User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter 39: Between One and Zero, part 4

The day had come at last.

While many members of the anti-Feldman task force—namely, Beoblade, Baluar, Nia, Ken, and Arthur—had already made it to the Horizon on their own, time was running short, and Sigma knew they couldn’t afford to wait for the Horizon to choose the others on its own time.

It was with heavy hearts and eyes turned towards tomorrow that the remaining members of the task force—Kaitlin, Lyrr, Blake, Jack, C, Nanako, and Idenn—were gathered along with Sigma at the helipad atop the Liverpool Branch. Here, they would make their journey to the Horizon, where all of them would test themselves and prove to the Horizon that they were worthy of obtaining power to shape the world.

“Here’s how it’s going to happen,” exclaimed Sigma, who stood at the center of the helipad, with the seven other God Eaters gathered around him in a circle. “The Horizon exists outside time itself, so I, with my time travel powers, cannot get there on my own. Idenn, that’s where you come in.”

Idenn stepped forward. “So… what do I need to do?” she inquired.

“It’s rather simple,” replied Sigma. “You’ll use your Lifespring on me.”

“I’ll WHAT?!” came Idenn’s incredulous response.

“Use Lifespring,” Sigma continued, “on me. Plain and simple. We need an incredibly high-energy Oracle reaction to kickstart the process, and your Lifespring is the only way to do that. Once you begin the process, I’ll direct the temporal flow around myself to ensure we don’t end up somewhere random. Everyone will need to gather close around me so as to ensure you all get caught in Lifespring’s radius and are transported successfully and safely.”

“But what about me?” inquired Idenn. “If I use Lifespring on something, that thing and everything around it will be transported, EXCEPT for me. By your plans, I won’t be able to go.”

“Ah-ah-ah,” countered Sigma, “you don’t think I’ve thought of that? I’ve brought people through time before, and as long as I have my hand on you while I’m directing the temporal flow, you’ll be brought along with me. That sound good?”

Idenn nodded.

“Now… everyone, it is time,” came Sigma’s words, which carried great amounts of import. “Idenn, step forward.”

Idenn did as instructed, stepping forward while brandishing her God Arc before her.

“All you need to do is stab me with your God Arc and initiate Lifespring while everyone is gathered close. By my calculations, we’ll all get caught in the radius and transported out of this point in time and space, whereupon I’ll direct us to the Horizon in transit. Is everybody ready?”

Everyone nodded—but the instant before Idenn impaled Sigma with her God Arc, there was a flash, and two blades found their home.

There stood C and Idenn, C with the curved blade of Nanako’s variant scythe hooked through her chest, and Idenn with Nanako’s deep crimson buster blade emerging from her torso.

“Nanako,” sputtered Idenn, as the former pulled her God Arcs out of their targets, causing  Idenn and C to crumple to the ground. “What are you…?”

“I’m sorry, everyone,” exclaimed Nanako, “but I’m not special like the rest of you. I have no grand dreams, no singular goal I’d give everything for… so there’s no way the Horizon would choose me anyway—”

“—and now,” came a familiar voice from the air around them, “there is no hope for any of you anymore.”

A barrier materialized in the air around Nanako, expanding outwards and sending everyone around her flying back, save for Sigma—as the figure of Isaac Feldman appeared in front of her, his body crackling with energy and his eyes now an unmistakable bright green.

“It’s you…” growled Sigma, readying himself for battle. “No… it’s too soon…! Nanako, what have you done?!”

“Like I said,” Nanako began, “I figured my dice would be better cast with Feldman. He promised me a life of excitement in the other world, Sigma. You know the one. Now that I mention it, you did tell me about it the other day… guess I just forgot. He said he’d take me there… and I’ve got nothing here, so I figured, hell, why not? I took Feldman up on his offer, and now, well, here I am.”

Kaitlin readied herself for battle. “I never hoped it would come to this,” she spoke, “but if it’s like this, I doubt there’s any changing your mind. I’m going to have to kill you now, so—”

Kaitlin’s words were silenced mid-sentence. Feldman had raised his hand, and in that instant, Nanako had vanished, only to reappear behind Kaitlin, her variant scythe stuck clean through Kaitlin’s body.

“N-Nanako…” Kaitlin sputtered, blood dripping from her mouth. “Wh… what are you…?”

She could not speak any more, as the last of her life slipped away. Her body crumpled to the ground, lifeless and empty, as Nanako slid her scythe out and flicked off the blood in one smooth motion.

“For the sake of Feldman’s goals and my own future,” spoke Nanako, “I… no, we need to kill all of you now. Rest easy, knowing that your struggles were not in vain.”

As Blake, Jack, and Lyrr gazed down at the bodies of Idenn, C, and Kaitlin, Feldman stepped towards Sigma.

“You, Sigma…” Feldman began, “were the biggest thorn in my side. But with this… I’ll be free to dominate the planet with my newfound powers and the strength of my Boundary Aragami. Prepare to die, monster.”

As Sigma prepared to engage Feldman in mortal combat, a beat of sweat dripped down his brow.

“Please…” he muttered. “Please make it in time!”

-

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