(A New Fate and the continuation of the series of events that had begun. Let us see where things end up shall we?)
Bold = English Conversations
Bold + Italics = Japanese Conversations
Fate 17
Previously on Canon Distortion…
Sora Minakaze had just managed to meet up with Makoto Nanaya before she got severely hurt. There he was met face to face with the Great Sage Nine, one of the Six Heroes. She made a dare against the man that if he is able to land a single touch on her before she is able to take him down she would grant him the information that he and Makoto had been seeking towards their predicament. Failure is not an option as failure meant pain and suffering for the one he loves. With that thought in his mind, Sora without hesitation charges forth.
And now, the continuation of Canon Distortion
Makoto Nanaya was present to witness a truly terrifying sight. Protected behind her prison of flames, Makoto did not have to worry about being harmed for the time being but what she was looking in front of her made her wish that her prison of fire was not around her as she felt the urge to run away take over her senses. In front of her was the Great Sage Nine, the magic she weaved was both mightier and greater than any ars magus spell man was capable of crafting and right now she was creating a fireball to send towards her boyfriend's way.
Her boyfriend, Sora Minakaze, was trying his best to lay a finger on her. Ever since he agreed to the conditions, Nine played a strong keepback style, using her vast magic to push Sora away as she unleashed her fireball towards Sora. Sora fired a shot towards the fireball with his pistol, dispelling the fireball but as soon as it did, the fireball sparks immediately formed to become another set of fireballs that were aimed towards his way.
Were Sora be a normal person, he would feel overwhelmed by the barrage that was aimed towards his way and get bombarded. However Sora was not a normal person and with his quick thinking, summoned a Black Beast to form a dome around him. The beast cried out in pain as Sora himself felt the flames lick around the Black Beast hurt him as well. To prevent any further pain, Sora dispersed the Black Beast, running away as soon as he did as the flames created by the fireballs dropped down to the ground.
As soon as he did, he looked towards the sky and realized that Nine had vanished. Makoto herself had been focusing her attention towards Sora but knew that she could still help out in other ways. "Nine's not using a disappearing magic spell! She's using a bunch of magic mirriors!" Makoto yelled as that was what she had seen the great sage cast before vanishing from view. As soon as she managed to get those words, she felt the air around her get taken away before silence greeted all around her. She tried to shout but heard nothing, coming to the realization that she was under the effects of a vacuum.
"Now why do you have to go telling him that? I was going to be content just keeping him guessing." Nine said as now that her trick had been spoiled, she knew it would be a matter of time before Sora discovered how to destroy it. Sora himself, now that he knew what was happening decided to pay attention to his surroundings. He knew that if the great sage was using mirrors as the basis of her spell, there had to be a reflection of sorts he can exploit to expose her to the limelight.
He knew very well that was just his own presumption on how the sage's magic mirrors worked but he had to operate by what he knew otherwise he would second guess every single action he was going to take. His eyes soon got a glimpse of what seemed to be a flickering light on the sky itself and without hesitating, transformed the Rev Arm to it's blade form and tossed it as hard as he could towards that shining light.
As soon as he did so, he could hear the sounds of glass smashing before the blade bounced itself right towards him. Without needing to use Balmung, Sora was able to dodge the Rev Blade coming towards him, seeing it impale itself on the ground as he heard the sound of what seemed to be disappointment. "Awww you actually dodged that. I guess I should have expected that much." Nine said as Sora grabbed the Rev Blade and pulled it out from the ground.
"By the way, do you happen to have an umbrella? I heard there's going to be a chance for showers above you." Nine said, confident that Sora would take damage from her next attack as she made manifest a mirror in front of herself before firing a fireball right into the mirror. As soon as she did, Sora could see above him the light he thought was the light of the world shining on the glass turn out to be the magic of the great sage herself in action.
At first, Sora saw a small flicker of a red light on a reflective surface. Sora then saw several red lights on reflective surfaces that began to glow even brighter. That immediately told Sora that something massive was coming his way and he needed to act sooner than later. Nine herself had no intentions of playing the game she proposed, more content with the idea of simply turning the thing known as Balmung to ash as she began to fire a barrage of flames right into her own mirror, raining down on Sora a barrage of fireballs that would have been impossible to dodge, accounting her barrage for Balmung to ensure that there was no way that Sora would be able to escape his fate.
"Just to be safe." Nine said to herself as she did not hesitate to barrage even more fireballs towards her own mirror, expecting that at this point, there was no way that Sora could have survived her relentless barrage. However she felt a sense of unease as she saw one of her reflective mirrors tremble before shattering. As soon as it did, a singular figure emerged from the remnants, exposing to the elements the person responsible as she used wind magic to push herself out of the way as a punch came dangerously close to touching her.
"There you are…" Sora said as Nine was surprised to see Sora escape the barrage she had sent his way. The first one sure but the subsequent ones? Those should have been near impossible for Balmung to predict. As his fist missed the target he tried to attack, he grabbed the hilt of his blade and swung hard, trying to cut Nine down even though he wanted information from her. He figured that a woman of her strength would be able to withstand a simple strong strike from his Rev Blade.
Nine herself was able to use her magic to repel the attack coming her way, forcing Sora to expose himself to her next attack. She created a bunch of magic seals that surrounded Sora as she unleashed a variety of elements consisting of fire, ice, water and lightning to try and bombard Sora with spells that he would not be able to handle. Sora closed his eyes upon seeing this barrage of elements come his way and knew the only way he would be able to dodge such a barrage would be the use of Balmung.
