Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

817. The Light of A Pair of Stars

“Absolution.” Galia’s voice suddenly cut in.

The woman, who was supposed to return as a Corrupted, stood in place with one of her arms covered in a pale material. It was clearly flesh, but it had scales like that of a serpent. They were thicker than plate armor, but she could still move her hand finely as though it was normal.

Clutched in the same hand was a cannon made from the same pallid scales. It took the shape of a serpent’s head with an open maw.

“I recognize it immediately. A Skill empowered by Light. Was that not what the Arbiter used that day against our Amalgam?”

Galia heaved her arm and weapon upwards, pointing it straight at the blood moon.

“I also have our Amalgam to thank for this. It was her voice that overcame Elysia’s. Of course I would heed the words of the Amalgam in her stead. But this defies all expectations… yet it was precisely what I required. Hear its name, Jury! This is Justitia – The half-crystallization of my ego!”

The scales were in fact feathers now that Jury had a closer look. Pale feathers grew from the right shoulder of Galia, eventually stabbing into the ground to stabilize her Corrupted Item.

That weapon… was in a realm of its own. A person’s Corrupted Persona seemed to scale depending on how powerful they were in the first place. After all, it was meant to augment them rather than transform them into something else.

Galia as a result held a weapon that surpassed the power of previously known Corrupted, aside from the Icon of Judgement.

“It failed to judge you too, hm, Jury?” Galia whispered, inhaling the essence of the temporary silence. “Of course it couldn’t. You’re the one person even I could not condemn.”

There were two stars in the desolate skies now.

“Shall we, Jury?”

“We have to…”

< The Castigation Bird Enacts Their Awaited Punishment >

Jury, with every fiber of her being, threw her fist upwards as a blinding light formed at the tip of Galia’s cannon, taking the shape of a golden apple held by the mouth of the serpent.

Then, as a great column of blood descended upon them, spiraling like a drill –

“[RETROCAUSALITY!]”

– Jury utilized the power of her newly formed Light and used it alongside [Retrocausality – Temporal Distortion]. Time froze in a massive cone-shaped area above them, freezing the column of blood enough for Galia to finish charging her weapon.

Finally, the sound of harmonious crystals filled the air as the scales of her right arm opened to reveal beautiful eyes that sparkled like stars. They vented the immense power of her weapon as she sank into the bridge, the sheer recoil causing her to lose a large chunk of her HP.

The ball that formed at the tip of the weapon gently floated upwards. The recoil made it seem like it had flown off. But looks were deceiving. Once it reached more than 10 meters above them, a column of light that spanned their entire vision emerged.

It shot upwards, disintegrating everything it touched. The grand blood moon of the Castigation Bird was instantly vaporized, and with it, so was a large portion of its body.

“It… cut all the way through!?” Galia was surprised by this fact, as the Bird’s body was mostly resilient aside from its eye when the Condition was fulfilled. “I… was it that strong?”

However, this was not the case here. Furthermore, the smoke that concealed the world now had a gaping hole within it, exposing the world within with the light of the stars and the brilliant moon.

Castigation Bird | HP: 30,000,000

“No…” Jury wheezed, collapsing to her knees as her emotional state rapidly decreased. The ordeal left her trembling and incapable of controlling her legs. “That was… Absolution. It… interfered with the Condition… so while it was frozen by my Skill… Agh…”

“Jury?”

“I’m ok… in fact, I’ve never felt better. Hah… Ah…” She clasped at her left hand which ached with a throbbing pain.

To her surprise, she didn’t feel a claw. The darkness remained, but even so, what she found was a hand.

“… Ah… I’m… It’s normal…” Jury spoke with tears in her eyes before gazing up at Galia with a vibrant, child-like smile. “It’s normal again!”

“… I’m happy for you.” Galia uttered from the bottom of her heart.

< “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” >

“What’s happening now?” Galia asked.

The bird wailed with anguish. Pain must have overcome it, but Jury could not help but believe that the cause was something else. Soon, as the Castigation Bird began to fold into itself, a prompt was revealed.

< The Castigation Bird wrongfully condemned an Innocent to an unjust punishment >

< One more failure will result in its own castigation >

< It can no longer remain here >

“The bird is… retreating…? Wait – we can kill it here! I can… tch… You have to! It should be vulnerable right now!”

