518. A Star and the Light Beyond Their Reach

Name：Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story) Author：
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518. A Star and the Light Beyond Their Reach

She felt a presence surrounding her but no matter where she looked, she could not find it.

“I am not in the same place! I have climbed my way to where I am! Do you think there’s such thing as a wish without sacrifice!?”

Her vile nature came to light. There was not an ounce of regret to be found.

“This is what I wanted! Everything can be justified by the outcome! Ateliers, the Hungry, the serfs – this is the course of the world. I intend to fully embrace it!”

“How long have you been chasing that dream for?”

“What does it matter!? I’ve lived for hundreds of years! I pity my old iterations for never understanding the meaning that’s driven me to this one wish!” Her mind was seemingly long gone.

Her arms were on the brink of tearing themselves clean from her shoulder as she reached into the veil, still clasping at nothing for she believed she was just inches away.

“I am almost there! This vision is exactly what I was waiting for! I can feel it! It’s just out of reach! If I can kill one or two more Blood Moons – or even the Amalgam – then I can become the perfect iteration!”

“You are blinded by a star you cannot see.”

“I’m so close! I’m nearly there! All of it... all of it will justify my cause! Witness me! Watch as I clasp onto the same star they all dreamt to reach! I will replace it!”

“It was only you who sought after it. The people you piled under did not see stars. Even now you don’t understand that behind the veil...”

Suddenly, the fog disappeared. A night sky filled with countless stars sat at the top of the well the Arachnid found herself in. What she believed was at the cusp of her fingertips was so far away that her hand began to quiver.

“... Is a place we cannot reach.”

“You have not changed.”

“You’ve remained stagnant. You dragged people down to see the same sight as you. You wanted to become your only star.”

“I... must. Otherwise what have I been doing this entire time if to not be one of those!? I will not be bound to the throes of the Nexus! I want to hear my heart again!”

“You joined Scarlet Logic in hopes of achieving it. Have you not realized it yet?”

“No. You are already aware of it. Your heart was Scarlet Logic’s. You never had a choice in the first place. The Monarch’s orders were absolute. You happily followed it for the sake of achieving your dream.”

“Exactly. I did that. And what of it!? Am I so wrong for using others to get to where I want!? That is the nature of this world!”

“Then why have you still not moved?”

“... I... It’s all perspective. The people I dragged –!”

“They helped you hide the fact that you were unchanging.”

“That you could not move no matter how high you piled the bodies.”

“That way everything can be alright.”

“What have you become?”

A single light emerged at the bottom of the red sea. And behind it was the face of a lost angler fish. A shadowy stem connected the head to a bipedal body. All semblance of her identity was stripped away as she obsessed over one core woe.

“Lost again.”

She whispered, following that star that dangled from an illicium, destined to forever be just out of reach.

* * *

//////// < WARNING > ////////

< The Red Giant Has Reached an Epiphany >

< Corruption is now unstoppable >

< The Red Giant’s Corruption Event Has Begun >

< The Red Giant Has Successfully Been Corrupted >

< ETERNAL NIGHT >

< THE ARBITER’S TRUMPET RESONATES >

Silence of the Stars

Lost Red Giant

< All lights not belonging to my skies must disappear >

AFFINITY : Attachment

LEVEL : 230ORIGIN : Trauma

HP : 550,000

ATT : 3,200MAG ATT : 5,000ATT DEF : 3,500MAG DEF : 3,500

MP : 200,000

RESIST : 430AGI : 30

“Your purpose is to be lost.” The Amalgam’s distinct voice could be heard from beyond the darkness. “And – it’s to be my nutrition. It’s short lived, but I’m happy that you have come to terms with yourself.

Thank you for being my meal. It’s been a while since I have had any meaningful changes to my Mana.”

And almost as quickly as she was born – her lights were snuffed away by something darker than the void.