501. The Lantern’s Knowledge

501. The Lantern’s Knowledge

A Disciple of Nilhim was near the top of the Fractured Nilhim hierarchy. Nilhim himself stood at the very core of the Impuritas Group which surprised Frost. She assumed that a Heart was at the root of all Impuritas Groups, but as it turned out, individuals ran the Impuritas Groups using the Hearts.

Ringmaster Phalange of the Blood Festival and now Nilhim of the Fractured Nilhim. Each one seemed to possess a personal history with a Beholder, namely those their Group directly opposed.

The Disciple of Nilhim was but one of a small handful of individuals from Nilhim’s circle. This meant that their captured Aspiring Star held vital information. Frost carried the Lantern, and she couldn’t help but to notice that Terrent – no, Worm had no mention of the Seeds or Apples like the Bloody Herring.

“T-Those... Seeds turn the ordinary into what we are.”

The light within fluctuated as it spoke. Its tone was warried and laced with fear, and its voice reverberated like a haunting bell.

Frost needed to be careful who she showed the Lantern to, as per Azure’s warning. If it brought a Disciple of Nilhim himself to madness, then she could only imagine what would happen if the ordinary were exposed to her caged up fears.

She used it to navigate through the Black Forest, casting the dark away as she still remained fixed in the Fourth State. This was because she was still considered to be in combat. Azure followed her, leading Frost into the direction of where she found the strange woman and her childish lookalike.

“Some are bounded to their own Hearts.” It continued. “In our case, those Seeds bounded us to Nilhim. It’s a forceful procedure. But in the right circumstances, it mimics the Faux Corruption phenomenon.”

Frost recalled the self-destructive transformation of the Venus Flesh Trap. She could only imagine how many more of those things existed in the Nex Megalopolis now.

“The process of becoming an Impuritas. That’s a natural occurrence too, isn’t it?” Frost questioned.

“I-It is. We were p-partially afflicted by it to begin with. As is the nature of the Subderma. Ascending meant to surrender oneself to the curse of the Faux Corruption.”

The Impuritas and the Corrupted were not entirely different at an individual level. The Corrupted was far more enigmatic to be explained, but with the Impuritas it was fairly straight forward.

A part of them was permanently drawn out from within, manifesting as a transformation that reflected this. The ascent caused this to occur but was also noted to happen within the Epiderma as well. Either way, it was akin to leaving a high-pressure environment, causing one’s innards to become gouged out.

This process resulted in Impuritas like L.S and Broker.

On the other hand, descending further resulted in people becoming crushed by the weight of the world, be it the thoughts of others, fears, emotions – It caused one to transform into far more hideous and abstract forms. Azure then stepped in, explaining:

“The descent is seen as a more true-to-self trial. We condemned it. It contributes to the population of the Hearts. It’s not as much as you think. In the end, it’s the world that allows this.”

Azure also came from the Subderma Layer. She explained further that it was like a completely different world. Just like the children of the Derma Layer, she was also once infatuated with the stars.

“But Descartes showed me that there’s much more to life than chasing lullabies.” Azure owed everything to Descartes. This was what Frost gathered from the way she spoke about them. “The Seeds not only force the Faux Corruption onto people, but it also seems to be a blend of both extremes. Climbing up and down the layers of the world is like navigating through a well.”

When Frost asked why this Faux Corruption was possible, both of them answered with:

“Timeless.”

“Stay silent, Worm.” Azure urged. “We call the ruins that make up a sizable portion of the Subderma and beneath the ‘Timeless’. It has several major sections, named the Shallows, the Inner, the Depths and finally, Deep Time.”

The world around them then began to darken. The thick trees of the Black Forest disappeared as they voyaged into the abyss. The only light here came from Frost’s body and the Lantern.

At the core of CogitO’s tech was their ability to preserve a person’s consciousness. It was no AI, but rather, a true, disembodied intelligence. Although intelligence was a stretch, as those with their minds used to power their technology could not think for themselves.

The Blue Dahlia was different, however.

Because she had been watching Res this entire time.

A mother’s love was something Frost wished she could remember. She didn’t even know the faces of her parents. Did she have any? Family? Siblings? Friends...?

Frost was eventually able to make out the figures by the tree, and it was a Corrupted much to her shock.

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< HAILSTORM >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET SINGS >

Lull-A-Goodbye

< The tales of the world we both longed to see. Goodnight, goodbye, hello, goodnight >

AFFINITY: Desire

LEVEL : 50ORIGIN : Trauma

HP : 65,000

ATT : 450MAG ATT : 450ATT DEF : 250MAG DEF : 550

MP : 20,000

RESIST : 200AGI : 5

< Frost. This is the Duchess and the Child the White Rabbit spoke of >

< What’s more is that this is a Main Sequence Corrupted >

< And... >

< ... Why is it that I reminisce as I hold this children’s picture book in my hands? >