Mouse Trap
==========
As the others start to walk in the direction from where the sniper came from, I step forward and grab the shoulder of Brendan. As he turns towards me, I point in the direction from where the Gboro came from.
"What's the problem?" Gina turn to me also and I point at my weapon.
"Forget the casing Sierra." Brendan adds.
"The Gboro was lured there because of them." He explains, but I stare at him in surprise.
"In order to keep a God Arc in a suspended state, their case periodically supply them with a special Bias Factor injection. Aragami are drawn to Oracle Cells primarily, therefore to the cases as well." Gina adds as the two of them resume walking.
Oh... So this is why Licca keeps getting the Oracle Cells from somewhere.
Wait... Why do they need to keep them suspended?
Once again I step forward and try to get their attention when I can hear the pale girls voice over the earpiece.
-You're a curious one Sierra, well not like it's a bad thing.- C muses.
-Normally nothing happens if a God Arc isn't suspended, but there are random freak cases where... Let's just say, some horrible things happened.-
"C..." Brendan says, then stops talking as if trying to think through what he wants to say.
-Yes?- Getting bored of waiting the pale girl asks with interest.
-What is it now?-
"Did you enjoy stirring up trouble?" He demands the answer with a stern voice.
-Are you mad? Are you now? Why?- C wonders with a laughter.
-You were there, Sierra wasn't harmed. And aside your superficial wounds, you're fine too.-
"There was a reason why you've drawn the focus of the Kongou at them, wasn't it?" Gina joins in the conversation with her brows furred.
"You shouldn't try to use others as pawns for your resource gathering."
Erm... What? I'm lost...
-I didn't do anything like that you claim of.- C laughed the accusation off lightly, though somehow I could hear in her voice that wasn't true.
-All I did was to motivate them for survival.-
"By unleashing an Aragami on us, who was going completely berserk?" Brendan frowns also.
"Next time you want to use us like some sort of test subjects, call in advance."
"And pay up front too." The sniper adds with a smirk.
-H.. Hey! That's not fair!- For some reason I can imagine a shocked expression on the face of C after hearing her response.
"Like it's fair for you, why shouldn't it be for us?" Brendan demands the answer.
-W.. I.. Uhm..- She then disconnects from the line.
"Score." Gina cheers sharing a grin with Brendan.
I see... So the bullying goes two ways.
The return trip was uneventful. Aside from Brendan making a quick call and telling Licca that our weapon cases were destroyed nothing happened worth of mentioning.
Mostly.
That is, if you do not count Gina whipping out her sniper, taking aim and fire at an Aragami she managed to spot.
Like... Every. Single. TIME! ... Anything moving she got into her sight, she HAD to open fire...
All this didn't even phase the two guys, like it was something common knowledge. Still, to engage anything and everything in sight is a dangerous act in my opinion. Sure Gina is a sniper by heart as I can see it, if I were in her place, I would be glad to avoid the Aragami as much as possible, plus since we don't seem to stop to remove the cores of the fallen Aragami, not even those that wouldn't require that much of a detour.
Although I couldn't stop but be awed by her marksmanship as each one hit dead on. If I don't count the moving vehicle at all, she knew exactly how her targets will move and where she needs to hit them to make it count. Sure, she did consume a bunch of O-Ampules to restore the charges on her God Arc, but that's it.
On our way back inside, as we step into the hangar a voice calls for me explicitly. Soma had been standing beside the door and waiting for my return.
"Let's go, Sierra." The embodiment of certain Death's voice leaves me in shivers, I don't want to go with him anywhere. I turn pleading towards Brendan, who understands my expression instantly.
"Soma. We have just returned from a mission where unforeseen problem emerged." The God Eater stepped in front of me and took the brunt of the hostile glare, that was previously aimed at me.
"Where do you want to take her?"
"Train." The Dark skinned God Eater steps aside and once again reestablished eye contact to my dismay.
"She needs it."
"Sierra needs rest and has to undergo a detailed check-up again." Brendan shields me again as I can see Shun hurrying up inside, playing his God Arc and it's casing at it's rightful place and then scurrying away. Gina on the other hand decided to stay and see how it plays out.
"Not like she'll run away from it, I'll make sure of that." Soma responds and I can't help but wince.
I don't want another training session from HELL!
I barely survived the first one earlier... TODAY!
