Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)-Chapter 1082. Minutes Till World End
< Heartbeat! >
“If I couldn’t think then I’d feel the same way. The nihilism… the greed of wanting to maintain the numbness and ignorance. But I can think! I know how much people suffer! I want Frost to succeed! I don’t want us to fail! And I know how much it hurts to lose someone along the way. How easy it’d be to just close my eyes, shut my ears, and never talk about how much my heart aches.”
< Heartbeat! >
“I’m not certain about myself. I still have so much to learn. I have no doubts that I’ll be challenged again. I might change in the future. But this is who I am right now!”
< Heartbeat! >
“My regrets are what shapes me into becoming better!”
< Tick…? >
“Yet you weep. You were left wracked by grief as misery knocks on your door.”
< Tock…? >
“You wish to continue to struggle without the safety of a defined purpose?”
< Tick… Tock >
“I will not allow it!”
[QQQ] [Retrocausality: Feathers of Prejudice] [QQQ]
< Feathers of a flock hang together >
< EFFECT: Indiscriminate attack. Skewer them and blacken their blood with your feathers. It will be proof of their evil >
ATT : 150M MAG ATT : 150M
The final crystal was surrounded by a hurricane of exploding feathers. The minefield paired with the flicking blades impeded them. Cer had to lunge outwards to avoid becoming overwhelmed, but the sheer range of both attacks made this just as risky.
“I’m five kilometers out! What the hell is this range!?” Cer complained. “Agh!? It grazed me. Tch.”
A sharp pain ran through her tail. The tip had been severed by the shrapnel of a colliding feather. Thankfully, the damage was not permanent, and Frost’s [Prolonged Stasis] prevented her from instantly perishing.
However, that one graze nearly exhausted Cer. Her heart felt heavy, and her movements suddenly became sluggish. Still, it was more than enough to finish off the fight.
But they had to end it now.
< Tick… >
“You will not get close!”
< Heartbeat! >
“Another attack is coming! You won’t be able to avoid it without my help!”
The air was sucked into the core of the cocoon. Black spirals twirled into it, forming a dark whirlpool made of the Dregs of Gluttony. It formed a dark orb within, and it shattered with a deafening crunch.
The ticking rapidly accelerated, and it came from everywhere at once. Suddenly, the space in front of them froze. The ticking originating from within abruptly ceased and was followed by a bell.
< Heartbeat! >
“Down! Left! Then ahead for another 200 meters! Her attacks are predetermined!”
Cer followed Jury’s commands perfectly, watching as spheres of frozen time exploded meters away from them.
< [QQQ] [Retrocausality: Temporal Prison] [QQQ] >
< The flow stops when judgement is in order >
< EFFECT: Freeze causality in a 50-meter radius. Annihilation Skill. Utilizes Qliphoth >
Another skill appeared alongside it. Frost only noticed it when she noticed that she had suddenly accumulated scratches despite not being hit.
< [Q] [Retrocausality: Dissonance] [Q] >
< From me to you >
< EFFECT: Break the chain of causality >
ATT : 300,000 MAG ATT : 300,000
Jury did not even need to attack them for the effect to manifest. Cause became decoupled with effect, allowing Frost to take damage before Jury could even attack. She was lucky it was limited to such a weak attack, otherwise, they would have lost at this very instant.
< Tick… >
“You dare interfere!?”
< Heartbeat! >
“I am not going to keep letting them get hurt! Cer! Nothing is blocking you way! I’ve redirected it!”
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< Tock >
“You miserable trumpet…!”
It’s because of Jury…
“Cer, send us in! Full speed ahead!”
“I HEARD!”
< Tick >
“CEASE THIS NOW!”
