Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

730. Legacy of An Ancient Flame

It happened all over again.

Frost, against her will, was given a window into the distant past and the events that surrounded this Corrupted. Pieces of her story were also bound to be interwoven.

It was just a shame that it occurred at the height of her battle. Thankfully, and perhaps because she did not fall asleep this time, she was able to at least sense the real world.

“The Corrupted is attempting to ensnare your mind.”

I can tell. I can feel the compulsion to wear it. It’s no different from the Unfair Tale in that sense. It’s stronger, but I don’t need to repeat myself for the ten thousandth time about how I feel about titles, tales, cycles… It’s all so tiring.

Frost stared into the window of a burning city. No words were spoken to her by the Corrupted. It was simply a sensation of an immense pressure on her shoulders, and on her head like someone was trying to pry it open.

Was the Red Baron lying about talking to the Corrupted? I should be able to hear it. But there’s nothing.

“Neither can I detect it. It’s not uncommon for a Corrupted to have multiple voices. Case and point – Lull-A-Goodbye. But we should be able to hear everything. The [Language of Judgement] hears all.”

So who was he talking to?

“Either with the enemies, or – considering how mentally sane our opponents are – himself.”

Could be. He’s still in front of me. I wouldn’t put it past him thinking he has the upper hand now. It’s sort of a blessing that I ended up Corrupting earlier.

“Strange how things work.”

Yeah. Let’s see what this vision has to show us. Is Anna listening?

“Very closely.”

A never-ending maelstrom of madness engulfed the city wherever Sinder walked. The skies were redder than blood, and the lakes were overflowed with rubble and ransacked belongings.

She watched Sinder, wearing his black coat and prized ornaments of gold, shooting figures on the streets seemingly indiscriminately. If she hadn’t already known who Sinder was, then she would have believed this to be the truth.

However, when one looked closely, they could see that these people carried various weapons, kindling, hastily made molotov’s, or were not even human to begin with. The No Man’s Tale was closer to a recreation of the actual event rather than a twisted version of it.

“Sentimental items were discarded alongside the books. No text was left untouched. They plunged themselves into a world without knowledge.”

Archives of the past were destroyed during this time. Last remnants of the stars in their starless skies were erased by the flames of hysteria. The Archivist gave some additional context of the world during her upbringing. The book burnings occurred during a time when people could spontaneously transform into creatures, not dissimilar to the Corrupted.

They were closer to Sins and manifestations of the tales from the Rivers. Unwanted pieces that were made to blossom. Remnants of consciousness existed in the eyes of those things, which were often the last pieces of humanity that they were allowed to keep.

“People were angry. But that came from fear. They didn’t know what they were. Or at least they tried to pretend that they didn’t. Namesakes were everything. Titles and the uniforms held the stories of our entire lives. But like any book cover, who were they to believe in those delusions? Who am I to blame them for it?”

Sinder walked a lonely road since the day he left the facility. The Captured Star, whose eyes burned red and their black hair flowing in an artificial breeze generated by powerful ventilation systems, left footprints of blood. A wake of wrath followed him in the form of bloodied corpses.

Only he knew what he did was right as he tried to put an end to the book burnings. The misplaced hatred of the world brought misery to others. Mere librarians, who sought to simply lend books, were caught in the eye of the storm for being the perceived perpetrators of the illness.

“The Wishgranter was responsible for half of these transformations. The others, came from the influence of Stars and partially, I believe, ourselves. Unknowingly, people tend to attach themselves to these titles. It gets to them, and they get angry. Before they realize it, they become it. They wear it, and that’s all people will ever know them by.”

Sinder, like Frost, held a variety of names – none of which aptly described who he was. He was a member of the Bodies by appearance, and a hired arm by profession. But to most, he was an angel of death and destruction; a being that brought forth flames equal to that of the book burnings.

As a result, Anna remembered that in the aftermath, it was ultimately Sinder who took the brunt of the blame. If enough people believed it, then there was nothing a person could do to change it.

