Chapter 6: Wavering Soul

Sever my thoughts.

My heart.

Let the beast sleep its sleep.

— Charles Baudelaire

A large-type Aragami, a Vajra, unleashed a sphere of lightning.

In response, I opened my maw and spat a Thunder Breath.

The breath and the lightning orb collided head-on; my breath overpowered the strike, and the Vajra was engulfed in a vortex of violet electricity, incinerated until nothing remained.

A smirk played across my lips.

It seems my power has increased. I fired that Dragon Breath with conscious intent... and its potency was far beyond what it used to be. Furthermore, it feels as though I can push the output even higher.

I can still grow stronger, it seems. Grateful. This is the strength required to survive in this terminal world.

A Kongou came charging at me.

As it threw its massive frame forward in a Rolling Attack, I swung my claws horizontally with everything I had.

A localized gale swirled around us, and the Kongou was shredded into ribbons, falling apart in pieces.

I watched the scene with satisfaction. Before my monstrous strength, even the gargantuan size of an Aragami posed no threat.

A Gboro-Gboro attacked, firing pressurized water orbs.

Without hesitation, I performed a Step, dodging the projectiles and closing the distance instantly. I thrust the Variant Scythe—now fused with my right arm—into its crocodilian face, then slid the blade down, cleaving it from head to belly to groin in one fluid motion.

It was literally split in half.

Ignoring the barrage of missiles from a Quadriga, I charged forward, raising my fists to hammer a flurry of blows into its frontal armor.

One hit, two, three, four, five. As I pummeled the Quadriga’s body, its heavy metal chassis buckled and dented under the force.

I clenched my fist, thrust it deep into its core, and unleashed lightning from within.

The Quadriga’s body surged with violet sparks before exploding into microscopic dust.

Suddenly, a sharp, scorpion-like stinger lunged from my peripheral vision.

I parried it with my own tail. A Borg Camlann attacked, wielding its long, lead-colored needle.

The Borg Camlann swung its shield and leg claws, sweeping its stinger at me, but I intercepted every move with my tail.

Then, I snatched its stinger with my tail and swung the Borg Camlann’s massive body around with terrifying momentum. A "Giant Swing" via tail.

I swept up the other small and medium-type Aragami in the vicinity, knocking them down and blowing them away like bowling pins.

I unleashed my Imperial Wrath. Taking flight on wings of lightning, I manifested multiple spears of thunder and hurled them at the Borg Camlann and the remaining Aragami, skewering them all and putting them to rest one after another.

I continued to exterminate the remaining Aragami.

Hahaha! This is fun! It's so much fun! FUN! This is more exciting than when I used to play games! I’m unstoppable! I’m totally 'God-moding' this! ...Wait. What was a 'game' again? When was 'back then'? What was I doing before this? How long have I been here?

Who was I, to begin with?

Well, it doesn't matter. Not when it’s this much FUN.

Fighting is fun. Destroying is fun. Devouring is fun.

FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN! FUN...!

"…Nng… am I… alive…?"

Werner’s eyelids fluttered open.

He had been lying on a platform that resembled a bed made of violet crystals. Around him stood a circle of amethyst-like shards.

He sat up and touched his body. His physical form had been on the verge of death. Now, however, he felt nothing—if anything, he felt a refreshing sense of comfort. His clothes were riddled with holes, but the gunshot wounds had vanished without a trace.

That’s right. He had encountered a bluish-black Aragami. That creature, something bearing a striking resemblance to a Hannibal, had taken human form… and shared its own blood with him.

Werner moved his hands to test his strength.

"…I can feel power. A certain, powerful strength unlike anything I’ve felt before…"

Furthermore, despite being inside an Ashland, he felt none of the characteristic shortness of breath, lethargy, or the heavy pressure weighing down on his body.

His wounds healed, and a power that allowed him to navigate the Ashlands without hardship.

Was all of this the work of that Aragami’s power?

In that moment, a roar and a vibration echoed through the Ashlands.

"What was that!?"

It was a violent thunderclap, a roar that shook the air.

"It’s coming from over there…"

Werner turned his gaze toward the direction of the echoing thunder.

The Aragami was gone. Around the pedestal of his bed, chunks of meat—likely other hunted Aragami—were piled up. It wasn't here.

Another roar of thunder. Like a lightning strike, the vibration and impact pulsed through the Ashlands, vibrating through his very bones.

Werner stood up from the pedestal, stepped out of the crystal circle, and walked toward the sound of the raging storm. Passing through an artificial corridor made of crystal, he immediately found the source of the commotion.

"Is that… an Aragami? No, is that the girl…?"

A beautiful woman was fighting a swarm of Aragami.

She looked to be around twenty years old—still young enough to be called a girl.

However, her appearance was utterly heterodox—monstrous.

She had long, beautiful violet-silver hair. From her forehead grew two dark-red horns that commanded awe. Her brown skin, nearly bare like a goddess of fertility, was clad in scales of crystallized Oracle Cells like light armor.

From her shapely hips grew a long tail, and from the Reverse Scale on her back, she generated wings of plasma, flying through the air and raining down a storm of lightning that pierced every Aragami on the ground.

A raging Dragon God—one could not help but see her as something both divine and calamitous.

"Is she… laughing?"

As she annihilated the Aragami one by one, the girl laughed joyfully.

Truly delighted.

With a hint of madness.

As the girl's euphoria reached its zenith, her body trembled, and an abnormality occurred.

Her small, dainty frame suddenly underwent a massive growth, transforming into a giant draconic humanoid clad in bluish-black crystals.

The girl had become a Blue-Black Dragon, her howl echoing through the wastes.

With violet lightning coursing through her massive frame, she seized an Aragami, biting into it with her powerful jaws and devouring it.

Driven by pure instinct, like a ravenous beast.

At that moment, an Aragami that had escaped the dragon-human’s onslaught rushed toward Werner.

"!?"

Werner realized too late—he hadn't brought his God Arc.

The frenzied Aragami lunged at Werner, who stood defenseless in its path—

In that instant, the Aragami’s body was snatched by a massive, clawed hand.

The dragon's maw thrust forward, and its upper and lower fangs snapped shut with violence, devouring the creature right before his eyes.

Werner’s gaze locked with eyes that burned like a cold, violet flame.

Though stunned, Werner could do nothing but stare.

As if his body and soul were being pulled into those eyes that flickered within the deep, shining darkness.