Soul Nexus: A Fantasy Tower Ascension LitRPG

Death knights are skeletons that have survived for a substantial amount of time or powerful warriors reanimated with massive amounts of necrotic energy. They’re extraordinarily durable and capable of death magic. Treat one as you would a deviant. We suggest you do not engage it in combat at this time. It is likely equipped with magical weapons and armor.

We can’t exactly run either. They have us surrounded.

Diplomacy seems possible if they are willing to speak.

Rising from the ground behind the death knight was a veritable army of skeletons. They were lined up in a phalanx with the ones in the back armed with what looked to be rifles.

I held up a hand. “Look, I’m sorry. This has all been one big mistake. If you want us to leave, we will. There doesn’t have to be any trouble.”

Shadara looked at me. “You’re trying to talk to it?”

Killa held a hand out to the panther woman. “It might be our best chance to get out of this alive. We’re surrounded, in the open, and outgunned.”

The knight laughed. “They think we’ll parley with them? Does the living keep getting stupider?”

I held up my second hand. “We’re surrendering. What will it take to spare us? You don’t want us here, that’s obvious.”

The knight stopped laughing. “You understand me, human?” I nodded slowly. “Hmm. That’s interesting.”

Killa nodded her head too. “As do I.”

“You what?” Shadara asked. “Are you talking with the thing?”

The knight snapped its head towards Shadara. “I am not a thing. You speak to Leimon, the Baron of Selsmire. One more insult like that, and all mercy is forfeit.”

I bowed slightly. “We understand.” I waved my hand down as I looked at Shadara. “Shadara, just stay calm. Please don’t say anything rash. He understands you just fine.”

Shadara’s eyes went wide. She slowly lowered her head. “Okay.”

I could see Leimon’s chest puff out as his back straightened out further. “Now, since you fought our enemies, I’ll give you this chance to explain your intent. Why did you appear outside of my keep?”

I exchanged glances with Killa and Shadara. “We didn’t mean to come here. It was a mistake. If you let us go, we’ll never return.”

“What makes you think this was a mistake?” From behind Leimon walked a pale woman with black hair and light-plate armor. A long, glowing red sword sat on her back. “Weren’t you looking for someone?”

I tilted my head. That’s the person who’s trying to kill me. What’s she doing here? “How did you know we were looking for someone?”

Killa and Shadara flinched. “Because you just told them,” Shadara groaned.

She grinned; despite her human appearance, her teeth were longer and sharper than any human’s. How can she fit those teeth in her mouth? She held up a familiar robotic head. “Actually, it’s something much simpler. Because Gary here, he told me you were looking for him.”

His head was completely inert. Is he dead?

It seems that this floor’s copy of Gary has been destroyed. He won’t be helping us.

“Why did you destroy him?” I asked.

The woman looked into Gary’s empty eyes. “Because I’m going to tear down this entire place. And since Gary is part of the Soul Nexus, it’s got to go. Since I can’t have you interfere with my desire to destroy the Soul Nexus either, I’ve got to do something with you too.”

She turned to me, and her voice dropped frighteningly low. “You should’ve killed me when you had the chance.”

Leimon turned to the woman. “You used us so that you could kill her?”

The pale woman tossed Gary’s head behind her. “So? You got what you wanted. She’s the one who’s been attacking your fort repeatedly.”

Leimon shoved her towards us. “If you want her dead, you should be the one to kill her. This is the perfect time to challenge her in a fair duel.”

She turned to face the death knight who pushed her. “Who said anything about wanting a fair duel? Just kill her. I don’t care how.”

He folded his arms across his chest. “I do. Just because you’re a vampire, that doesn’t permit you to order me like you can order other undead.” He then pointed to me. “I’m ordering you, Nyx, to fight her. Don’t disgrace yourself any further by arguing with me.”

Nyx turned to me for a moment before turning back to Leimon. “If it’s a duel, then I grant you the honor of being my champion.”

“No,” Leimon answered flatly. “Now, get on with it, or I will destroy you.”

The vampire lady turned to me and drew the sword from her back. Her red eyes shook as she tightened her grip. “You took me by surprise last time. This time, you don’t have that advantage.”

Killa held up her hands. “If Rina wins, will you let us go?” Her words caused everything to stop.

“If Rina wins, will you let us go?” she repeated.

