Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

940. The Third Seal Breaks

Nothing could enter an already Corrupted’s State of Mind.

However –

“Horus. Throw up a CognitO Filter for a second.”

“You heard her ladies.” Horus sighed. “What’s about to go down is classified information.”

“As in, mandated by the higher ups?” Hayte asked.

The Blood Angel grinned. She yearned to utter: “Beyond that.” but held her tongue.

Once the CognitO Filter was activated, Frost pricked her finger and held it to the mouth of the Corrupted.

“A-Amalgam! You cannot be thinking of feeding a lowly Corrupted –!”

“I don’t intend to nurture it. I’m just curious. I haven’t had a chance to interact with a Corrupted since I gained my Blood Manipulation abilities.”

The Corrupted did not devour her blood, nor did it have any intention to.

What Frost was trying to accomplish was to enter its State of Mind using her Progenitor Art: [Ego – Die Agnosis]

 This would allow her to directly enter a target’s State of Mind, regardless of whether they were a person who Corrupted, or a pre-existing Corrupted.

“Stay. Still.”

Frost tried to pry its mouth open.

Her grip, which was already iron clad, strengthened as its body was squeezed. She could not read the intentions of the Corrupted, therefore, she had to assume that they were ready to attack.

As powerful as she was, she could not forget that there was also a Healer behind her.

It color began to change from a light grey to a darker shade of grey. And before Frost could sink her fingers into its flesh to bypass needing to open its mouth. Then, it suddenly phased through her hands the moment she blinked.

“Eh? It just… fell right through.”

Cataract

< Basic Observation >

< Its filthy grey coat formed from bouts of neglect >

< Skill Analyzed >

< ACTIVE: Aract >

< Broken, but not gone >

< EFFECT: Become a ghost-like apparition. May phase through walls. AGI is reduced to 1 in this state. Any damage taken while in this form will result in death >

It was gone before Frost realized it.

Gravity had caused it to plunge through the floor.

A look of relief appeared on Jury’s face, whereas Frost was annoyed that she had lost a perfect opportunity to experiment with her powers.

“It’s probably dead now.” The Blood Angel broke the silence. “A Corrupted as pitiful as that one will not survive the rapid descent.”

“It would rather end it all than to be handled by me?” Frost sighed. “Unfortunate. I could’ve given it a chance to Realize. Horus. Can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear~”

“You can take the Filter down now. I’m done here.”

“Are you so sure about that?” Horus’ orange eyes glowed as she looked over at one of the many doors of the hall. “Sounds like we’ll be getting company soon.”

Frost followed her gaze. Behind that door was a spark of Light belonging to a creature. While it was unlikely that Horus could see this same Light, she had to wonder how she noticed its presence before she did.

Then, Frost finally received her first real warning.

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

< HAILSTORM >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET SINGS >

A thunderous crash echoed as the door came flying off its reinforced hinges. The metal door flung like a frisbee with such force that it managed to embed itself into the wall.

The black, feathery talons of a Corrupted gripped the walls with immense strength, causing the steel to warp. After a series of twisted, metallic groans, the twelve talons dragged out a floating eye that served as its core.

A new Corrupted had arrived.

And unlike the only other Hope Corrupted she had faced (Our Happiest Moments), this was overtly sinister. The moment her eyes fell upon that sole, inhuman shaped eye in the center of its arms, it released a harmonious shrill.

“The Averice Division must have missed it.” Hayte commented. “I doubt we can take it on.”

“Usari doesn’t care! It’s going to get shot either way!”

Before she could even shoot, Frost pushed her weapon upwards, causing her to fire at the ceiling.

“What’s the big idea!?”

“Hold it. That one’s mine. You’re better off fighting against the smaller ones.” Frost nodded her head in the direction of another door.

Around eight sparks of Light were hurling towards them.

“Smaller?”

Exactly eight more Corrupted burst through the doors, flooding the hall.

“Tch! Usari will make quick work of them! Machine guy! Kill!”

“Horus?” Hayte asked for permission to begin.

“No, not yet.” Horus smirked. “We’re only looking at the appetizer.”

Thunderous thuds echoed throughout the Site. They were not the sound of mechanical groans that they had been hearing within from the bowels of the Site. It had a pattern, and one could instantly recognize it as footsteps.

The sound of chains breaking over the magical intercom entailed that the local threat level had increased. There were three consecutive shatterings, meaning that the Third Seal had broken.

It was a local emergency, and one away from the first Site-wide major emergency – the Fourth Seal.

