A/N: Hey all, remember me? Probably not, but for those that do, here's the next long awaited chapter. It's been about one and a half year since my last one. Time just really flies. I didn't really write anything for a whole year and I forgot all about it until I was reminded by a particular reviewer (HaztheTaz). In the meantime, I've gained a few more story followers for some reason. Maybe God Eater 3 has sparked a newfound interest in the God Eater FF Fandom?

Anyway, life continues to move on and preoccupy my life. Finding the willpower to actually write is hard when it keeps disappearing after finishing a chapter. When I get going though, I make good progress.

While not really worth the wait, this chapter is pretty lengthy. Actually three times as long as the previous one and the longest chapter yet for this story. Be ready for some new characters, drama, revelations and mysteries.

- RynaaD. Thanks for the Review!

- C Rinkuki Takato. Honestly, more reviews are nice since every writer appreciates reader's feedback on their works (constructive criticism though may vary with writers). For me, some detailed ones (doesn't have to necessary be very long) are generally more appreciated which would allow me to see what people actually think about the story (seriously, what do people actually see in this story? It's not very good). Follows/Favorites don't really say much, but they are still appreciated.

As for the -kun honorific, it's right. The chapters so far pretty much reflect the story's structure. It follows mostly canon events in the game, but with added and new twists that I've added. Yuu's hair color is absolutely normal.

- Kiri-chan. Thanks for the Review! As to your speculations...I'll just leave them hanging. About the meds though, he does take it regularly...well, depends on the definition of "regularly."

- HaztheTax. I'm back!...For this chapter anyway. Eh, I think this Yuu is far from canon. The Original Yuu/MC did't have much background to begin with. I'd say this Yuu is kind of like a Gary Sue, but not intentional of course. That or I don't really have a clear definition on what is a Gary Sue.

- The Unnamed Guest. I'm back!...For this chapter anyway. XD.


CHAPTER VII – TO THE LIMITS

"How do you feel?" A man in a white lab coat asked the boy.

There was a faint throbbing in the boy's head. He looked down at his hands and moved his fingers. His body felt different, but he couldn't really explain in what way.

"Fine," He finally said.

The man observed him with slightly narrowed eyes for a moment. His expression never changing.

"Is that so." The man said with little emotion. "Your answer isn't quite what I expected…Well, it's different from how you would answer."

Different? It's not like the boy had lost his memories, but it did seemed like the "him" before was somebody else. Despite that, he wasn't really bothered by it at all. How strange it is for him to accept it so quickly.

The man stroked his graying beard and shifted his gaze to the large monitors that showed various numbers and charts. His bored slanted eyes didn't change once since he asked his first question. "The greatest of God Eaters. Do you have any interest in becoming such a being? A god amongst us humans?"

"No." The boy replied bluntly.

The man grunted in response. "I'd expected such an uninspiring response from you. Well, it's not like I particular care what your intentions are. Whether you like it or not, you'll very likely become one of the best."

A few more people in lab coats rushed into the room and began to speak to the man. Most of their words were inaudible, but they were clearly excited about something. Finally, the man broke away from the crowd and declared, "Let's continue making Project A.O.1 a success, shall we?"


Alisa woke up in a dazed and confused state. She turned her head from side to side, examining her surroundings. It felt like just a moment ago that she was in a room filled with medical and science equipment, but as her mind quickly began to adjust itself, she realized that she was back in her room.

"Then…was that a dream?" She placed a hand on her forehead and closed her eyes. "But it felt so real. I can still feel the cold room and the smell of chemicals permeating throughout." Suddenly a thought struck her. "Could it be a memory? But I don't recall anything like that-." Memories of yesterday's incident suddenly resurfaced in her mind. "Maybe it wasn't a hallucination after all." For some reason, she couldn't help, but shiver as she thought about what she saw.

She mulled over her dream countless times after that, but still couldn't come up with any kind of explanation. It wasn't until she tired herself out that she returned back to sleep, hoping that she gets her answer there.


While Alisa was tormenting herself with finding an explanation, Yuu was in a more relaxed and calm state, or at least he appeared that way. He too had a few things weighing on his mind as he leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms.

"Resonance," he whispered with a frown. "To think it would happen to me." His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about the sudden development. "I'll have to be more careful around her," he finally decided.


After getting up a few hours later, she felt the expected fatigue wash over her, both physically and mentally. Luckily, she nor the 1st Unit were scheduled for any missions today so she could take it easy and regain her strength. That required a good morning meal which was why she headed straight to the cafeteria. It was relatively packed at that time of day, but she still noticed Sakuya eating by herself near the corner.

"Good morning, Sakuya-san," she greeted.

"Morning," Sakuya replied after putting down her newspaper. "How're you feeling today? We had a pretty tough mission yesterday and I think your side had it rougher."

"Not bad, just a bit tired." Alisa stretched her arms and a small yawn escaped her mouth.

"Not getting enough sleep?"

"Something like that," Alisa murmured. After getting her meal, she sat down next to Sakuya who had resumed reading her newspaper. She took a bite of her toast and then asked, "You've known Kannagi-san for a long time now, right?"

"That's right. We were in the same orphanage after all."

Alisa bit her lip and paused for a moment. "Did you…knew how he was doing when he transferred to headquarters?"

Now it was Sakuya's turn to hesitate. "Well, not really," she admitted sadly. "I wrote many letters to him, but he never responded. I wasn't sure if he was alive or dead." As if recalling the memory had made her emotional, her eyes were becoming noticeably teary. "But fortunately for us, we heard many of his exploits so we eventually realized that he was doing fine." She smiled with relief, but then it turned into a large frown. "That reminds me, I have to make sure to properly punish him for ignoring me for all those years." She crumpled the newspaper with one hand as they were beset with a heavy atmosphere.

"She's starting to scare me. I should probably change the subject."

"A-Anyway was Kannagi-san always like that? You know, all serious and aloof?"

Sakuya blinked several times and paused to think about the question. "Hmmm, somewhat. He was pretty aloof when we met him, but he talked a lot more than he did now."

There was something in Sakuya's tone that made Alisa thought there was more that Sakuya was keeping to herself.

"I'll go on ahead," Sakuya said after Alisa remained silent. "Enjoy your meal."

"Ah, okay." Alisa watched as Sakuya left the room and thought about what kind of past these childhood friends had.

"Something on your mind, Alisa?"

She nearly jumped out of her seat at the voice. She was so deep in her thoughts that it felt like nobody was around her at all. "D-Doctor Oguruma! What are you doing here?"

Dr. Daigo Oguruma grinned at her reaction. "We have an appointment, remember? For the health tests."

It took her nearly ten seconds to remember what he was talking about. "Ah, right. Is it that time already?"

"It's not like you to be so distracted like that. What were you thinking about?"

"It's nothing much," Alisa quickly replied before picking up her food tray. "Let's proceed with the tests."

"I see…" Dr. Ogumura grin grew wider while he followed after Alisa.


"Hey, here for lunch?" Lindow asked the moment Yuu entered the Tatsumiya restaurant. He waved the New-Type over to the far end of the counter.

"I think I need a new eating place," Yuu mentally noted.

"The usual," Yuu briskly said to Masakaze who just grunted in response. "You just finished?" Yuu eyed the mostly empty bowl in front of Lindow.

"Yup. I have a mission afterwards, but I'll stay and keep you company for a bit."

"Thanks," Yuu replied sarcastically.

"So, getting along with everybody here?" Lindow asked after Yuu's order was done.

"I'm not a kid anymore, you know. There's no need to act like a concerned big brother or something."

"In my eyes, you'll always be a little kid brother to me." Lindow reached out and ruffled the younger man's hair.

Yuu flicked his hand off and then sighed. "Everything's fine. I don't think I met everybody though. Like the people from Units 4 to 7."

"Well, that's understandable. Those guys are currently participating in the Northern
Defense so they don't come back to the base all too often. Only a few of them return to get supplies before heading out again. I hear that they'll all be back soon."

"I think the Director mentioned something about the Northern Defense."

Lindow folded his arms and cleared his throat. "Well, you may have heard about the large number of Aragami in the Hokkaido area. It's about three times as much as compared to our central area. Since about a year ago, a number of them have been crossing over to the central area. The Director feared that they'll eventually overrun us if we did nothing so we sent out almost half of our forces up there."

"Who made the call on who to send?" Yuu asked after swallowing a few noodles.

"Old man Gen and my sister. I heard it was a lot of back and forth between them on the matter, but they ultimately agreed to the eventual choices. I go up there and help every now and then too."

Yuu continued eating and thought about what Lindow had just told him. "Is that where you go when you disappear every now and then?"

Lindow's eyes grew larger before a grin appeared on his face. "What? You worried about me?" He lightly elbowed Yuu in his side. "You're a few years too early to be worrying about me."

With a heavy sigh, Yuu shook his head and resumed eating. All the while, Lindow kept on smiling as if he was a proud parent watching his son enjoying a hearty meal.

"You know…" Lindow began as soon as Yuu put down his chopsticks. "When I'm gone, take care of the others in my place."

Despite the foreboding words, there was nothing in Lindow's expression or tone to reflect any grave issue. "What do you mean?" Yuu asked warily.

Lindow lit a cigarette and inhaled once. "Like what I meant. If I'm gone somewhere on a mission or something, take care of the Unit for me. Don't get me wrong though. Sakuya is a great God Eater and she's good at looking out for others, but there are times when her emotions will overwhelm her. With you though, I think you don't let your emotions sway you now, right? Besides, you outrank her so it's natural you take the lead after me."

Yuu still wasn't sure why Lindow was bringing this up. It felt ominous, but Lindow's body language remained the usual as if there wasn't anything wrong. Even if he pressed Lindow on the matter, it didn't seem like he'll get the answer he'd want.

"I'm not cut out to be a leader. Sakuya will be fine instead."

"So that's your answer?" Lindow merely shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I'll take it as a I'll think about it." With a laugh, he left the restaurant and headed to whatever mission he had.

"Did you noticed anything strange with him?" Yuu asked Masakaze when he came back to retrieve the now empty bowl.

"I didn't, but with him, I never really know. Kind of like you actually." The chef grinned as he went to wash the dishes.


The conversation Yuu had with Lindow was still on his mind as he left the restaurant. He was thinking more about it than he had realized since he nearly ran into Sakuya without even noticing her presence.

"Ah, Yuu-kun. Did you just eat?" After he nodded in confirmation, she shifted her gaze to the nearby Udon restaurant. "I can guess where. You should find a new eating place."

"I've started looking."

"Just decided a few minutes ago though."

"That's good," she said with a smile. "By the way, I ran into Alisa-chan just a while ago." Her half grin made him feel slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh yeah? What about that?" He stoically asked.

"She just asked a few things about you."

"Like what?"

Sakuya dragged out her response for what felt like an eternity. It was hard for him to figure out what she was thinking. As if she was mirroring back his expressionless face, she finally asked him, "Do you have time to talk for a bit?"


They headed to the rooftop of the base without saying much. A wave of speculations and questions in Yuu's head drowned out much of the silence. As usual, the rooftop was empty except for the few pigeons perching on the railings.

"Want some coffee?" She asked, motioning towards a conveniently placed vending machine.

"Sure."

Yuu sat down on the bench in the meantime and less than a few seconds later, Sakuya hurried back with a reddened face.

"Sorry, but I forgot my credits card. Can I borrow yours?"

