Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

811. Wave of Sins

Jury seemed lost not too long ago, but now she was taking the initiative.

“Yes. We should. But do not forget that my 2nd Branch specializes in all-out-war. Look no further than the west. My 1st Branch will also be joining us shortly. The victor depends on who can adapt the fastest.” Galia affirmed. “But keep your eyes on me. I still require your assistance.”

“I’ll do everything in my power to keep you safe!” Jury shouted, and with a powerful tail kick, she rushed towards the onslaught of Sins, hoping to whittle down their numbers. At the same time, the bombardments of the 1st Branch’s Justica Starfall arrived, battering precisely where the Sins spilled.

It annihilated them before they had a chance to make their move.

“How reassuring. It has been a while since someone worried about me. A Beholder of all things. Is it any coincidence that I’m reminiscing of you again on this night?” Galia grinned, gazing up at one of the bleeding sockets above her.

But her eyes seemed to look at something past that. She imagined the full moon hidden behind the pale feathers of the beast. The Castigation Bird reminded her of the obstacles that constrained her friendship with a certain Color.

“A glimpse of you on this night would be a dream come true. But alas, there will always be things to obscure your smile…”

Blood began to coalesce in the center of the empty eye socket, forming a bloody orb. It emitted the faint screams of countless souls, from children, women, men – it didn’t matter who or what they were. Somehow, Galia could hear them laughing against their will as the wings of the Castigation Bird folded upwards into a grand ‘V’ shape.

Jury’s voice was then carried by the wind. She screamed:

“A NEW ATTACK! GALIA! RIGHT ABOVE YOU!”

Then, as its wings came down, the wingbeats spawned tornadoes across the landscape as the orb of blood cracked. Suddenly, an earsplitting screech was released from the orb. The Castigation Bird carried the voices of millions, the shockwave alone causing everyone who heard it to wretch.

“BECAUSE IT HAS BEEN SAID!” Jury shouted the name of the attack. She clamped her ears down. Since her ears took after a bird’s, Jury was far more susceptible to the attack. Her ears bled as a result.

But Galia on the otherhand, stared up at the bleeding orb without moving an inch. She had a profound sense of death. Indeed, she instinctually knew that this attack would do little to her.

At worse, it would perhaps mangle a limb or two.

Galia wouldn’t mind it.

“[Because It Has Been Said]. The name implies that there is no impunity, because one has already confessed to their sins. They laughed at themselves and the misery of others. The Order that read their sins off a parchment of paper blamed those they came across for the sin of one.”

Galia recited, her words echoing across the city as the scream continued to terrorize those as far as 20 kilometers away. Such was the strength of an Apocalypse-leveled Corrupted. Normal people would have instantly lost their will to live, or would have perished from extreme blood loss, collapsed lungs, burst eyes, etc.

Galia held both hands into the air as Sins began to fall from the exposed orb. The downpour was so thick that this amount would easily turn the tide against their Ateliers if they were allowed to roam the world.

However, she was in the perfect position to put an end to it.

A giant dark magical circle appeared a meter above her palms. It was easily more than 60-meters wide. Then, 12 smaller ones appeared around it, and another 12 on each totaling 144 magical circles.

“These birds carry the history of Puritas’ evil. Ironic. [Because It Has Been Said]. But at no point were those accused allowed to utter a word. So they could only laugh at the madness. I too thought it was a nightmare. But it was their reality. They who couldn’t speak were spoken for.”

Large, dark bullet encased with a white glow appeared on each circle. They began to spin individually, winding slowly until they became a blur.

Galia couldn’t help but feel responsible for this. After all, she had the power to prevent much of the madness in Grandis. But Atelier restrictions, the fear of Atelier Wars, and the loss of Paradise tied her hands.

And…

“Iscario was an Apostle of mine from that Kingdom… Could things have changed if I took matters into my own hands?”

[Extreme Prejudice]. Five thousand crystal bullets roughly half the size of Galia was fired every second. The sound was like that of falling ice during a blizzard. Accompanying it was the sound of an inhuman scream.

