672. She Who Devours Nightmares

672. She Who Devours Nightmares

The Knightmare could not move. No, his body refused to. It locked up like it was no more than a cadaver. Within those eyeless sockets Frost saw a pair of hallucinatory eyes trembling with terror.

“… Healers… to understand…”

“Speak up.”

“UNDERSTAND!” He hoarsely cried, some semblance of emotion returning, as if the influence of Frost’s Healing Magic had brought back pieces of his true self. “WHY HEALERS CAN’T REDEEM US!”

But it ultimately remained forever tainted by the curse of the Impruitas.

“Redeem! So that we can conquer death! Healers can stave death away but why not alongside us! Why does it burn this flesh like we are a wound needing to be closed! Do they not see – no, do their powers not recognize that we are alike!? Seeking something further than healing – immortality… freedom from the constraints of death!”

The Knightmare’s outburst was a revolting blend of desperation and truth. It was the result of the resignation of his pride.

“What the hell is it talking about?” Cer spat, asking one of the Memento Knights with a foot planted into the back of his head. “Free from death sounds like a living nightmare. Living perpetually and being constantly churned over and over again like fodder. Sounds like you just want to bring down the rest of the world down to your level.”

Her foot sunk deeper until their head popped like a pomegranate.

“We don’t need another layer in this hell. What is this bullshit? Frost. Just kill him. No need to make it fancy.”

“No. He seems to have valuable information. I’m tempted to keep him alongside us.” Frost wore an uncharacteristically gentle smile.

This suddenly shocked Cer, but when the Knightmare’s bones rattled as if invigorated with newfound hope, she realized what Frost was doing and smiled sinisterly.

“Are you… have you gone… mad…?” Gerina uttered. She reached for Cer’s boots, begging them to reconsider.

“Shut up and watch, human.” Cer hissed.

“So long as you speak, that is.” Frost raised his spirits with hope.

If he made himself useful, then he could see a way out of this.

“A MELTING POT! To charge it! Healers are not just required by us! We only want them so we can understand this mortality we are cursed with! They are key to mysteries! Bearers of a blessing, like that runt with their blood-red eyes!”

“Elaborate, my friend.” Frost hummed.

The red glow behind his eye sockets glowed brightly, the strand of hope now dangling in front of him like the lure of an angler fish.

“I… Do not know beyond that! Honest! I do not lie before you, Amalgam! While I’m nothing but remains of wishing mortality, depraved of senses and blood – My mind is clear! I speak the truth!”

“There are no lies. The feathers do not ruffle.” Terrent answered. “Master… Healers and the Red Eyes relate to things outside of our scope. Healers always have their uses, no matter what. In ours it was to keep those from perishing… and to experiment on the limits of a Healer’s mind. The utmost extremes.”

“So for them it’s a fucked up way of testing the limits of mortality?” Cer barked, furious at the mention of breaking down healers.

“I-I can tell you the buyers of the Red-eyed slaves! The Broken Thorn! They buy out slaves with red eyes or golden hair! Believe me! I do not know their purpose! I do not know if they even possess a Heart like us!”

“Tell me. What is your kind doing here in Grandis? The North has been cut off. The Bellum Empire is mysteriously prosperous. Healers have been kidnapped for their spinal fluids. Not because of their Healing magic.”

Frost drilled her eyes into his sockets, illuminating the darkness within.

“Most likely… for Scarlet Logic, and the Broken Thorn. I could not tell you more. NO! Do not mistake me! A lowly Knightmare, the master of a thousand strong Obituaries! A dozen Memoriams! Two Elegies!”

What he recited were some of the Ranks of the resurrected entities the Memento Mori could summon. From lowest to highest; there were the Obituaries (Lvl 0 – 50), the Memoriam (50 – 100), Elegy (100+), Eulogy for the most sacred of beings (150+).

He did not know of the existence of anything higher.

“Eternal Night-levelled bastards… From the Impuritas of all things.” Cer grimaced. “You don’t think they’re amassing them here?”

“TO CONSOLIDATE POWER!”

“Meaning what exactly?” Frost asked nicely.

And finally, she received an answer that caused her to grin.

“Preparations for the Piece of the Fallen Star! A Color will be reborn… We have the preparations. We have the numbers. Amalgam… even you will not be able to stop them! Once they are aware of your presence, it will all unfold in a symphony of elevation as they promised!”

The more words he spewed, the muddier the picture became. But the fact that they were attempting something in relation to the Advent of Desire was all she needed to know.

“… Elevation…”

Gerina croaked, clutching at the grass as she turned onto her stomach.

“… is what… my family… the traitors… the falsehoods… to my people… It… transforms them…! Into disgusting… monsters!”

“A Heart of the City.”

“Multiple!” The Knightmare confirmed, causing Frost’s face to darken. “The Bellum Empire is a means to an end. We allowed to prosper, so that it can be harvested!”