“I think a part of it got to Sinder too. That’s why he eventually became… ‘that’ at the very end. He wasn’t immune to it. Sinder… despite what you or few of us know about him, was always human to me.”

Anna spoke yearningly. She wanted to see Sinder again, but she knew it was not possible. The short pauses in her voice felt like an eternity to the girl. There were countless things she wanted to say. Things she wanted to ask that memory of Sinder through Frost, but she knew that it was just an illusion of Nex.

“Sinder was a warm person. It was because of him… that I was allowed to chart and archive the world. It’s not fair that he’s only remembered for burning everything down. There were people before him that did worse, but no one remembers them like Sinder.”

The old world ended because of Sinder.

But one could infer it as Sinder’s failure to save it.

However one looked at it, it still didn’t change that Sinder was in fact responsible for its ending. But because of what they knew, their understanding of Sinder’s character wasn’t as shallow as others.

He did his best, and an Anna whose voice wavered with sadness, knew this from the start.

“If Sinder was given a second chance…” Anna’s voice disappeared. “Then maybe… we could show him that we never thought of him as a monster. Even to my last breath… I knew that thing was Sinder. I was never afraid. But it hurts so much that I was never able to tell him that.”

Thank you, Anna.

Frost smiled.

Somehow, it felt like the memory of Sinder could hear this. He turned in an unexpected direction. The sound of a crying girl caught his attention. And there, a young Anna sat in the middle of a crossroads.

The mercenary knelt before her and offered a hand. Seeing her frightened face caused him to wipe his gloves of their blood. When that did not work, he removed them and offered his bare hand.

“He was patient with people, but they remembered him having a short fuse. Which one of it is real to them? They feared him because he was part of the Bodies. A person with access to at least one the 12 reality-altering technologies… the Pillars of the World. I knew what his clothes meant, but of all the people around me… he was the only one willing to drop to my level and offer me a hand.”

Frost expected a more visceral vision like what she saw with the Unfair Tale. The Affinity of Wrath should have shown her exactly that. Instead, she was given the opposite. It was a revelation of Sinder.

And in that revelation, Frost could not help but to also see herself in Sinder.

We’ve both gone through the same cycle. I think you’re right, Anna. If Sinder were here right now, then I think he wouldn’t Corrupt again.

“Not only that, but there would be a clear distinction between you and Sinder once and for all.” Nav added.

Then again Sinder’s gone. But not forgotten. I think we’re seeing this so that I know that I’m not alone in how I feel. We both ended up giving in to the wrath. Maybe…

Sinder then turned to Frost. She did not know if he noticed her somehow, but he blankly stared in her direction like he could sense her. In that split second, the world shifted to another scene.

… We can be better, huh. Anna, do you have things you regret?

“A lot.”

Have you been working on doing things before it’s too late?

“… I have.”

Good. Sinder would be proud of you.

In the place of Anna was a child with white hair and red eyes. And in Sinder’s place was the same exact figure who wore a pair of glasses, and a white laboratory coat.

His face was identical to Sinder’s, baring his eyes that were a deep, dark brown. The person didn’t strike Frost as odd, but she quickly realized that this person must have been who Enoch was talking about.

“The one that looked like me, but as a guy. Nav. Could that be me?”

“Unknown. You were from Earth. This is a vision of the old world.”

Even so, Frost could not help but to stare at those dark brown eyes as she recalled her own.

But she could never remember her own face.

* * *

Reality quickly returned to her. There was much on Frost’s mind after seeing the face of that person that came before Sinder. It never made sense to her how there was another unnamed person with brown eyes but seeing that they came before Sinder… no, perhaps even the Captured Star brought in even more questions.

“… The good doctor?”

The Red Baron carefully spoke.

“Why do you look like him? The Unit Manager… from the depths of that Site? And Iscario’s sister? Am I being deceived by an illusion?” He could not believe his eyes as he flicked his head from Frost, and onto a white-haired imitation of Frost that wielded a wooden, antique firearm. “How… are you not dead!? What is wrong with this mantle!? The Astral Blaze – you told me that you will consume her! Why have your flames gone out!?”

