User blog:Roinelll/God Eater Next - Volume 2 - Segment 16 Part 1

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======== G. E. N. - 2 - 16 Part 1

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Less than a dozen of the mighties Aragami remains, waiting only to be felled by the Oracle Cell infused Devourer. It noticed as the number of the beasts started dwindling their attacks became sharper, faster and much more destructive. Currently it takes well over a minute to best a single one, which is almost five times as large the body it is currently commanding.

Arthur knew that his is no longer in control despite his attempts to do so, the golden scales have already permeated the majority of his essence, taking over more than half of his body and enforcing in an extremely sturdy outer layer on top of the Oracle supply he massed up. To the onlooker God Eaters, it was a frightening aspect. Seeing as how the uncontrollable Irregular was evolving at an extreme speed into a threat as great as an Ouroboros itself and even beyond, becoming more like one as the number of victims was absorbed one by one.

"This doesn't look good, as far I can tell... There will be no reason left in him by the time the remaining Aragami are done in." Baluar scratched his head, and glanced over his two partners besides him. Both himself and his sister, Nia would have been quite powerless against the Ouroboros', yet that girl claimed that he would have been have a chance to put up a fight.

Lyrr on the other hand analyzed the situation calmly, in fact a bit way too calmly as Bal was seeing it. The sniper rested the God Arc on his shoulders, waiting for his Oracle Reserves to charge, sometimes taking out a pill and injecting himself with it. Then with a lightning fast move, aiming and shooting almost at the very same moment at a weakpoint of an Ouroboros that would manage to land a strike on the sole fighting force against them.

He was doing it because while the expanding powers of the berserking youth was dangerous, it was still a better situation than letting him taken out by the Aragami and having his power, the source of his Irregular strenght devoured by them. That would have caused an even higher threat than they were currently in... and eventually will be once the Devourer finishes it's current targets.

-Could be much worse, quite your whining Lunkhead.- The voice of C carried a large amount of stress, she was trying to gather as much information as possible using her Aragami strands to absorb Oracle Cells from her surrounding in order to unlock as much of her former self as she was able to do without crossing a dangerous border and losing herself in the process also. Although the infected girl tried to make as much haste as possible, due to her low stamina often she had to pause, way too often for her liking.

-C, what are you doing?- Nanako had observed her throroughly for some time and came to the conclusion she has a plan. At least that's the impression she had been getting from her all along, otherwise why would she have sent out someone like the tall God Eater alone against such imposing number of Ouroboros. Even if she considered his legendary fame of taking down an Ouroboros and surviving the coming decomposition of cells, even if that was done by him turning into an Irregular entity, it was foolish without a properly set up plan.

-Moving, we have to. Over... seer. Please bring me to where the others are, and Nia you have to pick up Nanako and Stargazer. Oh and these soldiers aswell, we'll need the firepower afterall.- Suddenly stopping in her actions the masked girl pleaded, and even considered using the formal title of the silver haired man. In return he gazed at her intensively, then nodded picking her up and darting towards the trio at an inhuman speed.

"Sure I will pick them up, but what about the residents? We should evacuate as many as we can, no?" Thinking about the situation for a bit the female twin agreed, yet brought up a matter that was gnawing on her mind. As they departed from them to search for their weapons with her brother, they noticed that the settlement went eerily silent. They didn't meet anyone on the way to grab their God Arcs, neither on the way out.

-Weren't you listening? The Irregulars mounted an assault on all active Branches, taking a high number of the God Eaters and infecting them. Now what would happen should a normal person come into contact with Oracle Cells? Not even mentioning highly unstable Irregular ones, hmm?- Indignation filled C, she was quite clear on it earlier for them. Not to mention she had to repeat so many things until now for free that it made her seethe with rage. Which also meant, that she was getting farther and farther from her own goal.

"Anyone coming into contact with Liliths cells died or became infected puppets." Saying that with a voice that hinted no emotion Lyrr stirred them up, sure that was some place in the back of their minds. Yet to hear that plainfully simplified using such an composed voice, the Sniper shook them up.

-Doesn't mean we can be negligent either. Lucas left to check on the condition of Nova, he still doesn't believe it can break free from the stasis cell his daughter was submerged in. Which actually helped her strenghten the foundation of becoming an entity the false rumours were spreading of.- The two Irregulars left both Sakaki and Nanako with the remaining soldiers. Although they weren't completely out of the danger still that was clear that they couldn't have kept up with the dark skinned man. Even as he carried C they've moved at a speed that was very hard to achieve for a God Eater on a prolonged duration.

