Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

925. Mechanical Rot

“I’m seeing another two stuffed dolls and whole lot of Repenters! I think we now know what they came to Emershine for!”

Infecta Rot’s debut was here.

“Infecta Rot. I thought you’d be more machine than whatever that is.” Frost addressed the Impuritas directly.

“Are you daft? They can’t understand you, nor can we understand those things!”

It lifted its drill-like arm forward, which then split to reveal a hollow cannon.

“Goodbye. Goodbye. Good… Bye…”

Despite what the Repenter claimed, she could clearly understand what they were saying. It spoke with the voice of a child, whimpering as though on the verge of crying.

“Not the one. Not the one… Not… the… OOOONNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”

It wailed as an orange glow formed within that barrel.

“Shit – another one! Fuck it… I’ll just take the damned shot and revive! Oi, black haired Healer… Or what are you, a Black Wing!? Get the hell out of the way!”

“No need.”

Frost extended her hand moments before an orange sun was fired straight for her. It grew from 50 centimeters to a devastating five meters. The raw heat it emitted could rend the flesh from bones in an instant.

For humans and regular people, it was a death sentence.

But it was laughable for Frost.

[Light Barrier].

A ten-meter golden magical circle formed just a meter in front of her fingers. It blocked the pitiful fireball, dispersing it into nothing but a small wall of flames.

“Failure. Failure. Failure… FAILUREEEEEEEEEE–!”

“Enough.”

[Plasma Cutter]. One of her brand-new Offensive Skills under the Conflagrator Profession allowed her to concentrate her flames into a wrist-mounted blade. She swung her hand in the general direction of the stuffed toy, releasing a purple slash that hurled through the air.

It severed the drill-like arm off, releasing a torrent of crimson fluids. Among those fluids were viscera and flesh that were reduced into red pulp, like the discarded remains of a blood orange.

“Fail…?”

In the next instant, Frost appeared in front of its face with superhuman speed.

She placed a palm onto its head, her fingers crumpling its artificial skull like a tin can.

Then, its head began to glow white hot thanks to [Superheat]. This confirmed that they were not truly living things, as [Superheat] only worked on objects and the non-living.

Next, she tried something strange.

[Greater Healing].

It didn’t work of course, and neither did [Blasphemous Healing].

She experimented with it as it kicked and scratched with its remaining limbs, only for them to bounce off her. Her clothes were also protected thanks to the [Protection Ward] Active Skill, which applied a thin, translucent barrier around her body.

“Goodbye… Goodbye… Good–!”

“Shut up for a second.”

First, its arms were torn off from its sockets. Then, she plucked its legs out and observed its stats using [Analyze Target], another new Skill that came from the Knowledge Well Profession.

Drill… To Find it? Can We…? | HP:

Drill… To Find it? Can We…? | MP: 0

< Frost. What I am about to show you is the result of [Observation I] and [Analyze Target]. However, we are bottlenecked by the [Observation I] passive. Regardless, Anna and her Bookkeepers thank you for your contribution to the Eternal Library >

Drill… To Find it? Can We…?

< Basic Observation >

< A machine stuffed in an animal’s toy. It craves attention >

< Skill Analyzed >

ACTIVE: Goodbye…?

< Hello? Hello? Hello…? >

< EFFECT: Enter an active hunting state. All those who have heard its voice will be hunted until they have all been slain >

ACTIVE: Not the one…!

< The one? No. The one? No. The one…? No…! >

< EFFECT: Use 500ml of MP. Deal a devastating 500 ATT blast with a 10-meter blast radius >

“I’m confused. Why do you have Corrupted flavor text as an Impuritas? Unless they’ve always had this and we just never noticed?”

< Qliphtoh seems to be the basis for Impuritas, Corrupted, and many our adversities >

< This shared quality may be why Impuritas possess it as well >

“The more we learn the more questions we get, huh. I’ll be keeping you, little stuffed toy.”

Suddenly, as if sensing its imminent demise, the stuffed toy began to rattle. Its mouth opened, revealing an infinitely dark maw. And within Frost saw a growing light.

“Failure… Failure… FAILURE–!”

“Tch!”

