User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter 33: A Future for Two, part 2

If you asked any member of the anti-Feldman task force about events they thought they’d ever see, Baluar fighting against his own twin sister would certainly not be one of them.

Sure, they’d sparred with each other more times than either of them could count, but Baluar and Nia genuinely laying into each other with the intent to kill? No one in a million years would have seen that coming.

And yet, here they were—the two twins duking it out within the confines of the Horizon’s dimension. In order to take the first step towards their dreams, one of them would need to cast aside the other and move on alone… and in this case, that meant killing the other and removing them from the other’s life.

It was certainly not a situation either of them would have liked to be in, and certainly, both of them were doing this begrudgingly—but they struck to kill nonetheless. It was the only way either of them would make it out of here alive.

“Say, sis,” called out Bal as the two of them clashed again and again, “d’you think one of us could, I don’t know, play dead or something? I’d really rather not have to kill you…”

“A shame, brother, it really is,” came Nia’s response, “but it would seem that our only way out is for one of us to take the other’s life completely and decisively.”

Their exchange of words was quickly followed by another exchange of blows, the clashing of their God Arcs knocking each other away. Forget the Boundary Ouroboros, THIS was the true definition of a heated battle. The two of them were almost completely equal in skill—neither of them left any noticeable openings, and both of them seized any opportunity they could to capitalize on the shortcomings of their foe. Whenever either of them overextended even a millimeter, the other would not hesitate to rush in and strike at their lowered guard—only to be rebuffed when the other twisted their body in an unexpected way or switched their grip on their God Arc.

Were anyone else watching this fight, their jaw would be on the floor, dumbstruck by the sheer battle prowess displayed here.

But this was no happy battle, no excited duel.

No, this was a sorrowful fight to the death. Only one of them would be acquiring the Horizon’s power and leaving here alive, and for the other, the journey of their life would end here.

However, neither of them wanted that to happen.

“Say, Bal,” came the voice of Nia, “what would you say if I just gave you this one? Let you win so that you could walk out of this with no problem?”

To this, Bal merely laughed. “The hell kind of question is that? There’s no way the Horizon would be satisfied with an outcome like that. And besides…”

Bal gazed down at the God Arc in his hand.

“To be honest… I just can’t imagine a future without you, Nia.”

Nia stopped in her tracks and looked at her own God Arc, then at Bal.

“Me neither, brother.”

“Then there’s really only one way out of this, isn’t there?” came Bal’s reply.

Nia looked into the eyes of her dear brother; words were not necessary for communication between the two of them.

At once, they both nodded—

—and turned their God Arcs on themselves.

Simultaneously, the blades of their God Arcs moved to pierce their wielders’ hearts… but the instant before they met their wielders’ chests, they stopped dead in their tracks.

No matter how they tried, they could not move their God Arcs further—or at all.

Which meant—!!

“Hey, sis, d’you think this means that—”

Bal’s words were cut off as he felt a sensation welling up deep within him, a low vibratory hum that spread outwards and concentrated itself in his God Arc. Nia, meanwhile, experienced the same feeling, her God Arc resonating with a mysterious vibration.

And then, all of a sudden, it happened.

A beam of brilliant blue light shot out from the twins’ God Arcs, connecting halfway between them. This light vibrated and pulsed in tune with the twins’ very existences and with the universe around them.

“Brother…” began Nia, “I think we’ve done it. The Horizon’s chosen us!”

“Sure looks that way,” came Bal’s reply. “Now, all we need to do is…!”

The twins raised their God Arcs on high, then brought them down in a single swift, unified motion. At once, the beam of connective energy flashed and expanded outwards and upwards, becoming a blade that cleaved through the incomprehensible boundaries of the ethereal space around them.

And then it appeared, a single crack in the “ceiling” of the Horizon space, followed by another crack, and another, and another, all joining together into a massive fissure that broke apart the confines of the Horizon space, freeing Bal and Nia from within as the boundaries of the dimension fell apart around them.

And there stood Sigma, waiting for them. Accompanying him were Beo and Ken, the two others who had earned the right to wield the Horizon’s power.

“It would seem that those who have been touched are aware of when others awaken to their own Horizon powers,” spoke Sigma, who approached the two of them. “If I’m not mistaken… you both obtained the power of 「perfect unity」, correct?”

“Perfect… unity?” came Nia’s confused response.

“Correct… or at least, that’s what I call it. The two of you now possess the power to completely unify your life force and brain waves, connecting the two of you on a level no one else can match. This enables you to share your energy between yourselves, linking the two of you with a powerful beam of energy much like the one you used just now. This beam can cut through anything and everything it contacts and, wielded appropriately, can be used as a blade to reach out and pierce even dimensional boundaries.”

Bal and Nia looked at each other, sharing only a simple grin as they began to laugh.

“Didja hear that, sis?” exclaimed Bal. “We’ve done it! We’ll be able to tear right through anything Feldman throws at us! Isn’t this great?”

The two of them ran towards each other and swept each other up in an embrace, jumping and shouting with exuberance. Bal had obtained the power he always wanted, and neither of them would have to live on without the other. Surely this meant that they were that much closer to defeating Feldman.

Sigma only hoped it would be that easy…

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