User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter -∞: Beginnings, part 1

“Idenn, are you familiar with the concept of naked singularities?”

A voice called to me from behind me in the tunnel. It was Johan, my mentor and close friend. He was the head of the task force created by what was left of Fenrir to find the source of the recent Aragami outbreaks and heightened evolution, and now…

“Can it wait, Johan? We’re in the middle of an op here.”

At the moment, we—Johan, myself, and the rest of the task force—were in the middle of our most important operation yet. We had infiltrated the remains of what had apparently been the storage vault for Fenrir’s God Arc Soldiers in the distant past. Sometime around 2070 or so, a woman named Rachel Claudius had used this area, deep underground, as a staging ground from which to give birth to a Singularity, an Aragami that would devour the entire planet. As our current state of existence evidenced, she had failed… not that our current situation was much better.

“Idenn, this is important. I know you don’t like our lessons but this is perhaps the most important thing I will ever teach you.”

“…Fine. Yes, I know what a naked singularity is. I read about them in one of your books. They’re black holes with no event horizon, right?”

“Close enough, I suppose,” came Johan’s response. “They’re formed when rotating black holes spin fast enough to become ring-shaped, which results in the inner and outer event horizons drawing closer and merging, shrinking into the singularity itself and exposing it to the outside world.”

I didn’t get it. “So… what’s your point?"

Johan looked irate. “My POINT, Idenn, is that I know you have great potential within you. Your mind is capable of grasping theoretical concepts that most of us cannot even begin to wrap our heads around. If you can apply your knowledge of theoretical physics to your mastery of Oracle energy manipulation, I’m sure you’ll be able to perfect that Blood Art you’ve been working on.”

“That one…?”  I shuddered. “Johan, you KNOW that Lifespring should never be used. The temporospatial implications, should it actually come to fruition, are far too dangerous.”

“That may well be, but it might be the only hope we have of stopping If once and for all. For your sake and for the sake of everyone here, you HAVE to finish Lifespring.”

If was the name we gave to the man who had been creating the new Aragami, altered species wreathed in auras of Oracle energy and possessing power far beyond any Aragami that had ever existed. If was short for… something, but everyone here had long since forgotten precisely what. But that wasn’t what was important. What was important was that we slew these new Aragami and killed If as soon as possible to prevent even more being created.

At that moment, however, my thoughts were interrupted by a familiar sound—the soft, steady rumble of heavy footsteps accompanied by the faint hum of Oracle energy. One of them was approaching, and it was close.

Johan leapt to action. “Men,” he began, “take your positions. This isn’t the first time we’ve fought one of them, and while these tight quarters should limit our fighting capabilities, we should be able to stop it if we act strategically.”

The rest of the task force nodded and drew their God Arcs. I readied my own God Arc, a short blade of brilliant green called an Oracle Sword. Whatever was coming, we would take it down, and If would follow soon after.

I turned to Johan to await further orders—

—only to find him wreathed in brilliant green flames. Flames that burned away his life and emitted an intense, sinister heat.

''They’d found us quicker than expected. I had to—''

But before I could act, I saw it.

Ahead of us in the tunnel was the Aragami those flames belonged to. It was tall, sinister, and draconic, with massive wings of Oracle flame—

—and beside it, standing in its umbrage, was him.

There was no mistaking that short black hair and the coat he wore about his shoulders.

“It’s you…!!”

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