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1096. Impending Escalation
🕑 Added 2025-10-26 07:44:09 +0000 UTCRes crunched the numbers in her head.
I destroyed two. Each leg segment has 12,500 HP. Its DEF is at just 1,000 for both ATT and MAG ATT. I can hit three times as much as that. So how come it seems like I’m doing much less damage? Could its RESIST be working against electric-based attacks? I doubt it. It might be the same reason why its light is invulnerable.
She’d have to resort to melee once her MP had run out. She could not solely focus on shooting them down either, since her Corrupted Skills also required MP to function.
I’ll take down one more. Slow it down as much as I can until Frost finishes up.
In the end, they were at Frost’s mercy. The ceiling shuddered, and she prepared to take one more down before she needed to carefully manage her mana.
However, that leg did not come alone.
It was not two, or three. Not even five.
Ten Milinid legs descended. Five towards the north, and another five in the eastern part of the Grand Stage. The east became dominated by Act X personnel. A never-ending sea of blue resumed their attack as their numbers grew from 8,000 to 14,000.
It would not have been a problem if they had arrived alone.
“Anointed Anids… Of course. The Milinid is an Anid.”
Indeed. The Milinid legs in the northern section of the Grand Stage were swarmed by a sea of Anointed Anids. The vast bulk was made of Octanids of various ranks, from those who spat acrid goop, and those whose thread were sharp enough to cut through steel.
“ACEDIA! FOCUS ON ACT X! YOU CANNOT FIGHT THEM ALONE!” Res warned.
Acedia hovered around the 140s. She could not begin to compete against a handful of Anointed Anids whose levels rivalled hers, let alone hundreds.
The Mimic of Amalgamation stood a better chance since it inherited a fifth of Frost’s stats, yet retained her AGI in its entirety.
“CONSUME!” It cried with a voice identical to Frost’s, its scarlet eyes swirling with hunger.
It was the first to engage with the Anointed Anids. At first their attacks were methodical and only aimed to maim. Suddenly, it froze in place mid-swipe, as if being spoken to by a detached voice.
Then, its maw opened, and it swallowed that same Octanid whole.
Frost
< Leave my Mimic of Amalgamation to deal with the brunt of the Anids. Assist as needed. I replenish HP and MP through what it devours >
“Frost!? Where are you right now!?”
Frost
< I’m close. Beholder Marionette’s quarters aren’t far off from here. I can see her Light. Are you holding up ok? >
“So far, yes…”
The [Artwork] wavered. She immediately fired another [Electric Beam] to stabilize it. Since it was a manifestation of her state of mind, she could not afford to let herself become hypnotized by Frost’s voice like some domesticated cat. There was a time and a place for that.
“I hate that you do this to me.”
Frost
< Do what? Do you need to concentrate as well? >
“Forget it. Please leave this to us!”
It left a sour taste in her mouth knowing that she could be pacified even in kind of situation. She was not afraid to admit why.
Frost was, of course, one of the only people outside of her family who she could trust with her life. More than that, she was her guiding star, and the pseudo mother that she shared with countless others.
Voracious was the Mimic of Amalgam. Its body was not restricted to a single form. It used the husks of devoured Anids as clubs. Strength-wise, it was stronger than Res. It had more than double her ATT and MAG ATT, and boasted over 16 million HP.
It lacked combat finesse, but more than made up for it in sheer power. A single prick of a stray thorn was enough to shatter the exoskeleton of an Anid. As a result, its combat style saw it maximizing its surface area. When it was stretched thin, it threw itself into the Anid ranks, bisecting hundreds in a single attack.
“… I forget how scary Frost is to normal people.” Res didn’t dare imagine a world where Frost was an enemy. “I hope the Kingdoms know how lucky they are for her to be on our side.”
“A crude display of Mother’s power. Hmhm. So undignified. I may as well be watching a dog tear into a couch. How can Mother expect to praise it? But of course, Mother is too kind. She’ll pat it anyway, that usurper.”
Acedia despised that she was being outdone by the Mimic of Amalgamation. She was the original Mimic, born from the very essence of the Amalgam. She was an Aspect. But the Mimic of Amalgamation was born from the sacrificed blood of the Amalgam.
“The blood of the covenant is stronger than the water of the womb. A child like that is bound to be loved by the virtue of such a bond. Tell me, child. Have you ever been embraced by Mother?”
“Consume!”
“I thought not. You would not be able to appreciate the comfort of your head being pressed against another’s bosom.”
“Eat!”
“Ah. That I agree on. The perfect whole is none other than the Amalgam. It’s a shame that you’ll disappear when this is over. Such is the lifespan of an imitation.”
Their conversation was lost to Res. She was just glad Acedia didn’t turn on the Mimic of Amalgamation out of envy.
The situation was under control for the most part. Jury kept Lachesis at bay. The Mimic held the Anids in the north, Acedia took on the Act X personnel in the east, and Res assisted where needed. Painted swirls and weapons swiftly took out Missionaries and large clusters of Heralds before they could encroach on Acedia.
Her relatively low level made her an easy target. While Acedia’s HP was large enough to tank multiple hits, Res was not taking any chances. In the meantime, she used mana she could spare to destroy the Milinid Legs.
But like a hydra, destroying one only caused two more to come crashing through the ceiling. There were fifteen legs spawning both Anids and Act X personnel. Her best course of action was to cease attacking the legs entirely until backup arrived.
Is Cer still lost!? Where is she!?
Just as she questioned her sister’s whereabouts, the Grand Narrator began to speak on behalf of a higher being. It stood perched on a platform above. It was spared since it was a non-combatant. Plus, it seemed to be the only way for higher-ranked personnel of Act X to speak with them directly.
“In a world where kin will feast on kin to survive, what is the loss of one?”
It was talking about the twins.
“You wouldn’t know. For us, it’s enough to destroy people around them. What does love mean to you?” Res’ voice was wracked with spite and a small tinge of pity.
“How can one love a single child when thousands are produced every fleeting second in our Nests?”
“We don’t think about that way. Neither does Frost. We don’t give them a number or dismiss them because it seems too troublesome to be worth the effort of remembering each of their names.”
“But she forgot. Your name. Your sisters. Your brother. Yet she remembered just you. It was the opposite for you, Eye, she who was chosen by her birth mother.”
Res deeply sighed. Whether Act X was aware that she had gotten over this or not did not matter to them. They used it as an example to justify their world view, as though expecting Res to acknowledge it as valid.
It couldn’t be further from how Res felt. Insectids were not known to have paternal feelings for their young ones. They were born in the hundreds. Sometimes, in the thousands or tens of thousands. There was simply not enough time for them to understand the needs of their brood.
But it did not excuse the act of infanticide. Even if it was to cull the weak and preserve the strong, it was a disgusting trait of Insectids that she refused to acknowledge.