It was like looking at a Frost who found in an old, distant war as a marksman. Her apparel was nearly identical to the Hired Arm’s, save that it was baggier and obviously made for a man. Additionally, it was colored white rather than black.

She didn’t wear any clothing underneath as her oversized, techwear coat was just enough to cover her legs.

Frost quickly checked the HP of the Vestment of Goodwill and the Red Baron before speaking.

Red Baron | HP: 120,000

Vestment of Goodwill | HP: 5,000

“It’d be in your best interest to start answering me. You never had a chance to begin with. The only reason you felt like you had the upper hand was because my Moon was ordered to keep their hands off you.” Frost delivered the final blow with a single touch.

The Corrupted Zone disappeared in a blinding light. The bloody mist was replaced by forlorn clouds and a grey haze. The inner walls of the palace returned, trapping them in a darkening world where only a single source of light existed above.

That light belonged to the Gift.

The mantle lost its flames, and it disintegrated into ashes as an object fell into Frost’s hands upon a confirmation message.

< The Vestment of Goodwill Has Successfully Been Subjugated >

< The Vestment of Goodwill has been added to your Corrupted Collection >

< Stats From the Vestment of Goodwill Gained >

< Unique Ability Gained >

< ABILITY: Misunderstood Tale >

< If they looked deeper, then would they admit that they were wrong? >

< EFFECT: Able to grow a tail at will. The form of your tail depends entirely on associated tales. It is not considered a healable body part >

I’m slowly becoming something close to an Angel, huh. Now I just need wings. Luckily, it’s not a permanent change. I can turn it on and off at will.

It amused her, and her strange grin further infuriated the Color.

“I wonder if a self-proclaimed king of man like you have people you trust with your life.”

“Far more than you could ever believe!”

“Is that so? Do you believe the Librarians count?” Frost didn’t believe a word that left his mouth. Even if she did, she wouldn’t let him know that.

At the same time, she fiddled with a black leather belt. It possessed intricate, red and golden glyphs embroidered into it. This was the Corrupted Item of the Vestment of Goodwill. If the Red Baron wasn’t here, then she would have laughed at how the Corrupted Item wasn’t a vestment at all.

People will instantly recognize who and what I am by the Coat of Prejudice alone, huh. That’s the tradeoff… But in a way, I’m more than willing to let people know that The Head exists. This can further amplify our reach.

Outside of this, it was a useless item. But she imagined that it would pair nicely with the coat Sinder left for Anna.

The long pauses Frost made only further cemented the Red Baron’s insignificance, which he tried to amend by shouting.

“You know nothing, Amalgam! It was never the Librarians! They will herald me as a hero when this is over! All of Grandis will hail me! I will be written down in history as a hero that saved the Bellum Empire! And you, Amalgam… will always be nothing but a destroyer! Iscario… should have killed you! And if I knew that Unit Manager was related to you, then I would have killed him too!”

He became mentally unstable, shouting at the air: “I know! I can still do this! The Amalgam is nothing!”

There were no signs of CognitO Transmitters or Receivers on his body. Additionally, the ‘Astral Blaze’ was no longer with him. It was all in his head; the voice belonging none other than to himself.

“How are you certain that this doctor is related to me?” Frost questioned.

“Your face, and how you don’t even feel like you’re supposed to be in this world! You’re both an enigma! That person is like the weapons we saw here! They don’t belong! A healer is supposed to be submissive to us! Yet you resist! And that one… Is that not a splitting image of the princess of Paradise!? Why is she holding a weapon if she’s a Healer!?”

He looked over to his side. Surprisingly, the white-haired Frost did not disappear. This was because it was yet another Alter Frost. Her hair was tied into a long ponytail, with various bangs covering her face. One eye was fully concealed, and poking beneath her white coat was a white, fuzzy tail.

Frost also presumed that there were animal ears hiding beneath her hood.

She was roughly the same height as Frost, and her eyes – like all Alter Frost’s – were golden.