Frost erected another [Light Barrier], this time in the shape of a ball to contain the machine. Her foresight revealed a catastrophic explosion. In the next instant, a miniature sun detonated within the barrier, leaving nothing but ash and soot.

< Skill Analyzed >

ACTIVE: Failure!

< Can’t have… Can’t find… No one can have! >

< EFFECT: Self-destruct. Convert all MP into raw ATT damage at a 1:1 ratio per 1ml. Damage everything within a 20-meter radius >

“Smart.” Frost frowned. “I should’ve eaten it when I had the chance. Fuck. Of the Impuritas that don’t revive, Infect Rot are the ones that self-destruct.”

The main reason why they could not revive was because they were not alive, nor did they have Souls for that matter. While every Impuritas lacked Light, they all had at least a Soul.

“Frost. I’ve dealt with them! No explosions on my side! You shouldn’t play with your food!”

“Yeah, that’s my fault. I was hoping I could use Die Agnosis or the Traumatic Clock to learn more about them. But I’m doubting it’ll work on a machine… Fucking hell. Haaaah.”

“Um… Is… everything ok now?”

A timid voice asked her.

It belonged to one of the barmaids.

“We’re in the clear now. I’m sorry about your tavern.”

“It’s not your fault! We have emergency funds for this reason… since it’s common for Dungeons to just appear like that out of nowhere.”

Right. There must be a Dungeon in this town somewhere. Impuritas Groups don’t appear on their own. Especially not the weaker ones.

“But um – You’re a Healer! A Black… Wing! Those things! Woah! I’ve never seen one in person!”

The woman fawned over her and gloated about how she knew everything about the Black Wings. She was awfully calm despite almost losing her life, but considering no one had any lasting injuries, it was perfectly normal.

Thankfully, she didn’t step out of the tavern either. Frost would have thrown her back inside if she even tried to get close. The situation could become dire in the blink of an eye. The fact that these monsters can move underground meant that there was no reliable way to predict their movements.

She pondered on a method, and if there really was a Dungeon hiding in this town.

* * *

Afterwards, she looked over at the Leviathan, and then, her eyes were drawn to three distinct silhouettes at the end of the street.

“I’ve seen those eyes before. As I thought. Acedia is here.”

She lowered her shades to greet them.

“If it isn’t our favorite ‘Color Incandescent’~”

A pair of orange eyes stared back as the figure lowered her shades as well out of respect.

This person wore a black funeral suit, a black tie, and a dark wide-brimmed hat. She raised it with gloved hands, revealing her long, straight black hair and her most recognizable feature.

Her orange eyes.

“Fancy seeing you here! It must be a cold day in hell to see two Colors in once place and not try to kill each other. Back in my hay day the last Black Incandescent went for the throat whenever she saw me! Hah. I miss women like that. The kind that’ll kill you for looking at another person.”

This was the Orange Disruptor.

Following her were three Repenters; a mute woman with silver eyes, a red-haired rabbit carrying an oversized Mana Repeater, and a living machine with twin orbs floating within the darkness behind the sockets of his skull-shaped mask.

“Nothing like these cuties. I won’t settle for a guy even if they’re a machine. The higher ups told me I’d get a harem of criminals, but none of them tickles my fancy.”

The fact that an Incandescent Color was deployed here didn’t bode well with Frost.

Whatever was occurring here was no mere Dungeon.

“Black Dove, hmph. They should have just deployed Usari alone!”

The bunny named Usari punched the air with her ears.

Just like Usa. She must be one of her clones.

“Easy for you to say as a sack of meat. If it’s machines, then I wouldn’t mind dismantling a few of my brethren.”

The machine-man, who wore clothes to make himself indistinguishable from a regular human, was called Hayte (pronounced as Hate).

As for the last Repenter…

The silver-eyed girl pulled out a notebook and wrote: “Icara. I like being called Icy. Nice to meet you, Black Dove.”

If her grey hair was a little lighter, then she’d pass as a Healer. She even gave Frost a small, respectful bow as the others walked by to assess the damage.

“Don’t let her cuteness fool you. They’re all Repenters for a reason.” The Orange Disruptor warned.

Suffice to say, Acedia had one hell of a rag-tag team.