744. Infinite Hunger

744. Infinite Hunger

“Why are you giving me so much peace in these final moments? My soul will disappear. I will be reduced to nothing. Where I will go after this... is an incomprehensibly long and distant place that wracks me with despair.”

“You’re going to disappear forever anyway. Your pain has ceased now, hasn’t it?”

The Amalgam, despite their wrath, inherently despised violence. She had the soul of a Healer. That’s right. The Monarch remembered now. The Amalgam was a healer. The fact that her unconsciousness was open to converse rather than subject her to endless judgement caused her to realize that this person...

... could have helped them in some way. It was wishful thinking. Truly wishful, because their nature would have clashed either way. But perhaps like the Monarch, it was because of them that the Amalgam became so prejudiced towards them.

The Monarch’s own blackened soul began to resemble that of a human, with two arms, two legs, a single head, two eyes... then, she became a blob of dark nothingness.

This unconscious part of the Amalgam sought to send them off as peacefully as possible. And it was because of this that the Monarch was able to realize the wrongs they had made towards this person.

The Brightest Star was wrong. Even if the Advent of Desire could grant many of their wishes, wouldn’t it have been more effective to work alongside this person instead?

“We would have fought either way. We are incompatible. Our existence... is to hate and only hate. There is no cooperation. There is only absorption and assimilation.”

The Monarch knew her own tragic nature, but she still could not help but hate the Amalgam. To hate the world that made her like this. To hate her own existence. She never had a choice. Neither did many things.

The Amalgam didn’t forgive her. No one could. The Monarch was innocent in her own eyes.

Morality, right and wrong, ethics – it was not universal to all species and walks of life.

Not in this game of life.

“We cannot see the same picture. You, I, and this Heart of mine. I am part of a collective. The ‘I’ is not me. It never was. I’m just a ball of instinct craving to be something more.”

The Monarch accepted her fate. Of all the pain and suffering she felt across her lifespan as being one with the Heart...

... her passing into the infinite nothingness was the calmest she had ever been.

Completeness... what did it mean to her?

In the end, the Monarch knew the answer.

“I wanted this pain to end. This agony to cease. This hunger to disappear.”

“I despise you Amalgam. With all my heart. We will never be able to see eye to eye.”

“... Alas, this is how it ends.”

“Amalgam. The suffering will never end.”

“This is the nature of the world as we know it.”

< People will shape the city. In time, that city will shape them >

Nav said in a prompt, causing Frost to deeply sigh.

But it’s not like people intended to create monsters.

She wondered why the Monarch became oddly quiet towards the end. In her mind, she believed that the Monarch had completely resigned herself to her fate.

Her soul was devoured, and with it, so were their stats as well as the Heart of the City.

< Stats of the Monarch Gained >

< Stats of the Heart of the City Gained >

Knalzark did not even need to arrive. It was over before Frost could summon him, but he’d still be needed for the immediate cleanup.

“We’ve won. Spread the news. We’ll be moving to the next Heart immediately.” Frost ordered, and seconds after, the unanimous roar of victory filled every inch of the bleeding cavern.

LEVEL : 284

The Amalgam

NAME : FrostHP : 40,500,000

MP : 600,000

AGI : 95RESIST : 550AGE : 1ATT : 15,000

MAG ATT : 15,000

O : 187 D : 37ORIGIN : ArchetypeATT DEF : 18,000

MAG DEF : 18,000

S : 280E : 89

OFFENSIVE

ULTRA VIOLENCE: 116

CONFLAGRATOR: 71

DEFENSIVE

COUNTER OFFENSIVE: 37

SUPPORT

THE OTHERWORLDLY HEALER: 263

LEADERSHIP: 17

EXPLORATION

APPRAISER: 40

COOK: 40

COMPREHENSION: 9