Chapter 3: Birth of the Rebel

Eternal Spirit of the chainless Mind! Brightest in dungeons, Liberty! thou art,

— Byron, The Prisoner of Chillon

It is dark.

I can’t see anything.

My field of vision is pitch black.

My body is cramped. Something hard is encasing me.

I shudder.

I can move. My body still works.

I stretch my spine, arching my back as if waking from a long slumber.

A creaking sound follows, like something hard beginning to crack.

It seems my body was encased in a wall of blue or purple crystals?. I try extending my arm. Wait... my right arm is here? The one that was supposed to have been devoured by that Ashborn? How is this possible?

I thrust my body straight, throwing my weight against the shell that held me curled tight. With a deafening crash like shattering glass, the crystalline wall is pulverized into a thousand shards.

Emerging from the shattered husk of purple crystal is a massive, singular Aragami. It sports long, dark-red horns and a blue-black frame—a fusion of man and dragon—with its entire body covered in an outer shell of mutated Oracle Cells.

Within its somber, dim eyes, a burning reddish-purple flame flickers brilliantly. The left eye differs from the right; it is filled with a deep, cracked blackness, stained in obsidian hues that emit a dull, dark light.

The creature lifts its cyclopean gaze, a breath of purple mist escaping from jaws lined with razor-sharp fangs.

Attached to its left arm is a massive, heavy metal gauntlet etched with tribal patterns. A thick, majestic tail sways slowly behind it.

Light.

The heavy, death-bound weight of my body has vanished like a lie; I feel as light as a feather.

Wait... I really do have my right arm back. Even though that Ashborn ate it. But... was my arm always this blue-black color? And were my claws always this jagged and long?

There is a gauntlet—or maybe a shield—with a strange shape and pattern fused to my left arm.

What is this? I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere before... and what is that swaying at the edge of my vision? A tail? It’s growing right out of my backside. Did I always have a tail?

My head feels foggy; I can't seem to pull my thoughts together.

That’s right. My God Arc. It was broken, but it’s my life... my most precious treasure. I’m nothing without it. It’s the proof of a God Eater. But I can't find it. Where did it go? Where is my God Arc?

As I look around frantically, my right arm begins to throb and itch. Suddenly, a gargantuan scythe blade sprouts directly from my limb.

Ah, there it is. It was right here. My pride and joy.

A God Eater just doesn't feel right without their God Arc.

Suddenly, I sense something approaching—a presence radiating a murderous bloodlust directed straight at me.

I know this feeling.

A massive Aragami tears through the ruined walls of the Ashlands, revealing its gargantuan form.

It is an Ashborn, hovering upon a floating furnace, accompanied by two suns of purple flame that beckon all living things toward the abyss. Symbolizing its horrific energy, a single crimson horn—a high-density crystal—protrudes from its head.

It’s here. I remember it. The Ashborn that devoured my right arm.

Its name, if I recall... is Amen-Ra.

It lets out a deafening roar and initiates a high-speed charge.

Perfect. My body has never felt better.

It’s time for a rematch. Strangely, I feel no pressure, nor even a sliver of doubt that I might lose.

I’ve never felt this refreshed, this liberated.

I slowly level the blade of the Variant Scythe—my long-time partner now extended from my right arm—and prepare to intercept the oncoming Ashborn.

Amen-Ra launches a wave of attacks, utilizing clones created from the energy of its purple suns.

In response, the blue-black Draconic Humanoid generates a Plasma Booster from the "Inverse Scales" on its back. By triggering a high-temperature electrical discharge, it begins to command lightning at will.

It ducks low, bracing its left hand against the ground to dodge a sweeping strike from a fire-clad clone. In one fluid motion, it swings its tail in a massive clockwise arc, clearing the area.

Amen-Ra vanishes, using a short-range warp to evade the strike. It reappears instantly behind the humanoid, unleashing a barrage of flaming lasers from its twin suns.

The Draconic Humanoid manifests twin blades of lightning from both hands. Like a dancer amidst the storm, it swings them in rapid succession—slashing, parrying, and neutralizing the rain of lasers—as it closes the distance to Amen-Ra.

Amen-Ra keeps its distance, sweeping the front with a vortex of fire while warping backward, erupting a series of fire pillars in its wake to zone the enemy.

The humanoid guards against the erupting flames with its left gauntlet, spreads its arms, and drapes its entire body in lightning for a full-tilt charge.

Facing the humanoid head-on, the two Amen-Ra clones cause the four great fireballs floating around them to develop hideous, biological maws. They launch these Predatory Forms in rapid succession at their foe.

The humanoid sprints forward, its powerful claws rending through the wall of fire pillars blocking its path.

It draws back the monstrous scythe blade growing from its right arm, tensing its muscles—

And swings.

A colossal blade-wave of lightning erupts, cleaving through every single one of the predatory fireballs.

The lightning-fast "Ultima Blade" flashes through Amen-Ra.

The strike pierces from the head down through the floating furnace, bisecting the massive body. The clones vanish into clouds of black mist.

The real Amen-Ra lets out a horrific shriek as its clones are destroyed.

It collapses to the ground, groaning in a low, pained, and maddened tone. It glares up with hatred at the Aragami standing before it—a being of peerless power.

The Draconic Aragami, clad in blue-black crystals, lets out a thunderous roar of triumph, its cyclopean eye glowing with a triumphant red light.

Then, opening its maw of razor-sharp fangs, it leisurely began to feast upon its defeated prey.

In this demon-land where the dim, smoldering Ash of the dead swirls...

The sound of crunching bone and flesh, mingled with the terrifying cry of a dragon, echoed endlessly through the ruins.