320. The Middle Sanctums

The Middle Sanctum was even more confusing than the previous floors. Begone were the pale corridors. A dark-grey slate-like material coated the walls as angular rocks jutted at every meter of this world. It was like a corrupted version of the Nexus. An infected part that needed to be amputated.

Thankfully, this was not the case.

The Middle Sanctums was described to have a mind of its own. Normally, they would have appeared at the Central Hub which served as the crossroads for the Nexus to access its housed Advents. Where they were was a mystery as dark clouds smothered the skies. A black fog rolled by their ankles, hiding the ground.

Nav had trouble navigating through the terrain, prompting Snap to carry her. A mysterious golden-purple glow flickered in the distance like a lighthouse, cutting through the smoke as the faint sounds of chains rattled ahead.

Silhouettes of giant chains were imprinted into the fog, casting dark rays. The closer they approached that distant light, the stronger the ethereal glow of those chains became. What were they? Frost guessed they were close to the ones she witnessed anchoring the Site Cores, and when she brought it up, Galia corrected her.

“These chains liberate. Umbra’s chains elsewhere seek to entomb. They have a special power that allows them to interact and ‘lock’ dimensions. When broken, they forcefully break reality and allow contents of that dimension to spill.”

“That dimension being the Subcut Layer?” Frost asked.

“The lowest layer we are aware of. It’s where the Condemned are sent in their iron coffins.” Galia explained.

“By Oboros Infinitas.” Cer barked, her ears twitching to the reverberations of the chains as she studied Galia’s face. “Scarlet Healers are sent with them too! What I want to know is why the Beholders bothered to keep them a secret if all they do is punish Beholders.”

Galia didn’t answer immediately. She fell into deep thought as chains emerged all around them like the webs of an Anid nest. The deeper they ventured into this bizarre world, the thicker and numerous the chains became.

Res cleared her throat.

“Ahem. What Cer means to ask is what purpose does it serve? Every question we had was always pushed away and we were ridiculed for it. Now that we know the truth, I think we should be given the reason to know why.”

“Not think, Sis. We deserve to know.” Ber sneered, carrying an air of defiance in the face of a Beholder. The boldness she displayed was not something other Moons could ever dare to replicate less they wished to die a pitiful death.

And at this point, Frost believed that even if she wasn’t here, Ber would have behaved like this regardless. She did not try to reprimand or hush the triplets for acting out line. Rather, this was completely in line as far as she was concerned.

“Serum G I can overlook because that was my choice. But what about the Dungeons? Oboros Infinitas? ImpulseWorks and their Sites!?” Ber’s voice disturbed the fog as she became increasingly agitated, demanding to know why they were kept in the dark. “How much we suffered because we just wanted to figure things out! Moons like us don’t live as long as we do! And I get it. The Beholders were betting on us dying to a Corrupted before we’d learn something.”

“Because we sure as hell wouldn’t keep any of that a secret.” Cer was not ashamed to admit this. “While we were out there for 30 years fighting the Corrupted, ImpulseWorks was capturing fuck knows how many underneath our noses! Why couldn’t we at least know that!? Or that people can be Corrupted!?”

“Calm down! Cer… please, calm down.” Res embraced Cer from the side, as Ber swiftly moved in to hug them both.

Bottled frustrations came pouring out, eliminating most of the fog. It was justified for they felt like they had been betrayed by the people in the Nexus. Frost felt sorry for them, and hearing Cer admit their low life expectancy hammered in how expendable Moons were in spite of how little of them actually existed.

Frost could only imagine how the other Moons also felt.

Things needed to change.

An idea suddenly came to mind. If she could advocate for the Moons like how she did for the triplets, then maybe it would be possible to have them work directly under her. Or better yet; under Jury’s Atelier.

She held onto the idea and promised to share it with Nav and Jury later.

As for now, Galia was put on trial by their judging eyes. The Arbiter seemed to enter a joyous mood.

“There are things better left not being known. That knowledge in itself can induce psychosis. But I cannot deny you any further. However, do not be mistaken; there are things that even I am unaware of.” Galia warned, never changing her expression as she maintained a subtle, devilish smile. “Oboros Infinitas is an Atelier I am happy to share. I implore that you directly speak to the other Beholders. It’s unjust for me to be held accountable for their secrets.”

