40. Her First Corrupted Manifestation

40. Her First Corrupted Manifestation Unlying Tablet | HP : 2,000 These tablets were not mere objects. They were statless entities. Many had suddenly sprouted along the forest floor now, littering it like a sea of giant headstones. The texts each pulsated and sung a unique choir of confessions, matching exactly what was written across the tablet. Even though the texts were arranged in characters completely unfamiliar to Frost; she could sense their meaning. The sensation was akin to a worm wriggling beneath her skin. She kept her voice loud as she shouted and took down as many of these things along the way. Thankfully, Jury arrived at the caravan first and slew the Screaming Gallery in only a single hit. The body dropped like a sack of flesh, unmoving with its teethless smile permanently affixed, as if still screaming after death. “Everyone! Keep on shouting! Don’t stop!” Jury warned to the panic-driven masses. “Stay close to the caravan if you want to be protected!” Her words had little effect on many of them. Frost watched this all unfold as she rapidly approached, seeing at least 10 people flee into the forest behind them and another 10 of the armed travelers suddenly pointing their weapons towards Jury for attacking one of their own. Tch... pieces of shit! Nav! Tell Jury to destroy the tablets! Leave those people to me! “I knew we shouldn’t have trusted you! You betrayed us! We let this Demon abomination to travel with us!” The lightly armored swordsman who had been walking alongside them exclaimed and was about to point his blade towards Jury’s throat. However, the axe-wielding woman instantly deflected his attack and took a stance before Jury. It was not to protect her. Rather, it was to protect him from also being killed. Jury, noticing her kind display, quickly turned her attention towards the tablet and unleashed as many attacks as she could along its sturdy surface. Jury did not say a single word to them, only nodding at Frost in the nearby distance. There was a clash of voices that agreed to hurt Jury, and others that heavily protested. Furio had no say in the matter and instead closely watched Frost as she finally made it to the fray wielding a face that yearned to crush these ungrateful people. “JURY! You only need to protect Via’s caravan and focus on the tablets! Everyone else – don’t stop running you mouth! The most silent is going to transform into one of those things!” Frost revealed, instantly silencing them just as Jury shattered the tablet. “And you – If you can’t even muster an ounce of thanks despite your uselessness, then don’t say a single fucking word!” She inflicted scrutiny upon this entire group of 10 as she punched his blade with her bare hand and shattered it, proving her strength before their very eyes. She deeply understood that people didn’t want to die. But what she could never wrap her heart around was the notion of pinning the blame onto another when all hope seemed lost. Frost nearly found herself wishing for their deaths, but she kept it together. If all else, these people will act as fodder for the transformations. Basically, a part of her had denoted them as a resource to gain precious time. “Look at what we’re dealing with for a second! Do you see it!? The Corrupted up there!? The mass of walking flesh looming behind the fog!? Via! Jaris! All of you Patrons gather anyone capable of fighting to focus on the tablets with Jury! Octanids! Help them!” Frost recited a battle plan on the spot, gathering the attention of Via and Jaris who allowed themselves to be devoured by her all-consuming eyes. “The tablets!? Are you sure!?” Jaris questioned her, desperate for answers as he quickly rallied those that could fight alongside the other Patrons. “We don’t know what the tablets do, but I’d be an idiot to not at least suspect it has something to do with what happened to this man!” Frost did not need to explain in depth. She just needed to expose the causality to them like it was a fact. And it was not something anyone was capable of disproving either. Frost’s odd ability made them realize that she was not exactly a normal person. A healer capable of other magic and speed like her was unheard of and sparked some of their morale to return. “G-Get ready everyone! Spread out and start attacking the tablets! [Water Spear]!” Via screamed, wielding her staff as she summoned a ball of blue liquid. This transformed into a spear made from water which was directed towards a distant Unlying Tablet. “Go, go, go! DON’T STOP MOVING! Take as many potions as you need!” Another Patron relayed. “No need for standardized party formations! Just keep the tablets down!” “FIGHT! JUST FIGHT!” “AND FURIO!” Frost suddenly turned to the red-armored man as shouting began to circulate the forest. The cries, screams and roars of children, Adventurers, women, and a man who wished to see