A Disciple of Nilhim was near the top of the Fractured Nilhim hierarchy. Nilhim himself stood at the very core of the Impuritas Group which surprised Frost. She assumed that a Heart was at the root of all Impuritas Groups, but as it turned out, individuals ran the Impuritas Groups using the Hearts.

Ringmaster Phalange of the Blood Festival and now Nilhim of the Fractured Nilhim. Each one seemed to possess a personal history with a Beholder, namely those their Group directly opposed.

The Disciple of Nilhim was but one of a small handful of individuals from Nilhim’s circle. This meant that their captured Aspiring Star held vital information. Frost carried the Lantern, and she couldn’t help but to notice that Terrent – no, Worm had no mention of the Seeds or Apples like the Bloody Herring.

“T-Those… Seeds turn the ordinary into what we are.”

The light within fluctuated as it spoke. Its tone was warried and laced with fear, and its voice reverberated like a haunting bell.

Frost needed to be careful who she showed the Lantern to, as per Azure’s warning. If it brought a Disciple of Nilhim himself to madness, then she could only imagine what would happen if the ordinary were exposed to her caged up fears.

She used it to navigate through the Black Forest, casting the dark away as she still remained fixed in the Fourth State. This was because she was still considered to be in combat. Azure followed her, leading Frost into the direction of where she found the strange woman and her childish lookalike.

“Some are bounded to their own Hearts.” It continued. “In our case, those Seeds bounded us to Nilhim. It’s a forceful procedure. But in the right circumstances, it mimics the Faux Corruption phenomenon.”

Frost recalled the self-destructive transformation of the Venus Flesh Trap. She could only imagine how many more of those things existed in the Nex Megalopolis now.

“The process of becoming an Impuritas. That’s a natural occurrence too, isn’t it?” Frost questioned.

“I-It is. We were p-partially afflicted by it to begin with. As is the nature of the Subderma. Ascending meant to surrender oneself to the curse of the Faux Corruption.”

The Impuritas and the Corrupted were not entirely different at an individual level. The Corrupted was far more enigmatic to be explained, but with the Impuritas it was fairly straight forward.

A part of them was permanently drawn out from within, manifesting as a transformation that reflected this. The ascent caused this to occur but was also noted to happen within the Epiderma as well. Either way, it was akin to leaving a high-pressure environment, causing one’s innards to become gouged out.

This process resulted in Impuritas like L.S and Broker.

On the other hand, descending further resulted in people becoming crushed by the weight of the world, be it the thoughts of others, fears, emotions – It caused one to transform into far more hideous and abstract forms. Azure then stepped in, explaining:

“The descent is seen as a more true-to-self trial. We condemned it. It contributes to the population of the Hearts. It’s not as much as you think. In the end, it’s the world that allows this.”

Azure also came from the Subderma Layer. She explained further that it was like a completely different world. Just like the children of the Derma Layer, she was also once infatuated with the stars.

“But Descartes showed me that there’s much more to life than chasing lullabies.” Azure owed everything to Descartes. This was what Frost gathered from the way she spoke about them. “The Seeds not only force the Faux Corruption onto people, but it also seems to be a blend of both extremes. Climbing up and down the layers of the world is like navigating through a well.”

When Frost asked why this Faux Corruption was possible, both of them answered with:

“Timeless.”

“Stay silent, Worm.” Azure urged. “We call the ruins that make up a sizable portion of the Subderma and beneath the ‘Timeless’. It has several major sections, named the Shallows, the Inner, the Depths and finally, Deep Time.”

The world around them then began to darken. The thick trees of the Black Forest disappeared as they voyaged into the abyss. The only light here came from Frost’s body and the Lantern.

Then, they spotted a faint glow in the distance. Frost’s eyes couldn’t make out what it was. It vaguely resembled a tree.

“It’s what makes up the gap between the Subderma and the Derma Layer, but even those ruins are rumored to go as deep as the Subcut.” Azure continued. “They pass through everything underground like the veins and arteries of a living system. You’ll find openings to them everywhere in Emvita. Seemingly random caves can lead you into a deadly rabbit hole beyond comprehension. That’s their version of the Dungeons.”

“I don’t understand the name. Why is it called ‘Time’?” Frost was curious, because the only time-related entity she knew of was Elysia. She naturally concluded that it was related to her, but to her surprise:

“Because structures of a world indescribable to us exist in those ruins.” Azure hummed. “We don’t know if it’s from another world or from an ancient civilization. It’s where people make a living finding artefacts. Nothing compared to the Beholders, but sometimes, people can be lucky and find something remarkable. Kingdoms and empires are built around these relics. Otherwise, they’d be powerless.”

Additionally, braving those depths was dangerous even to the Ateliers.

“Beholders used to frequent them. But they stopped at some point. The point where they can no longer descend is called Deep Time, because everything beyond is incomprehensible. The Beholders of today have not experienced it as far as I’m aware, aside from perhaps Knalzark, Carpalis and Umbra.”

There’s so much more to this world that we don’t even know about. The layers were weird enough, but now it has a vein-like structure running through it… Nav. Your thoughts on this world actually being alive?

“Close to nil.”

Anything beneath the Derma Layer is untouched by the Beholders and the Impuritas it seems. Timeless is no exception either. Those ruins… Could they be of the old world?

“Close to one hundred percent.”

Maybe we can do an expedition ourselves. Or get some Moons trained for it. Or, better yet, throw in some Repenters for information.

“The latter is a good option now. Information comes from the lack of people able to return to relay it.”

Exactly. I’m curious. Are people finding technologies down there?

“That is also possible. Logically, if those are the ruins of the old, then some artefacts will exist.”

Frost needed a long moment of silence to digest it all. The world was truly too big to fathom, both in its horizons, heights, and depths. Suddenly, after a displeased groan left her lips, their Lantern spoke:

“… we call those things ‘Gifts’. Miracles… that come from Stars. To begin with, you, the Amalgam, were never considered an enemy to us until the Brightest Star brought us together.”

“It’s too late to repent.” Frost glared down at it.

“I-I… am aware. Our focus was set on the things beyond our reach. Us, and the Memento Mori. They were infatuated with the Stars before we were. To them, they always believed that the Stars were long gone. No. That they despaired that we live in a time where Stars can no longer form. Degenerate Era, they called it.”

The Lantern’s light suddenly died down as they approached the tree.

“… gifts came from Stars. Stars fell from the skies. People feared them. Nilhim’s master… told him of a time when Stars devoured the world. And where those same Stars were hunted for their gifts…”

“Anything else to say?”

It began to whimper. The Lanter trembled as he recalled the tale losing his mind once again as the light was on the brink of disappearing. Luckily for him, he could never die. The Lantern possessed CogitO’s technology.

What made their technology function in the first place? The Filters. Transmitters. The Receivers. The Phantasms…

At the core of CogitO’s tech was their ability to preserve a person’s consciousness. It was no AI, but rather, a true, disembodied intelligence. Although intelligence was a stretch, as those with their minds used to power their technology could not think for themselves.

The Blue Dahlia was different, however.

Because she had been watching Res this entire time.

A mother’s love was something Frost wished she could remember. She didn’t even know the faces of her parents. Did she have any? Family? Siblings? Friends…?

Frost was eventually able to make out the figures by the tree, and it was a Corrupted much to her shock.

 

//////// < WARNING > ////////

 

< HAILSTORM >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET SINGS >

 

 

< Frost. This is the Duchess and the Child the White Rabbit spoke of >

 

< What’s more is that this is a Main Sequence Corrupted >

 

< And… >

 

< … Why is it that I reminisce as I hold this children’s picture book in my hands? >