Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)-Chapter 1101. Sin and Wai

“You should have put a bullet in that Herald’s head two hours ago.” Alcina groaned.

Two hours had passed, and the Act X personnel that once moved through the halls had mysteriously stopped. They suspected Act X were avoiding them. Since the interior was impossible to navigate without a Script, Horus nor Alcina bothered to leave their post.

Abigail had tried, but it resulted in her suddenly finding herself back at where she started.

Faint tremors ran through the walls.

“Does Act X rearrange their Nest?” Abigail, having given up on reaching the Grand Stage, plopped down on a piece of twisted metal that was conveniently shaped like a bench. “I know Caldera Industries likes to do for defense.”

“Wouldn’t put it past them. Not sure how though. Doesn’t look to me that Act X rely on mechanical engineering as much as they do on magic. If we ignore the strings.”

Alcina replied with a yawn. She was being cradled in the arms of a bulky Construct. It was a newly formed one, created using the scraps of the Leviathan and around a liter of her own blood.

This caused the Construct to become bound to her. This was not usually necessary in Golemancy, since Golems and Constructs recognized their masters by the mana that created them. But a Blood Angel’s Constructs were closer to physical phenomena rather than magical, hence, why they required their blood.

A bloody handprint, initials written in blood, or a droplet was enough to cause the Construct to imprint and bind to a Blood Angel. It was not a necessary step anymore in the modern age, where Constructs were often set aside in favor of large-scale machines, such as the Avernis, Leviathan, etc since they were not designed to be companions.

It was a continued tradition of the Blood Angels.

“And there it is. The shaking’s gotten worse. Feels like explosions.” Alcina was all too familiar with the tremors running through the walls.

“Smells like it too. Act X must have rerouted their forces. Hmm. They’re fighting the Amalgam. Good for them.” Horus tried to pretend to care. “[Dimensional Storage]. No time like the present to finish this week’s issue of ‘Sex Megalopolis.’–”

*Bang*

Abigail had enough. Horus’ lax attitude had pushed her to her breaking point. She pulled the trigger and channeled her emotions to guide the bullet for the pamphlet Horus retrieved from her [Dimensional Storage].

However, that bullet never hit its mark.

“Nice try. Wrong angle. Try to wear a poker face next time you shoot. Out there, past the walls of the Nex Megalopolis, you won’t have the Head to rely on. Remember that.”

“I hate that you can block bullets.” Abigail groaned.

Blocking a bullet was normal for a Color-level being like Horus. With enough AGI and combat experience, and the right combination of Abilities, Skills, magic and equipment, anyone could do the same.

Held inches from the pamphlet was a sheathed blade.

The strength of a Black Wing was also their weakness. Emotions made them predictable. Abigail was also not a normal five-feather Black Wing. Those who reached this status had immense control over their emotions.

She was only given this status because of Acedia.

“Let’s see what they have in here~” Horus flicked through the pamphlet. “A Color cosplay café in H10? Is there an address written here? Special offer? Black Dove cosplay–”

*Bang*

The pamphlet exploded. Horus eyes went wide. Her face instantly paled. She was able to block Abigail’s bullet because she had sensed it. But this attack came from nowhere, and the moment she brought a hand to the handle of her blade, another bullet grazed her knuckles.

It was a warning shot.

For it to have slipped through Horus’ perception meant that their target was either another Color or a Moon. But even then, she still should have sensed their presence. Color returned to her face. She realized that if this person wanted them dead, then they would not have bothered to fire a warning shot.

A small, devilish smirk formed on her face as she clicked her tongue.

“… Tch…”

“W-Who… Show yourself!” Abigail raised her Talon in the direction of where the bullets came from.

At the same time, Alcina’s Constructs formed a protective circle around her.

“Halt.” An eerily familiar voice commanded.

This voice belonged to Frost.

It came from the end of the hallway. The space further down the hallway distorted. Emerging from the distortion were two humanoid women whose faces were near identical to Frost’s.

One had white hair, red eyes and a hood. Cradled in her arms was a wooden weapon of an unknown origin. It resembled a crudely made Jusica Arm. Beside her was a much larger figure who Abigail faintly recognized.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

This person was an older version of Frost, with short hair, the same golden eyes, and adorned in a uniform that closely resembled what the Black Wings wore. She did not know this person’s name.

Abigail had only heard the stories about an ‘older Frost’ who watched over the Healers in the Nexus. Since she had never personally been to the Nexus before she had never seen the Hired Arm, let alone the Little Frost, Sleepy Frost, and now, White Frost.

“Accursed Pamphlets. I thought we would find Accursed Pins now that we’re in Emvita.” The white-haired Frost clicked her tongue. “Sin. We should have kept the CognitO Filters on and ignored them. We’re wasting our time.”

“A Missionary instructed us to take 3,000 steps north, shoot a bullet in the air, and take 431 steps backwards eastward. Then, at the ninth archway, burn a banner and walk until you encounter the corpse of a beast.”

Sin: the Hired Arm: briefly nodded at the Leviathan before adding:

“Wai, there are bound to be Corrupted to hunt on the Grand Stage. There’s no downside to stopping by and lending a hand. It’s on way to Emvita.”

“You only care because Frost pays you well.”

“Indeed. You cannot purchase goods without coins. Our expedition aids Anna. Furthermore, our directions should help us find her since she: against her own better judgement: decided it was best for her to travel to what we all knew was going to become a warzone.”

“Pathetic.”

“It’s quite cute on the contrary.”

