syringe

314. Reminiscence of the Common Hub

Kenophobia.

The architecture of the Common Hub was eerily empty. Vast interiors and indoor streets that once saw hundreds flock through were abandoned. Not a single soul remained. Evidence of recent life was apparent, left in the form of wide-open doors and personal belongings which were scattered like a lost trail.

Neon signs powered by magic remained vibrantly lit. Certain facilities such as the bathrooms were in perfect condition. Frost investigated it all as the others were sw...

313. Within the Nexus

“Finally. It took 4 months, but we’re finally back here. Remember when we thought we’d be returning soon after Divas Pass?” Frost couldn’t help but grin at her ancient optimism. “Yeah… whew. I can’t stop smiling. It’s more vacant than I remember.”

Indeed. After her eyes adjusted to the bright lights, she noticed that there was no one loitering around the Central Relay compared to when she first arrived. The calm and relatively joyous atmosphere was replaced ...

G-Z7: 1. The Beginning

“Preserve your sanity. Reinforce your heart. Harden your mind. Temper your aspirations. Only then can you temper theirs.” – The Abyssal Mother, Beholder of ImpulseWorks.

“Temper Aspirations.”

The company’s motto was engraved into every soul of their employees. From sanguine begin...

312. The Trip Towards the Nexus

The road back to the City of Hearts would take two days on Snap’s back.

Farewells were made to Carpalis and Magus before they began the trip back to the 6th Branch. The woman was full of smiles regardless of what happened to her. Either that, or Carpalis was a master at hiding how she really felt.

It was unclear if she would ever recover from her injuries. No attempt was made by Carpalis to clarify. She left them with a polite goodbye, but not without giving Frost a few words of...

311. Hello, World! (6th Arc Epilogue)

Bzzzt.

Brrrr.

Zzzzt~!

Snap carefully observed the group it had come to know and love, taking wide and panning shots of them traversing the plains on foot. For once, the group decided against riding its back, leaving only Carpalis, Magus, the Archivist, the Alter Frosts, and the Star Child aboard.

Frost said something about wanting to enjo...

310. Our Place In This World

The Nex Megalopolis survived to see another day. A fortress built on the blood and bones of countless stood at the brink of total devastation. The sanctuary that promised to be the final frontier against all evil revealed a rot that gouged it from the inside out.

The City of Diamonds and the City of Hearts had their own fair share of chaos. By now, the Golden Index and Adventurers had vanquished what was left of the Dungeons. Buildings were still burning. The City of Spades was annihila...

309. Last Goodbye

White.

A world of white was all the Archivist could see when her eyes readjusted to the light.

It had no origin. No shadow was cast. The pale world was endless. She jolted a little, alarmed by the sudden change in scenery. Her head wagged left and right in search of a soul or a clue as to where she was.

“D-Did I die?” She asked herself, peering into open palms. “Is this the afterlife?”

“Is it?” A voice suddenly spoke from behind, causing her heart to drop a...

308. The Ultimate Language Vs The Universal Language

Every building became a candlewick. Flames reached for the skies as the stars were snuffed out. Shallow oceans of blood covered the entirety of the Floor of Civilization. Islands of bodies amassed from the discarded many.

A sight familiar to all unfolded. To the others, it was just like the City of Spades.

But to the Archivist, she remembered her world. Terror began to build in her chest as she clasped at the air where her precious book used to be. Her one tangible source of coura...

307. The Blood of Our Covenant!

The finale was finally upon them.

Their promised end resided at the end of the black highway. Ignis and Ber were all they needed left. Afterwards, it would be Frost’s turn to be saved. The journey was plagued with fire as Sinder turned his attention to them, weaving past the Arbiter’s grasp.

< [Violence on Violence Action] >

The ground moved like a wave in his wake. Everyone knew that his target was now the Archivist, and he�...

306. This Heart Is Ours!

Cer didn’t need to be told what to do. An instinctual drive sent her in the direction of the crimson path, her ethereal hands carrying the Archivist. The road seemed to endlessly stretch. A red, crystalized heart stood at the furthest end as Sinder relentlessly swatted the Arbiter and the Beholders.

< [A Million Wicks and One Light] >

“Frost’s become the opposite of her name, huh! Makes you think we should’ve seen this coming fo...

305. Countering Greed!

No matter how loudly she shouted her voice did not amount to anything special. It was an ordinary cry from an ordinary girl, made special only by chance. It barely contested with the destructive blasts beyond.

But did it matter? The Archivist knew how ordinary she was. She wasn’t gifted in anything but her love for literature. Her value was no different from the rest of the swaths of wasted human life from their city of the past, which she realized was no different from this world. 2023-05-26 04:02:23 +0000 UTC View Post

304. We (Will) Save Many!

The world collectively held their breath.

A million hopes and dreams fell onto the shoulders of the Beholders and the Nexus. The Floor of Civilization was set alight as the greatest powers in Elysia fought with tooth and nail. Like the manifested city beyond the Nexus, the Floor of Civilization was split into quarters, each representing a suit of cards and a thematic color.

The crystals were ever present, and with it arose 3 major crystals as Sinder the ones floating by his should...

303. Archetypes At War

What was the strength of an entity ranked at Paradise Lost?

