(A New Fate and the last one that will come for this year. Let us end this year with a bang rather than a whimper.)

Bold = English Conversations

Bold Italics = Japanese Conversations

Fate 37

Previously on Canon Distortion

Sora Minakaze had been trying to find a way to get to his girlfriend Makoto as he sensed that her time was running out. Desperate for a way to rescue her, Sora decided to tap into the potential Balmung has deep inside it. His efforts to do so were rewarded as he was able to travel through the concept of space and time to reach and possess Makoto Nanaya. With Sora now fighting in place of Makoto, the climax of the fight soon approaches.

And now, the continuation of Canon Distortion

Relius Clover watched the scene in front of him with bated breath. What he witnessed was truly something amazing as his eyes were deeply entertained by what he was watching. In front of him was the sight of Izanami, a goddess as she calls herself and Makoto Nanaya, the woman of his deep interest. Izanami had been interesting for the longest time, not only for her soul bearing the capacity to be called a god but also for her true nature as a goddess of death. But as impressive as the goddess of death was, that was not what his focus was at that moment.

Makoto Nanaya was already an impressive specimen, even a former candidate to become the upgrade to the Detonator: Ignis. And this potential was fully revealed as right now, the person that was fighting in front of him was not Makoto Nanaya but instead the Continuum Error, Sora Minakaze. Sora Minakaze, also known as the Nox Nyctores Balmung was able to take over the consciousness of his owner and instead of what should be a tug of war between the two souls, the two souls were harmonious, working together with the error being the one in the driving seat.

Normally, when making any weapon using souls, the normal solution would be to break down the individuality of these souls and fuse them into a brand new soul. One could describe this process being similar as the way life is born. This is normally due to the fact that two different souls with their own unique personalities and identities have the potential to clash, resulting in the eventual union of souls being much weaker than if they were separate from each other. This did not mean however that such a union would not result in a greater increase of power.

Balmung, Sora Minakaze and Makoto Nanaya were proving to be the case of the later, as Izanami attempted to stop time once again but was stopped herself by Sora immediately making a Black Beast head lunge from the ground and biting her wrist, grabbing and pulling her towards him as he delivered a punch straight at her face. Of course, the union was not 100% perfect as Sora instinctively reached for his left hand and grabbed it, thinking he still had the Rev system only to realize he was just grabbing Makoto's normal fleshy hand.

Izanami thought that this was her chance to attack but Sora was quick to recover from this micro mistake, parrying Izanami's attack to the side and delivering a powerful palm strike to the woman's stomach. Sora could feel his senses going into overdrive as his eyes were darting to see Izanami's next attack coming his way. He stopped Izanami's attack by using Makoto's tail to wrap around Izanami's waist and pulled her in closer, preventing Izanami from being able to attack properly as Sora immediately tossed her to the ground using said tail.

As soon as Izanami felt her back touch the ground, she immediately tried to retaliate by stabbing on Sora's foot with what Sora saw as giant gold metal triangles. Immediately sensing the danger they possessed, Sora's immediate instinct was to jump out of the way, seeing the triangles slam dangerously close to his feet as Sora took a quick second to breathe before immediately throwing a punch right towards Izanami. His natural instinct was just to throw a punch that he had hoped would reach Izanami only to be surprised when an astral Black Beast emerged from his own fist, landing a blow and sending Izanami flying.

Izanami herself was not fazed by the sudden change of fighting style she was experiencing from Sora Minakaze, recovering quickly as soon as her back touched the ground and focusing her gaze right on the man. Sora himself took a few deep breathes, making sure that his heart rate was steady as he knew he had to be ready to dodge whatever was coming his way next. While he could easily do so with his normal body, Makoto's more feminine features especially at the upper area were something he needed to get used to quickly especially since this was an on the fly take over, not something that he and Makoto had practiced several times earlier on.

If he was not careful with what he was doing, it was not his life that will end but Makoto's. Despite this, Makoto had placed her faith that he would get her through this situation while she made sure she got some rest so it was up to him to reward her faith by helping her past this situation for as long as he can before he is either forcibly booted out of Makoto by some force or he can no longer maintain the connection. Whatever the case is, Sora simply took a deep breath and focused on the next attack coming his way at that moment.

