User blog:Warden-Cypher/God Eater Beyond - Chapter 3 : The Nexus of the Worlds

Cordalya looked upon the pillar of light before her, the only source of light in the eternal darkness of the Abyss.

Streams of golden light comprised the shape that was in the likeness of a gigantic tree. She had heard old tales of cultures long past, before the Aragamis, that described the Universe as a tree, each world resting on one of  its branches.

The group of Gods Eater were walking on just such a branch, and others could be faintly seen in the distance, streams of light that pulsated in the darkness of the Abyss.

Igrdrsyl. The Nexus of the worlds.

She whispered: "This...this is..."

She was at a loss of words. If such a thing could have been bulit, it must have only been by the hands of entities that were beyond her reach of comprehension, if it was simply not there from the beginning.

Frederick walked towards the trunk and kneeled.

Something came out of the tree, in the shape of a human being.

The woman had long luminescent hair, cascading like a waterfall on her shoulder and stopping at about her waist. She wore a long golden dress, and her forehead was adorned with a star, shining faintly, giving her the likeness of a goddess of old.

But, despite all the light that radiated from her and the sense of godhood she induced, her face was burdened with sadness, yet a faint serenity. She was beautiful in all the meaning of the word.

Frederick raised his voice:

"Goddess of the Balance. I have brought warriors from another world."

Cordalya blinked as the group emerged into the light of a rainy day. It was not much, but after being submerged with darkness, any light felt like gazing at the sun of mid-day.

Forests and grass were all around. She took a deep breath. This world was so full of life! Even the rain felt good on her skin.

She had never seen so much plants before, not even in carefully monitored gardens.

Beoblade's voice got her out of her thoughts.

"The weather might slow us down, but we can't simply wait. So, where are all the monsters?"

She glanced at the group emerging from the black sphere. Sigma didn't seem concerned about the weather, simply gazing at the field ahead, jauging the possible threats.

Lyrr was trying to find a cover. Be it for his job as a sniper or for shielding himself from the rain, she wasn't sure. He waved at them and replied: "Hum...i think we have company."

All around them were men in armor and wooden walls adorned with pikes.

Kaitlin shrugged: "We can handle these."

Frederick turned to face them: "Please. Allow me to speak to them. They must know we're not the enemy."

The Knight made two steps before an arrow hit the ground, and a voice shout:

"That's close enough! State your intentions!"

Frederick raised his hands: "I am Frederick Woede, a Knight of the Wolf. These warriors are here to help us."

The guard lowered his bow and the door opened.

"Praise the Allfather. Come quickly."

The group proceeded towards the fortifications that were circling the Black Sphere. All the soldiers were looking at the Gods Eater with curious looks, equally surprized by the size and look of their weapon than their clothing.

Cordalya gazed at these soldiers in armors. Most of them looked helpess, a thing she had had her share of in her own world.

And so the Aragamis had spread here as well...

She wondered how it was possible for Middle-Age soldier to repel Aragamis with bow and spear, and remembered what the entity of the Nexus, what Frederick called the Goddess of Balance, told them.

The Goddess looked at the group and smiled faintly: "Welcome, dear warriors. As this Knight may have told you, the Balance is broken. Only you can stop this, and save your world, as well as all the worlds."

Cordalya brushed off her initial wonder and forced herself to think clearly.

"How can we stop it, with only our God Arc as weapon?"

The Goddess spread her arms and an image came to the mind of all Gods Eater present.

It was a gigantic beast. Its size dwarfed anything that they had ever seen. Even the Phenomenon was small in comparison. In fact, this creature seemed to be the size of a planet.

Alone in the Abyss, the creature was obese and grotesque, but not without a latent strength that was obvious. It could crush mountains and cities without even noticing it. On its hide were countless microscopic organism that were not unlike parasites...

When she recognized Aragamis the size of giants Ouroboros, Cordalya let out a scream of terror.

This thing carried a whole colony of giant Aragamis like a dog carries fleas. Pounding, sightless, at invisible boundaries, the Gargant created numerous holes, by which Aragamis started pouring into other worlds.

