Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)-Chapter 1112. Frost VS Beholder Marionette

Stage Three [Absolution] Progenitor Arts.

Frost opened with her strongest attacks. Bloody spines exploded outwards from her Coat of Sanguine Prejudice. Blood gushed from the prongs that were installed into her wrists, and it coagulated into a swirling orb within the palm of her hand.

She rushed forward. String exploded in her wake as her blurred form seemingly disappeared. Surrounding her were growing tendrils of blood that formed within a meter of her body. Spears, blades, and red crescent were flung in every direction.

She became the eye of a red storm, and her speed suddenly increased by 30% as three fifths of a radiant halo followed overhead.

[OOO] Progenitor Art: Sanguine Rupture [OOO]. A Stage Three variant of [Rupture] with a primary focus on causing widespread damage. It did little against a target as strong as a Beholder. However, its 30% increase in raw speed meant that she now had 136 AGI verses Beholder Marionette’s 89 AGI.

Trailing behind her was a large lump of flesh. The heart born from manifesting Heart of Ours whipped upwards. Then, once she was close enough, a blinding flash of scorching flames encased her. Flaming wings emerged from her back, and the platform beneath her and Marionette began to dissolve.

“[World Ablaze]. I’ve witnessed it only once by the Corrupted you take after.”

Beholder Marrionette’s voice was baritone. It held neither humor nor fear. She welcomed the attack by raising her arms. A ball of flames engulfed them both. The fireball stretched over a hundred meters, and its heat caused the platform to spontaneously combust into flames from a kilometer away.

10,000,000 ATT and MAG ATT damage was dealt to Marionette, totaling 20,000,000 before her DEF stats were taken into account.

This dropped her HP from 195 million to 186.5 million. This was roughly 5% of her total HP in a single attack. Marionette stood unfazed by the attack. Her darkened silhouette stood still within the sea of flames as though embracing the immolation.

Then, Frost reeled an arm backwards after plucking Light from her halo and struck Marionette with a closed fist. She drew Nex straight from the Third State and unleashed a devastating strike that warped space and light around her fist.

There was no resistance. A storm of golden particles surged from her arm as flames flickered from her back. And in an instant, Beholder Marionette’s body contorted. Her body froze as her torso twisted inwards. She did not move until a split second later, as if reality had hitched because it had struggled to process what had just occurred.

No, it was more accurate to state that she only moved after a swirl of light had appeared and disappeared from where Frost had struck. An observer would assume that Marionette was struck by a blade of light, but this light was but a byproduct of Frost’s attack.

The shockwave alone shattered pendulums within the vicinity of a kilometer. So powerful was this attack that even Frost was shocked.

It was her first time using a Stage Three Absolution punch. Normally, she used [O] Strike of the Amalgam [O] to control her destructive force. [OO] Reign of the Amalgam [OO] was already powerful enough to level surrounding hills, and potentially mountains if she was not careful.

Stolen novel; please report.

As for [OOO] Well of the Amalgam [OOO], it had resulted in a cascading effect of falling pendulums. Hundreds of prosthetic arms collapsed, showering the field in debris. But they were unable to touch the ground. A secondary shockwave disintegrated them, and the particles were pulled towards her as though she had manifested the gravity well of a singularity.

[OOO] Well of the Amalgam [OOO]

< EFFECT: Deal 30M damage. Deal 5M damage to those caught within the burst of light from Well of the Amalgam. Deal 1.25M damage to those caught by its shockwaves >

Stage Three Absolution Skills blurred the line of a Beholder and something beyond. Cer for example had a Stage Three Absolution Skill called [Paw Dipped in Sin] which had a jaw-dropping one-kilometer range. This was also in the same territory as Cer’s [Lightspeed].

The only forms of attack above this, to her knowledge, were those used by Apocalypse, Paradise Lost Corrupted, and the Stage Four Arbitration Skill Uriel had used to level Mount Saris. Then, there was the Stage Five Annihilation Skill Jury almost unleashed.

She could not begin to imagine its power if even the Star of Act X wanted it gone. It was likely comparable to the Stage Five Absolution-Awakened Skill the Arbiter used to cleanse Grandis of the Sins and Impuritas.

In any case, Frost did not merely deal 30 million damage. No. If she had, then she would have immediately followed it up. Her goal was not to kill Beholder Marionette. Far from it.

The red flames from earlier were caused by another Skill.

[Violence On Violence Action]. By declaring a duel with an opponent, all hand-to-hand combat Skills become multiplied by three times. This meant that 30 million damage became 90 million. The only downside was that it locked her with a single target.

Beholder Marionette | HP: 96.5M

She didn’t try to block it. That’s half of her HP wiped out. Either I’m too fast for her precognition to recognize me, or she willingly took those hits. I don’t see a Healer in sight to help her. Is she hoping that I’ll heal her?

Frost didn’t want to overthink. Her emotions were strained enough in the Fourth State.

Red blood poured from the twisted wound in Marionette’s chest. Four of her eight arms had cracked. Another two had disintegrated. Her coat was scorched, but it had repaired itself by the time she had regained her footing.

During this, Frost prepared one hundred sanguine firearms. They hovered above her like another crown of thorns. They were created using [Progenitor Art: Civilization: Blood Crystallization], and the Stage Two Absolution Sub-Art [Religion: Blood Monsoon], which allowed her to conjure one hundred firearms rather than fifty from the Stage One variant called [Religion: Bloodhail].

“Amalgam.”

Of the pieces that had fractured along Marionettes’ body, her hollow smile was not one of them. A long crack ran from the corners of her lips to her eyes as blood trickled down her cheeks like tears. Her body, though appearing soft like a human’s, was in fact a carapace shell.

“I must admit, even in my domain, and that of my benefactor, there are possibilities that cannot be predicted. Impressive. I’ve only seen this level of dominance from the Arbiter when she first graced us.”

Beholder Marionette’s body twitched. A deafening crack came from her neck as it suddenly snapped to the side at a 90-degree angle.

“Once seen, always known. Comprehension begins with observation.”

|| Farsight Interpretation ||

< EFFECT: Apply 5 stacks of [Read Fate]. Ignore target’s DEF stats. Indiscriminate, as long as they are within your designated Nest >

“But observation requires one to trust an unreliable narrator. The one who spins fate in advance knows all outcomes. Once it is known, it will plot it accordingly. I need only to follow.”

“Your Star is your benefactor? How much does it control you, Marionette?”

“The definition of purpose, as an Affinity, is to follow what has been ordained. As it is the instinct of a predator to devour prey. As is the instinct of an Anid to feast on its young.”