64. I Am Fire!

64. I Am Fire!

< Level : 75 >

< The Amalgam >

NAME : FrostHP : 35,000 ^5/Min

MP : 8,000 ^5/Min

AGI : 65RESIST : 60 (+100)AGE : 0ATT : 2,200

ATT DEF : 520 (+350)

O : 48D : 1ORIGIN : ArchetypeMAG ATT : 750

MAG DEF : 500 (+250)

S : 86E : 45

< [I Am Fire!] >

A flaming shockwave engulfed everything in sight. The fleshy ruins instantly caught alight as Calfasio’s home crumbled to the heat of his wrath. Having seen this in advance, Frost quickly made her escape with Our Happiest Moments disappearing off, snapping photographs as if in desperation.

Everything within a 20-meter radius was incinerated by their immense heat as Frost’s body seared, taking an insane 1,450 damage.

Frost | HP: 33,550 | 35,000

“Tch!? It did way more damage to me than I thought! I thought this would be a magic attack!” Frost exclaimed, wincing hard as she healed herself and moved out into the open. Everything behind her burnt as her body continued to emit steam. “What condition was I hit with!?”

“Burn. You were given 20 effective stacks of Burn!”

“Effective!?” Frost roared, turning back the sound of a fiery explosion.

From the flames emerged a rapidly approaching Calfasio, now completely donned in his Corrupted form. A pale, waxy skin covered his entire body as the draped wing periodically dripped hot wax due to the immense heat.

But that was not all. Frost’s Solemn Counter activated as she swiftly dodged the thrust of a flaming lance, which in contrast to him appeared to be made of flesh. In this brief window of opportunity Frost did the only reasonable thing she could.

Counterattack.

She smashed her fist straight into his stomach, meeting immense resistance as if she had pummeled a solid block of steel. Nevertheless, she followed through and sent him skidding backwards along the gravel of flesh and debris.

Only slightly, however.

Calfasio | HP: 497,500

“Effective meaning how much is actually affecting you! You are losing 20 HP every second!” Nav made this glaringly clear to her as Frost pressed onwards against Calfasio the exact same time the Corrupted man brandished his flaming weapon which Frost quickly realized was Ignis in her completed Corrupted form.

Furthermore, Calfasio had assimilated all of Ignis’ ATT and MAG ATT stats, most likely due to her becoming a weapon.

No. Not his weapon.

She had become the flames to his unlit wick.

Iron Candle

Calfasio

ATT : 3,000 MAG ATT : 2,200

It became clear that her main enemy was Calfasio himself.

“CALFASIO! SNAP OUT OF IT!” She exclaimed, striking him with insane agility as she continued to rack up Burn stacks just from being within his proximity.

His flaming lance impaled the ground behind her, releasing a torrent of flames which seared the back of her, causing immense pain.

< [Backfire of Dual Embers] >

Frost | HP: 33,000 | 35,000

But this was not enough to stop her advancements. She wore the flames like wings, standing defiantly before his Corrupted form and exclaimed:

“WAKE UP! Calfasio! You can hear me, can’t you!?” Despite already knowing that the Corrupted were incapable of communication; Frost desperately tried to save him with words before Nav flashed but a single prompt before her eyes.

< SUBJUGATION REQUIREMENT: Iron Candle and Scorched Girl are defeated when their HP reaches 0 >

< “I must burn ever brightly to perish all before me. For my dearest Ignis!” >

< “Papa! Am I too needy for wanting milk?” >

It was futile.

The Corrupted were beings of immense emotion. Hardly sapient, perhaps not even sentient at all. What she saw before her was a father and daughter who were plunged into the pit of despair and had succumbed to their emotions.

Frost could no longer see it any other way. Not for people who themselves had become Corrupted, rather than the folklore and the residual emotions of the past two Corrupted she faced.

Her heart burnt with a flame much like theirs as she laid her fists into him, knowing well that Calfasio and Ignis were now a major threat to the others. She did not want to kill them. Rather, she needed to keep them at bay until she figured something – anything out save them.

There was no possible way the others would be able to survive a single second in their presence.

“WHERE THE FUCK IS THE REALIZAION CRITERIAAAAA!” Frost yelled right before Calfasio thrust the lance up high and scorched the air itself. It became near impossible to breathe now as she rapidly backed off, and moments later –

< [I Am Fire!] >

Another flaming shockwave quickly engulfed everything around it. The Abominations that foolishly strayed close were instantly reduced to dust as Frost watched her HP drop at around 30 per second. She moved amongst the Abominations just at the edge of its attack, healing herself thoroughly as she ravenously devoured them along the way.

“[Cleanse]! Agh! Nav, this is going to be a battle of attrition! I hate to admit it, but these fucking things are my lifeline now!” Frost heaved, finding it difficult to breathe, for every breath she took scorched her lungs as if she had just inhaled an acidic mist.

An entirely different breed of agony engulfed her.

She entered a coughing fit as the Corrupted Calfasio swung his lance forward and pointed it towards her direction.

“You are not the only one on a timer! Calfasio is also rapidly losing HP as we speak! Like a candlewick, the flames are going to burn him out as well!”

