254. The Arrival of the Golden Hand

The pale beam came down to cleave the world into two. The holy smite banished the impurity that was the Central Apiary, beginning from the top as it carved its way to the bottom, chasing the Masterpiece.

Black remnants of the structure crumbled as only a shell remained, toppling onto neighboring spires as the others threw themselves from its edge. After hurdling a hundred meters, they tore into the closest spire, watching as everything disappeared into the grey smoke underneath. Frost in the meantime was incapable of averting her gaze from the light of the wish-granting Advent.

There was an unearthly aura radiating from it. The light it gave off was unnaturally bright. True to its name, it appeared like a piece of a celestial body, just without its immense heat or gravitational pull…

Or so she thought. Because the longer she consumed its light, the more an overbearing sense of desire took root within her heart. It was not like the yearning of a wish. Rather, it was more in line of wanting to reach that light for a purpose she could not begin to understand. Maybe she just wanted to keep it away from others. Or perhaps to claim it for Nav’s sake.

Whatever it was, the emphatic light had become the beacon for the Impuritas.

The light for the moths.

The sweet nectar for the ants.

The rotting carcass for the maggots.

Frost seemingly fell, her False Heart dragging her down like a ball and chain. She couldn’t bring herself to speak. The others followed, Jury’s grand lance still erasing the Central Apiary. It seemed so simple watching it fall as she did. If all it took was a Beholder’s strength to take down Scarlet Logic then someone carrying enough conviction… no morality could have prevented this.

Soon, she disappeared into the smoke, and was greeted with a world of flames. Walls of fire swept across S4, as various trains could be seen in the distance. It laid waste to everything in its path, leaving nothing but ashes, and morphing the world to its whims by the heat alone.

She was not blind to its devastation. The death it caused. The mystery that will follow.

Frost understood the weight of her choices. The False Heart was the metaphorical representation of it, dragging her down. It was unacceptable, but was there any other way? She did not choose to bear these flames, but in this moment, she knew that it was the only thing that would cleanse the city of the Impuritas and Scarlet Logic. To end all this suffering in this so called ‘Civilization’.

So they fell, riding along the walls with claws, winged blades, tails and whatever they had to control their descent. Once at the desolate roads of the City of Spades, they quickly maneuvered as the final chunks of the Central Apiary collapsed, stirring fog that reached hundreds of meters into the skies – a noxious haze that suffocated what was left of the Scarlet Logic.

“T-That was something else! Hazy, but breathable thanks to our stat uplift. It’s dense enough to be poisonous even to a Moon. This stuff is heavy.” Cer pointed out, swatting the air with a hand and her tail before she set her gaze to the sky where a faint glow pierced through the fog. “That was it, wasn’t it? Right Frost? Frost?”

“The Piece of the Fallen Star revealed itself. Why. How. What. It’s complicated things even more now.” Frost lamented before she briskly set off towards the distant, chained gates. “Tch… and I thought it would be over. That was the City of Clubs. How – JUST HOW many more people are going to be involved in this!?” Her voice was rife with emotion, bursting from within like a near broken dam.

Her voice was so loud that it managed to startle Ignis, who received a swift head pat by the grown Ber to comfort her.

Frost could not afford to waste any time, and the others agreed as they followed closely, rushing through the rubble and debris the size of homes littering the world like a maze. The fighting in the distance never ceased, and the carcass of Ignis’ colossal skeletal beast still hung atop the walls of the city.

The triplets briefly explained that the City of Clubs was home to the common folk of the Nex Megalopolis. People who were neither Adventurers nor particularly powerful. They were as ordinary as one could get, and the majority of them partook in academic schools, and civil roles.

But most importantly, it was where the majority of the healers resided, as well as being the territory belonging to Inflow Direct. Their city was the closest to what could be considered normal.

Away from the golden greed of the City of Diamonds.

The lust and endless aspirations of the City of Hearts.

And the conflicts of the City of Spades.

As Frost rapidly approached the gigantic chains, the Archivist muttered something.

“Um. Hello. D-doesn’t that sound a lot like ‘home’? Normal people like us were swept in the frenzy. It was mayhem. But! I remember you helped! I… I know I’ve been useless, but – You’re not! So… I’m sorry. I don’t know how to make you feel better. I thought I should say something.”

