Frost entered a one-meter radius from him, nullifying the attack. The magical circles formed exactly a meter out from the barrels, so getting close was the perfect move.
Moreover, this was not colluded with her precognition.
This was her raw combat instinct kicking in, thanks to the culmination of her combat experience and the [Instinctive Drive] passive.
More spears dug into her back. Around 11 were embedded into her, but even so, Frost fought through the crippling agony. More than anything, it only further fuelled her wrath. She hammered Iscario down again, this time using [Core Piercer] and a combination of [Oblivion Lock] to minimise the number of spears he could create.
The issue with his rods were that there did not seem to be a limit on how many he could create. Thankfully, the rate wasn’t too high. The Innocents tanked them for her, keeping themselves impaled to reduce the number of free lances for Iscario to use.
Blood trickled down from her legs, contaminating the world beneath as it transformed into an endless desert.
There were countless stars watching them now, and in the centre was a gaping hole that looked down at the garden where Cer was fighting Raoul. Frost descended upon Iscario, reeling an arm in preparation.
Frost required 10 seconds before she could unleash this attack.
“Am I supposed to know these names!?” Iscario roared as the (Un)Attentive Claws moved to defend him.
Frost closed in. Chains emerged from the ground, attempting to ensnare her. Iscario threw everything he had to try to stop her, but [Thermal Propagation] and De Jure’s recoil allowed her to just barely dodge them.
Her movements were far from majestic, and yet, they carried the same degree of fluidity of a dancer. She twirled, slid, leaped and clawed where possible. De Jure was stabbed into the ground and used as leverage to break through the final meters.
“No. I wouldn’t want you to say their names. But you’ll wish you did. You’ll learn the difference between you and I!”
Finally, Frost unleashed an attack that shook the very foundation of this world.
< EFFECT: Charge one spectacular punch dealing 50x of your total ATT stats (including MAG ATT). Ignores all DEF stats. Stagger enemy if physical RESIST stat is lower than your total ATT divided by 500 >
< ATT/MAG ATT: 1,500,000 >
Iscario’s stats could not protect him from staggering. He would require over 3,000 RESIST just to resist the sheer magnitude of Frost’s attack. The land rose like a wave, liquefying as it glowed red-hot. A wall of sand was dragged out by the shockwave as if a bomb had gone off.
Cracks riddled the (Un)Attentive Hands as Iscario stood his ground by some miracle.
“All this effort… just to leave a small mark on what’s mine –!?”
“Clench your teeth. I’m not done yet.” Frost’s words were draped with an unbreakable confidence.
The halo that grew on her head became a crown of burning thorns.
< The Will of the Amalgam Has Reached the Fourth State >
< All Corrupted Zones lower than Apocalypse-class are overruled by the Amalgam’s Corrupted Zone >
< Any possessed Corrupted with the matching Affinity may have their skillset and abilities manifested as a Corrupted Zone >
Nothing could be manifested yet. But she didn’t need them right now. Now that Iscario was staggered, he was susceptible to a critical strike. Frost shoved the head of a Red Giant towards Iscario before leaping a considerable distance away.
“How foolish. This won’t kill me.”
“You’re not my target.”
Then, she retrieved De Jure and took aim after retreating over a few hundred meters away, just in time to fire a bullet before his stagger could wear off. But this bullet was different from the rest.
It only carried [Punch], but this was more than enough.
Heat instantly engulfed Frost. A mantle of fire appeared behind her as the sand beneath her turned into molten glass. A tiny fireball formed within De Jure carrying the heat of the sun, and in the next moment – the largest explosion she had ever born witness to propelled the bullet straight at the Red Giant.
< ACTIVE: World Ablaze >
< It all returns to ashes >
< EFFECT: Destroy the world as you know it. Inflict 1,000,00 ATT and MAG ATT damage to everything in the viscinty of you. Depending on the heat of your flames, total ATT and MAG ATT may reach a maximum of 10,000,000 >
It was a substantial cost, and Frost’s only regret was that Corrupted Skills were not affected by [Amplification]. Still, Iscario was prone to receiving the full brunt of her attack. Two major explosions engulfed Iscario. Frost was spared by the deadly inferno, for she could control the flames no matter how hot.
And as she predicted, she could even control the explosion of a dying Star. The death of a star resulted in a vibrant, blue-colored flame. The viscera of the dying star lingered in the air like cosmic dust. The Innocents, which were empowered by the presence of the False Heart, watched in awe.
The explosion was so large that it exceeded her field of view. Even tilting her head upwards could not see just how large it was. It rattled bones, and were it not for her healing powers, then she would have died due to her collapsed lungs.
Frost | HP : 32,452,000
It had dealt more than 10,000,000 damage to Frost. Granted, her HP was already chipped due to Iscario’s rods, but even so – it was a substantial amount of damage. Minutes seemed to pass before the dust began to settle.
“It’s gone… Her hands… It’s useless!”
The (Un)Attentive Hands laid beside Iscario, crumpled and twisted like a pair of deceased spiders. The continuous attacks on it had finally destroyed his first line of defense.
“Ilya… Ilya… It needs to bond deeper. I could’ve lost you.”
His grip around the Price of Paradise tightened, and Frost could see both red and white thorns growing through his right hand. The explosions had done a number on Iscario.
Iscario | HP: 92,230,400
A third of his HP disappeared in the blink of an eye. The stagger had allowed [World Ablaze] to deal 5x the damage as well as her bullet. But the explosion of the Red Giant had dealt far more damage than she expected.
25 kilometers worth of land was turned to glass. They found themselves in an unimaginably large crater, and the hole that led into the garden beneath was widened significantly. If it weren’t for her [Star Cycle] passive, then her Judge’s Aids and Innocents would have perished.
The explosion must have appeared like the afternoon sun to those outside.
“Still, after all that, after withstanding a dying star, I’m still here.” Iscario mocked, his right hand bleeding. “Had I lost my grip there, then Ilya would have disappeared for worse. Now we’re fused together. Ilya will never leave my side, thanks to you, Amalgam. You’ll have to cut her free.”
“I’ll cut more than just an arm. By the way, Iscario… don’t you have your own Skills? Or those rods the only thing you have?”
Frost smirked for the first time as she received surprising news from the Effeuiler La Dahlia. It glowed ever brightly in the distance again. They were in the same place they started in, and this time –
< The Effeuiler La Dahlia wonders if there is a point in looking into these other worlds >
< She has a moment of self-reflection >
< “Nothing lies on the other side of the mirror. The mirror itself is a projection of oneself. Have I been looking at the wrong place?” >
< Does the answer lie here in this world? >
< She wonders if her daughter still remembers her >
– There would be no more world-shifting.