Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

836. Bringer of Annihilation

A pair of ethereal hands encased Frost like the folded wings of a bird. They defended her from the countless lances. Few managed to break through, but the vast majority were impaled within her benefactor.

“The Blue Dahlia!” Frost smiled at her sudden fortune.

< “I can take it from here temporarily.” >

“That wretched thing!” Iscario cursed. “So an Ego can return in full so long as the Soul exists. But so can the Soul be fished out if just a fragment of an Ego is used to bring it from the reservoir. The Memento Mori were successful in a complete resurrection.”

“You call this complete?” Frost spat. “Being brought back as nothing but a slave can’t be considered being complete! Unless…”

“Ilya would want it that way.! All she needs to do is remain by my side! It does not matter what form she takes, so long as Ilya is Ilya!”

Iscario cradled the Price of Paradise. The faint sobs caused Frost’s fists to land harder. But nothing was getting through to him.

She needed more strength. She needed more power.

That eye is only reason why his HP hasn’t dropped to 1 yet. The cracks aren’t getting any larger!

< Frost! You are using Nex from the First State! You still have the Second State to draw power from! >

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Nav reminded her, causing her to clench her teeth. She was right.

There was still more power to be drawn.

“ILYA NEVER WOULD HAVE WANTED THAT!”

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

< You are approaching the 5th State! >

< Drawing Nex From the Second State >

Her hands were now empowered even further by the Light as another fragment was added to the broken halo. Waves of light encased her fists and ruptured the air it passed through. There was virtually zero friction, and her hands seemed to move instantaneously.

The shockwaves expanded to as far as a hundred meters. Everything within was dominated by the power of her Light. Mountainous dunes of sand were instantly flattened as if subjected to the gravity of the star she had become.

Swirls of light popped into existence along the shockwaves, which appeared across every axis with each punch she landed onto Iscario as if he was being struck by a thousand blades of light.

[OO] [Reign of the Amalgam] [OO]

< EFFECT: 5,000,000 Damage. Deal 1,250,000 damage to those caught within the burst of light from the Reign of the Amalgam >

“A vessel like you, uncontained and unconstrainted… will give birth to a Star that no other Star in the Expanse will be able to ignore!”

The cracks have grown larger now. Furthermore, various objects held in his possession began to rattle with each attack. They groaned like strained metal until suddenly, one of his rings exploded.

“Through the Qliphoth Field!?”

“This is Light, Iscario! What else did you expect!?”

“You’re a devourer! Nothing about you alludes to the Lights!”

“Then open your eyes and look closer!”

Ring after ring shattered. The only thing that seemed immune was his apparel and the pale rock that summoned the Piece of the Fallen Star. Still, the [Reign of the Amalgam] was not enough to fully penetrate through Iscario’s Qliphoth Field.

Funnily enough, one of the rings became dislodged, and Frost did not miss the opportunity to snap it up.

< UNIQUE ABILITY GAINED >

< ABILITY: Oblivion Shackles >

< Aspect of Technology | Chained Theocracy >

< EFFECT: Expend Nex to create an Oblivion Shackle. It will prevent the movement of the target for as long as the shackles remain. Target can become tethered to you >

< COST : 50,000 NEX per second >

“THIS IS WHO I AM!” Frost proclaimed, bearing her fangs as she brought them close and bit into Iscario’s right arm.

It did nothing. His arm was too large due to the hardened blood-armor. Furthermore, she could not possibly maintain a steady grip around his arm with her maw. There was only one thing on her mind now.

< “*Sob* Mother. *Sob* I’m sorry >

She needed to remove the Price of Paradise from Iscario no matter what. Iscario did not deserve Ilya, and she’d be damned if she allowed Ilya to suffer after bringing a piece of her back into this world from a different, more hopeful timeline where she survived Paradise.

The Ilya who knew the truth but had lost her mother, and the Ilya who blamed herself but still had hers could only be amended when both came together. If the Qliphoth Field refused to break, then she just had to break Iscario himself.

Her maw did nothing. Qliphoth was functionally identical to Invulnerability to begin with.

But even so – She was not going to miss out on this opportunity to take the most important thing away from Iscario. Serum S had already taken an eye, but Ilya was the only thing he couldn’t afford to lose.

“Lord Iscario…” The voice of the Red Baron suddenly croaked. “… It’s nigh time that you put an end to the Amalgam’s madness once and for all.”

