"You've regained your Support Skills. This must be the effect of [Accelerate Wound]. How childish. Do you believe it changes a thing?" Jury extended her left hand.

A sinister, dark blade snapped out of her wrist like a flip knife.

"Hardly. Give it enough time, and it just might."

"You humor me. Is that supposed to mean something? Because I cannot heal?"

"… You love to ask the obvious, for someone who idolizes a life without having to question again."

Her confidence is infuriating. She'd be better locked up in a gilded cage. How dare she…

A wicked smile crept along Jury's face.

"Haha… Ahaha… Hahahahaha! Darling… I can't heal? Did you forget who I truly take after?"

The blue glow in her chest expanded.

And the laceration along her tail began to close.

* * *

[Shortform Warp].

It was Frost's second Beholder Skill next to [Amplification]. Frost planned to keep Lammy's Warp organ to further inspect later when they returned to the Nexus.

She never expected to find herself devouring it before reaching the Floor of Judgement.

There was no guarantee that she could even gain Warp in the first place. It was not a Gift, nor was it a living being. In short, Frost had taken a gamble prior to confronting Jury. What she did not consume, however, was the vial containing the counterfeit Infusion S.

Its side effects crippled the user. Furthermore, her body was not strong enough to withstand it.

Warp, however, did not require a resilient body.

< BEHOLDER SKILL: Shortform Warp >

< The right to weave between the fabric of creation >

< EFFECT: Teleport by traversing through rifts in the Weft. May only teleport to locations within 50 meters and in direct line of sight. Cannot teleport to locations behind an object >

< COST: 500,000 NEX per Warp >

Weft

< Material reality. Commonly used in the context of the domain of Stars and the effects of Arbitration >

Beholder Skills were another major advantage to levy against Jury. [Amplification] allowed her to utilize powerful Skills, whilst [Shortform Warp] ensured that she could keep up with Jury's offensive.

It was expensive to use despite costing half of [Amplification]. 60,000,000 NEX gave her an estimated 120 uses. Given Jury's unreadable stats, 120 was unlikely to be enough.

That being said, what Frost used to damage Jury was an Amplified version of [Accelerate Wound]. Since Jury could not heal, any permanent damage she could leave was advantageous.

This was why Frost was confident she could win by a pure battle of attrition. Jury couldn't cripple Frost. But Frost could continue widening the cracks that Absolution left behind until Jury could no longer physically continue.

However, it couldn't be so simple.

Flesh stitched itself together along the tip of her tail. Muscles in the form of strands messily lashed into the air before diving straight into the muscle. Blood peeled off like dry paint before fizzling into white particles.

"You can heal your own wounds?"

"Frost, Frost, Frost. Are you surprised? I have a Beholder Skill capable of reversing wounds already. [Turn Back the Clock]. It was expensive. 50 million Nex. This? This is greater than a Skill borrowed by a Beholder. Behold!"

Jury clasped at her chest. Blue light spiraled into her hand before she crushed it into motes of light.

"My heart is my own Gift!"

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< STAR SIGNATURE: World Reborn >

< The egg is a world >

< EFFECT: Replenish HP, MP, stamina, and extinguish all negative Stacks and Conditions on self periodically >

< I've never seen that before… Micheala has, however. It an Ability unique to a Glimmer or a Star. Their signature Ability. I cannot find anything listed in Jury's stats! >

Like the Maw of the Amalgam...

Finally, Nav also revealed Jury's stats.

White Glimmer Jury Jury

LEVEL : 400 (-200) ORIGIN : Glimmer

HP : ???

ATT : ??? MAG ATT : ??? ATT DEF : ??? MAG DEF : ???

MP : ???

RESIST : ??? AGI : ???

< Stats are scrambled. But we have found her level… Mind you, Michaela was only level 350 before the War in Grandis. Uriel is 380. The Aberration of Lament you struggled with was only Level 250 >

Jury brushed the soft fur of her tail and nuzzled against it. She wore a mocking expression, her eyes saying: "You could be here touching this~"

"… I knew Jury could heal… that's how the Healing Bullets are made. But to this extent… At that point, is the White Glimmer Jury any different from a White Dove?"

