20. Understanding Things

20. Understanding Things

The quaking of the forest was not caused by a stampede. Instead, a more sinister foe appeared from the guarding line of trees in the distance. It was the One Thousand Eyed Bird, and it had come to judge the newly formed Accused.

Frost’s heart sunk when she saw it in its entire completeness. The black ball of feathers, and the elusive one thousand eyes was a sight to equally fear as it was to behold. Her blood froze all over as she vividly remembered being at the cusp of death because of this thing.

But she was not the same weak person anymore.

All this did was fuel the flames in her heart.

“JURY! DO IT NOW!”

Frost was in no position to back away now. They were so close to freeing the Hanged Jury. Additionally, their AGI far outclassed the One Thousand Eyed Bird, so they had a good chance of escaping if things went south. Also, they were not the ones being targeted for judgement this time.

The Hanged Jury’s eyes glowed with a mysterious light, as did all one thousand eyes of the forest. Frost's companion launched herself into the air like a missile and with one slash – the branch around the Hanged Jury’s throat was severed.

The body fizzled away into a blinding light, as if its soul had been released from its miserable existence. Frost’s eyes instantly seared with a burning pain. A part of those fleeting particles flew directly into her body as she turned to run while cupping her eyes in agony.

She was blind.

None of her visual senses registered no matter how many times she tried to ‘see’. She felt Jury’s hand take a hold of hers as she dragged her straight towards the safety of the tree lines, all the while Frost screamed out at the top of her lungs.

The pain was different. It was not like the pain of being stabbed, cut, skewered, or ripped. It could only be described as a pain that endlessly reverberated within her soul. It began at the eyes and spread like wildfire to every region of her body.

She didn’t know what was going on. Did she receive some sort of negative stack? A condition? Frost’s mind was nearly reduced to mush as she dug her nails deeply into her skin, trying to overpower the immense pain until it suddenly subsided, like it never existed at all.

Nothing but exasperated breaths left her lips. She could see again. More clearly this time.

Jury seemed surprised when she removed her hands. The woman peered closely, infatuated with her eyes for some unknown reason. But Frost was too anguished to notice that something about her eyes had changed.

She instinctively knew that something was awry. However, there was no way of checking. Even Jury’s eyes couldn’t easily reflect hers.

“Frost good?” Jury tilted her head, oddly calm about the situation even though they were in terrifyingly close proximity to the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

“I’m… I’m good. Urgh… We’re safe now, aren’t we? Thank you, Jury.” Frost managed to weave a smile, still rattled by the experience. “… I will never get used to this. Good work. We completed half of it. Tch. It’s still there…” Frost peered again, watching the giant mass of eyes stand before the lone Accused.

She couldn’t see anything differently. Just clearer. So much clearer in fact that it felt like she possessed another eye. Frost was stunned by the sensation, almost as much as the gaping maw that formed across the body of the oversized bird. Thousands of jagged teeth lined its mouth and with a single gulp, the Accused disappeared.

… 10,000 damage. It’s slow. Terribly slow. But it’s an instant kill.

Frost hardly felt sorry for the bird. It was a Corrupted through and through. Yet there was a part of her that begged her to care.

The One Thousand Eyed Bird lumbered away. It looked much slower now that Frost’s AGI was more than triple of the level 150 Corrupted. It still messed with her mind as to how she was supposed to take out something of that insane caliber.

Her attacks were destined to do the bare minimum damage, so unless she could find a way to hit it 300,000 consecutive times then she was not going to kill it anytime soon.

But as these thoughts circulated in her mind, and as she prepared to restart her battle with the Righteousness, something strange happened. The hundreds of black birds turned white. They had transformed into doves.

It seemed like she was the only one who could see this unfold before her very eyes, as Jury remained unfazed by all of this.

“J-Jury, can you see anything different? At all, over there?” She quickly inquired and pointed towards the white mass.

“Frost?” Jury wondered what she was talking about.

Frost checked their statuses and her eyes widened.

These birds were named ‘Innocent’.

The Righteousness inexplicably opened fire onto the One Thousand Eyed Bird. It merely managed to eliminate 300 of its HP before the creature itself began to bleed from unseen wounds.

Righteousness | HP : 0

The giant bird did not seem to care or notice the attack. The thorns were stuck along its body as it wandered off into the depths of the Black Forest in search for another skewered beast to judge.

Frost slowly approached the carcass of the creature. It made little sense to her as to why it died so suddenly. She could only imagine it was some sort of effect caused by the One Thousand Eyed Bird.

Though she noticed something peculiar upon crouching over its lifeless form.

“… There are probably another nine hundred and ninety-nine of these left. The number went down after I somehow consumed the Hanged Jury. The 300 damage doesn’t seem like a coincidence either.” Frost stated as she began to feast on her latest prey. “A thousand of these attacks perfectly matches with the bird’s HP.”

It felt strange eating these creatures all of a sudden.

She couldn’t exactly point out why, but it became disturbing in an entirely different sense than the bloody, gruesome nature. As she and Jury shared the meal together, Frost spoke again in between mouthfuls.

“System. This whole thing feels like a fever dream. I’ve probably said that a thousand times over. But it’s starting to make some sense. There was prejudice. An unfair judgement. I guess you were right about the criminals. It’s strange that this place which was known for executions would have ‘innocents’ being wrongfully judged. It’s like… how do I put it?”

She struggled to put the pieces together. Her mind had deteriorated from all this madness, so thinking about these complex things became a struggle for her.

“Like a twisted retelling of this forest’s past. Perhaps the truth of it.” The System pieced it together for her.

The sound of munching could be heard as a long silence settled in. Jury happily munched on the creature as Frost stared down at the blood in her hands.

“… I want to ask one more time, System. What the hell are the Corrupted?” She finally asked.

“I unfortunately do not know. I believe the Beholders may have a better understanding amongst themselves, but you may be the closest to anyone ever truly unraveling their origins.”

“You say that like I can actually back you up. I have no clue at all either. But…”

She had a thought suspended in her mind.

“But?”

Frost sighed right as she received her latest ability.

“I want to believe that the Corrupted here harbor a piece of the people that this whole tale of the Black Forest is about.”