Thankfully, there were no injuries or deaths. It was one of the very few miracles in this world.

No one exactly knew what caused the collapse besides Frost and her close companions, and she planned to keep it that way.

Reprimanding Ber would be a priority when this mess was over. In the meantime, she let the sisters warmly reunite as Ignis shuffled right next to her. But that did not mean what Ber did wasn’t punishable.

Then again, if she was anything like Cer then any punishment would be more like a reward.

“Welcome back Ignis. I’ve missed you~ Were you lonely?” Frost asked, competing with countless curses and yells.

As glad as these people were to be alive, the incident rattled many to the core. Even long time Adventurers had seldom seen a disaster on such a scale firsthand. Unfortunately, if this was all it took to crumble their spirits, then they were destined to break.

L.S had her commanded personnel to ease them down, all the while they stared upwards at the layered landmasses with sunken hearts and eyes brimming with unease.

Ignis softly nodded in response to Frost, happy to see her face again. Frost gave her a quick head pat to soften her glare, which unfortunately did not work. Her face was as menacing as ever.

Although seeing her tail blissfully twirl and ears twitch was a blessing.

“We’re just missing Jury and Cer now.” Frost hummed. “I wonder what layer they’re on.”

“Don’t forget about our friend Broker!” L.S chimed in from seemingly nowhere, appearing between their shoulders.

“That too. There’s a lot of people still missing. Whether we can find them all or not is the question.” Frost pointed out.

It would take weeks, perhaps months trying to clear out every single one of those layers. Normal people only had days before they’d perish to thirst or starvation. Hours if they were injured, and minutes if they were losing blood.

But if those people were persistent enough, then they’d at least be able to reach this place. Not to mention that Jury and Cer were already nearing the light, but they did not detect the earth-shattering commotion at all.

Were they higher? Or were they situated somewhere else?

“’That’? Oh, Broker would hate it if he heard himself being referred to in such a manner. Quite the sharp tongue you exhibit! What sort of trauma do you have against us Exalted?”

L.S shoved herself between them, irritating Ignis. Her stare caused the woman to reconsider her pushiness, a bead of sweat dripping from her forehead.

“A-And sharp eyes!”

“Trust. Trust is my issue. Not to mention that you also have the same origins as the Hungry, Pages and Animals. But in your eyes, I’m probably just as hard to trust as well. The only think keeping us together is this.” Frost motioned to everything around them, scanning their surroundings briefly.

So long as they had a common peril to overcome then the risk of backstabbing one another was minimal.

“And not my affiliation with benevolent Carpalis?”

“The fact that she has betrayers amongst her ranks makes it harder for me to trust you outright. Besides, I’ve already given you the benefit of the doubt. Our trust is mutual. We hate that fish for one reason or another. And we want to live. As does everyone else.” Frost sighed, spotting an approaching Perla.

“Now you’re speaking my language!” L.S concluded before she promptly dismissed herself. But not without saying: “Please get your trust issues sorted. Hahaha. Don’t you feel sorry for poor me?”

Frost did sort of feel bad for her. After all, she was the one who snapped her legs and even threatened her life. L.S was, for the most part, a ‘normal’ person… well, as normal as an Impuritas could get. She had a few loose screws, and it went without saying that L.S saw Frost in the same light.

With a long sigh, she turned to Perla as Res and Ber continued their beautiful reunion somewhere away from prying eyes.

The first word shared between them was, “I’m sorry.”

Res felt guilty for something that happened in the past, and Ber embraced her sister lovingly, uttering words along the lines of, “You did nothing wrong.”

There was still only so much she knew about them, but their past was slowly becoming clearer now. Ber likely had her hands chopped off because of Res. Also considering their hatred of D-13, she may have been the one who healed them. They likely would have been injected with Serum I (inoculation).

Whatever the case was, it proved to be none of her business, and so, she granted them the privacy they deserved and turned to Perla once again.

The pale Paladin pierced the ground with her shield and spear, erecting her posture like a proud soldier.

“Thank you from the bottom of my heart Black Dove! And I’m sorry I never caught your name!” She spoke with immense valor.

Her voice was beautiful and carried the conviction of a proud, esteemed knight. Now that Frost noticed it, Perla’s accent was different from most. Certain word were pronounced more than others. It was an accent unlike anything from Earth.

Nav explained that her accent originated from a kingdom southward called Palicia. It was located in the Eleph Region; a land tidal locked in total war with the Demons.

Frost presented her Ignis before Perla with a motherly smile.

“This is Ignis. Thank you for looking after her, Perla.” She thanked, knowing that Ignis must’ve felt frightened being alone and separated from them.

“It the opposite actually! I would’ve been left to my own troublesome compass without her!” Perla humbly claimed.

Her posture seemed to straighten with each spoken word, like she was honored to be in her presence. She gazed down at her young, temporary companion and proudly grinned.

“Ignis. That’s a beautiful name. It means ‘fire’ from where I come from.” She hummed. “I didn’t know there were so many people here inside of the Derma layer. No wonder it’s chaotic. Black Dove! May I ask you something?”

“Please don’t be so formal with me. We’re all stuck here in the same place, so let’s get along. Go ahead.” Frost could almost hear an L.S click her tongue from somewhere within the crowd.