"You mean the rumour of Nova, the World-devouring Apocalypse?" Nia mused about it. She did recall that should Aragami devour everything on the surface of the planet, then they will turn on each other and feed until a single entity of massive Oracle Cells will be left. Able to devour the entire planet at once without hesitation.

-Exactly. You see, for a 3 year old, how would it feel to have been imprisoned by your own father? For 22 long years, she was slowly filled with hate, rage and the desire to avenge that act. Due to having Lucas misunderstood the position she was in, sure her body was bein shut down... however the link with the Oracle Cells wasn't cut completely. A one-way link is still open, letting her 'learn' through them, yet the cells do not have access to her so to speak. In a way, the Aragami became the vicious demons of destruction due to her input.- C wanted to break this point earlier, however due to how the conversation went as she explained so many things at once, one or two things did slip her mind temporarily. Though since they are still related to the major issue they are having, in the end they weren't completely omitted.

"22? The Aragami appeared 21 years ago, or I missed something? And you're contradicting yourself once again, you just said that she was cut off, how could she have influenced them? You're making my head asplode... Again!" Hearing the lenghty explanation Baluar scratched his head in frustration, the more he heard C talk, the more complex the information started to became. Some times without knowing everything she did, it did seem like she is talking against herself and yet since the background knowledge of hers was reasonably more vast for her it did make sense. But mostly for her.

"Clara said that the Aragami appeared due to the influence of the missing Origin, no? And please, stop that beastly howl of yours, it's sending chills down my spine. Not the ones I would like to hear from that voice of yours." Teasing her the sniper snickered, although they did wince for a bit when the powerful scream echoed in their earpiece and a pair of scornful gazes were sent towards Lyrr, who decided to once again switch back to his carefully careless mood.

"Lyrr... stop teasing her it's... unsightly." Shaking his head while trying to recover from the sonic attack he suffered, Baluar tried to quell another squabble before it erupted between the two of them.

-Nova learned trough the cells she contacted with, which passed information onto the next one and then the next, etc... While she took in information on a one-way direction she at times consumed, some of them returned with partial information into the Oracle Pool.- Swallowing her outburst, C ignored the chuckle coming from the sniper. Instead focusing on making a revelation for the others who also listened in on the conversation.

-Devil. What is your intention?- Sounding not even bothered by the fact, that he was running at an inhuman speed and carrying the annoyed girl the Overseer asked finally. He was for a while considering his options, however by the information that so far is available for him it is quite a grim situation.

-Gather the Irregulars, we would become a target for the Devourer soon anyways, if we're split it would be that much of a harder situation as I can see it, giving the chance away of taking us down one by one. This way we could make some things work out, and we'll have to rely on you with that... Overseer.- Responding to the inquiry C explained, though she did pin everything on him able to restrict the movements of the berserker that's going to eventually threathen them.

-In his current state, I'm unable to stop the Devourer from rampaging.- Completely shattering the expectations the close to vermillion eyed man calmly said, this did cause a partially invonvenient silence fell upon them. Using the silence as a leverage C weighted her options and concluded that some thing is a bit off.

-... Is that because his Irregularity hasn't stabilized currently?- Asking about the cause of the problem C was nervous. Literally the situation they are currently in will make or break the fate of their planet.

-Exactly.- At the answer once again, silence fell upon them. Having lost one idea after another they were mostly staying quiet unable to contribute to the cause and were thinking hard on a possibly useable solution.

"Wonderful. Anyone has any bright ideas?" Scratching his head and exhaling loudly Baluar noted, lacing the words with extreme amount of sarcasm. Though at this moment he wouldn't have minded if some really whacky, yet useable even if borderline insane idea presented itself.

"Maybe our walking library could appeal with her charm and seduce that boy?" Lyrr took a long glance over Nia first, making it look like that he strolled over her revealing clothing while eyeing it for a lenghty time. Then attempted to joke it away, his lack of idea that is.

-I swear, I. WILL. KILL. YOU. AND. ENJOY. IT!- C's response this time was cold, forcibly enforcing calmness over her. Though she did raise her voice a bit, this time she did not scream in outrage as previously. For a moment Baluar though that she is getting used to the perverted comments.