< [QQQ] [Retrocausality: Angel’s Caress] [QQQ] >
< They will remember this day for the rest of their lives >
< EFFECT: Black feathers will begin to rain. They will decontaminate the world of its evil >
ATT : 30M MAG ATT : 50M
Dark feathers cascaded from the skies. The tiny feathers were smaller than a hand. At their speed, it was difficult to assess whether they were about to run into one. Cer however had excellent spatial awareness. Plus, the feathers fell at such a slow rate that they were barely an inconvenience.
It was a desperate attempt to stop them. But in the end, Frost reached the crystal and began biting her way into its core.
< TOCK >
“Never… Never…! NEVER…!”
< Heartbeat >
“It’s too late. We’ve… We’ve won.”
Cer’s ears perked. The attacks suddenly ceased. The blades, the feathers, the shrapnel: they quietly subsided, leaving behind an unsettling silence. The strings hung from above. None moved, as though silently reading the room.
Frost picked away at the crystal, gnawing through its layers until she heard a deranged giggle.
< … Tick… >
“Hehehehe… No… It’s… It’s not over yet. It won’t be… I won’t allow it.”
A soft rumble accompanied her voice. With it came a low-pitched whine. It was a familiar sound, one that Frost had not heard from for some time. Then, she heard screaming. A chorus of thousands that increased as the whine rose in pitch.
Then, the horizon split in half. A dark vertical split hovered, joining the distant ocean to the skies. It was easily over a kilometer long. Perhaps multiple. Frost could not fathom the scale of this portal.
The screams within were mixed with industrial noises.
Then, everything ceased at once.
“A black hole?” Cer questioned.
“… It’s a portal. But it looks familiar. Where have I… Wait. That’s the portal Jury uses for [Retrocausality: Smite].”
Indeed. Frost recognized it right away. Only that this one was corroded with darkness.
A pair of dark claws emerged. They clasped at the edges of the portal and pried it open, revealing the barrel of a cruel weapon. A golden ring light appeared deep within, appearing precisely like the Eye of Elysia she had seen at the bottom of the world.
< … Tock… >
“ELYSIA! LEND ME YOUR STRENGHT!”
//////// < EXISTENTIAL WARNING > ////////
< [QQQQQ] [Retrocausality: Original Smite] [QQQQQ] >
< A weapon to exhume the ultimate regret >
< EFFECT: ??? life within a ???km region. The end begins when the clock strikes midnight. Annihilation Skill >
< 2:00 Till World End >
The hands of a clock appeared on the golden ring. The hour and minute hand started exactly 2 minutes away from midnight.
Once the second hand made two revolutions…
“FROST! EAT IT ALREADY!”
“I’M GOING AS FAST AS I CAN!”
Cer was prepared to defend Frost with her life. The strings finally descended, and she bared her fangs, bracing for the worst. But to her surprise, the strings ignored her entirely.
They were focused solely on Jury and the portal. Thicker strings descended. They were columns, and they attached themselves to the cocoon. Then, a contraption of gears descended, hovering just a few hundred meters above the cocoon.
The intention was clear. They yearned to destroy it before the attack could manifest.
< [AAA] || Dead End || [AAA] >
< No loose ends. No fate to watch. No possibility of tomorrow >
< EFFECT: Arbitration Skill of the ??? ??? ???. A commandment ordained by the sole purpose of the strings. With no fate attached, loose ends are destined to fade >
ATT : ??? MAG ATT : NA
< A Beholder Skill? While I certainly recognize the formatting, I don’t understand why there is an ‘Arbitration’ mention for it >
< Could it be…? >
< Frost. WE cannot analyze the entity this Skill originates from. The voice is telling me this. It is a male voice from what I gather. Neither Magus nor someone we have heard. They speak formally… They wish to talk to you through me >
Frost had an idea of who this person was. But her mind was far too preoccupied with the crystal to confirm this with Nav. Her eyes suddenly went wide as she finally heard this person’s voice.
???
< I must apologize for our unruly welcome. It wasn’t our intention to bring you through the Audition. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time >
It was indeed a masculine voice. It was heavier than Magus’, and he carried similar mannerisms. She found it pleasant to listen to, and she could almost hear strings playing in the background.