“Ahahaha! That’s the Red Baron I hear!?” Iscario laughed.

“It’s the remains of him.”

“The fact that I could not perceive his stats… Red Baron! You will answer me at once! How have you become a cognizant Corrupted!?”

“I’ll tell you everything once this Amalgam becomes a severed head!”

“Very well. You’ve kept him alive all this time for that same reason. You were after the same thing we were in the end!”

Frost wanted to laugh. News of her powers had yet to spread. They only knew her for her bizarre ability to bring people back from Corruption. It was also not a surprise that she could Corrupt. A torturer with the ability to inflict such pain is bound to cause someone to Corrupt eventually.

However, they were not yet aware of her ability to create two new breeds of Corrupted Personas. The fact that they were after this…

“I held that key for you… Things could’ve been different after all. You just had to leave me alone.”

… it drove her beyond her limits.

Frost’s expression darkened. The light in her eyes faded away. The luminosity of her hair also disappeared. One by one, the strands of gold reverted to black as her mind fell into a dark place.

< Frost!? What’s happening to you!? >

She didn’t know herself. The revelation of Iscario’s wish being achievable with her own powers drove her so far over the edge that she didn’t know if she could come back. She always knew that she was likely the key to unlocking the wishes for the Impuritas.

But hearing it from Iscario himself plunged her heart into further disarray.

“Now Iscario!” The Red Baron cried.

Seconds later, Iscario raised his hand into the skies. A ring of dark clouds formed above him as a double-helix-shaped rod fell into his hands like a bolt of lightning. It did not arrive from his Dimensional Storage. It was as though a deity had answered his calls and delivered a god-slaying weapon to him directly.

Unlike the False Lances of Annihilation, this Lance emitted a low-pitched frequency. The aura it emitted caused the very world to shudder just by merely existing.

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

The effect was written like someone’s ramblings. It was no doubt a leftover remnant from the old world. The Lance of Annihilation was everything its names entailed. A lance that could only annihilate whatever stood in its way.

It was easily more than 10, or even 20 meters long, but had shrunk once it reached Iscario’s hands as if to compensate for his size. Frost knew what those lances were used for. She had used it once to defeat the Icon of Judgment.

And it was here.

The same god-slaying lance was staring right back at her.

“This was kindly stowed away for the heart of the Arbiter. An Archetype has the tenacity to survive virtually all forms of damage. They can even live after their HP drops to 0. You can tell this is different. It radiates a divine energy. The Advent of Lament created such weapons. Uriel would talk about how humans lamented their weakness. They tried to turn their backs against their gods of their city. Hm. It’s such an overused tale.”

Those words were barely comprehended by Frost. It seemed like all light had faded away from her. Despite this, she didn’t stop her barrage of attacks like she was moving on pure instinct alone.

“I have heard that it’s been used to slay Faux Angels and kept Stars in cold storage to perfectly preserve them. No doubt used in tandem with Cassius.” Iscario with an air of supremacy, certain that victory was his now.

He had not yet managed to find an opportunity to stab Frost. A lance was an unforgiving weapon to use in close quarters. Frost used this to her advantage as her heart rate ramped up.

“Are there more Stars out there?”

“Infinitely so, but there are only one Star of each of its own kind. The Librarians make it so easy. Grab an Aspect of Technology, and you read that Star’s story. With enough words, you could even recreate a fraction of a living Star. It’s barely passable as the real thing, but to them, their existence is a real as ours!”

“Counterfeit Gifts of the Stars… That’s how…”

“It won’t be long until we receive Jury’s. A piece of Elysia. Can you imagine the ramifications it would have if we could compile her tale? Be honored! This was meant for the Arbiter!”

“… It was Ilya before. Michaela wanted to die by her hands… Before that, it was the old iterations of me. We spilled each other’s blood here as well to set things straight.”

Iscario’s eyes widened. The golden strands returned to Frost. It was ever slightly more plentiful now. One full bundle of her hair just by her right eye was completely golden, and the light glimmered in Iscario’s azure eyes as his mouth chattered.

No words came out.

“And now it’s you! Her Cycle wasn’t completely broken, and it won’t be until you’re gone!”

Finally, Iscario managed to squeak out:

“How do you know that name? Answer me Amalgam!? Where did you learn that name!?”