The handless Ber dragged herself forward with fangs bared. A panicked look overcame her, her eyes hidden behind a curtain of blood-drenched hair. Ber silently howled in what Ignis sensed was anguish as Perla raised her shield and tucked her spear close defensively.

She swiftly backed off, recognizing the face of that woman, despite her shrunken appearance. Ber’s hair was also slightly longer than they remembered, but this minor detail was arbitrary.

Perla was no moron to notice that she had no place in the footsteps of these giants. Just being within proximity of them was a risk she was unwilling to take and therefore, she backed off, glancing over at Ignis and nodding once.

“I don’t know what’s going on and I’m not about to stick around to find out! But she doesn’t look ok me!” She gave her parting words and disappeared, but not without creating a few preemptive barriers.

They littered the crater and acted as obstacles for the rapidly approaching Ber. Unfortunately for her, they did little to deter this rabid wolf.

Ignis’ right hand transformed into its bladed form. At the same time, Ber slashed at the ground and propelled herself into the air. Her claws were tightly held over her shoulders, appearing like blue wings.

Then, with one electrical burst of energy, she clashed with Ignis’ blade.

Sparks of electricity exploded from their clash. A powerful current travelled through the bone and flesh, running up her arm. But it did nothing to Ignis, for her RESIST was a whopping 500.

She did not want to hurt the woman. Her mouth parted but her voice betrayed her as she tried to say something to Ber. She stared intently into the wolf’s hidden eyes, wondering just what was going on.

Unease gripped her as Ber began to struggle in their engagement.

Then, one of her claws swiftly loosened itself and suddenly jabbed Ignis in the chest. A stinging pain akin to that of a jellyfish’s sting rocked her body as her face warped.

Aaaaagh! hurts! D-Doesn’t Ber know that we’re friends!? What’s happened to you!?

Even though she only took a single point of damage, and that the electrical claws passed through her like they were no more than a figment of imagination; the pain was not something she could ignore so easily.

She recoiled out of instinct, throwing herself backwards as Ber relentlessly gave chase. A dance of immature fighters broke loose along the lip of the crater. Chunks of debris was scooped with every flailing slash Ber flung at her.

Ignis purposefully lured her away from Perla’s position and refrained from fighting back. With no healer in sight, it was entirely possible that she’d end up killing Ber. And not to mention that her HP and DEF were likely weaker, judging by her slowed movements.

Ber’s prowess was also nowhere to be seen.

The woman who she knew excelled in maneuverability appeared to be no more than a child now that she had a closer look. Tears fell from the cheeks of the anguished Ber as a voiceless scream infinitely left her unhinged maw.

“Her stats cannot be detected! Something has happened to Ber!” Nav spoke in a worried tone.

Ignis mentally panted as she dodged and weaved through the slashes with messy footwork.

The uneven ground made it worse for them, but Ber seemed to struggle more as she stumbled upon loose footing, tumbling over as strands of tears dripped from her chin. But she’d always claw herself back up, flinging herself straight for Ignis like a darting arrow.

Is there a way to help her!? A way to fix her!? I’m scared of fighting back! I don’t want to hurt her!

“I’m consulting Frost right now! She’s relaying as much as she can to Res! She may have an answer to this so until then – keep her at bay!”

What does ‘at bay’ mean!?

“DO NOT LET HER GET OUT OF YOUR SIGHT!”

One of the gargantuan columns in the backdrop steadily grew close with each passing second, and before long, the two played their game of cat and mice at its base. Ber dragged her claw alongside the base as Ignis tried to figure out a way of holding her down.

 

< Biomass: 300 >

< Weaponized System: Muscular Skeletal requires a biomass accumulation of 500 >

 

< Are you attempting to make a bone cage? There are many other systems you can choose to weaponize! >

 

What!? Hello!? But I – I don’t know what these systems are in the first place!

Ignis’ skillset was comprised of what Nav described as ‘vital bodily systems’. She had the ability to manipulate it at will, which allowed her to shapeshift certain body parts into weapons. Or, in extreme cases, create a grand extension of herself much like what she did to hold the carcass of the Greed Counter.

Her suit was also an example of this power, and it was made using Weaponized System: Integumentary… which somehow meant skin. Not that she really understood how or why.

These however did not use mana. They used biomass instead. Where this was stored was unknown, and from what she gathered, each liter of blood or kilogram absorbed directly translated to a single point of accumulated biomass.

It was disgusting, but seeing Frost eat her foes inspired her to put her disgust aside. Ignis wished to grow. And if there was anything worth harvesting, then it would be the Impuritas monsters themselves.

