Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

97. Bloody Herring

Unprecedented confusion strangled Frost’s heart as she tried to decipher the situation.

Standing before her was an Impuritas that spoke fluently as if truly sapient, rolling his hands into an extravagant bow – a hand gripping tightly across his chest, right where his heart would be.

“How rash of you to call your host something as asinine as impure! I implore you – if you understand what is good for you, oh Color, then you will stand right there and enjoy the show!”

The fish-man… no, the Bloody Herring was an ugly, red monstrosity and had the exact same deadpan, opaque eyes of a fish. It wore a jester’s hat fitted with bells that jingled with every exaggerated movement.

But it was not him alone who brought Frost’s mind to near crippling perplexity.

It was the presence of the other two Impuritas. They laid on their knees just meters away from the Bloody Herring, beaten and skewered with red, thin stakes.

One of these individuals was a man adorning red-plated armor, crafted in the image of a bulky business suit. The Golden Middle’s insignia was carved into the breastplate, as a red, razor-sharp tie dangled from his neck, dripping with his blood.

Most importantly however, was that his upper body was disproportionately larger than his lower half. Almost to a comedic level. The biology behind such a form was frankly impossible, and his head appeared flattened, with only his golden eyes visible through his helmet’s visor.

He also wore a red gemstone ring on his hand.

But this was no normal person. They were an Impuritas… and an Exalted.

The other was a woman. An entirely normal-looking woman, albeit her height and thinness gave her a rather grave appearance. The tattered suit she wore was green and drenched in blood, and her pants were no different.

Her hair was golden, and her face carried a deathly pale complexion. The symbol of a green thumb was embroidered into her back, with a similar pair of animated tattoos found right beneath her eyes.

And despite being skewered, she wore a strange smile and silently shivered, as if chuckling to herself despite her grim fate.

Frost’s breathing became ragged and guttural; like she was breathing in flames. She did not know why the Impuritas were a part of the Golden Index or what their intentions were. Let alone what these things were in the first place.

These… things were not like the mangled, half-constructed beings she had seen, but were actually people.

Nav… the Nexus has Impuritas amongst its ranks.

“Calm down Frost. You are rapidly approaching the Third State. We still do no know what they are.”

Now isn’t a good time to ask questions either. But I’m curious. I want to know what that thing is. What they are… and if it can’t answer me that, then these two likely will.

“Not a word spent? Not a letter spared? My condolences, dogs of the golden hand. It appears as though your beloved savior cares little of your meager existence! So, Apostle one and Apostle two! And – the pests of Grand–!”

“You’ll be gutted before you can utter the next set of verbal garbage. It’d be wise of you to keep your mouth sealed.” Frost began to inflict her Darkness stacks, gaining the Bloody Herring’s full attention as their body instinctively froze. “Fortunately for you, I feel like talking. I have a number of questions to ask of you, Bloody Herring.”

“… m-my word… Scrutiny…?” He uttered, recognizing Frost’s skill as his hand mechanically rose to his head. “… my name… in your possession…”

He began to tremble uncontrollably.

At the same time, all one thousand of her eyes flooded into the room, much to the audience’s surprise. There was chaos suddenly, and the sound of boos left the lips of these hideous creatures.

“… Black… Dove… you came?” The heavily armored Broker spoke through exasperated breaths, only just barely kept alive by mysterious means.

“… Carpalis… would never… abandon us… You… traitorous… fish.” L.S pitifully giggled.

Broker | HP: 1

L.S | HP: 1

Something was keeping them just barely alive. She had to wonder if it was a skill or an object in their possession. But it did not matter the slightest. Her empathy was at an all time low.

The Impuritas were beings she couldn’t care less about…

Not until they were proven to be anything other than evil.

“Frost. What’s the plan.” Jury quietly asked, watching the Bloody Herring continue to tremble.

“Kill everything on sight. As for the two here – leave them. I’m going to drain every ounce of information from them after this. But wait for my signal. I want to know just what the fuck these things are.” Frost relayed.

Now was an opportunity to finally get some answers, and just as her luck would have it, perhaps right from the very source. She took a few steps forward, holding her palms out as she tapped the shoulders of the fallen Captains.

