258. Insatiable Flames

258. Insatiable Flames

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This was the first time the Will of the Amalgam had caused a warning to appear. The transparent prompt flashed obnoxiously before her eyes, intruding on the forest of flames that consumed her vision.

“Frost! Your emotions are at a dangerous level!” Nav abruptly warned. “I cannot find any information on the Fifth State! The Archivist – She’s in unbearable agony! The book has caught alight! Frost! Frost! FROST!”

Nav was but another crackle amongst the embers that engulfed her. The others swam into the red sea to avoid the scalding head. Carpalis continued to hold onto her, unable to decipher the situation as her Faustian Bargain fell from its rising height to apprehend Frost.

“I’m aware of my shortcomings. I’m aware of everything I’ve done leading up to this moment. But don’t you dare think for a single second that I’m worse than you.” Frost did not shout, yell, or cry.

Her voice was terrifyingly calm as she addressed the Heart of the City, her Heart of Ours severing from her chest, sinking like the aspirations of countless beneath them. The great hand of Carpalis clamped down onto Frost, as though to seal her.

“I’m sorry Frost. I must snuff those flames. Please do understand.” Carpalis’ first instinct was to tend to her trusted friend rather than to strike at the Heart of the City. The golden enclosure steamed before jets of flames burst through her fingertips, causing her face to lightly contort. “The conflict of hearts is a never-ending story. Close your ears to its voice…”

“As you burn up beneath, you nurture the seeds above. This city will never be the same.”

Frost, hiding within the golden shell then lamented with an omnipresent voice.

“Impurities swimming in the blood of the city. I thought the people of the Nexus were trying to protect this world. I thought the Corrupted were enemies they sought to defeat at all costs.”

Carpalis’ hand of flesh trembled. She was clearly unprepared to deal with this flame. Carpalis may not be the strongest Beholder, but she was a Beholder regardless. The fiery properties cut through every form of DEF she possessed.

“… my Eminence Zone is being overwhelmed. My Faustian Bargain… screeches.” Her voice carried confusion.

The Eminence Zone was the Beholder’s equivalent of the Corrupted Zone, and Frost’s Fifth State had completely overruled it, further weakening the already non-combative Carpalis.

“But they kept them. Sacrificed people to them. People became resources, for both Ateliers and the Impuritas in their instrumentality. Functioned by greed. Living with uncaring hearts. Knowing nothing but conflict... No one could say a word. All they did was accept that this was normal. But I… can’t accept this.”

“FROOOOOOST! DON’T LET THEM GET TO YOU!” Ber urged, shouting from the island of bodies as the others could only helplessly watch from afar. “Kill – GET THE HEART OF THE CITY! WE GOTTA TAKE IT DOWN RIGHT NOW!”

“For her sake. Dammit Frost – What’s with you losing your mind half the time we fight!?” Cer shouted.

“… that kind of flaw makes you such an easy target. Tch…” Res bit her lip. “They wanted your emotions to heighten. We all knew that. But it still couldn’t be helped. Since the inception of those flames.” She neither blamed nor criticized Frost.

Those flames had all but guaranteed this outcome.

“Frost…” Ignis couldn’t utter anything more as she collapsed onto her knees, fearing the loss of another loved one.

They were all eager to press on. To eliminate the Heart of the City. Jury was the first as the triplets gathered to fuel her with Nex. Whilst Carpalis seemed to struggle, her Faustian Bargain trembling in the presence of the emotionally unhinged Frost, Jury’s heart oddly ticked more calmy than ever.

Suddenly, a heatwave washed over them, causing the blood to simmer, then boil. Bubbles exploded violently as they were forced to retreat further back, with Jury standing her ground the longest as she worriedly stared up at Frost, her tail piercing into the mound of flesh in frustration.

“PLEASE HEAR OUR VOICE! PLEASE LISTEN TO US!” Jury begged, nearly in tears. “You can’t get swept away by your emotions! I know it’s difficult! I know how much it hurts you hearing those things! I know what it’s like to also want to be wished away! We want you Frost! So please, don’t get eaten up by your emotions!”

Her voice reached Frost.

But so did another.

“Who would be born must first destroy a world.” A methodical ticking accompanied this voice.

Both were the only source of warmth and coldness within her fiery shell. Frost could no longer feel her body’s form, but she could tell that it was still present. Her reality shifted like she was stuck in a vivid daydream. Nothing to her mattered more in this moment than to destroy the impurities of this world, her emotions having reached critical levels that caused the world to distort around her.

Jury didn’t seem to understand what truly ate at Frost. Her existence wasn’t something she was entirely concerned about. Rather, her woes revolved around the fate of others who were at the mercy of the machinations of higher powers.