The first attack that came his way was a quick strike of lightning. The next attack was an equally fast ball of fire. The next two attacks after that was a surge of water that would have smashed right into him. The final attack was ice that followed the same path the water came from in order to freeze him in place. All of these attacks could have been dodged with a complex series of aerial dodges that Balmung showed was possible but Balmung also showed Sora a possibility he could just do instead of the complexity and Sora knew to take it if he wanted to stand a chance.
Pulling out his revolver, he immediately fired a shot right at Nine's way. Nine at this point expecting Sora to use guns in his attacks had created a passive barrier of wind to protect herself against such projectiles, the wind redirecting the bullet so that it flew right towards the sky. She was confident that was the only thing that Sora could have done at that moment and immediately finished her spells, casting them immediately to prevent Sora from reacting against her.
She could see with her own eyes the lightning emerge to strike Sora's back. It is often well know that lightning is quick enough to be hard to dodge on reaction so a lightning strike at point blank should be a guaranteed sure hit. But as she saw the lightning bolt emerge, Sora had already vanished from view, much to her shock as she had cancel the spell before the lightning could fully emerge to accidentally electrocute her.
At that point, Nine's mind raced to where he could be at that moment. She knew well enough that Balmung was simply showing those who possess it the possibilities they could take regardless of how absurd it would be. It should have been impossible for Sora to escape that series of magical spells unless it was in fact something Sora himself was capable of doing. Her mind then raced to the bullet Sora had fired towards her and immediately her mind figured out where he was as she quickly clapped her hands, forming Kagutsuchi's gigantic flaming hands to clap above her where she had predicted Sora to be.
As she was doing said action however she saw something drop in front of her. It had flown quite fast past her but it was enough to make her think that Sora was going to do something involving the the object that flew past her. Nine herself was quick to realize that trying to play this 50/50 game would be a fool's errand. She instead decided to create a magic seal underneath her feet immediately form a wave of fire that threatened to melt anybody who was beneath her.
With this, Nine had effectively covered two ways that Sora could have attacked her from. She had figured that Sora wouldn't have been quick enough to react to her double pincer attack. Makoto could see this impressive display in front of her and couldn't help but be in awe at the magic in front of her. If the air around her wasn't being deprived of her to prevent her from speaking she would have been making sounds of awe at the primordial display of power in front of her.
She knew however that Sora was not one to count out and she also knew that Sora had developed as a person both physically and mentally. While Nine had been focused on attacks coming from above and below her, Sora had tried to get an edge of her and used his newfound powers to try and overpower the great sage herself with attacks she may never had seen before. One of those attacks was in the form of the black goo that Sora had sent dropping towards her by severing his black arm.
As soon as he did, he had focused on the black arm in order for it to create two black beast heads. He knew he had to be quick as they wouldn't last long under concentrated fire from Nine's magic. And while one of them was burned trying to escape the flames of Nine's spell, the other was able to escape their fiery fate below and lined itself behind the great sage herself. Nine herself was only made aware of the beast's presence at the last minute as she turned to see the beast try to devour her whole with it's massive mouth
Nine had to react quickly to the danger that was coming her way. Using the wind barrier she had created for herself, she immediately redirected the wind pressure that she was using to protect herself from projectiles to instead blast her ahead, allowing her to dodge the beast's chomp. As soon as the beast finished trying to bite down on her, Sora emerged from the barrier, gripping the Rev Gun with his Rev arm and fired a charge shot right towards Nine, piercing the winds her boost had created and Nine saw it dangerously approach close to grazing her. The attack itself was not fatal but a graze would be noticable enough to qualify as a hit.
Reacting quickly, Nine summoned the full body of her familiar, Kagutsuchi to block the attack. Hino-Kagutsuchi was a massive demonic red being, it's face angrily staring at it's challenger as with it's massive arms, it was able to grab the Black Beast head as it tried to bite past the demonic being. As Nine continued to run away, she barely caught at the corner of her eye Sora appearing and with his Rev Arm, blasted an enhanced punch to try and strike Nine faster than she could dodge.
Nine responded to his attempt by raising her palm out. Normally such a thing wouldn't be enough to stop or even deflect an attack but being the mage she was, she created a small magic seal that soon erupted a dark blast of energy to push Sora's punch out of the way as she quickly followed it up with her fist enhanced by magic landing a blow on Sora's Rev Arm, trying to forcibly disconnect it from the man.
Sora couldn't help but grit his teeth upon feeling Nine strike the connection point between his stump and Rev Arm but did not allow that to deter him as he used the residual energy from his strike to blast a back hand strike towards Nine. Nine herself, having planned for this used the residual energy of her own enhanced fist to blast a wave of force towards Sora, forcibly ejecting the Rev Arm out of Sora's stump, using that as her chance to quickly dash away from Sora before he could use Balmung to try and counterattack.
Sora, instead of giving chase, decided to stop. Grabbing the Rev Arm and reattaching it to his stump. He couldn't help but wince a little as he could have felt a few of his nerves die when Nine did that repel. "Well thanks for showing me that. I am now aware of something I am not really aware of." Sora said as he reached towards something on his hip, grabbing it and revealing to Nine what seemed to be a reinforcement brace for the Rev Arm.