-Why would the Overseer unable to confront the Devourer? He is taking in regular Oracle Cells as you've stated it, and earlier on when they were extracted from the Irregular known as Lilith they weren't anything special, or am I mistaken? Clearly, our lack of insight to the case as your's Devil is hindering our understanding quite a bit, don't you think so too?- Chuckling lightly Sakaki wondered halfway to himself, and half asking that from them. Although the girl did state that all the information she did shower them all at once would be hard to digest in such a short time, her hands were being forced. However, maybe that was for the best of the case since if she wouldn't have gone into the trouble of giving them a crash-course on the matter this whole attack would have become very chaotic in the end.

"His Irregular cells are in constant fluctuation currently, trying to take over him as we speak. Though Art is holding that up a great deal of willpower. Due to this the cells are constantly being overwritten, tearing himself apart and regenerating at an unbelievable speed. That is the reason for his sudden transformation into that partially Golden Ouroboros so to speak. As his body is reconfiguring itself it does do from the internal reserves of his Oracle Cells, not to mention to keep in mind that he is gaining more and more cells from the Ouroboros' themselves which are also used up in his restoration process. That is the way his ability works, it's not quite a 'You are what you eat' styled ability that Chloe summarized." Before a suitable answer would have been generated by C, the sniper spoke up. Explaining it to the last detail as he knew it and not forgetting to jab at the girl at the same time.

-Get my name proper you perverted moron! And I summarized it to make is at easily understandable as possible in the current situation, you're not completely correct in said matter either also. To be precise he does regenerate using his attained and internal Oracle Cells, however the focus is always on his internal reserves, which had already been depleted quite some time ago. The reason why the previous Devourers cell can rampage throughout his body is that they literally feed and grow against the will of that kid. That is why the internal dispute is within him, and he is tearing his body and mind apart and constantly in regeneration.- Grinding her teeth and enduring the abuse, C went into details to clarify the extent of the ability.

"I... can understand C knowing that, but... How do you know this Lyrr?" Having heard about the ability in such detail from two different sources the twins became puzzled, especially Baluar.

"I've experienced something similar, though on a much smaller scale to be honest, also you did too at a point. Though it seems you lack the memory of that, as you stated earlier you've lost an arm and even got your God Arc destroyed." Humming to himself and recalling the event Lyrr mused lightly.

"It's true that my arm was lost and even infected, however... I never said that my God Arc was destroyed, aren't you missing something?" Baluar wondered about the earlier statement, thinking about that maybe the sniper knows something important.

"Ah..." Stopping himself with a dumbfounded look, Lyrr gazed at the tall God Eater who advanced on him.

"Lyrr, speak up now." Grabbing onto his shoulder and staring right into the eye of the smaller male, he finally surrendered to the impetus.

"... Maybe I said too much? I was observing that battle you've been fighting from a distance. I've seen what happened to you, and even saw you emerge from the decomposing remains from that Irregular Ouroboros. My task was to take you out should you go berserk just like Arthur right now." Sighing in regret, Lyrr started his explanation. He was very well aware that his words will cause distrust and even alienate him doing so, although it was due to his fault that this slipped and was pressed into an explanation.

-Take him out? That means someone anticipated such an outcome and ordered you to become an assassin should it be required? I doubt it was C who was responsible for it, although she could have possibly had the information regarding it.- Mulling about what the sniper said Nanako conjured a hypothesis, the other version would have been that C sold such information to the one who actually was in charge of supervising that order, though she did feel like that wasn't the actual case.

"Nah, it was that guy you're with, who ordered me to do so. The Overseer, I mean. I'm so to speak, one of his agents. Well the other agent of his actually." Shrugging in defense and elaborinting it in more detail Lyrr said, well the cat was out of the bag so to speak anyways.

-Sniper...- Once again the voice of the silver haired man carried emotions, though this time it was something akin to a 'let down'.

"Does it matter now? We'll still have to get Thomas and Ken as I see it to complete our ranks." Opting for another merry choice of words he did summarize the possibilities that they need to take.

-The Wanderer is beight sought at this moment by Beast.- The Overseer finally spotted the gathered God Eaters in the distance, though they were still a few minutes away.

-Well that... Ken, he is probably our enemy, seeing as how he mercilessly slaughtered my contact at Far East...- Thinking over the possible name choices that the OVerseer decided to use, C connected Ken's with the title of Hothead. Although for what reason was that granted unto him wasn't in her awareness.