They were peaceful, all things considered. The overwhelming pressure remained, but it was less oppressive than moments ago. Abigail opened her mouth to speak. Her voice betrayed her as she suddenly found it difficult to utter a word.

“Pamphlets and Pins? Trinkets.” Alcina spoke instead.

“Grandis.”

“Oh, so you know your stuff!”

The brief exchange between Alcina and Wai had was spoken in code. What did Trinkets have to do with Grandis? What were the Pamphlets and Pins?

“Corrupted Items have been popping up in H10. Huh. Guessing you’re the reason why they disappeared off the market? Ain’t that something. Was planning on heading to H10 with babe for one of those Color cosplay cafes.”

Alcina lightly bowed in respect, knowing well who these two were even though this was the first time they had met. Horus did the same, but she could not hide the way her eyes unraveled them from head to toe.

“But where are my manners! I’m Alcina! Blood Angel, and the companion of the Fang of the Head herself.”

“Is that supposed to be unique? There are hundreds of suitors that can call themselves the same thing.” Wai dismissed her entirely.

Alcina froze in place. She was not expecting this response. Her mind scrambled to find a way to recover, but in the end, she decided it was best to keep her mouth shut.

“You must be Abigail. Another sharpshooter. Good. How many bullets?”

“U… Um… Me…? I mean, yes! 500 rounds! Another 500 reserved in my [Dimensional Storage]!”

Abigail was surprised when Wai addressed her. Her cold, dismissive tone was replaced by a strange fondness. Wai’s stubborn expression also softened. Unsurprisingly, she treated Healers: aside from Blood Angels: very differently from most.

“Are you linked with Justica Arms’ Main Branch?”

“No ma’am! I purchase my bullets with my allocated funds! The Special Acedia Division gets a basic allowance deposited weekly!”

* * *

The majority of Black Wings weren’t linked with the Main Branch’s Dispensary. Talons did not have infinite ammunition and required reloading after a certain number of shots. This was to discourage Black Wings from draining precious resources from Justica Arms since they were incredibly trigger-happy.

The 2nd and the 7th Branch alone already utilized 65% of the crystal bullets created by the Main Branch.

Furthermore, limiting ammunition also encouraged teamwork and communication. Having them independent of the Dispensary also meant that they could stockpile ammunition. Justica Arms did not have many places to store ammunition since their Atelier consumed as much as they produced with a slight overhead.

That overhead was what the Black Doves received.

* * *

Horus was the last to be acknowledged. Neither Sin nor Wai directly addressed her. They spared her a cursory glance and dismissed her as though she was an inconvenience. There was no ill-will, aside from Wai who despised everyone equally.

Sin on the other hand had nothing worthwhile to say. At least not verbally. They communicated with body gestures, eye movements, and facial expressions. None of which had moved, yet, Horus smiled, satisfied by their hidden exchange.

After a long, silent minute, Sin suddenly spoke.

“The Missionary assured us that we’d arrive at the Grand Stage. I see neither a passage nor an escort, unless you three have an idea?”

“Nope. We’re in the same boat.” Alcina leaned against a wall.

She felt it shake. To a normal person, the shake may have raised a brow, but nothing more would come from it. But to Alcina, she recognized that the tremor had come from somewhere above. The following microquakes were also commonly found in structures that were minutes away from collapsing into itself.

“What is it?” Wai noticed the sudden shift in Alcina’s expression.

“Feels like something’s coming. Something big. From above. It’s got me wondering. Are we that far down?”

“We walked here. Yes. We are very far down.” Sin answered.

“Wait, we’re not inside of the HQ? The floating palace?” Abigail was also just as confused.

She was under the impression that they were inside of Act X’s Nest.

“No, we are in a building not too far from it. It leads up, but we have yet to find a staircase.” Sin revealed. “Your Leviathan does not have wings from what I can see. What gave you that impression?”

“Well, you see… Actually yeah, why did we think that?” Alcina looked over at Horus.

“… Strange. The air is definitely thinner.” Horus tapped her eye. An orange halo formed an inch away from her face. She twisted it with her hand, and she peered through the hole. “I see. I see. Hohoho~ Hooooo!”

“A Thrum?” Wai questioned, wondering if Horus was secretly one of the crazed individuals who had to be reigned in by CogitO.

“Might as well be!” Alcina sighed. “You gotta tell us what you found with your eye? Or you gonna tell us your x-ray anti-clothes vision is finally working?”

“Our altitude. We were at sea level when we first left the Leviathan. I don’t want to alarm you, buuuuuuut…”

The iris disappeared. The tremors were much closer.

Suddenly, the disappearance of Act X personnel made sense to Horus.

“We’re nearly three kilometers above sea level. And… Abigail. Alcina. You’re Blessed. Check what your Status says.”

Abigail was curious what she meant by this. Status was used on living non-Blessed creatures to read their stats. They were still inside of a structure, and there were no creatures in sight.

Yet, when she invoked her Status…

Milinid Interior Syphon Leg (47)

LEVEL : ???

… She realized that they were, in fact, inside of a creature.

An array of bullets suddenly roared. Sin and Wai spared no time and began demolishing the walls. Embedded between the walls were calcium deposits, the same that was found inside of bone. When enough walls were destroyed, the deposits resembled the structure of bone marrow.

“Find the wall. We’ll break it.” Sin nodded at Wai, who then swiftly broke off. “I’ve confirmed with Frost that the Milinid has been using its legs to transport Act X to the Grand Stage. That Missionary told the truth, although, she could have explained it better. You three. Prepare for combat. There will be Corrupted where we are going.”