“By whom?”

“The Maestros of Flesh!”

“… Fucking hell.” Frost’s eyes turned away and towards Cer. “It’s not just the Memento Mori. Meaning there’s the likelihood of more groups present.”

“Blood Festival… Others I am not aware of.”

“The Broken Thorn?” Frost brought her eyes back to him.

“They… are most certainly here.”

“… Color…” Gerina gargled. “Red Baron… Is that… what you’re talking about? Rather than him… Please… choose me…”

Frost’s eyes widened again.

Red Baron… He’s here?

Her attention immediately shifted to her.

“I can tell you… about the Red Baron… Help me…”

“Wretched fool. Do you not see how much I have sacrificed!? Does your begging compare to the infinite yearning of my morality!? My Memento Knights – Wallow in despair as the Amalgam takes you, and as I shine like a star before them!”

“… Please… No…” Gerina begged. “You’re being tricked… Black-haired Healer…”

Cer crouched beside her, slapping her face with her tail.

“I said shut up and watch. If you’re in pain, then you should’ve just passed out. Frost. I think it’s time.” Cer nodded. “He’s lost it. What an idiot. Even a newborn brat could see through your ploy. But I’m not the one begging for my life. Hey, Knightmare ratbag.”

Frost’s smile suddenly morphed into a haunting smirk. The strand of hope that dangled before him had lured him into a noose. His head could not move an inch from the Amalgam’s hand that still held onto his cracked chin.

Only now did he realize that there was no escape. The island he had been trying to swim towards in his sea of despair was no more than a mirage. What awaited him were only the jaws of a creature that lurked beneath the waves.

“Enjoy your trip to hell.”

The Amalgam was exactly what her namesake entailed.

She was a devourer of all things.

“Wait – Wait – No – NO! RELEASE ME! O’ DEATH, SHANT YOU EVER COME –!”

*Crunch*

*Crack*

*Chew*

Frost devoured him from the head down. It had been a while since she had eaten something so disgusting. It was like eating a battery, the flavor pungent like licking the back of a game cartridge. But it was worse. Those comparisons were only the closest things she could relate it to, and she felt her stomach churn.

Still, he was eaten leisurely. The snapping of bones punctuated the silence. All eyes fell to her back, and she when finally stood up, nothing of the Knightmare remained.

Not even the molten sludge.

“You weren’t completely useless in the end.”

A golden coin was held before her face.

Etched Coin

Memento Mori

* * *

“Whew~” Frost deflated with an innocent squeak, putting the strange Lantern away before she turned around. “Haaaah. Did you already relay it back to the others?”

“Give it a moment. Communications isn’t exactly instantaneous like the voice in your head. What do we do with these other ones?”

“Whatever you want.”

Frost coldly spoke, causing Cer’s eyes to glisten as she thought of the many things she could do to the scattered human traitors.

“But leave this one to me.”

“All yours.”

Gerina’s eyes trembled as Frost approached her. She was already dead in her mind, but she never allowed herself to shut her eyes. She accepted her fate. Death would come to her soon. Not once had Frost answered her queries, so she believed she’d be cast away like the Knightmare.

However, a warm hand suddenly brushed her short, bristly hair. The wounds and the aching disappeared all at once as black particles surrounded her.

Then, the soft voice of that person spoke to her with such tenderness that she thought she was dreaming.

“I’m sorry I didn’t heal you straight away. You looked fine enough, but I didn’t know your wounds were this bad. Shit… What’s this on your arm?”

“… D… Disease… Incurable…”

“Incurable, huh. You’re right. [Cure Disease] doesn’t cut it. But [Cleanse] is able to get rid of the surface crystals. Just a tiny bit, though.”

“… You’re healing me…?” She questioned, wondering why she was being helped. Not only that, but why this healer had black hair… Let alone was capable of causing a Knightmare to utterly submit to her.

“Of course I am.” Frost smiled at her, her face radiating a healing warmth like sunshine. “I couldn’t leave you alone. Good scream. We wouldn’t have made it in time if you were a second late.”

“I could say the same… Amalgam…?”

“Frost.”

“Oh… Gerina… A-Ach…!”

The aching in her arm caused her to wince. She was flipped onto her back carefully by Frost as she sat on her injured side, inspecting her arm with care.

“It’ll be fixed soon enough. But I think I’m going to have to hack it off. But don’t worry.” Frost grinned. “Limbs grow back when I’m around.”

“… Go for it…”

Gerina knew how medical procedures worked without a Healer in sight. In fact, she had seen many of them in her time in the Bellum Empire.

She braced herself, unbuckling her belt and feeding it between her teeth to prepare for her amputation.

“No need. You’ll be fixed by the time you wake up. Think of this as natural anesthesia.”

However, she watched Frost raise a fist above her face.

“Goodnight.”

Stars suddenly exploded in her vision before everything faded to black.