The boundary of emptiness.
Nothingness in its most natural form.
Where time stagnates and chaos is abundantly nonexistent.
Limbo.
And the "Sea of Reality" within Limbo.
The place where the "Ancient Treasures" reside.
"It's... quiet, isn't it?" Type-M muttered, walking upon an ocean of constellations in the midst of void space.
"You're right... There's no sound at all and it's like our voices are compressed," Juan answered.
Stepping across the dim abyss lined with stars akin to flowers, Alan emerged from behind the two.
He muttered, "There is a sound if you listen close enough."
They all stopped in their tracks and listened closely.
A faint beating.
It gently thumped, sending tiny ripples across the still ocean.
"What is that?" Type-M asked, tightly gripping the chain in her hands.
"The heartbeat of ARCHAIA," Alan responded.
"She's here?"
"Yes... Her main body resides in the "Heavenly Fields" but there are traces of her here."
In this world hidden away by Weisenburg... In the unseen corners of Limbo.
...
A long corridor of nothingness stretched from a pure white door.
"Eternity's End."
Or the place in which the Akashic Records reside.
Echoes of footsteps off the blank walls were the only sounds within the hall.
"It seems... There's people approaching," Iris muttered, her feet striking the ground in an intoxicating rhythm.
"They've stepped on your flowers, huh? Is it THEM?" Michael asked, beside her.
"Juan... Type-M... and Alan. Those are the presences I can sense."
"How exciting, I haven't seen them since the very beginning... It'll be a grand reunion," Michael laughed, grinning widely and baring his teeth.
...
A vast field of vivid greenery sprinkled with lightly pink colored flowers.
A providence of peace.
The "Heavenly Fields."
Or the place in Limbo where "ARCHAIA" reside.
"Matt... are you sure this was this the right decision?" Violet spoke, looking far into the distant blue sky.
"I don't have the luxury to be right... When your life is on the line, when you're backed into a corner, the concept of right and wrong is thrown to the wind."
A sweet breeze blew across the peaceful hills so gently.
"What a nihilistic outlook," Violet responded.
"Isn't your outlook worse?" Matt asked.
"I guess so... But my situation is different. I myself am just the hollow shell of that goddess," she chuckled.
"You've "earned" the right to be pessimistic, huh?"
"Exactly."
...
A blinding gate of white, it's other side resembling the shining stars of the cosmos stood adjacent to a lone man.
"Are you ready, Weisenburg?" He asked to the abyss.
"The time has finally come... For your dream to come true, for you to end the battle which began so many years ago, for you to get your revenge on that damned godess..."
The man stepped forward into the starry void, into the world of Limbo.
The true Limbo, free from the illusion of the white city.
"I guess it's that time, huh?" a familiar voice responded.
"Wh-?!" The man's left arm was ripped from his body by an unperceivable slash.
"Long time no see, Godfried," the voice of Weisenburg whispered.
"AHHHH!" Godfried cried out as blood gushed from his open wound.
Another slash embedded itself into his skull as the vision in his right eye was lost.
"Y-You-!"
Weisenburg smiled, "I've been trapped in Limbo for an uncountable amount of years, it's nice having some guests."
"Reincarnated Essence: Fate," Godfried desperately called out.
"Not so fast," Weisenburg's voice sounded as Godfried's limp body was cut to pieces.
But by activating his Akashic power, Godfried was reborn and absorbed into the Sea of Reality before he could be killed.
"Ahh... You've picked the worse place to depart, Godfried. That man on the other side only desires one thing... And that is to kill you." Weisenburg spoke.
"He will win... When someone's will is strong enough to cast aside their own pride...
They are unstoppable.
Finish him off for me... Juan."
...
A flat plane of white that stretched endlessly in a single direction.
"Eternity's End, huh? Are you really in there, Michael?"
Alan stood atop the infinite hallway.
Stepping forward, he drew his blade from its sheath.
He grinned, "Going straight for the Akashic Records, it's like you want to be the target... Like you're a decoy. Is Matt the one to be worried about?"
The indescribable surface of the reflective floor rippled, seperated by the pitch-black above.
"Not that it matters... Juan would never let Matt live after what he tried to do to Type-M."
Alan stopped and gazed yearningly into the distance for a moment before calling out...
"Blade of Memories: Activate.
Unleash all of which this sword has experienced.
Every death. Every slash. Every wielder. Every victim."
A flash of light filled the space.
The silhouette of countless warriors who wielded the blade prior appeared before his eyes.
And culminated in a strike that held centuries of history.
It burned with the light of a thousand souls, tearing the essence of Limbo itself and splitting the hallway of Eternity's End in half.
The inside of the corridor was revealed from the slash as well as the figures of Michael and Iris, gazing back over their shoulders at Alan who approached slowly.
...
"G-Godfried!?" Type-M exclaimed, readying her weapon.
Falling from the sky, he tumbled from the abyss' heights and landed in the midst of the starry ocean.
His arm was severed and a deep wound embedded itself onto his eye.
"I can't regenerate...Weisenburg must've overwritten... some of my power..." Godfried panted heavily, his body in a slump.
But before he could even recover from the recent onslaught, Juan attacked.
"Torrential Origin: Thunder of the New World."
Roaring across the cosmos, white lightning danced from Juan's fist as it crashed down and lit up the black sky around them.
Godfried was evaporated in a single blow.
"Behind you!" Type-M called out as her all-seeing eye flickered.
Juan quickly whipped around and grabbed the newly reborn Godfried by his neck.
Tendrils of lightning materialized in his gripping palm and destroyed Godfried's body in a flash.
"To your right!" Type-M yelled out once again.
Juan spun around and kicked high, striking Godfried's head as soon as he spawned into the Sea of Reality.
"Above!"
The combination of Juan's quick movements and Type-M's foresight resulted in him killing Godfried everytime he was reborn, before he could even make a move.
He was stuck in a loop of death.
"I will kill you, Godfried.." Juan muttered in a terrifying tone as he tore through Godfried's chest with his blood covered fist.
It was like a bear battling a gorilla.
...
Within the Heavenly Fields, Matt and Violet approached the floating shrine of ARCHAIA.
It's elegant ultramarine columns seemed overflowing from the narrow top of the structure to the base.
"Wasn't someone supposed to stop us?" Violet asked casually.
"Yes... Either Alan or Juan should've came to intercept us by now but they didn't..." Matt answered.
"Do you think they'll ambush us while we perform the ritual?"
"It's unlikely... Neither of them are the type of person to take that risk."
Violet grimaced, "Then did they get intercepted by someone?
"It's possible, but we don't have the time to worry," Matt replied.
"There's no point in waiting... Shall we begin?"
"Yes."
...
"Hmm... Alan was able to bypass me and get to Eternity's End. What a pain," Weisenburg muttered to himself.
He turned his back, lab coat flowing from the momentum.
"I let Michael, Iris, Matt, and Violet gain access to Limbo after their death to Gabriel. Juan and Type-M discovered the ritual to enter but that was to be expected with Juan's intellect. Alan though? He should've had no way to enter, especially without my oversight. Could it be..?"
Weisenburg paced around the empty space he occupied before pausing.
"Please forgive me, Eir."