Every fiber of her being felt like it was being minced. Her soul was riddled with unending grief, sorrow, and fury simultaneously. They dragged along her exposed body, unearthing a fountain of emotions that manifested as an all cleansing flame.

Frost dug into the depths of her misery caused by the notion of ‘civilization’.

“Why do we continue to discard so many? People in Grandis were left to suffer even though they were aware that the Icon of Judgement was no longer present. So they let it rot for 15 years. Scarlet Logic to fester. People to be churned for ideals. Ateliers. Impuritas. Monarchs… myself.”

Frost recalled these vivid moments. Grandis was hell. The Nexus cared little for those people. Iscario slaughtered the village she had lent a hand to. Like the ordinary, Frost was thrown into the currents of this world’s seas, created by the whims of uncaring bodies.

“It was always like that. Our world… cared so little about people like us. Like me. Discarded to the side to be trampled on when we were the ones who wanted to save people the most.” The Archivist spoke. It was her voice, rather than Nav’s. In fact, Nav had all but disappeared from her mind.

As wrath consumed her, sorrow claimed pieces of her.

Then, the distorted voice of Frost echoed in the minds of all.

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* * *

Without warning, Carpalis’ hands exploded as a fireball consumed everything in sight.

“That… hurts!” Carpalis moaned, recoiling to the unexpected heat that penetrated through all forms of DEF stats. Her head scraped along the ceiling, causing great cracks to form all the while the others made haste to evacuate the immediate area.

“SWIM LIKE YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT!” Cer cried, the water flash boiling as Frost’s form fell from the skies like a burning meteorite. “MOOOOOOOOVE! Tch – Wait, help me out! I can’t swim!”

The water split before she even plunged into it, creating a crater made of steam. The ocean violently evaporated, like water being thrown into an overheated boiler. The flames could not be snuffed even when submerged, rather, it only intensified it.

Carpalis immediately rushed to scoop up the others with her golden hand.

Keeping them alive was her utmost priority.

“THE HEART! That thing should be easy for you so what are you doing standing around!? We can’t even get anywhere near it now!” Ber shouted, criticizing Carpalis for her inability to strike it down.

She briefly explained her situation, all the while Frost’s flaming body rushed towards the Heart of the City, bearing insurmountable wrath.

Their location and Frost’s predicament complicated things for Carpalis. She was never a combat orientated Beholder in the first place, not to mention that she was severely limited now that Frost had entered the Fifth State. Make no mistake, Carpalis was plenty strong, but she could not use various skills due to Frost’s presence.

This severely limited her options, and with the heat that began to now melt the bedrock above, it was clear that they could not stay here for long.

At least not the others.

“… For a Beholder… to find this unmanageable… worries me.” Carpalis lightly panted, retreating towards the hole they whence came from.

“Are you telling me that a Beholder can’t do anything in this situation!?” Res argued, finding it unbelievable that a Beholder – the ‘deities’ of Elysia – couldn’t bring down a flame. “… Don’t… don’t give me that look. How… that can’t be right. That’s impossible!”

But to her dismay, it was impossible.

Her ability to distort her size, perspective and proportions were thwarted.

“… my efforts are reserved to keep you alive. Now more than ever.” Carpalis spoke, plugging them into the hole before she turned to face Frost. “Remain here… the last thing we need is for Frost to bereave over your death.”

“What about Frost!?” Jury exclaimed, unable to accept this. “We can’t leave her there. Something can be done! We can’t give up on her! Frost is… she’s… She’s going to become a Corrupted if we don’t do anything!”

Nex could no longer be transferred, and her heart ticked uncontrollably.

It was as if Frost was interrupting every process of the Blessed, and in extension, the Nexus itself. At least with those within proximity of her. Like a tainted seed, the world before them distorted to the blossoming flames. Nothing could withstand them, and the Queen seemingly sat there, opening her arms to embrace her sweet demise.

“It will come into fruition. The wish will eliminate you. But we must first be given a reason to unite. A reason to bring us together. A reason to hate. Don’t you see that by wielding those flames and pointing it at us that you are fulfilling the Prophecy of flames?”

“Our hunger of all that is red will never be sated. But this will bring us closer.”

“Closer to becoming whole.”

The Queen outstretched her hands, offering herself as a martyr. Frost hurdled towards her, splitting the oceans into two, revealing nothing but the ashes of rendered bones. The residual heat was so immense that the walls of water could not return, and instead, they stood still, gushing with steam.

All buffs granted by Frost had disappeared. There was no possible way any of them aside from Carpalis could alter the outcome. Frost’s form was indecipherable. There was no telling whether she was still within that ball of flames.