Yuu silently sighed before tossing his card to her.

After finally getting the coffee, they sat quietly on the bench for a few moments.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" Yuu asked, finally breaking the silence.

She turned her face to him and looked at him straight in the eye. "Did something happen between you and Alisa-chan?"

"Like what?"

"I'm not really sure, but it seemed like she had a lot on her mind this morning and that she asked about you a lot. I'm just putting two and two together."

"It probably was about that…Or not."

"So you're going to remain silent on the matter?" Her eyebrows narrowed as a deep frown appeared on her face. "Then let's change the subject. Can you tell me what happened while you were at Europe for all those years? I'll be honest. It was a bit of a shock when I first saw you again, but as we went on more and more missions, it was apparent to me on how you had changed. There were times when I felt like you were somebody else, but there's also times when I'm reminded of the old days."

Yuu quietly listened to her spoken thoughts with a conflicted expression on her face.

"For the most part, the you now is probably for the better, but part of me is bothered about the change. So can you tell me what happened? How is it that you're so calm now?" She pleaded with determined eyes. "We're family, right?"

At this point, Yuu had to turn his face away. "Yeah…we are," he replied softly.

"Then-"

"I can only tell you this much." Yuu took out the small metal container in his pocket and showed it to her. "It has to do with these."

Sakuya eyed the container. "You mean those pills you sometimes take? That's some power it has."

Yuu nodded and returned the container back to his pocket. "That's all I can say. It's supposed to be a secret." When it seemed like Sakuya was still confused, Yuu continued, "I'm not in pain or anything like that so you don't have to worry. It's not a big deal, really."

It was obvious to him that she was struggling to understand what he just said and the consequences behind it. After he felt that she was going to press him further, her face brightened as she breathed out a sigh of relief.

"Is that right?"

"Yeah, so don't overthink it."

"There's still some things I want to ask, but I think I'll be satisfied for now. But you have to let us know the whole story next time."

Yuu remained silent while Sakuya began walking away. "I'll let Lindow and Tsubaki-nee know since I'm sure they're concerned too."

"Haven't felt like that in years," Yuu admitted after Sakuya had left. He exhaled and then collapsed onto the bench. It was a small relief for him to be able to say as much as he did. "To think that she can still exert that much pressure on me." A laugh escaped his mouth after recalling the scene. "I guess some things don't really change."


Despite what had happened at the restaurant and the talk that Yuu had with Sakuya, the following few days went by uneventful. That was, until an announcement was made that day.

"Do you know what's going on?" Kouta asked.

"No idea," Yuu replied as he observed his surroundings. They were at the lobby and it wasn't only the First Unit that had gathered, there were members from the Second and Third Units along with a number of staff members as well.

"It's probably about the Northern Defense Campaign," Tatsumi said. He was also doing his own observation, his usual cheerful attitude hiding somewhere behind his current somber expression.

"Huh, why do you think that?" Kouta asked.

"Well, it has been over six months already," Soma muttered. "This is just something we should be ready for."

"I still don't understand what's going. I know about the Northern Defense, but…" He looked back and forth at Tatsumi and Soma, but none of them offered to explain any further.

That was when Tsubaki and Gen made their appearances. The room quickly became silent and a thick tension followed after as all eyes were glued to the two Fenrir leaders.

"I'm sure all of you have been hearing talks about the Northern Defense recently," Gen began, his gaze falling on each audience member. "Well, we have an announcement to make regarding that. While it hasn't been more than a year since our brave men and women had departed for the campaign, it had felt like a much longer time. We have accomplished what we sought out to do and that was to drive the large Aragami group back to the Hokkaido area. Our God Eaters will be returning home very soon."

Gen glanced at Tsubaki who then moved to the center. "We also just received a report that the 7th Unit has defeated an Ouroboros."

The room suddenly erupted in loud cheers. Many of the Fenrir members were talking excitedly about the news and even some were talking about rewards and money. Kouta was no exception.

"No way, an Ouroboros? Isn't that awesome? They're one of the toughest Aragami in the world. Man, those 7th Unit members must be really great God Eaters." Kouta's eyes grew so wide that it seemed like they would fall out of its sockets.

"You know about Ouroboros?" Alisa asked.

"Yeah, I've been reading up on Aragami in the database."

"You serious?" Soma asked, his face full of skepticism. "I'm honestly really surprised."

Kouta happily grinned at the response. "Just wanted to learn more so I can be ready."

"Did somebody said that he wanted to learn more?" Paylor sudden appearance from behind had caused them to jump back in surprise.

"You should really stop appearing like that," Soma mumbled.

"If you want to learn more about God Eaters and Aragami and other such things, then attend some of my exhilarating lectures." Paylor recommended with great enthusiasm. "I think it'll be especially useful to you young God Eaters…like Fujiki and Amiella-kun here."

Kouta saw the uneasy expressions on everybody's face and became concerned about what was going to happen at the lecture. "I-I think I'll continue with my self-study."

"Are you sure about that?" Paylor leaned towards Kouta. "If you do attend, you'll get to hear some fun facts like this one: Of all the God Eaters at the Far East Branch, the only ones to have ever defeated an Ouroboros alone are Kannagi-kun and Lindow Amamiya-kun."

Instead of becoming more excited, Kouta's eyes just grew bigger with shock. Alisa was also noticeably surprised at the fact.

Yuu glanced over at Lindow. "You too?"

"Yeah, that's right." Lindow made himself comfortable on the couch and then leaned into the cushions. "Can't have my junior constantly show me up, right?"

"I wonder if we can beat one?" Kouta asked after getting over his shock.

After hearing Kouta's innocent question, Lindow frowned and his face darkened. "Don't even think about it," he ordered in a deep commanding voice. "Listen, battling an Ouroboros is no fun and games just like any Aragami. But an Ouroboros especially is something you don't want to tangle with. If you ever see one, just run. I don't care what you're doing. Just run. You guys aren't ready to fight one."

"He's right," Soma added. "Be prepared to lose not only your life, but also the lives of those around you."

As if she heard the 1st Unit's discussion, Tsubaki spoke up again. "Despite the victory, it came at a heavy price." With just those words, the mood sank heavily. Excited chatters were replaced with solemn murmurs. "We lost a few God Eaters to that battle and also some of the battles that lead up to it." She began calling off names of those that died in action, names that were unfamiliar and almost foreign to Yuu.

While Yuu remained unfazed, Alisa and Kouta were noticeably queasy as if their stomachs were churning from the inside. Kouta then sat down on the couch next to Lindow and looked down towards the ground.

"With everything being said, everybody else will be returning home," Gen added. "For those that have departed, they all fought bravely and died honorably. Remember that as we hold their funeral services once the others return."


After the announcement, most of the people scattered and returned to their original duties. The heavy atmosphere remained suffocating in the lobby so Kouta left as well and found himself heading towards the roof. Not only did he saw a few staff members there, he also saw Alisa and Kanon together. They were both leaning against the railing, looking over Anagura.

"Since when did they become friends?"

"I guess we all had the same idea, huh?" Kouta forced out a quiet laugh.

"Seems like it," Kanon replied with an equally forced smile. There were still some traces of tears in her eyes.

"You've been here for more than a year, right? I guess you knew them pretty well."

"Well, not that well since it's only been a little over a year. But I did talk to them every now and then between missions and such. It still hurts a lot though."

Kouta nodded, recalling his reaction to Eric's death despite not having known him for very long.

"You're taking it a lot better than before."

"Before? Oh, she's talking about Eric-san."

Kouta's cheeks grew slightly red after realizing that Kanon remembered how he was feeling then. "Yeah, seems like it. I figured that feeling like that every time would just drag people down. I think it's better to just smile as much as you can to lift people's spirits." With that, he smiled widely, flashing his bright white teeth.

"I like that way of thinking." A smile formed on Kanon's lips as she turned her attention to Alisa. "Have you already experienced such things back in Russia?"

"Not really," Alisa quickly replied. "Maybe I've been fortunate on that matter since the people that have died are people that I never really knew."

"I see." Kanon then placed an arm over Alisa's shoulder and dragged her close. "Don't worry Alisa-chan. If something like that happens in the future, we'll be there for you."

"There's no need for such talk." Alisa forcibly broke free of Kanon's arms and took a few steps towards the stairs. "I can take care of myself. And you!" She pointed a slender finger at Kouta. "You're weak so don't do something stupid to get yourself killed!" After letting out all she wanted to say, she left the rooftop in a flash that caught the attention of several staff members.

Kanon giggled while continuing to watch where Alisa had disappeared. "She's not very honest, is she?"

"Yup. That's one of the reasons why the First Unit is so entertaining." Kouta placed his hands behind his head and turned his attention to the horizon. An image of his family suddenly appeared in his head. "It has been a while since I've seen them. Maybe it's a good time to see them again."


"Another day, another dead God Eater," Soma mumbled as he made his way across the courtyard. Despite trying to remain subtle, he could hear and see the others pointing and talking about him. "I guess they blame me for their deaths too, huh." While maintaining his composure, he ignored those he came across, but he suddenly stopped when he was in front of the monument of the fallen. Just as always, the monument was kept in great condition.

Without much thought, his eyes ran down the list of the names. To his surprise, he still remembered a good amount of them. Maybe it was because of the announcement, but he suddenly felt a sudden wave of nostalgia, fluttering through his chest. He closed his eyes and recalled his many memories of the fallen.

"I'm surprised to see you here," a voice said which brought Soma back to present.

Soma's eyes shot wide open as he quickly turned around him.

Standing a few feet away next to a tree was Yuu. He was neither smiling nor frowning.

"Just how long was he standing there?" Soma quickly checked his surroundings and he realized that they were completely alone. "What I do and where I go is none of your business," He growled and briskly continued to his destination. He didn't get very far when Yuu mumbled something under his breath.

"So the Shinigami goes wherever he wants…"

In a split second, Soma had his hands on Yuu's collar as he pinned him against the thick tree trunk. "What did you just say?" He then pushed him harder into the tree. "Just who do you think you are? You don't even know anything!"

Even without a single word from Yuu, Soma's anger continued to grow as if the floodgates had been opened. "You know what? The first time I saw you, there was something about you that rubbed me the wrong way."

Finally, Yuu responded with a smirk. "Oh really? What a coincidence. Me too. My blood boils whenever I see you."

Soma suddenly found himself raising his right arm, but then stopped when he noticed Yuu's red eyes. A strong chill ran through his body that forcefully made him drop both of his arms. "Forget it, I don't have time to waste with you." He straightened out his jacket and walked away. Not once did he look back.


A day had passed since the Northern Defense announcement. It wasn't very long, but the Fenrir members continued with their work without noticeably dwelling on the past. Although the oppressive air was still present to remind them of the tragedy. For Kouta, he tried hard to think about other things so he wouldn't succumb to the negativity.

"No mission today so what should I do?" He asked out loud.

"How about joining my lecture?"

Kouta nearly tripped and fell down in surprise. "Jeez, it's only Sakaki-sensei. Nearly gave me a heart attack." He pressed a hand to his chest and felt the still intense beating inside.

"Only Sakaki-sensei?"

"Ah-" Kouta quickly got up and straightened out his clothes. "I mean, good morning to you, Sakaki-sensei." He stood upright and gave Paylor a salute.

"Alright, you can stop it with the formal business," Paylor ordered with a wave of his hand. "So back to business. I recalled somebody had shown great enthusiasm for learning."