"It truly amazes me how much you can entertain me Balmung." Izanami said, surprising Sora as he did not expect her to suddenly try to initiate a conversation with him. Sora did not know whether to entertain such words or simply choose to ignore her and focus on the fight but whatever the case was, the fact that she even chose words in the first place was something of a mystery for him. "Well I am not looking to entertain anything or anybody. I am just here to get Makoto out of here. That's all." Sora said, keeping his words and resolve simple at that moment.

"Oh? And are you sure you should be making such lofty claims at this moment? How will you feel if…" Before Izanami could make her speech, Sora rudely interrupted her by quickly dashing towards Izanami, swinging with Makoto's prosthetic arm right for her as Izanami quickly used her weapons to guard. "I don't really care what you are saying right now. I am just going to focus on making sure that she's safe and that's all I need to do." Sora answered, grabbing one of the triangles with the prosthetic arm and swung it hard towards Izanami after creating some distance, slamming the metal object right on her stomach and sending her flying towards the wall.

Izanami was not surprised that Sora would behave in this manner, in fact she found it refreshing that her opponent was taking fighting against her quite seriously and was not wasting his breath with unnecessary words. He was simply focused on his task of defeating and if necessary, killing her and she couldn't help but prefer this kind of mindset over the individuals who would waste their breath trying to talk to her, either to convince her or just talking in general.

Sora meanwhile had his thoughts on Makoto, feeling her beating heart on his chest that he is temporarily borrowing and the heaving of her breasts. He did not let the fact that he was currently in his girlfriend's body distract him from the fact that he needed to fight to survive and if he failed, it's not his life that is in his hands. He wondered if this is the sensation that doctors have when they operate on patients, their lives in their hands.

'Are you alright Father? Your link…' 'Sorry. I know I must be worrying you right now but I need to focus on this fight right now. But thanks regardless.' Sora quickly said before going silent once again, focused on his fight once again. Without hesitating, Sora immediately continued his chase, determined to end this fight as quickly as he can as he could feel what felt like a fog covering his brain, as if he was getting sleepy. He did not know if this meant that his connection with Makoto was waning or if Makoto's own consciousness was the thing that was getting lost. Either way, whatever is happening will result in Makoto dying and that is what he actively fought against.

Izanami summoned several skeletal dinosaur heads to give chase, their teeth snapping at him but Sora was not fazed, charging forth as he closed his eyes and focused. As he did, he could feel the flow of Seithr around Makoto's body, using that to quickly establish and create ars magus seals that allowed him to unleash several Black Beast heads to intercept Izanami's own skeletal army. The two unnatural elements clashed and neither proved superior over the other, resulting in a deadlock.

As the two different armies of death clashed against each other, Sora and Izanami met at the middle. Izanami started this new exchange by sending out her metal triangles right for Sora, having them fly past him as she engaged in close range combat. Sora in return dodged the projectiles coming his way and immediately tried to grab her. Then in a surprise twist of events, Izanami suddenly dashed away from him much faster than normal. It was then he could now properly see what the metal triangles really were as floating behind her was a golden bit like object that had a purple gem inset in the middle. The metal triangles that had been attacking him were actually just sharp pointed bits that detached themselves from the main gold metal object.

As if to signify that she was no longer holding back, Izanami raised her arm above her head, pointing her fingertip towards the sky and as she did, a black and blue flame began to form, shaping itself into the shape of a ball. Sora immediately could sense that this flame was not going to be good and immediately gave chase. But as he did, he was caught off guard by how fast Izanami was as she did not move a single inch by his eyes. That then told him that it was not her moving fast but the metal discs behind her accelerating her movement, ensuring that she cannot be caught while also enabling her to charge up this fireball.

At that moment, Sora immediately commanded one of the Black Beast heads to go after Izanami, the beast head sinking into the ground and giving chase before emerging out like a whale swallowing a whole body of water. Izanami in a movement that was very unnatural immediately shot up, telling Sora that the floating objects behind her gave her what seemed to be unparallelled movement in not only the horizontal space but also the vertical space. This means that trying to chase after her with traditional movement would not work in this case.

