Chapter 27: At the End of the Vow

Rather than dying and pleading for tears in vain,

I shall invite the crows while I still live,

and let them peck at the ends of my tainted spine.

— Charles Baudelaire

It was visible even from beyond the distant horizon.

A dark, dismal shadow shrouding the ashen sky. A black, giant tree looming over the world, stretching out its sinister Corrosive Tendrils. They spread in every direction as if possessed by a will of their own, as though attempting to take root in the very heavens.

"W-what is that...?"

"What on earth is happening...?"

The people watched in horror as the sky transformed, the change visible even from leagues away.

Among those looking up with unease, Ein stared at the shadow of the giant tree, which radiated an ominous pressure.

"...It can't be. Is that...?"

The Bias Factor within him began to stir. It was the return of the calamity that had once nearly swallowed the world. A dark premonition flashed through his mind.

—The Devouring Apocalypse.

Werner had witnessed the entirety of the battle between the rampaging gods.

While pursuing the maddened Bell, she had transformed into a Draconic Aragami. At her destination, a massive Aragami closely resembling Odin lay in wait, and a horrific clash erupted between them.

The battle was nothing short of a cataclysm, a stalemate with no end in sight. Just as it seemed they had reached a deadlock, the girl in her dragon form unleashed a blinding breath of destruction, tearing a fatal hole through Odin’s armor.

However, Odin unleashed a wave of black energy and began to call forth and devour the surrounding Aragami one after another. In an instant, it forced its own body to mutate into an even more loathsome, misshapen form.

The girl—now a fusion of human and dragon—valiantly challenged the monster. It had become a titan, sprouting and stretching countless revolting Corrosive Tendrils (or rather, "Erosion Branches") to strike her down.

Werner could feel it deep in his bones: that giant Aragami was lethally dangerous. His instincts—his own Bias Factor and the Aragami cells within him—were screaming it.

But what can I do now?

He lacked the overwhelming power she possessed. He was doing everything he could just to keep the collateral damage from spreading.

Damn it... how pathetic. I hate my own helplessness.

While he stood there paralyzed, she unleashed a desperate, final strike. Cloaking herself in lightning, she tore through the Corrosive Tendrils and charged headlong at the giant Aragami.

Did she do it? Werner couldn't help but believe she had won.

That was why he never imagined that she—the girl with such absolute power—would be so cruelly Devoured.

—Am I going to let someone die again? Just like everyone from the Crimson Queen. Just like my fallen comrades.

—Why was I the one to survive? It should have been me who fell.

—Why am I still alive? Whose hand is it that keeps me tethered to this life?

—Ah, that’s right. This life was saved by her. She saved 'me'—a ghost of a long-vanished past. She saved a hollow existence.

—She gave my existence meaning.

Whether it was the work of the Bias Factor, a sudden mutation, or a total Rampage... or perhaps, it was the "Miracle of Blood" granted to him by the Draconic girl.

Werner stepped into the domain where the Ash swirled like a storm and the Corrosive Tendrils ran rampant. The tendrils recognized him as prey and lunged to consume him.

"Stay out of my way. Move."

The flashing blades of his Biting Edge severed the tendrils in a single stroke. Undeterred, a rustling wave of black branches surged toward him.

"This time..."

He swung his blades. A swarm of tendrils was shredded to pieces.

"It's my..."

Werner took step after step. Each time, the tendrils opened their hideous maws like madmen, closing in on him.

"Turn to save..."

A crimson wave erupted from Werner’s center. The Corrosive Tendrils were repelled by the red pulse, rotting away before they could even touch him.

"...HER!"

Werner was engulfed in the light of the crimson surge. A torrent of brilliant, blood-red energy roared around him, growing larger as it wrapped him in a cocoon—until finally...

From the heart of the crimson storm, a massive beast emerged.

It possessed the frame of a ferocious hunting beast, like a wolf, clad in lotus-red armor—a true Divine Beast. It was an Anubis. Yet, compared to the original species, its physical stature was several times larger.

Its form closely resembled a yet-unidentified Aragami: an Ashwrought Anubis (Ash-Storm Variant).

Red Ash mist fluttered like blood. Its sharp eyes were marked by a cross-shaped scar between the brows.

The black Corrosive Tendrils attacked, seeking to devour this sudden Ashwrought intruder, but the beast swung a massive arm. With a slash of its razor-sharp claws, it tore through the very ground, severing the branches.

Crouching low, the Ashwrought Anubis let out a deafening roar, releasing a massive shockwave that blew away and erased the encroaching tendrils. When the branches continued to swarm, it crossed its arms, extended its talons to double their length, and spun at high speed. A tornado of blades ensued, mincing the horde into scrap.

The Ashwrought beast lunged forward, leaping high into the air. Generating a black fireball in its maw, it fired a colossal beam of crimson light down at the persistent swarm of tendrils below.

The flash traced an arc across the earth. An explosion of impact and a Great Vortex of flame erupted, pulverizing the surrounding tendrils into nothingness.

Stepping firmly onto the smoldering, burning ground, the crimson beast-god continued its march. Having eliminated every obstacle in its path, the Ashwrought beast stood before the grotesque, writhing tree that scattered its black curse.

Werner had become an Aragami. He didn't understand why this power had manifested within him. But the one thing he did understand was that this power existed purely to save her.

That girl is my precious family. I'm taking her back.

Spreading its arms wide, it drove the talons of both hands deep into the chest of what had once been an Aragami, now a mutated monstrosity. With a sickening sound of cracking and snapping, it tore through the tree's fractured outer shell, searching the interior with desperate care—

—Found you.

There, buried within the mass of flesh, was the girl.

Her dragon transformation had reverted. Her eyes were closed, but he could feel a heartbeat. It seemed she had merely lost consciousness.

Thank God. She's safe.

Werner felt a wave of relief. He couldn't lose her—the thing most precious to him.

But that momentary lapse in focus created a fatal opening.

A massive wave of black Corrosive Tendrils overflowed from the tree, instantly winding around Werner’s limbs and binding him tight.

Gah...?! D-damn it!!

Restrained, he struggled to break free, but he could not resist the strength of the overlapping, intertwining branches.

"Kh... Bel...!! BELL!!!"

The girl was pulled away from the hand that had almost reached her. He strained, reaching out with all his might.

Then, as if painting over everything, a shroud of Erosion Branches blanketed Werner and the girl alike, dyeing everything in the deepest, darkest shade of black.