Vesta can’t really wrap her head around what she’s watching: Noriko Null emerged from the planet’s core, floating in the air, her body glowing with energy just as much as her golden eyes.
The Eden seem to be reacting erratically: the several thousand identical copies of the golden aliens have disappeared, but the microscopic golden sand that makes up the entire planet has started to produce new copies of the Eden… this time of truly gigantic size, and one of them is just about to punch Noriko.
<HOSTILE DETECTED. PROTECTING THE HOST.> Null says, her voice once again in combination with Quantum’s. The giant’s fist completely evaporates in contact with an invisible field before it can touch her.
<What the Hades!?> Vesta exclaims. Nothing has worked so far against the Eden, but the power of the Nexus seems to be completely shielding Null from them.
When the Eden try to attack her again, she ignores them: they’re not just incapable of hurting her, they can’t even get her attention. She seems to hold her hands in prayer, but when she pulls them away there is a tiny ball of electricity floating between them.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT ONE PERCENT.>
<We don’t know how you are protecting yourself, but your allies are a different matter.> Eden tells her; while the giants are still trying to get past her defenses, thousands of human-sized Eden begin to emerge from the golden desert.
<Of course it can’t be that easy!> Vesta laments, as two Eden jump straight out of the ground to attack her. She instinctively blocks an incoming blow by raising her arm, even though she fully expects the Eden’s power to phase through matter will make her gesture useless.
But when the golden alien hits her, not only she can feel the contact, but the Eden steps away wincing in pain. And she recognized the sound she heard, the typical sound that follows any attempt to hurt an invulnerable immortal.
<Did… did you just break your hand!?> she asks, without receiving an answer: Torn has just decapitated both Eden with a single swing of his energy scythe.
The heads just roll on the ground, but instead of being re-absorbed by the planet they just turn into black dust and rapidly evaporate into the atmosphere.
There is an eerie silence despite the enormous amount of people present… not just the Eden, but the countless number of Demons that came to this planet expecting an epic fight.
For a moment, the only voice comes from Null, still oblivious to anything around her.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT FIVE PERCENT.>
The silence is broken, of all things, by a random Demon that Vesta doesn’t even recognize.
<The Eden are vulnerable!!!> he yells.
<Kill Eden!!!> many other shout, starting a battle cry as the armies of Hell charge towards the multitudes of Eden.
It’s quite a sight to behold, something that hasn’t been seen for ages. A red wave of pure violence erupts on the golden planet, mowing down Eden copies with precision and absolute glee.
Vesta is in the middle of all of this, feeling truly out of place in a warzone, especially since she’s right next to Anubis. The cyborg jackal god has now grown ten feet tall, alternating between crushing Eden beneath his feet and burning them alive with his laser eyes.
Flying above the battle gives Vesta some perspective: the Eden may be unable to turn intangible or to heal themselves, but there seems to be no limit to their number… she can literally see that their army stretches over the surface of the entire planet.
She flies towards Noriko: the ball of lightning between her hands is still growing, and Eden giants are still trying to get to her with absolutely no success.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT FIFTEEN PERCENT.>
<Noriko, can you tell me what’s going on!?> Vesta asks; in order to get past the giants she surrounds herself with a wall of fire. The giants still try to get past it even when their flesh melts on contact, but she manages to get a little closer to Null… and yet there’s still an invisible barrier stopping her from getting too close.
<Noriko, talk to me. Can you hear me? You need to take out Eden’s ability to create new bodies, okay? There’s too many, even for the Demons! Noriko? Hello?>
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT THIRTY PERCENT.>
<What happened to you?> she wonders.
<Can anyone hear me down there?> she then hears someone say through the Neural Transmitter.
<Kari! Are you still on the Ragnarok?>
<Yeah, and I have no φουcκηνγ clue of what you’re doing down there! Did Nori get to the center of the planet?>
<It’s… complicated, why?>
<Because there’s a huge energy spike down there, according to the sensors. Didn’t Max see their power source or something down there?>
<Something like that. Eden must need a lot of power to create so many bodies without assimilating anyone… but this gives me an idea. Thanks Kari, I gotta go now!>
<Wait! What’s happening?>
<One of the biggest battles I’ve ever seen. Vesta out.> she replies, shutting down the Neural Transmitter and flying straight into the ground, making her way below the surface.
If Null was even aware of her presence, she doesn’t show it.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT FIFTY PERCENT.>
N01-Ragnarok, in orbit
Kari Zel slams her fist against the console, frustrated by her friend’s actions. The current AI controlling the ship seems to notice, and the hologram of a human approaches her cautiously.
<It seems the situation is about to be resolved.> Emissary comments.
<How can you say that?>
<I was programmed to ensure the defeat of Anubis and the Eden. Null is about to end them.>
<That’s what she does. I just hate being left out of the action!>
<It is for the best. It is not your role.>
<What do you mean?> Kari asks, raising an eyebrow.