"Don't try to tell me that you were going easy on me." Nine said as Sora shook his head. "I am not I can promise you that. I was just being conservative with my attacks." Sora said as he looked down at the Rev System Mk2 and attached it to the Rev Arm, forming a sheath around it. "You call sending a Black Beast towards me conservative? What's next? Two Black Beasts?" Nine questioned but before she could even blink, Sora had already appeared right in front of her face, prompting her to form a barrier to protect herself quickly.
"I don't rely on the power of the Beast for my fights… But you would be the best person for me to experiment with." Sora said as he jumped away from Nine and formed two Black Beasts beside him. Closing his eyes, Sora focused more on the shape of these beasts and soon, the two Black Beast heads shrunk down, becoming smaller and eventually assuming the shape of a bunch of dogs. Nine couldn't help but focus her eyes on this development as they resembled some of the remnants she and the other six heroes had to fight after defeating the Black Beast.
"So if you don't mind… let's continue. I won't hesitate to stop attacking you until I touch you once!" Sora shouted, commanding the new forms of the Black Beast to go charging towards Nine. She figured that by taking to the air she would be able to avoid the beasts on the ground but Sora figuring that to be the case focused on the beasts and did something that alarmed Nine. From the backs of these beasts, wings grew from them and they took to the skies to chase after her.
Nine herself had to defend herself, using Kagutsuchi to act as a body shield to shield her from the beasts. Kagutsuchi tried to use it's massive body to try and squish the annoying pests but the beasts' newfound size and mobility made it difficult for the demon to strike. As the beasts distracted the great sage's familiar, Sora himself gave chase to Nine, making sure she had to focus on him without the use of her familiar.
Nine tried to figure out how she could hinder Sora's ability to attack while she played defense. Looking around her surroundings, an idea immediately came her way as she backed off from Sora before he could get any closer. It did not take him long to realize what she was trying to do as he moved to counter her plan. Makoto herself couldn't believe the action that was happening in front of her before she start to notice the two coming her way.
"Oh hell no!" Makoto mouthed, the air around her still depriving her of her ability to speak as she realized what was going to happen next. She had figured that Nine was going to try and use her as a hostage but that was not the plan of the great sage. Her plan was much simpler than holding someone hostage. By fighting near her general location, Nine had hoped to limit Sora's options out of fear of hitting her with a stray attack.
Sora, realizing what Nine was planning to do reacted by getting to Nine's side and firing a bullet towards her way at that moment. Nine, forced to react otherwise she would get hit, dodged out of the way as Sora gave chase the moment she moved out of the way. Sora simply gave a look towards Makoto's way before nodding his head, letting her know that he was going to make sure that nothing bad would be directed her way, giving Makoto some much needed reassurance in his mind.
After that quick gesture, Sora immediately gave chase to Nine at that moment. Nine knew at that very moment that Sora was not going to let her use Makoto as a shield in any way. This made it clear to her that she should just discard that idea and instead shift towards just knocking Sora out with overwhelming power. As Sora gave chase, he saw Nine stop herself in her tracks as that told him that she was done playing defensively and instead shift towards a more offensive game plan.
While this shift towards offense means that there will be more chances for Sora to land that crucial hit, it also means that Nine was done playing nice and she was going to simply destroy him until he was nothing but ash. Sora did not know what he prefered, an offensive Nine or a defensive Nine but he decided against thinking about it and just focus on the battle ahead. And that battle involved him charging towards the greatest mage in the world's lifetime as she began to weave a variety of spells in front of him.
Makoto herself could see the series of fire, water and wind spells that Nine was creating and immediately knew what kind of spell she was trying to create. Without the ability to speak, she had no way of warning Sora currently. All she could do was watch this happen in front of her eyes but she didn't want to let that happen. She didn't want to be the damsel in distress at that very moment and she needed to find a way to escape. That was when she looked to the top of her head and realized that while the pillars of fire went high to the sky, there was nothing blocking the top, suggesting that there was a limit to how high Nine could have made the fire pillars without inhibiting her own magic.
As Makoto racked her mind to figure out how to escape her prison, Sora saw black clouds loom over his head. He immediately knew that he was in danger and unlike Makoto, Black beasts do not make good cover for magical based shenanigans. Combined with the fact that Nine would do everything in her power to ensure that she would not be touched in any way, Sora had to guess there was going to be no way for him to stop her current attack. 'She really is going for the finish here.' Sora thought as with the looming danger above him, he decided to pick up the pace, hoping to speed up enough that she won't be able to keep track.
Nine, whether aware that this was the strategy or going by what she has seen Sora do during their fight, immediately began by unleashing a combination of fire and water in front of Sora, making him dodge out of the way. At that moment, she finished weaving her spell, summoning her pixe to give chase to Sora at that very moment. Sora, unfazed by the being in front of him immediately pulled out his firearm and simply shot at the pixie, destroying it before they could be a nuisance.
Nine then immediately weaved a fire and wind spell and sent it towards Sora as a controlled ball of windy fire. Sora ran past it but the moment his back felt the touch of heat behind them he immediately used Balmung to immediately go back to where he was as the ball of flame immediately exploded, erupting into a gigantic puff of fire similar to how cotton would explode in a compressed chamber when pushed against very quickly. This also had the effect of blinding Sora temporarily, preventing him from seeing what Nine was doing.
Even hearing for the next attack was difficult due to how surprisingly loud the boom was. Being deafened for a moment, it meant that that Nine's next attack was going to have the advantage of surprise. All Balmung did was show him how he was going to get hurt and give him a possibility to do so but at the same time, it doesn't show the specific attack in question. He could use Balmung to dodge but then get hit by the attack's wind up animation instead.
