Two distinct mangled thuds echoed throughout the chamber.

One was the fallen body of now headless High Winder.

And the second was from a form they could not begin to describe. It was of a woman draped in darkness. That much they knew. But surrounding them were a series of CENSORED bars that concealed their true form, leaving it only up to their imagination.

“A Complex Heart. This belongs to the Sect of Gears.” She did not even address them. They were inferior in every conceivable way, and their bodies responded as though they were already dead. “The Worm did not lie. It really did take me to one of their installations. Now then.”

Finally, they felt her eyes land on them. All one thousand of them. One thousand CENSORED bars appeared above her as she methodically approached, the tapping of her boots ringing like the bells of death.

“Tell me: what do you see as I stand before you?”

Fear immediately clawed at their minds as their breaths hitched.

Their bodies shut down as a wave of uncontrollable terror seized them. It felt like the weight of the world sat atop their chests. Their breaths completely ceased. A hundred cold, invisible hands restrained them to their seats as an unbearable heat emanated from the figure.

This being was undoubtedly…

“… The… Amalgam… is here…?” The voice of the Fractured wavered first as he attempted to retreat into the shadows. As a member of the Fractured Nilhim, his RESIST was considerably high, and he had a natural resistance to Trepidation Stacks.

However –

“I asked you a question.”

– He was caught. No, he was harpooned. The Amalgam’s arm was embedded into what was supposed to be his chest. Then, he felt a surge of heat ravage his innards as the remaining members watched in utter despair.

Their hands began to rummage through their clothing in search of a certain Coin. However, those Dimensional Storage Coins could do nothing. And those that attempted to use Hyperlink Coins were immediately attacked by a black branch.

It held them high above from their throats as they desperately kicked.

“NOTHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! THE COINS! GO –! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” He howled as a giant blue portal opened behind the Amalgam.

It connected to a place where Association buildings could be seen stretched across a grassy plain. Even one of Justica Arms’ Branches were present.

Suddenly, a figure with blue hair emerged from the portal, grinning as she set her sights onto the Fractured. A demonic grin formed on her face.

“Amalgam. That’s the Fractured. It’s linked to nearly all its kin. It’s humorous how quickly people will succumb to torture. What will you do with the rest?”

“Leave them be. We have enough prisoners as is. However…” The Amalgam’s eyes drifted onto one of the Expositionists, prompting the Blue Moon to casually approach them.

Her eyes were overfilled with joy. Nothing made Azure happier than torment. She played a quick game with the two as they were dropped onto their knees. Their legs shattered with a thud not belonging to a living being. It was more of a hollow doll.

“The one with the most fingers gets to stay with us~” Azure hummed, but the two refused to play her games, their eyes reverting to pure spite.

“A Blue Moon…” The man uttered.

“Your kind in the Derma Layer…? That can’t be…” The woman Expositionist growled defiantly.

“Reality says otherwise. I’ll take the livelier one.” Azure grasped onto the head of the woman, peering directly into her eyes. “Are you two lovers perhaps? Siblings? Don’t look at me like that. You’ve both been in the same situation as I’m in right now. Countless times.”

The woman’s eyes peeled back as her body began to convulse. And in the next moment, she fell limp in her hands.

“Pathetic. Impuritas seek to become something so high because you want to escape this hellhole. That is what I believe. But when you’re faced with someone that has lived for longer than you in this same place you cannot stand, then what will you do? So weak willed. Relying on things like a Heart.”

She cast her gaze onto each and every one of the remaining Impuritas in the chamber, finally landing on the Musician.

“You’re right, Amalgam. They’re nothing but worms. Digging in the ground, looking for those that are already rotten to their core. This will make for a good trophy, amongst many others. Is this all, Amalgam?”

“It is. My visit will also be brief. After all – the Impuritas will replicate after death. It would be a waste to kill them off immediately. Someone else will be taking over soon.”

“… What… W-What do you want… What are you… g-going to do to us!?” The Muscian trembled, managing to point her conducting wand at the Amalgam.

However, her hand disappeared in that same instant.

“ANNNNGH! My… my precious… my conducting hand –!”

“What do I want?” The Amalgam gave Azure a knowing nod as she reached into a tear in space.

Azure used this opportunity to escape for she knew the horrors that would follow. The long, pale pole of a stick was pulled from the rift. Then, what followed was a white birdcage that oozed with pure despair. A single light could be seen within, and before the Musician knew it – her body had long stopped responding.

“I want to carve a message into your Hearts.”

The Musician’s lips parted and yet no sound was made.

“We are coming. We will stop at nothing until every single Heart is painstakingly removed from this world.”

