Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

676. The Dark Side of the Moon and Desolate Stars

Central Grandis sat still after the monsoon. The light of the afternoon sun failed to penetrate through the darkening clouds. It was as though the world was mourning the upheaval of Grandis.

“Smoke being released northwards. It’s thicker than what permeates the skies of the City of Spades.”

A Seci Response member of Time Reverberation reported their findings from the summit of the eastern mountain range. It was located to the west of the devastated Divas Pass and oversaw the entirety of the north.

Which would have been the case were it not for impenetrable fog that smothered its skies. The smoke laid beneath him in the distance, hovering at the same level as the clouds. The altitude of these mountains was easily over several kilometers high.

Due to this, they were not able to see the fog until now. The possibility of [Illusion] magic being used to conceal the smoke at other angles was high. Illusions were one of the Memento Mori’s many strengths, so it was not a farfetched guess.

“Master. Isn’t that bigger than what we saw in the City of Spades?” A trembling voice spoke from behind. It was an Aspiring Moon who could only just barely withstand the frozen peaks.

The Moon on the other hand stood unfazed by the temperature. Draped on his body was a black coat with grey and golden feathers, which were arranged around their shoulders like giant blades.

“Far larger than we can imagine if it extends from the coast to here. All of Northern Grandis is smothered by it. Not even Moons or Stars were able to penetrate that smoke. Otherwise, it still wouldn’t exist in the City of Spades.”

“Shall I relay this to the Head?”

“You need not ask. The Head is always listening. Relay it to Beholder Jury and our stationed personnel instead. The Conduit.”

They were crafted from the feathers of the One Thousand Eyed Bird, the Denizens of the recreated Black Forest, and the Listening Bird. Underneath was a grey suit decorated with blue markings that phased in and out of reality.

These markings were roman numerals which depicted how many missions a Seci Response member had embarked. The higher the number, the larger and more pronounced the markings were. Additionally, it cognitively connected them to Jury’s Cognito Mediator, and carried the faintest piece of her Ego.

As a result, some of the markings that appeared echoed her thoughts, which sometimes guided them. It was an unintentional design, and it was not something Jury was able to remove. However, the Seci Response Arm took a liking to the design.

It felt like they were never alone in their dangerous endeavors.

He turned to retrieve a device that was attached to the back of the Aspiring Moon. It was a giant cylindrical vat of blue fluids that contained chunks of a brain and the branching structure of an attached nervous system.

This was a Conduit and was one of the many fates a Repenter would inevitably endure if they were not seen to be properly repenting. Of course, that was all subjective. There could be no objective measure of how one repented and was merely an excuse for CogitO to continue plucking the Egos of people to further their development of their Atelier Items.

“With it in place, we’ll have some degree of access to communication in this area. It would be fortunate if we could cleanse that smoke. It does make you question how the smoke above the heart of the City of Spades was erased.”

Like Jury, the Seci Moons were further augmented by other Atelier technology, making them the strongest attack force of The Head behind the Eye, Fang, and Claw. This included the use of Gravity Cores, Serums, Corrupted Items, High-quality Cloth, access to Justica Arm’s crystal bullet reserves, etc.

Furthermore, they were required to undertake training from other Ateliers on how to utilize their tech. As a result, they possessed a wealth of knowledge. Though in truth, it was still superficial as it had not been more than a few months or even years if one were to consider the time spent in the Isolation Sphere.

It was unknown how strong they were compared to the Black Moons. In the end, they accomplished different tasks.

“That was because of the Head, wasn’t it?”

“We do not know for certain.” The Moon responded, pointing at a distant summit with only his eyes. “Do you have another Conduit prepared?”

“15 more.”

“Install five at exactly a kilometer apart in the shape of a star from here.”

“Master. F-Forgive me for asking, but w-wouldn’t they overlap?”

“If one were to catastrophically fail, then what do you suppose would happen?”

“I-I see!”

They needed to be thorough. After all, this was along the front lines of the upcoming clash.

No compromises could be afforded in their staging grounds.

* * *

Galia was the mastermind behind the staging grounds. She oversaw three major routes of entry into Northern Grandis and required the same number of preparations across all potential frontlines.

The routes she had chosen included the much obvious highway that led straight into the heart of the North. This was easily the most defended route and was why most of the staging took place there.

Isolation Spheres kept their activity invisible to the Impuritas. In the event that they did stumble upon them, they would be incapable of leaving without knowing where the exit was. This allowed them to inadvertently trap various Maestro of Flesh members, although many of which were mindless Impuritas or resurrected dead.

Still, they were not things they were allowed to kill as they would respawn.

However, this was half true.

“To think Iron Stars were capable of destroying souls…”

Terror filled the hearts of Time Reverberation and Justica Arms personnel, who bared witness to the cruelty of the Iron Stars and the Black Moons which had banished them in the first place.

“Even Blood Moons are not capable of such barbarism. One cannot pity the Impuritas, but if that was how Moons were in the past… then it is no wonder that the Impuritas are our natural enemies.” A Hora Therapeutic member commented.

Hoisted atop black crosses and towering stakes that glowed a haunting white were various nailed and impaled Impuritas. They could not perish no matter how damaged they were. Each stake was weighed in accordance with what the Iron Stars declared as the Sins of the Impuritas, and what the Black Moons called their inherent impurities.

The more they had, the heavier it was, and the easier they sank as they were staked into the ground to form a black forest of skewered Impuritas. They were decorated in such a way that in the distance they appeared like a formation of Justica Arms members.

It was only when one was up close would they realize that they were monsters.

“When Sins accumulate, they expose the deepest impurities of our existence.” An Iron Star recited, watching over the labor of the Black Moons who were dressed in the simplest white dress, like that belonging to a ghost.

They were barefooted, and they hauled the Impuritas over their shoulders on crosses and stakes, rehearsing a nonexistent struggle. She giggled in response, offering a prayer to the hanging Impuritas with clasped hands and an innocent expression.

“I hope you die a nice and long death, you revolting wastes of life~!” The Black Moon cutely spoke. “May your Sins rot you from the inside out and may you scream and cry out to your friends~ It’ll be ok, because your only salvation is death~! They’ll think you’re one of us~! But I hope you don’t believe that too hard~ You can’t be one of us, so just spend a long time hanging up there with your heart exposed wondering why you didn’t just try to be better~!”

Like the Maestros of Flesh, the Iron Stars and Black Moons were masters of illusions, except they did not rely on magic. Rather, they relied on the limitations of the mind and how it exploited one’s assumptions of reality.

The behavior of the Black Moon was one such betrayal of expectations. She conjured a small flash of light in her fingertips and poked at the heart of a struggling Impuritas with a long, white stick.

That heart turned to gold momentarily before dark chains wrapped it. Then, in the next instant, he burst like a balloon filled with black sludge.

“Ahahahahaha~ Your soul’s deleted~ Who wants to join them next~?”