Frost was not an idiot to not notice the Bloody Herring’s AGI.

Therefore, Frost wanted to present herself as a healer. That way, there was a chance that she would be devalued from her actual worth which was the all-devouring Amalgam.

“[Greater Healing]. I have questions I want you to answer. Answer carefully. That heart will disappear should you lie.” She warned, the tension growing so thick that any sudden movement would set off an instant bloodbath.

The others were more than ready to annihilate this damned circus. They just needed a trigger. Frost stopped only meters away from the Bloody Herring, her gaze bestowing the pressure of entire worlds onto this disgusting Impuritas.

And yet…

“… a…” A small sound came from his mouth as he cupped his mouth.

“… ah… aha… ahahahah. AHAHAHAHA!” The Bloody Herring suddenly disappeared, appearing atop the furthest end of the grand chamber as the mangled crowed laughed along hysterically.

“FROST! NOW!?” Cer shouted from the top of her lungs, already running straight towards the giant heart.

“DO IT!” Frost, realizing that this being had nothing of worth to say, chose to raze this place down to cinders. “His speed is 150! But his ATT won’t be able to puncture through your DEF! SNAP! Don’t stop moving!”

They instantly burst into action and began to unleash hell upon the heart, while Ignis chose to enter the audience’s section to conduct her slaughter. These things that preyed on people and bared no other thought than to kill were greeted with a similar fate.

Jury dragged her claw around, reducing these monsters to ribbons as their skins flailed to an invisible wind. The triplets in the meantime focused on the heart, rupturing its outer shell as countless beating hearts spilled into the arena.

They were crushed beneath the feet of Frost’s companions, although Jury was careful enough to minimize her damage… even though their owners were already long dead.

“Splendid… truly SPLENDID! Our Gear friends never miss with their interpretations of fate! A powerful healer! One with Scrutiny! A healer, a Color – and an Apostle! The catch is quite MARVELOUS!”

Her feathers constantly rustled no matter what the Bloody Herring said.

His laughter devolved as Frost impatiently awaited the effects of the Diamond Counter, but nothing occurred.

Any idea how to get it working?

“It does not know of your true value. Perhaps that’s the condition.”

Good call. I have a doubt this piece of shit Impuritas is going to cooperate.

“You know of Scrutiny. You know of the white feathered man. You knew of our approach. But you only still know so little. You do not know me.” Frost began, grinding her foot into the dirt as she stared defiantly at the putrid creature.

Her voice cut through the metallic screech, the music, and the sound of bloodshed altogether. Frost feared little. To her, she had already gone through the worst; being the events that transpired in the Black Forest.

“But you don’t know me. I am the Archetype of Amalgamation. The Amalgam, owner of the Floor of Amalgamation. The Corrupted beyond the safety of your tiny chamber here was devoured my myself.”

“Ah.. Ahaha! Do… do you… DO YOU THINK THAT WE, THE PUREST BEINGS IN ALL OF THIS IMPURE WORLD, ARE AS MORONIC AS THOSE THAT POLLUTE THE MINDS AND HEARTS OF COUNTLESS!?” His face burst open, revealing multiple red stakes made from blood.

They rigidly moved like many tongues, screeching like metal as they rubbed together. Frost prepared herself for imminent battle, honing her senses entirely as she prepared for the Diamond Counter to double her stats.

However –

“Perish the thought! The Amalgam lays within a dark hell. You, Black Dove, are no Archetype. Our dearest most esteemed friend has already done the deed. The Gears have passed along that pitiful person’s woes.”

< Diamond Counter condition met. Stats are now doubled >

< Annihilate that Impuritas! >

< … Frost? >

Frost didn’t move. Her eyes were ripped wide as her face panned upwards; her heart beating far louder than the thousands combined all around her. Her hands began to tremble, as the ground suddenly cracked under the sheer weight of her rage.

… so the betrayal was premediated by these things as well…

Betrayers… with Iscario… the Impuritas…

And to think I wanted to speak to it… like it was anything other than a monster.

 

< The Second State has manifested as Wrath >

 

She could no longer hear Nav speak. Neither could she hear anything else for that matter.