Nav revealed a prompt of various bodily systems to her as Ber scraped her claw free from the pillar, slashing her back as she silently hissed at the stinging pain. Out of instinct, and as a feline Demi-human, she threw herself up onto the pillar and began to climb, much like how a frightened cat would scale a tree.

Ber was in hot pursuit. While Ignis was an expert climber by simply being part feline; Ber’s claws gave her the extra leverage she needed to remain right at her tail. The woman climbed like a spider as she clawed her way upwards.

Debris showered the world underneath as the two played their dangerous game at more than 20 meters in the air.

Her natural instincts told her to hug the pillar for dear life whenever her eyes happened to glance at the faraway world beneath. But she knew that she was strong enough to land without a single scratch.

Could the same be said for this version of Ber?

D-digestive? No. That doesn’t sound useful.

Ignis had to juggle between staring at the prompts, dodging the oncoming claws and managing to remain attached to the column. Before long, they approached one of the thick, pale anchors that suspended the paper-egg.

Circulatory? That was too rigid… w-what about nervous!? Ber looks like she might be nervous!

“Young Ignis, if you are looking for something flexible, then try lymphatic!” Nav coached.

Lumpfatic! Got it!

Having no idea what it did let alone even meant; Ignis retracted her bladed arm, and with sheer concentration, she invoked this strange skill.

[Weaponized System: Lymphatic].

 

< Your accumulated biomass has hit 0 >

< Please replenish your biomass when you can >

 

In that instant, her entire right arm turned into a thousand thin, slimy tentacles. They were hollow from what she felt. Like tubes the size of a hair, perhaps even smaller. She commanded every one of these tentacles like they were no more than the digits of her hand.

Ber tore through the anchor like a hot knife through butter. A minor explosion occurred at that instance, blasting the face of the pillar off as the egg flung around wildly. Perla’s barriers immediately rose from the ground and intercepted the falling missiles as she ran around, hauling her shield and spear like they were a part of her.

Ignis began to rapidly descend, hopping left and right as boulders tumbled all around them. Ber was not so lucky and was smashed multiple times, wounding the poor woman to the point where she had to wonder just how much weaker she had actually become.

Fresh blood dripped alongside them, straight from Ber’s bare back, wrists, and the back of her head. When Ignis landed with a crashing, dull thud; Nav then instructed her:

“MAKE HER HEAR YOUR VOICE! HOLD HER FACE AND TELL HER THAT RES IS SORRY!”

To beat her? Is that the Condition?

“No. It’s what Res did to calm her down. Long, long ago.”

… so this… this is Ber right?

“I cannot tell.”

Ber tumbled along the jutting walls of the column like a ragdoll. She could no longer move. Perla’s barriers helped to mitigate it only slightly. Although she wished to remain out of the battle, she could not help herself when met with such a saddening sight.

Ignis put her new hand to good use. Her tentacles extended forth and caught her as gracefully as she could, then gently laid her down. A cloud of dirt engulfed Ber as the tentacles wrapped themselves haphazardly around the woman’s body.

It was weak. Terribly weak, and Ber was able to struggle within her restraints. But not to the point where she could escape.

She clawed at the ground with her stumps as her electrical powers suddenly waned. Like she was finally out of mana. The girl then smashed her cheeks against the ground, tears falling as she continued to struggle but to no avail.

It was heartbreaking.

Ignis felt like she was watching herself when she struggled at the hands of the Crimson Hunger. She clawed and clawed, never ceasing as Ignis slowly brought her upright, sitting her on her knees kindly.

Ignis slowly approached her. Somehow, she could hear the crying of the… no. Not the woman. The girl. She could hear the crying now. The voice was young. And it undoubtably belonged to a much younger Ber.

Ignis’ heart ached suddenly upon seeing the stubs up close now. The way they were sawn off and seared reminded her of various rumors and tales that circulated Divas Pass. Of the cruelty Demi-human children were forced to endure if they misbehaved in the greater parts of Grandis.

Ber… she’s from Grandis too…

“She is. Did you find something? Did you calm her down?”

Children used to have their hands cut off and burnt. The innkeepers back at home used to tell me that it was how evil people marked bad Demi-humans… but Ber has hands, doesn’t she? How come this one doesn’t have any? It doesn’t make any sense.

“Judging from the age and your trivia, we may be seeing a past version of her.”

How can that be possible? That makes even less sense.

Ignis scanned the world for a moment, her eyes firmly landing on the hatched egg above.

“The egg may be the culprit.” Nav shared the same suspicions.

She carefully placed her only hand against Ber’s cheek. Seeing the weeping face moved her heart enough where she was able to subconsciously speak without herself even realizing it.

“… Res is sorry.” She spoke as gently as she could, and in that moment, Ber’s hands became frozen stiff before they moved to her ears, as if trying to block out her voice. But she had no hands to do it, and so, she could only stare at Ignis with her fleeting façade.