Leimon tapped his chin with a plated gauntlet. “I’ll consider it so long as it stays a duel and you don’t interfere.”

Killa turned to Shadara. “Don’t do anything. Don’t help Rina. If Rina can win, we can make it out of this.”

Shadara turned to me and nodded as if to ask if I was willing to do this. I nodded. “Okay, I’ll trust you. Just stay alive.”

Both Killa and Shadara stepped further away as I pulled my gun out. Nyx made the first move by charging me. I fired at her, but before the bullet hit her, she exploded into a cloud of blood. She re-materialized in front of me.

Her blade swept horizontally, forcing me to hop backwards out of reach. She stepped into the next swing, following me with a diagonal cut upward. Based on her movements, I could tell she was faster than Killa, but not by much.

That would put her speed somewhere around mid-to-high-three hundred. Still too slow.

I kept my distance and aimed my gun. As I pulled the trigger, the vampire flicked her wrist. A massive flare of pain burned through my arm as it flew out wide, causing my shot to miss wildly. I hopped away from her next swing.

How?

I didn’t get much time to think. She kept charging, swinging her sword, leaving a red trail of light each time as the runes on it glowed a bright, pulsing red.

When I tried to jump away after a series of quick swipes from the vampire, she held up her hand and pulled it towards her. I felt a pull in my chest as I was pulled towards her. It felt like someone punched me in the chest from inside my chest.

I threw up an arm to block her sword as it came for my head. The impact sent me sprawling to the ground.

What was that? How did she do that?

The leading hypothesis is that she is manipulating the blood in your body.

I rolled to my feet, feeling that my coat and arm plates protected me. Nyx kept charging me.

Can she really do that?

It seems that she can only do short bursts, and it takes her some time between uses.

Then let’s blind her.

I manifested the largest orb of shadows around me. As the darkness flowed out and around me, I switched my eyes to their terahertz radiation, turning everything black and white.

I fired as soon as I saw her. I put four rounds towards her center mass and another towards her head. The bullets didn’t penetrate her. Her body turned into a thin mist to avoid all of my shots.

She re-materialized with her blade over her head. Nyx’s attack came right for my head. I dodge to the left. I extended my arm blade and went to stab her chest. She turned and brought up her sword to block my attack.

I brought my foot out to kick her, but she twisted her hand, and my planted foot went flying out from under me. I started spinning horizontally as the vampire hit me in the stomach with her sword.

Her blade couldn’t cut through the plates under my skin. I twisted my body with the momentum she created and landed on my feet. I fired another shot towards her.

Nyx jumped away as I charged her. I filled my gun with shadow bullets before firing again. How is she still seeing me? Please tell me she can’t see my blood.

That’s a possibility. Your shadow magic shouldn’t allow normal dark vision.

Since my magic wasn’t doing me any favors, I reabsorbed all the shadow magic around me. I dodged another series of attacks from my opponent. She’s using my blood against me. We can’t kill each other. I don’t have a wooden stake to kill her, and daylight is a long way away.

Vampires don’t require a wooden stake in the heart to kill. You can kill her by decapitating her.

Orange’s message caught me off guard so much that Nyx’s sword clipped my leg, tripping me. She stabbed down with her sword, but I slammed the flat of the blade with my arm. With a grunt, I rolled onto her sword. She flicked it up, throwing me away, and I rolled to my feet as I hit the ground.

We both stared each other down.

Nyx’s eyes were bloodshot. “You really are a stubborn one. Your existence is a crime. Just accept your fate and save others from the damage you will cause.”

“Who said I’m going to cause this damage? What damage am I going to cause?” I asked. “You keep hunting me like I am some kind of great evil.”

“If the wrong people find you and see that artificial souls like yours can be created, all balance in the multiverse will be upset.” The vampire’s skin turned a subtle pink. “The Soul Nexus is already interested in you. Whatever its plans are, they need to be stopped.”

I tightened my grip on my gun. “I know. Gary told me that my soul was becoming more complete. He is studying me.”

Her eyes went wide. “And you’re okay with this? Why would you let the Soul Nexus use you like that?”

I tilted my head. “Because it can let me live without worrying about someone like you coming after me. If I can be a natural soul, then I can be left alone.”