"Yeah…somebody did…" Kouta slowly recalled what happened during yesterday's announcement.

"Good then." Paylor's face was full of smiles as he grabbed Kouta's arm. "It just so happens that I'm giving a lecture to new God Eaters right now. You should come." Without giving Kouta any time to turn him down, Paylor forcefully dragged him away.

Their destination was Paylor's office which wasn't a place that Kouta ever visited before. It's not like he had a reason to do so before. Of the times he'd met Paylor, the man appeared quite the eccentric as others have said. His rapid-fire dialogue over highly advanced and technical matter just made it worse for Kouta.

"Not to mention the smile that never leaves his face. I just can't read this man at all."

Kouta had expected the office to be full of research notes, papers, books and equipment. To his great surprise though, it was quite normal.

"A little too normal."

Although, he was surprised to find Alisa sitting cross-armed on the sofa. His presence however, didn't seem like much of a surprise to her.

"What are you doing here?" Kouta asked.

"Probably the same reason as to why you're here," she grumbled.

"I did try to get some more participants, but they all escaped my grasp," Paylor lamented sadly. "But, you two are the only God Eaters here with less than a year's experience so it's fine that at least you two are here."

"To think being new would be even more painful," Alisa said with a heavy sigh.

"At least we'll get useful information," Kouta replied, suddenly becoming more serious.

"How right you are, Fujiki-kun." Paylor quickly pressed a few keys on his computer before some sort of presentation appeared on the projector. The first image to appear was an Ogretail. "I think it's best to start at the very beginning. "So what is an Aragami? Fujiki-kun?" He pointed a finger at Kouta.

"Huh? Ah…um…some kind of animal?" Kouta guessed while squirming to bring out an intelligent response.

"Well, that's pretty general," Paylor replied, shaking his head disappointedly. "It is admittedly a difficult question since we aren't really sure and they could be described in multiple ways, predators at the top of the food chain, gods on earth are just some of them. To this day, we honestly don't know much about them. Like where did they even come from?"

"You know, I've never really thought about that," Kouta admitted, looking up at something far in the distant. "Ever since I was born, they were always there. I didn't think it ever mattered where they came from."

"That's an unfortunate notion held by people of the younger generation including yourselves, but I don't particularly blame you kids for thinking this way either," Paylor sadly lamented. "Even us older adults have long disregarded such questions and started to just look to the future. However!" He slammed the back of his hand to the wall and raised his voice. "To find solutions to the future, we must find the answers from the past! Otherwise, we will be missing that one hidden key element!"

Kouta and Alisa were both taken aback by Paylor's passionate speech. They sat with wide opened eyes and mouths, silent except for their quiet breathing.

Paylor quickly cleared his throat once he noticed how quiet the room had become. "It seems I've gotten too heated." He laughed at the spectacle before turning his attention back to the screen. "Now, where were we?"

As Paylor mumbled a few words under his breath, Kouta continued to reflect on the question presented to them.

"Now that Sakaki-sensei brought this up, I do wonder where they come from. I don't know if the answer will make things any better, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to think about it."

Kouta furrowed his eyebrows and then glanced over at Alisa. She appeared relatively expressionless and continued to focus on whatever Paylor was saying.

"It's not going to be simple, huh."

The lecture continued along and after about another hour, Paylor looked up at the clock on the wall and lightly nodded his head. "Seems like this is a good time to stop for the day. I hope that you all learned a lot today and had a lot to think about. Until next time, you're all dismissed."

Kouta stood up and stretched his arms until he heard several small crunches. Despite trying to pay complete attention to the lecture, his mind drifted off at times and nearly dozed off. "So what are you going to do now?" He asked Alisa who was busy looking through her notes. "You're quite the diligent student," he said with an amused expression.

"Huh?" Alisa appeared confused at what he just said and didn't immediately respond. "Of course. Haven't you heard that knowledge is power? You'll never know when certain knowledge and information will save your life on the battlefield."

"I'm not going to argue against that," he thought, wondering when their next major battle will be.


"How are the preparations going?"

Yuu had just left the medical office and was on the way towards the elevator when he heard a familiar voice down the hall. It didn't take long for him to identify the voice had belonged to Director Johannes and that he was speaking to Dr. Daigo Ogumura in a corner. They didn't appear to notice his presence at all as they continued with their conversation.

"Just about done," Dr. Ogumura responded with a slight nod.

"Good," Johannes said before lifting his gaze up at Yuu. "Didn't see you there, Kannagi-kun. Coming from Dr. Thompson? Nothing serious I hope."

"Just a routine checkup," Yuu replied and then glanced at Dr. Ogumura. "We don't meet very often, do we?"

A wide grin appeared on Dr. Ogumura's face. "I'm no field agent so I stay coup down here all the time. Although, I never really thought much about it until you mentioned it."

"Didn't you say that you wanted to speak with Kannagi-kun, someday?" Johannes reminded Dr. Ogumura. "This is a good opportunity." He then left them with those last words before riding the nearby elevator up.

"That is true," Dr. Ogumura agreed. "But maybe some other time. I do have an appointment right now."

As if on cue, Alisa appeared from the corner of the hallway. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Just having a small chat," Dr. Ogumura calmly responded with a smile. "Let's continue with the usual counseling." He lightly guided Alisa to where Yuu had come from. "Let's have a chat at another time, lieutenant."

Yuu didn't respond to Dr. Ogumura's suggestion, but he did noticed Alisa staring at him before she walked pass him.


"A joint-operation?" Shun Ogawa said, slightly amused at the prospect. "It's been a while since we had one with the 1st Unit." The 18-year old God Eater's eyes burn with competitive spirit as he stared at Yuu. His childish attitude was reflected with the way he dressed, wearing a tilted baseball cap, blue shorts and loose green jacket over a blue shirt.

"Do we even need one?" Karel Schneider asked with much less enthusiasm. Shun's blond-haired partner in crime had on a composed expression. Contrary to Shun, he dressed in a more adult manner consisting of a pink dress shirt with a black necktie, blue jeans and combat boots.

The young woman sitting next to them just shook her head disappointedly at the two of them. The 3rd Unit's leader, Kyoko Hanazawa had long black hair and wore black rimmed glasses, silver colored dress shirt, blue silk skirt that fell below her knees as well as dark blue boots.

The 1st and 3rd Units gathered in the 1st Unit's conference room and one of the first thing that Tsubaki said was that there was going to be a joint-operation.

"Wait, didn't we have joint operations before?" Kouta stood up and furrowed his eyebrows.

"Technically no," Sakuya replied. "Those situations are just having some assistance from a member or two of another Unit. Joint-operations usually have most members from the Units working together."

"Ah…I'm still not sure we need to differentiate such situations, but okay." He sat back down and appeared satisfied at the explanation.

Ever since entering the room, Yuu had paid little attention to the joint-operation discussions or much else. His eyes roamed the room until they fell on a tall slim and pale young woman who didn't utter one word. She sat in the corner of the room near the other 3rd Unit members, but appeared distracted or simply bored. Despite what her intentions may be, she stood out quite a bit. She wore a purple combat jacket over a maroon colored shirt that exposed a large part of her torso. Her remaining attire consisted of tight black leather pants, combat boots and most notably, a large purple eyepatch covering her left eye.

Yuu met Gina Dickinson on a prior mission where he assisted the 3rd Unit. He didn't remember much about her since she went off and did her own thing as soon as the mission began.

"She's supposed to be a skilled sniper from what I've heard though."

"What kind of Aragami are we dealing with?" Alisa asked, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"There's been sightings of Gboro Gboros," Tsubaki replied and brought a map up on the projector.

"There's nothing to worry about with those Gboro Gboros," Shun said with resounding confidence. "They aren't worth my time."

"As well as Vajra sightings," Tsubaki continued, ignoring Shun's remark.

The mention of Vajras noticeably shook both Karel and Shun. Their eyes grew wide as they sat upright in their seats.

"They are very troubling Aragami so we're very assured to have the 1st Unit with us," Kyoko said with relief.

"I could still take them all on by myself," Shun muttered under his breath. "Wait, where is the other Amamiya sibling and Soma anyway?"

"They're currently on special missions," Tsubaki replied briefly.

"What's the unit leader doing going off on his own? Well, they'll just miss out on all the fun." Shun shrugged with a large smile until Kyoko shot him with a piercing gaze.

"If you're all done with the private discussions, how about getting back to business?" Tsubaki suggested, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"Apologies, captain." Kyoko shot another cold look at Shun who began to shrink in his seat.

Tsubaki quickly flipped through a few slides until a map appeared. "You'll be heading to a mountainous area in the west. There's a river that runs through it which is likely where the Gboro Gboro make their homes. I believe there's about a handful of them. Maybe more. Maybe less. There's only an indication of one Vajra." She turned her attention back to the God Eaters. "I'm sure most of you have experience dealing with Gboro Gboros before, but for the benefit of the rookies, I'll quickly cover some important information about them." She flipped to the next slide which showed a crocodile-like Aragami with thick blue scales. Its head and mouth were so big that it could've swallowed a whole human. Its other notable features were its large and sharp fins protruding from its sides. "Amiella and Fujiki, have either of you seen one before?"

"I've seen several before, but I've never stuck around long enough to see what they can do," Kouta replied.

"I've never seen one before though," Alisa admitted as she stared at the picture.

"They aren't very common around the Russia area," Tsubaki explained. "With some exceptions, they mostly prefer the warmer weather. The main thing to keep in mind when dealing with them is that to avoid a battle in the waters. Trust me, you'll just be outclassed in it. Lure them out onto land. That's not to say that it's a downhill battle from there, but they are much more manageable. Hanazawa can fill in on other helpful details."

"Will do," Kyoko said, giving the two rookies a calm smile.

Tsubaki switched to another slide. "Now for the critical one." A picture of a large beast appeared on the screen. With large fangs, a thick muscular body of black fur, a red orange mane, and a wide steel cape material protruding around its back, it was similar to an ancient tiger or lion. Even from within the picture, it flashed a ferocious gaze and looked like it could've jumped out of the screen any moment now. "As you may know, this is a Vajra. It's among the most fearsome Aragami. With its considerable speed and agility which combined with the massive strength behind its frame, it can make quick work of its enemies."

Kouta groaned in his seat and the others appeared to share his sentiments without uttering a word.

"Along with its strengths, it can also discharge electricity," Tsubaki continued. "It doesn't do it very often, but expect to see it when it becomes angry."

"Now that's not fair," Shun complained with a frown.

"There's nothing fair about battles with Aragami," Tsubaki reminded them with a stern expression. "They don't play by the rules so don't ever expect any notion of fairness when out on the field."

It might not have been intentional, but Tsubaki's comment had really soured the mood in the room.

Alisa brought some more life back when she asked, "Does the Vajra have any weak points that we should know?"

Tsubaki nodded her head and returned her attention to the projector. "Surprisingly, it's susceptible to injury on its front paws."

"Its front paws?" Alisa frowned as she looked at the Vajra's image. "Anywhere else?"

"Admittedly, I don't recommend people targeting that area unless with range attacks or if they're experienced in close quarters. It may be obvious to some, but its tail is another weak point. Unlike its paws, I recommend that to be the primary target area. The difficult part is getting behind it. However, with proper teamwork, that should be doable." This time, she shot a displeased look at Shun and Karel. "Another point to remember is that the cape-like object around its head is very durable. I suggest not bothering with it." She turned off the projector and looked around the room. "Any questions?" When nobody spoke up, she crossed her arms. "Tachibana, take over as temp leader for Unit 1. Both you and Hanazawa will run the operation."

