< Leaving CA | A 04 – 52 | Brandar | 5 minutes >

The tall spires of the City of Clubs flashed for a brief moment. The outside world barely shone through the thick webbing of dilapidated buildings, and industrial pipes that were built beneath the Sectors.

All pipework of the City of Clubs ran through the 'A' level. Old pneumatic pipes and blown out pipes wrapped around the newly installed ones like overgrown ivy. The railway ran through a near subterranean section of the City of Clubs.

Unlike the City of Hearts and the City of Spades, the 'A' section was primarily designated as safe, and had an abundant number of Inflow Direct Liquidators and various mechanical constructs roaming this layer.

It was also where Inflow Direct-created machines were tested, and where trains hauling Liquid Nex in both Refined and Unrefined forms were transported. It would not surprise Frost if the activity in these parts was higher than what was happening outside.

"Malgam…"

"The City of Clubs is a good place. See, Joy? They use the underground portion for industrial purposes. It's not a place where people should live. I'm really happy Inflow Direct cares about their citizens, even if the cost for it steep." Frost combed her fingers through Joy's hair, continuing:

"But, we have someone up there, in the Nexus, who can replace precious body parts even when they're gone forever. Isn't it nice?"

"Gam…" Joy nodded.

The faint light above disappeared in the girl's eyes, only to be replaced by Frost's glowing orbs as they were thrown into darkness.

She sat comfortably on Frost's lap; her head pressed firmly against her chest due to the drag of the Leviathan. They were at the deck of the Leviathan, with Jury who was in the middle of preparing sandwiches right beside them.

Her hand disappeared into her Dimensional Storage and retrieved anything from sauce bottles, loaves of three different types of bread, a full head of lettuce, a basket of tomatoes, and eight different cuts of steak.

< Pending name change: Jury's [Dimensional Storage] to [Dimensional Pantry] >

"I keep my clothes in here too!" Jury swatted the prompt. "Frost, can you look this way? I need your eyes. I can't differentiate color in the dark."

"You too? I guess we share the same eyes after all."

Indeed. While Frost and Jury had near perfect vision in total darkness, they lacked the ability to tell colors apart. The world had a grey filter to it in the dark after about twenty meters. The same could not be said for Jury since her eyes couldn't glow at will like a pair of headlights.

[Darkvision] and [Nightvision] were Abilities that did not appear in the Abilities list, as these were a biological adaptation. [Scrutiny] and [Precognition] fell into a similar category.

That said–

"I can sprout one of these."

[Misunderstood Tale].

A tail shaped like the illicium of an angler fish sprouted from behind Frost. Scales arranged in a crosshatched pattern ran from the base up to the glowing tip.

"Malga…!" Joy tried to grab the orb, but Frost swiftly yanked it away.

"Careful. You'll get hurt if you touch it. Be careful of the scales as well."

Frost ran a hand along the length of her tail. The texture was no different from sandpaper.

However, looks were deceiving.

The Tail of the Golden Angler

< I can grant three wishes. Come close (approach). Grant me freedom (reach in). And feed me (nutrients). Fulfill all three, and I will grant you the salvation you desire >

ORIGIN : Folklore HP : 2,500,000

EFFECT: Hypnotize a chosen target with less than 65 RESIST. That target becomes Entranced. When 30 seconds elapse, you may deal damage equal to 100% of their HP.

Entranced

< A debilitating Condition that prevents a target from moving and reacting to external stimuli >

Encrusted along the tail were hooked teeth. They looked like the hooked side of velco upon closer inspection. Dragging a hand against it would grate it down to bone.

"You can play with Jury's instead." Frost looped Jury's tail around Joy's waist. "Not as dangerous as… mine."

"Gam."

"Hoooh? What was that pause?" Jury swooped close. "Hmhm? What were you going to say instead of 'mine'?"

She smelt blood in the water. Frost didn't know what she wanted to say there, but she could see why the pause seemed suspicious.

"I wasn't gonna say anything. I had a brain fart. Don't make a big deal out of it." Frost lightly bumped heads with her. "… Maybe I had something in mind."

"Did it start with 'M'?"

"Maybe. I don't like calling myself it out loud. Don't make me say it." Frost's cheeks were lightly flushed.

