User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter 49: Moonfall


 * Idenn, what…


 * Oh… oh my god…  So it was…!!

On this day, training was proceeding as normal. Further pairings were being tested according to Sigma’s planning and theories, and things were developing nicely.

Beoblade and Kaitlin were paired up as one of these units. Beoblade’s ability, which let him make use of quantum superpositioning to exist simultaneously in multiple places at once, was certainly useful, yet it possessed a critical weakness—Beo was largely immobile when projecting himself. Sure, he could simply project to wherever he wanted to go, but there were bound to be situations where he would need to act quicker than he could react by means of projection. For this reason, Kaitlin was assigned to be Beo’s training partner. Her ability let her move faster than the speed of light, so fast that she in fact violated the laws of causality, ending up where she was going before she even left. Using her ability in conjunction with Beo’s, she would be able to displace Beo’s projections instantaneously without him having to focus on movement.

Lyrr, on the other hand, was a bit of an odd case. His ability let him completely regenerate from anything short of instant death, so there was little he could do to synergize with other members of the team. For this reason, Sigma had planned for him to undergo an intensive training regimen where he would train his regenerative ability to become as fast as possible. Not that it should matter, seeing as how Lyrr’s forte was in ranged combat… but it couldn’t hurt to be safe.

And Idenn…  As far as Sigma had been concerned, her ability was the only one that could truly be considered “perfect,” especially since Feldman had learned, somehow, a method by which to counter Sigma’s time erasure. With a single touch, Idenn could instantly send her target anywhere (and anywhen) across space and time—all the preparatory measures for Lifespring had been eliminated. A single touch was all it would take.

If anything, the one weakness of Idenn’s new Lifespring was Idenn’s own vulnerability as a human being… or at least as a God Eater. She could use her ability on herself without limit to effect functional teleportation, but there was always the danger, however small, of a counterattack. For this reason, Sigma had paired her off with C, whose ability to display perfect illusions to whomever she wished was one that mixed well with everyone. Using her illusions, C would be able to provide cover for Idenn to get in position to use her own ability.

That just about covered everything… except Sigma himself.

And come to think of it…

“What do you mean, he’s ‘gone?’”

Nanako’s words cut through the wintry air atop the Liverpool Branch. They had all gathered as scheduled to give reports on the progress of their training… but Sigma, the key player and the one who had planned all of this, was nowhere to be found.

“Just like I said,” came C’s reply. “We’ve looked literally everywhere for him in this branch, and no one has found any sign of him.”

“Then what about in the outer ghettos?” Nanako shot back. “Surely someone, or one of our security drones, has seen him?”

“‘Fraid not,” C answered solemnly. “As far as Fenrir’s concerned, he’s ceased to exist entirely.”

Nia stepped forward. “Well, if he’s not anywhere… what about anywhen?”

“I considered that,” replied C, “but that raises a number of issues. The only ones of us capable of time travel are Ken, Blake, Jack, and Idenn, and out of those, Idenn is the only one who can jump back more than a few minutes or go forward instead of backward at all. And considering we don’t even know where… pardon me, when to look, it would be folly to send anyone away to search for him when Feldman could return at any moment.”

Nanako cast her eyes to the ground. “You… you’re right,” came Nanako’s sullen words. “I guess… we’ll just have to continue on without him. Everyone, give your reports on your training, starting with Arthur, Bal, and Nia.”

The three God Eaters mentioned stepped forward—

—but before they could speak, the air was suffused with a mighty rumble…

…and a portal appeared in the air, wreathed in pale blue flames.

Everyone here knew that this could mean only one thing.

“BOUNDARY ARAGAMI INCOMING!”  Nanako’s words cut through the cold, dry air as everyone readied their God Arcs.

Sure enough, no sooner had Nanako spoken those words than a massive beam of light erupted forth from within the portal, a truly brilliant display that lit up the surroundings in a blaze of flashy colors. Without missing a beat, a pair of blades shot out of the portal, aiming for Nanako and Idenn. Nanako blocked one of them with her buster blade, whereas Idenn simply teleported out of the way—but the blades themselves weren’t the problem.

Rather, it was what was connected to them that worried those gathered there.

For the blades were not alone. They tipped what appeared to be two long tendrils, but were in fact two extended arms, arms that found themselves at home on the shoulders of a sinister Aragami that now emerged from the portal. With a humanoid form, legs that were tipped with similar blades, a single-eyed face with long hair, and a halo wreathed in blue flames similar to those lining the portal, the Boundary Tsukuyomi descended towards the ground, its presence setting the battle instincts of those present into high gear.

Feldman was launching his assault…

…and it was here that the war had truly begun.

“Everyone…” began Idenn. “Are you ready?”

Everyone present nodded. They were more than ready; they had trained for this moment for almost a month. No Boundary Aragami was going to stop them now, not while Feldman still lived.

“In that case,” added Nanako…

“LET’S GO!”

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