Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

A vapor barrier formed around Frost as she closed in. The festival of Sins burst into shards of blood. Most exploded by mere proximity, beginning a chain reaction that spread up till the portal.

The Rogue Moons were smart enough to avoid it.

But Frost was not going to let them keep on hurling weapons at her.

[Spatial Distortion IV].

A blue tear in space formed approximately two hundred meters from the red portal. Emerging from it were the confused faces of the Vermilion Moons.

“There are sister Moons I need you to bring back to our side!”

Frost conveyed this through thought alone, and the Vermilion Moons nodded without question. In the meantime, Frost twirled her body and sent a flaming punch at the Aberration.

“Ahhh. That’s where the lost Blood Moons have gone! Captured Star. I admire how you repurposed them. If it were Sinder, he would have killed them for bearing the mark of a traitor~!”

“You call me different, but you can’t help to keep comparing me to Sinder! Keep barking like the lost dog you are! I hope Sinder puts you down!”

She warped to send a counterattack from the side. But unbeknownst to the Aberration was that Frost did not twist her body earlier to amplify her punch. The one hundred hands collectively joined the swinging heart that collided with her like a wrecking ball.

This activated a seldomly used Skill of hers.

[Solemn Counter]. It activated during successful counters. Since her AGI was higher than the Aberration’s, the window of opportunity was higher. As a result, she dealt double the damage in this instance.

“CAPTURED STAAAR!” She roared.

One hundred limbs wrapped around her as she went flying.

But the moment she Warped Frost was left grappling with the air.

“Tch: Damned Warp!”

< [QQ] Let’s Lament [QQ] >

A powerful whip lashed Frost from the side. The fact that it had managed to deal precisely 1,400,000 damage in total meant that it could bypass her defenses. This was undoubtedly because it could tear space at the seams.

Frost erected a barrier and used her hands to fling her around. She paired this with [Thermal Propagation] as a means of flight. Sparks of orange and purple erupted above the developing battlefield between the Vermilion Moons and the Rogue Moons.

Two traitors, with one properly atoning for the Nexus.

“My lament will continue until my fated reunion with him! Don’t you see, Captured Star! You’re my ticket to bringing Sinder back! Elyisa can pretend to love the world, but I know for certain that bitch will lust over my Sinder the day he’s freed!”

< [QQ] Broken Sorrow [QQ] >

< Never forget the rose >

Projectiles hailed from multiple angles. They came from micro tears in space leading into the Subcut Layer. Each dealt a massive 400,000 ATT and MAG ATT. They riddled her body, with most being deflected by her blood.

“Is that this is about? Elysia and Sinder? Then why the fuck am I dragged into your sob story!? If you think Sinder would choose you over Elysia, then did you really know Sinder at all!?”

Frost’s words were like a knife twisting in her heart.

The Coat of Sanguine Prejudice contained its own supply of blood. [Progenitor Art: Wrath: Sundering Rupture] formed crystal shards that defended her from the onslaught. But even without this, Frost was in a condition where death was nearly… no, it was utterly impossible.

She had an unlimited source of Mana thanks to the Brightlight Pollinator’s buff.

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“Ahahaha… You dare? Are you siding with that selfish… that selfish Original!? Aaah… I get it now. You’re just like her, pretending to save people with your manipulation over their Light!”

Just as she attempted to pull away, Frost activated a Skill that forced her to engage in combat. It wasn’t through a metaphysical force, or because of an uncontrollable impulse. Her RESIST was high enough to cancel this effect.

However, it was the secondary effect that she recognized immediately.

< [Violence on Violence Action] >

< We shall settle our differences the same way it was always supposed to be done >

< EFFECT: Declare a duel. It will lock you with only a single target. That target will also be locked in combat with you until either the end of the Skill’s duration, one of you perishes, or one flees. Damage of all hand-to-hand combat Skills are multiplied by 3x >

< DURATION: 1 hour >

As it turns out, [Atomic Splitter] satisfied the criteria.

What used to deal 1,200,000 ATT was capable of dealing 3,600,000 ATT per hit.

The Aberration could not ignore this Beholder-level of raw power.