"M. O. M–"

"MOM." Joy exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air.

"… Yeah. That." Frost's face softened. "Feels wrong to be called mom outside of the Nexus. What kind of parent brings their kid along to what might end up becoming a battlefield?"

"That's the neat part! We're learning as we go! And Joy's plenty strong already~ Right, sweetie?"

"Gam!"

"Skewer! Black Forest! Run! Run!" Jury tapped into her old Corrupted vocabulary. "It won't be long before you can start talking properly. But do we want her to?"

This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

"Absolutely."

"All good things have to end." Jury wiped away crocodile tears. "Eat up Joy. Eat like mama so you can start talking sooner."

"No, Joy. We're gonna have a long talk about what's a balance diet."

Frost plopped Joy back into her lap and began lightly pinching at her arms beneath the clothes and her feathers.

"Has that ever mattered for anyone? Ever? In the history of the Nexus?" Jury's head rocked from side to side with each question.

"Good point. But it doesn't hurt to teach her about moderation. And if you're hungry, then eat to your heart's content. Just please don't end up like Jury. The Floor of Amalgamation might get hit by its first famine."

"FROST! JURY!"

Cer made a sudden appearance by the hatch.

She had arrived to take point on the deck now that they were due to enter the City of Strings.

"Heads up! You're gonna want to send Joy inside right about now."

Cer pointed towards orbs of light deeper into the tunnel. Gradually, these lights became strips that ran along the walls. Light returned to the tunnel, removing the need for Frost's tail.

"We're about to pass through Emvita's border. Throw any laws or norms you believe in overboard. We'll be in monster territory in less than two minutes. Get moving!"

* * *

Frost appointed Acedia and Abigail to be in charge of Joy, with Horus serving as their backup. Once she had ensured Joy was comfortable, she returned to the deck where Jury, Cer and Res waited, and was suddenly greeted by a new prompt.

< Entering Emvita for the First Time >

< Welcome to Emvita >

The tunnel opened into a silent expanse.

The faint blue light of the skies above the City of Strings cascaded through thick webbing of rebar and rubble. Before them stood a great one-hundred-meter-tall wall. It was connected with the outer walls of the Nex Megalopolis.

Their railway ran along a thin bridge that suspended over a chasm that spanned several hundred meters deep. Enormous foundations held the wall as they floated in place. They were gravitationally locked, and the deep resonance they emitted caused the Leviathan to shudder.

The left side of the wall eventually met with the Nex Megalopolis. The right however, ran until the path was obscured by its curvature. There was land three hundred meters beyond the chasm, and Cer noted – with a resounding echo – that it led to the outside of the Nexus.

"I've been to the City of Strings before. But I've never stepped foot in this layer. Only really ever seen it from above where it was mostly safe."

"Mostly?" Frost asked, right as the Leviathan slowed to a crawl.

They approached perhaps the largest door they had ever laid their eyes on.

It spanned the entire height of the wall; a full one hundred meters, and fifty meters wide. There were no embellishments, nothing to signify that it was in fact a door. Frost only assumed that it was because why else would the rails terminate at the walls?

"Emvita has a bigger monster problem than the nightly Impuritas incursions Brandar used to face. They have to deal with two nights."

Cer began explaining as blue steam rose from the seams of the door. It recessed into the ground, revealing a passage straight into the City of Strings. No one arrived to greet them, let alone confirm their allegiance.

Act X had predicted their arrival.

< Entering String A | The Orchestra Pit for the First Time >

< Welcome to String A | A 05 – 01 >

* * *

An empty, concrete highway extended as far as the eye could see. A lone railway track ran through before it split off into ten different forks. It was then that Frost realized these were water canals, rather than highways.

Not only that, but everything at this elevation consisted of pillars larger than buildings. Massive overhanging ceilings dominated the skies and smothered the light-blue light of the Fate Mechanism.

Homes were built beneath these and were elevated around the pillars. Some small communities hung from the ceiling. But the majority of homes were built into the walls of the canal, whilst brutalist-inspired homes were stacked atop.

People did not leave their homes, but she could sense the presence of countless behind drawn curtains. They were curious about the Leviathan, and who the figures atop were.

But they didn't pry any further.

She could see many more souls through the walls, as well as tens of thousands of Strings floating in the air.