'Looks like I will need to get a bit creative here.' Sora thought as he could see the black and blue fireball in Izanami's finger continue to grow, alarming Sora as he knew at that moment, Izanami was going to launch that fireball and that fireball was only going to continue growing. There was definitely a limit to how big it could grow but at the same time, Sora did not want to find out what that limit was and he needed to act quick.

Without even hesitating, he leapt on top of the Black Beast head and used it to launch himself towards the sky to try and reach Izanami. Izanami calmly pushed herself off in the air, creating distance between the two as she had waited for Sora to leave himself vulnerable as she tossed the fireball at him. As soon as she did, the fireball quickly picked up momentum as Sora reflexively knew he needed to block as he pressed his arms together. As he did, he could feel the flow of Seithr change around him before he saw an ars magus circle manifest in front of him, acting as a shield to protect him. At first Sora was slightly confused before he realized that he had just unintentionally performed a barrier ars magus to protect himself.

His inexperience with the Ars magus showed as while he was able to block the attack, the attack was already breaking the barrier much quicker than he had formed it. Sora couldn't help but feel a sweat form down his brow as he tried to fight against the fireball which was gaining momentum. He knew that if he continued to block the attack, it was eventually just going to break and destroy him. Instead of allowing that to happen, Sora knew he had to change direction as he looked at his surroundings quickly before slightly tilting his arms in a manner that allowed him to redirect the fireball towards a group of undead skeletons, the resulting explosion and engulfing of the flames destroying the skeletons where they stood.

But that was not going to be enough for Sora as Izanami used this as her chance to move right in front of Sora's face and smash the barrier right in front of him. Sora tried to resist but the shattering of the barrier caused him to stagger. As soon as he did, Izanami did not hesitate to immediately thrust her palm right into the stomach of Makoto Nanaya, damaging both her and Sora as both could feel the sheer impact of her blow flow right through their stomach.

A wave of what looked to be black energy flowed from her palm and right into their stomach. This combined with the impact of the blow resulted in Sora getting sent flying towards the invisible floor. Sora reduced the impact by applying the basics of recovery from parkour, rolling out of the fall as he had crashed to the ground at high speed, prompting him to slow down even further by slamming the prosthetic fist down in a clawing motion, thankfully slowing down enough before he made Makoto fall out of the invisible floor.

Sora immediately placed Makoto's normal hand on her chest, feeling her heartbeat as he closed her eyes. Thankfully his control over her was still in control but he needed to make sure. 'Are you alright Makoto? You not rattled?' Sora questioned as he waited for a response from her. '...Thankfully. But god damn I felt that even from here.' Makoto replied as Sora took a deep breath upon hearing that as he could feel a sense of weariness hit him. 'What about you? You don't feel steady yourself.' Makoto questioned back as Sora knew he had to be realistic with himself.

'That last attack did rattle me a little and I am worried about the connection we have currently. But please leave things to me. I will make sure you get out of this with your body intact.' Sora replied, speaking in a tone that conveyed confidence to Makoto as he could feel a smile get directed towards him. 'Well since you said you were going to get me out of this, It's only right I have faith in you no?' Makoto answered as Sora couldn't help but scratch his head upon hearing that.

Makoto: But if you are going to make sure that I am getting out of this alive, you better not hold back on anything.

Sora: Not hold anything back huh…

Makoto: You do whatever it takes for me… us to survive. Even if it means having to break a few of my bones in the process. I am giving you my full faith in this

Sora: Your full faith huh… Is that alright with you Amy?

Amy:… I am worried about mother's current condition if you take too much damage. But if she's willing to do anything to survive then it's only right for us to respect her wishes no.

Sora: In that case, I hope you don't mind if your clothes get blown out of your body in the process.

'At least leave me with some of my dignity you idiot.' Makoto said, Sora feeling a warmth beating on his chest as Sora subconsciously looked down and finally processed the fact that Makoto currently was naked on the top. "Are you sure you should be wasting your time processing such useless thoughts?" Izanami questioned as she floated away from him, obviously not hearing the conversation that Sora had just had with Makoto but Sora was not bothered by what she had said.

As Izanami placed more distance between her and Sora, she sent three metal triangles towards his way, these discs at first charged towards him before they began spinning with each other, forming a chainsaw projectile that charged towards his way. Sora was quick to dodge out of the way but as soon as he did, another attack was already coming his way in the form of a giant skeletal tyrannosaurus head chomping down and nearly taking him with it.