"If you like glaring daggers at me, then come and do so during training." Soma grunts as he decides to step forward and grab me by the neck of my jacket.
"Aren't you two just CU~TE!" A new voice calls and I can hear Gina snicker as the pale girl steps up to us.
"Fighting over my Sierra. Now~now, where are the manners you two?"
What do you mean 'Your' Sierra?! I'm DON'T belong to anyone!
"Get lost." Soma grunts pulling me after him, not even caring for my flailing protests.
"And now your trying to monopolize my Sierra." C tut-tutted and Gina couldn't help, but start laughing.
"Didn't your mother teach you anything?" Following the prompt the air chilled noticeably, then before anyone could say anything Soma whirled around dropping me, then pinning the pale girl by her neck into the nearest wall blindingly fast.
"Yep, no manners at all." She smirked fearlessly and for a moment I could have almost sworn that something shifted in Soma's eye.
Why is she provoking him?!
"You..." The dark skinned God Eater squeezed the word through his gritted teeth.
"You should know better than anyone what do you say and to whom."
"Now that I got your attention. I can finally say it no?" The smirk turned into a grin as Soma let her go, though she fell to her knees as her legs were still feeling weak.
"Sierra needs rest as was stated." When she could finally manage to stand up, she walked as close as possible to him and whispered barely audibly.
"So do you." With that the girl decided to head out.
"You're coming with me, no exceptions." As she left, Soma once again grabbed me and pulled me away against the advice.
H-Hey?! Don't I get a saying in this?!
"Soma, didn't you hear her?" Brendan spoke up, but was ignored as I was getting farther from him.
"Soma!" The God Eater stepped up to me quickly and put a hand on the arm holding me captive.
"She needs all the training that she can get." Soma snarled practically the answer, not even being slowed down by the attempt of freeing me.
"You've noticed it too didn't you?" He adds, but doesn't relent.
"The Aragami are evolving once again. She lacks even the fundamentals."
"So the 'Death god' is going to train her for survival?" Gina chimes in with a small chuckle, making my captor stop dead in his tracks.
"How very interesting."
I'm finding it more like, I don't know...
FRIGHTENING!
"Sierra is aware that she currently is lacking in experience." Once again Brendan tries to change the other males mind.
"However your method isn't going to work. It's far above her level."
That's the understatement of the year...
"The only way for her to learn is to die." Soma answers and starts pulling me again.
"If the sole thing this girl is good at, then it's at dying."
Help me!
I scream inwardly as I can see Brendan giving up on attempting to change his mind. Much to my despair, seemingly Gina didn't even think on even trying to help me at all as she casually went on to deposit her weapon. Her team mate did follow too, albeit very reluctantly.
...
I'm not going to survive this, will I?
"When the Devil is too busy and Death's a bit too much." A singing voice started to wake me up from a rather nasty nightmare. What was the dream, don't ask me all I know is that it wasn't sun and sunshine.
"They call me by name you C~." She continues that in that horrific tone that could even wake the dead and not just me...
GOD! MAKE HER STOOOOP!
"For my special touch." The pale girl continues uninterrupted, until I got fully awake. As I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was my room, then the pale girl huddled before my terminal and typing away a storm as she continued to sing.
"To the gentleman I'm Miss Fortune, to the ladies I'm Sir Prise, but call me by any name~ Any~ Way~ It's~ All~ The~ Same~" She tried to elongate the last lines words by her horrible sing tone to make me double over and cringe while holding my arms over my probably bleeding ears.
"Ah Sierra, you're awake." Finally the pale girl turns to me.
"Did you sleep well?"
You didn't seriously ask that question did you?
I raise my head and stare at her in complete disbelief. Which prompts her to smirk and throw something into my lap.
"The one you've snatched from Director Schicksal broke down during yesterday's fight didn't it?" C explains as her smirk widens into a grin as she saw me flinch. As I look down I can see a tablet like the one I've sniped previously, so I take it and question her.
-What are you doing here anyways C?- When I press the key to send the message, before I could show it to her a synthesized female voice announces my question.
"Beats the whole type and show stuff, eh?"
-Well, it does. However that doesn't answer my question.- Then a thought flashes through my head.
-I'm not paying for this, you can have it back.- I try to give it to her, but she pulls away.
"Keep it, Sierra."
-Sure, but first answer my question. Second I will not pay for it if you just say to keep it.-
"Sure, I don't mind since that just makes it easier for us to converse don't you think?" C chuckles before, the small smile forming into a smirk. One think that it gives me the impression is one of her trademark features.
