98. Jury’s Perspective Before the Disaster

98. Jury’s Perspective Before the Disaster

Minutes before disaster struck –

Frost’s relentless game of cat and mouse caused debris to hail upon the golden arena. Plywood, stone, and gore carved from the walls of this seemingly subterranean space plummeted, pulverizing the scattered hearts like crushed pomegranates.

Jury guarded her face as blood squirted in all directions, as did sparks from her claws as she dragged it along the stands, tearing these putrid beings apart like they were no more than sentient fabric.

A bloodbath played out in the background as Ignis made quick work of the Reorganizers, all the while the triplets bombarded the heart with an array of electrical attacks.

There was nothing present that could fathom inflicting even a single scratch on themselves. A one-sided massacre perfectly portrayed their rabid prowess as Jury stopped for a moment, observing the cavernous wound Frost had inflicted prior with Prejudice.

Then, she turned to the collapsed tunnel where clumps of rocks bled.

Is Frost going to be ok!?

There was little else that mattered more to her.

And despite knowing how powerful Frost was; this enemy had managed to creep underneath her skin. It was the first time she had seen Frost display such an insatiable hunger to kill. The only thing that came close was whenever she spoke of that betrayer.

“Frost is not responding. My words only fall on deaf ears. She’s experiencing the same throes she first experienced under the Will of the Amalgam’s power.” Nav expressed, causing Jury’s face to contort in worry. “But she’ll be fine.”

She can’t be fine if she’s not listening to you! Please, keep trying to get a hold of her!

She deeply understood Frost’s heart. How she always aspired to remain strong, despite the unfair situation she was always put in. Jury vividly recalled the first time Frost broke down into tears back in the Black Forest following her first ever rampage against the Accusers.

She never wanted to see her like that ever again.

Jury spring boarded herself into the air after swiftly pounding the ground with her tail. The one thousand Judge’s Aids were still present in this bloodied circus stage, and she used them to slingshot from eye to eye with immaculate prowess.

Her body naturally contorted and arced into aerodynamic forms as she made passes at the golden Heart, shredding its grafted shell with her blackened claw.

Dungeon Heart | HP: 50,000

“Frost thrives under immense emotional pressure. But I also share similar sentiments. We may be reaching uncharted territory. That Impuritas has an uncertain connection with Iscario. We always believed him to be a lone actor in Frost’s betrayal.”

Nav shared its insight into Frost’s fury. In the meantime, Cer threw herself straight into the Heart by merely biting at the ground. The electrical maw did not pierce through the hardened dirt. Rather, it slid along it, dragging its teeth along the ground as it suddenly jerked shut, throwing Cer upwards.

I don’t understand why they’d want to hurt Frost though! What did she do to them in the first place!? Frost – she... didn’t she arrive in this world not long ago?

“That she did. And Ignis states that people will hate you not because of who you are, but because of ‘what’ you are. I’m sure you understand that particular sentiment.”

Jury hung from one of the Judge’s Aids for a short moment, her eyes scanning the battlefield. She was met with a cruel stare from Ignis, and a sadistic grin from a nearby Cer.

As Demi-Humans, it did not matter if they were good people or not. What only mattered was that they were Demi-Humans in the eyes of the people in Grandis, and therefore, were subject to life-long anguish.

... I do. Even as a Corrupted I do remember what happened during those long 26 years.

Jury also suffered similarly for her ambiguous appearance. Throughout the years she spent protecting outsiders from the skewered beast of the Black Forest, she had always found herself subject to their prejudices.

Just because of what she was.

How... how do they even know what the Amalgam was supposed to be in the first place? How could have they judged Frost when they didn’t even exist prior!?

“The Archivist is also deeply curious about Frost’s existence.”

Please tell me in what way!

“That Frost is familiar to her in some capacity. She’s certain of it now after our battle with the Greed Counter. For context... the Archivist has existed for 350 consecutive years. Her memories likely fall further back. Yet Frost has existed for less than a quarter of a year.”

Jury’s eyed widened at this revelation.

