User blog:Seieireppa/God Eater:Universitas, chapter 25: New Faces, part 1

“You’ll take US… to the Horizon!?”

Idenn stood before Sigma, mouth agape at this revelation.

“That is correct,” came Sigma’s reply. “In order for all of you to obtain the power necessary to fight against Feldman when he inevitably returns, I’m going to take you all to the Horizon and have you form contracts of your own with it.”

Beoblade looked pensive for a moment. “Us, forming contracts with the Horizon… with that kind of power, I could finally…!”

“You should save that for when we’re finally there,” Sigma interjected. “But before we get going, we need to prepare. If any of you have any lingering regrets in this world, now is the time to make peace with yourself, because from here on out, there’s no going back. You’ll need to accept that you might die when you reach the Horizon, and use that resolve to steel yourself for departure. So, let me ask formally:  do any of you have any regrets?”

At this point, Beoblade spoke up.

“If anything… I wish I could have seen Kaitlin one last time before we left. She’s, well… she’s my most trusted soldier, I suppose… and I would have wanted her to know that I’m—”

“—That you’re what, sir?”

Beoblade felt a light tap on the crown of his head. Whirling around, he beheld before him the image of Kaitlin Gristan standing there, a smile on her face and her hand raised.

“Kaitlin…!”  Beoblade could not believe his eyes. Sakaki had contacted him to come to Idenn’s aid, to be sure, but until now he’d had no idea that Kaitlin had been called as well. Surely, with her skills, the battle against Feldman would be…

“Wait,” began Beoblade. “Does that mean… you’re coming with us?”

“Indeed it does, sir,” came Kaitlin’s reply. “At Sigma’s advising, I’ll be accompanying you all to the Horizon. Please look after me!”

“If you’re here, though,” spoke Beoblade apprehensively, “does that mean our group will be expanding even further?”

“That is correct,” came the voice of Soma Schicksal, who entered the lounge through its modest entryway. “There are a number of other God Eaters who will be joining us before our departure. They should be arriving sometime within the next week, after which point all of us will be departing together.”

Idenn looked skyward upon hearing these words. More allies… perhaps she would be able to defeat Feldman after all? Only time would tell…

…but it seemed that their enemies would not allow them such time.

From outside the branch, sounds of explosions could be heard as the walls of the branch shook with numerous impacts. They were under attack, likely by Boundary Aragami remnants—

—and as Idenn rushed to the windows, she confirmed this fact for herself… for surrounding the branch on all sides were countless tall, humanoid Aragami wreathed in green flames. Sporting humanoid faces and six mighty arms—two ending in twisted blades, two in powerful guns, and two in imposing fists—the swarm of apparent Boundary Yaksha appeared ready to destroy the branch and everyone within.

At once, all the God Eaters assembled within the lounge readied their God Arcs for battle… but found themselves stopped by Soma, who barred the exit before them.

“The hell’s your problem, Soma?!”  Ken lashed out against the older man with a pointed tongue. “We’re all going to die if you don’t let us out!”

Soma, however, was not having any of this—and returned Ken’s words with a slap to the face.

“Calm yourself, Ken,” came Soma’s curt reply. “I wouldn’t be doing this if there weren’t a good reason… and as it turns out, one such reason exists. Just watch—none of those Aragami will reach us.”

And as Ken rushed to the windows of the lounge and peered outside, he saw a truly astonishing sight—

—for before their very eyes, down below, a single shot rang out, then another, and another, as the Boundary Yaksha began to reel back in pain, the bullets having pierced directly through their heads.

And in that moment, a blur descended from above, revealing itself as it landed on the ground as a man with short green hair who moved quickly through the ranks of Boundary Yaksha, debilitating them with precise strikes from his buster blade and laying them low.

Meanwhile the shots from above kept coming, each one landing precise critical hits with not a single miss. Before long, every one of the Boundary Yaksha had been defeated… and those present in the lounge stood wordless.

“That hair, and that blade…” Baluar spoke. “That’s… that’s Arthur!”

“And I know only one person with sniping skills that precise,” added Beo. “It’s got to be…!”

The sound of the elevator doors opening alerted those present to the arrival of a new guest. And stepping out of the elevator and into the lounge, the sight which greeted the God Eaters gathered there was…!

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