246. The Contents of the Tale

246. The Contents of the Tale

The mountain of corpses writhed. Maggots plagued their flesh, and they no longer took upon the appearance of a Crimson Hunger abomination. The bodies of humans and Demi-humans piled upon one another, creating the pillars that held up Bride’s pale castle, towering a hundred meters into the air.

Blood dribbled from the fresh wounds of the damned, oozing like the juices of crushed cherries. The land underneath, crushed by its amalgamative mass, was shaped into a bowl. The homes pulverized by its legs like the pestle of a mortar.

An ocean of red washed past the ankles of the Groom, who plucked whatever stray Crimson Hunger, person or entity came within reach and added them to the mountain of corpses.

Your Balcony to Stand Above the Stars

Librarians

< Our sacrifices >

ATT DEF : 3,500

HP : 400,000

MAG DEF : 3,500

“I love you. There isn’t anything else in the world I’d give to be by your side.”

“Standing underneath her pale castle, I heard the confessions, and my heart went aflutter.”

“HP... That thing is alive.” Ignis was the first to utter as the triplets stared at the mass, their eyes bewildered by the composition of the corpses.

“Demi-Humans? They’re called Familia so how come...?” Ber whispered through clenched teeth. “The Bride and Groom don’t look anything like us Demi-humans. Voice – I mean Nav! Are we able to look into the history of them or something!?”

“Nav doesn’t have that kind of knowledge. The Groom’s the likely culprit. But I don’t understand the meaning behind all those corpses? It’s horrible...” Jury held back a gasp, having never seen so many bodies before.

And neither had Frost.

The imagery caused a twinge of pain to form in Frost’s chest. The scenery was like a representation of her efforts thus far. Behind her she knew that a similar – if not larger – pile of corpses lay hidden behind the curtains of fire.

“Can you feel it? All you of you? It sounds like a story of desires to me.” Cer said. “Love, but there’s more desires. Dunno what it means to you, but I’d be an idiot to not crossmatch them with the affinities we know of!” Cer surprisingly brought up, stirring further intrigue.

“This is supposed to be a story. Pale castles. We’ve been travelling the world fighting all kinds of Corrupted, and there was only place that had those castles. Res. Cer... Am I overthinking it?” Ber solemnly spoke as the statuses of the Bride and Groom emerged.

Lover in the Sky

Librarians

< Our divide >

LEVEL : 100ORIGIN : Impuritas

HP : 150,000

ATT : 0MAG ATT : 2,000ATT DEF : 2,000MAG DEF : 0

MP : 4,000

RESIST : 100AGI : 0

Far Reaching Lover

Librarians

< Our divide >

LEVEL : 100ORIGIN : Impuritas

HP : 150,000

ATT : 0MAG ATT : 2,000ATT DEF : 2,000 MAG DEF : 0

MP : 4,000

RESIST : 100AGI : 0

“You’re not. Pale castles. They’re from one of the Kingdoms that failed after Paradise was lost. The 13th Order. It’s a Kingdom that deeply spited our kind. You had Puritas, and then you had them.” Res revealed, gnawing with certainty of this. “When Puritas fell, they crumbled and dissolved. They were everything Puritas stood for, and they became its executionary body. Condemning people for sins they never committed.”

Res spoke with overwhelming ire; a resentment shared between the triplets, and even Ignis. She had heard of the tales regarding the 13th Order from refugees who had found solace and respite in Divas Pass.

Bricks showered, as did corpses. Frost danced around them, bashing the Groom who could not even conceive of retaliating. She was simply too powerful, and the trails she left behind were like that of a meteor as she dragged the Groom along, biting at their neck whilst they followed the others.

She did not even need to use her Touch of Golds.

“Heretical beliefs. Humancentric values... I, for one, never believed in it after witnessing what they had done to those with pale hair. Despite all she had been through, my sister continued to push me forward towards our secret marriage.”

“Through our sacrifice, we would reach higher than what that Star ever could! That way no one could interfere with our love. But I had already been marked to be Condemned. To forever lament in those iron coffins, to bask in the inferno underneath...”

“Oboros Infintas as well. Star. Is he talking about –!?”

“Indeed. He is speaking of not only Iscario as the Prince. But of Raoul, the Star. After such bloodshed, castigation must have been required.”

The second Act was no harder than the first. Frost had already torn out the throat of the Groom, and the triplets had just finished up with the Bride. Jury continued to butcher the legs of the castle as it approached the walls of Scarlet Logic’s City of Spades.

Your Balcony to Stand Above the Stars | HP: 100,000

It would not even be a minute before it perished, but it for some ominous reason, continued to push straight for the City as though it carried a vendetta. Frost, having had enough of hearing of the atrocities committed by these Kingdoms of Grandis, finally breached into the Third State.

< The Will of the Amalgam Has Reached the Third State >

< Borrowing the Active and Passive Skills of the Heart of Ours >

Suddenly, as the castle collided with the thick walls of the City of Spades like a battering ram, her flames had risen to her shoulders, the flaming licks disorientating her momentarily before her vision returned.

“Look out Frost!” Jury cried through Nav. Entire building-sized chunks of rock fell from the walls as Frost avoided them with precision, her heart pounding harder than ever before. The tips of her hair transformed into a maroon shade as her body unexpectedly grew. From her legs, her arms, shoulders and even her chest.

There was a sting in her heart, and it coursed throughout her entire body. She felt as though she carried the combined hearts of all those present, and they had empowered her physically, hence her sudden growth.

< The Third State Has Manifested as the Heart of Ours >

But this was not the last of the surprises.

Because as the HP of the Castle fell, the Bride and Groom let out their final woes as the walls were breached, and like a hornet’s nest – The Scarlet Logic flooded through, bearing their arms.

“I never knew what existed beyond those walls. I, in my ivory tower, did not know of the struggles beyond. My fascination quickly turned into despair when I realized that it was not the world we had to fight for this love. It was the stars beyond.”

“To escape this punishment – I must murder those and all who dare to stand between our love!”

< ACT III >