Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

675. The Red-Eyed Black-Suited Wolf Demi-Human

“Ugh… I messed up. See those doors over there?”

Deiman looked at the illustrious doors that carried the symbols of many circles, dials, and geometry that had no rhyme or meaning. It was an expressive collage of etched symbols, but Deiman could make out that they were at least manipulatable due to the grooves between each symbol, like they were one giant puzzle.

“It closes a few days before the moon’s perigee. It’s the point where the moon is closest to Elysia. So much so that it sometimes feels like you can reach out and touch it.”

“Perigean Night?”

“The night where miracles happen. When you’re that close to a celestial body, or something astral… urgh… C-Cold!”

“I’m sorry. I was trying to remove everything underneath.” Deiman immediately pulled his hands away, not a shred of embarrassment on his face. Were he not a Shell, then he would be furiously blushing right now.

“I didn’t say stop.” Autumn murmured beneath her breath. “See the patch of grass over there? Pile them up. Grab a stick and take the flint and my striker from my pouch. Make a fire as soon as possible. In three minutes my [Lesser Cold Resistance] is going to wear off. And… Uck… You should get yourself dry too. You’d have no idea what to do without me.”

He didn’t disagree. Deiman only knew how to take orders. After piling the grass as she requested, he clumsily struck a rod of flint with a piece of steel. With some effort and through Autumn’s guidance, a flame steadily burned.

“Nurture it. Don’t let it die out. Cup it with your hands. Don’t use any rocks nearby. They’ll explode.” She was so cold that she could no longer form long sentences, her teeth chattering as her complexion paled.

Despite this, she wore a reassured look and stared at Deiman at the other side of the small fire. Her eyelids became heavy, but she did not allow herself to sleep knowing that it may be her last.

So she just watched him, wondering about the kind of life Deiman must have lived. As she swam in such thoughts, the sound of footsteps could be heard from where they arrived.

“Pick me up. Quick!”

Alert, and fearing that someone dangerous had arrived, Deiman struggled to carry her body. The clamminess of his own hands, and the paralysis of Autumn’s body caused her to flop free like a wet fish.

“But then I said, ‘I can’t be a pair of bongo drums.’ Can you believe that!? Both the Head and I are in the same boat! Imagine if you turned into a girl!”

The shadow of two figures stretched past them. One was of a tall man, the other of a… woman? A man? By the tone of their melodic voice, Autumn suspected them to be a girl, but her body didn’t seem like it.

Their chest was flat. Too flat, but their face was far too pretty to belong to a man. It confused Autumn more than she was willing to admit.

“W-Woah! And imagine you had that happen to you!”

A green-haired figure exclaimed, pointing at Deiman accusingly as she looked up at her black-suited partner.

“The storm has passed but it feels like we’ve just entered another one.” A tired, near baritone voice left the mouth of the man, his black, wolf-like ears pointed in their direction like daggers.

A pair of crimson eyes scanned the room, but never fully committed to staring at a single point aside from the sealed door. He did not even acknowledge Autumn and Deiman.

“We’re too early.” The man uttered, his voice disturbing the grass like a malevolent breeze as he stepped into the chamber, walking towards a sperate corner. “Ignore us. Surely you can afford to share this hideout with us.”

Autumn’s heart nearly stopped when his eyes landed on her.

It felt her heart had been torn from her chest.

“Is that how you greet the first people we meet in Grandis? You didn’t even answer the question. Whatever.” The green-haired figure scrubbed her head, annoyed by her partner’s conduct. “Don’t mind him. He’s always grumpy. Whew. We’re all completely soaked. You wouldn’t mind if we shared that fire, would you?”

“Join us… It’ll be warmer…” Autumn huffed, hoping for the best.

She did not know who the two were or if they could be trusted.

But it was not like she had the strength to fight back.

* * *

Mae followed a pair of shadows into a secret entrance. She believed them to be Autumn and Deiman. Knowing their strengths, she kept a considerable distance between them and teleported to conceal her movement.

Entire lengths of the thickets at the base of Mount Saris were erased. It wasn’t burned, torn off or hacked away. They had disappeared, leaving behind hollow craters. She knew it was the doing of the human and Demi-Human pair.

They were stronger than her, after all, so this was certainly in the realm of their power.

And after seeing evidence of their one-sided massacre against the man-eating plants, she knew that she needed to get them on her good side. It would be advantageous for one reason or another.

“Do I say an apology, or do I prostrate and beg again?” She questioned, stroking her chin as she ventured into the cavern. “A handstand could work. Maybe I could sell my body too. I look better like this, don’t I? That blonde-haired guy might take the bait.”

A myriad of ideas came to mind, most of which were about her being subservient to them in a way to build goodwill. They became ammunition for her confidence, believing that she’d come out on top simply because she believed humans were simple.

“Easy. I wasn’t like the low-ranking idiots of the Maestros of Flesh. A little higher and I could’ve replaced that annoying red fish guy.”

However, as she entered the light of the chamber with a hand raised to declare her presence, her blood ran like ice.

Her arm collapsed by her side like she had forfeited control over it.

“Mae!?” Autumn exclaimed groggily. “How did you…?”

“So that’s what was following us!” The green-haired figure, who went by the name of Ara snapped her fingers. “Good thing you’re acquainted, otherwise we’d be having a looooong right about now.”

“Are we acquainted?” Deiman wondered.

Neither of these three were the reason why someone of her caliber mentally died. The arrogance from before disappeared. Terror filled in the void. The water that dripped from her body was replaced with bullets of sweat.

Her vision blurred as her eyes trembled at the sight of that thing that sat amongst them.

“Hey, don’t stare at her too hard. You’re scaring her.” Ara hissed.

Mae shut her eyes, expecting Ara’s head to roll off. She hallucinated the sputtering blood, and the immense violence that even a Maestro of Flesh of her level could not justify.

However, that Demi-human with the red gaze she spoke to sighed and scratched his head apologetically.

Did she enter another timeline when she opened her eyes? Was she dreaming?

How was Ara still alive despite her disrespect to that person?

“W-We… are…” Mae spoke timidly. “A-Aquaint… ed…”

“Then come here! It’s warmer next to us!” Ara beckoned before she grabbed that person’s tie. “Get that gaze of yours fixed already. Really Raoul, are you trying to scare her?”

“I would’ve just killed her than waste my time.” Raoul took his tie back, fixing it neatly.

“It’s still crooked.” Ara leaned in close enough for him to snap her neck, and yet Mae couldn’t believe he was letting that person fix his tie for him.

Mae frothed at the mouth and finally collapsed.

Her mind could not take it any longer.