She was a sweet soul, and Frost appreciated her sentiments, almost smiling as she took the chains into both hands, feeling its surprisingly smooth yet cold exterior. They emitted an ominous glow, appearing ethereal as she tried to appraise it. But alas, her Appraise Object level was too low.

And so, she bit into it, speaking:

“I was just naive. The guilt’s there, but I’m not the kind of person to let it drag me around. We have more important things to do right now. Carpalis is coming. I’m thankful that we’re finally getting some help.”

“She’s on her way!” Jury exclaimed. “But only her. She wants to test the waters before anyone gets close.”

“Mm… Snap says they’re getting ready.” Ignis said, albeit somewhat awkwardly due to the presence of her father.

“A Beholder that thinks about her personnel? Isn’t that refreshing to hear?” Ber deeply sighed, folding her arms right beside Cer.

“Yeah. It’s fucking horrible now that we’ve seen it all. Just need to see what’s down there.” Cer was the first to investigate the hole, which burrowed so far underneath that it may as well have breached the Derma Layer. “The heartbeat is still there. Ready to take down one last heart!?” She amped herself up.

The chains shattered, and they were surprisingly immune to Frost’s heat. As if they were built to resist it. Each bite tasted of cold soot; a burnt, bitter taste. The chains finally fell, and she took one end and began to eat it like a giant churro as the others investigated the hole, with Jury waiting patiently by Frost’s side. Ber could be seen sending occasional glances at her, also worried about her state of mind.

They voiced their concerns, but Frost adamantly claimed that nothing was wrong. She was certain that her emotional instability was caused by being in the Fourth State and carrying an insane number of Cinder and Burn stacks.

Finally, once the chains rattled their last, she was greeted with a unique ability.

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Oblivion Lock >

< EFFECT: Expend Nex to create an Oblivion Lock. It will prevent most interactions with the Subcut Layer depending on the amount of Nex used >

< Cost: 5,000 NEX per second >

< Or in other words, it will prevent the usage of Dimensional Storage >

“… the Subcut…” Frost uttered watching the gates open, revealing nothing but darkness within.

Then, suddenly, she heard the sound of a train’s horn and a pair of vibrant headlights. She stepped clear of the path, shouting for everyone to get out of the way as a windowless train arrived, made of nothing but metal similar to the one found in the Train Graveyard.

But it was far flimsier, made from disposable materials. The metal warped as it arrived, stopping abruptly over the soil that caked the hidden gravitational rails. Its silent halt was jarring, but this was quickly alleviated as the singular cart’s only door rattled open, revealing a certain silver haired woman, dressing in a beautiful black dress, with a giant golden hand gripped around her waist like a belt.

“Hehe… Oh… Hello… Fro… Cinder? Hahaha. Get it? Because you’re on fire?”

The woman – Beholder Carpalis – grinned as she stepped off the train, only for it to abruptly shrivel into a giant ball of scrap. It appeared that temporary trains were used to travel between cities.

Frost was under the impression that only Train Conductors could operate them, but perhaps there was another method. But that didn’t matter to her right now. Because for the first time in a while, Frost finally had someone to lend a hand in their endeavor.

And there couldn’t have been anyone more fitting.

“Shall we begin? I’m caught up in the situation. But Magus hasn’t done it much justice… this scenery is as old as time.” Carpalis was unfazed by it all, but there was a stroke of sadness within her voice.

It was clear that this wasn’t the first time she had seen a city of this scale fall.

It went without saying that there was no greater relief than to have a full-fledged Beholder by their side, and the overjoyed smiles of the others proved this.

“I’m… so fucking glad you’re here. I didn’t expect it, but maybe I should’ve.” Frost slowly spoke, causing Carpalis to hum, her smile creaking widely.

“What matters is that people are in danger. As I’ve told you, Frost. Nothing causes me more grief than the loss of life. I love this city unconditionally. Therefore, I will offer my hand to protect it from beyond my normal jurisdiction of the City of Diamonds.”

Carpalis offered Frost her hand, and she gladly took it.

“There are no treaties for an Atelier that ceases to exist~ Now, let’s relinquish the slurry of souls underneath this City.”