273. The Dawn of an Atelier War

Act X’s initiative prepared the City of Clubs to receive the full brunt of Scarlet Logic’s assault. All Atelier personnel involved with the defense rapidly began mobilizing across all Sectors when the news broke out. Justica Arms Peace Flocks that acted as the City of Clubs judiciary ceased all activity and took up their arms.

They marched through the crowded streets, warning all residents with a masked Augurist who played their dreaded trumpet. Caldera Industries lackeys abandoned their surveying tools after L.S explained that the Impuritas – a new coined term for the Dungeons – were utilizing spatial distortions to travel, rather than burrowing underneath their feet.

Detecting them was but impossible. All they could do was spread themselves out as the White Wing sat perched atop the Asclepein, counting down each passing second on her golden pocket watch with a telling smile.

The Interpreter could not provide appropriate details of the invasion regarding the Impuritas due to the impending emergence of the Advent of Desire. Advents tended to impede their predictions in a manner that appeared as a warning.

C3 and C4 were to be entirely abandoned. This was not merely because of Scarlet Logic’s assault, which amused the White Wing as she watched a small, red dot run along the distant spire belonging to the City of Spades.

And then, in the next instance, a tear in space appeared overhead where a giant cannon fired its destructive beam. It was also at this moment when a light appeared over the City of Clubs. A star had fallen into their skies as black beams of light assaulted the world over the City of Spades, which slowly spread across the Nex Megalopolis.

The White Wing clasped at the distant light of the Piece of the Fallen Star, cusping it into her palms before she let it sift through her fingertips.

“We all took the fall for you because of your one bite, Elysia. Wishes are not meant to be achieved. They’re meant to inspire. To be a star for people to follow in their darkest nights, when lost in the contrived forests of their world. But we captured it. Took pieces of that emphatic light apart. O Elysia. Do you remember the woes of the fallen, captured star?”

The melancholy was thicker than her blood as she watched the world seemingly fall apart. Her tails shaped themselves into a wing, which complemented a real feathered wing which materialized behind her left shoulder. Her name as the White Wing was derived from the only wing she had left.

Pale, pure feathers showered the skies as the hatches below opened, revealing metal spheres injected with vast amounts of fluid. Swashing within, as steam began to seep along the surface, were Infusions.

Infusion L – Lance to be precise.

“It’s time. I wonder if you’re any different from the Original, Jury.”

She spoke longingly, with hatred and optimism. It was unclear how she felt towards Jury, but more than anything, her eyes could not be torn away from the one figure Angels were never meant to touch.

“Frost. The irony…”

* * *

Swaths of civilians were brought into designated bunkers as flaming debris riddled their homes above. Each were to adorn a pale coat, with a hood that concealed their eyes, and a cloth gag to prevent them from screaming.

Everyone partially knew what was going to happen. It was their civil duty to follow through with the procedure for they had agreed to this in order to live as citizens on the outskirts of the City of Clubs. They were funneled into a pitch-black chamber, made to stand shoulder to shoulder as the elderly trembled, and children hopped around with optimism.

They were here for one purpose.

And that was to sacrifice an organ.

Fastened to their back was a device that pricked them with multiple needles. Their blood was drawn into one of many thousands of tubes that ran underneath the city, funneled straight to Inflow Direct’s headquarters, and then were pumped into an individual capsule.

Infusers – being with hands made of sterile steel and clad in sacred ritual robes – went around injecting people with Infusion L in the dark. People squirmed, and due to the nature of the event, there were no healers present to comfort them.

Only the cold liquid of Serum H – Healing.

Very few people willingly offered themselves to be used entirely, and entered a capsule, knowing well they’d never return. These people were injected with Infusion F – Fulmination and left trapped within the capsule as their bodies began to form lumps, eventually swelling to the point where their steel egg groaned, struggling to contain them.

