611. One Sin

611. One Sin

Utter chaos reigned across the city streets. Each thunderous clash of the Apostles created a colorful shockwave that flattened everything in its path.

Frost was forced to take refuge within the red sea whenever her vision abruptly disappeared. Because seconds later, the ripples of their holy weapons swept across the city. Bubbles violently left her mouth as she watched rings of color soar just above the surface of the blood.

“GAAAH!” Frost howled as soon as she resurfaced. “Tch – AGAIN!?”

She was barely able to catch her breath before she sensed another foreboding attack. Her instincts warned her before her eyes could. The vibration of a low-pitched hum also warned her of an impending attack.

She dove back down moments before the skies were torn apart by violent rings of light.

That sound was the same that heralded the arrival of Jury’s pale weapon used in [Retrocausality – Smite].

Frost resurfaced and swam to the nearest ruin. Once she had solid footing she could begin running across the surface of the red sea. The Twelfth Apostle rotated between attempts to claim the Princess’ life and her Innocents, slaughtering the latter with unholy prejudice.

There was no possible way Frost could fight either of them without manifesting higher-classed Corrupted. So long as they were under the influence of the Icon of Judgement, then Frost had nothing other than wits to see this through to the very end.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME!?”

She at first shouted in an attempt to get the Princess’ attention. Moving closer than a hundred meters to the highway would cause the Eleventh’s Apostle to instantly twist its head in her direction.

But sound could not travel very far due to the Corrupted Zone’s silencing of nearly all sound.

“Tch...”

< Do you have a plan? >

“Aside from eating apple slices?” Frost retorted, loading Infinite Hatred into De Jure. “I need her to stay away from the Garden one way or another! Only the One Marked by Judgement can enter, right!?”

< Affirmative >

< All will be lost if she sets foot into there. You nor I will be able to intervene >

“So –!”

Frost aimed carefully, leading her shot by a significant amount. No matter how far ahead Frost was, the Princess was somehow unable to see her.

“– I’m going to stop her right in her tracks!”

A powerful bullet removed major section of the highway. The fireball and the smoking barrel of De Jure was largely ignored by the girl who stumbled backwards, falling onto her bottom with trembling eyes.

The apple juggled in her hands. Her head flicked left and right in search for the source but to no avail. Her eyes watered. Terror overcame her. But even so, the child struggled back to stand on her bare feet as she stared at the pale light beyond the gates ahead.

Frost fired another bullet, decimating the highway further as the girl’s eyes trembled.

The Eleventh Apostle ignored Frost so long as she did not target the Princess. It hovered just above her, blocking incoming strikes. The girl didn’t even notice this.

“C-Courage... F-Follow the heartbeat.”

Somehow, the girl’s voice travelled through the silence.

The apple in her hand was cradled close to her heart. The meaning behind her words was lost to Frost. Perhaps like her, she could hear things that others couldn’t.

But if there was something she did know, it was that the ‘heartbeat’ she heard was somewhere behind the pearly gates.

Frost did not relent with her attempts to dissuade the Princess. The Eleventh Apostle and the fighting made it impossible to approach her otherwise. At times Frost felt like the girl’s eyes landed on her and the Apostles she was so oblivious of.

The shimmer of Frost’s loose bangs blinded her for a split second. The world was split in half by a vertical shockwave. A chasm of darkness filled with endless colors missed her by mere inches, bisecting everything behind her as far as a dozen kilometers away.

She was fighting her own battle under the feet of giants.

< 800 Innocents have perished >

“Innocents. The Princess. Elysia. You’re after them because they’re the ‘apple’ to you.”

Desperation became one with the silence. There was something they were all desperately chasing after. Frost’s eyes lingered on Elysia’s colossal form. Even as a Corrupted she couldn’t help but to scrutinize her character.

“So why aren’t you after me!?”

950 apple slices were claimed by Frost. Another hundred littered the path towards the garden. Glorious fireballs exploded in her wake. The path to the Garden was scarred to the point where the Princess had to clumsily run across the surface of the red sea, her feet half-sinking into it like mud.

“It doesn’t stick onto you like me. Voice. The Princess is supposed to be a healer.”

“A child shouldn’t have to bear the sins of so many. Why are you so eager to take the blame for them? It saved the world. I know that... But I hate that it had to be you. Neither of us have to be judged for something we didn’t do. I fought my way out. You don’t have to be so desperate.”

She turned to the Icon of Judgement.

*Ba-dump*

And she heard a faint heartbeat.

“They’re both the same. The One Thousand Eyed Bird judged people out of prejudice. The Icon of Judgement is the same. It will blindly let a child bear the guilt of all so long as it confesses.”

When she ate the 995th Apple, she could hear another coming from Elysia.

*Ba-dump*

“She’s the only one that can get through to the Icon of Judgement. ‘Her’ was the only one who was probably able to get through to the Arbiter as well. She knows it. Because of that...”

Frost’s breath hitched. The tears that tumbled down the Princess cheeks glistened like her own. It was like looking at younger version of herself that didn’t know any better.

And for that reason alone, Frost knew that defeating the Icon of Judgement wouldn’t be as simple as the Conditions suggested.

“... Then of course she’s going to feel like it’s the only right thing to do.”

< 950 Innocents have perished >

The Princess only had less than half a kilometer left to run. Frost was running out of ideas. For now, she aimed to finish off devouring the last remaining Markers ahead to see if she could gain something to help her.

If not, then she needed to take the risk and go for the Princess directly, whether it be shooting off a leg or rushing in to take her away. The timing was everything, and so long as her precognition was active then it was entirely possible.

However, she had seen all outcomes, and all resulted in the same way; with her sight disappearing once and for all.

< All Innocents have perished >

“Fuck... Whew.”

The reason why Frost was relieved was because she thought she would lose her omniscience.

“And here I thought I’d have to split my focus!”

However, this meant that Elysia could finally focus solely on the Princess. The clashes made it difficult for Frost to move quickly.

Her speed whilst swimming in the blood was easily faster than the Princess could run. But Frost had to time her surfacing properly with the passing ring of lights. Claiming the apple slices became close to impossible now that there were no Innocents left to distract Elysia’s onslaught.

Surprisingly, the Markers were not affected by the aftereffects of their clashes.

“C’MON!”

Frost climbed a thirty-meter Marker.

“YOU DAMNED BIRD!”

The Princess was now only 300 meters away from reaching the entrance of the Garden. Her final course of action would determine the fate of both her and the Princess.

She plunged her hand into precisely where the apple slice resided out of desperation.

“GIVE ME SOMETHING!”

And when she ate the 1,000th apple slice –

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: One Sin >

< Bear what they all have >

– She received a descriptionless Ability, just like when she devoured the Denizens of the Black Forest.

A warm light enveloped her as golden particles formed on the ends of her hair. For a moment, she was able to see golden strands mixed with the black, grey, and white.

“One Sin...?”