"That wasn't mercilles, I didn't let that **tch suffer." Speaking up nearby them a voice called which made Baluar and Nia spin around in haste. They saw a God Eater with a height similar to that of the sniper, wielding a strangely shaped God Arc that could be compared to something like a snitzer. Although both of them immediatelly understood that the aura he gave off wasn't quite normal either. It was from someone who definiatelly held his own against the Aragami for close to a decade, or so.

"Ken, Long time no see, though you could mind your language you know?" Lyrr who was keen on the approach of his old friend just smiled. He knew exactly how and why the title Hothead was given, not to mention it was just perfect match for Ken Bladeheart.

"Who cares. Lyrr, what's the meaning of this anyways? I was inbound for you and got attacked by nasty mutated Aragamis. Although that trash wasn't anything special they died way to fast, my ride was taken down and I had to freaking run. Can you imagine? How the hell did Aragami overcome their insensitivity towards Anti-Aragami material? They freaking should have evaded me in a wide circle, Dammit." Ruffling his black hair in frustration and stabbing the Short Blade into the ground with force the God Eater exclaimed. He as rather frurious right now, not to mention that his fuse is already extremely short to begin with. Though there was nothing such when they last talked about, not a word from such an occurence of weird Aragami popping up or anything and that annoyed him greatly.

-End of the World, story short, much impact, very danger.- If C would have eyes, she would have definiatelly rolled it. Instead she just opted to go annoying and sarcastic, at least that was still left with her.

"Ah, you're the one who that **tch called on the phone, right? Who cares... so, someone fill me in?" Making the connection on what transpired earlier on Ken shrugged, it didn't matter to him anyways.

"Yo. My name is Baluar and this is my sister Nia. It is just as C said, something like the End of the World event is occurring. Although it doesn't mean we're going to let it happen." Holding up his right in a friendly manner, the tall God Eater greeted the newcomer. Seeing as how his sister decided to slightly nod in response to that he concluded introduction to be finished.

"So, what's with the show? I mean you're just casually chatting while a group of Ouroboros is being slaughtered by that ... 'Thing'?" Once again shrugging, and eventually pulling his weapon from the ground the black haired youth threw it lightly on it's shoulder eyeing the Devourer in the distance ready to rumble with the last three Ouroboros'. He had to admit that the sight was impressive enough, yet at the same time rather menacing as the one to rampage had clearly lost it's mind.

-Ken, it's good to hear your voice. That being is Arthur, who turned out to be an Irregular entity just like yourself. But as you can see it, though he did retain himself up to a certain point ultimately Arthur is unable to control himself, because it happened too fast for him to get accustomed to.- Humming in the background, clearly fascinated by the fight similarly was Paylor Sakaki. He was mostly taking in the sight of the fight that was unfolding in the distance, being aware that their wellbeing was on the line even as they were speaking.

"Arthur? Arthur McStron? Now that you mention it, that was him. Haven't heard from him in a long time, for Art to turn up here and now is rather unusual. Wasn't he supposed to hunt some really dangerously evolved Aragami with his team?" Realizing why the infected boy was so familiar to him Baluar wondered. He became a God Eater after him, yet interestingly the two of them could hit it up quite fast. Maybe because of the fast paced lifestyle of theirs, but they've gained each others trust quite fast.

"Eh, old man Sakaki is with you also? Then this is rather serious I take." Scratching his head Ken was surprised to hear that voice.

"We should continue this pleasant chat later on, as we're about to face a berserk Irregular. You're up for a challenge? We just need to hold out until the Overseer get's here. A... minute or so?" Baluar laughed lightly as he saw a raging monstrosity darting towards them in the distance. He grabbed his God Arc, which the others did the very same.

"I don't mind, I was getting a sore shoulder anyways. However I will have to warn you, don't get in my way... I still don't have perfect control over this ability of mines." Cracking his fingers Ken grinned, suddenly slashing with his God Arc upward and the middle part of the blade extended first outward then sideways. Seeing the change in the pattern on the blade the others couldn't help but be surprised.

"Better than me then, I don't even know what I harbour." Seeing how that Short Blade of the God Eaters turned into something akin to a Buster Blade, Baluar mulled over his already Buster Blade sized God Arc.

In a few moments, the Devourer would be upon them. And only their strenght and determination would be enough to keep them safe.

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