“Appetizer?” Jury’s tail was poised up and ready to douse the swarm of Trickle Corrupted in acid.

But there was no need. The eight Corrupted were terribly weak. They would not have been able to injure any of them even if they tried. But even so, the Corrupted spilled into the halls through a gap in the door with the same threat level as a swarm of feral cats.

“Usari has them locked on! Getting ready to shoot!”

And then, just moments before they could separate, a colossal maw ripped through the five-meter-thick reinforced door. Each of the doors were designed to contain Corrupted of a given Level. It was immediately apparent that this Corrupted came from somewhere deeper.

“U-Usari’s prey was just eaten!?”

“Another one from the Fourth Level and beyond it seems.” Horus grinned. “Pipsqueak. Don’t even try to gun them down.”

A blue mass of tiny, individual fairies burst through. They were amassed into the shape of a giant, floating head that scooped up the eight Corrupted into its maw.

Due to it being made of thousands of tiny creatures, they were able to watch as the Corrupted within were devoured like meat thrown into a pool of piranhas.

Both were inconsequential Corrupted, but to the Acedia Special Division, they were harolded as extremely powerful foes. It was next to impossible for them to take on without needing to be constantly revived.

The jump from Yellow Trick to Red or Violet Hailstorm was anywhere from 60 to 80 levels.

As a result, not even Horus could afford to stand around idly.

“Prioritize the defense of the Healer. If a single scratch so happens to befall her… I don’t need to make myself clear.”

“Creating a stationary [Barrier].”

Icara had the right idea. A beautiful blue network of smaller barriers hovered around Morgause. They were arranged like overlapping umbrellas, and were shaped convexly to help deflect damage.

Icara’s Simplex Barrier | HP: 600

“Unnecessary, but a welcome barrier. Quality IX Cloth provides enough protection as is. The walls, the steel, the construction blends of this Level compare little to what the Head provides.”

Icara nodded in understanding.

“So what’s it going to be? You wanna take on the Tooth Fairy?” Frost called out.

“Is that its name?” Horus laughed. “They look nothing like a fairy.”

Weird. She can see ATT DEF, but not their names? I gotta ask her to clarify when I get the chance.

That said, Frost unceremoniously reached out a hand towards the twelve-armed eyeball. The beast was over four meters in length and height, easily dwarfing a small statured woman like her.

However, this one simple movement caused her to appear as though she was infinitely larger than it. Like it was no more than insignificant insect that had dared to bare its fangs against a giant.

< “Ignore the sight. Ignore the presence. Blind bliss will pave the way for happiness.” >

< “Do not gaze upon the eye.” >

It lunged towards her, its many talons scraping against the ground.

But before it could even get close to her, Frost’s right arm was suddenly encased in a shadow. Darkness consumed it, and it formed a maw that was even larger than the Corrupted itself.

Rows of white, glistening teeth shone beneath the fluorescent lights. And before anyone could blink, a black blur smothered the Corrupted, and half of its body disappeared as though it had been spatially torn.

What Frost used was one of her newest Offensive Skills from the Devourer Profession; [Voracity]. It allowed her to morph a small part of her body to consume her target.

The same properties of her Maw of the Amalgam applied.

It didn’t kill the Corrupted, but it severely disabled it.

Nine out of twelve talons had disappeared. The rest were missing their hands, and the half-eaten eye bled with a porous clear liquid.

“Alright. You’ll make for a wonderful test subject.” Frost entrenched her fist into its eye, spreading her fingers to anchor it in place.

[Analyze Target].

The Observer Upstairs

< Basic Observation >

< The arms are gravitationally anchored or at least mimic that same process. Gazing upon its eye will anger The Observer Upstairs >

< Skill Analyzed >

< PASSIVE: Unnecessary Acknowledgement >

< Do not look. Avoid the gaze. Only then will you understand bliss >

< EFFECT: Enter an active state when a target gazes upon your eye. Attack with a feint. If the target reacts, then follow through and claim their eyes >

< It is otherwise harmless if you manage to ignore it >

An eye upstairs huh. Any guesses on what it’s a reference to?

“The divine or supernatural.”

I’d think so too if it had the Judgement Affinity. Either way, we’ll be finding out soon I hope.

Afterwards, she casually approached the others with a small, innocent smile.

“… That’s a Color for you… Just what the hell is that kind of magic?” Usari was shocked to say the least. “Icara! You’re a Witch, right!? Ever seen anything like that!?”

“I specialize in creation, not dark-magic theory.”