The poison barbs scattered off Acedia's body. She winced in agony, still hardly used to being struck. They did not pierce flesh, but the moment they touched the floorboards they began eating away the wood.

Interestingly, the Anids ignored Frost and her Judge's Prides. Acedia was their primary target, and they swarmed her like a dewdrop to starving ants.

"Mother left this duty to me… To kill but not destroy. Her hunger needs to be sated. Yes, as Mother requires."

Acedia had to mentally prepare herself for the inevitable agony she was about to endure. She could not use her fire Abilities at the risk of incinerating precious food. They had two goals to achieve here.

The first was to protect the vessel.

And the second was to create mulch out of the Anids for Frost. The first aboard were the Octanids, and Acedia dealt with them using her bare hands. Her lightning-fast punches gore to explode out of the backs of the Octanids, and the pressure even carried over to several more behind them.

Her strikes were far from clinical, and her exaggerated swings were used to mince the Anids into palatable chunks, as Frost had requested. Frost stood in the center of it all, her arms crossed as Acedia did not allow even a single Anid out hundreds to approach Frost.

"The Decanids don't speak, huh. Is their affiliation to Act X the reason why they're mute? I remember that Anid Nest had a Decanid that sensed what I was." Frost spoke out loud, hoping that a Decanid could reply.

But the floating eyes stared at her with unnerving indifference. They did not see her as the Amalgam at all. She could tell from their gaze that she was no more than prey, and it caused her to grip at her shoulders in fury as the first batch of minced Anids were thrown at her feet.

Then, without breaking eye contact with one of the Decanids, she clasped the Octanid pulp in both hands and slurped it.

< No Unique Ability Gained >

< I believe you can only gain the archetypal Abilities from the Anids. Their specializations are out of your reach >

In saying this, Frost stuffed her Dimensional Storage with a few stray barbs and the pulp.

"Jury can synthesize it. I'll stock as many as my [Dimensional Storage] allows." If she couldn't use it, then Jury could certainly make the most out of it.

Frost did not stop eating. The texture of the paste caused her to gag between each swallow. She had eaten her fair share of reprehensible foods, but this was incomparable to what she was used to.

Despite this, she did not break her gaze from the Decanids. With each kill Acedia made, the pile of mince only grew larger, and it became impossible to differentiate which part belonged to what Anid.

So, Frost had no choice but to consume it indiscriminately. Amongst the chunks of red meat which clearly belonged to liquified human remains were eyeballs, and undigested sinews.

The very fact that she could eat them repulsed her, but there was no point in complaining. She had eaten human parts before.

Just eating this makes me feel like a monster. These used to be humans. Nav. Even their remains have a small fragment of Light. They really are still alive…

< You are not currently fighting, nor are you capable of fighting. Do not allow this to alter your mental state >

That has nothing to do with whether I can or can't fight.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Frost was disturbed by Nav's comment. She knew where Nav was coming from, but it still angered her that she said this out loud, because it was undoubtedly a reflection of how Nav felt as someone who was isolated from the rest of the world.

These are the last moments of whoever was living inside of the Anids. Nav… You need to learn the same lesson as Acedia. Have some empathy.

< You make it sound so easy >

It can be. But it's also hard to have empathy in this kind of world.

Frost deliberated whether she should continue eating. After a moment, she mourned the deceased and swallowed them whole.

* * *

"Mother, Mononids!"

Acedia found white spore-like egg sacs growing from the backs of a Novanid. The Novanids were the caretakers of the Anid Nest, which made it strange as to why they were here. But Frost did not question this, and she gave Acedia her order.

"Prioritize mincing what isn't an Octanid or a Quadranid! I'm missing six more Abilities!"

"AS MOTHER ORDAINS!"

Acedia's voice was torn between a battle cry and a yelp of pain as a group of Octanids doused her in superheated steam. She grabbed them both in each hand, and lifted them to the side as though parting a double door.

Then, she hurled them at the Novanid, instantly reducing it and everything in the Octanid's path to a liquid slurry. Each deceased Anid resembled a car wreck. The warped metal bled with a seemingly unlimited amount of blood.

"For you Mother!" Acedia shouted, wincing as an Anid pounced on her back. "You dare tarnish the flesh of perfection!?"

Frost caught an egg that was soaring in her direction. Following it was the heavy crash of the Novanid. She quickly cracked the egg open and found a slug with hundreds of tiny cilia-like arms.

Then, once confirming it was dead, she bit into the side of it, and it exploded. Curdling puss dripped from Frost's face. The stench caused her to drop to her knees and lather her face with blood to clean it off.

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: In Vitro >

< EFFECT: Gestate specialized Denizens using the material of deceased organisms. Uses 5% of total MP pool. Does not do anything on its own >

< TEXTURE: Thick, custardy. Same consistency as puss >

< TASTE: Tasty enough to make the Amalgam kneel >

"Could you stop with the jokes!? I've never… never had anything that… Bwargh…" Frost vomited liquid and immediately began scrubbing her tongue with the shell of an Anid. "… rancid… I can't even describe it…"

She didn't even have the strength to realize what kind of Ability she had gained. Her hands moved to the pile, and she stuffed herself with the dripping meat of the Novanid.

"… Much… *munch*… better… Ugh…"

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Nested Incubator >

< EFFECT: Denizens operating within your designated Nest receive a 50% increase in stats. Able to gestate specialized Denizens capable of maintaining the Nest >

< TEXTURE: Creamy, warm >

< TASTE: Slightly sweet. Very human >

"I have no idea what the hell it means, but this refers to my Judge's Prides, right? I'm assuming it does. They're the only Denizens I have. Unless…" Frost plunged her hands into the Novanid, intending to use [In Vitro], but she had not properly read the second part of the Ability. "… Tch. It can't do anything on its own. That fucking taste is still in my mouth!"

"Mother! Have a Duonid! I hear lamb tastes better than mutton because they are young. Perhaps it is true with the Anids."

"If that was true, then the Mononid would not have tasted like fucking…!" Frost caught the flying body of a young Octanid.

Duonids were no more than the adolescent versions of an Anid archetype. Immediately, after the first bite, she recoiled and slammed her fist hard enough to shatter the floorboard.

"THE TAAAAAAAAASTE!"

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Repugnant Accumulation >

< EFFECT: Your Denizens may replenish HP through consuming specific material. Growth is influenced by the consumption of this material. The material is dictated by what you subconsciously associate with impurity. Cannot be changed and is determined once this Ability is gained >

< TEXTURE: Soft, chewy. Delicate >

< TASTE: Tastes like war crimes dancing on the tastebuds. Elegant >

"Nothing has struck you! Mother, why are you making that face!?" Acedia cried between pummeling the Anids. "The Duonid… has tarnished your tastebuds…?"

"I feel fucking violated. I can barely breathe…" Frost heaved. "… Keep… throwing them to me…"

Drowning out the flavor was all she could do. After shoveling easily over a thousand kilograms of Anid meat, she finally gained another Ability.

< ABILITY: Nest Weaver >

< EFFECT: Lay the foundations of the Nest. You are now able to create softer strings >

< TEXTURE: Corse, hard >

< TASTE: Very bitter >

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