<Null is the Slayer of Gods and she employs divinities, Demons and the Strongest Under The Heavens. Your abilities are sufficiently adequate, but you are still…>
<Adequate? ADEQUATE!?>
<Did I say something offensive?>
<I’m not just a spectator! I’m the best γοδδαμν fighter in the Galaxy, you piece of junk!> Kari snaps at him, then creates a duplicate with the sole purpose of entering new coordinates in the ship’s teleporter and to activate it, disappearing in a flash of light.
<Was it something I said?> Emissary wonders.
Eden’s center
Vesta reaches the core in no time: there’s not much that the Eden can do to slow her down, now that their powers have been greatly diminished.
Shielded by a wall of flames, she reaches the podium where the Heart Of Eden is kept. They clearly don’t like her being here: they are continuously throwing new bodies at her, despite the fact that the only thing they can achieve is being evaporated by the immense heat.
<You really don’t want me to get this.> Vesta realizes, as she holds the Heart in her hands.
She doesn’t know why Noriko didn’t take it with her. She doesn’t even really understand how it works. But hasn’t forgotten Null’s prophecy.
<When winter falls, and the third sun calls, all the gods will curse the queen of the universe. The first men shall return…> she recites.
Millions of Eden bodies surround her, desperately trying to stop her from finishing.
<…for all mortal things to BURN.> Vesta says, crushing the Heart of Eden in her hands.
And a wave of flames hotter than the surface of the Sun is unleashed.
On the battlefield
Torn has lost count of the number of Eden he has killed: he’s fighting on pure instinct. He’s still weakened due to the wounds he inflicted himself to break free of Eden’s control, and he hesitates long enough to allow a couple of them to gang up on him, separating him from his scythe.
He’s saved by two Kari duplicates, who get rid of his adversaries with a flying kick and an uppercut.
<You left me out of a hand-to-hand fight? What were you thinking, Torn?> she chastises him.
These are far from the only duplicates on the battlefield: over nine thousand Karis have joined the Demons, providing much needed tactical support.
One Kari is helping Torn get back on his feet, while looking at the floating Noriko in the distance.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT EIGHTY-FIVE PERCENT.>
<What the Hades happened to her?> she asks.
<She did a Soul Fusion with Quantum. Strange, I never taught her how to do it.>
<“Soul Fusion”?>
<When two souls are perfectly synchronized, their power increases exponentially. It’s a Blood technique of the highest order: even I have never performed it successfully. But she’s not using the Blood at all… I think she is channeling Quantum’s power into the Nexus.>
<But she’s still in control, right? Right?> she asks, without receiving an answer. Possibly because something terrible is happening to the Eden: their bodies are transformed into dust, from the inside out. One after the other, they are hollowed out as they scream in utter and complete terror.
It’s a terrible sound, and it’s not affecting only the gold-skinned aliens: the planet itself is shaking, and a haunting wail is coming out of the ground itself… the dying cries of a man and a woman.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT NINETY-FIVE PERCENT.>
<Uhm… should we get out?> Kari asks: the ground is collapsing, with vast chasms appearing all over the planet, devouring the Eden as they die.
One of the chasms also releases a column of fire: it’s Vesta, flying towards Null.
<Nori, wait! I destroyed the Heart! The Eden are finished, you don’t need to…>
<FINAL JUDGEMENT AT NINETY-NINE PERCENT.> Null says without looking at Vesta, while descending to the ground in front of the only two Eden remaining.
A man and a woman, their bodies desperately trying to reassemble themselves as they are constantly broken each seconds.
<Slayer of Gods, we beg you! Spare us! All we ever did was trying to survive!> the man pleads.
<The universe will be infinitely worse without our perfection!> the woman adds.
<FINAL JUDGEMENT COMPLETED. DEPLOYING VERDICT.> Null says, opening her arms: the sphere of electricity that she has been building up all this time expands to a string of energy shaped in the symbol for infinity.
<VERDICT: REBIRTH.> she sentences, and the symbol breaks into a wave of light that expands across the entire planet.
The Eden are visibly in pain when they are touched by the light, but not for long. They are radically transformed down to the atomic level: the golden particles that make up their bodies reassemble themselves in seconds. Specifically, the male is transformed into a four-armed reptilian alien and the female is transformed into an Egyptian woman.
They’re far from the only ones: millions and millions of people, from many species, now emerge from the golden sand. The planet itself doesn’t keep its form for long: the sand reassembles itself into a beautiful garden, which in seconds isn’t golden anymore but perfectly lifelike.
<Did… did you reverse the assimilation!?> Vesta asks Noriko, who doesn’t seem to feel particularly well: she’s noticeably paler and her legs are shaking.
<WARNING. HOST BATTERY LOW. SWITCHING TO STANDBY MODE TO RESERVE POWER. NEXUS POWERING DOWN AND AWAITING FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS.>
Noriko’s eyes return silver and she loses consciousness, but not before shooting out a lightning bolt that is immediately transformed back into Quantum.
Vesta catches both before they reach the ground: they both look exhausted but very much alive.
<Is… is this the real afterlife?> the Egyptian woman asks herself, watching her hands: they are no longer mechanical.
Shabti isn’t the only one: out of the million lifeforms that are now waking up on Eden, there isn’t a single cybernetic implant to be found.
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