Once again, Sora was able to dodge the attack barely but as soon as he did, he found himself feeling his back touching another person as immediately he felt something terrible coming at his back. He didn't even turn his head as he immediately activated Balmung to dodge Izanami's attempt to grab him, sensing the danger that was coming his way at that very moment. Izanami did not waste her time as soon as her attempt to grab him for a kill failed and immediately covered the distance that Sora had created by sliding on the ground with her feet pointed towards him and a pool of black shadows following her.

Sora's eyes immediately raised at that moment, surprised by the speed that Izanami was approaching his way. He thought quickly how he needed to block this incoming attack but the speed Izanami was coming towards him, it would be too slow to go for a low block as he gritted Makoto's teeth at that moment. 'Dammit! If only I had the Rev Blade with me.' As soon as this thought came rushing towards his mind, he felt the flow of Seithr flow towards him.

Izanami herself could feel the flow of Seithr that was coming her way and immediately knew that something was coming from Sora's direction. Izanami considered caution but she immediately rejected that idea, deciding instead to continue her attack as she was confident that there was nothing that Sora could do that was faster than her foot approaching his way. Even with the power of Balmung, she was confident that she had been fast enough that possibilities were not possible to form. Even if somehow he had managed to jump out of the way, She had prepared for such a contingency.

What she had not expected was for Sora to forgo defense and instead focus on offense, assuming a stance in front of her as she could see a shimmer of what seemed to be a blade being held in front of her eyes. There was no way but the danger that was present in front of her prompted her to stop her attack and immediately retreat using her special floating discs. She barely managed to stop herself being cut as Sora slashed right down on her, a manifestation of a blade resembling a messer and a handle that was more of a motorcycle handle.

Izanami herself was surprised but did not allow such a thing's appearance to break her focus. "...truly astounding." Were the words that Relius said as he saw the manifestation of the Rev Blade in front of him, able to see that it was not simply shaped from just a mass of Seithr but also a portion of Balmung's own soul. This more than anything truly cemented that Sora Minakaze was both a living being born from the separated union of Nox Nyctores and Black Beast but that the Nox Nyctores itself was united with him.

Sora immediately countered by slashing at Izanami, having to adapt his technique by swinging in a more compact manner due to to being in Makoto's body. Izanami was prepared to counter the blow only to see it suddenly shift at the last moment as an attempt to chop her legs from her, forcing her to fly just barely, Sora able to instead slice the heels of her shoes off and exposing her feet to Sora's eyes. Sora immediately tried to go for a series of attacks but Izanami was quick to stop him by immediately forming two skeletal hands that surrounded her, protecting her from Sora's attacks much better than any barrier could have at that moment as Sora immediately jumped out of the way and held Makoto's empty left hand out in a motion that resembled a shooting motion.

"...Bang." Sora in Makoto's voice said as he pulled the trigger in his mind. Normally such a childish gesture would have resulted in nothing but Izanami immediately felt a rush of energy that felt like Seithr immediately strike her in the shoulder, causing some parts of her outfit to get blown away. This greatly alarmed Izanami and upon closer inspection, she could see that Sora had managed to make manifest what looked to be a revolver.

Izanami did not waste time trying to process what she had just witnessed, only knowing that Sora was now armed with a way to use projectiles and she needed to focus on her main goal. Sending her own set of projectiles, she was surprised to see them get shot down before they could even build up the momentum needed to be lethal. Sora did not stop there as he immediately fired another volley her way. The volume of shots Sora made would have been overwhelming to most people but Izanami was not fazed, simply creating a barrier around herself to shield herself from further damage.

But as Izanami was protecting herself, she was not noticing that Sora had been approaching her closer and closer. He had done so by moving every time he made a shot using Balmung, mimicking certain techniques where a martial artist would mix both an attack and movement into one smooth motion. Izanami soon found Sora was right in front of her face where he suddenly slashed right at her, forcing her to dodge out of the way using her levitation. But as soon as she did, she sensed danger approach behind her as she quickly manifested another barrier to protect herself as a Black Beast head slammed itself right on the barrier, pushing her towards Sora where he was able to slash right at her back.

