Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

835. To Take Down A False Star

Absolution.

Frost wasn’t quite sure how she’d manage to use it, or if she could harness its power here to take Iscario down.

These thoughts of doubts were drowned by the light of countless drawn stars as quickly as they appeared. It reminded her of the endless possibilities of the Light. Hope was all she needed right now, and these stars of hers guided her forward.

“ISCARIOOOOOOO!”

It was now or never.

Her overflowing emotions coursed into the palm of her hands. They glowed with a faint golden color as she collided with Iscario. The air detonated between them. Blood exploded defensively against Frost’s attack as she dragged him onwards.

“To hell with my Skills! I’ll cut you down and drag your carcass through the depths of Elysia – down into the pits of hell and watch you burn!”

Even without his Skills, he could still use the Piece of Paradise as well as Marduk’s two defensive Skills. Thankfully, the False Lances of Annihilation had also completely ceased attacking her.

He swung wildly, reacting according to Frost’s movements. Each swing ravaged the world around them. Some managed to strike her directly. The burning sensation of the blade was like taking a scalding knife and leaving it to cool in her flesh. It cut so cleanly that nothing was left in its path. Everything was perfectly cauterized, and the heat was so intense that she could not heal her wounds immediately.

However, that did not mean she was on the back foot.

Frost was all but used to this reckless method of combat.

“You’ve already cut me up and thrown me into hell once!” Her fists left golden swirls along the Qliphoth Field that surrounded Iscario. “I clawed my way out through the filth that plagued my hell! There was never a second of respite no matter how far I climbed! When I thought it couldn’t get any worse –!”

Frost, to Iscario’s shock, severed her left hand as she threw her False Heart behind Iscario. The umbilical cord surrounded him. Silver strings flickered out of her stubbed shoulder through a burst of superheated steam.

She attached it to her severed arm, and she threw it around Iscario, creating a lasso that kept them entangled.

“– I DISCORVERED THAT THERE WAS ANOTHER WORLD BENEATH OURS!”

Her arm regrew with a flash of steam. That sleeveless arm was encased in a vibrant, golden light as a piece of a halo appeared above her head. She could sense the Nex. It coursed through her blood like adrenaline.

That Nex was not released.

It was generated and stored internally, completely separate from her accumulated Nex.

Whatever quantity it was, she knew that it far surpassed it.

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

< Drawing Nex From the First State >

Unique Ability Gained

< ABILITY: Absolution Awakened >

< EFFECT: You may utilize Absolution at will. Level of Absolution is limited to your level of Tempering. You may pass this Ability to those you deem worthy only after learning its mechanisms and gaining the [Lightbearer] Ability. The [Lightbearer] Ability will be absorbed into Absolution Awakened and removed from your status >

< EFFECT CONTINUED: Physical attacks, physical-based Skills and items may be augmented via Absolution. Magic cannot be augmented by Absolution. The Skill or attack must be an inherent power >

Absolution

< The augmented power of Light. Highly effective against constructs of Qliphoth. Neutral against constructs of P-Factor >

It’s here! Absolution! This is the Light!

The golden aura was nowhere near as vibrant as her eyes. They were instead closer to the aura of her golden strands of hair. A brilliant flash of light appeared in that same hand as she channeled a debilitating punch straight for Iscario’s chest.

Swirls of light formed across the length of her arm like the childish illustrations of stars.

“Hell was always here. People like you created it. You needed it so that your own versions of paradise could exist. The same day I appeared in this world with stars in my eyes was when it was taken away from me… Iscario…!”

< [O] [Strike of the Amalgam] [O] >

< EFFECT: Absolution version of [Punch] and regular unarmed strikes. Deal 20x base ATT damage. Multiplier varies depending on your Emotional State. Ignores all DEF stats >

A mesmerizing column of light was channeled alongside her punch. The impact left explosions of light and golden fractures that remained along Iscario’s Qliphoth Field.

This was only the beginning. Iscario’s eyes widened suddenly as he wrenched forward. The way his body jolted could only occur if he could feel pain.

“Impossible…?”