"I came here for you specially, to check on how are you doing."
-Why?- I raise an eyebrow as I try to figure out what could she even think behind that hood and mask.
-Come to think of it, what was that whole 'I belong to YOU' crap?-
"You'll understand eventually, for now it doesn't matter. However, you should know that you have picked my interest definitely."
-I'm still not swaying that way, mind you...- I pout and can't help feeling weird in this situation.
"What do you mean by that?" C's mouth forms a small 'o' in surprise.
-I mean... Geez, you know. I don't go after girls...- Somehow it's an uncomfortable feeling just the thought of that.
"That's no problem then." The pale girl says and I blink at her stupidly.
-Wait... what?- I didn't think I can become more perplexed, but she pulls something that proves me wrong.
"No freebies." C smirks and she finally finishes the typing storm on the terminal.
-What were you doing on my terminal?- I snap out of it and see her starting to leave.
-Come to think of it, how could YOU access it? Should it be like being able to use by me only?-
"You're going to get headaches if you try to pry into matter you shouldn't." The pale girl claims and starts singing again. To my chagrin.
"I'm the fly in your soup. I'm the pebble in your shoe. I'm the pea bene-." To my luck I couldn't hear the rest as she steps out the door and closes it behind her. Then I turn towards the terminal with interest to check out what she had done to it. The first thing I notice is a bright red notice on screen.
'Update successful'
I blink in confusion and acknowledge the prompt, then I ran through all the details it entailed. In short, she managed to link my terminal properly to the NORN Database, furthermore allow messaging other God Eaters and have a translating feature installed. There is actually a new message blinking on top already, from none other than C.
'Before your going to start panicking on how to repay me for all this, don't worry Sierra. Let's just say I've gotten two more fish in my net instead of you. For that I am very thankful.
Oh yea, before I forget. You've been truly lucky so far, however don't let that take to your head. The worst of it is only starting now.'
"Wake up you log!" I get startled from a voice calling from the outside. One belonging to the very same person who is now officially the cause of my nightmares... Soma Schicksal.
"Meet me down in five minutes."
-No. No... NO! NOOO!- In my frustration I type away and an emotionless tone voices my text.
"I don't know who is with you in there, however Sierra. You can't shirk from your responsibilities." The God Eater calls and starts walking away. Without any real thinking I shoot up, rush at the door with the tablet in my hand and swing it wide open to see the back of Soma.
-Who are you to tell me what I have to do?- The voice fails to convey my fury and irritation in that tone, but does a good job of repeating my sentence. This makes the dark skinned God Eater to turn around and face me.
"Do you want to die that much? Then be my guest." He stares right into my eyes, then notices me typing away.
-I'm already GOING to die you jerk. In a few years anyways, what is it to you, huh?- Since the machine was unable to convey my feelings, I decided to go natural and let my emotions flow freely on my face as I was glaring back at him.
"So that you'll live until you die." Soma turns around with a scowl.
"You have two minutes left." Then he steps in the elevator and I almost throw the tablet to the ground in my anger.
THAT DOESN'T EVEN MAKE ANY SENSE!
In the end I shuffled down huffing and scowling, but not really daring to defy Soma. Well, I'm still scared of him that he's going to snap and do something that I won't be able to regret later...
So it started, my... 'Call it training, but it's just a way to make me die over and over again', a series of simulations that I was trying to do my best on staying 'alive' as long as possible. It wasn't working. On top of that I was continually berated by him.
Way to go making someone lose confidence and start a growing hatred against you.
It didn't matter if I did my best, I was still looked down upon. If stopped to defy him, he cranked up the difficulty by a notch I though it was impossible to do. Soma always found fault, something I bet didn't take him long or had to look hard as I am still a beginner...
-That's enough, Sierra's gotten more than enough for the day.- Finally someone came to my rescue, and for now I didn't mind that someone was C. As for me, I was trying to run away from a couple of simulated Aragami. No big deal they were just ONLY faster than me in any regards... Plus when they aren't trying to destroy each other, then I'm the one on the bottom of the food chain...
-There is no mission scheduled for her on today. Also her God Arc is still under examination.- Soma snarled an answer to her, then I 'died' again and the simulation faded.
-Focus! They have distinct patterns each, learn to see them!- I get almost yelled at.