The brief flash of pain Izanami felt was enough for her to realize that she had made a mistake. Izanami was quick to respond to Sora's attack by quickly delivering a kick that would have shattered a person with it's impact. Sora however was quick to respond, not even needing Balmung as Makoto's beastkin eyes allowed Sora to react to things that came much quicker in what felt like a normal sense of speed. Sora couldn't help but feel a bit jealous at Makoto's reaction time but decided to try and push himself even further, hoping to take advantage of the temporary increase of reaction speed he had.

First, he started by striking Izanami's raised leg with his hand, disrupting her balance by making it so that she was forced to drop on the knee of her other leg. As she felt the impact of said blow, Sora immediately delivered a strike right on her temple, causing Izanami to feel her world to rock as she was disorientated from the blow. Sora then finished the attack by quickly striking Izanami's throat. While normally it would be enough to knock out most people, the most it did to Izanami most likely due to the rush of adrenaline was cause her to briefly lose oxygen, causing her to cough in the process.

This slight delay Sora caused was enough for him to quickly rush to behind Izanami and grab hold of one of the devices behind Izanami. She attempted to stop him by unleashing a burst but Sora was quicker, taking the device with him as Izanami blasted him away. Izanami felt gravity once again take control of her as she descended down towards the invisible floor. But before her body could even think about touching said floor, Sora used the device he had stolen and slammed it right onto one of the other sets of devices. This did not destroy them unfortunately for Sora but it did render them immobile as the two fighters immediately created distance between each other once again, their eyes staring down each other.

"Truly, your desire to not die is both admirable and foolish." Izanami said, throwing a shaded comment as Sora scratched the back of Makoto's head upon hearing that statement. "Of course. Nobody likes dying. That's just part of human nature after all." Sora said as Izanami couldn't help but be amused by such a statement. "Human nature? Even though what you are is nothing a human being is capable of doing at all?" Izanami questioned as Sora simply shook his head.

"I don't have the time or really want to be wasting time debating on the philosophical debate of what it means to be human. The only thing I care right now is that you're right to kill Makoto and I won't let you." Sora said, placing a hand on Makoto's left breast and clutching on it. He was trying to clutch his chest but he was too fueled by emotion to notice what he had done. His focus was great that even the slight yip and moan from Makoto was not enough to distract him from the danger that was in front of him.

"Oh… in that case, why don't you prove your words by surviving the lamentations of the dead." as soon as Izanami said what she said, Sora immediately felt the air chill around him as suddenly, a massive influx of what looked to be black wind immediately surrounded Izanami, obscuring Sora's vision of her as Sora could feel Makoto's bottoms struggle to not get ripped off by the wind, failing and soon leaving Makoto in just her panties, long boots and socks, making Sora feel Makoto's face get even warmer

'Can't really think about you getting naked right now. We just need to find you some clothes after you survive all of this.' Sora said, taking a deep breath as he knew that whatever was coming his way was not going to be a good thing and he needed to put all of his energy into it. Closing his eyes, he visualized in his mind the rev handle and revved it in his mind. This in turn began to pull Seithr from the air towards him as this was the first time in a while where he directly manipulated the flow of Seithr in the air, having done so primarily through the Rev System. Obvious aside, Sora did not feel as bothered as he thought he would, in fact he felt a better sense of control come from the Seithr that was entering inside him, as if his newfound knowledge of his true existence is allowing him to better absorb and understand Seithr than he did before.

Soon the chill in the air stopped, prompting Sora to look up as he could see that Izanami herself was preparing to do something that would require him to act immediately or get killed. The giant ghoulish tornado ceased as Izanami had positioned herself in the air. The red sky and master unit were completely obscured, leaving just Izanami as the lone thing in the sky as what seemed to be a moon illuminated both her back and face. She then gave an evil grin as without warning, Izanami came descending down upon Sora, momentum now taking over as several skull heads began to form behind her.

The skull heads all began to glare at him, as if their gaze was focused upon him and ready to tear him apart. Sora remained calm and continued to focus on gathering Seithr towards him, building a small surplus within him that was starting to cause him to feel a bit of strain. He knew he could have taken this amount on his normal body but Makoto most likely did not gather Seithr at the rate he did. Despite this however, Sora knew he could gather enough Seithr to stop the attack or even unleash his own counterattack.

