Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)-Chapter 1113. Beholder Marionette...?

The air became heavy. Frost sensed a thousand eyes suddenly watching her. She threw on [Comprehension] and found a million strands of translucent strings surrounding her. She could not interact with them, but she could feel how they weighed down on her.

The slightest breath caused them to vibrate, and it cascaded into a wave that inevitably returned to Marionette. And then, to the five strings that were attached to her head…

Those strings were connected to the blue orb. It could not be interacted with. Not anymore, at the very least, since Frost had locked herself in combat with Marionette.

“I follow because it is for the best. What it grants, and what I grant by extension, is what you grant to the ill-minded souls. Salvation. My strings bring comfort to pilgrims who seek to ease the pain of consciousness.”

“That doesn’t make any sense. I’ve seen what those Scripts do to people. How can you call that comfort!?”

A barrage of bullets assailed Marionette. They met their mark and further broke down her arms. But the last few were suddenly swatted out of the air with several flicks of her wrist. The great blade cut them down, and the split bullets etched the insignia of Act X into the ground behind her.

“A prewritten persona staves off the instincts we are born with. A moth eats the cloth. A spider eats its kin. And a Nilhinid weeps meekly, for it has no arms to coddle itself, or legs to chose where it wishes to go. As for the Amalgam…”

Frost’s jaw dropped. White particles formed along Marionette’s body. Her shell was not healed, but instead, something within glowed with a faint, white light. Frost instantly recognized those motes, and she denied it with all her heart.

But [Analyze Target] confirmed it.

< Skill Analyzed >

< ACTIVE: Nurtura Healing >

< May it nurture you in your lonesome >

< EFFECT: Replenish 100% of total HP >

< COST: 1M MP >

It would be one thing if it was a Beholder Skill.

But this… this was a regular Skill.

< Target Analyzed >

< Basic Observation >

Beholder Marionette

< It is impossible for a Nilhinid to grow to such a size. Despite this, Beholder Marionette’ stature is the equivalent of a human-sized Insectid. It is a mystery as to where Marionette received her shell from, as Nilhinids are not born with a carapace >

< Paged Observation Unavailable >

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“You’re a Healer…? Nilhinids… are they all Healers…? That can’t be…”

Frost was at a loss for words. Marionette maintained her smile as distant, hanging prosthetics swung towards her. They attached themselves at hidden junctions beneath her coat as another hundred hovered behind her.

Frost fired another volley of bullets, but these were cut down with ease. Each of the one hundred arms carried a greatblade, and when one of her eight arms were shot off, another replaced it.

|| Restring ||

< EFFECT: If the [Marionette] loses an arm, replace it with an existing arm. Heal the [Marionette] by 30M HP per replaced arm >

When nothing but ash and the scent of charred blood remained after the brief onslaught, Beholder Marionette finally responded.

“My mother was a Healer. Yes. I awakened to this gift of mine long ago, on the 1st of the 9th, 325 PA around the time I claimed my Book from the Eternal Library. But though I was born from her womb and the seed of an Anid, the unfertilized egg came from another whose eyes I take after.”

“Golden eyes? What are you?”

Few things in this world had golden eyes. Angels, Gods of Cognitions, the Aberrations of Elysia, and the rare, yellow-eyed beings like Deiman.

All of which were people who carried higher Light than the ordinary.

“What am I? I…”

There was a pause. Her cracks had not fully healed. But when they sealed over, her demeanor shifted instantly, and she declared herself before she launched her counterattack.

“I am the Marionette of the benefactor who showed me that there is no loss to great in the grand design. Loss is intentional. Instincts are a curse. Purpose is the cure for the wrathful, the sorrowful, the grieving children, and those who have nothing left. There is meaning behind every breath we take. We are not insignificant in the design of fate, and in the inevitable march towards the Tenth Act.”

Frost punched the air, shattering a dozen blades. But to her shock, the other hundred cut through the shockwaves, as though knowing precisely where it was weakest. Beholder Marionette could see ten full seconds into the future now, and when Frost threw herself forward, dodging incoming arms that fell like spears, Marionette had repositioned herself once again.

[Shortform Warp] was her only chance to close the gap.

But even this was taken into account.

[Shortform Warp] temporarily removed her from Marionette’s Zone of Arbitration. However, both entry and exit points were still within her territory, meaning she was able to predict when and where she would be coming from.

The Mastery Skill of [Cleanse]: [Purify]: could not remove these stacks. Marionette had begun to take Frost seriously. Each arm that grazed Frost dealt well over five million damage. Indeed, Beholders were capable of dealing north of ten million damage at most.

That was a damage range that could deplete a major chunk of her HP. But she was used to fighting battles of attrition. In fact, this was where she excelled. Beholder Marionette surged two hundred meters into the air using || Greater Tug ||, and Frost followed suit as bullets hailed upon Marionette.

“They who come after those above shall fall when unstrung. The twins will be served, as ordained, and as required by the Fate Mechanism.”

“I’m sure there are a million other ways to replace it!” Frost threw herself upwards.

A flaming fireball followed her. She latched onto a gargantuan 20-meter arm and blew it up before landing on another. She hopped from arm to arm and used her barrier as a springboard to close the distance with Marionette.

Marionette added distance with || Greater Leap || again, soaring another one hundred meters higher. They neared one of the colossal five-hundred-meter prosthetic arms.

“A gear can be easily replaced. Time, on the other hand, is irreplaceable. It is lost when it passes. For every minute we spend delaying the will of the Fate Mechanism we lose a meter worth of predictions to lesser Living Looms.”

|| Counterweight ||

< EFFECT: Automate the control of external arms >

One of the gargantuan prosthetics clasped its fingers. It moved with unnatural speed that should not be possible with its size. Its form became translucent, and its hand stretched open as it attempted to clasp Frost.

Frost, at the last possible second, kicked off a finger. It snatched the space where she would have been had she not stopped. While Beholder Marionette could see ten seconds into the future, that did not mean she could always act upon it.

Frost’s speed was far too great. Additionally, as the battle went on, Frost’s instincts steadily became honed thanks to a few lesser-known Skills.

< ACTIVE: Solemn Counter >

< EFFECT: Counter an opposing attack. Your AGI determines the window of opportunity. Multiply ATT by 2x during a successful counter >

< PASSIVE: Fine Line >

< EFFECT: The window of opportunity for Skills in the Counter Offensive Profession increases proportionally to AGI. Opponent AGI negatively affects the window of opportunity. If your AGI is lower, the damage you receive is multiplied by 2x >

< PASSIVE: Instinctive Drive >

< EFFECT: Your body is proficient enough to move with instinctive prowess >

It was not perfect. Instinct alone couldn’t overcome being ten seconds behind.

However, Frost had a plan.