Instead of trying to figure out what was going to be the next attack, Sora figured instead to wait and see as he could hear the sounds of Kagutsuchi and the black beasts continuing to fight, the Black Beasts doing their job of providing backup by distracting that massive thing. It was not guaranteed they would keep on distracting as Nine could easily resummon the demon if things got bad but at the very least he knew that the creature was occupied at that moment.
There was also the looming doom clock that counted down above him. He knew at any moment he was going to be hit with magic and that magic was going to be at a volume too overwhelming for him to try and dodge. His time was counting down and he knew he needed to land that hit quickly before things got worse. He then felt the ground underneath him start to shake, telling him that the danger he had expected to come his way was now coming his way and he needed to be ready for it.
Suddenly, in front of him, several roots exploded out of the ground. The fact that there were no nearby trees for Nine to forcibly use this told Sora that either these roots were long in the ground and Nine simply gave them magic to forcibly cause them to come to life or Nine used her magic to plant a seed that caused a massive explosion like so. Whatever the case may be, Sora knew that this was done to disrupt him by causing the ground around him to become uneven, enabling her to control him and the space he had to attack her.
But what he had thought would be a simple attack consisting of roots was nothing of that sort as soon turned into something he had never thought he would experience. The roots tightened on each other and began to swim towards him, alarming Sora at the rate this was going and forcing Sora to avoid the wave before it became worse. The root wave however became worse as he tried to move around the roots but found his footing disappear the longer the wave continued.
He had thought he could keep this dangerous game of hopscotch up as long as he had enough room to make the jump but as he jumped to the next root branch, he suddenly felt heavier as he fell to the ground mid jump, crashing in a violent manner as he realized that he was inside what seemed to be a gravity circle. The weight of the gravity circle immediately reminded and made him realize the sensation he was feeling was similar to when he met the imperator the first time.
"So you're the one responsible for creating this gravity field!" Sora said as Nine couldn't help but look at him in confusion upon hearing that statement. This was her first time using this spell against him, how would he be aware of what it was and what it could do? It mattered little however as she was determined to have this fight end as soon as possible as she looked up to see the clock approach Sora's time for requiem. Sora meanwhile knew he could fight against it but if Nine were to try and send more roots his way, he would simply be swept off his feet and get dragged further away from Nine, allowing her to unleash hell upon him.
Then as if to compound more on his current set of problems, Nine had recreated the pixie that Sora had shot at and Sora could sense what felt like malice towards him at that moment. He knew that the pixie did not like what he did to it and was probably going to do everything in it's power to make his life a living hell at that very moment as it charged towards him, immune to the gravity field and smacked his face with a high speed charge.
Sora staggered very slowly, unable to regain his balance quickly as the fairy continued to buzz and focus it's gaze upon him. Sora did not know what he was going to do but he needed to get out of this situation he was in before it struck midnight. But it seemed like the great sage was not going to let him get away from his current situation or allow him to achieve his goal as she readied her next spell in front of Sora, ready for it to be the finishing blow.
"SORA!" A voice shouted as that prompted Nine to look away from Sora at that moment to see Makoto standing right behind her. This alarmed Nine as she had thought that Makoto had remained trapped in her pillar of fire as she looked at what had happened to her makeshift prison for the squirrel beastkin. Her eyes widened even more to see what ridiculous thing she had done in order to escape her prison, seeing the magical roots that had been intended for Sora be uprooted in such a way that they allowed Makoto to go through the ground to escape her pillar of flames
Nine saw Makoto run towards her at that moment. Nine instinctively knew she had to focus her attention on Makoto as she needed to prevent Makoto from landing a hit on her and breaking the condition of the spell. Nine decided that her attention should be directed on the squirrel beastkin, deeming her the greater threat as Sora would be too occupied in trying to escape the gravitational field while being distracted by her fairy and thus she would have an easier time focusing her attention on Makoto.
"KAGUTSUCHI TO ME!" Nine shouted as she didn't want to take any chances of Makoto being able to get close. Soon the demonic being formed in front of Nine, becoming a massive wall as it used it's arms to a dome around Makoto before fully obscuring Makoto inside it. Nine was certain this time that there was nothing Makoto could do to stop her at that moment. She then turned towards Sora, focusing her gaze towards him at that moment as she was sure that the gravity well he was under had still kept him pinned.
As soon as she turned her head towards Sora, she saw that Sora had remained in the gravity well but he had pointed his gun towards her. He gripped the handle of the gun tightly as he charged as much Seithr as he could muster in his arm as he revved the Rev arm. "ENHANCED GEAR!" The Rev Arm shouted as he began to focus his gaze towards Nine. "DISTORTION GEAR!" The Rev arm continued as Nine immediately knew she had to act as she summoned a mirror in front of herself to protect from what was obviously a projectile aimed her way.
"ASTRAL GEAR!" Sora could feel the the air around him almost become electric as he felt sweat drip down his head. The pixie tried to interfere by disrupting his stance, slamming it's tiny body towards his knees. Sora got ready to fire a shot as the fairy was able to strike his knee, causing him to buckle. At that moment, Nine felt confident enough that she had disrupted Sora enough that she would be able to throw his shot off course as she briefly drew her focus towards Makoto who was still under the body of Kagutsuchi.
