1187. Would You Cuddle With a Thrombosis?

Basic Observation

Cuddling Thrombosis

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The cold parasite yearns for a warm body to share its gift of coagulation. Come closer. It loves to cuddle!

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Paged Observation

Cuddling Thrombosis

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The Sin of Treachery – to defy its nature, and the Sin of Wrath – to bleed evermore, has caused the bizarre creature to act differently than its natural counterpart. Perhaps after sharing its cold blood with enough warm-blooded bodies will it come to accept itself

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“Eh… Eh…!? It’s coming towards me! Please – stop it! Get it away from me! Ahhh! AAAAAAAAAAA!”

The Cuddling Thrombosis stumbled onto a Redfiend. Its thin spines which lined its body entered the Redfiend like a tenderizing mallet. Their screams filled the air as the spines extended to their full length, also impaling others nearby.

“Isn’t it adorable?” Although Frost smiled tenderly as she came to pet it, she was internally gagging at how disgusting the creature was.

Her Denizens were supposed to be cute. At least the ones that were created using her own body. But she had found that Denizens that were created using the bodies of other people resulted in abominations.

Blood spilled into the open wounds its spines created, and the Redfiends began to suffer from a myriad of circulatory conditions. One suffered from a heart attack, another had a stroke, and one bloated until they burst.

An unfortunate Vampire was also stabbed by the tendril.

It remained deeply implanted into their chest where a parasite was deposited. It would later grow into another Cuddling Thrombosis.

Frost did not want this to happen, however, so she promptly eliminated the parasite, the host, and the Cuddling Thrombosis with the snap of her finger. They became a heap of churned remains after a shockwave ran through the plains.

And yet, this was not even the worst that Frost could do.

“What do you… want to know…?”

“Anything… Anything.”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

“G-Goddess of… Of blood… P-Please… S-Spare… Spare… at least just me…”

“I-If you want… to know… a-about who sent us… T-The Duke of Relace… H-He’s… responsible…”

“The Duke! He’s the reason why Princess- Queen- Mary could track you down across Emvita! If you’re looking for revenge, then s-start with him… Please… we had nothing to do with it. We’re innocent!”

Their pleading was music to her ears. She had successfully broken their spirit. Gaining answers by brute force wasn’t as entertaining. Plus, she had also gained some important combat knowledge.

Frost took several steps away from the begging Redfiends, and then wore a mesmerizing smile. She appeared like an angel with the way the sun shone behind her back. Her head tilted to the side, and she brought a hand on her chest in a manner that conveyed forgiveness.

“It’s ok.” She began, like a mother comforting her child. “You won’t have to suffer anymore.”

Cognita.

Cognita

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You called, Master?

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There are memories I wish to extract from around thirty people. Are you busy?

Cognita

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Never for you, Master

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Excellent. I will summon you now with [Servants of Darkness].

[Servants of Darkness] was a Passive Skill that allowed her to summon an existing creature that was created by Frost at will. This was limited to her Denizens and the Mimic, Cognition and Phantom of Amalgamation. Of course, they could simply be created rather than transferred, but this required Light.

Thus, it was easier to just transport them using [Servants of Darkness] as needed.

A circular void opened in front of Frost. It expanded until it reached two meters in circumference. A figure heavily resembling Frost and wearing an expensive dress emerged, starting from her head. Once she stepped out of the circle, it began to shrink until it consumed itself, leaving nothing behind.

Her left eye glowed with an azure light as her cross-shaped pupils contracted when she noticed the pitiful scene.

“Master.” She addressed Frost with a respectful, robotic nod. “Are these the ones you wish for me to pick apart?”

“Allow me to extract what I can first. They’re willing to talk. But, there are things that a confession can’t convey.”

“That is where I shall come in.” Cognita reached for the zipper at her collar.

As she pulled it down, the zipping sound one would expect was replaced with the horrific sound of flesh being separated.

This was because it was not her garbs that were being opened.

“I am starved of nutrients. Thank you, Master. It was hard holding back in the Nexus. There were so, so many tasty-looking people. The orphanage in the Residential Floor was especially hard to walk past without my stomach churning.”

“Will your hunger be a problem in the future?”

Cognita shook her head politely.

“As long as you prohibit it, then I will never give into my hunger.”

“Wait – wait… Please, Gods… wait… You’re not going to spare us…?” One of the Redfiends sobbed.

Frost looked at Cognita. The woman immediately understood what that gaze meant, and she continued to unzip herself until she revealed a vertical slit running from her collar bone down to her pelvis. Within was a pink, coiled mass resembling the walls of a brain. The imprints of hands and faces pressed against the wall from the inside, and they gently stroked one of the faces, wiping away an imaginary tear from them.

“Master has deemed you worthy of merging with me. Rejoice, friends. We’ll be together for a very long time.”

“B-But…?”

“Are you disappointed? Master, I sense fear in them. Tsk tsk. But you will know only love.” The hands created heart shaped symbols along the membrane.

In actuality, there was no pink mass to be found in Cognita. But one of the effects she had on the living was invoking terror to incapacitate her targets. That way, it would be easier to devour them- no, devour was a crude term unbefitting of a woman like Cognita.

She preferred the term ‘integration’.

“Love. Love.

Love.

”

Her distant voice was a mockery of the word.

But in truth, Cognita believed that the truest form of love came from the meshing of the mind and body. She reached out a hand, smiling, as she hoped for one of them to take it.

“N-Never… Just kill me… Please…”

“You…” The corner of Cognita’s lips trembled.

Then, that same hand plunged into the face of that Vampire, and she ripped off half of their head, leaving behind a perfect cross section of their brain, eyes, nose…

All semblance of her cold demeanor were replaced with fury.

“You insignificant insect! A leach is all you are! The Amalgam offered you a chance to mesh with one of her daughters, and you dare refuse!? I’ll wear you like a fur coat! I’ll keep you leave you in my cabinet as you rot in the dark for the rest of your miserable existence!”

As part of Cognita’s ability, she could create a phenomenon where a black censor bar could cover her target. Her arm plunged into the gaping mouth of the Vampire, and the censor bar left whatever she did to the imagination of even Frost.

Frost cleared her throat as Cognita was likely skinning that person alive.

“I’m sure you have a lot you want to say right now. But you see, I don’t have all the time in the world. So, how about we strike a deal? The first five to tell me what I want get to walk out here alive.”

Roars erupted from the Redfiends. They were even clawing at each other’s faces. Frost, of course, kept them Healed so that none of them could die.

“The Duke of Relace, and the Healer…” Frost murmured to herself. “… I’m assuming Mary must have captured this Healer as a way to bargain with me. Then, there’s this ‘shooter’. Any idea Nav?”

Frost spoke to herself, not really paying attention to the Redfiends.

“Unknown. It could be Sin and Wai. They entered Emvita before us.”

If that’s the case, then I’ll contact them soon and see what they’ve been up to. Until then… I’ll have my hands full with these monsters. I probably won’t bother with the Duke of Relace. My priority is Mary and only Mary.

Indeed. Frost was not going to let herself be sidetracked by the equivalent of a side boss. She wanted nothing more than to annihilate Mary. And now, with the knowledge of one of her Healers being held as a hostage, she doubted she’d make it quick.

“Using Terrent is too merciful, even. Don’t want to break her mind that quickly… Decisions, decisions…”