328. The Awakened Floor of Civilization

The Upper Sanctums was a straightforward labyrinth sprinkled with the occasional Central Relay or a similar room. There were 11 rooms in total, which matched the total number of Affinities of the Corrupted.

The first was the Floor of Desire.

Secondly, was the Floor of Wrath.

There were no major differences with the Central Relay-like rooms. Everything followed a homogenous pale, marble construction, a boundless ceiling, and reflective floors. The doors leading into the Floor of Wrath were sealed shut. They were bright red, like the color of molten rock.

However, according to the Archivist, this door was not sealed, as she demonstraded by pushing the great doors open. A deafening thud echoed as wind was thrown against them. The doors swung inwards, revealing a hallway that led towards another pair of sealed doors, containing 5 symbols that represented the Corrupted required to Awaken it.

These symbols however, had little resemblance to anything they knew, appearing like scribbles.

“The Archetype of Wrath had awakened from their slumber recently. But as with most Archetypes, they have appeared outside of the Nexus.” The Arbiter explained.

“The Archetype of Wrath would be someone we knew, right?” Frost rhetorically asked, knowing that this was undoubtedly the case.

“I have the faintest idea of who it may be. A rather crude person. Someone who fondly bathed in battle. Their name, however, slips my mind.” The Arbiter left them unsatisfied as Frost approached the door, trying to push it herself and even attempting to analyse it but to no avail.

Then, she did the unthinkable.

She tried to bite the door.

But of course –

– A metallic clash rang out. Her jaw was deflected by a mysterious force akin to the Invulnerability Condition. It threw Frost backwards unexpectedly as she skidded along the marble floors.

“It’s protected, huh. So I can’t even enter their Floors despite being in charge of the Nexus. Looks like we need their permission first. Or to at least touch base with the Nexus.” She concluded, annoyed by this limitation. “If the initial doors can be opened, then that means an Archetype has awakened, am I correct?”

They confirmed this to be true as they backpedaled and resumed their ascension through every single floor.

The third Floor was the Floor of Lament. It remained sealed, meaning the Archetype within had yet to awaken.

The fourth was the Floor of Attachment. It too remained sealed.

Fifth was the Floor of Purpose, opened and owned by the Director. Unfortunately, they could not venture into his Floor as he had not yet entered the Nexus.

Sixth was the Floor of Civilization, and here Anna excitedly led them into its warm expanse. Gone was the blue tint. What replaced it was a warm sun as they suddenly found themselves in the streets of the Nex Megalopolis. The City of Hearts, H9 to be precise. It was a one-to-one scale with the street in question, missing only the lewd Elven catcallers.

Although, there were many silhouettes present, walking by like specters.

“H-Have a look at what I can do! This Floor used to be modeled after our old city. Now, it’s of the Nex Megalopolis.” Anna explained before suddenly, the world began to shrink.

Buildings once tens of meters tall now only stood at around waist height. Words of awe left them all as they were stunned by how the world was downscaled. They could touch and interact with the objects, and Frost wondered if it translated to the world beneath.

And before Anna could declare that this was not possible according to the prompts she was given – Cer began robbing potato carts, spilling a sack of potatoes into her mouth before suddenly.

“Ugh… Mwy twoof…!” She squealed.

“Thankfully not. I could see idiots like her trying to play as a God.” Res smacked the back of Cer’s head. “This place maps out the Nex Megalopolis in detail. Archivist. Can we get much higher?”

Anna furiously nodded. “So much higher! But – Cer, please don’t do that again. I know you’re not ok mentally, but that doesn’t make eating what’s not yours right.” She unexpectedly scolded, right as a tiny blue diamond approached overhead.

It was a miniature Greed Counter. The Archived version, which had its many thousands of hands limited to a mere 10. Its ghastly features were exaggerated in a manner that made it appear cute in some bizarre way. In fact, it looked like a giant, cuddle-sized plush version of the Corrupted.

“It’s 10 times weaker and smaller than its bigger counterpart. But! It can get bigger! It’s… harmless if you think about it. The Arbiter –”

“Michaela.” The Arbiter corrected.