Unlike Frost, the Arbiter was able to manifest the powers of the Icon of Judgement without requiring her emotions to heighten. It was unknown if the other Archetypes possessed the same ability. Nevertheless, it did not change that she had the power to wipe out the Nex Megalopolis if she saw fit.

Such was the power of a Paradise Lost Corrupted. Although like Frost, there was a possibility that her powers were considerably ...

302. The Beholders Are Here!

The Beholders were here.

Like a fleeting comet, Beholder E. dragged Sinder at a speed that folded him in half. A trail of blue and red followed suit as they flew beyond the edge of the city, ploughing through unbelievable amounts of dirt.

Hills disappeared. Small mountains were uplifted as Beholder E.’s Infusion S allowed his speed to over 1,000 AGI. Chunks of his metal make peeled away in the violent throes of fire and friction as both were set alight, his brain in the vat shri...

301. What Carpalis Stands For

She did not run.

Instead, she ruffled her feathers, bleeding them until hundreds of thousands of feathers took to the skies before her. They formed a colossal drill. If she took one step left, the crystal would readjust itself like it possessed a form of sentience within its inorganic mass.

The streaks of light overhead became brighter. It was like a timelapse of the night sky’s star cycle played, as though time was accelerating. But this couldn’t be further from the truth. Ra...

300. A World Set Alight

The forest of green crystals created by the [Immortalized Woe – Clubs] did not do anything but emit its cry. The White Wing, who was aware that she was the target of the warned unavoidable attack, split her attention to both Sinder and the green glow of the city.

The crystals were infused with light for a fraction of a second as she recovered from Sinder’s onslaught, making distance all the while Carpalis threw her hand down, hoping to at least interrupt him. Each crystal f...

299. A Blazing Apocalypse

The sound barrier broke. Particles of light exploded from the White Wing’s fingertips as her pale spear – the replica Spear of Annihilation – collided with Sinder’s chest. An invisible barrier only appearing to block the spear protected his heart, causing shreds of flaming pages to burst as he was flung hundreds of meters backwards.

“I didn’t expect you to reemerge so soon as a Faux Angel again SINDER!” The White Wing’s complexion burst with emotion. He...

298. The Most Violent

Their very existence was like a luminous piece of a star, having taken the form of a human. Nav did not know what to call it, so it defaulted to her given their long hair for simplicity’s sake.

It was also due to how eerily similar it appeared to the little Frost, and Frost herself in general. If she didn’t know any better, then she would have believed this to be another Alter Frost.

“Are you an Alter Frost?” Nav immediately asked, and the child placed a finger on the bott...

297. The Archetype of Desire

The purgatory that was the Piece of the Fallen Star had no beginning or end. The lightshow forever filled the empty skies as Nav walked its endless expanse with the little Frost in hand.

Her internal clock matched the outside world as she manually counted it by the seconds. Her demeanor never changed. An expressionless guise was all she could muster, even when she could no longer hear the voices of the people she considered ‘friends’.

Nav could not express her grievances. She ...

296. The Meaning of the Piece of the Fallen Star

4 days had passed since the White Wing left Jury and her companions to deal with Frost. The reason she left them to fight alone was never uttered, even to the curious Carpalis who tagged along now that the situation outside was manageable.

Much had occurred within such a short period of time. The White Wing’s reasoning for lending her hand was also draped in mystery. Her sudden change in heart caused her to redirect the Golden Index towards seemingly obscure locations dotted around th...

295. The Bird And Another Egg

Ber’s sanity returned much later. An unknown amount of time had passed, and her mana had become small enough where her body returned to what it once was. Her recollections were messy, but she understood the general gist of things.

The Black Swan’s Unstable features disappeared in a burst of golden light. They retreated into her chest as she saw the devastation of their world.

Not a single building was left standing, and underneath them was a crater filled with blood. Black spe...

294. When Woes Collide

Minutes ticked like hours. There was no reason to eliminate the Watered Bonds. They had no effect on Frost’s vulnerability, and neither were they required to be defeated in the first place. But something ate at her as she watched the ribbons take hold of countless people and Impuritas alike, bleeding them as screams filled the air.

< [Collective Illusion] >

These people were rendered down to a thin, watery liquid as she began to rapid...

293. Two Woes Don't Make a Right

There were two states regarding a person that wielded a Corrupted Persona.

A Stable and an Unstable state. Frost did not have this problem when it came to manifesting her Corrupted Personas, likely due to her being the Amalgam. The sample size was miniscule, however. Ber and Frost were the only known individuals capable of manifesting the powers of the Corrupted.

Nav however, understood that Ber rode between a fine line of sanity and insanity. Even prior to her entering the First ...

292. Blood of the Covenant

Cer was no longer among them. Her fossilized form invoked unprecedented horror. Ber and Res were immediately thrown into the depths of despair, calling out her name as Jury and Ignis desperately reached out for Nav, seeking an answer to quell the delayed shock.

The world turned red. Buildings rose higher than ever before. The concrete jungle blocked the light above and their horizon. The crossroads never changed, and Frost remained in the center of it all, now with a compact Cer floatin...

291. Heart of Ours

< CONDITION: Greed Counter seeks the Empowered. The value of all will be undermined. Greed Counter takes significantly less damage from those that are not Empowered. Only the Empowered may Suppress it >

< SUPPRESSION REQUIREMENT: When Greed Counter’s HP reaches 0… >

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Nil… >

< LIMITA...