This was the chime of the crystal bullets. It was no different to the jingle of a wind chime, though this would turn an army of a hundred thousand on their heels.

The sound alone rivalled that of the Castigation Bird’s scream. Unlike regular crystal bullets that were used by the weapons of Justica Arms, these carried unique properties that required mana to sustain, but Nex to initialize.

They were weaker as a result. But there was nothing better at mob control than this. The thousands of Sins, whose forms varied from the Vexed Consanguinities to anthropomorphic blobs, were eradicated by the onslaught of bullets.

Hundreds were skewered and reduced to chunks of gore. It rained upon Galia. The scene was like how one would push a finger against the flow of a hose. An umbrella of gore surrounded her, and before long, the countless bullets penetrated through the infinitely spawning masses.

The orb cracked further, and the surrounding bullets pushed against the flesh within. Tear marks formed, releasing another great torrent of blood before the Corrupted’s body began to spin.

Galia stood in the center of its mass as its countless eyes revolved around her.

* * *

Castigation Bird | HP: 350,000,000

Half of its HP had dwindled, hence why it must have an unseen Skill. The phenomenon was not unheard of. It was to be expected of Corrupted of this caliber. The closer they were to death meant they would bring more of their Skills to light.

It was as though the Corrupted grew desperate as its life faded away. Jury couldn’t help but wonder if it was an act of self-preservation, or…

Is it because its ideals are being challenged so strongly? The reason why we’re winning is because we’re using the Conditions against it. A Corrupted’s reason to exist revolves around the thoughts that made it in the first place, or at least the concept it holds closest. A Corrupted that’s hellbent on punishing will everything it can to enact it. That’s what it feels like.

It wasn’t like she could relate. Jury didn’t remember much from being a Corrupted, aside from her ostracization and the darkness of the Black Forest.

“Be careful of new attacks! Lunar Haruspex! Any Black Wings! Don’t let a single one of us die here!”

Jury reported this immediately following the cessation of the Castigation Bird’s scream.

With the orb now destroyed it had no mouth to scream, and so, it bled profusely from its other wounds.

Looking up at the sky revealed what appeared to be a spiraling honeycomb, each gaping hole pouring blood so thick that it looked like pillars holding up the heavens. But it didn’t stop their one-sided assault.

So long as their personnel exposed their ribs, then the Castigation Bird was constantly made vulnerable. Jury reinforced their Atelier and wiped the Sins clean with her Beholder Skills. Since [Doppler Strike] and [Localized Entropy] were so cheap, they could be used in abundance. This combined with their large-scale effects, as well as [Retrocauslity – Angel’s Touch] allowed them to keep up with the deployment of Sins.

The bloodbath, and the mountain of coagulated bodies from both the Sins and the Repeneters stacked high. What was once just mere, barren rock and withered plains became hills formed by the corpses of friends and foe.

And despite everything they did, death was still unavoidable. Jury saw familiar faces buried beneath the mound and could not help but feel guilty for their deaths. It was a tolling realization, but she didn’t allow herself to be swept by it.

Not now. Not here.

Still, the anguish she felt was palpable. Her actions became rash and fueled with fury, as though she needed to atone. [Doppler Strike] eliminated a row of thousands of Sins at once. She quickly found herself standing in the middle of a wave of Sins, panting heavily.

Then, she twirled her body, using her tail to clobber them away with [Tail Whack] before utilizing [Localized Entropy] where she stood to reduce them to dust. Then, after a short moment of respite, she lunged into the heat of battle, using [Lacerate], and her pasives: [Sharpened Claws], [Sharpened Fangs] and [Acrobatics] to slaughter them with her bare hands.

It was like moving through an opposing stream. Since they were mostly comprised of solidified liquid, any damage made to them felt like she was cutting through thickened water. The taste of blood filled her mouth. Bleeding Rods of Agonizing Legibility formed above her like droplets in the rain, hailing upon her body.

But it could not penetrate her flesh thanks to her [Deflecting Feathers] passive, which heavily resisted physical projectiles. [Perfect Physiology] and her Active Skill [Body Manipulation] also played in a role in how she was able to maneuver so effortlessly between them.