797. Countdown

797. Countdown

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“The Dirge… it’s changing!?” Iscario ignored Frost – an attempt that he quickly failed at.

“You weren’t favored by the Nexus, were you? Nothing seems to be going your way. You’re a fucking disgrace Iscario. Not even the Nexus could give you something worthwhile to make up for your faults. So you had to steal Skills. Ask yourself this: without your Skills and Ilya, what do you have left?”

“You’ve barely taken charge of the Nexus and you’re speaking like you govern it. There are two halves of the same –!”

“I am. It’s irrefutable. Make no mistake, I’m not perfect. But was there anyone else who was able to bring the Ateliers together before me? Iscario… The Nexus doesn’t need you.”

Frost stared intently at him, her wrath infinite, but her demeanor far calmer than just moments ago. Though Iscario was clad in pure white, the amalgamation of colors made Frost appear otherworldly; like she should not even be standing at this meager level where Iscario was.

But she did. Frost had always been a hands-on person.

The same could not be said about Iscario.

“You turned your back to the Nexus. I hold the Ateliers in the palm of my hands. What do you have, Iscario? An Angel? Qliphoth? The Impuritas? The Nexus gave you everything you could have ever wanted. I could have made your wish come true.”

“Amalgam… our wordplay is similar. The Beholders were willing to believe you… if I had done the same thing, then I could’ve been the ‘Amalgam’ myself.”

“I didn’t promise them salvation, Iscario. I’m not like you.”

One hour was all Frost needed to strip Iscario of his Blessing, but this would be a 5-hour endeavor on her end. Frost was built for this. Even if she had to fight him for 100 hours on end, then she would approach it with the same optimism.

Due to her mana consumption, it would take a while to whittle Iscario’s HP down. Thankfully, Frost could always devour her Innocents for MP. It would be a noble sacrifice, but of course, she’d rather that they were kept alive than to perish.

Basically, the Innocents were Frost’s emergency rations.

“Ahhh… Hah… Ahaha… ah. The Nexus.” Iscario broke the silent lull with a burst of laughter. “Speaking of which – how defended is the Nexus right now?”

“Fortified enough where I don’t need to be there.”

“Is that so? The Arbiter of the Floor of Judgement doesn’t leave its floor. The Beholders rarely visit the Nexus. I heard the Blessed were valuable to you. It’s not fair if you get keep all the Healers to yourself. I heard you’re keeping a large reserve in your Floor of Amalgamation.”

“Hah…” Frost trembled, burying her face into a hand.

“Shocked? The Nexus is only organized when there is a higher power working from within –!”

Laughter suddenly interrupted him. Frost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. It had to be a joke, but her feathers rustled. They moved the impaled rods in her back around, digging them further inside. But she continued laughing despite the pain, much Iscario’s annoyance.

“Ahaha! I didn’t realize your intel was this bad. I can’t believe I’ve been overestimating you. You’d think that with the Fate Mechanism on your side, you’d have a glimpse of how much the Nexus has already reformed under me and the Archetypes.”

Nav. You’re hearing this, right?

“Iscario. You just led whoever you sent up there to their deaths.”

“We’ll see in time. Shall we find out how many more lances you take before you keel over? But I’m surprised. They may fake, but they’re replicas of the Lance of Longinus…”

Iscario summoned another lance in his left hand.

“Perhaps I should personally stab your heart. Did you know that in the past they used to skewer beasts like you? They did it to ensure they were dead. I’ll leave plenty of holes in your body.”

“They did worse back in my world, and I’ve dealt with worse than being filled with holes. Iscario… have you ever experienced having your heart being wrenched out for days on end? Held a blade that felt like your soul was cast into hellfire? Hacked off a limb and turn it into a weapon?”

Frost threw De Jure away into her Dimensional Storage. [World Ablaze] had left it completely unusable now. The barrel was flared and cracked, revealing grooves and textures that couldn’t be found in metal.

“A thief like you wouldn’t know the first thing about sacrifice. Iscario. I feel like you’re going to weasel your way out of this. So –”

Frost’s fists were coated in flames as she smashed them together.

This drew Iscario’s full attention and locked him in combat.

“– I’ll make it so you can’t escape!”