275. Pushing On

Carpalis’ hand returned to her side. It fell in slow motion, polluting the world with superheated vapor. She could not catch or cradle her arm as it flailed loosely from its socket. Blood steamed down her hands like rivers, and they dripped from her fingers like miniature, falling crimson moons. They were tangible. Her blood was so thick that it partially turned into red mist.

It eroded the edges of the escarpment as the world, for the first time, witnessed one of their esteemed deities in such a miserable state. Carpalis’ smile only grew as she watched Jury and the others plummet, satisfied by nothing more than the completion of her mission.

“Hehehe… haha. This… is the price we pay for peace. Please show me that my dream is still alive.” Carpalis entrusted every fiber of her faith onto Jury and her companions, shutting her eyes as she desperately clung onto the hopeful prospect of a peaceful future.

Even though she no longer had any hand to reach out for it, other than the artificial Faustian Bargain that forever strangled her.

Snap did not retreat, and neither did the little Frost. The tiny reminder of their beloved friend was infatuated by the light, her eyes sparkling as they fell together, tethered by Ignis’ tentacles. Snap ran the risk of being instantly killed. However, Snap was fast enough to avoid nearly all threats. Still, it took a major risk, but it too wished to lend all of its 8 hands in whatever capacity it could.

Also…

“Bzzzt.”

The little Frost nodded with Snap’s whine, understanding something that the others could not. Nav could not either. Snap sometimes spoke in a language indecipherably by the Blessed, largely because its ‘words’ were just incoherent noises.

The little Frost understood them like Frost. They carried a certain emotion, and through that could they understand their eight-legged friend in those moments of uncertainty. Jury clutched onto the Diamond Counter she wore in the center of her chest as they prepared to make contact with the ground.

Snap’s deep descent sharply shifted to a shallower angle, and before long, they began to glide along the rooftops, cleaving away the blue tiles. Their speed had decreased significantly, but there was nothing present that could ever dare to compete.

Far ahead were the Scarlet Logic Midnight Teams, each operating in a sub squad run by a manager. Snap’s approach stirred a violent storm of dust and debris, which showered over the cityscape as they all prepared themselves to hunt the Elimination Team.

Not many words needed to be shared. They were prepared to fight months ago against the Scarlet Logic, and the recent revelation and encounter with their Collection Team only further whetted their bloodlust.

Ingis tightened her tentacles around the others and clutched tightly around Snap. She became their anchor as Ber threw herself off to the side, smashing along the walls with nothing but a devilish grin.

“Res is about the only one who can take them out from the skies! Good thing we got Snap to help deal with that!” Ber shouted, passing through a metallurgic shop that exploded with slag.

She grasped a handful of metal rods and held them over her shoulder, her arms crackling with a dark blue electricity.

“But that doesn’t mean we can’t get creative and take the initiative! REMEMBER YOU RED LOWLIVES! YOU MESSED WITH MY SISTERS!”

Ber’s railgun was dangerous to put it lightly. Everything within a 40-meter radius crackled, and the moisture in the air was instantly propelled outwards like a giant cloudy shell in the next one hundred meters.

Her evolution into her matured form had further developed her Galvanic Blood unbeknownst to her, hence the darker coloration of her sparks. They were not present in the City of Spades, but they were a minor detail compared to the carnage they caused along the abandoned streets.

Pavement tiles, mosaic windows, tables, doors – even confectionary – seemingly followed them in their rampage. Res’ eyes glowed with an immense blue, contrasting the deep red. All metallic material that happened to fall under her gaze turned a dull red, then a bright orange, and she dragged it along to the flying Scarlet Logic, slicing wings and tails.

They scattered immediately, losing one who was impaled by a direct hit from Ber. It did not kill them immediately. Rather, Cer finished them off, swinging wide with Ignis’ tentacles as she dragged the metal stake around, biting away flesh and steel with electric chomps.

These Blood Moons and Red Giants were like the weakened ones they had previously fought. The armor they wore was shoddy at best. With each bite Cer took she realized that even the cloth was completely normal.

“No plate amor. No vest. My gut’s hating this!” Cer shouted, flailing the still living body of the Insectid in her hand.

Even without their magic, a Moon and a Star’s durability was second to none.

“You’d think they would send in their best to capture an Advent! So why the hell –!” Cer snapped her jaws as she spoke, rending all in her path, left and right. “– AREN’T THEY!?”

There were less than fifty Elimination units in total from what they could tell. Snap had to make rapid adjustments with its speed as the Midnight Team spread themselves thin, prioritizing their mission to reach the Advent.

The rubber banding effect of Ignis’ tentacles caused Jury to bounce unpredictably all over the place. With her insane AGI, bolstered by the Diamond Counter as her foes were unaware of her true identity.

