There was a common idiom used on Earth that associated a concept with a mistress. For instance, Frost remembered the idiom 'Nature is a cruel mistress' being used whenever a natural disaster struck.

She never heard of misery being associated with this idiom before. The idiom itself was not especially common in Elysia either. The only one she could remember from the top of her head, aside from the mantras of the Ateliers, was the Paradise Lost adage.

Frost was briefly locked in thought as the ripples of Jury's and Death's clashes sent brilliant blades of light across the chamber. The walls of the maze were indestructible but were able to take a small amount of permanent damage.

This was what Frost was led to believe.

"Stay away from the walls! Keep a tail on me Res! And Acedia! Attach yourself to me!" Frost became the voice of direction as she towed Joy in one hand, and Orth in the other.

Of everyone present, she was the third fastest, with Acedia at second and Jury far ahead in first.

Yet, Frost found herself leading the pack.

Dexterity also played a crucial role in one's speed. The maze was constantly shaking to the point where it was difficult for Joy to keep herself balanced.

She was also not the only one.

"Mother, the shaking… it's throwing me off balance!"

Acedia never experienced any problems when it came to manipulating Frost's body until now. Her coordination was thrown off the moment the world began shaking, and she could not prevent herself from using her palms to catch herself with each stumble.

The issue came from an ill-known system located behind the eardrum.

The vestibular system. The canal was responsible for spatial orientation and coordination. As a Mimic, Acedia had only ever been mimicking the appearance of living beings. Bodily systems, on the other hand, were replicated using brute force. For instance, digestion was only ever used as a method of erasing prey with potent acid.

It was never for the sake of nutrition.

As such, Acedia had never possessed a spatial sensory organ. She did not even know Frost's body possessed one because she had not experienced anything wrong with her balance. It was not until Jury's battle with Death did its limitations manifest, and she could not stop herself from heaving like an exhausted animal.

This coupled with the lingering pain left her clasping at her stomach. Frost had to drag Acedia, and consequently Raoul along because of Acedia's weakness.

The Mistress doesn't seem capable of running. We're already outrunning it. Death on the other hand is on par with Jury's speed. I can't keep track of their movement. We cannot fight against it under any circumstances.

Even if all one thousand of Frost's eyes were glued to the battle, she would not be able to predict their next movement. As such, she did not want to have to deal with an enemy that not even Precognition could defend against.

Jury could not disengage from Death, no matter what.

Frost did not know if she could personally tank a hit from its scythe either, let alone the others. Moreover, they were still uncertain about what happened when one's HP reaches 0 here.

"Narrow gap ahead! Res, slip behind me or you'll run straight into the wall!" Frost relayed for the blind Res. "Losing the Mistress is our priority! Don't take any unnecessary risks!"

During this, Frost went over everyone's HP and was surprised to find Acedia and Res had only lost what amounted to 1% of their total HP pool. They had been clearly attacked, and as they burst through a narrow squeeze to enter the next large compartment–

"Another one!? Acedia–!"

"N-No more…"

"Gam…!?"

–Another pale-suited woman guarded the path ahead. Though she had no head and no eyes, Frost felt as though thousands of eyes were nailing her body to the floor.

The second Mistress nonchalantly plucked the letter 'C' from the thin air, forming the word 'Cathartic'. Motes of light exploded from the word as she crushed it in a palm. The subsequent particles were then cast over them like stardust.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

//////// < ALERT > ////////

Mana Catharsis

< A condition granted when in the presence of [Decay Capacity]. Total MP pool is reduced while in the presence of [Decay Capacity] >

Res, Raoul, and even the twins were already evacuating the glittering mist. Frost only moved when she realized the danger it posed, especially to Joy who had the second least amount of HP/MP of them.

"[Decay Capacity]. Mana Catharsis… It's a window straight into the past." Res commented as the group clumped up and attempted to flank it.

[Decay Capacity] was a low-tier spell that was once used to combat mages by directly attacking their mana capacity. However, the spell had been widely superseded by the superior [Silence] which stopped a magic caster from chanting in the first place.

The naming scheme also roused curiosity in Frost.

"C for Catharsis. M for Misery. The Scrapers have the ability to use stored magic, like the Serums. But the Catharsis I know heals sanity. M is also for Martyrdom. But it shouldn't be surprising. Inflow Direct has many tie ins with the Librarians."

Frost turned to Raoul. Her face hadn't changed the slightest, but neither had Raoul's eyes left the twins.