The two seasoned God Eaters nodded their heads before Tsubaki left the room.

"Everybody get your equipment and be ready to fly out at 1700," Kyoko ordered and then looked over at her subordinates. "If you're one second late, we'll leave without you. Is that understood?"

Karel slightly shook his head in annoyance. "Yes, yes ma'am."

Shun shrugged his shoulders and followed Karel and Gina out of the room.

"I see that you still have your work cut off for you, Kyoko," Sakuya said, smiling with sympathy.

Kyoko breathed out a heavy sigh. "It's too much work for me." She swiftly grabbed onto Sakuya's hands. "Want to switch units? You can be the unit leader."

Despite Kyoko's strong insistence, Sakuya turned her head away and apologized in a quiet voice. "Sorry, I don't think that'll be a good idea." She walked away from the visibly saddened Kyoko and gathered the remaining Unit One members. "Time for us to get ready as well."


Alisa hurried to get her God Arc and ran into Dr. Daigo Oguruma.

"What's the matter, Alisa?"

"Just getting ready for a mission." She made her way past him.

He held a hand up to stop her. "Don't you remember that we have a session in an hour?"

"Huh? Oh…that's right." Alisa lowered her eyes, unsure of what to do.

"This is an important session, do you understand? You'll have to stay behind today."

"But…" She started to protest, but stop midway.

Dr. Oguruma smiled in delight. "Good. Then I'll see you in a bit." He walked off while whistling an upbeat tune.

As she watched Dr. Ogumura disappear from her sight, she stayed glued to her spot. "They'll probably be okay without me. And there's Red Eyes as well. But…" She placed a hand on her chest. "Why do I feel uneasy about it?"

"Hey what're you doing just standing here?" Kouta called from behind her. "Did you already forgot about the warning we got?"

She looked at him without a word for a moment. "Just thinking about something. Let's go."

Alisa grabbed her God Arc and followed after Kouta. "It shouldn't hurt just to miss one session."


True to Kyoko's word, the two helicopters took off without even a second to spare. All of the members had gotten on in time despite Shun rushing at the last second. As they headed west, the flat lands eventually turned into mountains and forests. They sky had also darkened, but there remained some light in the horizon before the sun had completely disappeared.

"Lots of tall trees, almost sunset, poor visibility, large number of God Eaters…these are terrible conditions." Yuu took out his metal canister.

"Look over there!" Kouta called out and pointed to something out of his window. "What are those?"

"Where?" Alisa asked, squinting her eyes.

Yuu looked in the direction of where Kouta was pointing at and could barely make out something a few miles away on the open road. "Are those…footprints or tracks?" A frowned appeared on Yuu's face.

"Well, we already passed it," Kouta said before looking out another window.

"Get ready everyone, we'll descend over there," Sakuya said, motioning towards a small clearing within the trees. "Looks like Unit 3 will be first."

From their helicopter, the 1st Unit members watched as Kyoko, Shun, Karel and Gina descend down a rope ladder while their helicopter remained hovering several feet above ground.

"You guys ready?" Sakuya asked.

"Yeah," Alisa replied on behalf of the others.

The doors opened and a rope ladder descended towards the ground. Sakuya took the initiative and climbed down first with the others following closely behind.

"Kind of creepy, don't you think?" Shun said after the helicopters left them. Just then, a breeze flew past them, ruffling the tree leaves. It had gotten noticeably darker at this point.

"Make sure to pay attention to your radios," Kyoko ordered her unit. "We can easily get lost if we're not careful." She was noticeably no longer wearing her glasses and her hair was tied into a ponytail.

"You don't have to state the obvious." Karel remarked with some annoyance. "We're not rookies like some people, you know?"

"I'll treat you like veterans once you start acting like one," Kyoko replied back in a more authoritative tone.

"The 3rd Unit has more problems than I realized." Alisa whispered to Sakuya.

"We can't really complain when we just have one troublemaker," Sakuya replied with a half-smile.

Kouta rubbed the back of his head and looked around the area. "So where do we start?"

"Search for the Gboro Gboros first," Kyoko declared. "They are less of a threat and are much easier to find. They'll be close to a water source, probably a river or stream nearby. Just remember to avoid getting into the water."

"Sounds like a plan," Sakuya agreed. "You heard her, let's start searching. Alisa-chan, you and I will cover the rear. Yuu-kun, you'll be the front guard. And Kouta-kun, please scout ahead. No need to go too far."

"Yes ma'am," Kouta said with a salute before scampering off ahead.

"Schneider and Dickinson, fall back to the rear as well," Kyoko ordered. The two silently complied without an argument.

The group then moved at a relative quick yet steady pace deeper into the forest. All the while, Yuu carefully memorized the path they were taking and the direction they were going. At the corner of his eye, he noticed the large mountains and hills that rose up. Judging from the distance, they weren't too far from them.

Outside of the sounds of boots crunching and the flapping of bird wings in the distant, it was relatively silent. If it was just the 1st Unit, there may have been more of a sense of uneasiness and apprehension, especially from Kouta and Alisa, but they were quite calm under the situation.

"Probably because of the 3rd Unit's presence," Yuu thought. "For God Eaters, they were decent, especially their captain who appeared quite capable." His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard a faint, but clear sound of running water in the distant. "We're close." His suspicions were proven correct when Kouta reappeared from the northwest.

"I've located a river running through the forest," Kouta quietly announced while trying to catch his breath. "There's also Gboro Gboros nearby. I think about three of them."

"Then let's go get them." Shun took a few steps forward before Kyoko grabbed his sleeve and threw him to the ground. "What was that for?" He groaned and then rubbed his head.

"Don't be hasty," she admonished before turning her attention to Kouta. "What else did you saw?"

"Uh…there weren't many trees around the river area. So it's more opened then where we are now. And then about the river, it's probably twenty feet wide and continues downwards. I couldn't see the end."

"Any Vajras?"

"Didn't see any."

"That's good to hear." Kyoko turned to the others. "Dickinson, find a good spot and provide support fire."

Gina squinted her eyes at the nearby mountain. "I'll find a spot up there. Just don't get in my line of sight."

"You can leave one of them to me," Shun said after Gina left. "No need for any of your help."

Kyoko frowned, but still gave her approval. "Fine. We'll deal with the other two ourselves."

They continued forward for several minutes until they saw the Aragami. Just as Kouta had said, there were only three of them and all of them were at a fair distant away from the river.

"Wait for Dickinson's signal," Kyoko said, raising her right palm while crouching down in the bush.

They maintained their position and continued to wait. Their breathing was all steady and calm. After about another five minutes, a shot rang out that completely shattered the silence. A bullet had struck a Gboro Gboro who was munching on something, right in the forehead. It screamed in agony, but it wasn't enough to put it down. The attack had alerted the other Gboro Gboro of their enemies' presence.

"Go!" Kyoko ordered, pointing her God Arc forward.

Alisa, Shun and Yuu sprung out of the bush and made a path towards the Aragami with Kyoko following close behind.

Sakuya remained in the bush and started rapid firing at the Gboro Gboro with great accuracy, alternating her targets between the Gboro Gboro.

Karel however had moved several feet away behind some boulders and began firing from a different angle.

As the four vanguard members approached the nearest Gboro Gboro with the injured forehead, it suddenly opened its mouth wide.

"Evade!" Kyoko called out just as the Gboro Gboro fired a large ball of water at them. Like a cannonball, it quickly blew past them when it missed its target and shattered several trees.

The Gboro Gboro attempted another water blast, but at that point, the vanguard had closed in on it. Kyoko, Yuu and Alisa buried their blades into its head while Shun ran past it and came into contact with the second Gboro Gboro.


"You're not getting past me!" Shun roared and unleashed several slashes to the Gboro Gboro.

It grimaced in pain for a mere moment before it moved onto the offensive. With its mouth wide opened, it attempted to chomp off Shun's hand.

"Whoa, that was a close one," he said, after pulling back his hand and then lightly exhaling in relief. He thrust the flat portion of his God Arc into the Aragami and pushed it back, creating some breathing room. "So what are you going to do now?" He taunted.

As if it understood Shun's goading, the Gboro Gboro roared and then began swiping at him with its razor-sharp fins while pushing him backwards.

All Shun could do at this point was to jump backwards, alternating left and right to evade the attacks. He couldn't get an opening at all. It was only mere seconds later when he found himself backed into a boulder.

"Shit!" He hissed before he leapt straight up by reflex and avoided the Gboro Gboro's swipe that shattered the boulder. As he began his descent, he swung his blade straight down onto the Gboro Gboro's head with all of his might. The strike was enough to stop the Gboro Gboro's raging attack as it let out a groan and became fixed in its place.

"Looks like I hit your weak spot. Well, it's time I finish you off." Before the Gboro Gboro could recover, Shun leapt over it so that he was facing its back. With a slight turn of his body, he tightly held onto the God Arc's grip with both hands. He shouted loudly and then swung the blade multiple times at its backside. The ferocious attack knocked off the outer layer of its back and exposed some of the fleshly tissue area. He finished by thrusting the blade into its back and then slicing upward with a jump.

"Told you I could take care of you by myself." Shun praised himself as he watched the Gboro Gboro ceased any further movements.

"Ogawa, let's move onto the final one," Kyoko shouted from a few feet away. The other vanguard members had defeated the first Gboro Gboro at some point earlier and were quickly moving onto his location.

"You can leave that to me," Shun responded. Before he could hear anything else from his superior, he made his way to the third Gboro Gboro which was pinned down due to the two sharpshooters accurate attacks while Alisa, Kouta and Karel providing support fire. "Seems like it'll die even without my help." He shook his head disappointedly and continued to charge straight into the Gboro Gboro's location. The rain of bullets ceased once he reached the Gboro Gboro's position. "I'll beat you like I did with the other one." He leapt high into the air and swung his blade down on his descent.

Sensing Shun's presence, the Gboro Gboro turned its attention towards him in the air. His eyes grew wide with shock when the Gboro Gboro raised its right fin to block the attack mid-air. The Aragami then swung its fin and sent him flying high into the air before crashing down into the water. The impact of the water felt like somebody had punched him hard in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. His God Arc was sent flying from his hand at some point.

After entering the water, his ears were quickly flooded with water, silencing the sounds around him except for the sound of rushing water. Darkness overtook him as he continued to sink deeper and deeper down the river like a rock.

"Just how deep is this place? Crap, I can't believe this is happening!" Shun recalled back at the meeting and the warning about being in the water against the Gboro Gboro. "Fuck…Am I going to die here? Damnit!" While in the murky water, his mind was quickly enveloped by fear. His heart beating madly, threatening to fly out of his chest. Then he felt it, the water current around him began flowing much stronger.

"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"

Directly ahead of him was the Gboro Gboro, flying towards him like a torpedo under water, on a direct course towards him.

He flapped his arms and legs and tried to swim out of the way, but his body felt heavier and slower as if it was being weighed down by anchors. When the Gboro Gboro opened its mouth wide, he exerted all of his strength to his legs and propelled his body to the side, barely getting out of harm's way. However, he felt a searing flash of pain on his left arm like a hot knife had ran through it. He didn't need to see the darkening red liquid to know that his blood was leaking from his arm.

