syringe

1018. Loco Mortis

Thump

An array of footsteps clopped with a hideous squelch. Obsidian-black boots took Frost down a bloody path. The red veins along her apparel pulsated with the frequency of the heartbeat deeper within the bowels of the Leviathan.

Following Frost was Alcina. She introduced herself as a self-declared lover of Cer before she announced her namesake as a Blood Angel. Her expertise, as with all ancient Witches, were in mechanical constructs and soul-transferal.

“A lot...

MA: 100. Welcome To Aire - The Town At The Crossroads

Aire.

It was a town situated at the crossroads of the Justicia Highways. Long stretches of clearings divided the forest into seven major regions; the Central Forest, the Northern Forest, the Eastern Forest, the Southern Forest, the Western Forest, the Justicia Reserve (far west), and finally, the Tomb of Giants (far east).

Aire’s location granted it special advantages compared to regular settlements across the Highways. Being in the center of the crossroads enabled them to becom...

1017. Raoul, The Repenter of Treachery

“My Executors would prefer you to drown. Liken to the olden trials of Stars, Moons and Beholders– it shall be performed by a Beholder and a Star.”

Galia retrieved the Justitia Scale from her Dimensional Storage and weighed it against his sins. The object functioned purely on Qliphoth derived from ‘Sins’, which was previously believed to be from Nex.

But this alone made it susceptible to manipulation. As a result, the light behind her intensified with the snap of her fing...

1016. A Grand Welcome

The grand welcome was unexpected. Nav could have given her a head’s up, but her library-bound companion did not give a reason as to why she kept her mouth shut.

A surprise, Frost figured. Not entirely unwelcome since she had her apparel with her. Besides, it did not change that she had only arrived at H10 for only one purpose.

“Res. Orth. Thras.”

Frost greeted with a nod.

She met them at the foot of a stretch of silver grass.

It was sprayed with magic to ap...

1015. The Ruins Beneath The Surface

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

< Leaving H9 | 2 minutes >

The Leviathan rattled. The unsettling murmurs of mechanical organs pulsed through the soft bedding. It stirred Frost awake from her short thirty-minute slumber.

Her eyes were still tear-streaked, and she wiped them off as she looked into a small mirror at the bedside. Sleeping beside her on the king-sized bed was an exhausted Joy, who used thr...

1014. A Promise To Remain Human

Aiming, healing, communication, combat – Frost excelled in games revolving around these. But when it came to games of chance, and when she shut her eyes and used her invisible eyes to view the world, then she’d find herself losing these games.

The fishing game, a cup game where one had to find which cup contained the coin, a game where one had to finely control their breaths to move a feather but to also avoid disturbing grains of sand, and finally – a card game that required one ...

1013. A Sense of Normality

Now that dawn had faded, and Joy was tucked into bed by Cer, the married duo could now enjoy the night of H9 to their heart’s content.

Their dresses were different this time around.

Frost put on a black robe reminiscent of a short-cut kimono. She had black tights on, wooden slippers and a small hat that sat tilted on the side of her head. It tucked away the small strands of red hair.

Jury had a similar get up, only that hers came in two white pieces. A crop top to expose h...

1012. The City Never Sleeps At H9

The Repenters took their leave alongside with Horus.

The woman had every intention of taking her sweet time in H9. She fanned out a stack of coupons for massage parlors and certain services on the way out, hellbent on using them all tonight.

“Hehehe~ Here I come, my lovely Elves~ Century-old women… Demons, if I’m lucky~” Horus’ tongue dropped down to her chest.

The seams between each segment of her tongue revealed a sliver of steel.

It was a mechanical augmen...

1011. Sceneries Passing By

The crop fields of H5 shrunk in the distance.

The wild plains of H6 came to pass. The giant hill where Cer had first opened her heart to Frost flashed by.

Then came the forests of H7, and the beautiful scenic lakes of H8.

Territories of prestigious families emerged as they passed a great river that stretched as far as the escarpment of H10. Decorated manors boasting incredible landscapes, with trimmed hedges and statues of the current hierarch granted a glimpse of their sple...

1010. To The Promised Date

“Have you ever seen a red tide?”

Acedia asked this question from out of the blue.

Nothing prompted her to speak.

It had been an hour since anyone had spoken on the Leviathan, and yet, after sitting at her desk without moving an inch, she asked this inconspicuous question.

The few figures who were allowed in her office turned to the ceiling in deep contemplation. When they attempted to speak, she tilted her head; a silent reminder that this question was not for them...

MA: 99. The Black Widows and Huntsmen of The Green Rangers

< See their stats. The blue box doesn’t lie >

It was enough to calm Red down, but not enough to keep a blade held close to her chest.

“Easy, Adventurer. We’re only here for them.”

“And not the Scarlet Logic guys that were here before?” Red blurted out.

Her words only confused them as they turned to one another, murmuring.

“Scarlet Logic was here?” The man questioned, but his train of...

MA: 98. Potion Taster

Rounding the bandits up was the easy part.

Keeping them alive was an entirely different story. If someone told Red that humans were prone to throwing their lives away, then she’d laugh and say: “Humans aren’t that dumb!”

But looking at how these Syndicate bandits, which were completely outmatched by Red’s group, tried to bark and bite back made her feel like either humans weren’t hyped up to be, or…

“Mental illness.” She concluded and wore a look of pity. �...

1009. Summit of World Impurities

A body fell into a pit far too deep to tell where it ended.

Their blood-curdling cry came to an abrupt stop just seconds into the descent.

Replacing it was an absolute silence that did not dare hint at the body’s fate.