Frost’s eyes widened in disbelief when she heard this. She simultaneously anticipated his movements and attacked him with Biased Verdict. The ground split from beneath him as a Scorched Tree strangled him up high. In this brief moment of vulnerability, Frost snapped her jaw in his direction as she lunged straight towards him.

[Prejudice].

Calfasio | HP: 481,300

< The Second State Has Manifested as Judgement >

< UNIQUE | PASSIVE: Hysteria >

< We accused one another of the sin of one >

< On death, the Judge’s Aid are reborn as miniature reflections of yourself. They carry your Will as their armaments to enact your rightful judgement >

< UNIQUE | ACTIVE: Judgement >

< Was it worth eating what was forbidden by the King? >

< Enact Judgement. One single target may take up to 300,000 damage. Unavoidable and may only be used once >

Although Calfasio was her enemy, the Nexus was the subject of her eternal judgement. The aura surrounding her changed as she carefully observed the battlefield, seeing the runaway Abominations spill further into the blazing city whilst the others fought for their lives within the inn and its surrounding streets.

These Abominations were stronger now, likely strengthened as a result of their resistance.

A few of her Judge’s Aids began to shatter, and from the glass shards emerged a form that appeared like a child-like version of herself, around the same size as the cat-eared girl who could only watch with stupor, as if she was stuck inside of a nightmarish fever dream.

Each wielded a pale stake and pounced on the Abominations with little regard for their own life. This bought her much more valuable time as she stared down Calfasio, watching his HP whittle away.

“How... How can I judge them when they did nothing wrong? How can I judge normal people who just wanted to live in this hell!?” Frost let loose of a wild woe, marking the next stage of their battle.

“It would be wise to take Ignis out with Judgement –!”

“NAV! How could you!? I want to save them! The Realization Criteria works on the Corrupted! All of them! It must work on those two! I want to give them my Blessing and bring them back! My prejudices are reserved for the Ateliers!”

< [I Am Fire!] >

Calfasio | HP: 430,200

This time, his area of effect was a substantial 30 meters, wiping everything out within its vicinity. Though she was another few dozen meters away from the edge, her vision waned to the heat that caused the very ground to grow a bright orange. In fact, the world steadily turned orange as a result of the smoke, the flames and Calfasio’s mere presence which completely distorted their surroundings.

< “World of titans allows us to live only in the mud of its feet.” >

< “Why is it that everyone around me looks so sad. Was my happiness painful for them?” >

“Even if saving them isn’t guaranteed?”

“Guaranteed matters little if we don’t try! That’s why – I have to remove Ignis from him. So he can stop burning. That way we might be able to figure something out!”

“All the while the Plagued Heart is still throbbing with life?”

“Don’t try to convince me otherwise! Nav... please, let me hold onto what I have left of my damned past self! I won’t be like them! Let me try! Let me keep extending my arms out even if this world labels it as wrong! If my hands burn – then so be it! I’d rather die being wrong in the eyes of the world than be like any of them!”

This was her conviction. It had never changed since the beginning. Her rights and wrongs were perhaps illogical in this world, but she’d be damned to let someone die. Someone to suffer all because of the incompetence of the world’s ‘deities’.

However – she also deeply understood that there was a chance she would not be able to save them. Frost however blinded by her valor knew that life was a fleeting thing. It was always her job to help people, no matter how futile, how diseased, how painful, and how distraught it all was.

What mattered the most to her was that there was a wholehearted attempt.

And so, she briskly moved as Calfasio pointed his lance towards her again.

< [Flame of A Fleeting Ember] >

The flames exploded behind him, and he rushed onwards encased in a flaming aura that distorted its immediate surroundings. He was fast, and the longer he chased the faster he became. Frost used the urban ruins to her advantage, avoiding him with ease before she caught him in the branches of Biased Verdict.

However – this lasted only momentarily. The heat was so immense that it almost instantly incinerated the already burnt tree. Frost had to retreat and feed on more of the Crimson Hunger just to replenish her HP. They were like two candles trying to withstand the flame that was Ignis, growing stronger as Calfasio’s wax body further cracked each time his HP dropped.

The cycle was near endless. The cat and mouse game saw the city burn as the skies choked with smoke. Frost’s only viable attack was Dismissed Confession, but at this point she did not think it would be needed.

Calfasio was going to die regardless of her intervention.

“Nav... I’ve hit 0 HP before. When I Awakened as the Amalgam. Will I die if I hit 0 HP again?”

“Unlikely... No. I truly do not know. I believe there may be consequences.”

“... as always.” Frost hissed.

< [Remember] >

Once again, the weak little critter snapped pictures of him. It was dangerous for such a low-HP creature to remain while the city caught alight, and yet it did not care the slightest for its own safety.

It just wanted Calfasio to remember.

Calfasio | HP: 370,000

And as if to spite it –

< [Fuel Are Memories] >

Iron Candle

Calfasio

ATT : 5,000 MAG ATT : 5,000

< “I must burn ever brightly to perish all for my dearest one!” >

< “Does mama hate me? Do you hate me? You never told me why mama never came back after I was born. You always looked so sad when I asked...” >