"I am a righteous ruler born from three mothers. A Star (Arbiter), the Light (GEN-01 – The Nexus) and the Dark (Elysia). Is there no better fit than I to replace you as the Head? As the Amalgam?"

Jury's eyes swelled until they were on the brink of bulging out of their sockets. Her façade had completely come off, and dark spots began infesting her pale coat of feathers. The tip of the pale wrist blade then dripped with a dark substance that fizzled into tiny worms when it touched the floor.

Qliphoth. So much for a righteous ruler. Arbitration and Qliphopth… I don't see a Qliphoth Field.

"Qliphoth Corrosion, specifically. Careful. I doubt Jury can do much if you were to be hit by it."

Frost could not afford to stand and talk anymore. She phased through reality using Warp to appear in front of Jury. The transitions were much longer than it appeared, since it took her five seconds to reach Jury, but for Jury, Frost had simply teleported.

Her senses shut off during these transitions.

No sight to see.

No ears to hear.

No nose to smell.

No tongue to taste.

No skin to feel.

And no thoughts to think.

Light invaded her vision one she emerged from the other side. It temporarily blinded her as she drove a fist into Jury's chest, only for her to be repelled by black and white feathers. They fanned out like knives, leaving large gashes along Frost's arm.

Absolution saved me. My arm would have been shredded. No Qliphoth Field thankfully.

< Jury has innumerable Defensive Passives. I detect [Physical Resistance] and [Deflecting Feathers] are negating a substantial amount of damage >

Frost did not stop moving. She employed hit and run tactics to make up for her lack of speed. Her strikes were efficient, accurate, and she parried Jury's strikes whenever possible.

Jury on the other hand, fought like an animal. Each strike Frost made only further caused her to descend from grace, her straight hair becoming tangled as she dragged her wrist-mounted weapon through the earth.

"Stop fighting like a bug Frost! My wife… my love… you're better than that! Stop moving so I can love you! What greater love is there than shouldering all your burdens!?"

"So was never about enforcing rights and wrongs!?"

"Contrary! It comes hand in hand~!"

Frost sensed the warmth in the air disappear. The instant she saw smoke appear as she exhaled, she backed off entirely as Jury's heart raged with a pulsing blue shimmer.

< [A] [Causality – Full Stop] [A] >

< The flow stops when momentum ceases to exist >

< EFFECT: Freeze causality in 20-meter radius. Arbitration Skill. Utilizes P-Factor >

A frozen bubble formed around Jury. A perfect snapshot of the world was contained within that bubble. Jury dragged a hand along its threshold, and half of it disappeared within.

"So close~ You've forced my hand to drop the gilded cage~ Is it not pretty? You could live forever and ever inside of the egg! You just need to stop… RUNNING!"

Frost was suddenly on the defensive. She could no longer employ her hit and run tactics. She zipped from the floor to the ceiling, to as far as one side of the Floor of Judgement to the other. She never allowed herself to Warp in a predictable pattern.

< Frost. I'm not going to lie. I don't like your odds. You are fighting an unwinnable battle >

That never stopped me!

< You are rapidly approaching the Second State >

Determination was all Frost had. Exploration and Support Skills could not help her. Even Defensive Skills could not match Jury's might. The issue of her being a human returned as her body became sluggish with each Warp she made.

She could only run for so long before her legs would give out.

I need a method… I need… Tch… Will the Second State even help me? Third, Fourth and Fifth won't do anything as long as I'm…

Human.

The limitation frustrated her to no end.

She did not know why she hadn't turned back.

She had already refused to accept her role as a Healer.

In theory, her body should have returned to normal.

What is the Condition that's stopping me…!? I know we're in that damned Zone of Arbitration, but still… I refused! I'm barely a Healer anymore! Think, Frost! Think! Why am I still human!?

As her mind scrambled for a solution, a sharp pain appeared in her abdomen. Her momentum suddenly stopped. Warm fluid dripped between her legs. Her eyes shot downwards, and she found the tip of the pale blade sticking out of her stomach.

"… Skewered…?"

… Nav… I… I think… I have an answer…

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