To see… No, to have one of these beings who were involved with her betrayal right before her eyes infused her spirit with insurmountable rage. They may have not been the culprit, but to speak gleefully of her suffering, and to express Iscario as a good friend of theirs did nothing but enrage her.

“How they watched that village perish, skewered by the rods of purity! How they cried and screamed on that blessed night! For our rightful happiness, that Amalgam will suffer eternally in that void of justice!”

A boiling point rapidly approached, and with it, her emotions rose to tremendous heights.

< The Will of the Amalgam Has Been Raised to the Third State >

< There are no Woe of the Fallen Star Corrupted to borrow skills from >

< The Third State has manifested as Wrath >

“The Amalgam is a name of the past. I can understand why people would believe that you would be the Amalgam, ‘healer’. Speaking of Healers! I believe Leitmotif would adore another tortured healer into their grand composition –”

Something deep within Frost broke.

The ground suddenly split

 She disappeared in the blink of an eye, a testament of her 140 AGI. The air exploded behind her, showering the world with debris as she flew straight for the Bloody Herring, hoarsely shouting:

“SO YOU WERE ONE OF THE BERAYERS! YOU WORKED WITH ISCARIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”

Frost used her body as a weapon in the truest sense, pulverizing straight through the plywood walls behind, unleashing Prejudice. The shadowy aberration devoured another twenty layers, puncturing straight into rock and flesh-like sediment.

An entire cavern was carved out from this one attack. The Diamond Counter did not only enhance her stats, but also her skills that had a set damage range. The gouged, 20-meter-wide cavern was the result of a 20,000-damage bite.

But Frost did not stop to observe or bathe in her destructive power. She had missed by a considerably wide margin.

She clawed at the ground and flung herself straight in the direction of the Bloody Herring. Her omnidirectional sight made it impossible for her to lose sight. He rapidly fled through the same tunnel they emerged through, screaming in profound terror:

“You – YOU ARE NOT A HEALEEEER! That speed – you – GET AWAY FROM ME! They – the Gears did not foretell of that strength!”

“WHY DID I HAVE TO SUFFER!? WHY WAS I BETRAYED!? FOR YOUR HAPPINESS!?” Frost did not pass through this tunnel.

Rather, she plunged straight through its walls, crashing into each following one along the tunnel as it collapsed into itself. She flung Prejudice after Prejudice, tracking the Bloody Herring on pure instinct alone as she finally burst through into the dungeon’s main cavity.

“It’s… it’s dead. You – Those Moons! And to think that you – YOU would erupt in madness for some being you have zero relation to! That power… may the Pages rob you of that, you insufferable lunatic!” His speed was only 10 more than hers, and yet he moved in an incredibly jarring way.

While Frost was able to perfectly track his movements, she was incapable of predicting or even targeting his next immediate direction. As a result, Frost found herself crashing straight into walls, the ground and into the felled carcass of the beast, dragging its entrails around like ribbons.

“WAS IT SO WRONG FOR ME TO LIVE!? IF MY MERE EXISTENCE IS THE BANE OF YOURS, THEN ALLOW ME TO PROVE IT! SO, STOP RUNNING AWAY FROM ME!”

Dismissed Confession would work well against this slippery fish, but the very fact that she couldn’t target him made it impossible to use it. When she thought she was at the cusps of obliterating him, he had already disappeared from her direct line of sight.

It was like he was leading her astray with his movements, like the red herring he was. It perhaps explained why she was incapable of perceiving his movements properly with her foresight. There was something awry, either due to a skill or an innate ability that rendered her foresight effectively useless.

It also did not help that she couldn't keep her two eyes on him for more than a few seconds, which was the prerequisite of activating her foresight in the first place.

She listened closely, hearing the sound of coins chatter somewhere on his person. Suddenly handfuls of coins were being distributed haphazardly across their new battlefield.

“To waste – To make me WASTE these precious coins of mine! IT IS FUTILE! You have no idea just what you are dealing with, Color! You are of pure heart too, correct!? We pure beings are driven by our hearts! But look at you, driven by nothing but emotion!”