The Archivist knew Frost!? Is that why she’s talking so much all of a sudden– Angh!?

“OI! Jury! Stop hanging around and lend us a hand! Or claw! Tch!” Cer complained, snapping Jury straight out of her minor trance with a small electric shock. “RES! Hurry up and get those Captains out of there! The chains are giving way!”

Metal shrapnel fired as the giant chain links snapped. The imbalanced load within the Heart caused it to tumble in turmoil, beating frivolously without a care in the world as its HP rapidly plummeted.

And with it, so did the Heart with a tremendous crash.

Jury did not share a word with this... completely normal person. Neither did she really understand her analogy.

The razor-sharp barbs dug into her tail, drawing blood. The strength of her tail was immense and could easily carry several people simultaneously. But not large enough to carry Broker along, which was left under the care of the triplets.

“Hey... you’re seeing what I’m seeing as well, right!? The coins are making spatial distortions!” Cer could not believe her eyes as the group attempted to flee the immediate scene, only to find that the chamber itself was being eaten by these explosions.

Not only that, but the world was suddenly anatomically incorrect. The floors were displaced and walking in any given direction would result in them appearing up to dozens of meters away.

It was a like a spatial maze, and it was utterly impossible to for their minds to decipher it.

If a normal person were to glance into this shattered world, then their mind would undoubtably break.

“These coins are loaded with the spatial distortion phenomenon!” Res exclaimed, her voice appearing in every simultaneous direction, right before Nav shared one other piece of information.

“An Express Train is passing through! Snap was able to briefly analyze the train on passing! It’s uncontrollable!”

“Don’t kid yourself Res! That’d mean they either have some kind of skill, or a technology similar to Caldera Industries!” Cer shouted at the top of her lungs, the shattered world disappearing. Everything appeared like there was a layer of cracked glass in front of their eyes.

“Ignis! Are you ok!? Is everyone still here!?” Jury cried out, competing with the others who desperately tried to reunite with one another.

Segments of the fragmented world plunged into total darkness one by one.

“Ignis has been taken! It is indeed a spatial distortion! She’s found herself in a strange place of red and gold!”

“WHERE!?”

“The Derma layer!”

“Wait – What if it is the same technology? Trains have been going haywire as of recent! You don’t think this has something to do with it!?” Cer came to a frightening realization. “With all the technologies going –!”

“CER!

“CEEEERR!”

A unanimous cry sounded from the remaining wolf triplets. It wasn’t anything Jury had heard before. It was chilling. Desperate. Almost as if they were on the verge of tears.

“WHERE DID YOU GO CER –!”

“BER!? Ugh... No. No no no. AAAAAAGH! JURY! IT’S JUST US!” Res deeply lamented, only managing to make Jury out from the distorted scenery, seeing her body in almost 15 different places. “IN ALL LIKELIHOOD WE ARE HEADING INTO THE DERMA LAYER! WHATEVER YOU DO, PLEASE TAKE CARE OF MY SISTERS IF YOU FIND THEM –!”

Res vanished unceremoniously.

Jury didn’t know if she was even inside of the dungeon anymore.

It was silent. Dark. Lonely.

The world had turned black as nothing but a bitter cold swept across her flesh. Even L.S had disappeared from her grasp, and with it, so did a quarter of her tail, which profusely bled, before it shortly ceased as the muscles contracted tight enough to keep her blood contained.

“... Frost... everyone... Nav. What’s happening anymore?”

Jury solemnly spoke these words, but nothing left her lips.

Like there was no air here to transmit sound, and yet she was able to breathe normally. She was somewhat acquainted with how physics works in a way thanks to the books of Frost’s homeland.

But she couldn’t care less about it here in this void.

Because there was nothing she wanted more than to spend her precious time with Frost... and the others. And it was all taken away again.

“Stay safe. All of you.” She begged from the bottom of her radiant heart, clasping her hands together almost in a prayer.

“Jury. Please be careful. The Derma layer is where Beholders, Stars, Moons and the Exalted have ventured to and never returned from.”

Nav warned not just to her, but to all those Blessed by the Amalgam.

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