"Fuck…" That attack had drained the last of his strength. His eyes began to slowly droop down just like his motionless body sinking deeper down the river. "I can't believe this is how I'll die."


"Ogawa!" Kyoko shouted loudly when she saw Shun falling into the water, her eyes filled with fear and dread.

"That idiot!" Karel exclaimed when he caught up to Kyoko. There was an uncharacteristic anger on his usual carefree face. He had taken several steps past Kyoko and towards the water when Kyoko violently grabbed his arm.

"You'll just get yourselves killed," Kyoko explained, composure quickly returning to her.

"But-," Karel protested for just a moment before refrained from saying anything further. By that time, all of the other members besides Gina had regrouped.

"We can't leave Ogawa-kun in there," Sakuya said, doing her best to keep her emotions in check.

Yuu made a sweeping cursory glance at the others and saw that they all had similar expressions on their faces, a mix of concern and fear.

Kyoko agreed with a nod and dropped her God Arc to the ground as well as removing her boots. "It's best that only one person go in and save him. Otherwise we'll just risk multiple casualties. I'll go since I'm a great swimmer."

The others didn't voice any objections as Kyoko leaped into the water after a running start.

"Wait, you're going in too?!" Alisa exclaimed, alarm registering on her face when she saw Yuu kick off his boots and removed his jacket.

"Hanazawa looks capable, but she'll likely need some help." Without another moment to lose, he quickly disappeared into the dark murky water. After descending down at great speed, he quickly caught up to Kyoko who noticed his presence. They then saw the Gboro Gboro rapidly swimming towards Shun who was motionless and sinking down into the depths. The red gash on his arm was bright enough for Yuu to notice. "He's losing blood fast. Probably oxygen as well. There's no time to waste."

Kyoko made eye contact with Yuu for only a brief moment, but it was enough to confirm the urgency of the matter. Without exchanging any words, Kyoko descended deeper and dropped kick the Gboro Gboro. The attack didn't make any apparent damage, but the force was enough to alter the Aragami's course and missed Shun's body.

Aware of Kyoko's presence, the Aragami changed its target towards her, but before it could come into contact with her, Yuu launched himself and bashed it with his left shoulder. The Aragami was again taken off course from its intended target.

With a single wave of his hand, Kyoko nodded and grab ahold of Shun's still body.

"Your fight's with me now." Yuu swam away from the two other God Eaters and toward the large fish like Aragami. As if blinded by anger, the Gboro Gboro ignored the other two and continued on a head on collision towards him. Right before it made contact with him, he twisted his body to the right side and narrowly evaded the attack. "It's quick as expected. Best not to spend too much time down here." He turned his head and saw Kyoko rising towards the surface while holding onto Shun's arm. "Probably about 20 more seconds before they're clear." He surmised based on the distance they had left and the speed they were ascending.

Feeling the water current changing once more, he returned his attention to the Gboro Gboro that had continued its charge. Just like before, he twisted his body before contact, but this time to the left and evading the charge. For the third round, Yuu exerted strength into his legs and moved his body upwards as if he was hopping on top of the Gboro Gboro. He exerted strength into his legs again and used the Aragami's body as a jump pad before launching himself straight up at an even greater speed.

At this point, Kyoko and Shun had gotten out of the water so all that was left was for him to do the same. Once he was about twenty feet to the surface, Yuu looked down and saw a pressurized ball of water flying towards him at an alarming speed. "There's not enough time to avoid it." He curled his body into a ball and braced for impact. It felt like getting struck by a powerful force of wind combined with a burning sensation on his skin. Fortunate for him, the attack did not break his bones or caused any severe damage due to his defensive posture.

Yuu did not gave any resistance as he let the blast push his body up and up until he shot out of the water and straight into the air, his body spinning around like a volleyball. In just a few seconds, he heard the sound of something erupting below him and had hazard a guess that the Gboro Gboro was flying after him in the air. After extending his arms and legs, he focused on the area below him and just as he surmised, the Aragami had launched itself straight up from the water like a geyser in hot pursuit of its meal.

"And now what?" The situation had turned extremely dire and Yuu didn't have a plan to deal with it. The fact of the matter was, his body had stopped ascending at about 50 feet in the air and began to descend downwards, straight into the Gboro Gboro's large opened mouth. He did not have his God Arc nor any other weapon he could use and there wasn't anything he could do to change his body's trajectory. Despite coming face to face with his impending doom, he wondered why he was remaining so calm.

A loud bang shot out from somewhere far away and the next thing he saw was a beam of light shooting straight through the Gboro Gboro. The shot had knocked the Aragami to the side and out of its path as Yuu descended past down the surprised Aragami.

"You're lucky that I'm a really good shot." Gina's voice echoed in Yuu's earpiece.

A small smirk formed on his lips in response. "Great shooting," he murmured. With the changed in circumstances, he placed his arms straight down to his side to reduce any air resistance. The danger wasn't over yet, all he had was some additional time.

Yuu's body quickly dived through the water's surface before vigorously swimming towards the bank. Moving like an Olympic swimmer, he swiftly reached the surface and climbed out of the water.

"Are you okay, Yuu-kun?" Sakuya asked him, her face full of worry.

Yuu grunted in response and out of the corner of his eye, he could see Shun was doing fine as well as he stood nearby watching them. There was a noticeable white bandage on his left arm, but he appeared to still have some strength in his body with the way he was holding onto his God Arc.

Their peace was short-lived when the Gboro Gboro flew out of the water and made its way towards them.

"Let's finish it off now!" Kyoko ordered with the raise of her God Arc. "Surround it!"

Some of the God Eaters dispersed so that they were now behind the Aragami which paused in its tracks as its prey moved from all over the place.

"Attack!" After hearing Kyoko's order, the God Eaters unleashed their attacks that consisted of hit and run tactics. While they continued to circle around the Gboro Gboro, they fired and slashed at it from all angles, leaving nowhere to defend itself. It was not quick enough to get out of the destructive bombardment. Before even a minute had passed, it had been reduced to just a large fish like object.

Despite how easily they finished the Gboro Gboro off, some of the God Eaters were sweating profusely.

Karel dropped to his feet to catch his breath. "To think even a few Gboro Gboro had given us this much trouble."

"They were easy for the most part," Shun disagreed, but didn't say anything further when the others shot him a disapproving look. He sunk down to his feet while holding onto his God Arc.

Kyoko quickly checked on each member and then exhaled out loudly. "I hope this will be a learning experience for you all. It could've ended badly, but we were fortunate that it wasn't the case. Let's not have a repeat of this again, shall we?" There were a few murmurs here and there, but she appeared satisfied at their responses. "Thanks for the support, Kannagi. I don't think I could have gotten Ogawa out by myself." A small smile appeared as her face began to relax from all of the earlier stress.

"I'll to give my thanks to Dickinson." Yuu glanced over at a far mountain where he thought Gina was currently holed up in. "It could have ended bad for me otherwise."

"You're welcome," Gina responded through their earpieces.

"Somehow I doubt that Kannagi-san was going to meet his end just like that," Kouta said with full confidence and a wide smile. "So are we done here?"

"There was a Vajra sighting as well, right?" Alisa reminded them.

"Oh yeah, there was that…" Karel murmured, looking like his energy was dissipating at an even quicker rate.

"That's true..." Kyoko brought a hand to her chin as she fell deep into thought.

While they waited for Kyoko to come up with a plan, Yuu scoured their surroundings with his eyes and focused on any other presence besides themselves. When he was facing in the direction of the trees to the east, he felt it. Quiet yet powerful movements. They were movements that he was familiar with considering the number of them he had fought in the past, those that belonged to a great hunter in this world filled with creatures more dangerous than humans.

"Wait, I think there's an Aragami nearby," Alisa suddenly announced, surprising Yuu.

"Vajra at 3'o clock!" Yuu warned loudly. A bloodcurling cry rang from the tree right after. The God Eaters turned their attention to the cry and saw the shadow of a large beast darting out of the trees. It had the similar appearance to the Vajra they saw in the briefing, from the large mane to the dark, hairy muscular skin. Its large body towered over them, casting an imposing dark shadow over the God Eaters.

Without allowing the God Eaters to assume any defensive formations, the Vajra descended on them like a thunderbolt after leaping across several feet to their positions. The force from the landing knocked several of them off their feet, including Karel. There wasn't any time for him to avoid its mighty paw that slammed down hard on his back.

"Karel!" Shun cried out and made a move toward the large Aragami, but looked stuck in his tracks. The God Arc in his arm was visibly trembling as the Vajra set his eyes directly on him. After bellowing out the low roar, it pounced on him, but fortunate for him, Shun tripped when he stepped backwards and fell down, ultimately avoiding the attack.

Despite missing its target, the Vajra moved onto another target at a rapid speed. The constant moving was making it difficult for the God Eaters to pin the Aragami down.

"Dickinson, Fujiki. Amiella, Sakuya, provide support fire!" Kyoko ordered, already on the move towards the Vajra. "Kannagi, help me get Ogawa and Schneider to safety."

At first, Alisa just stared at the Vajra with wide open eyes and mouth, her bodily remain frozen in place. Before anybody could notice, she shook her head, narrowed her eyes and then moved to assist her teammates.

The members providing support fire launched a barrage of bullets at the Vajra at only relatively decent accuracy. The Vajra swift agility allowed it to avoid a large number of attacks, but that was all Yuu and Kyoko needed. With the Aragami momentarily distracted, they secured both Shun and Karel and dragged them to safety behind some bushes. They groaned with pain, but otherwise, appeared to not have suffered any substantial damage.

"You two should stay back while we deal with it," Kyoko said, not opened to any objections.

"Do you think someone like me should be sitting on the sidelines?" Shun placed a foot forward and struggled to get to his feet.

"Now's not the time dumbass," Karel spat. "You really want to attack that?" He motioned to the Vajra with the slight tip of his head.

One good look at the rampaging Vajra was enough to push Shun's body back down. "I'll be ready in a few minutes if you still need it," he murmured.

They suddenly heard Alisa releasing a painful cry. While they were busy dealing with Shun and Karel, the Vajra had broken through the bombardment and was attacking the other God Eaters. With a swing of its large tail, Kouta and Sakuya were knocked a few feet back, leaving only Alisa to fend for herself.

"It'll be difficult for gunners to fight the Vajra head-on so we'll have to take care of it," Kyoko declared.

"Agreed," Yuu confirmed with the nod of his head and then followed after Kyoko who rapidly dashed towards the Vajra.

Kyoko leaped into the air and descended her blade down to the Vajra's back. Sensing her presence, the Aragami swiftly turned its body around and then jumped backwards to create some distance between them, growling at their intrusion.

A quick look showed that Kouta and Sakuya were fine as they got back to their feet.

Kyoko pointed her blade at the Aragami. "Leave it to me and Kannagi. It's somewhat weakened already by your attacks so we'll quickly finish it off."

"No, let me help too," Alisa protested and moved towards them.

"The Vajra's too much for a beginner like you."

"Don't underestimate me! I'm a New-Type as well so I can handle it." Alisa switched her God Arc from blade mode to gun mode, her eyes burning with intense passion and fierce defiance.

"Just let her," Yuu calmly suggested.

Kyoko bit her lip with displeasure, but relented on Alisa's stubbornness. "Fine. We don't have time to fight about this." The Vajra had not given them any more time to discuss and was already dashing towards them, the ground slightly trembling with each step.