"Tell me, are these the machinations of Death and Misery you've been so afraid of!?"

"... I'm not certain." Raoul could barely speak.

Beyond that stubborn façade was shock, but Frost could not tell if it was because Raoul's fears had been made manifest or, because the twins had almost been taken by Death's scythe.

Res' ears picked up Acedia running especially close to the wall, and she flicked out a hand to grab her wrist. Acedia's eyes peeled back with terror, but Res could not see this and dragged Acedia to the side of the group closest to the Mistress.

Acedia did not have time to protest. The moment she was in position, the Mistress elegantly illustrated another 'M'. Bolts of pale light flew towards them like bullets, and each riddled Acedia's back.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

An inhuman scream was ripped straight from her depths of her soul. The words 'misery' crept along her exposed body. Because her clothes had been swallowed previously by the Gate, she only had Frost's casual wear to defend against it.

Flames ejected from her body in retaliation. A continuous ray of scorching heat ran from where they came and swallowed the Mistress. Yet, despite it severely warping the nigh indestructible walls, the Mistress walked from it, a hand raised as though parting curtains aside.

"Another attack! Tch– Turn right here!"

Frost steered the group into the nearest exit as fifty points of orange light surrounded the Mistress.

'S – Suppressive Severance',

They orbited her, quickly gaining speed, and then they were fired one by one in quick succession.

The sound that rang out reminded Frost of a machine gun.

*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRT*

These bullets penetrated through the walls, blasting tiny holes as the bullets peppered them. Frost suddenly stopped tugging Joy, allowing a bullet to narrowly graze her cheek.

"G… Gam…? Malgam…?"

A crater formed in the wall beside her head. It was not hard to imagine what would have happened to Joy if Frost had continued to pull her in tow.

"Joy, Joy… Hold my hand…" Frost did not realize how close she was to watching her very own child lose her head.

"… Gam…" Joy trembled.

She was lucky.

Her Judge's Prides had come out from their branches. One just barely managed to return to the chamber, allowing her to observe the precise angle that the bullets were fired at.

Then, her maternal instincts did the rest for her.

Still, Frost could not help but feel the blood rush away from her face. Her hands were suddenly clammy as she held onto Joy's. The look of fright on her face would have one believe that it was also because Frost had been struck by this bullet, as had Acedia.

However, Frost did not even recognize she had been struck in the shoulder.

She was dazed. Her mind drew blanks as she stood as still as ice, staring at Joy like she was already gone.

… If she… If she had… If Joy… Act X… their Atelier…

Suddenly, dark thoughts flooded Frost's mind. She had never come this close to watching one of her loved ones lose their life. Even if it wasn't a true death, just merely watching them lose their heads while she was so helpless caused something to nearly break inside of her.

… If Joy had lost her life here…

Heat erupted in her chest. An infernal engine roared deep inside of her. The suppressive Condition faltered under the immense wrath that her near miss invoked.

Res and Raoul's tails puffed up. Raoul, who was notoriously indifferent to misery and death, could not help but react at an instinctive level. An unreachable, primitive part of their minds submitted to Frost's wrath.

For an instant, her tiny body had swelled to well over ten times her original size.

"Amalgam." Joy spoke firmer, her grip tightening against hers.

"… Yeah… Yeah. Joy… Stay close to me, ok?"

… It wasn't enough for me to Corrupt, but I could feel the Unfair Tale, and the Vestment of Goodwill wanting to take over. Wrath is a hideous emotion.

However, Frost wasn't satisfied with it only being wrath. There was another more insidious emotion that had plagued her, but she did not recognize it.

"Misery does not always manifest as pain." Raoul slowly spoke, right as Res shouted at them for suddenly halting.

"MOVE! YOU TOO FROST! It's not like you to change your mind! Unless you have a better plan?"

"Sorry, let's go." Frost's words were few, and her tone hadn't changed at all, but Res' ears flattened immediately.

She sensed a small break in Frost's voice.

"Who was it? Joy…?"

"Me and Acedia. I'm good. I lost around 1% of my HP pool. Don't stop! Keep going!"

Res exhaled deeply in relief.

"I'm not sensing anything this way!" She relayed.

Frost also bared good news.

"My Prides have located a few other Alabaster Mistresses. They aren't anywhere near us. We'll keep moving in this direction."

Acedia scraped at the walls, and then, at the site in the center of her chest where the bullet had landed. Her eyes were locked onto Frost's small stature.

She could not comprehend how Frost did not even flinch at what was easily worse than the Misery symbols.

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