Sora knew that if he did not fire this shot now, The great sage was going to dodge his attack and he was going miss his chance to land the hit he needed. Without hesitation, he took a deep breath and took aim. He knew he had only one shot at this as Nine slowly turned away from Sora in his view. "ASTRAL FINISH!" The Rev Arm shouted as Nine immediately turned around to face Sora. "KAGERO…" Sora said as he fired his shot. As soon as he did, Nine was quick to defend, forming a mirror barrier to deflect his shot at that very moment.
However the bullet vanished the moment Nine saw Sora right in front of her face, the Rev Arm immediately swapped to the Rev Blade and swinging the blade as fast as he could. The speed he was going was near blinding, quickly moving past the mirror and the fairy and focusing his attention towards the great sage. Nine had to dodge as she couldn't risk Kagutsuchi moving and in the process, exposing Makoto a potential chance to hitting her as she jumped high into the air using all of the wind magic she could muster to her feet, blasting herself high into the air away from Sora's reach as the clock was about to strike midnight.
"Give up! There's no way…" Before she could finish her sentence, her eyes could see something that she couldn't believe, a Black Beast Head the side of a bullet stared right at her, it's gaze focused on him as before she could react, it struck her right shoulder and pierced through with a ferocity she had only felt once in her life. The clock that was about to strike midnight ceased and Kagutsuchi was forced to disappear upon sensing harm had been inflicted upon it's user.
Makoto blinked her eyes, having been waiting for what seemed to be fireworks to rain her location but the moment the shadow that had been cast around her had vanished she had to look at what had caused it. The moment she saw the great sage draw blood in front of her immediately told her what had just happened as all the spells that had surrounded the area were now gone, leaving the barren flaming wasteland by itself and the damage they all had caused in the process.
Sora immediately dropped to the ground, the gravity having been what held him in such an awkward position but before he could fully land, Makoto immediately dived out and caught him, making sure her bosom acted as a soft cushion for his head. The two immediately recovered and focused their gaze upon the Six Hero as she slowly descended towards the ground, blood dripping out of her shoulder as she touched it.
"...You could have gone for my head." Nine said as that surprised both Sora and Makoto upon hearing that. They had thought that Nine would be in pain but she seemed to be calm at that very moment. "You said you had information for us. If I shot you at the head and you died, that would have made the whole purpose of that bet worthless." Sora said as he looked down on the ground. "To be frank, if things didn't go the way they did for me, I probably would have been overwhelmed eventually." Sora said as he had to be frank about the circumstances in front of him.
"Regardless, a deal is a deal… and I am a woman who makes sure to fulfill her deals so that nobody can hold them over me." Nine said as both Makoto and Sora looked at each other upon hearing that statement. "What would you like to know? I will tell you as much as I feel like telling you." Nine said as both Sora and Makoto looked at each other before nodding their heads. "Can you give us a few minutes? We need to gather ourselves a bit." Makoto said as Nine sighed upon hearing that statemenet but simply agreed with a hand wave.
"What do we do Sora? What kind of questions should we ask the woman?" Makoto asked as Sora himself scratched his head. "What kind of information would she have in the first place about our current situation… do you think she knows what the Imperator even wants from all of this?" Sora questioned as Makoto realized what he was saying and began to ponder with him. What information does the great sage hold and what kind of questions they should be asking indeed.
"Do you think it's fine if I ask more about Balmung?.." Makoto questioned as Sora looked at her surprised at that. He had figured that she would want to know more about the current situation but if she was asking that kind of question that implied she wanted to know more about their current situation as well. "I understand that our friends are currently in danger by the looks of it and that it all involves Ragna… but at the same time I want to know more about Balmung… You and something important too…"
Makoto's words rang in Sora's mind as he was unsure how to process what he had just heard. He knew he needed a few seconds in order to process what he had just heard as Makoto gave him that time he needed to prepare as he nodded his head in agreement. "Well. I am taking from that silence that you both have finally come to the conclusion of the questions you wish to ask from me." Nine said as both Sora and Makoto turned to face her at that moment.
"We have… and we will start with an easy one. Is this world the world inside the embryo?" Sora questioned as Nine smiled at that, an easy question being tossed her way. "Of course not, this is my world I had created. The Phantom field. But I guess to you all it would be another world so let's just keep it simple and say it's another world inside the embryo." Nine said. "In that case, what is the purpose of this world? Why do you need everyone in another world?" Sora further questioned.
"Why they are the chosen ones. The ones selected by the Master Unit herself to have their wishes granted by her." Nine said as Sora and Makoto thought about what she had said, pondering the meaning of those words. "And these wishes… what's their purpose for?" Makoto questioned as Nine chuckled at that moment. "How should I know, the master unit chose her candidates for a reason. All I know is that there is only one person that the chosen must defeat to have their wish granted." Nine said as Sora was able to piece who it was supposed to be.
"If that is the case, why are both me and Sora not chosen in the first place? Isn't it supposed to be every remaining being in the world?" Makoto questioned as Nine simply smiled upon hearing that. "It's because you were granted your wish weren't you? What a greedy woman you are, wanting more than one wish." Nine said as Makoto thought about what she had said. "Do you mean… me?" Sora said, pointing to himself as Makoto's eyes widened upon hearing that statement.