Each was attached to an individual.

I've never seen so many followers of the Script in one place before. Figures. It's the City of Strings. But why did they call this place the Orchestra Pit?

< Act X's theme has always revolved around a play >

< Actors have a stage. A stage must have an orchestra pit >

Frost also noticed a disturbing lack of social life. The only signs of life were people who participated in questionable activities.

For instance, she noticed that there was a man who ran around stark naked. Another juggled bricks over the edge of the canal, whilst an old woman tried to jump from a shallow ledge with an umbrella, as though it would slow her descent.

Frost's lips parted.

"There are not many people outside. How come?"

She asked before she realized it, and Res answered as she pointed to an invisible watch on her wrist.

"At these parts, I'd venture to guess that no one wants to be the victim of a Commandment like 'Kill or humiliate the first person you meet at the second intersection'. But we can blame time right now. We managed to arrive after the Second Night. But the First Night will be arriving soon."

"The First Night?" Jury asked quizzically.

The First Night was a phenomenon exclusive to Emvita where nocturnal monsters dominated the nights with their sheer numbers. It was the time when Phenoms of Contempt would also hunt, making it far too risky for even veteran Adventurers to brave.

But why did it matter here?

They were within the walls of the Nex Megalopolis.

Then, Frost noticed something.

"The wall hasn't closed."

"Heh. Then it's probably time." Cer smirked. "I guess it didn't open for us after all."

"Rules of Act X's streets. You get to stay off it as long as you follow the Script. Without it, you're short out of luck. At least one person per household must follow the Script. The more who do–" Res pointed up at the buildings past the foundation.

There were roads hoisted on cables, and pathways built around the perimeters of the buildings at the next elevation.

"–Get to live up somewhere higher. You can think of the City of Strings as one large, continuous complex. Each building is connected to another. Easy to get lost, but that's the least of a Herald's worries."

The lights that illuminated the underbelly of the City of Strings were suddenly cut. Only the glow of the canals remained. People scrambled back to their homes as the world quaked.

Night had settled in faster than they realized.

The march of thousands, and the desolate howls of many tens of thousands more travelled through the canals. The sound then resonated with countless strings and bellowed through artificially created passageways to create an unholy symphony.

Before they knew it, the thin bridge they traversed across was swarmed by thousands of monsters of all sizes, and with levels averaging in the high 80s. Screams came from elsewhere, indicating that other doors had opened to the rest of Emvita.

"Is that what Act X allows to happen in their streets every night?" Frost could barely contain her fury.

"On the bright side, monsters won't break into homes." Cer smiled but quickly wiped it clean when both Frost and Jury glared at her. "Got it. Nothing to laugh at. It's fucked up. What's the plan?"

Plan? As powerful as Frost was, fighting this swarm with the intention to exterminate them was futile. Her Scrutiny did little to thwart the pale monsters. It was as though they were possessed by unending hunger, but even that was not correct.

They could easily swarm into people's homes. But they're actively avoiding them. All they're doing is running through the canals… Wait!

"Defend the Leviathan!"

Unlike the residential areas, the Leviathan was not exempt from being attacked.

Thousands of pallid monsters descended upon the Leviathan, only for them to be repelled by a series of electric shockwaves, flames that burned hot enough to deform the walls of the canals, acidic paint splats, and a Jury who immersed herself in the fight.

"You'd think this giant hunk of steel would count as a home!" Cer's roar was accompanied by a series of devastating electric fangs.

"It does, but we're right in the middle of their path!" Res rebutted as she flicked her brush-tipped tail and fired a storm of colorful needles. "Get them to park this train somewhere before we end up breaking it!"

The train suddenly began to accelerate as though Icara had read their mind.

"So many! Frost! Has Nav shown the prompt yet!? Is there a Condition we don't know about!?" Jury called out.

"Nothing yet. All we have to do is protect the train."

Frost consolidated her wrath into the shape of a fractured halo. Bloody crystals grew erupted from her shoulders, and at once, creatures began to rupture unceremoniously.

"Tch… Is this also necessary for Act X's predictions?" She had to ask herself.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

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

The First Night

< On eve of the first night, let the first seal fall. The rider in white shall bring forth the great cleansing. Reclaim the time they had stolen >

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