Looking up at the sky, Sora raised up the phantasmal Rev Blade and Revolver and began to change their shape and form into something completely different, turning them into the Rev Arm. He didn't need to make the motion of mounting it anywhere as the Rev Arm began to take shape and form around Makoto's left arm, the same location where Sora would mount the Rev Arm originally as heat continued to grow within him.

Sora felt this sensation before, having done this once when he had that clash against Azrael. He knew that the move he was going to do next was most likely the move that was causing him to feel the way he was at that moment. He did not show any hesitation or worry, knowing very well that Makoto is more than happy to let him do this as these kind of situations where one person has to put in the full weight of their power otherwise death is unavoidable is just a natural part of clashes like these.

As Izanami got closer towards her final destination, Sora took a deep breath and held himself steady. He waited patiently, letting Izanami get closer and closer to him as a sweat slowly dripped down his brow. Izanami knew that Sora was not surrendering himself to her and was prepared for anything that he could do that would be lethal to her. Sora meanwhile steadied his breath, breathing deeply as Makoto could feel Sora slowly hold her arm, tightening the hand the Rev arm was currently cloaked with as he assumed a stance, readying what looked to be a punch that held a lot of power on it.

"DIIIIIEEEE!" Izanami shouted as she decided that waiting and seeing what Sora was going to do was not worth it, instead deciding that she should just end this already. There was no need for her to think too hard about what happened next. Sora opened Makoto's eyes at that moment, her eyes bearing the color of Sora's normal eyes as her right eye glowed an azure green hue to symbolize that this was Sora in control while her now yellow left eye was now glowing orange, showing the color of the original owner's soul.

"GOD SHATTERING STAR!" as soon as Sora yelled out his Astral finish, Sora immediately unleashed a wave of energy right at Izanami. Unlike the last time he did this which was a direct straight punch towards his foe, this time he threw this Astral punch akin to an uppercut, his punch breaking the sound barrier as a sharp cutting could be heard in the air followed by a parting of the darkness that had begun to surround Sora and Makoto.

Coming out of Makoto's fist was a combination of two things. The first was an explosion of blue Seithr right out of Makoto's elbow. Seithr is normally an invisible particle so the fact that a vibrant blue could be seen emerging out of Makoto's elbow would tell everyone that the amount of Seithr that was flowing throughout Makoto's body was not only dangerous, it would have already killed her were it not for the fact that someone else was currently taking in the strain for her.

The second visible thing that could be seen from this singular punch was what seemed to be an astral overlay of a fist right on top of the Rev Arm. The phantom Rev Arm clamped down on Makoto's flesh, causing it to bleed so that Seithr could directly flow and empower Makoto's fist to ensure that the blow going Izanami's way will not shatter upon impact. Izanami was expecting the blow but she did not expect how fast it was coming her way.

Even the parting of the shadows caught her off guard as half of the astral skeleton heads that were following behind her was cut down before they could do. What was taught to be just a simple display of power was in fact a powerful cleave. Izanami had to subconsciously tilt herself so that she did not get cut in half but at the same time, this caused her own Astral Finish to lose power as she had to spend precious energy dodging when it could have been focused on crushing her opponent.

However she had only dodged the metaphorical slash of the sky, Sora's punch was still coming her way and Izanami did not have the time to dodge the blow as she felt the strike land right on her chin. Sora's arm briefly buckled in recoil as Sora released a powerful yell with Makoto's voice, pushing past what felt like millions of G-force that was just resting on Makoto's fist and like the chamber of any gun that is not a revolver, pushed past the stopping point and immediately launched Izanami into the air.

Izanami's body was unable to take the full impact of the blow and Sora could see a massive wound form on her body, her clothes getting shredded in the process as even the crown she normally wore cracked at a few points. Izanami was ready to take some damage from this attack but the damage she was now taking was overwhelming her senses. Simply put, she could feel her body was in agony as if that was not bad enough, something below was beginning to form below Makoto's feet.

"DEVOUR IT ALL!" Sora yelled. He did not know the reason why he chose those words but those were the words he chose as below his feet, hovering below the invisible floor, a portal formed as a black pool began to drip from Sora's feet before a gigantic head of a Black Beast, bigger than any Black Beast that Sora or Makoto had made manifest. What came out from the ground that Sora stood on was the genuine article, it's glowing red eyes focused on one target as it made way for more of it's heads to stare down it's prey.