"Tell me Miss Nanaya, didn't you want to have that man stand by your side? Even if it meant erasing your existence?" Nine said as Makoto nodded her head upon hearing that statement. "What do you think will happen to you after all of this? Do you really think that there is still a place for you in this world?" Nine added as Sora himself was beginning to realize what Nine was implying as he slowly gazed Makoto at that moment.
"Makoto Nanaya is a woman that does not exist. She sacrificed her own existence in order to bring the existence of Balmung back to life. You, Sora Minakaze, are what she sees as Balmung." Nine said as both individuals were still processing the shock that was now hitting them. "So tell me, what do you think will happen as soon as the chosen one gains their wish and the master unit creates their world? That's right, a world without Makoto Nanaya." Nine said as Sora couldn't help but process the information he had just heard.
"What about Sora? What about him in all of this?" Makoto questioned as Nine shrugged. "How am I to know? If I had to guess, he would be reborn into the world in your place. Take your spot in life and live his life without having ever known you. This is my own thought in the matter but since you have read my notes, you can guess how accurate that assessment would be." Nine answered as Sora's mind continued to process the information overload he was receiving, not sure how he should process what he had just heard.
"Then answer me this. Why did you make Balmung in the first place?" Makoto questioned, ignoring the fact that she had just heard that she was going to be erased after the crisis of the world was done. Makoto had questions burning in her mind that if she allowed what she had heard to cloud her mind she wouldn't be able to live with herself. "Why I made Balmung in the first place? Isn't it obvious or do I really need to state it?" Nine said as Makoto took a deep breath, remembering the notes she read.
"Balmung was a Nox Nyctores that was accidentally created when you tried to design something to stop Draco. Balmung was born as a fusion between a Black Beast that emerged from your secret workshop's cauldron and a woman that was your assistant at the time." Makoto said as Nine looked impressed that Makoto remembered that much from her secret notes. "What I do not understand in all of that is why you spent so long trying to make Balmung. Why you used what you used and why not just work with the rest of the Six Heroes and the world to stop Draco instead of going through all of your trouble to make Balmung. It's not like the world would have been hesitant in dealing with another world ending threat in the first place." Makoto continued as Nine couldn't help but be amused by the woman's theories.
"And why does it all matter to you? You are going to disappear after all of this happens so why does knowing why I made Balmung even matter to you?" Nine questioned as Makoto took a deep breath upon hearing that statement, steeling herself for what she was going to say next. "Because I deserve to know that much. For god's sake I sacrificed my own existence to make sure my boyfriend who is part of your master creation at the very least you can tell me why even make the Nox Nyctores in the first place?" Makoto said, trying to appeal the fact that she was disappearing as the reason why she and Sora deserved to know.
Sora meanwhile remained quiet, unsure how to feel about Makoto's series of questions but decided against objecting. He too was curious as to why he was even born in the first place and knew that hearing from the source's mouth was probably the best way to learn the truth of his birth. "So you think just because you will be gone soon that I should spill my secrets to you? How can I trust you to not tell anybody this and reveal the secret of Balmung to everyone?" Nine questioned. The secret of Balmung? What could that mean in this case.
"Because Balmung erases everything. Not just one's existence, but any proof that they ever existed in the first place. The only reason why I was able to see those notes, remember that secret laboratory was because I was close to the source, Balmung itself, that it recognized me as a potential user and showed me everything." Makoto explained as Sora realized that what Makoto said was true, it was most likely their close connection to each other that her path was shown to her.
"So even if I know the truth now, if this world ends up remade, everything would be like it was before except I don't exist. That's all." Makoto said as Sora remained quiet, letting Makoto speak her mind out as Nine couldn't help but focus on that fact as she could see a growing concern form on his face. "And what about you Balmung? What are your thoughts about everything that you have heard so far?" Nine questioned as Makoto focused her attention towards Sora at that moment.
"… I understand why Makoto was not made a chosen… But I want to know something more important. How does one become a chosen in the first place?" Sora said as that made Makoto's eyes widen upon hearing that. "And what? You wish for Makoto to become a chosen in order to have another wish to be granted? That's sure some greed you have there." Nine said as Sora shook his head. "Not her… Me." Sora explained as Makoto couldn't believe what she had just heard.
"There's no restriction to who can be a chosen or not right?" Sora said as Nine simply shrugged. "I do not if there is such a restriction in the first place but at the very least, you look human enough to pass for a candidate if you are even able to do so." Nine said as Sora simply nodded his head upon hearing that. "In that case, I guess I have a rough idea of what's happening with everyone right now with this chosen business… so with that in mind…" Without any hesitation, Sora made manifest his Black arm in front of Nine to allow her to see it with her own two eyes the unholy mixture of man and beast in front of her.
"Tell us… Why did you create Anima Voluntatis: Balmung? What was I created for originally?" Sora questioned as it was said with a tone that was both firm and stern. He wanted to know himself, sharing the same feelings Makoto had about their current situation as Makoto smiled at that before nodding her head. "So you heard it from him, let us know why Balmung was made the way it was?" Makoto questioned, using Sora's own question to follow up.
Nine couldn't help but chuckle upon hearing those words come out from these two people. "I would have figured that you both would be more interested in the current problem you are in… yet here you two are, questioning me more about my old work. What a comedy this is becoming." Nine said as Sora and Makoto looked at each other before focusing their gaze towards her. "And why not? We are going to do both at the end of the day." Makoto said as Nine looked at the two people in front of her with a wide eyed look.