Galia tried again, but her weapon did not damage it. However, she was able to remove much of the darkness that smothered the skies. The sheer power of her weapon was difficult to overstate, but it came at an exhaustive cost that left her in a similar state to Jury after just two attacks.

It mentally drained Galia – one of the most formidable and mentally powerful Beholders in existence. But then again, her mind was already ravaged by the Castigation Bird and Elysia. Any more would risk what they knew as Instability.

The compressed Castigation Bird began to move towards Mount Saris. It looked like a giant diamond with many eyes plastered across its side. The pale object disappeared before long, leaving the Beholders a long moment of respite.

“… it must be headed for the Arbiter and… Uriel.” Jury claimed with vitriol, the light in her eyes flashing with fury.

This amused Galia as she brushed her hand along her pale feathers. Then, she stroked the serpent’s head of her Price of Sin.

“You’ve never spoken with such contempt before. I won’t ask. You must have seen something unwanted in that dream of yours too. Absolution, and a half-crystalization of a Corrupted Persona. I suppose that’s why I haven’t gained a Blessing. I did resist Frost as much as I could, but she has a way with words. I felt like I needed her. It worked out in the end.”

Galia praised Frost. Hearing her name caused Jury to smile impatiently as she stared off into the direction of Primus Ramus.

“Frost… gave me what I needed the most in my life too before I knew what it was.”

“You’re blessed to have met her then.”

“… it was more like she met me.”

“Frost would say the opposite.”

“I know. That’s why… I love her so much.” Jury smiled. Then, after a short moment, she uttered: “… when this is over… when we can finally go back to the Nexus… then I’ll tell you about it. What I saw, what I am… who I saw in there… Haaah. There’s a lot I still don’t know. A part of me wishes that I’d never find them. But… I think it’s for the best that I know.”

Galia nodded approvingly as she stared intently at Jury, who cradled her left hand like a newborn.

“Yes? Galia?” Jury jumped when she realized that Galia had been staring at her for some time now.

“The look in your eyes.” Galia turned her back to her as she turned her gaze out to her victorious personnel on the battlefield

“Hm?” Jury tilted her head.

“They’re brimming with conviction. Before this war you were uncertain. It felt like the war would blow you away like a leaf in the wind. But now, you’re firmly planted. You have something you want. You must have realized something beyond your hatred too.”

“… yeah. I did. How… did you know?”

Galia then shifted her gaze towards the moon and spoke with a solemn tone.

“I once had a friend that could read the meaning of every wrinkle on my face. The look of conviction doesn’t merely stem from hatred or a desire. I’ve seen it come from appreciation. A realization, if you will. Would you at least tell me what that is before we resume?”

Jury was shocked by the accuracy of Galia’s assessment. Still, she smiled and slowly pushed herself up, confessing the other reason why her eyes shone so brightly.

“I just thought about how much I was cherished… No matter how much I was hated, I had people who loved me unconditionally.”

Their battle with the Castigation Bird was over, and the two returned from the battle far stronger than when they began. Jury still didn’t know how she used Absolution or the principles behind it.

Aside from its correlation with immense emotional stress but similarly, one’s ability to tame it.

The Qliphoth Corrosion remained with Jury, but thankfully, it was reduced from what she could tell.

“… Michalea… Don’t lose to her.”

Jury prayed for the demise of the Angel who cursed her with her Qliphoth Corrosion. There was no telling how many more people were involved in this conspiracy. The reason was also unclear if it was just for the creation of their perfect ‘rose’ and a key into Deep Time, or if there was a lingering hatred for her association with Elysia.

I was nothing but a mound of harvestable flesh to them in the end. That’s all I was. The previous iterations of Elysia experienced the same thing when they replaced the Captured Star. I did nothing wrong, and still, that part of us can’t help but repeat itself.

Jury always felt like she was aboard a boat in a desolate sea. She had no clear direction to follow, but still her eyes remained searching, and her hands moved the rows towards where she believed she needed to go.

That was usually dictated by Frost.

But now there was a reason to steer her boat on her own accord.