When the vision stopped, the group was silent. Sigma whispered: "This'll never stop..."

Lyrr finally asked: "So,hum...this thing is the origin of all the Aragamis?"

The Goddess shook her head: "No, dear warrior. It is only the one responsible for the holes in the fabric of the realms. You must gather the strenght of all the worlds to bring an end to it."  

As everyone was pondering the titanic tasks that was laid before them, the Goddess added:

"This will not be an easy task, but you are brave. All of you. If anyone can do this, it is you. Gather all the warriors of the worlds to put an end to this threat, once and for all."

Cordalya looked at the other Gods Eater, before raising her fist.

We can do it.

She turned her resolute gaze at each and every one of the Gods Eater present.

Slowly, they all added their hands, and Beoblade added with a smirk: "Where do we start?"

The group was standing beside Frederick. The Knight was talking with two soldiers, bearing similar Wolf head insignia.

Cordalya looked at the coat of arms. It was strikingly similar to Fenrir's logo. Could it be that the old norse legend somehow journeyed to other worlds?

Frederick turned to face them: "You asked for battle, and you will be satisfied. A group of demons is destroying a nearby town. All our Knights are deployed elsewhere. We need to act fast."

Beoblade raised his God Arc before letting out: "So what are we still doing here? Let's go!"

The Gods Eater rushed towards the battle, the Knight ahead of them. For a simple human, he was rather fast, able to keep up the pace with the Gods Eater.

They arrived in sight of the town. The walls were breached, and fire consumed most of the houses. Aragamis, looking similar to Vajras, but red in color and sporting horned skulls in place of a tiger muzzle, were the cause of the fire.

Sigma simply stated: "I can see now why they call them demons."

Beoblade led the charge, backed up by Kaitlin. Cordalya and Sigma attacked from the west gate, while Lyrr took place in a tower overlooking the town.

Fire and smoke filled the air.

Cordalya rushed towards one of the Red Vajra, evading a stream of fire. Sigma appeared at its flank and began to strike at it.

As she was readying her white God Arc for a devour, red projectiles began to rain on the Vajra.

"Lyrr's covering us?"

Sigma shook his head: "Not him."

Frederick lowered his bow and charged before shouting: "Death to the Demons! For the Wolf!"

He plunged his spear between the horns of the Vajra, then took out his sword and began to strike the belly of the Aragami.

Cordalya blocked a paw strike, and kneeled as Sigma began firing on the Vajra from behind her. She took out the spear and managed to parry attacks with both weapons before throwing the lance to its owner.

She changed to Gun Mode and the concentrated fire from both God Arc pushed back the Aragami. It stood on its hind legs, roaring furiously. Frederick rushed and plunged his spear in its belly, paralyzing it.

As the Vajra was about to move to remove the spear, a blurry shape appeared, and the Aragami fell silent.

Its head slowly detached from the body, as did its limbs, before the dismembered creature fell to the ground. Kaitlin cleaned her knife before looking at the others.

"And Beoblade?" asked Sigma.

Kaitilin simply showed a pile of rubble behind them. Beoblade was atop of it, removing his God Arc from a Red Vajra. As the smoke cleared, Cordalya could see that the 'rubble' was in fact dead Aragamis piled one atop the other.

The victorious warriors all gathered at the center of the town. Slowly, people began to come out of their hiding place, and to praise them.

Amidst the crowd, Lyrr managed to join the group. Kaitlin let out: "I hope you did kill some of these Aragamis."

Lyrr replied, flustered: "Ah...i tried...i don't want to get in your way guys, so..."

The townspeople still alive were all grateful for these saviors who made quick work of the invading demons. If they hadn't come, all of the town would be reduced to rubble and corpses.

Cordalya looked at the Red Vajra's corpses. This fight was only the first step.

They had to fight a much more terrifying foe, and they needed help if they wanted to succeed.

The fate of the worlds depended on them.

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