his daughter acted as the horrific ambience for this situation. It was hardly inspirational. “I know! You want my fire magic! Leave the oncoming masses to my flames! Finally, it’s about time someone recognized my worth! Bring the mana potions here!” He commanded. “And Frost... what the hell are you?” Thankfully, the man saw this as an opportunity to showcase his power. His ego was big, but not in a terrible way. Frost was happy that she didn’t have to resort to eating him. Not that she would have in the first place... unless... She didn’t want to think about it. Furthermore, she could only take abilities and stats from other beings. Skills only came from the Corrupted... ... As far as she could tell. “You’ll find out soon enough. Just focus on opening fire.” Frost uttered before she gave chase to the Listening Bird. As dust was thrust into the air; the man shielded his eyes and yelled one thing: “What the hell does opening fire mean!?” * * * The plan was foolproof to the layman. But reality was different. There was no such thing as a perfect plan. Never against the Corrupted. Sustaining a scream was harder than it sounded, but to their surprise, no one had turned into another Screaming Gallery just yet. However, they had lost 3 of the 8 Octanids. As creatures inherently incapable of speaking, they were the first to perish. It was unknown how the man was initially targeted over them. These Octanids did not become Screaming Gallies. Instead, their innards burst forth as a Screaming Gallery crawled out. The biology of an Octanid was a nightmare in of itself. During adolescence a Novanid will feed it a strong, suitable being which would act as its innards until the day it dies. It was always debated whether the victim perished or persisted within an Octanid. This confirmed that their victims lived, even if they were reduced to a slurry of red syrup. These Screaming Galleries were a sight that instilled fear into the depths of their heart. Some were even petrified in the face of such an abomination. It was... vile. Putrid, and caused her great torment... yet her stomach had no problem with it. She suddenly felt something snap inside of her. Her heart anguished as emotions pumped through her ravaged heart. “... What... kind of a monster... are you...?” She heard Jaris utter in disbelief. He was nowhere close to her. In fact, he was located halfway across the battlefield. The constant yelling would have also made it impossible for her to hear. And yet she did. Not only his, but everything else with so much clarity that she could not spare a single thought to herself. People uttered how afraid they were of her. How she was undoubtably a monster. But amongst them were the few that held their breaths and placed their faith in her. She recognized these voices and hunkered down on her resolve. If it weren’t for these voices, then she would have considered leaving these people for dead. She did not think of herself as judgmental. However, it was hard to empathize with these people who could only bicker, blame and judge in the face of trouble. Piece by piece, limb by limb, she devoured not only one Octanid but the other ones that had fallen prior without interruption of the other, living Octanids. They simply allowed it. And thus – < Stats from the Octanid gained > < Unique Ability Gained > < ABILITY : Steel Thread > < EFFECT : Create steel thread from the living > – She gained its unique ability. To create steel thread from flesh like an Octanid. Though this was not the highlight. < The Will of the Amalgam has Reached the Second State > < One Thousand Eyed Bird is the only Corrupted available > < Borrowing the Active and Passive Skills of the One Thousand Eyed Bird > Suddenly, the crimson-fogged forest was illuminated by the emphatic light of one thousand golden eyes, including the two on her face. All her invisible eyes had come to her aid, and they banished all shadows with its righteous light. “W-what is... happening...?” “Is that... her doing?” “Her hair it’s... it’s changing.” “Are we saved...?” “Frost... you can’t possibly be human. You – what exactly are you...?” These were but a fraction of the voices that spilled from their parted lips. Certain strands of Frost’s hair turned a pale white like that of Jury’s. While she did not look entirely different than usual, the aura she possessed was undoubtably stronger. It felt like a giant, invisible maw surrounded her at all times, ready to snap at anything that dared to come close. The manifestation of the One Thousand Eyed Bird was not just merely borrowing its skills. It meant to merge with it. To become an amalgamation of the Corrupted she had devoured. This was the true power of the Will of the Amalgam. < The Second State has manifested as the One Thousand Eyed Bird > < ACTIVE: Prejudice > < ACTIVE: Biased Verdict > < PASSIVE: Rightful Ignorance > < PASSIVE: Fear of Retribution >