“It was with these bare hands that I had to fight my way out of the Black Forest! I tore and ripped those birds apart so that I could see the color of the skies again! I had nothing to my name but the sap of dead trees and feathers to hide my shame! The opportunity to learn this body of mine was gone the moment I had to live for nothing but my own survival!”

Each consecutive punch was enchanted by the same light. There didn’t seem to be a limit to how many times Absolution could be used. If emotions dictated this, then Frost had access to an ocean’s worth of Nex.

375,000 damage per punch was dealt. It was nothing but considering that there was nothing else that could deal with Qliphoth – this was quite powerful indeed. However, these attacks were mostly nullified by the constant blood barrages of [Reactive Armorlysis].

“Light… You, of all people… should not have access to that kind of power!” Iscario thrashed within her bondage as his face contorted with each punch. “Ghk! Graaaaagh! AMALGAM!”

He swung wildly like how one would when swatting a pesky fly. The crystal blood-muscles of symbiote that overtook the right side of his body spasmed as if unable to comprehend this level of agony.

“Have you ever experienced what you’ve done to people? I have burned in the same flames that consumed the Nex Megalopolis! How can you be so disconnected from reality?”

Despite this, his tolerance to pain was commendable. He was indeed used to this level of agony, a testament of the wars he had fought in, and likely countless battles against unwilling Impuritas.

Still, he was only human. Partially anyway.

Frost dialed the pain threshold to the max using [Strike of the Black Dove].

“Kargh… Nrrr… You can bypass the limits of mortal suffering… Only you could –!”

“What about the people you’ve ruined? Only you could’ve allowed them to suffer like they did!”

His delusions were probably the only thing keeping him sane. The False Lances of Annihilation began to appear again. Frost had hit him so hard that he was using his magic instinctively.

Indeed. This was magic. He could not use his Skills without the Blessing. The fact he could conjure these rods whilst in such pain was again, a testament to his mental strength. He was the king of delusions. Of course there would be nothing capable of breaking him out of his world of falsehoods.

“I was a spectator in this hell. Both a harrower and an observer that witnessed how fucked up you, the Impuritas, the Ateliers – everything in this world was! When I left that forest, I thought the best course of action was to remain indifferent to the world around me. But that one mistake almost costed the life of a child!”

Frost’s emotions continued to soar to even greater heights. She was only within the 4th State, after all.

One more state awaited her.

But the False Spears of Annihilation worn her down. By now she only had half of her total HP left.

“One child made you realize that? Only one?” Iscario ridiculed with a sneer.

He couldn’t believe it. It was almost too funny for him. The Amalgam was moved by the near loss of a single life? In this world?

Frost slowly sealed her eyes. There was so much blood trailing behind her that it seemed like she had slipped away. How could she be ridiculed for that?

It was because of that incident that Frost would rather keep bleeding like this if it meant that she could save a single life.

Her mind went back to when she first held Ignis.

To when she lent a hand to Stella and pulled them from their dark, all for the low cost of enduring her heart being torn out for 3 days straight.

To the Ber who had slain Frost in her State of Mind so that she could shine as the most beautiful Ber to ever take the stage.

To the Archivist who Awakened after Frost’s own Corruption…

Could she be ridiculed for wanting a world where her sacrifices could elevate others into stars? Frost smiled.

No amount of lances could take this feeling of accomplishment away from her.

“Yeah. Only one was enough for me. It took billions for an old friend. But there’s no amount of people in this world for you to learn that. You’ll still be the same with or without Ilya. She’s just become an excuse to justify your cause. What you really wanted in the end was what ‘completion’, like with the Impuritas.”

“Are you not the same!?” Iscario shouted.

Hundreds of Lances appeared all at once. They surrounded Frost, preparing to eviscerate her once and for all.

“Completion… will bring us to the heights of a Star. Only then can we be satisfied! Amalgam… That Light will be ours. This is where your tale ends!”

< “Be careful Frost~!” >

She could hear Stella’s friends cry from amongst the stars.

The lances came crashing down towards her. No amount of speed could save her now. However, Frost didn’t stop dragging Iscario onwards and bashing his body around.

This was because she had no reason to fear death here. And besides –

< “It would make my Cer mourn if she had to watch another loved one disappear.” >

– Frost was not alone in this battle against Iscario.