-Maybe you should allow her to first get used to each one separately. You're way of making her fight randomized number and type of enemies isn't exactly beginner friendly. Don't you think so?- C countered with a rather valid point, one that I fully agreed with actually.
-Like that's going to happen in real life!- Soma growl practically as he starts another simulation.
-We don't know how fast or effetive she is able to learn the patterns on an Aragami individually. Also you do know that knowing individual patterns doesn't mean a thing as the Aragami can pop up suddenly without warning. So the best way for her to actually learn is through this way.-
-Right. But she'll just drop dead if you continue to hit her with such a hard difficulty setting. You have to reach a balance between training, torture and rest. Don't you see?- She counters trying to appeal to him.
I agree with C. But he's genuinely trying to kill me and not train...
Well... at least these simulated enemies can't kill me...
-Why are you here?- Soma growls at her.
-Director Schicksal wants to see Sierra.- C says, however Soma doesn't respond.
I sigh in relief as the simulation starts to fade, then a minute later or so the door or the training room opens and I can see the silhouette of the pale girl waiving at me to come. I oblige happily and get a little heart attack as Soma enters the elevator with us. Though he doesn't stop or accompany us farther than the lobby. So we head to see the Director, with a stop at my room to get the tablet. He is already sitting at the chair and reading a report as we enter, he looks up as the two of us file in.
"Sierra and Sea." His brows furrow at our sight.
"How can I be of help?"
What?
I turn towards the pale girl who closes the door and simply smirks as confusion spreads on my face.
"Director Schicksal, we've got to talk." She starts, sounding serious.
"You've really pulled one on us, you know?"
"Stop playing around and tell me what you're after." I notice some irritation in the voice of the Director as he faces the pale girl.
"You saw the Aragami when they came over 20 years ago." She calls and I turn my gaze at her conversation partner.
"Their types extended over the course of the years, but that's all." C stared intently and the Director frowned.
"What are you getting at?"
-I'm lost, what are you talking about C?- The machine in my hands speaks up and for a moment even the Director is surprised at that.
"You've got the recent reports didn't you Director Schicksal?" C continued with a smirk.
"The Aragami are behaving erratically, never like before." She paused for a moment, even I could tell that she was trying to be dramatic.
"Just like they are trying to evolve on their own. Worldwide."
"While I would like to inquire how have you gotten your hands on confidential information." He sighed as if answering to the unspoken question, then focuses his eyes on me.
"However, what does that have to do with you two being here?"
"Aragami don't just start to evolve on their own on a worldwide scale. And we 'both' know exactly, why they don't do so on their own, now don't we?" C shakes her head with a small chuckle.
"Or at least that was the norm up till now."
"You're point is?" The Director was getting tired of her little game, I could understand it as it was getting on my nerves too. She was trying to point us to something that neither of us were understanding.
"My point is right here." C nods towards me with her head.
-Huhh?-
"SEA! What are you after?" The Director lowered his voice.
"Congratulating you Director Schicksal, for you'll be the one to officially be the one responsible for... The end of the world." She mocked him in an equally low voice.
"You've strung Aragami on the path of evolution, just because you've didn't listen to me in the first place."
-I'm lost. How is that related to me again?- If I'm an open book to read, at least on my expression right now a pretty big question mark can be seen. Probably.
"Would it be difficult for you to be straight for once C?" The Director was getting irritated by the pale girls attitude, and I have to admit it was starting to rub on my for similar reasons.
"Nah. There ain't enough Fc in the world for that, trust me." She gave a chuckle as her smirk widened into a grin.
"However, drastic times call for drastic measures." She put on a fake frustrated sigh.
"And I can make a sole excep- Oh, get that one." C calls after stopping abruptly in the middle.
-What?- I blink at her in confusion, at the sudden change. The comm on the directors desk beeped to signal an incoming message, which he decided to take. Some moon influenced conversation went on, during which the eyes of the Director first widened considerately, his gaze swiping from the grinning C to me, then back to her finally.
"Sierra, originally you were scheduled on mission only tomorrow." He said while getting up and starting to leave.
"However, something urgent came up. You're going on this emergency mission immediately."
Wait... is this going to be normal?
First making throwing me into the grinder with Soma, then onto some mission?
What comes next? After I return, another torturous grinder or what?
