Chapter 12: Descending Divine Punishment

"Lovely boy, come with me. Let us play joyfully. Beautiful flowers are blooming, and there are many golden garments."

Father, Father! Can't you hear the Demon King's whispers?

Calm down, my son. It is merely the dry leaves rustling in the wind.

— Schubert, The play "Der Erlkönig" (The Erlking)

A Vajra with a massive golden frame, roaring ferociously.

The small Aragami that suddenly appeared was rudely, impudently, and greedily picking at the feast prepared for it on the table.

Moreover, was it not devouring a human child, an exceptionally exquisite delicacy?

Unforgivable. What utter folly.

The precious banquet is ruined.

Fury.

Heaving its massive body up, letting its seething anger take over, it mowed down the annoying humans around it like swatting away gnats.

Deserving of a thousand deaths.

It howls. A terrifying, thunderous roar.

I get it. The guy is absolutely furious—mad enough to make his hair stand on end.

Well, naturally. Anyone would be pissed if some complete stranger suddenly snatched the food right off their table. If it were me, I'd snap.

But, no-can-do. I've already claimed the dinner on this table. My leftovers are the only thing fit for a bastard like you

"Full of motivation, and a full stomach. Perfect for a little post-meal exercise. I'll take you on. I'll make you my after-dinner dessert."

Saying this in a joking tone, I warp my sharp fangs into a sneer and dramatically toss aside my blood-soaked, tattered cloak.

Glaring at each other, ready for battle.

The Golden Vajra made the first move.

It electrified its spread cape, filling the air with plasma, generated a massive ball of lightning, and fired. The fanatic humans were caught in the intense electro-thermal energy and vaporized.

In response, I opened my mouth and instantly charged my energy. I created a blue-black sphere of lightning and blasted it right at the Golden Vajra's massive lightning sphere.

The two spheres collided. Flashes scattered in a surging vortex of sparks. My blue-black lightning tore right through the Vajra's massive sphere, but the beast dodged it with a swift leap, a movement entirely unsuited for its gigantic frame.

My lightning sphere gouged out the hall's dome, tearing a hole through to the outside before vanishing. From mid-air, the beast launched a rapid succession of lightning spheres straight at me.

I deployed the Variant Scythe on my right arm. I slashed through the incoming lightning spheres one after another, nimbly backflipping to create distance while simultaneously firing off blade waves.

They scored direct hits on the Vajra as it came crashing down in a plunging attack. Cloaking itself in plasma that erupted upon landing, the Golden Vajra roared, and I immediately rushed in to slash it. At the exact same moment, the Vajra tackled forward.

I swung down my angled scythe blade at the leaping Vajra. Sparks and lightning scattered as my attack was blocked by the crest of horns on its forehead. Oho? What's with this guy? He's ridiculously tough.

The Vajra swung its neck in a sweeping motion, then followed up with a forward tackle. I jumped back further than my original position to evade it.

The Vajra threw a follow-up hook with its front claws. The startup was incredibly fast. I narrowly parried it with my gauntlet.

Now clad in Activated lightning, the Vajra unleashed a barrage of continuous depth-charge-like lightning strikes across the medium range in front of it.

I waited until the last second, stepping to dodge and weaving through the innumerable lightning strikes. I aimed a strike with my scythe blade at its neck, where its outer armor was thinner.

But unbelievably, the Golden Vajra defended itself by catching my scythe blade in its teeth. It violently twisted its neck 180 degrees and chucked me straight up into the air.

After roaring while electrifying its cape, it caused an explosion around itself and performed a super-jump.

It leapt right at me from that spot, slamming into me. Instantly, it landed on the wall, generated a shockwave upon impact, and pounced again.

Chasing me through the air as I was blown back by the impact, it executed a mid-air wall kick, tackled me again, generated another shockwave at its landing zone, and pounced yet again from a different angle.

Lightning fast. A hyper-speed barrage that battered and bounced me around like a pinball.

Hah, I thought it was just an oversized Vajra, but it's actually insanely strong.

I guarded with my gauntlet, swept with my tail, spun around, and struck back with my scythe blade.

Leaving afterimages in its wake, the Golden Vajra repeatedly charged. We exchanged blows, endlessly clashing.