Yuu and Alisa both fired off several rounds of bullets towards the Vajra. It evaded a number of them by moving in a diagonal path. Of the shots that, made contact on it, they hit its mane-like cape and did little to slow the large beast down.

Its eyes darted from the three of them as it closed in on them a few feet away. Then, it made a sharp 90 degree turn and swiped its claws at Alisa. Yuu took quick action and switched his God Arc to blade mode and then unleashed a powerful cut to the Vajra's side.

Without missing a beat, Kyoko circled behind it and followed up with several rapid slashes to its hind legs. At this time, Alisa had also switched to blade mode and began hacking at its front right leg.

The combined attacks caused the Vajra to unleash a powerful roar to the heavens. The loud outburst was enough to blow small objects and debris away from it. Large balls of purple electricity then appeared from its cape before they dispersed around the Aragami.

"Watch out!" Yuu warned Alisa who quickly assumed a defensive position with her blade. Thanks to Yuu's timely warning, Alisa had successfully blocked the attack. Yuu and Kyoko had also both naturally defended against them as well.

The Aragami began glowing and it was apparent that it was going to unleash the electric attacks again. Before it could, Yuu dashed forward and made a cut on the Vajra's face. It flinched for a moment and then raised its claws at him.

From the Vajra's blind spot, Kyoko struck its side to stop the attack. By reaction, it turned its body towards, but Yuu prevented it from moving any further with a powerful cross-cut to its front legs.


Alisa was able to predict the Aragami's reaction at this point so as it turned to face Yuu once again, Alisa ran up to it and then unleashed dozens of bullets into its right eye, dark liquid splattering from the now black hole on its face.

The Vajra cried out in pain and wildly swung its arms and tail hoping to make contact with its prey. However, Kyoko and Yuu effortlessly evaded the attacks and got within striking distance. They continued their ferocious attacks on the large beast's side and tail before Alisa followed suit.

Realizing that its wild attacks were not going to work with them, it spun its tail around that not only had knocked the God Eaters back, but also blew up a small dirt storm.

Alisa raised an arm to her eyes as they were getting covered with some dirt particles. It was only a brief moment, but the Vajra had already descended on her again. With a running headbutt that knocked the wind out of her, she fell down with her back on the ground. She could smell the putrid stench of its breath as the Vajra opened its mouth wide, revealing several rows of razor-sharp teeth. There wasn't anything she could do but to shut her eyes and braced for the impending pain.

Instead of experiencing any painful sensation, she heard the slicing of blades on muscle and another Vajra roar. She opened her eyes and saw that Kyoko and Yuu had dove their blades into the Vajra's thick side and continued pushing it until it ran into a nearby boulder. The sight of the two God Eaters overcoming the large Aragami with just brute strength was nothing short of amazing for her. However, what happened afterwards sent shivers down her spine.

Yuu and Kyoko were both breathing hard after sending the Aragami into the boulder. Yuu lowered his head downward for a moment before raising his head, revealing something dangerous in his crimson red eyes. Not too different than the Vajra.

"No…even more dangerous." She thought, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

The Vajra raised a paw and that was quickly sliced off by Yuu who then proceeded to hack away at the large Aragami. After leaping up to the beast's eye level, Yuu spun his blade around and around like a cyclone before swinging it with all of his might. The blade burned right through part of the Vajra's face. Bones crunched and cracked under the mighty strength of the weapon as it buried deeper into the Aragami's skull. The young God Eater pulled back and then unleashed a dark shadow like beast from his God Arc and devoured parts of the Vajra's head. The Aragami's body collapsed to the ground and was finally put down once and for all behind the New-Type's powerful attacks.

Yuu exhaled loudly afterwards and then wiped the sweat that accumulated on his forehead. When his eyes made contact with Alisa, she noticed that they looked nothing out of the ordinary.

"Did I imagined that just now?" Alisa glanced over at the others and they didn't appear to have noticed anything as they retrieved the Aragami cores and getting their things in order.


Yuu brought a hand to his forehead and a light groaned escape his throat as a flash of pain ran through his head for a split second. The thumping in his chest grew stronger, silencing his surroundings.

"That's strange. I thought I-."

He suddenly recalled taking out his metal canister on the helicopter and then…

"Look over there," Kouta's voice resounded in his mind.

Yuu clicked his tongue when he realized what happened. He quickly reached into his left pants pocket, but grabbed only the empty air. With another groan, he ran a hand down his face. "I must've left it somewhere on the helicopter. Probably…30 minutes left, but that shouldn't be a probl-" His thoughts were immediately cutoff when he sensed a presence, no a large number of them. Many footsteps with varying weights, all on the heavy side. Then there was also the change in the wind's flow. Either his mind was playing tricks on him or somehow their intel was grossly incorrect. He was willing to bet on his mind instead.

"It isn't over yet, there's a large number of Aragami quickly approaching our location!" Yuu warned the others who all looked like they were ready to call it a day.

"What are you talking about, Kannagi?" Karel asked him with a hint of annoyance. "Our intel said it was just these Gboro Gboro and a Vajra around here." He ignored Yuu's warning and continued packing his things.

Shun had a similar reaction to his friend and just shook his head.

Sakuya's face became pale while Kouta just looked at Yuu with perplexed expressions.

"W-What is this?" Alisa suddenly said, her body trembling with great fear. "There's so many of them." Her reaction had surprised Yuu once again. She was looking in the direction of where he sensed the Aragami.

"Did she sensed them as well from this distance? Seems like she has an untapped talent."

"Alisa-chan too?" Sakuya asked and then looked over at Kyoko.

With the mix reactions the God Eaters were displaying, Kyoko continued to display her leadership ability by not jumping to conclusions just yet. With a grim frown, she asked Yuu, "Where are they coming from?"

"Approximately at 5:00 o'clock.," Yuu responded, pointing close to the south where a lot of the trees had grown quite tall, interfering with their visibility.

"Dickinson, can you check that area for us? Search carefully."

Gina murmured something in response before they heard light movements through their earpiece.

"Kannagi-san, what's going on?" Alisa asked. "Am I imaging things?"

"You'll see." Yuu murmured and then turned his attention to the ground. He saw that small rocks and stones were bouncing up and down a few millimeters on the ground.

Kyoko and several others had noticed Yuu's attention to the ground and saw the same rocks and stones. Their eyes grew wide at the sight and before they could say anything, Gina's voice echoed throughout their earpieces, a hint of alarm in her usual low emotionless voice.

"Kannagi's right! There's about 10 Vajras quickly making their way over to your location. ETA in less than a minute. Not only that, but I see a horde of Sariel from the sky that's descending down."

"10 Vajras and Sariels?!" Kouta exclaimed with wide shocked eyes. "What the hell is going on?"

"I-I don't know and I don't want to know!" Panic had overtaken Shun at this point as he dropped all of his supplies in his hand except for the God Arc and made his way back towards their entry point in the west, almost tripping over a rock on the way.

By this time, the ground shook violently and it was painfully clear to them that the Aragami were right at their doorstep.

"What do we do, what do we do, what do we do?" Kouta frantically packed back and forth, looking at the senior God Eaters for guidance.

"This isn't the time to be panicking!" Sakuya shouted. Her demeanor remained composed, but it was obvious to the others that she was barely able to hold it in. "We need to get out here."

"Agreed," Kyoko echoed that sentiment. She was doing a good job of maintaining her composure.

That was when they heard the air shattering sound of something like several trumpets blowing into the wind. The sounds had frozen the others in their tracks and caused a shiver to run down their spine.

"No way…" Shun said in a low voice as if afraid by whatever made the trumpet noise could hear him.

Then they heard it again, but much louder this time. It was accompanied by significant shaking on the ground.

"Quadriga!" Alisa cried out.

"Everybody get back to the entry point!" Kyoko ordered quickly.

The God Eaters took only a few steps before a pack of Vajra appeared from the trees and descended on them like a pack of wolves.

Without waiting for any further orders and checking to see how the others were doing, Yuu readied his God Arc and slashed the nearest Vajra's face. The Aragami was likely not expecting to receive such a powerful attack from someone so small as it fell to its behind and remained stunned in shock. The New-Type didn't relent and continued to unleash his assault, but a second and third Vajra had closed in on him and swung their powerful paws.

Yuu narrowly avoided the double attack and then reverted his God Arc back to gun mode. After creating same space by moving backwards, he took aim, but before he could fire at the Vajra, red orange beams of light descended on his position, forcing him to take evasive maneuvers once more.

The Sariels had made their entrance and were descending down towards him and the other God Eaters. The Sariels were odd looking Aragami. A cross between a butterfly and a human, the aqua colored Aragami was almost as large as a Vajra in height. Under its wings as well as on top of its head were large orange colored eyeballs that were about as big as a grown man's torso. Compared to the Chi-You that flew at fast speeds, the Sariel appeared to float around as if dancing on air, all the while releasing colorful spores that were poisonous if inhaled enough.

Changing targets, Yuu took aim at the Sariel who were once again firing the beams from their eyeballs at him. He shot off several quick rounds that blew past the beams and into their chests, legs and some of them made contact with their eyeballs. A Sariel fell straight down to the ground after having one of its eyeballs blown out by the bullet. However, Yuu was once again forced to be on the move. The other Sariels were launching their long-ranged attacks from high above while the Vajras broke through his defenses on the ground. He had no breathing room to counterattack.

Yuu's eyes darted across his surroundings, trying to find the opening he needed. After about five long seconds, he found one. It was a small one, but that was all he needed. He leaped on top of the closest Vajra and sunk his blade down its muscular back. With a grunt, Yuu dug the blade deeper until the Vajra cried out in pain. He ran down its back while keeping the blade inside its flesh. Once he reached the tail, he jumped onto the back of the next Vajra.

While on the second Vajra, Yuu repeated his actions. It was more difficult maintaining his balance this time around and the Vajra was almost able to shake him off, but he jumped onto the next Vajra in time and repeated his attack again. There wasn't a fourth Vajra to jump onto so he planned on creating some more distance and dragging the horde away from the others.

When he jumped off the Vajra, a large dark steel like object suddenly appeared from the trees. Without any time to alter his jump, he flew right into the large object. The impact from the thick steel had left him dazed and dizzy. Before his eyes could re-adjust, he identified what he collided with when he heard the loud trumpeting right in front of him.

"This can't be good." Anticipating what was coming, Yuu brought his arms together along with his God Arc and braced for the Quadriga's charge. Despite maintaining his complete defensive position, it still felt like getting hit by a rampaging truck plus more. The New-Type was sent flying before landing hard on the ground with a heavy thud. He let out a dull groan while struggling to get back to his feet. It was a difficult task due to having the wind knocked out of him.

With great determination, he forcefully overcame the throbbing pain in his arms and looked up at the massive Aragami. It was a bizarre looking Aragami that was like a four-legged tank with threads for its arms and legs. Its top portion appeared to be the upper body of a human skeleton protected by heavy thick armor on its back. Standing taller than even a one-story house, it was bigger than even the Vajra. It was an Aragami that was mostly left to experienced God Eaters only due to its destructive capabilities. If left unchecked, this sole Aragami could level a whole small town by itself.

Surrounded by multiple Vajras, Sariels and even a Quadriga. It had been a long time since Yuu faced such perilous odds. It almost brought a smile to his face.