"Yeah, you gave us all the information we need to know about the current situation and we have always been quick with the uptake. We also know what we need to do next in order to resolve the current situation. What we need to know is more personal in nature and that's what matters to me." Sora said and Makoto nodded her head at that. The great sage Nine couldn't believe her ears, making her laugh greatly
"Such greed! To think that you only care for yourselves instead of your friends! WHAT A JOKE!" Nine shouted as Makoto and Sora immediately knew to stop her train of thought there. "You seem to be mistaken about something. We are saying what we are saying because we are doing this for our friends as well." Makoto said as Nine blinked her eyes at that. "We will get to the truth about Balmung and figure out how to get what we want… while making sure that our friends are not going to die in any way. Call us greedy or selfish, but we are not going to compromise on anyone other than ourselves." Sora said as with those words followed by their serious gazes, Nine could feel the serious weight of her words that could only match her determination to achieve her own goal of arming mankind.
"Truly...such ambition… I am glad to see it's still alive in this modern world." Nine said as Sora and Makoto could feel the heat around them start to lessen. "You two will listen to me and listen to me well. I shall only say this once so make sure you get every inch of my words and never forget it. What I am about to tell you has never been told to any other individual in my life." Nine said as Sora and Makoto simply swallowed some saliva down their throats and focused their gaze towards her.
"It is true, while the original purpose to Balmung was to fight against Mucro Flagro: Draco, I did create Balmung for another purpose." Nine said as Makoto and Sora leaned in, making sure their ears were as wide open as they could be. This is information that could potentially change how they see the world and in turn, Balmung. "The truth is… I want to replace god with a god that only follows the will of mankind." Nine said as Sora and Makoto looked at each other upon hearing that statement, surprised
"Think about it… you both are the perfect examples of why we need to replace this cruel god. You, a person that was never meant to exist, used as a tool by her to get what she wanted and then discarded. And you, a woman who was dragged into this whole mess and refused to let go, selling your soul to the devil for a chance to save the person you love. Don't you think that's so cruel of her? Isn't she supposed to be a kind and just god?" Nine said as Sora and Makoto paused, hearing her statement as they knew that what she was saying sounded too good to be true.
Sora: And what kind of god you are trying to create in place of our current god?
Nine: A just god. A god that doesn't use the world as it's play thing in a vain attempt to gain her own wishes. A god that only seeks the happiness of mankind itself
Makoto: A just god huh… so that's why Balmung was…
Nine: But Balmung's not my first attempt at this creation of a god. In fact, there was one before Balmung that I tried to use as the catalyst for godhood.
Makoto: One before Balmung? You don't mean…
Nine:Indeed. The first attempt I had in creating a god was in fact, Draco himself.
The moment both Sora and Makoto heard that revelation, they felt their jaws about to drop off their chins as they tried to process everything they were hearing. The fact that the great sage herself spent the time she was fighting against a monster trying to fight against god by creating her own god. They couldn't help but question her sanity, wondering if the years of trying to fight god was what broke her to make her broken tools of war.
"Yes….Draco… and I learned a lot from him. One thing I learned is that a Nox Nyctores can never become a god. Their personalities gives them desires and those desires are what makes gods create worlds that are not for humanity's benefit." Nine explained as Sora nodded his head at that, remembering how much hatred Draco pointed towards his way. "This is why when I made my next attempt at making god, I tried to create a Nox Nyctores without a personality, a blank slate that I can control without fail." Nine continued as Makoto realized what was happening.
"So that's why you went to Otsu…" Makoto said as Nine smiled. "I needed a secret location to conduct my work. Not only to ensure that Draco could destroy my work the moment he sensed my presence but also so I can have a location where nobody can interfere." Nine explained as Makoto looked down on the ground, remembering the woman that spent her time with Nine, her assistant. "And what about that assistant of yours? What was her role in all of this?" Makoto questioned as Nine looked towards the sky upon hearing that.
"An Assistant… Ahhh… the first user of Balmung… Honestly, she forced herself to my work. I didn't want her there at all originally and she simply insisted in staying with me to observe my work. Though I never intended for her to become the user of Balmung, her vanishing afterwards and thus Balmung with her erased so much of my hard work. If only I had found a way to retain my memories of her, I could have saved so much time in developing my masterpiece." Nine said as Makoto felt a chill crawl down her spine at that moment.
"Is...Is that how you really feel about what happened to her? Aren't you in any way sad of what happeened to her?" Makoto questioned as Sora did not know what Makoto and Nine was talking about but for some reason, felt a pang of sadness in his heart. "Of course I do feel sad but there is no time for that when one is focused in changing the world. To waste time grieving for one life over the world is pointless." Nine said, tempting Makoto to retort but decided against doing so.
"So how do you plan to replace the world's god with your own? That's no easy feat isn't it." Sora said as Nine shook her head. "It is not… but hey, that's the challenge I seek to solve. When I am able to achieve that goal, I will be able to fulfill mankind's desire for freedom. I will truly make sure mankind is able to walk on their own two feet, not bound by a god that willingly recreates the world over for her selfish desires." Nine said as Makoto knew she had to say something at that moment.
"And how can you guarantee that the god you are trying to replace is not just replacing one evil for another? It sounds great and all to want to replace god but how can we trust you to not try and twist it for your own selfish desires." Makoto said as Nine shook her head. "Do you not trust me? The woman who spent her life toiling away to create ars magus in a year? A woman who defeated the Black beast and saved the world from it's destruction? I can guarantee that I am creating a world better for humanity." Nine said as Sora took a deep breath upon hearing that.
