Nexus Awakened (An Isekai LitRPG Gender Bender Story)

824. Forged In Wrath

“I was forged in blood. Wrath became imprinted into my very soul. My life was fuelled by pure survival instinct. For seven years I spilled enough blood until every inch, every crevice, and ever blade of grass was dyed red.”

Uriel became the last Angel standing. Hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions were born and thrown into the same meat grinder. But only she was able to come out on top. Her blood manipulation was perfected to the point where she could manipulate the double helix shapes of their DNA; a technique she called Rupturing.

Rupture because it burst the very fabric that defined the blood of the inferior – that being the double-helix structure that all living things possessed. But not all of them held the authority to command blood like her or the Angels.

“Immeasurable wrath born from such tribulations gave birth to my powers. Those who emerged from pools of blood victorious and redefined were crowned as candidates to inherit a drop of my blood. It elevated them like I.”

The same starlit eyes that Uriel once wore years ago disappeared. Crimson spots marred the color of her golden eyes, and her pale hair and feathers were permanently discolored. The doors opened one day. Angels were not deposited into the battlegrounds this time.

Instead, a figure walked across the surface of the shallow sea of blood. It parted in their wake, rising to form flanking walls that connected them both. They were draped in feathers just like her, save that this person’s feathers shone with an incandescent glow.

“The last of Batch 2,500 is deceased. Opening the gates into the Maelstrom. Please be advised that the Cradle is still watching. Unpredictable movements will result in immediate termination. That includes you, O’ Creator.”

Their hair was just as haggard as hers. 12 wings sprouted from their backs, and 7 tails fanned behind them appearing like a crown of thorns. They were indifferent to the carnage around them, nor did those eyes seem to recognize Uriel as a threat.

The utter majesty of a Star caused light to fill the darkness of Uriel’s eyes as the figure stopped before her and placed her hands on her cheeks.

“You’ll be a suitable Archangel. False Angels are too made from blood. They are wrathful like you. But you will be worse for a cause most just. Come, my Uriel, the inheritor of my blood. I shall appoint you with wings of your own, so that you can soar through my paradise and bestow righteous justice in my name.”

Uriel didn’t understand a word that was said.

All that mattered to her was the one instance of warmth that arrived at end of her tribulations.

“You first appeared to me when my trial was over. I knew right away that you were who we were searching for. Those feathers, those eyes, that power to manipulate blood like us – you were our Creator.”

“I had never once despised you for what I went through. It was worth feeling your hands caress my face and my back where you sewed on my wings. It was because of the trials that I learned to enjoy hardship. Something worthwhile must exist at the end.”

“I always thought that if I continued to endure like I had; then would you continue to look my way?”

“Haha… I was wrong.”

“A part of my innocence never died.”

“So I believed in you like a guiding star.”

“But that naive dream broke when Elysia was born.”

“And I realized with Ilya’s birth that I was no child of yours. I carried your blood, your dreams, your ambitions, your powers, the same kind of tails…”

“… Michaela. Why did it have to be this way?”

* * *

Each Angel held the potential to manifest Michaela’s powers. One could think of them as a canvas that could only be expressed by their colors. The colors were their experiences. Though they were all made equal, their response to certain experiences was never universal.

Those who were like Uriel were inclined to awaken her blood-manipulation powers. These did not come from one’s tail. Rather, an Angel’s tail – which was determined from bird – carried one of seven of the Arbiter’s major abilities. This was why all Angels could Wrap even though their tails had different powers or possess a form of Divine Arts.

“Extreme emotional turmoil could only unlock an Angel’s power. I did not know the principles that enabled it. But now I see it. Light is intertwined with emotion. Angels – whom of which carried significantly more Light than others – could manifest reality in miraculous ways.” Michaela uttered. Her tone was unapologetic, but it was not like she did not understand.

Rather, it was that she couldn’t at the time. Forgiveness was not what Michaela wanted. Neither did she believe that she could ever be forgiven.

“New World Angels are the same, but they’re emotionally repressed so that Light can’t be used. Blood Angels were the first to show what a Healer empowered by the Light can do, but it wasn’t enough. Scarlet Healers were an improvement, but were far too volatile… and now, there are those things called the Black Wings. New World Angels have the same potential. They can be shaped into beautiful petals.”

Uriel didn’t elaborate further, but one could surmise that this was why they were after the Healers in the first place.

Michaela then uttered:

“It was flawed from the beginning. I lacked the insight to understand that. I, as a Star, could only perceive the outcome. The processes, emotions – the needs of the young – they were all lost to me. That method was abolished soon after by the recommendation of my Apostles.”

Her seven tails coiled around her, the countless eyes staring back mournfully. It was another facet of her past that drove her into utter resignation. That there was no hope left for her, and her only way out was to be rightfully punished by those she wronged.

But that only twisted the blade further.

Neither of the two attacked. They stood 50 meters apart, their weapons pointed to the ground as they arrived at a lull. The bloody caldera was no different from the hell that forged Uriel.

“I became your most prized warrior because of that ordeal. That’s why none of the other Angels could hold a candle to me… aside from that accursed Elysia. We all went through our own trials, but it was only Elysia and Ilya who were showered with love.”

Uriel revealed why she despised them. Why they had to be punished and thrown into a similar hell.

“If they experienced an hour of what we did, then would you still love them? I tried to be a ‘Creator’ of my own to understand you. ‘Why did my Creator forsake me?’ I did what you did; I gave people from the outer circles and beyond our city’s walls hope, only to take it away from them. I shaped them into what I became, and I anointed them as the Progenitors of the Honored Ones. But still I could not come to love them. They had my blood, but they were unapologetically human!”

“Then the reason why you’re doing this is to share that experience with humanity?”

“I’m not deranged. I’m still sane enough to know its contrived to attempt to strengthen humans. The best course would be to pluck out their inner potential. Their ‘Sins’, and let it define them in this new world. We can live in a paradise of our own.”

“No, Uriel. You’re not doing this solely for us.”

“Hmm~”

Finally, and after gazing into the eyes of her tails, she revealed the reason why Uriel was hellbent on eradicating human life.