He had focused so much on his battle that he had forgotten about how the others were doing. "Not good," was what he assumed. As if forcing his mind to focus on the situation in front of him, the Quadriga opened up its missile pods on its back and launched several missiles directly at him. After a quick dash, he slid on the ground to avoid the incoming missiles and then continued on his path towards the massive Aragami.

A Vajra flew from his right, but he was able to avoid it with quick footwork. Next, he readied his God Arc and leaped up at the Quadriga, but was knocked away by the Vajra that flew from his left side.

After rolling several feet away, Yuu laid on the ground once again and was left in a vulnerable position. While keeping his gaze on the surrounding Vajra, he glanced over at the Quadriga which now opened up its large abdomen. A massive rocket appeared causing Yuu's body to jerk to his feet. He ran in the opposite direction with all of his might to get out of the attack range. Even if he was quick, he couldn't outrun the missile which landed several feet behind him with a massive boom that violently shook the ground. The ensuing explosion blew his body into the air and into the condensed trees.

As his body came crashing down to the ground, his back broke several thick tree branches which ultimately had not just decreased the speed of his descent, but had also inflicted significant pain on his body.


"Kannagi!" Kyoko cried out when she saw Yuu's body launched away by the Quadriga's rocket. She pressed a finger to her earpiece. "What's your status? Respond!" She couldn't hear any response after a two second paused. "Is he unconscious?"

While Yuu was dealing with the large Aragami numbers, Kyoko and the others were slowly retreating back to the exit. With Yuu fending off a significant portion of the Aragami, they had an easier, but still difficult time in their retreat. They couldn't gain any upper hand against the Aragami due to their overwhelming numbers, but fortunately for the God Eaters, they hadn't sustained any additional significant injuries as well.

The battlefield had become chaotic with all of the large Aragami. The Vajra couldn't get any clear openings against them because they kept bumping or running into each other. Not to mention the Sariel's beam attacks were making additional obstacles for the Vajra as even they were struck by them.

"This isn't something we can rely on for too long so we have to quickly get away before they become smarter on their attacks." The Quadriga's appearance only made things worse for them. If they weren't careful, the fatality number for the God Eater team could quickly rise.

"The time to leave is now." Kyoko ordered the God Eaters once she saw that they were out of harm's way for a brief moment.

"Wait, what about Kannagi-san?" Kouta asked, a mix of dread and uneasiness appeared on his face.

"Yuu-kun will be fine," Sakuya assured him as she forced a smile. "He won't die so easily, even against a hundred Aragami. We'll just needlessly throw our lives away if we try to rescue him."

Kyoko watched as Kouta stood frozen in his spot, his frown heavy with guilt. She thought that he was going to mull over the situation for too long so she was about to step in and add a few words. But to her surprise, the young God Eater nodded in agreement and made his way towards the exit.

"He's only been a God Eater for how long? A few months? To think that he's able to make a rational decision despite the circumstances. And it's not just because he's afraid either." Her lips rose into a small smile. "Good. You all remember where we came from right? You guys go on ahead. I'll hold them off here and join you guys soon after. You should start retreating as well, Dickenson."

The God Eaters' eyes all grew wide after Kyoko's declaration. Before they could say anything, she held a hand up to silence them. "This has to be done and I'm the best person for it. I'm not as strong as Kannagi, but I won't die so easily either. Sakuya, I leave them to you."

Sakuya slowly nodded in understanding of her friend's intentions, fighting back her emotions. "Okay, let's move!" She motioned towards the opening in the trees and took the lead towards it.

"I'll rendezvous with you guys in a moment," Gina said.

"Damn it, why did it have to be like this?" Shun cursed in a strained low voice and then followed after the others. It was brief, but Kyoko could see tears welling up in Shun and Karel's eyes as they ran past her.

" You guys are finally following my orders without an argument." A sad smile appeared on Kyoko's attractive face. She wanted to watch the retreating God Eaters longer, but the Vajra and Sariels had already reached her. "Leader of the Far East's Third Unit, Kyoko Hanazawa!" She readied her God Arc. "Remember it as you meet your end!"


As the God Eaters disappeared into the trees, they could hear the intense battle taking place behind them. They didn't look back once and kept their focus towards the exit. There was probably a good mile or two left before they got back to where they landed.

"We're still in danger," Alisa thought as her face burned red with shame and anger. "I should be able to do something. I'm a New-Type after all! Lieutenant Hanazawa and Kannagi-san…" The thought of abandoning them had left a sour taste in her mouth. She was disappointed in herself for being so weak and useless to the team. She didn't had a long time to dwell on the matter when she suddenly sensed several presences behind them.

Several Vajra and Sariel were quickly descending on their positions.

"Did the lieutenant…" Karel began, but Sakuya had quickly cut him off.

"She won't go down that easily. They likely just gotten past her." Sakuya quickly dug her foot to the ground, rotate her body around and took several rapid shots at the Vajra and Sariel. "Go on ahead," she calmly said as she took careful aim.

"No, I'll stay and fight too," Alisa argued back vehemently and maintained her position next to Sakuya.

"This is an order!"

Before anybody else could argue further, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by the Aragami.

"How did they get here so quick?" Kouta asked, completely shocked at the turn of events.

"Doesn't look like we have any choice now do we?" Shun grumbled and readied his God Arc.


Yuu opened his eyes and looked up at the tall trees that blocked any sign of the now darkened sky. He winced in pain as a burning sensation shot through his forehead, arms and back.

"How long was I out?" He asked aloud, still lying on the ground. His earpiece laid on the ground nearby and had apparently shattered into pieces when he fell. "So many Vajras, Sariels and even a Quadriga. They won't be able to get through this. I'm at…probably 80-85%. Still enough for me, but that won't save them." He paused as he exhaled. "A really hopeless situation, huh. Unless…"

In the distance, he could hear a battle underway filled with the roar and cry of the Aragami.

"So much of this battle just feels so unnatural…" He quickly buried such thoughts and concentrated on something else. "It would be so easy if I could just forget about them and simply…let go."

Yuu closed his eyes and laid motionless on the ground. All the while, his thoughts were being overcome by the Aragami's presences. His heart beat louder and louder as he felt his composure loosening. His muscles were contracting like they were filled with adrenaline and ready for battle.

Suddenly, his eyes shot wide opened and he released a heavy sigh. "I guess there's no other choice."


Shun cried out in pain when a Vajra knocked him away like a ragdoll with its tail. His body and face were full of bruises and cuts. He grimaced as blotches of red blood were seeping through the bandage on his arm.

The other God Eaters were all within a few feet of each other as if the Vajra and Sariels had herded their prey into a confined area and all that was left was to deliver the finishing blow.

Sakuya leaned on her rifle to keep herself from falling. Kouta and Karel both had one knee on the ground while Alisa remained the only one standing on her two feet without any assistance. However, she and along with the other God Eaters were all covered with cuts, bruises and were breathing heavily.

The battle had taken a toll on them and they were just about exhausted all they had.

"Is this the end?" Shun asked in a cracking voice.

"Of course not," Karel gasped and then fell to the ground, but still remained conscious. Alisa's arms shook violently as she watched the Vajra slowly circle around them. The Sariel were maintaining their positions in the air.

A flash of light suddenly blew past the God Eaters with a force so strong that it knocked them off their feet. The next thing they saw was that the light made contact with the surrounding Aragami and violently tore through them. They cried and roar out in pain as they were ripped into pieces. The bodies of the Sariel dropped down from the sky with a loud crash that shook the ground. The light then disappeared mere moments after it had first appeared.

The God Eaters were flabbergasted at the sight in front of them. One moment they were looking into the depths of hell and in the next, their nightmare had disappeared from their eyes.

Kouta was the first person to pick up his jaw from the ground and voiced their thoughts. "What the hell just happened?"

Karel and Shun just looked at him and vigorously shook their heads. Their mouths remained opened in shock.

"Uh…I think you guys should get back to Hanazawa." The God Eaters snapped out of their shock after hearing Gina's voice.

"What do you mean?" Sakuya asked, still unnerved at what happened.

"You'll see when you get there. I'm almost there myself."

The God Eaters looked at each other while wondering what had happened here and over at Kyoko's location.

"Can everybody walk?" Sakuya asked her weary teammates. Most of them just silently nodded in response. "Then let's head back to Kyoko."

The group moved as fast as they could without further aggravating their injuries. They remained mostly silent during their walk and were preoccupied with their imaginations that were running wild.

"Kyoko!" Sakuya called out once they returned to where they left the third unit's leader. She dropped her God Arc and ran towards Kyoko who was sitting on the ground, staring at the similarly shocking scene as the other God Eaters had seen earlier. By that time, Gina had rendezvous with her team.

"Dear God," Karel gasped when he saw the large number of Aragami body parts strewn around them. The mere sight of it made a few of the God Eaters feel nauseous. Body parts, organs, and liquid covered the entire area. It was like a massacre had taken place. "What happened here?"

"That's what I like to know." Kyoko murmured and finally looked over at the other God Eaters. Her frown turned upside down after laying eyes at each of them. "Seems like everybody's alright…at least nothing major I assumed." She breathed out a long sigh of relief.

"We're glad that you're mostly fine too," Kouta said with a small smile.

Parts of Kyoko's clothing was torn around the arms and legs and abdominal areas. There were also cuts and scraps on her exposed skin and had looked worse than the others did.

"Not surprising when she held off all of these Aragami by herself," Alisa thought. "I assume that this wasn't your work?"

"I think it's pretty obvious that I can't do something like this," Kyoko replied, half grinning.

"Then you must have seen some kind of flash of light, right?" Alisa bend down and carefully examined what appeared to be the torso of a Vajra. She tried to not have her eyes wander too much around. Her stomach was about ready to hurl its contents if she wasn't careful. An image of another place full of Aragami corpses popped into her head. "It can't be…These cut marks aren't the same, but then why do they seem so familiar?"

"That's right." Kyoko's eyes suddenly grew large. "Don't tell me you guys saw it too?"

"Whatever that light was, it totally destroyed the Aragami that were chasing us," Shun responded. "I have no idea what it was though."

Kyoko furrowed her eyebrows and fell deep into thought. "Dickinson, did you see anything from your vantage point?"

All eyes fell on the aloof sniper.

Gina shook her head disappointedly. "Nothing more than what everybody saw. Although, I did saw that the light disappeared over there." She pointed towards the southwest.

"Let's check over there then," Kyoko decided and climbed to her feet.

"Maybe it's better that we just leave it alone," Shun said with little enthusiasm. "I don't want to run into what can do to these Aragami."

"You can stay here if you want, but we have a duty to investigate as God Eaters."

"F-Fine then," Shun mumbled.

The now larger group made their way across the Aragami covered battlefield and then into the condensed trees.

"Was it an Aragami or was it something else…" Alisa thought, a mix of fear and anticipation occupied her mind.

They continued on their way until they entered a small opening in the forest where the moonlight shone through. There they saw Yuu's God Arc lying on the ground.

"Kannagi-san!" Alisa's heart beat loudly once she saw the New-Type's body laying a few feet away from his God Arc. It was obvious that he wasn't dead because of the body movements, but something was clearly wrong. Around his body were broken tree branches, twigs and leaves.

The group ran up to him and immediately saw his body convulsing violently. The surface damage he sustained was similar to the others, but for some reason, he was groaning heavily in pain. His eyes remained shut the whole time.