-I'm... Lost.- I admit as I stare at C hiding my pent up frustration, who was barely containing her laughter. I bet that was about me...
"Get to the lobby, that's the most important for now." She says as she leaves likewise. I scratch my head and decide to follow her into the elevator. When I arrive there Lindow, Kota and Sakuya are already assembled. The three God Eaters turn towards me and Lindow starts the briefing. Or at least I think he does that.
"Sierra, you'll be going with Sakuya. Your goal will be to eliminate the Cocoon Maidens at your designated location, however if you spot anything unusual withdraw immediately." C translates and warns me with concern.
-What do you mean unusual?- The others raise their head as the machine in my hand starts talking.
"You'll see. Just play it safe." The pale girl pressed her lips into a thin line, trying not to worry too much.
-Well... Sure, if you say so.- I shake my head, trying to make some sense as I stand before Sakuya who nods at me. The two of us go in and retrieve our God Arcs and I notice that Licca is busy preparing mines rather hastily. It doesn't take lone and I can join Sakuya at one of the jeeps, already waiting for me only. I quickly deposit Chupacabra in the back and get on the passenger seat.
Our ride doesn't take long, as for some reason Sakuya is driving like crazy. Some times I get the chills that we will crash and that's going to be our end, but we manage to get to our destination in one piece. To the city, where I first encountered the Ogretail with Lindow.
-Remember Sierra.- C's voice snaps me out of the silence that enveloped us.
-Run if it gets dangerous.-
...
Why is she so worried about me anyways?... Of course I'll run if it get's dangerous...
Well, at least thanks to the torture I was thrown through by Soma... a 'normal' situation shouldn't be a problem for a while.
Right?
-Don't remove the core of any Aragami this time. Just help Sakuya on taking down the Cocoon Maidens, that's all you have to do.- C once again explains and I nod in agreement. Support I can do perfectly. We get out of the vehicle and get to our respective God Arcs. I noticed at the hangar that mines in a rather quickly assembled makeshift casing. I remove my Chupacabra and take my place beside the medic.
We don't have to go far until we spot the first Cocoon Maiden in the distance. It still hasn't noticed us, and Sakuya primes her sniper at the target. She releases a few quick shots, decimating it completely. The husk collapses on itself, one of the chest platings open halfways as dark smoke starts billowing out of the holes and the inside as the Aragami starts to dissipate.
-Good. Keep going, exterminate as much as you can before it shows up.- C prompts and I start to wonder.
What is she so cautious of?
Sakuya calls my name as she eliminates another Maiden, this time from an offices wreckage. I quickly catch up to her, with Chupacabra held at my side. The warning of the pale girl strikes a worry into me.
The Aragami started to evolve once again.
Something that has to do with me apparently.
Something dangerous is around here, and in order to hinder it we need to take out the Maidens.
"Sierra!" Sakuya pushed me aside, just in time when a streak of purple laser pierced the place where I was standing a second ago. I quickly look up and notice the smoking remains of a Maiden not that far from me, that wasn't there a moment before. Like it popped out of the ground while I wasn't looking.
-Careful Sierra! You probably didn't know, but the Aragami are born from the Earth itself... always be vigilant there is no telling what, when and where pops up.- C advises me once again and I nod in agreement.
-However don't freak out or anything, it's not like an Ouroboros will suddenly jump you.- She laughs at it, though I don't really understand what is so funny about it or what is an Ouro...thingie anyways.
-There are rules to how Aragami spawn actually, but I'm not going to bore you with the details, you know.-
Uhm... Okay?
Why do I have the feeling it's actually a pretty big thing she just casually dismissed?
A roar shocked me out of thinking. One that I never heard before. Wait no, I heard something similar before. So it's not completely unfamiliar, it's almost like that of an Ogretail's. As Sakuya and me try to pinpoint the origin of the roar, in the distance a Maiden screams in pain. Followed by disgusting guttural sounds as we can hear the unknown Aragami ripping apart it's victim.
-Get out of there! NOW!- C yells into my ears, well I think into the mic she is holding as they are transmitted through the earpieces so it technically does count as yelling into my ear no?
Sakuya calls for me as well and we start our withdrawal. Something burst through the wall of the church nearby us and we can see what gave off the roar earlier. It was an Ogretail, well almost. It was slimmer by quite a margin, the neck and tail both longer also. It's skull was also different, instead of the white usual design it bore a resemblance to the Maidens shell and the tail looked like the lower end of the cocoons shell.
