“Brightest Star! Answer me!” Nilhim cried.

Iscario didn’t speak a word to him, walking past Nilhim seemingly without a care or thought in the world.

His footsteps were heavy. So incredibly heavy and hot that the sand beneath him instantly turned to glass. A hand reached into his open sleeves, and from it, a golden Seed was plucked.

“Don’t tell me… How does this one have any worth to devour a Seed –!?”

“Are you questioning me?”

Fear immediately consumed Nilhim. If Iscario truly wished, then Nilhim’s legacy could disappear in this very instant. It was already a blessing that has allowed to join forces with Iscario but of course, not everything could be agreed on. This was one such thing, but it was also so miniscule that Nilhim considered that it was not worth losing everything he had built for this Musician.

“Musician.”

“B-Brightest… Star…? You are…?”

He appeared like an Angel to her. Her wavering eyes made the golden Seed look like an Angel’s halo. It was the first time she had seen the face of the very person who had brought the Hearts together. The fear that once clogged her throat steadily disappeared, but not completely.

“Whether I am or not is an insignificant matter. You were brought to my feet because you were spreading rumors of the Amalgam in our territories.”

“Even you are calling them rumors…? Don’t you understand –!?”

“I do. I know exactly who and what the Amalgam is. What they’re capable of. What they have, has, and will do.” Iscario answered her immediately, his pair of blue eyes telling her exactly what she needed to know.

“So why… am I being stopped…? They need to know… We all… need to…!”

“But don’t you think that will stop our friends from acting?”

“Excuse… me?”

“Oh, dear me. It seems like you don’t understand.” Iscario sighed disappointedly, his cold breath causing a dangerous chill to run down her spine. “Our friends need to stay motivated. Telling them that the Amalgam amounts to so much more will be… problematic.”

“You – You knew!?” The Musician could not begin to believe this. Her body refused to. Because if they knew all this time… “Then why… why are we still fighting!?”

“A cause. Your contribution is valuable no matter how small or large it is to us. You’re bound to a Heart. Oh. Please don’t pretend like it would care whether you live or died for its sake. It’s your fault that you’re controlled by a Heart. Your fault that you were born from one.”

“My fault…? We were never given a choice…! And – What about everyone!? Are we just sacrifices for you!?”

The realization was equally as terrifying as the Amalgam’s wrath. Because everything she had done – everything she had lived for – was for the benefit of something that wasn’t even her own Heart.

And still, by some miracle, her mind was focused on people she had grown close to.

It disgusted Iscario.

“… It never mattered in the first place…? We were never going to… be recognized for our efforts? All I wanted was… I… Will kill you!” She barked and struggled to reach him, but her body refused to act.

Iscario wore a pleased smile, as if enjoying watching her struggle like how a child would react to ants scattering after crushing their nest.

“I’ll kill you! The Amalgam… will kill you if I don’t do it myself! They know it now! The Maestros of Flesh! When they band together then you’re going to pay the price –!”

“Oh? But we already have plans for them.”

“… You… Are considering… betraying them…?”

“The Maestros of Flesh are disjointed. Those Hearts of Desire don’t tend to have a singular holder.” Iscario said as Nilhim’s light blinked.

“The Painters. The Aspirers. The Liberators. Too many factions are being born from those Hearts. What they needed was a holder. But desires are already a dangerous thing. But be glad. They will be instrumental in finding the Piece of the Fallen Star for us.”

“Traitors –!”

“But you have a chance to protect everything. A chance to fight back. Here.”

The Seed dropped in front of her.

“… I’ll make you pay… I’ll make you regret it…!”

“Hmhmhm. Entertain me.”

A quivering hand with fingers bent backwards clasped at the Seed. The woman devoured it alongside a mouthful of sand, coughing as though on the verge of death.

Suddenly, black liquid sputtered from all orifices. The toxic sludge transformed the sand into black feathers as she clasped at her throat, transforming into something truer to herself. As an Impuritas, the Seed utterly broke her down and rebuilt her back up.

Muscles. Tendons. Organs. Flesh… It did not matter what the arrangement was so long as these were integrated into her.

A golden light enveloped her as Iscario watched on, drawing a pale blade made from light.

But just as her transformation neared its completion –

“… So she gained something useful.” Iscario’s smile turned to a dangerous scowl.

– She disappeared, leaving behind nothing but a plume of dust.

“Find her! Send someone to find her!” Teleportation will be a useful [Skill] to claim.” Iscario swung his blade in the direction she was once standing in.

The world was split in half.

“Immediately. The Maestros of Flesh will prove beneficial in the Epiderma Layer as informants. So long as they don’t come to learn the truth.” Nilhim said before departing. “… Truly a Star. After all, Stars are born from devouring material. How I desperately yearn to join those heights, O Brightest Star.”

“… Warn them all to avoid the Amalgam. But keep just enough to slow her down until we find the Piece of the Fallen Star. She’s too kind for her own good, so she will not turn a blind eye. Do you understand?”

“Of course. The Syndicates desperately want the Seeds so they’ll do whatever is asked of them… Brightest Star. The Amalgam, is there a reason why her appearance is so similar to your younger sister?”

Cold air immediately enveloped Nilhim. Though he was the incarnation of terror itself, Iscario was still in a realm beyond his understanding. Iscario kept his back turned as he looked up at the black Nexus, only one of his blue eyes shimmering with a small hint of gold.

“That’s a question only my mother can answer. We must find the Piece of the Fallen Star. That way we can all achieve ‘it’. You don’t wish to be stuck at that level as an Orbis Impuritas.”

“Impurity of the World. Disgusting… To be cleanse of this filthy stigma, we must become pure. We must go further beyond.”

Nilhim’s gaze did not move to the emptiness of the skies. Instead, they were focused on the world around them. Despite how dark it was, there were indeed ‘Stars’ here.

And those ‘Stars’ were none other than themselves.

“We must become Astral.”

“It’s willed. Do you not hear it, my friend Nilhim? The Nexus has already determined that we are Stars.”

Iscario walked towards the blackened Nexus and was the only one who could approach it.

“War has arrived. Our wish will come in one way or another. That much is guaranteed.”