“And you still believe you’re not Sinder!? You even adore the color black! You wear red, like how his heart loved it! Look at what you’ve done in Elysia! You painted the world in the colors of your Heart! Like him! But you still choose to limit your Corruption and Ego Crystallization at an individual level? To resonate with the ‘self’? Ahahahaahah! I didn’t know Elysia poisoned you!”

“Maybe Elysia believes in the human potential. More than you ever will. Maybe that’s why your only hope is Sinder. What do you have to live for without him!?”

“I hate that you think you understand me! Don’t pretend that you do! Hahahah~! Seers of Evelyn. Children of Adam. The Sons of Sinder… Don’t you think that it has a nice ring to it? Or the Daughters of Lammy~? To the organisms I can ascend to properly atone for the mistakes of my Original? How can she be atoning, lamenting, and despairing when she’s only doing this much!?”

Frost then realized what else this Aberration: Lammy: was after.

“You want the Corruption… to become worse than it already is?”

“It’s severely limiting. That’s all it is. Let individuals change the world. Paint it in whatever colors they wish. Like Sinder did. I find it appalling that Elysia didn’t honor him by letting the individuals paint the world as they wish! Her Will is flawed. Yours is a fascinating compromise!”

For the first time, Frost began to wonder if the Corruption: which was governed mostly by Elysia: was actually the best case scenario. Removing the Corruption as a whole was important too, but since it was also a natural phenomenon…

Lailah’s right. Elysia isn’t the enemy.

< Was she ever? >

… I was led to believe she was. It’s a matter of who is the lesser evil. If Elysia is really Corrupting people to atone… then is there a chance that she doesn’t know what she’s doing to them?

< I doubt it. Elysia must know well what Corruption entails >

< But the question is what for? >

No one knew the answer, other than the emotions that accompanied Elysia’s struggle. What exactly did she Corrupt people for aside from her sorrow and atonement?

Close to what I do… This Aberration said. Tch.

“Elysia will undoubtedly devour us. It’s in her nature to eat what is forbidden. She’ll claim your wife, then: she’ll take the head right off your ‘daughter’!”

“Funny. Lilith and Uriel wanted to destroy Jury first!” Frost didn’t believe a word that left her mouth. “I’ll kill you… I’ll destroy every last one of you!”

“Let’s see if your frame can hold onto that ambition.”

She suddenly threw herself onto Frost, her arms locking around her body. The damage she received was seen as a suitable cost for her incoming Skill.

< ACTIVE: Longform Warp >

< Phase through the manifold where Angels fear to tread >

< EFFECT: Warp over long distances. Distance is determined by AGI >

The Site Core disappeared in an instant.

The sheer speed caused the False Heart that was attached to her chest to snap off.

They phased through unrecognizable spaces. One was dark, another red, and one that resembled a frozen wasteland. Eventually, they appeared at the coastlines where a black sea awaited them.

She released Frost and they re-engaged in combat.

This time, they were under the gaze of a gargantuan yellow eye in the horizon.

“Finally, an audience worth fighting for.” She lengthened her whip as thorny brambles grew from the hems of her skirt. “Don’t mind the eye in the sky they only call it the Eye of Elysia~!”

Then, she retrieved a blue vial.

“Infusion…!?”

“You recognize it? Hmhm~ Not as potent as the real one, but–!”

She swallowed it whole.

“–A dummy version will bring us somewhere fun~!”

That vial in Lammy’s hand was none other than Infusion S: Speed.

“I must give Oboros Infinitas credit where credit is due. They left a lot of useful Condemned behind. As it turned out, the original Beholder behind the Gift of ‘Speed’ was still alive. Captured Star. Was it a good idea to leave your Vermilion Moons alone?”

Frost’s blood went ice cold.

She knew where this was going.

“Exactly. Did you really think that we only have Moons?”

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< You Have Reached a Sub State >

< Manifesting Civilization as the Fourth State >

< UNIQUE >

< ACTIVE: Rekindled Woe >

< Relight my flame. I shall burn this world anew >

< PASSIVE: The Universal Language >

< We cannot be better >