Izanami, still reeling from her initial blow was suddenly struck by one of the Black Beast heads. She was able to avoid getting chomped but it had put her into a spin she could not recover from as several other Black Beast heads followed up on the initial head's attack. Strike after strike, blow after blow, Izanami found herself unable to recover as the relentless assault from the different Black Beast heads did not give her time to recover or even deploy her shield to protect herself. She felt one last blow strike her, causing her to stop spinning and allowing her to see what was about to happen next.

Above her hovered Makoto Nanaya, currently possessed by Anima Voluntatis: Balmung's Black Beast hybrid, Sora Minakaze. He, with the woman's body held her arms up in the air as energy began to collect on the palms of her hands. The metal prosthetic slowly began to peel away from the woman's body, eventually simply becoming a blackened arm, the metal becoming a part of the arm instead of being completely destroyed. The left eye of Makoto Nanaya glowed a bright red, the iris of the woman's left eye reflecting the glow the red streaks on her white hair and tail were now emitting.

Without even uttering a word, Makoto's new blackened arm gestured downwards. As soon as it did, the Black Beast heads that had been following her immediately followed from behind. Izanami could only watch as her vision became dark and the world around her was consumed by darkness. Makoto and by extension Sora also felt the world's color vanish as they felt an entirely new body sensation take over them. Relius himself was satisfied with what he had just seen and decided that now was his time to vanish, Ignis appearing whisking him away before the Black Beasts slammed their head, the Seithr once holding them dispersing…

...As the Master Unit, sensing the world was in danger, made sure that it was not at that moment…

The sea of souls. A familiar sensation to both Sora and Makoto. They both felt themselves float as they opened their eyes. Makoto could see her own body once again or rather what seemed to be a whispy version of herself. 'Huh….so this is my soul body…' Makoto thought, realizing this was the first time she has ever had full conscious thought in this world state that did not involve in being some dream like state. Makoto took a quick moment to scan her surroundings to only find instead of her right arm which had been long severed, what seemed to be a chain had instead taken it's place.

When she instinctively pulled on it, she could feel a heaviness come from it. This was all the indication she needed to know something was attached to it. As she pulled on it more, she could feel the heavy object get pulled towards her. At that moment, she felt something tug back on the chain and before she knew what was happening, she was suddenly pulled in rapidly towards her final destination. 'oh gods…. This is it… I am actually about to die.' Makoto jokingly thought as while the situation was serious, she knew there needed to some levity to things.

Before she could go writing on her imaginary will, Makoto immediately felt a familiar hand grab a hold on her and pull her in tightly. She would have thought it was a creature were it not for the fact that she felt a warmth come towards her lips. She did not try to fight it as she could immediately recognize what it was as she wrapped her arm around the person, responding and letting them know she could feel their warmth in return.

"Thank gods you're alright…" the voice simply said as soon as their lips parted. Makoto gave the person a warm smile before kissing them back. "And thank you for protecting me… Sora." Makoto said as she opened her eyes, happy to see her man in front of her as she raised the arm that had a chain on it to see the chain simply move, letting her see it was Sora's arm that it was chained to. "And I am happy to have been able to do so." Sora simply replied as the both of them were just happy to be safe in each other's arms.

"AHEM!" A voice spoke up, clearing their throat to grab Sora and Makoto's attention as they turned to see it was Amy as she placed her arms behind her back and was gently kicking the empty ground she stood on. "What about me?" Amy questioned as both Sora and Makoto sighed and simply gestured for Amy to get closer. At first Amy showed some reluctance but then was pulled into their arms for a warm hug, making her smile as she knew that she was accepted in their small family.

"Tell me Amy. Are we in the boundary right now?" Sora questioned but before Amy could answer that question. Another voice couldn't help but make a chuckle. "I had always known that Black Beasts served as portals to the boundary. But to think that I would actually get to experience such a thing." The voice answered as immediately, Sora and Makoto were in alert mode, assuming a fighting stance as Amy did the same but not as quickly. They could then feel the darkness of the world around them become even more foreboding as Izanami reemerged, a bloody mess as her hair was disheveled and black blood flowed from various cuts on her body.