Trembling, Insectic beings wearing green coattails and carrying conducting wands were impaled along white rods. They were hung around the edge of the circular pit, and one was thrown into the gears of a winch which descended to pluck the body of the fallen M...

1008. The String Is A Lie

Silence befell the Upper Sanctums of the Nexus for exactly thirty minutes following Frost’s ascent from G-Y0.

But this silence was not universal.

It only pervaded the Floor of Ego where a long-haired Lailah sat resting atop her fractured throne, her head resting atop a curled fist.

The bleak auroras that flowed through the Floor of Ego were supposed to propagate the sounds of the Collective Unconsciousness.

But for thirty minutes, not a single sound, not even from th...

1007. Cleaning Up Loose Ends

“Where are they?”

An impatient woman clicked her tongue as she stalked the streets. She lurked in the shadows, hid behind shrubs and walked alongside guards as she noticed blue-suited personnel arrive in town.

“Those Witches need to move. Now. Time Reverberation is here. Tsk.”

The woman in question was the same who had tried attempted to hit on Frost, only to fail spectacularly. Those eyes Frost possessed caused her stomach to churn with envy. She had spent the last ...

1006. Remember to Endorse Attachment

G-Y0 imploded into itself two hours later. The confirmation came straight from Nav, who had heard this through her telepathic connection with all Moons possessing the Blessing of the Amalgam.

Unite Us, Everlasting – recovered; three hundred and twenty-five Corrupted – retrieved; Samples of Silicon Rot and remnants of the Site – taken for analysis. No expenses were spared, and the prompt recovery levied the power of five Lunar Haruspex and eight Lunas.

One Lunar Haruspex was ...

1005. Nearing Level 450

Indeed.

Frost had lost a single Light. It had been taken by Cer to crystalize new Skills.

I see. So the Nexus is the enabler. Or rather, a powerful Light is. Sort of like how say, Elysia or I can manipulate those with lesser Light, only that this takes the shape of a person’s soul – if the flavor text for Professions is anything to go by.

Professions reflected a person’s soul. They could not be changed, just as how the soul could not be altered – only destro...

1004. Caldera Industries' Derma Layer Fortress

Four hundred Homunculi shuffled behind Frost.

They froze when she paused and closed their eyes when she turned. When she raised a hand, their necks would tug forward as though she were pulling on an invisible leash.

The Rogue Moons didn’t fare better.

No matter how many promises were made, how amicable Frost and her companions of the Nexus were, it was impossible to eliminate all traces of suspicion. Moons were lured into a false sense of duty and security by the Ateliers ...

1003. Where Elysia Resides

Jury had seen the shell that Elysia was trapped in. It was a part of her vision when she realized herself as Jury and as a separate entity from Elysia during the Nex Megalopolis’ Atelier War.

It was a black sphere, reminiscent of what contained the Captured Star.

And with what Cer had found here…

< Elysia may be contained within the Advent of Despair, far within Deep Time >

< It is speculation, since Elysi...

1002. Hello, White Horseman!

There was more to the Eye of Elysia than its name.

But at the same time, it was precisely that.

Frost was stranded halfway across the world. She would not have been able to travel over thousands of kilometers within minutes.

She had the vial of Infusion S and the Angelic Warped Stone from Lammy.

However, she did not ingest these. They remained suspended within her [Dimensional Storage]. Her sole benefactor was the Eye of Elysia… no, Elysia’s Star which had led her ...

1001. What Is Frost?

“Wipe the scowl.” Alisa commanded Lammy. “If one failed harvest spelt the end, then the plan was flawed from the beginning. We would not have lost. Keep a tighter leash on your Atoners. They have found a well of light to flock to. Insects.”

“… Yes.” Lammy reluctantly obeyed. “This is not the end! Enjoy that fledgling Fragment! It only means that you have one more vulnerability!”

Then, she turned to the Eye of Elysia and dragged a claw down her cheek.

“You...

1000. A Major Victory For The Nexus

A rift large enough to swallow a mountain opened behind Lammy.

It was meant to retrieve the Avatar of Kratt, but it had met an unfortunate death.

The Orbis Impuritas made the mistake of underestimating Cer’s durability.

The ‘Do Not Eat’ protocol surrounding Cer wasn’t an inside joke, but rather a hazard should one accidentally chomp a piece out of her. Once a chunk had been taken, then the target would lose 90% of their total HP.

It seemed to even bypass the Ql...

999.5. Announcemnt!

Hello everyone! It's Syringe!

I rarely do announcements, but I thought that it would be appropriate since we're about to hit quadruple digits on Nexus Awakened!

First of all, I want to thank everyone who's been with us during this wild journey! I still remember those of you who joined from the start, and those who are still here to this day!

Thank you all from the bottom of my heart for making this possible!

Right now, I want to get into my plans for the future of Ne...

999. Transactional Avarice

Rhyme stood no chance against a Beholder.

That much was certain from the very start.

Had she known that a true Beholder would be arriving to challenge her claim over the Genesis Stone, then she would not have agreed to join Alisa and Lammy’s assault on Site G-Y0.

Jury was nothing like the Fallen Beholders who took refuge under the banner of the Broken Thorns. Their only similarity would be how terribly weak they were compared to Beholders of the Nexus.

She w...

MA: 97. Scarlet Logic Dawn Collection Team

Justica’s Crossing ran further than the Languid Fault. More than twenty times, or even more from what Red understood.

Yet despite alllll that space, Scarlet Logic happened to be precisely where they were.

Suspicious.

Red believed that either it was one big coincidence, or the universe was out to get her for aspiring to make a name for herself.

Fine. Let the universe come after me. I’ll come for it back and put a bullet through its head! If the universe was actu...