"Yuu-kun, what's wrong?" Sakuya dropped to her knees and shook Yuu's arm. "His body feels like it's on fire." When he didn't respond, she searched for any external wounds, but couldn't find anything. Beads of sweat continued to pour down his forehead as his breathing grew rapid.

"Don't tell me this is where he landed after the missile explosion." Karel looked over at Gina.

"Sorry, but I didn't see it," she responded.

"Whatever is causing him the pain, it's not caused by eternal injuries," Kyoko concluded. "If it's internal, then we need to quickly get him professional medical help." She took out her portable radio and fumbled with a few buttons. "Good, it's still working. Do you read? This is 2nd Lieutenant Hanazawa. We need emergency airlift right now. We incurred several injuries and one of us is in critical condition. Over."

They heard static on the other line for a few seconds before a voice picked up. "Copy that. What's your position? Over."

Kyoko looked at her surroundings and then at Gina.

"Probably about three miles from our entry point if I remember right," the sniper responded.

Kyoko nodded. "We'll signal our position. Come right away. Over." She threw a flare over to Gina who quickly loaded it and fired it high into the air, followed by a trail of red orange light.

"We've noted your location. From what we can see, there's a big enough clearing for one helicopter to land. About fifty feet south from your location. ETA in about 1.5 minutes. Over."

"Well, guess I'll collect the Aragami cores," Shun decided after the communication ended. There was a slight hint of excitement in his voice. Sakuya, Alisa and Kyoko all shot him with a glare. "It's a waste to just leave those, right? Besides, there's not much I can do here anyway."

Kyoko sighed and waved him away. "Fine. Just keep a look out for any other Aragami. There's a possibility that there's still some around. Fujiki and Schneider, you guys go with him."

"Yes, ma'am." Shun saluted and then sauntered off with the other two God Eaters.

It wasn't long until the helicopter arrived and some medical personnel were already examining and treating the God Eaters. They couldn't figure out what was wrong with Yuu so it was decided that he should be brought back to the base as soon as possible.

As the helicopter took off with the God Eaters, Alisa looked out the window and watched the passing scenery. A faint reflection of her face could be seen on the window. She was as tired as she looked and was really tempted to just close her eyes and fall asleep. That was when she heard another groan from Yuu. After checking that his condition had remained the same as before, she shook her head and resolved to stay awake.


It was late at night when they landed back at the base. Yuu was quickly loaded off the helicopter on a gurney and transported to Dr. Elena Thompson's medical office followed by Sakuya, Alisa, Kyoko and Kouta.

Dr. Thompson was quietly sipping her coffee when the group barged into her office, almost spilling her coffee in the process.

"What's going on!" She inquired with apprehension. Then she saw Yuu's body on the gurney. "What happened to him?"

"We're not sure ourselves," Sakuya responded with frantic eyes. "He was hit by a missile explosion and fell several feet from the sky, but we couldn't find any wounds on his body. When we found him, he was already in that state."

They heard a groan coming from Yuu and to their relief, saw him partially open his eyes.

He raised a shaking hand to Dr. Thompson who lowered her head so that her ear was only a few inches away from his mouth. He mouthed a few words to her before his hand fell back down to his side.

"Acce…ive…?" Alisa glanced over at the others in the room. "Didn't anybody else catch that?"

Whatever Yuu had said to Dr. Thompson, she nodded her head knowingly and then turned to the God Eaters. "Okay, everybody out. Leave Kannagi to me." She began directing the others out of the room when Sakuya stopped in her tracks.

"Wait, then will he be okay?"

Dr. Thompson gave her a comforting smile in response. "Yes, he'll be okay. I guarantee it. So please leave while I take care of his injuries. This room will be off limits until further notice. If there's anyone needing medical attention in the meantime, please visit Medical Office B downstairs."

"Sounds like Kannagi-san will just be fine," Kouta said happily after the God Eaters were tossed out of the room. "I think I'll go and find something to eat now."

"That sounds like a good idea," Kyoko agreed while rubbing her stomach. The two of them left with Sakuya following after them, a wide smile plastered on her face.

"Do they all trust Dr. Thompson that much?" Alisa thought with a frown. She couldn't help, but still feel worried about the situation. "And did everybody forget that we were almost this close to dying?" An icy shiver violently ran through her body. With one more meaningful look at the door, she made her way down the hall.


The pickup truck came to a stop in the base's garage. With an effortless leap, Lindow got out of the vehicle and saw another pickup truck arrived.

"You were on a mission too? How'd it go?"

Soma grunted when he got out of the vehicle. "The same as usual."

Lindow smirked at his response. "Good to hear."

They walked towards the exit and approached a mechanic working nearby.

"You're back, Lindow-san?" The mechanic looked up from what appeared to be a radio.

"Just did," Lindow replied and placed a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Pulling an all-nighter?"

"Somewhat." The mechanic was about to return to his work when he suddenly recalled something. "Oh yeah, did you hear? About Kannagi-san."

"What about him?" Lindow asked in a low voice.

"He was on a mission with the others. Heard he was injured or in pain or something when they came back. He was rushed to the medical office."

"The New-Type was injured?" Soma raised a quizzical eyebrow, not particular concerned at what he just heard.

"Damnit." Lindow rushed out of the room in a hurry leaving Soma behind.

On the way, he ran into Sakuya's group who were heading towards the cafeteria.

"Sakuya!" Lindow called out. "What's happening with Yuu?"

Her faced darkened for a moment before it returned to normal. "We had a tough battle, but Dr. Thompson assured us that he'll be just fine."

"Really?" Relief appeared on Lindow's face. "That's good, but what about the others?"

"We all have injuries, but nothing appears too serious," Kyoko replied. "Apologies for getting your team injured."

Lindow shook his head. "No, I understand. Stuff like that happens even if I'm there. I feel at ease leaving them in your capable hands."

"Dr. Thompson said that her office is off limits while Kannagi-san recovers," Kouta said.

"Is that right? Well, I hope he gets better soon so that I can punch him a few times for worrying us." Lindow's threat prompted a few laughter from the weary God Eaters.


As Alisa was walking past the maintenance room, she nearly bumped into Licca who was running down the hallway.

"Good evening Alisa-san," Licca greeted.

Alisa nodded. "Yeah, good evening," she replied in a quiet voice.

Licca paused for a moment and then continued, "You were with Kannagi-san in the recent mission, right?"

"Yes, that's right," Alisa slowly responded, wondering why Licca was bringing Yuu up.

"He must've been in an intense battle, right? What kind of Aragami was he dealing with?"

Alisa raised a perplexed eyebrow. "What do you know about the battle?"

Licca thumbed at the God Arc lying on the nearby table along with several other God Arcs. "I was doing a cursory lookover of his God Arc and do you know what? There were a large number of new scratches all over it. Which is surprising since I rarely see such scratches when he returns from a mission. From what I hear, he's normally quite skilled in executing clean cuts so for the God Arc's current condition to be like that, I wondered just what happened."

Alisa mumbled something incoherently while staring at Yuu's God Arc.

"That's not the only part that's weird," Licca continued. "The God Arc was incredibly hot when it arrived here and I even saw smoke rising from it."

"I-Is that right? What do you think happened?" Alisa's eyes grew wide with shock at the God Arc's condition.

Licca shrugged her shoulders. "He probably applied a significant amount of force with it and it turned out like that. Although it's just a guess. I've never seen anything like it before. So did you see what happened?"

"Sorry, but I'm not sure either. Kannagi-san disappeared near the end of the battle so we didn't see anything."

Licca frowned. "That's a shame. Well, we can ask him once he's recovered. I'll get his God Arc fully repaired by the time he's back."


Late into the night, the lights in the hallway all dimmed down and the majority of the Fenrir staff members had gone to bed. In the corner of a dark and silent hallway, a man took out his phone and dialed a number. His face hidden by the shadows.

"It's me. Yes, it's fortunate that she's fine. I apologize for not being able to stop her." The man lowered his head. "We owe it to him after all. I honestly didn't think it was possible. I get shivers every time I think about it. What a fearsome guy…but I'd like an opportunity to study him myself." The man let out a small laugh. "Okay, I'll commence with the preparations for the plan." The man disconnected his call and disappeared into the shadows.


Alisa tossed and turned in her bed. While she did quickly fell asleep earlier, she found herself unable to return to it after suddenly waking up in the middle of the night.

"It's probably because of what happened today," she thought while rubbing her still aching right shoulder. Her body was obviously tired and was sore all over, but her mind had other plans.

With a heavy frustrated groan, she tossed her blankets off and got to her feet. Still in her light blue pajamas, she quietly left her room and simply began walking. There wasn't any destination she had in mind and just wanted to mindlessly move around while reflecting on today's events. It didn't take long for her to be reminded of a similar situation where she ended up at Yuu and Kouta's training session. This time though, she ended up in front of the medical room.

Thinking that the room was locked, she was about to continue on her way when she noticed a small crack in the door's opening. A faint light peeked through the cracks.

"Did Dr. Thompson leave?" she thought, remembering how she kept everyone away from the room as if Yuu had a contagious disease. Without pondering the situation for too long, she lightly pushed the door with her hand and walked through the darkened room. The light that had peeked through the door came from the lamp situated near the bed in the far corner.

A cursory sweep of the room revealed that the doctor was not in the room. A mixture of both curiosity and fear flowed through her fatigued body, but in the end, her curiosity got the better of her. After several light steps, she found herself standing over the seemingly sleeping New-Type. His piercing red eyes that often made it difficult for her to look at him straight in the eye, were currently hidden under his eyelids.

Similar to how they saw him when they left the battlefield, Yuu's body was contorting in pain, but to a lesser degree. His breathing was fast and audible as if he was having a nightmare.

"What happened to you?"

Even though she found Yuu to be quite different from the stories she heard of the famous New-Type, she couldn't deny that he was a very capable God Eater. At times awe-inspiring and sometimes even terrifying, she never thought that he would ever look as vulnerable as he did right now. The sight made her chest inexplicably ache.

As she examined his face, she noticed beads of sweat accumulating on his forehead. By reflex, her hand reached out to wipe it, but it froze in mid-air, mere inches away. Various images and scenes flashed through her mind, the ones from her dream and the ones that appeared when she helped Yuu to his feet. To this day, the images and scenes had terrified her and she wasn't sure she could handle what else may appear.

After releasing a heavy sigh, she withdrew her hand and her eyes suddenly fell down to his torso. The sheet that covered most of his body had slipped a few inches down, revealing his bare chest along with a large number of cuts and scars.

"They don't look very recent," she whispered. The scars were all dull and faint. Her eyes were glued to them when she suddenly noticed his well-toned chest. Despite Yuu's incredible strength, she didn't expect him to have such toned muscles under his lean frame. As her face burned red, she gasped as if someone had caught her peeping and tore her eyes away.

In just a moment, she was out the room and leaning against the closed door. Her face had become red as a tomato. With an exacerbated sigh, she shook her head. "This isn't the time to be acting like a giddy school girl." After mumbling a few more incoherent words, she made her way back to her room and silently prayed that Yuu would get better soon.


A/N: So how was this chapter? As you can see, this chapter starts to lay the foundation for future events. The Moon in the Welkin mission should come up next. Wow, this story has been going on for almost 4 years and I've only reached this point? Talk about moving at a slow pace.

I don't know when the next chapter will come out, but I can almost guarantee that it's not coming out soon. I'll see you all next time when it does come out though.