Surprisingly, she heard his true voice, rather than Nav speaking to relay his message. Though, given their proximity to the Fate Mechanism, it was hardly surprising.
“… You’re the Director…?”
The Director
< Indeed that I am! Though I believe our introductions should be cut short. You have a bomb to defuse. Merrily, I must say, and in the greatest amount of glee, that you must not fear the strings above! Save for your Awakened companion, though her window to flee will come shortly. Ah! I’ve run my mouth. I apologize. I’m not as deterministic as the one responsible for the strings and the roles and its namesakes. (Aside: I do enjoy my ad libs) >
< The strings will revoke the role granted to your betrothed! Once they are processed and refunded into the essence of purpose! Ahh, the fate of a character killed too soon in a story (wipes a false tear) >
“… This guy is pissing me off.” Cer had been grimacing the entire time. She could hear their conversation, as Nav was also relaying his words to her. “He can hear me right? So this is your fault!?”
The Director
< I beg your pardon miss wolf!? I am but a merry man who adores the happenings off script. They are, undeniably, very human to do. It is my counterpart that has caused this… and, to say, Act X. Though we’ll get to that soon! Right now, I hope you’re doing well in defusing the bomb of that old Angel! (Sweats nervously) >
< 60 Seconds Till World End >
Fragmented Crystal Timepiece | HP: 500,000
Frost had more than enough time to finish it off. All she needed to do was to spill out the liquid within the core. In the meantime, as the clock ticked down, Cer conversed with the Director, all the while eyeing the clock as though it would cause it to slow down.
“Your counterpart must be powerful. The strings have gotten way stronger. I don’t even think this is it going at its full strength.”
The Director
< Ah, weakness comes with distance. Like gravity! Do you happen to know what gravity is, miss wolf? (Seriously asking) >
“The hell you asking me for!? Do I look like a moron to you!?”
The Director
< But it is good to ask, no? You speak like I’d know! I do not have access to your library, after all~ Ahem. How troubling. To think Elysia’s presence can be manifested by pure will. I cannot deny that there is beauty in the eye of an Angel. But it does pain me to see such a deterministic interpretation of her destruction (Sad) >
“You knew Elysia?” Cer was surprised by this.
The Director
< Knew her? I was fairly close! Given the nature of the Fate Mechanism… before it became overrun by the useless drivel of arbitrary predictions. Hmph (Annoyed by the many hands vying for control) >
“… Forget that. Are the others alright? Cause just so you know, just cause you’re an Archetype doesn’t mean I’m not gonna gut you.”
The Director
< (Pulls collar nervously) They’re fine from what I can tell! Be at ease, I’m here to assist you! You have an appointment with Act X… After Jury is returned >
“… And the twins?”
The Director
< That, I’m afraid, is not for me to decide. If it has been ordained, then it will be difficult to prevent it. I tend to pull strings here and there, but when they’re set in stone, it becomes difficult to alter >
Cer asked this as Frost plunged her fist into the liquid core, finally destroying it with 20 seconds left on the clock. The clock ceased, and the hands instantly began rewinding a day back.
A bell rung when they stopped, and then, they spiraled out of control.
< …? >
“No… No! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
< Heartbeat… >
“It’s… done…? I can feel my hands… But… I can’t move…?”
The strings began to hoist the cocoon towards the gnashing gears. All offensive attacks ceased, and the poral closed, severing the dark fingers of the entity. A monumental effort was required to drag the cocoon up, and Frost instantly responded by shooting bullets at the strings but to no avail.
The Director
< Oh dear… My counterpart seems hellbent on destroying them. But do not worry! Your betrothed’s control has returned! The cocoon will be weakened! You only need to pull her free! >
< ...? >
“I WILL NOT DIE ALONE!”
< Heartbeat >
“Frost…!”
There was only one thing left for Frost to do.