“S-Sorry. Mi… Michaela has the Icon of Judgement Archived just like this on the Floor of Judgement.” As she explained, the Greed Counter hugged her face before shining a blue circle around Cer, as well as other locations in the general vicinity. “It costs a lot of Nex, but, Greed Counter can detect malicious greed from Nex generated within the Nex Megalopolis. S-So long as it’s within its presence. It won’t be easy trying to root the evil out, but this is a step in the right direction.”

She herself didn’t quite understand how it worked, but it was enough to cause hope to brim in Frost’s eyes.

“A Corrupted-turned good. Isn’t that cute? Greed Counter has that meaning as well. To counter greed.” Frost chuckled, as Nav stared at her maliciously.

“I’m the one who recognized that first.” She sternly said. “Does that mean Cer is greedy? How do we deal with a troublemaker?”

“A good steel wire scrub bath.” Res sighed, unable to find the energy to apologize in her sister’s stead. “This would be useful for keeping an eye on the cities. It sounds limited, but the ability to see things overhead like this defeats the purpose of the Eyes.”

“It might serve them better to work here.” Galia pointed out. “The Reality Manifesters of CogitO will take decades to create new, functional Eyes in the sky. Add this to your list, Amalgam.”

“Good point. It looks like a major privacy invasion, but I can see this working pretty well. I can think of some scenarios were someone up here can direct a team below, or quickly figure out if something’s gone wrong.” Frost spoke whatever came to mind, admiring the power of the Awakened Floor of Civilization, right as a big, red heart came bouncing towards them.

It caused Ignis to instinctively take a step back.

“… They’re so creepy in that form.” Ignis muttered.

“Really? You don’t think they’re cute?” Jury hummed.

“It’s hard to forget what it did to all those people. Its harder to forgive it because it doesn’t have the capacity to know what it did wrong. I don’t find it sad. I find it despicable.” Ignis hissed.

“You and I both. But on the bright side, it won’t be able to cause anymore problems.” Frost pampered Ignis, calming her down. “Bright side’s not the right word for it…”

“I don’t hate you though, Frost.”

“I know. It’s ok Ignis. I’m fine.”

As a Demi-human, or at least was one, she could sense people’s emotions. Frost grew a little sentimental as she watched that heart bounce here, as well as a black spade and a green club. According to Anna, The Crowned was also stored here, but it didn’t seem to have a physical form.

After all, she had allowed Sinder to fizzle away. Having a miniaturized version of him as a memento would have defeated the purpose of letting go of her attachments.

Soon, the buildings were as tall as their ankles. They could see up until the walls of the Nex Megalopolis. Unfortunately, much of the city remained unmapped and left in a field of white. The outskirts of the City however, were mapped leading them to realize that wherever the Archivist went was mapped by her Floor.

Suddenly, all eyes fell onto her. Cer gave her a mischievous smile, humming all the while Jury stared at her in shock.

“I-It’s not what it looks like! Geez! I did not go to H9! I’ve never left this place! I’m sure it’s a random part that’s been captured! I’d never go to some place so- s-so…!”

“So what? Just say it already! It’s not like the ghost of lewd Elves is going to snatch your tongue!” Cer teased, taking delight in her sudden power against an Archetype.

“Have you been reading the same books I have?” Jury wondered if that had anything to do with it, causing Frost to turn to her with a blank stare. “Hm? Did you think I’d be able to find all those books by myself?”

The evidence piled onto the Archivist as she became beet red, her words no longer able to form properly. The teasing was short lived and nothing too serious. Cer received a good beating from Res and was due for the scrub of her life later.

Their visit into the Floor of Civilization soon came to an end, and it promised to serve as a vital resource in the restoration of the Nex Megalopolis.

Also, it was a nice change of pace to have some Corrupted on their side.

As they left the Floor of Civilization behind, the Heart of Ours shone a red circle somewhere in H9. Several armed silhouettes could be seen fighting a creature.

One that appeared like an amalgamative mass with many mouths and eyes before it slowly assumed the appearance of a human.