Chapter 15: The Voice of the Blizzard

There is something irreligious in me that I cannot shake off.

I deny nothing, but I doubt everything.

— Byron

A massive Aragami, boasting a leisurely, gigantic frame, seemingly a Prithvi Mata.

The Ice Queen, the true commander who disposed of the useless emperor, breathes freezing air and glares at the trespassers invading her territory.

"Whoa... it's huge... Wait, didn't we defeat a guy similar to this? Is it different?"

Bell looks up at the suddenly appeared giant Aragami in awe.

"Is that... a Prithvi Mata? But I've never seen such a bizarre subspecies... No, I've read about it in the Terminal's database before. There's no mistake. That thing is likely a Balfa Mata."

Werner frowns, recalling the memory of seeing it in the Aragami reference section of the database.

Balfa Mata.

An abnormally evolved variant of the Prithvi Mata.

While its appearance remains similar to the original species, all its stats—especially its attack power—have been enhanced. The firepower of its Oracle Bullets is notably improved; if you gain distance, it unleashes a hail of barrages, and timings that used to be openings are now heavily guarded by these Oracle Bullets, making it exceedingly difficult to approach. It is a formidable foe. Therefore, underestimating it as being the same as a normal one will inevitably result in a disastrous outcome.

That was how it was supposed to be documented in the database, but it was visually obvious that this individual differed greatly from the described Balfa Mata.

Above all, its giant body far exceeds the standard species. Furthermore, the sharp ice spears enveloping its body tower like the quills of a hedgehog.

It is presumed to be a mutant that has adapted to the Ashlands.

The Aragami, thought to be a mutant Balfa Mata, shakes its giant body and lets out a resounding roar.

Then, out of nowhere, a pack of Dyaus Pitas and Prithvi Matas ominously emerge from the shadows of the ruins.

A massive horde of Aragami surrounds Werner and Bell.

"Uh-oh, a whole bunch more just popped up. What do we do, Werner?"

"...Hmm. I'd prefer to decline uninvited group guests... but it can't be helped."

Despite being surrounded by a countless horde of Aragami, the two survey their surroundings without a hint of confusion or agitation.

"Let's ask them to make a swift exit. Let's go, Bell!"

"Roger that, Werner!"

In sync with their battle cries, the two God Eaters stand back-to-back, readying their God Arcs to intercept the attacking Aragami.

Werner wields his Biting Edge in both hands, unflinching against the pack of Matas that leap at them, baring their sharp claws and fangs while raining down ice spears.

"Dancing Dagger!"

Cloaking the blades in Oracle Energy, he unleashes a flurry of slashes from the twin blades as if dancing, carving through the leaping Matas one after another.

"Seraphic Edge!"

Stepping in, he slashes upward from the lower right, slipping into the guard of the approaching Matas and severing their flesh.

Even so, the Matas continue to multiply endlessly, as if being constantly replenished.

Werner connects the hilts of his Biting Edge mid-air after an upward slash, transforming it into its Glaive Form.

"Hyakka Ryouran!"

Activating the Oracle Cells in the dual-bladed glaive to expand its attack range and enhance its power, he drives a wild dance of strikes into the massive horde of Matas.

As if sucked in, the Matas are swallowed by the turbulent, omnidirectional rotations of the glaive, chopped into pieces, and scattered.

"Werner, you're so strong! So cool! Alri~ght, I'll do my best too! I definitely won't lose!!"

Multiple Dyaus Pitas—Aragami with the wicked faces of human-faced baboons—spread their winged blades, unleashing countless lightning orbs, and fiercely, savagely attack to capture the blue-haired girl.

Lightly twisting her body to dodge the torrential rain of lightning, Bell—a beautiful maiden with a somewhat heteromorphic appearance—deploys her Tower Shield from the tribal-patterned gauntlet on her left arm. She parries the leaping, resilient fangs, claws, and winged blades with hair's-breadth Perfect Guards, displaying a magnificent Danse Macabre amidst the chaotic fury.

"Hell's Gate!"

Slipping through the fierce assault with fluid, gliding High Steps, she readies her God Arc as they pass each other, leaps into the air, and swings her Variant Scythe down at the Pitas with all her might.