Their heart synchronized with the movement of the pendulums beyond. It was chaotic. It stopped at some point as the combined screams of terror filled the chamber. Their terrors were gouged out by what they saw within the Lantern as they were all dropped from the branches.

They reached into their eyes, clawed out their throats, and chewed off their tongues to drown out the horror that was made manifest. The Fractured was held close to the Lantern, his body seemingly melding with the oozing darkness as the Amalgam delivered a haunting message.

“You Hearts are no longer safe within the Derma Layer. The light of day will be a fragment of the past. The stars of the night sky will lose their meaning. We will hunt you down whether it be on the surface or underground. The ocean depths, near or far – Not a single one of your kind will be allowed to walk on the Epiderma.”

Her form seemed to become larger with every spoken word. She filled the chamber as she did within their hearts, gnawing as her voice came from deep within rather than herself.

Their ambitions were devoured. It was as the Fractured claimed. The Amalgam was a star-devouring abomination. Every semblance of self was broken down the longer they gazed into the abyss. It stared back and manifested within their chests as the Fractured’s wails morphed from one to what sounded like thousands.

The Amalgam’s fear has spread within the Fractured’s collective consciousness, infecting them all with terrors beyond comprehension.

And despite his screams – the Amalgam’s calm voice easily cut through it.

“Your Brightest Star has only led to your demise. I am baffled that your kind still believes in him when all you have done is sealed your fate. The Derma Layer will burn. No one will listen the throes of your Hearts.”

The Fractured was set alight. His body burned until his unmoving husk was devoured by the maw of the Amalgam. Within he saw true darkness. It was the same void where the stars nestled in, and the same darkness that devoured the stars.

She turned her back to the remaining Impuritas when the Fracture’s body had disappeared. The Lantern was swallowed back into her Dimensional Storage. But the fear remained. The Impuritas were left in an unstable, catatonic state.

The CENSORED bars disappeared, revealing the bold, black, and gold feathers of the Amalgam. Somehow, her true appearance incited far more fear than the unknown.

“This will not be a war.” She promised just as another figure emerged from the portal.

It was a huge, rugged man. His exposed upper body revealed gargantuan veins that were like pipes than measly blood vessels. And in his palms were dark gravity wells that already began to tear apart the bodies of the Impuritas present.

“Exterminatus. It will be an extermination.” He recited, deeply inhaling the scent of the Derma Layer. “Amalgam. I thank you for opening the passage into their den. I can finally release my limits.”

“I’ll leave it to you now. This place can serve as a useful stronghold of operations.” The Amalgam suggested, causing Knalzark to close his eyes as the colossal column began to creak.

His presence alone strained it. The pendulums outside moved towards him for he was a living gravity well. The Amalgam disappeared, knowing that her time was up. Knalzark remained alone and with the clash of his fists –

“By my name – it will be more than that. Firstly: the foundations are too unstable. I require a clean slate.”

– The entire chamber collapsed into itself.

A black hole formed between his fists, devouring everything from flesh to steel. They were spagetified and reduced to a single atomic strand as they were dragged into the core of the gravity well.

The shockwave of his colliding fists caused several spires outside to topple over. The world groaned as gears struggled to spin in their intended direction. They hung whilst others spun towards him moments before they were flung from their anchored points.

Gears accumulated at the column, creating a mass of steel that was quickly devoured from the inside out. The plates that laid the foundations of the world were uprooted, revealing the belongings of countless victims.

Strangely enough, those were the only things spared from the carnage.

“War machines of the old were unneeded. We had no use recreating them from the ancient schematics because your kind did not tread in the light.”

The amalgamation of components compressed further. A beating Heart begged to be spared. But it was as the Amalgam said.

None could hear it.

“But now…”

A cacophony of metallic groans was emitted disappeared all of a sudden as burning accretion disk formed around the mass. Before long, that disk grew until it reached the very borders of the caverns, carving into it as rock was dragged into his immense pull.

The impuritas within were all but dead.

“… we can revamp production!”

The accretion disk suddenly collapsed into the gravity well. Everything contracted for a brief moment before an explosion of an unprecedented scale sterilized everything in sight. What was once a vast installation housing hundreds of thousands of spires was reduced to nothing.

Not a single gear was left.

Beholders were capable of eradicating entire counties in the blink of an eye, and Knalzark was the first to unleash the true power of a Beholder.

He stood near the craters containing the half-rotten belongings of the innocent. His presence caused them to further rot as a wave of emotions washed over him. An unknown amount of time passed before he recollected his thoughts and set his sights to the other end of the cavern.

“The machines only seen in the War in Heaven will make their grandiose return.”

He declared with a voice like thunder.

“All of it. It will all return in our War in Hell.”