“They don’t have magic at all. None of them are retaliating! Tch – Get in there Snap! Jury – Are you able to interrogate at least one of them!?” Res shouted, competing with explosions and the wailing winds.

“Those are – the Jesters!? GAH!?” One was skewered by a metal rod, right as Jury flung herself into the air, smashing her tail against the side of the stake, ripping the Dragonid apart.

“I still can’t read their sins properly.” Jury clicked her tongue in annoyance, riding the tentacle like a great swing. She propelled along the rooftops, dragged by Snap as she actively hunted for any and all stragglers. “How can you – how can any of you live like this!?” Jury spited them, grappling onto a Bee Insectid with her tail, only for them to spit onto her face.

Jury crushed them like a pomegranate in the blink of an eye, furiously scrubbing the filth away with the cloth of her enemies.

“CAN NO ONE SPEAK ANYMORE!?” Jury exclaimed, dashing to the next target, who she chased through tight alleyways.

Neither of them took any corners. They simply crashed through the walls like they were nonexistent.

It became clear to the Elimination Teams that they were outmatched by whatever Jury and her companions were. When one group tried to assault Cer, they were met with extreme resistance. A railgun bullet. A laser beam. Electric bites. Tentacles, and finally, Jury’s might.

At one point, one team attempted to sever the tie between Ignis and Ber, only to have their blades bounce back. While Ignis had the lowest ATT and was marginally comparable to the Moons and Stars, her base DEF and MAG DEF were double, almost triple that of an ordinary Moon.

Her tethers were indestructible, and the structures caught within were sliced apart like a hot knife through butter. Behind them lay an endless sea of building stumps. Ignis hoped that no one was left behind in this warzone.

Jury wanted at least one person to speak. One person to understand the weight of their wrongs. To show remorse. She could not believe that people could so blindly and so easily trample on the homes of others. But alas, with each Scarlet Logic member she desperately tried to speak with, they all kept quiet, some going as far as to sever their tongues, believing they’d return.

But if they knew that they couldn’t… then would that change anything?

Jury couldn’t speak with the others. She drowned in this one thought as the world began to shake. Suddenly, dungeons began to emerge like pillars across the cityscape.

“Tch… They’re sending in everything they have huh!? Look at you… Why give up your life for someone else’s wish!? I’m glad we never joined them. And good fucking riddance.” Cer barked at the bodies of the fallen Elimination Team.

By now there were only several left. It was underwhelming in a way. Unspectacular, but they wouldn’t have it any other way. To begin with, they were severely weakened, with their magic neutered and robbed.

“Dungeons… Crimson Hunger. Blood Festivals too!” Ber shouted. “Voice! I mean Nav! You there!? What happened to our warning!? Nav? NAV!?”

“Nav?” Jury also called out for it, and for perhaps the first time, Nav failed to answer them. “Not you too… ngh –!?” An unexpected throb in her ticking heart caused her to wince. Since the beginning, her heart had been acting erratically, and it became worse the closer she approached the Piece of the Fallen Star.

“JURY!?”

“What’s happening now!?”

“Don’t become a Corrupted!”

“Are you hurt!?”

They panicked, and she reassured them with an uncertain look. Turning to the light above, she wondered why she felt like her heart was being interfered with. It was painful in an unexpected way, and her breathing became ragged.

It was as if the Advent was repelling her.

Begging her to stay away.

“I… don’t know. What was that? Agh… My heart… won’t stop ticking…”

“Could it be because of that? The Advent?” Ber wondered as Jury returned to Snap’s back to regain her bearings as things began to die down.

Snap pulled them through the thick of it all, and they soon found themselves traversing a large, open plains.

* * *

They were about a third into C4.

Many dungeons were left behind, as well as the main force of Scarlet Logic. Further ahead however were larger dungeons. They appeared to be Plague Hearts, some perhaps Complex Hearts, but there was no way to tell exactly without Nav’s help.

Nav would not respond, only occasionally uttering something as if addressing someone else.

And those bulbous masses grew like the spores of a mushroom, Jury was shocked to hear a voice call out to her.

“Do you think you’re deserving of a second chance?”

“Eh…?” Jury blurted out, turning to the others who were engaged in a conversation of their own regarding their wishes.

But she could not hear their words.

“You’ve taken the bite. Are you happy knowing that you’ve corrupted us?”

Someone was speaking to her mind directly.

And it wasn’t Nav.

“That face tells me you know nothing. Living blissfully ignorant has always been a theme with you. That, and your gluttony. You don’t remember it? That’s fine. You’re an Angel… so approach the light, old friend, and you might just uncover something ‘new’.”

The melancholic voice urged her to push forward. Jury could not care less about the voice. Her mind was set to save Frost and reach the Piece of the Fallen Star no matter the cost. However, it seemed that regardless of what she thought, her heart responded to the approaching light.

Why was it so familiar to her?