to siphon it away. Something beyond our scope or reach. This occurred when we were in the presence of the Seed if I recall. But the effect has become profound now.” Nav suddenly warned, but it fell onto deaf ears.

To Reach a Star | HP: 2,450,000

“Brought into the ruins of Midas Company, I laid waiting for my beloved to return. The bitter cold of the North could no longer harm this body. My wish… was ever clear. So long as he could claim that Star…”

However many hands it once had were reduced to less than 20. It would not be long before they reached the top now. The Scarlet Logic forces no longer appeared towards the top, but even so, they still repeated the endless cycle of falling to their deaths to that ominous, pulsating darkness underneath.

“Almost – THERE!” Ber diced the beast apart, its HP dwindling so fast that it would not even be a minute before it perished.

“Jury! You have Retrocausality ready in case it hits another one of those transformations!?” Cer reminded Jury, receiving a firm nod.

“I have one and a half million Nex!” Jury was more than ready to wage her true power once more.

Bite after bite, torn page after page, a guttural sensation began to worm its way into Frost’s chest. [I Am Fire] had a pronounced effect on her emotions as she accumulated more and more Burn and Cinder stacks from merely existing. The agony was thankfully combatted by Pain Killer, and she could not begin to imagine what it would have felt like without it.

To Reach a Star | HP: 1,200,000

“… Then our wishes would come true. I wanted us to become inseparable. Despite the division of our race, I wanted to be with him. I sacrificed everything. If it all gets taken away… then what do I continue to live for?”

Frost severed every hand she could, sawing away at them with fury as her voice returned all at once. She began screaming rabidly to match her soul’s plight. All she wanted to do was finish this. To end Scarlet Logic, the Masterpiece, and the Heart…

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!”

“… it’s all going to be over. It’s all going to be fine. The Masterpiece isn’t going anywhere. What can they do without it?” Frost mentally repeated similar words of comfort in an oddly calm manner, contrast to her physical scream that would have caused an ordinary person’s throat to tear.

To Reach a Star | HP: 600,000

“So then, I recited my wish as I looked upon the Prince who, to my surprise, was no longer an enemy.”

To Reach a Star | HP: 200,000

“And I spoke from the heart.”

They were seconds away from reaching the end. With one lunge, the beast thrust itself into the clear skies with what remained of its hands. Suddenly, those hands reached for a light that blinded them all.

“What –!?”

“T-The sun!?”

“Tch –!?”

“Ouch…”

“What is happening now!?”

The triplets, Ignis and Jury reacted respectively, all the while Frost’s eyes adapted almost immediately as the final hand was severed clean off. It soared through the skies, reaching for that light which glowed like a falling star above the vast city scape in the distant.

That was the City of Clubs.

“… is that…?” Frost was at a loss for words, overwhelmed as she instinctively knew what that light was.

“I WISH WE WOULD FOREVER BE TOGETHER!”

To Reach a Star | HP: 0

Suddenly, the light exploded, and rays of light showered upon the City of Clubs, dispersing this mystical power as Frost’s emotions soared.

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< AN ADVENT HAS EMERGED >

< THE PIECE OF THE FALLEN STAR >

< The Third Advent >

< Wishes will be granted by its whimsical discretion >

< I know only so much Frost. But this is a terrible sign… If Scarlet Logic’s main forces are not here, then I believe we must suspect they will march towards the Advent >

Frost silently despaired. She already knew what the landscape underneath the fog looked like. To see another one form caused her eyes to tremor, as did the gold in her eyes. The mass reformed beneath before it flew overhead, morphing into a giant, hideous meatball that carried the faces of the Bride and the Groom.

< ACT V >

Her Wish and the Star-Crossed Lover
Librarians
< At Tale’s End >
LEVEL : 150     ORIGIN : Impuritas     HP : 16,200,000     ATT : 5,000     MAG ATT : 5,000
ATT DEF : 6,000     MAG DEF : 6,000     MP : 9,000     RESIST : 400     AGI : 5

Frost could only just barely keep her mind intact at the thought of another burning city. But thankfully, in this dire moment, she felt Jury’s hand cup hers midair as Nav delivered good news for the first time… forever.

< Beholder Carpalis has arranged a full mobilization. It had only just come to fruition. Unbeknownst to us, the Director has been sending messages through the Heralds >

“… Meaning…?” Frost whispered.

< Meaning Kissaria has allowed for a passage between the City of Diamonds to the City of Hearts through the Chained Theocracy’s Dimensional Seals behind ImpulseWork’s back. Snap says Beholder Carpalis kindly asks that you remove the seal from the City of Spades >

Hearing this caused Jury to smile with jubilation.

< She will be with you shortly. I’ve been relaying all events to her all this time >

Frost didn’t know how to describe the sensation in her heart. Was it relief? Thanks? Jubilation like Jury? She didn’t know.

All she knew was that it hurt. It made her want to scream. Shout. Burn things. But being in the air meant that she had nothing to take it out on. Slowly, they reached their apex and the newformed Masterpiece plummeted fast into the abyss.

Each of them latched onto the rims, gazing upon the bright world as Jury didn’t waste any time and casted Retrocausality. Surely… it would end thing. After that…

|| RETROCAUSALITY – SMITE ||

As the pale megaweapon emerged from a fracture in space, this time pointing downwards into the gaping entrance of the spire, Frost gazed off into the distance, all the while the others scrambled off to the sides.

“… I thought it would be over.” She deeply lamented as Cer cried out at the top of her lungs.

“IT GOT FUCKING BIGGER! GET OFF THE SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIRE!”

Indeed. As if to match its target’s ‘barrel’, the barrel of Jury’s weapon was significantly larger. And with a low-pitched whine –

– A holy beam fired from its colossal maw.