* * *

Oboros Infinitas was, like Justica Arms, a body that punished people for crimes. Although their workload was usually delegated by Justica Arms directly. What separated them was how they handled criminals. Justica Arms believed in retribution and fair justice.

But achieving this was difficult for troublesome Beholders, Moons, Stars and the Exalted. They were highly resilient to pain and carried unbreakable philosophies and ideals. Traditional punishment, and even the most unconventional, could never dream of placing a dent into the minds or hearts of such high-class criminals.

In rare cases, even regular people were slotted into this category. For crimes where death was but an escape, Obororos Infinitas sought to exploit these people through a process known as the Lament Cycle.

Criminals labeled as the Condemned became a lucrative source of Nex. In fact, they were the second highest exporters of Nex. Criminals were quite literally sent to hell – the Subcut Layer – to suffer. It was said that they even underwent Corruption.

If they were lucky, then they were fished back alongside the Scarlet Healer, who would remain completely unscathed by whatever horrors resided in that infernal realm. Multiple technologies were required to achieve this feat.

Alternatively, one could plead to become a Repenter, which was governed closely by CotigO. They would live in servitude as tools to buy their freedom back, and it would be granted only if they were deemed to have properly repented for their transgressions.

It was as brutal as Frost imagined.

The reason they were kept a secret was to hide them from the Impuritas. The last thing they needed were the Dungeons to have defecting Beholders on their side. An information leak was their major concern. Additionally, Oboros Infinitas themselves wished to remain in secrecy.

“They’re governed by what we call Primordial Demons. Not too different from Angels. They talk about a past world like you and the Arbiter do. After witnessing that blazing city in the skies, I think I can better picture their circumstances.” Galia said.

“They would be enemies of Elysia as well.” The Arbiter added before stating:

“Moons are no stranger to being victims of blandishment, as I’ve learned. But there is only so much I can do without my eyes~ Frost. There was another reason why I called you up to the Floor of Judgement. It relates to the Archiving process.”

“T-that’s right. Your Judgement Corrupted aren’t Archived yet. Just the Civilization ones.” The Archivist blurted out.

The Arbiter smiled, placing a tail to pat the girl’s head.

“Indeed. One of my goals was to ask of you to help me reclaim what was lost.” She said.

Further along they passed great, black pillars which rose into the black clouds. Chains climbed them like poisonous ivy, wrapping them so tightly that the stone underneath could not be seen. Colossal chains ran along the skies, tethered to monoliths that surrounded a giant magical circle.

As they neared it, they realized that it was not just one magical circle. They emitted a golden glow, and the Archivist nudged Frost all of a sudden.

“Memento Mori uses magical circles similar to that…” She reported in a low voice.

There was countless interloping with one another, creating a gyroscope of immense proportions. It was sectioned into a vast, pale spire that ran past the clouds. And within laid the technology of the Chained Theocracy which was no more than a dark padlock that emitted an ominous, purple glow.

That object was the Dimensional Lock.

“I want your help to find my Price of Paradise. You see, while I am an Archetype that oversees Judgement itself, I am blind, and I cannot read the sins and good deeds of people. But I have the power to judge them and grant a way of penance, or to condemn them.”

She suddenly reached out for Frost with all 7 tails as her shrunken wings trembled in delight at her mere presence. The tips never quite touch her, like the Arbiter was reaching out for a star rather than a person.

“That’s why I will once again formally invite you to my Floor of Judgement. In exchange of having those Corrupted Archived to restore my senses, I will aid you in bringing justice to the Nexus to my fullest extent. Ah~ I’m envious of you, Archivist~”

Suddenly, she pulled the Archivist into a hug, walking with her like she was a stuffed teddy bear in her arms.

“U-Um –!” Anna’s face turned bright red.

“Because you have grown to pave a path for yourself. You have Awakened. You may not realize it, but aspects of those Archived Corrupted reside within you. Well done.” The Archivist praised her, brushing her chink against the girl’s head as they ventured towards the pale spire, wondering where else it would lead them.