The fallen coins exploded both beneath and midair like landmines. Frost’s prowess allowed her to easily dodge these attacks as she let loose Prejudice after Prejudice, carving the entire chamber until the ceiling itself began to collapse with a deafening screech.

She returned to the Greed Counter whenever her mana was drained, and she even dragged massive chunks of it behind her like an oversized satchel, snacking on it whenever necessary.

“MY HEART IS WHOLE UNLIKE YOURS, FILLED WITH ALL THOSE STOLEN HEARTS OF OTHERS!”

“My heart – My heart is truly whole! I will admit that at one point it was quite patchy, and I was indeed a slave to emotion like you, but you will understand our purity! Our hearts that carve us! Our hearts created by the seeping, concentrated tragedies of those Ateliers the world worshiiiiiiiiiiiiips!” His woes were drowned by the collapsing ceiling, dashing through the newly terraformed landscape.

Frost’s feather rustled endlessly. Even when he didn’t speak it continued to rustle.

“YOU, THE ATELIERS, THE IMPURITAS – THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE!” She asserted. “EXCEPT THAT YOU ARE ALIGNED WITH THAT BASTARD!”

The coins did not release a shockwave much to her surprise. Rather, they simply caused whatever was caught within its area of effect to disappear without a trace. Sterile craters littered the entirety of the earth as massive chunks of the Greed Counter vanished, as if cleanly scooped by a giant spoon.

She flung herself upwards using the remaining walls, clambering like a deranged monkey. Her fingers sunk ever so easily into the walls, like they were merely made of clay.

The Bloody Herring swiftly wove through the oncoming debris whilst Frost simply crashed into them, chasing him like an unrelenting predator as they witnessed the entre main cavity of the dungeon collapse into itself, revealing a world devoid of light.

But beyond this plane of existence were the immediate plains of Brandar… except they possessed the same craters created by the exploding coins.

The thousands of people outside were nowhere to be seen. All had disappeared, with fragments of their belongings left behind as a reminder of their existence. Others had various limbs feeding the grass their rich blood.

Frost only now realized that the source of the explosions throughout their battle with the Greed Counter were due to these coins. Prior to entering the Dungeon, she remembered people spilling these coins on ‘accident’.

And this was most certainly the result.

“S-Splendid! The events are wrapping up nicely! Our materials have successfully been delivered! Oh goodness! And we were wondering how much longer it would be until we’d start cannibalizing each other like the angered flesh!”

Frost plummeted from her great height whilst the Bloody Herring remained above. The red needles protruding from his gaping mouth had perched him over a hundred meters above like giant, thin tripods.

The world shattered one last time as Frost crashed into the felled ceiling, landing in a pool of blue liquid.

“FUUUUUUUUUUCK!” A torrent of bubbles left her lips.

“But alas, we all have a train to catch! The next time we meet, oh Black Dove, I fully expect you to have become as pure as myself, or as another instrument for my benevolent friend, Leitmotif. Her collected healers would love to see a new face.” His voice was muffled by the liquid as Frost thrashed her way to the surface.

The metallic screech was ever prevalent here. So prevalent in fact that Frost only had moments to realize just what this sound was. Her heart skipped several beats as she swallowed gallons of this mysterious liquid.

NAV! ARE THE OTHERS OK!?

“They are safe for now the heart is almost destroyed, however –!”

But before Nav could utter another word, and just as Frost surfaced –

– An Express Train came crashing through the remnants of the dungeon, following the rail that intersected it. Frost only momentarily saw this occur, watching the entire length cleave through the mounds of debris and gore, right until it reached the center of the fallen chamber.

Then, the world instantly shifted to a rocky cavern. The train suddenly slammed straight down as its speed came to a deadly halt. Frost watched the events unfold in slow motion, seeing many tens of people fly straight out of their seats and crash into the furthest ends of their compartment.

Paste could only describe what the bodies were reduced to after countless mangled thuds emerged from within, likely killing everyone aboard.

The world then changed again like a slideshow before the world turned black.

There were no screams. No music… and no sound, for that matter.

All that appeared before her eyes in this blank world was a prompt.

< Leaving the City of Diamonds | Epiderma D3 >

< Entering D2 | Derma >

And then, she was greeted with red and gold.