< "I howled at the shadows they believed in. I told them about the stars and the moons outside of the cave. But my voice keeps falling on deaf ears." >

"Stars, Raoul, this world, are another allegory for a monster. The sun and the truths you have been exposed to may be false. But, that part of you that tried to warn them stems from your own heart. That sense of purpose…"

The false hearts were whittled down. One by one, the shattered like glass as the final two pulsated with life. Frost knew which one was the Linked Heart, and which was the Found Heart.

Precognition paired with her intent to hurl a ball of liquid flames allowed her to peer into both possibilities.

"… It's more noble than any of the hearts you've taken up."

I despise Raoul for what he's done. But people suffer when they Corrupt. They're forced to see and live the worse parts of themselves. It's enough torture as it is. So Raoul, face it head on. And show me what you truly believe in.

"Usari. Eliminate the heart on the right. It's going to merge with its chest."

"GOT IT!"

One of the hearts swung towards his gaping cavity. He thrashed his claws and used his Found Heart as a wrecking ball to knock Hayte around. His movements became desperate like a cornered wolf, and with one last howl to an invisible moon, he was now susceptible to being Suppressed.

//////// < ALERT > ////////

< Raoul has entered a Sub State >

< [The Wolf Without a Heart, Lacking Reason] >

< Speak all evil >

< EFFECT: Reduce RESIST and all DEF stats to 0. Negate the Conditional buff of the Linked Heart >

< "My voice couldn't change a thing. By following those hearts, and by encasing my heart in ice, I was able to pursue what was objectively the best outcome." >

< "Protection…!" >

"I'm sure it came from a good place."

Frost solemnly spoke.

"But you never paid attention to yourself."

Every next word was punctuated with the constant barrage of bullets. Raoul's HP rapidly declined.

Linked Heart | HP: 742 | 1,017

Once the Linked Heart shattered, then he would be Suppressed for good.

His sole, frozen heart remained just out of reach from his chest. Still, he did not attempt to reclaim it.

Raoul was satisfied with another heart.

"There was Typhon. Galia. The Nexus. Justica Arms as a Wayfarer. The Broken Thorn. Dare I call you Agent of Qliphoth. Your protection would have become no different from the rime surrounding your heart."

< "It would have guaranteed survival." >

< "Change can only happen because we have no way to prevent it." >

He's responding. But his Corrupted form hasn't changed.

"The best we can do is try to steer ourselves towards where need to be. Preventing change is a luxury even I don't have. Raoul. Look in front of you, and tell me what do you see?"

< "Ah… It has found its way home. But still yet, it fears to knock. Misery accompanies it." >

Suddenly, golden cracks appears around him. The fissures of the Traumatic Clock were activated.

Wait. What's this vibration? The Traumatic Clock? It's resonating with him. A Corrupted?

The Traumatic Clock did not work on the Corrupted. They were living embodiments of their Nex, after all.

< It must be reacting with Raoul's Ego >

Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

This was the only explanation. Somehow, the Traumatic Clock was able to pick up on Raoul's personal Nex and form an image.

< "I've brought warnings and truths. They fell on deaf ears." >

A scene where Raoul brought news to a Demi-Human village. It contrasted with the devastation that followed as 13th Order knights jammed blades into Demi-Humans.

"Tell the battalions to leave the 'red eyes' ones alone. They're part of the sanctuary. What you saw here is business runt. Be a good little wolf and scurry back. Don't wanna bring us over to cull the village of one of your friends next."

< "I strove to preserve the innocence of the love my mother left behind. My voice failed to teach them." >

The next fragment revealed a smiling Cer who offered her head for head pats.

"I wanna be kind and cool like you when I grow up, big brother! Like we promised!"

Mirroring it was a Cer coated in fresh blood. Piled behind her were the charred remains of people.

"Did I do good? Seven hundred. Like the initiation rights. I can be a Solemn Paw now and take revenge on the humans right next to you!"

Her offering to Raoul was the severed hands of seven hundred humans.

< "I wanted the twins to keep smiling. If I had asked them to stay… then would they have listened? My heart has, and always was, filled with frigid misery." >

"Ra–"

"–Oul~!"

"We're here to bother you again mister wise wolf~!"