"It's a great goal, to give humanity their own free fates. But what's the point if it takes making a god to solve our problems. We are only replacing one evil with another evil. A god created by man is nothing but mankind trying to play god themselves." Sora said as Nine looked at Sora at that moment with curious eyes. "And what would you say Balmung? Aren't you not playing god whenever you twist the world around you to fulfill your own goals? Are not manipulating the world's choice for you by twisting it? You cannot accuse me of hypocrisy if you yourself are a hypocrite." Nine said as Sora took a deep breath upon hearing that.
"Yeah, it's true. Balmung's ability to see what happens to someone and change what happens to them is similar to a god changing what happened in the world but the key difference is that unlike any god, it's all about the user at the end of the day. We aren't trying to change things to achieve what are impossible. It's all within our ability." Sora said as Nine couldn't believe what she had just heard. "So you are bragging that what you did throughout our fight was all you can do without needing Balmung?" Nine questioned
"Yes. I'm not bragging about it but I can do all of what you saw me do by myself normally. All Balmung does is gives me the foresight to see what is achievable, it doesn't let me defy the logics of the world." Sora said as Nine couldn't believe what she had just heard and simply laugh. "I cannot believe it! A nox Nyctores actually gave itself a mental barrier! To think that I would live to see the day!" Nine said as both Makoto and Sora looked at each other confused at that moment.
"Did you forget that I was creating a god? That includes making you to fight against Draco. Do you really think that my assistant could have done what she did if it was just based on what she was capable of." Nine said as Makoto realized that there was some truth to Nine's words at that moment. She had always wondered about Sora's drive or as she knew now, Balmung and if he was holding himself back from what he was truly capable of. "No… the day you were born, you were always meant to become a god itself." Nine continued as Sora couldn't help but feel uneasy at that statement.
"But as you are right now… you are a failure. You have the power I seek but you have gained a conscious and I cannot replace one needy god with another needy god." Nine said as Sora tensed his fists at that moment. "How dare you call Sora a failure! He's nobody's failure! He's a man that is a normal person like everyone else! I am glad he's got a conscious because it sounds like your conscious is broken you old witch!" Makoto shouted, anger flowing through her bones. "Can you really call that thing a human being? It's a nox nyctores that had been given the knowledge and body needed to mimic human emotions. There's nothing human about what it is in the first place." Nine said unfazed by Makoto's insult as Makoto wanted to punch the great sage, reputation be damned at that moment.
"Makoto…" Sora said, grabbing her shoulder to stop her. "Sora don't stop me. I will make sure she gets a piece of my…" "Not now Makoto… save that anger for the next time." Sora said as Makoto felt Sora's own hand tense on her shoulder, letting her know that he too was angry at the great sage's choice of words for him. Realizing that he was doing his best to hold back his anger for her, Makoto took a deep breath before relenting.
"So…. Is that all you got for us? Because we got a Bloodedge that we need to find and make sure is alright." Sora said as Nine couldn't help but feel insulted by that statement. "Oh? Aren't you not more curious about what your powers are? How you can unlock more of your hidden potential?" Nine questioned as Sora nodded his head at that. "I am but at the same time I know very well to not be greedy and ask for those things without understanding the risks. Also I will unlock my potential on my own." Sora said as Nine couldn't help but laugh at that comment.
"I would like to see you try to do just that! Such confidence rarely pans out to any meaningful change." Nine said as Sora simply shook his head at that statement. "But if you ever seek to gain more strength, you know who you need to turn to find out Balmung." Nine said as Makoto and Sora saw her float to the sky, overshadowing them in the process. "You say you wish to seek Ragna The Bloodedge no? Then he is no longer in this area. He is now out finding the imperator herself." Nine said as this alarmed both Sora and Makoto at that moment.
"If you wish to seek out Ragna The Bloodedge and resolve this whole mess you have found yourselves in, go and seek the imperator and receive the item that she was bestowed with." Nine said as her gaze focused itself on both Sora and Makoto at that moment. "Anima Voluntatis: Balmung and Makoto Nanaya, the both of you must seek out the woman that calls herself the imperator, Izanami and take the azure from her hands."
The moment Sora and Makoto heard those words come out of Nine, they wanted to ask what she meant by those words. But before they could even get the words to ask, the world around them began to change in a way they did not expect. The ground underneath them shook and the flaming sun that loomed over them began to set. Makoto could feel Sora grab her and hold her tightly in his arms, not wanting to let her go for any reason. Makoto herself did not object to this plan as she held on to Sora at that moment as tightly as she could.
As the two felt the world around them change…
GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING ON THIS FINE DAY!? I hope you all have had a fine 2023. As we prepare for the new year and 2024, let's look back at this year and take note what has happened and hope the future can be much better. Personally for me, this year has been a quiet year which for our chaotic times, a quiet year is better than a year that ends up going all up in flames.
SO WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO OUR HEROES!? HOW WILL THEY PROCESS ALL OF THE INFORMATION GRANTED TO THEM BY THE GREAT SAGE NINE!? WILL THEIR NEWFOUND KNOWLEDGE SAVE THE WORLD OR LEAD IT TO IT'S RUIN!? AND WHAT ABOUT BALMUNG AND IT'S TRUE GOAL!? WILL THAT CHANGE HOW THE TWO SEE THINGS?! All this and more when Fate Returns