-I SAID RUN DAMMIT!- C yells again as the changed Ogretail turns to us. Sakuya aims and fires a quick shot, but the Aragami bats it away with it's tail. Then it lets loose a mighty roar while raising it's tail high and priming it on us. The end of the tail parts and numerous small tubes appear, just like on the head of a Maiden.
This doesn't look good...
Energy starts gathering inside end of the tail, however Sakuya doesn't miss the chance to fire upon the beast. However the Aragami raised it's armored skull into the path of the laser to block the shot while it became ready to unleash his charge. When it fired, a handful of light streaks erupted from it pelting our location.
Sakuya quickly stood before me to take the brunt of the shots, however they still pierced through her and hit me albeit with a weakened force, only forcing me to stagger and fall back. She screamed in pain as the damage was traversing throughout her body, yet she remained still. Defiantly standing in the way of the mutated Aragami and protecting me while she was able to do so.
The only problem was that the medic could barely stand still, she was swaying back and forth on the verge of collapsing both physically and I could tell that it took a lot of her out to even stay conscious. I looked down on my hand and then gripped the handle of my God Arc, squeezing it with all my might.
-Sierra. You have to stand your ground.- with a grave voice, C spoke up. I could hear in her voice that something wasn't right.
-Remove it's core. You have to.- I could hear in her voice a trace of pain and sadness.
Make up your mind dammit.
However, if I don't try to take it on both me and Sakuya will die and that's not something I want to do.
I grinned nervously as the Aragami roared. The tubes started to shine once again as the same laser attack was being charged. I bolted forward, ignoring the pain of where the laser shots struck me. Ignoring the fatigue that I had assembled in the last few days, blocking out everything that wouldn't help me in an way to take that damn Aragami down.
I held Chupacabra in front of me and slightly pointing it downward as I was charging my target when the attack completed and discharged. With a quick twist I formed my God Arc back into it's pole form and vaulted over the laser sheaf by thrusting the end of it into the ground. Between me and Sakuya the ground was pelted by the strike, but left both of us completely unharmed.
The mutated Ogretail started to spin around, trying to swipe me out of the air with it's tail. I managed to lower my altitude by returning Chupacabra into it's compact form and the heavy body part zipped past me grazing my left arm and hurling me away. Although I managed to survive the initial attack, the follow-up of it hit me full. I landed awkwardly, pain arcing through my left side as I collided with the ground and rolled a few times.
The pain was dizzying me and I could hear the roar, and the thundering footsteps of the approaching beast. When I looked up the silhouette of the Aragami was only a blur, I couldn't even know how far it was from me and I had only a single thing left to try. It would take too long to switch my God Arc into it's weapon form and then into the pincer. So I will have to resort to the same thing when it first malfunctioned.
Oh well, what's the worst that can happen.
Dying, right?
I manage to stand up with a weary grin, my eyesight being somewhat more clear than before. I could see the damn beast charging right at me and the only thing that popped into my mind was that it's considerately slower than a regular one. Though it does sport a tougher hide in return along with an empowered ranged attack.
I shake my head trying to clear away the dizzyness, not like it worked though. So I lift the compact weapon form before me, when I feel a shot strike me from behind enveloping me in a green, soothing light. As the energy of the recovery forced it's way throughout my body I could feel some of my strength return. I didn't dare to look back at Sakuya who probably used the last of her energy to help me in this moment.
Really now... All this pressure on my shoulders...
Before the Aragami could get into range, I lunged forward. My sudden action forced the beast to act, and it tried to bite on me with it's powerful jaws. Which wasn't hard to evade, as the beast was slower compared to a regular one and I manage to slip by easily. While it was recovering from the failed attack I've thrust my Chupacabra forward with the left and used the right to transform it into the pincer like form.
With an eerie howl my weapon once again came to life as it tried to skip the transformation of the pole form and dug into the body of the mutated Ogretail. Immediately pain assaulted me, but on a completely different level than from before. With my already exhausted body I couldn't take that strain added and must have blacked out for some time.
Because the next thing I recalled was an even greater pain in my left side, that and shortly after all over my body as I was sent first flying and landed ungracefully on the ground. It didn't really give me any solace, that I heard the crunching noise coming from nearby me signaling that my God Arc was busy devouring the core of the Aragami.
Victory!
Was my last though before my consciousness faded.