She slowly shook her head. “You misunderstand. Your soul is becoming complete, but it will never be natural. That won’t ever change. If I had to guess, the Soul Nexus is using you to learn how to create a natural soul. But I don’t know why.”

I narrowed my eyes. This is too much. I thought I could be normal. What is she talking about?

“You will never be a natural soul,” Nyx repeated with a wide grin. “After you die, you will still wander through eternity with no afterlife. Here your absolution will be complete.”

I lowered my gun. “I’m already going to live forever, so long as I have the energy. Why are you so against the Soul Nexus? You don’t want to make a wish after you kill me?”

She relaxed. “This isn’t your fault. I was trying to save you from the suffering you’ve been doomed to. The Soul Nexus has killed others of my kind and trapped me here. It’s breaking rules that it shouldn’t. It has to be held accountable.”

“Do I still have to die?” I asked.

Nyx chuckled. “You do. But I’ll try not to make it painful. You haven’t hurt anyone...yet.”

I sighed. “So this will never end in peace. That’s all I need to know.”

Orange, I need to replace my blood with something she can’t manipulate.

Synthetic Blood upgrade available:

Cost: 33,350 shards.

Warning: This upgrade may not completely negate blood magic effects.

Shadow Blood upgrade available:

Cost: 39,700 shards.

Nanobot Blood Replacement upgrade available:

Cost 36,450 shards.

I’ll take the nanobot replacement then. If I’m going to do this, I want it to work. You can replace my blood.

I felt a sharp burning sensation in my veins. I clenched my teeth as I kept my expression as neutral as possible.

Nyx’s eyes went wide. “What are you doing?”

She charged me as the fire in my veins intensified. When she was close to me, her sword glowed brightly. Before I could react, it exploded in a blinding flash of red light. I closed my eyes as fast as possible.

I threw my arms up to block. My movements felt sluggish. The blow sent me sprawling and tumbling to the ground. Her attack didn’t hurt nearly as much as the upgrade, which continued to burn through my veins as more of my blood was being replaced.

My HUD flashed with an error message as I opened my eyes. It warned me of low blood volume. Orange, how long until the upgrade finishes?

Approximately thirty seconds until full conversion.

They were a long thirty seconds. Blow after blow, all I could do was count on my arms’ durability to keep her attacks from hitting my head. It was the only place that she was aiming for since she couldn’t damage my jewel-scaled coat.

I staggered to my feet as the vampire rushed me again. She held up her hand. I tried to move, but it was like I was moving through mud. The upgraded nanites finished replacing my blood just as she attempted to pull me towards her.

I didn’t move, and my body felt more responsive. I threw my arm out, catching her sword strike. I brought my gun up to her head and fired point blank.

The vampire ducked under my arm and grabbed me. Nyx flung me into the air over her.

She paused to gawk at me. “What have you become? How do you not have any blood in your body anymore? That should kill a human like you.”

I pushed myself to my feet. “That’s because I’m not human anymore.”

Nanobot Blood Replacement:

The host’s body is filled with microscopic nanites. These nanites have been altered to replicate the functions of the host’s blood cells in addition to their other properties. The host’s cellular regeneration augment’s efficiency has been improved.

Stat bonus: none.

With that, I charged her.

Her sword came for my head. I blocked her with my arm and kicked her in the stomach. Nyx stumbled backwards as the blades on my boots slashed her stomach, but she stayed on her feet. I fired three times while rushing her.

The vampire exploded into a cloud of blood again. That trick is getting old. She appeared next to me while dropping an overhead swing down on me. I sidestepped the attack before firing three more shots into her chest.

My bullets blew three holes into her lungs. Nyx gasped as blood poured out of her mouth. I stepped forward with a jab to her chest with my fist. As she stumbled backward, I reloaded and continued firing into her chest until she collapsed to the ground.

But I never received any notification of stats or shards for her death. I grabbed her and lifted her up before driving my arm blade into her heart.

She gurgled more blood as her eyes flew open.

I leaned in close to her. “I told you. You won’t steal another person’s soul. You will live only because I said so. I am not you. I am better than you.”

With that, I ripped my blade out of her chest and dropped her to the ground. I turned to Leimon.

The death knight clapped his hands. “Impressive. Now finish her.”

I flicked her blood from my arm blade. “No. She will be my prisoner.”