"Get up already and start moving! Stars can't loaf around~!"

Memories of the twins grabbing one of each of Raoul's hands took up another fragment. Their voices, their smiles, the light in their eyes…

"… Tick… Tock…"

"… Ticking… Comfort… Voice…"

… Only made the accompanying scene far more tragic. They laid within Raoul's hands, covered in markings of cruelty beyond imagination.

< "I locked it out. I'm not prepared to take it back. I still don't believe I have anything worth to say anymore. And still, when I had nothing left to offer, when my heart was encased in ice…" >

"Heh. What, Raoul. You keep lookin' at me funny. Nah, are you squaring your partner up for a fight or somethin'!?"

Ara.

Raoul didn't know what expression he made at that time.

Or why his eyes were drawn to Ara. That perfect image of Ara in the suit who embarked on falsified missions trusted him with everything they had.

And in the end, Ara was left to be taken away to corrode in the hopes of preserving them.

< "Had I followed what my heart desired, then I would still be…" >

Raoul reached a moment of introspection as his HP hung on a thread. Frost immediately put up a barrier, blocking all forms of attack from finishing Raoul off. Then, she applied Scrutiny onto the Repenters when Usari tried to contest it.

< "Hah. It's wishful thinking to believe in alternatives. The world doesn't work that way. The past, our regrets, is the one thing that will remain constant in this world." >

< "I have already lost my purpose." >

"Ara's still alive. Her whereabouts are kept a close secret to the Nexus. If you cooperate, I can arrange a reunion."

< "… I don't believe I am ready for that." >

The scenery changed. The fragments of his memories faded into thousands of tiny shards. They had crossed the boundary between the City of Spades and the City of Clubs and entered a well-lit subterranean railway.

However, surrounding them was a graveyard of wrecked trains.

One in particular was a familiar Leviathan.

Raoul froze. The train seemed to stop moving. He reached towards the frozen heart with one claw.

< "No hearts were ever mine. I left mine locked outside. My voice was a double-edged blade. But it was for the best." >

A sudden surge of heat caused the heart to melt.

Then, it exploded.

< "It would have burned by the furnace in my chest. The unfairness of change. The nature of this world to take but never give." >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< Raoul's Corruption has progressed >

His claws melted away, and a blindfold made from melting fur concealed his eyes. He took a humanoid shape and resembled a werewolf, whose fur was made of dark blue flames. He plunged both hands into his chest cavity and drew out a wicked version of the Justica Arm.

It flickered with flames, and it hovered by his side as his hands were melted off from the wrists. The handless and blind Raoul set his attention to the closest person, and without warning, he fired a bullet into Hatye's chest.

"It progressed. What is it this time that bothers you, Raoul? Won't you keep talking to me? I'm here to listen." Frost softly spoke.

The Repenters panicked.

But she remained indifferent amidst the chaos.

< [Blind Retribution] >

< Skewer them until nothing is left >

< EFFECT: Attack the closest available target >

ATT : 290 MAG ATT : 50

< "Tragedy preludes despair. The systematic destruction of my kind was left unchecked. Healers who had done no wrong were taken from their nests. Loved ones changed by an unchangingly unforgiving world…" >

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< MONSOON >

< THE ARBITER'S TRUMPET INSPIRES >

The Blind Wayfarer

< Judgement is proven only by the virtue of where the bullet ends. May they all be judged accordingly >

ATTRIBUTE : Wrath

LEVEL : 60 ORIGIN : Trauma

HP : 55,000

ATT : 500 MAG ATT : 200 ATT DEF : 50 MAG DEF : 50

MP : 1,200

RESIST : 45 AGI : 22

< "… It deserves no mercy." >

Frost sealed her eyes and dismissed the Repenters. They were woefully unequipped to deal with a Monsoon-levelled Corrupted, though she wasn't against them from trying.

"Wrath. I know that all too well. The blindness. The premediated verdict. Our justification of slaughter. That heat you can't put out, and those flames that risks spreading to those who try to pull you out of that madness."

She opened her eyes and prepared for combat by simply offering herself as a target.

"Very well, Raoul. Come. Shoot me. Talk to me until you run out of bullets."

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