Potions, Elixirs, Serums, and Infusions were all vastly different, and their naming conventions were highly unorganized. For example, Serum S – Salvation, and Infusion S – Speed, were two entirely different things despite possessing ‘S’. Elixir S – Supercompressor, was used to rapidly coagulate blood, and Potions typically ran with more generic names, like mana potion, greater mana potions, etcetera.

Infusions were in an entirely different league of their own, and it was not uncommon for people to suspect that Infusions and the other liquids were fundamentally different. And they would be correct. Potions. Elixirs. Serums – they were all made via synthesizing Liquid Nex and liquified mana to create their magic, as well as with the cooperation of those involved.

Healers for example were utilized to create the healing liquids. Damning rumors aside, healers never lost their strength as a result. Rather, it was also used as a method of strengthening a healer’s power.

Infusions on the other hand were stolen magic, many of which originated from Beholder E. It was unclear whether Inflow Direct’s technology allowed them to create liquid magic, or to steal it from others.

In the end, the fundamental difference was that Infusions were magic belonging to Beholder, hence the price the ordinary and even revered individuals like the Stars and Moons must pay to use such a thing.

It was how their Atelier of commonality was able to stand as a giant themselves.

One by one, the capsules were launched into the air like a swarm of arrows. The sight was endearing to the observant White Wing. Hours since the firestorm consumed the City of Spaces had finally led to this moment, and as Carpalis’ figure emerged from the fog, the White Wing hummed a melody at the sight of a close friend.

“I’m moved. You were always unwilling to push in fear of hurting others. Have you realized that you can no longer allow the world to keep trampling you, Carpalis? How you have grown, but still carry that same miserable heart of gold.”

As she spoke, the capsules reached the peak of their arc, some colliding with the falling debris and spilling the liquid miracles, causing major explosions to riddle the air, leaving behind nothing but a red mist.

“I hope you can find what you’re searching for before that hand strangles you for good.”

Infusion L capsules burst midair, releasing a gas that immediately assumed the form of a grand, magical circle. Clouds of these magical circles filled the air as they pointed towards the escarpment that bordered C3 and C4 to the City of Spades. And the very same moment the horde of red emerged, vibrant, blue lances were ejected from the magical circles, firing at a rate of 1 per second.

They pierced the ground, upheaving it as craters formed. The shockwave and heat emitted eliminated countless in quick succession, but due to their ability to take flight and the sheer number of them, many were able to push through.

Furthermore, the Blood Moons and Red Giants were quick enough to avoid each devastating lance. In mere minutes a blue forest of stakes ran along the edges of the escarpment, and deeper into C3 and C4.

In the meantime, people within the bunkers collapsed, clasping at their bodies as they muffledly cried in agony. An organ was taken for each lance that was fired, and it became immediately apparent that this would be a horrific war of attrition.

Between the horrors underneath, the other Atelier groups found it difficult to fathom that Scarlet Logic truly were driving an assault, all the while the ground shifted, revealing Dungeons that flooded streets with bloodthirsty Impuritas.

… all the while people close to the Piece of the Fallen Star underwent various changes. Some becoming monsters, others becoming stronger, and some perishing as their desires physically crushed them into paste.

For airborne threats, Infusion F exploded midair like an airburst round, showering a 20-kilometer vicinity with red mist that sparked secondary explosions. It was their bug repellent to the flying Insectids, and it mangled a tremendous number of them. A wall of red physically impeded them, but this, however, was only the beginning of their assault.

C3 and C4 were evacuated for it would receive endless bombardments from both sides. It became the boundary that not even Blood Moons and Red Giants could easily penetrate, thankfully, for Inflow Direct possessed zero Moons and Stars to match their might.

That portion of the fight, however, belonged to them.

“May we meet at the base of the light, Jury.” The White Wing impartially watched the devastation, entertained by the spectacle.

And hours later, as the world was turned red by the encroaching firestorm, she finally caught a glimpse of Jury, who ran along the colossal arms of Carpalis who reached towards the Piece of the Fallen Star.