“What are we going to do now?”

This for some reason took her aback. It took her a good few seconds before she could answer.

“… good question. We’re in the clear and everyone’s exhausted, so we’ll have to wait here and rest again.” Frost stated before she turned to the direction of the light. “If anyone else pops up then we’ll be able to see them as well, so that’s a plus. As for the light – Res. Ber. I’m going to leave you two here to watch over the group. I want to check what’s ahead.”

For every decision made there was a rational to back it. Frost had the eyes to see further than anyone else. Because the light would be the next point of interest, she needed to see if it was safe.

There was no telling what laid ahead. Furthermore, with their resources at its lowest, this place would have to function as their base. Frost was a critical thinker. Her mind functioned like a well-oiled machine under pressure.

She was not stupid to consider the swarms of Impuritas that emerged during Brandar’s nights. If they did in fact come from the Derma layer, then it was possible that they may encounter them.

Therefore, she came up with a rather primitive idea.

To wall their perimeter off.

And unsurprisingly, she wasn’t the only one with this idea. L.S had already ordered several of her men to begin hauling rocks with their golden, magical hands. This magic was an Atelier Skill called Offered Hand, usable only by those who have given a piece of their soul to Carpalis.

The bigger the piece of their soul offered, the more pronounced the magic was, which led Frost to wonder just why L.S didn’t retaliate at all against her. Or freed herself from the train. Not to mention how her own weaponry managed to stab her and Broker in the first place.

There were too many questions surrounding that damned woman.

“12 hours have since passed. The stars are shimmering above Brandar’s skies. L.S must have a good sense of time if she’s already preparing.”

That’s my fear as well. If we get swarmed by the Impuritas, then that’s 99% of everyone gone. We have no resources. No mana potions. Nothing. It’s for the best if I scout ahead since I don’t require any sleep or sustenance. Plus, I’m a lot faster than everyone present.

“And speaking of speed; Snap has long since reached the City of Diamonds. The issue now is communicating with Carpalis.”

Nav described Snap’s attempt of communicating by waving its hands like it was trying to do some sort of dance. Snap even enlisted the help of the little Frost to get its message across, but Carpalis unfortunately didn’t speak the language of emojis fluently.

She only found it cute, although, she did manage to sense that something was awry given how desperate they were.

 

* * *

 

Frost ultimately ventured alone.

She allowed Ignis to get some rest and left everything to Ber, Res and L.S. Of course, Res reserved the final say on all decision making in her absence.

A small column of dust formed behind her as she dashed across the barren land. The light painted the world as clear as day, but her sight was somehow limited to a few hundred meters.

Jury and Cer seemed to have exited their cavern by now. They, however, did not see the crowd at all. Instead, they were greeted with a massive golden wall. Frost wanted to see if she’d find anything similar ahead.

Within minutes; husks and skeletons of humanoid creatures could be seen. Many were ancient and half-buried within the earth whilst others appeared strangely fresh.

When she arrived at an abrupt stop to touch one of these organless corpses, she noticed that they were still bleeding much to her surprise. Their skin was warm, and the bones were left completely intact.

The Blood Festival were close, no doubt.

A sea of corpses soon developed. It was here where the organless Reorganizers began to patrol these lands, as if searching for sustenance.

They ignored Frost entirely, much like the ones within the dungeon. For now, she left them alone in case they’d retaliate and send everything they had in the direction of the others.

However, their passiveness may be attributed to the ticket she still possessed.

Is Jury seeing the same thing? Frost inquired, weaving between these slow skinbags.

They could not even detect her. The difference in speed was simply too staggering for them to even recognize her. They turned to the direction of her last footstep, glancing around as if wondering just what that rushing gale was.

“No, but she can see it within the golden gates. It looks like a castle. You are likely within the Fairgrounds. Jury must be deeper within Blood Festival territory. A Heart is certainly close. Be warned. It won’t be a Dungeon, Plague, or Infestation. It will teeter towards a Corrupted Zone.” Nav explained.

Tell her to be careful. Please make sure she doesn’t get herself into trouble. She begged.

“You are a doting lover; did you know that?” Nav managed to speak in a teasing manner, despite its flat, monotone voice.

Hardly doting. I just don’t want her to get hurt.

“You can be at ease then. Jury has yet to run into anything. But it is strange to find golden walls. She can hear music playing from within, and a thousand more voices. Laugher, if you will. Quite peculiar.”

… probably all Impuritas.

Frost concluded, spotting a couple of figures far ahead. She squinted to combat the light, seeing two large figures wielding massive, two-handed scimitars over their shoulders.

They were abnormally tall, with multiple legs grafted onto their undersides. A rigid cape made from golden skin hung from their backs as they escorted a small group of people.

Normal people. Their sealed eyes bled. They were blinded by the light. Leading them was a young child whose eyes were similarly sealed shut. But she did not bleed like them, and apparel was heavily tattered unlike the others.

She must’ve been here for a while.

The Impuritas monsters had these people shackled with golden chains, attached from their necks and wrists. They were enslaved as far as Frost could tell.

But strangely enough, that young girl wasn’t chained at all. Rather, she seemed to be the one leading them ahead. Her mouth moved frequently as if asking them to follow her voice.