"Still up for more you crazy bitch." Makoto said, eyes glaring right at the former imperator as she surprisingly shook her head. "To keep fighting when I know what I know, I am willing to accept a temporary defeat. Besides, I think I have spent a bit too much time with you all and have derailed my own plans." Izanami commented as Makoto wanted to say something at that but Sora immediately stopped her, shaking his head as Makoto understood that as not picking a fight against the Imperator.

"So in that case, why go after Makoto? Why drag her into this mess?" Sora questioned as all he got from that question was simply a scoff from the woman's voice. He did not lose his temper upon hearing that and allowed her to give her answer. "Simple curiosity. I wanted to know what drives a normal woman to defy the machinations of god even though she is not a chosen and I am satisfied with what I saw." Izanami responded as Sora couldn't help but take a bit of issue with her choice of words.

Sora: And you thought fighting her was the best way?

Izanami: Indeed.

Makoto: What is wrong with having a simple conversation? Why does everyone think that fighting is the best way to figure something out

Izanami: Question my intentions all you want, I will never say. Though I can tell you that your wish will never be fully granted

Sora: What are you talking about?

"I am talking about a certain god like being that you are all so familiar with." Izanami replied and that was all she needed to say for Sora and Makoto to know who she was talking about as they turned to face Amy. Amy sighed, understanding what they were thinking at that moment. "… That is correct. Whenever a wish would be granted, the Master Unit will often have the final say in things." Amy explained as Izanami chuckled.

"Your wish to protect the ones you love and your wish to be with each other for the rest of your lives? The master unit can always undo such a thing in the next world reset. Balmung can grant you the fate you desire but it can never go against the cogs of destiny that the world is built upon." Izanami said as Sora and Makoto looked at each other upon hearing that statement as they were alarmed by what they had just heard but knew better than to believe the words of a snake.

"Listen… Don't listen… I could care less with what you do with that reveal. But if you do desire to figure out how one should escape such fate maybe listen to my next set of words." Izanami said as both Sora and Makoto felt the world around them begin to rattle. "Oh… it looks like the sea of souls is about to spit us back out to reality. Good." Izanami said as Makoto's eyes widened upon hearing that as that was not all.

"Ugghhh…" Sora groaned as he felt a sudden sense of weakness hit him, prompting Makoto to catch up as she noticed the chain that had linked the two together begin to sag. "Looks like I am reaching my limit to how long I can possess your body. Got to go back soon." Sora said as Makoto was alarmed to hear this. Sora shook his head however, determined to listen to what Izanami has to say as she smiled.

"If you wish to truly have your wish granted. You must go directly to Noel Vermillion… and Kill her." The moment Izanami said those words, Sora and Makoto's eyes widened greatly. Kill Noel Vermillion? What does Noel have to do with all of this. "A parting gift...the both of you deserve this for keeping me so entertained." With those final words, Izanami shot something right at the two. The impact of the projectile sent both Sora and Makoto flying as the chain immediately began to lengthen, symbolizing the fact that the two were being pulled away from each other. Amy could only watch as the two lovers were growing further apart from each other.

...As the cogs of fate begin to turn for our heroes once again…

GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? Man 2024 is almost ending and I decided to post my chapter close to the new year. Well, as the saying goes, better late than never. I hope you all have enjoyed my writing this past year and I do hope that you guys will continue to enjoy reading my story during 2025. I only apologize that this year saw a few delays and only 1 chapter releasing a month for you all at some points. I won't promise consistency but I can at least promise that you guys will get this story's ending one way or the other. Also, a slight note, for the first chapter of 2025, I will only be releasing one chapter mainly for my writing health and to make sure that the rest of 2025 starts smoothly.

SO WHAT WILL HAPPEN NEXT!? HOW WILL THESE REVELATIONS CHANGE THE FATE OF OUR HEROES!? WILL THEY BE ABLE TO FIGHT AGAINST THE EVERGROWING FATE IN FRONT OF THEM OR WILL THEY BE SWALLOWED WHOLE!? ALL THIS AND MORE WILL BE ANSWERED AS ONE YEAR PASSES AND THE NEXT TICKS DOWN...