"Soul Eater!"

The Variant Scythe, swung sweeping from her right arm's gauntlet, traces a trajectory of light blades. Synchronizing her body with the God Arc, she strikes the giant bodies of the Dyaus Pitas, deeply slicing through their hard exoskeletons.

"Hell or Heaven!"

The elongating blade of the blue-black great scythe shines and converges. A series of overlapping, tearing saw-blades pierces through the lined-up Pitas, repelling and slashing them apart in one fell swoop.

Echoing their death cries, the Pitas fall one after another, their numbers dwindling.

The massive horde of Prithvi Matas and Dyaus Pitas is entirely laid to waste by the two God Eaters in the blink of an eye.

Despite fighting back-to-back battles, Werner and Bell's momentum shows no sign of waning; if anything, the sharpness and power of their techniques increase the more they fight.

An ordinary God Arc user wouldn't be able to fight or endure this much. Even accounting for the fact that the two are AGEs adapted to the Ashlands, it is simply abnormal.

Is it just my imagination, or does it almost look as if Aragami are fighting amongst themselves?

The Balfa Mata, which had been observing the battle from atop a hill of rubble the whole time, finally lost its patience with its army's disadvantage and let out a resounding roar.

A terrifying torrent of freezing air swirled, and multiple giant icicles erupted from the earth, piercing and freezing the fighting Matas and Pitas alike.

"What powerful freezing air. That attack range is going to be troublesome."

"Eek! It's so coooold! F-Freezing! The tip of my tail is a little frozen!!"

In the midst of a battlefield where pure white frost danced and chilling ice statues of Aragami stood in rows, Werner and Bell had endured by raising their shields and executing Perfect Guards.

Right then, the Balfa Mata makes a massive leap and lunges at them.

Both instantly jump back to the left and right to evade.

The descending pale-blue giant shatters the frozen statues of the Matas and Pitas into dust, gouging out the earth and creating a crater.

Instantly, Balfa forms large ice spears around itself and fires them in all directions. Slicing through the air, the freezing ice spears fly straight toward Werner and Bell.

The two quickly slice and destroy the approaching ice spears with their God Arcs, but Balfa deploys its large ice spears once more, beginning a sweeping volley like rapid machine-gun fire.

"Ngh! We can't get close like this! It's going to chip away at our Stamina, and we'll eventually be taken down!!"

Werner is at a loss against Balfa's rapid-fire ice spear attacks, which keep him in check with pinpoint accuracy whenever he tries to approach. Furthermore, the highly homing, multi-hit ice chunks prevent their maneuvers. At this rate, there'll be no end to it. They have to find a way to break through.

"Leave it to me! Uwooooh! Hraaaaah!!!"

Deflecting the volley of ice spears, Bell breaks into a sprint and mounts a suicide charge.

Balfa immediately reacts to the approaching enemy, increasing the number and speed of the ice spears it fires, but Bell dodges and destroys every single one, bravely closing the distance to Balfa bit by bit.

"Trinity Spin!"

Leaping into mid-air, she unleashes continuous spinning slashes with her Variant Scythe transformed into Cleave Fang mode.

The great scythe's vertical three-point spinning attack destroys and overwhelms the launched ice spears, closing right before Balfa Mata's eyes.

Sensing the danger, Balfa Mata quickly jumps back.

"An opening!!"

Approaching from its blind spot, Werner dives into Balfa Mata's guard with his Glaive Form, unleashing a full-force diagonal slash. The Biting Edge's glaive carves a laceration from its shoulder down to its chest.

Furthermore, Bell's Trinity Spin lands a clean hit. The tip of the Variant Scythe deeply shaves into Balfa's skeleton, biting into its chest.

However, it doesn't reach the Core and fails to deliver a fatal wound. Balfa's carapace was just too hard.

Balfa Mata lets out a scream. A roaring howl of resentment, brimming with anger at having been wounded.

A massive wave of cryogenic freezing air overflows from its body, instantly freezing everything in the blink of an eye.

"C-Crap!"

"This is bad! Get away from it, Bell!!"

The entire area was covered in the white ice of death.