“… at least… at least, you won’t be able to touch my sisters. I don’t care if you take my eyes or mouth. As long as they’re ok… then I don’t care… I really… I… really… *hic*.” Ber trembled, desperately trying to remain strong.

She believed she was in the hands of a bad actor. That it was finally time for her to perish, and that there was nothing she could do about it. Or worse.

Ber sobbed in her hands, shaking her head as she pressed the stumps against her ears.

“Res is sorry!” Ignis shouted, trying to calm her down but to no avail.

Then, she heard a voice from right behind her.

“It was never Res’ fault to begin with.”

It was unmistakably Ber’s. The real Ber.

Before she could even turn to face her; an electrical slash had taken the head of the young, traumatized Ber. She did not bleed. Instead, writing appeared across her body before she was set ablaze.

The startled Ignis stepped away as Ber closed in to inspect this imposter’s dying corpse, which crumpled into a flash fire. When the embers disappeared only a single page remained.

That page could be analyzed as if it were a living being.

 

 

Ber was silent. Her face didn’t change the slightest as she took the page. She required every fiber of her psyche to prevent herself from tearing it apart. Ignis could tell that beneath that expressionless face was a volcano waiting to erupt.

“How… how did those things know about me? No one… no one but us should know.”

Ber spoke to herself as Perla slowly approached them, peering over her raised shield.

“Bloody Festival, and the Librarians… this Derma layer’s crawling under my skin already.” Ber’s voice deeply croaked as she fixed her gauntlets, then thoroughly rubbed her wrists. “Forget what you saw.”

“… are you ok?” Perla spoke up, instantly angering the woman as she merely slashed the base of one of the colossal columns, tearing from one end to the other with astounding ease.

Perla froze.

“A human like you would pretend to care. But you’re lucky you’re a Blessed… you’re so… so lucky.” Ber exuded immense bloodlust.

If that thing really was the past her, then there was no telling just what kind of memories resurfaced. Ignis didn’t know what to do or say in this instance. She could only tell what she witnessed to Nav, who then passed on the news to the others.

They had finally found all three of the triplets. But Ignis was worried about Ber’s psyche. From what they all knew, the Blood Festival actively tried to break people down and burrow into their skins.

Ber was likely under their effects, made worse by the look-alike Librarian entity.

“Pages… no. Frost called them Librarians. I know that paper egg. That’s the thing that was supposed to tell my fortune. I had no idea it was a trap – a trap – ALL ALONG!” Ber lashed out and began sending long-ranged swipes at the other columns, carving them like they were no more than blocks of wood.

Then, she freed the egg and obliterated it before it could even touch the ground with a flurry of electrical swipes. It was minced, and the clawed slashes impacted the ceiling, managing to completely sever several columns.

These massive pillars began to steadily rumble and sift in place.

The combined destruction of both Ber’s had significantly destabilized them. One toppled over, taking out various with it in a domino effect. They were thankfully just far enough to remain untouched as the world began to shake.

The staggering difference in power between the old Ber and the current one baffled them, although Ignis was also a prime example of this absurd evolution of strength.

Perla remained silent out of both fear and awe. Beads of sweat dripped from her forehead as she parked herself behind Ignis.

Ignis simply turned and patted the woman’s head through her helmet, trying to ease her soul as Ber calmed herself down.

“hah… hah… Haaaaah. Wanna tell me the plan?” Bes somehow returned to her normal self, moving up to join them. She even reached out and joined Ignis in touching the Paladin’s head. “Oxidime! Not bad!”

“We were following the light. Until we came across… yeah… Er. Sorry… my helmet isn’t for rubbing, so I kindly –!”

A deafening crash silenced her.

Several columns had already fallen, so it was a mystery as to where this booming sound originated from. The three instantly began scouring the world in case there was another encounter.

Thankfully there was no such thing. But to their dismay –

“… oh shit.” Ber uttered, watching as the cross-hatched path began to collapse into itself. The massive sinkholes combined into one, abyssal maw that devoured all in its path. The world was quite literally falling apart. “Wanna start running now!?”

Ignis rapidly nodded her head as Perla’s heart sunk.

It was here where it finally dawned on them.

Their ‘floating’ landmass wasn’t floating at all.

It was being held by these columns.

And needless to say – they needed to run.

Or well… Perla needed to run.

The two could very well survive the collapse, although neither of them we going to take their chances.

With no time left to lose, both Ignis and Ber took a hand each of the Paladin and began a mad dash towards the light, all the while the world behind them collapsed into the great abyss underneath.

Voice!

“It’s Nav!”

No time for that! Tell Frost to watch her head!