Galia’s inquisition was moving better than expected. Injuries aside, they have not had a single casualty thus far. Healing bullets followed every sustained slash on Atelier personnel and Aspiring Moons alike.
Few Black Wings accompanied the march with Hora Therapeutic Lunars equipped with Talons. This was thanks to the direct link they had to the Nexus via a Hyperlink Site. The 50-kilometer buffer served as a safe zone and allowed the critically injured to be healed.
Those who received damage or diseases that could not be healed by a Black Moon were sent back directly to Hora Therapeutics for treatment. [Cure Disease] was not a Skill all Healer knew. Furthermore, Healing Bullets could not reverse the progress of conditions aside from physical trauma despite their ability to turn back time.
Jury watched the spectacle with Galia. She wore her heart on her sleeves; her displeasure for war clear, but there was no remorse in her heart left for the Impuritas. Every step they took past the 45-kilometer mark was marred with the remains of countless.
Black sludge stuck to their boots like glue. The trees here were not made of wood, but humanoid remains that were sculpted to look like trees. The remains were used as mortar for structures beyond the walls of the upcoming city.
“The First Bastion.” Galia pronounced the name of the city. “If there was a place anyone could find a safe sanctum from the south, then it was there. Trade streamed from the south into the north through that route. I remember my time there long ago. Surprisingly it is in a better sate then what I first visited.”
The walls were bright and illuminated with glowing, pale orbs. The bright green light overhead cast a slight green tint across the lands. Of all the settlements they had come across, this was by far the largest and boasted beautifully preserved architecture.
Gothic arches and spires stabbed at the skies as bridges crossed from tower to tower. It was as much of a maze on the ground as it was above. Tall, beautiful towers and buildings surrounded a single clock tower that ticked at precisely 30 minutes till midnight.
An urban complex stretched for over 30 square kilometers, but it somehow appeared larger than it actually was as though space itself was being distorted.
It was clear that a Heart of the City resided within.
Andra swung her arm downwards, and at once, several orbs of light were fired into the skies. They flew above the city to notify the 2nd Branch. Seconds later, five Star Pellets fell from the heavens.
“Invulnerability?” A Justicer spoke in a deep cadence that caused their colossal armor to rattle.
– They did not damage the city at all. Not even the thin spires buckled under the sheer kinetic force that had ruined the lands behind them.
Andra shook her head slowly.
“The attack followed through. If it was Invulnerability, then it would have stopped it just before they made contact. It hit. Its DEF Stats must be incredible to shrug off multiple direct hits from the Justica Starfalls. We’re not meant to fight this. This falls into the responsibility of a Beholder.”
Jury received word from her personnel to confirm that they did in fact have a high-DEF Stat.
“50,000 DEF and 50,000 MAG DEF. Everything is a part of the Heart of the City. But they cannot be destroyed unless their Memento is gone.” Jury announced.
Voices of awe immediately surrounded her. The 2nd Branch Peace Flock found joy whereas Jury’s Moons dreaded how something could have such an insane amount of defense. It was not even a Corrupted, and yet those stats demonstrated that there were more things that Moons could not touch.
“Do we all know the abilities of a Memento Mori Heart of the City?” Jury asked Galia and Andra specifically, garnering nods from them.
“Devoid the Microscopium informed us all prior. The enemies will be more complicated to deal with, as they won’t be able to perish without their Mementos being destroyed. But they can be neutralized all the same. It will just require significantly more effort. The odds are in our favor.”
“A Heart of the City belongs to us.” Galia affirmed. “Avoid straying too close to the city, else you’ll be caught in our storm. Focus on the strays that leave. Beholder Jury and I will handle the Heart.”
“Mhm. But…” Jury paused for a moment.
An ominous premonition came over her all of a sudden.
“But?” Galia questioned.
The first time this occurred was during the emergency Amalgam’s Summit, precisely when she suggested that the Impuritas were intentionally misleading them.
From what they’ve seen so far, and with the empty Hearts of the City Frost had destroyed – this was the likely scenario.
It was why the Nexus hadn’t sent everything they had into Grandis.
There was still a chance for a counterattack elsewhere.
“Why haven’t they shown themselves yet? We’ve preemptively attacked them, but there’s still no response. I can’t shake the feeling that they’re goading us in. But that also doesn’t make sense. Can they even hurt us?”
“A wasp can just as easily wander into a beehive, but it comes at the risk of being swarmed. After all, bees will find a way to defend their hive against a natural-born predator when their home is on the line. We only know as much as they do. But they know more about us now.” Galia fiddled with her words, stringing them together to sound wise.
It was not done on purpose. What Galia said was true. The Impuritas knew more about them now, while they had little else to work on. They didn’t know if there were other Impuritas helping them, nor if they had other tricks hiding in plain sight.
Galia looked behind them. Her eyes landed on the thousands of impaled Impuritas as a devilish smirk formed on her face.
“Your judgement is good.” Galia said nonchalantly. Despite the tone of her voice, she truly meant this. “You can imagine what Knalzark would do in our position. There is no time to calculate the risks in the mind of someone that despises themselves. We will not throw ourselves in headfirst. [Heaven’s Fall] will do little to something that cannot perish to begin with…”
A dark expression befell Galia.
Her intentions betrayed her words as her emerald-purple eyes narrowed with contempt.
“O’ Galia…” Andra shuddered. She set off a chain reaction that caused the Elves of the 2nd Branch to quiver. Hands clutched onto elbows as they embraced themselves. They bit their bottom lips and offered a quick prayer to Galia.
The story of how the Branches came to be was different from one another, each originating in various Regions across the mainland, the Demon continent, the Elven lands and the Beastkin continent.
The 2nd Branch was the simplest of them all. It boiled down to one thing.