Hahahaha! This is fun! This is exactly how an Aragami should be! Roaring, raging, toying, destroying, and Devouring. Fine by me, I was just getting warmed up. I'm going to enjoy this to my heart's content, going all out.

My body creaked. My slender limbs expanded. Shifting from a human shape into something else entirely.

Overflowing with overwhelming power, a terrifyingly savage energy raced through my entire body, reawakening it like a runaway train.

My thin arms grew long and smooth yet sprouted sharp claws; my legs became thick and tough like logs; my chest swelled to bursting, thick like armor. My snout sharpened and elongated, my jaw thrust forward, and the corners of my mouth split wide open to reveal rows of jagged teeth.

The scales across my body covered me like crystalline blades, and wings of blue, burning lightning spread from my back.

It was a dragon.

The apex of all living things. A mythical creature of legend.

Exhaling breaths of purple smoke from a massive frame, adorned with ominous, great horns.

Dark flames boiled within its glaring, purplish-crimson eyes.

A blue-black demonic dragon.

Startled by its enemy's sudden transformation, the Golden Vajra hesitated. I pulled back my left arm and ruthlessly smashed my gauntlet right into the side of its face.

The Golden Vajra was blown away. I glided after it and planted a two-footed dropkick.

Its outer carapace, along with the cape on its back, caved in. The sound of crushing bone echoed.

Mmmm, nice! Oh yeah. Now that's some good feedback.

The Golden Vajra smashed straight into the wall.

It staggered out from the rubble and roared. It was absolutely livid.

It flared its mangled cape, electrified it, and generated several lightning spheres, launching them at me.

Too bad, I'm already sick of seeing that. Let me teach you what a real lightning strike looks like.

I focused energy into my Reverse Scale and unleashed it.

A massive, blue-black lightning bolt swallowed the Vajra along with its own spheres. It screamed in agony. Without even comprehending what had happened.

I summoned the grand lightning once more. A twisting, rampaging dragon-serpent of blue-black lightning Devoured and swallowed the Vajra whole.

The humans surrounding us raised voices of twisted joy even as they were caught in the blast, turning to ash and dying.

What's wrong with these guys? They aren't even running. They're rejoicing as they watch us fight. Getting caught in the crossfire and dropping like flies, yet they couldn't care less.

Whatever. I don't hate this kind of vibe. Hey, humans. Keep your eyes peeled and worship the magnificent form of the Aragami you adore so much.

I drove a tackle into the half-dead Golden Vajra, which was barely managing to stand.

As it flew backward, taking humans with it, I clenched my fists and battered it. A flurry of blows. Again. And again. It's a damn punching bag! Ora, ora, ora! Cry! Wail! Scream! Let me hear you scream more!!

Its face caved in, its flesh warped, and the sound of shattered bone rang out pleasantly.

An intense wave of hunger washed over me. Seeing my prey in such a state brought on an unbearable starvation.

I want to eat. I want to eat. I want to eat.

The urge to Devour surged to the point of driving me mad.

DEVOUR. DEVOUR. DEVOUR.

I hoisted the massive Variant Scythe on my right arm and drove it straight into the Golden Vajra's chest.

A horrifying scream echoed.

Gouging. Piercing. Boring. Toying. Churning.

Hand it over! GIMME! Let me Devour it! Your heart!

And then, I dragged out the Aragami's heart—its Core.

I hoisted it high into the air like an athlete raising a championship trophy.

Then, opening my mouth wide, I shoved it in and Devoured it.

The starvation was satisfied. Euphoria rushed in. A torrent of Aragami power surged and overflowed within me.

With this, as an Aragami, I draw closer to perfection.

Hm? An Aragami? Wait. Wasn't I supposed to be human? A God Eater, an AGE, a God Arc wielder... Huh? Hold on. Who am I, anyway? My name is... Now that I think about it, I feel like someone gave me a name...

...Who was it? I'm pretty sure it was a bearded old guy with a cross-shaped scar between his eyebrows... Right, right, the human staring at me in absolute shock right now.

The name was... Ve... Ve... Werner... Ah... that's right... My... name... The name... I was given...

My consciousness is... fading...

And with that, my consciousness went black.