Nova, the Aragami of the Apocalypse.
World Devourer, the ultimate predator and consumer of hope—this was the greatest threat this world had ever faced and, consequently, Yuki's greatest enemy.
The world's will left a glimmer of hope to prevent such a being from awakening by using Aisha Gauche and a Singularity Core that Johannes had been trying to find.
Aisha was also a key piece created by the world's will to prevent humanity from succumbing to chaos, thereby increasing its survival time.
Aisha was one of the founding members of Fenrir and the leading researcher of the Aragami.
She was one of the first to discover this strange organism; one could say that Aisha was present when the Overlord descended upon this world.
The world's will altered Aisha's fate in search of salvation.
Aisha proposed the Managarm project and volunteered to be a test subject for it. The project ended in failure, resulting in her death and the deaths of all its members, except for her son, who was born carrying the Bias Factor P73, and her husband, who had the "protective charm."
Aisha also had another crucial role: being the container for Nova. Thanks to her volunteering for the project and merging with this dormant fragment of the Overlord, the world gained a few more years of hope.
Of course, the world's will never expected a second fragment of the Overlord to descend and bring about the apocalypse.
"Ha... Ha... Ha..."
Soma breathed heavily as he stepped closer to what appeared to be a gigantic monster. Nova's aura was too heavy for someone like Soma to resist.
He could barely breathe, yet he gritted his teeth and clung to the crystal stake in his hand.
Each step was heavier than the last, but Soma felt the nostalgia and pain growing stronger. He knew about his mother and that she died giving birth to him, but to end up in such a state was extremely painful...
"Ugh?!"
Suddenly, Soma spat blood, and his vision began to blur. The chaos was damaging his body. The Oracle cells in the air were reacting to the Apocalypse virus, destroying and rebuilding Soma's body at a visible speed.
The pain grew stronger, and the urge to give up increased. The light of his destiny grew smaller and in the infinite darkness, a massive black tentacle rose...
Nova might be asleep, but his defense system was still active, and now he detected a small fly approaching, ready to crush its fragile fate...
*Fummmm
However, as the tentacle descended, a crown lit up and countered the attack...
"?!"
Nova knew very well what that crown meant, causing him to panic. Such attacks of destiny are crushing to all living beings, and almost no one can survive them. But for Champions, these attacks are ineffective; you can't destroy what you don't possess.
*Roaar
Nova roared deep within his soul. The danger was extreme, and he needed to awaken to face it. However, lacking the Singularity, he couldn't wake up, and forcing himself awake required time. Even so, he did not despair; the Champion was not the one in front of him. Otherwise, he would have detected him long ago and awakened when the Champion arrived...
But even if he was asleep, it didn't mean parts of his body couldn't move. One of his tentacles lashed out at Soma like a whip.
The crown was terrifying, so he opted for a physical attack.
Soma didn't even see the huge tentacle descending upon his body. He was struggling to breathe and trying to move forward.
"Nooo!"
Just as it was about to strike, a woman's cry was heard, and Nova stopped...
Soma couldn't hear it, but Nova did. Deep within his soul, Aisha, who was bound and being consumed, screamed in pain.
This woman cried out seeing her son approaching and about to be killed. She couldn't bear it, so she used the last of her strength to stop, accelerating Nova's awakening.
But Aisha didn't care; even if she disappeared, she would do everything to protect her only son—the baby for whom she gave her life, the child who brought a false hope to this world, the first God Eater...
Yuki had predicted this, knowing that Aisha was still alive and that her soul hadn't completely vanished. It was because of her that Nova hadn't awakened yet. He also knew that if it had been another God Eater besides Soma, Nova would have killed them. Soma was the only one connected to both Nova and Aisha.
It was all due to the small, resilient existence of Aisha...
*ROAAR
Nova roared deep within his soul. He wanted to destroy this little one but couldn't. Aisha was blocking his awakening and his body. On the other hand, Aisha was almost at her limit...
Soma approached slowly. He had stopped breathing, and thanks to the Apocalypse virus, he reached the end where Nova's enormous core was embedded...
(It's over!)
Screaming in his mind, Soma brought down the crystal stake with force. Nova roared and trembled at the stake, unfortunately, he could only watch as it pierced his core...
*Creak
The core cracked, the crystal stake lit up, and a kind of black ink began to pour out...
[Seal Art: Reverse Four Symbols Seal!]
Large black seals spread over Nova's body and began to shrink. More precisely, Nova's body was being swallowed by the stake...
Soma watched with blurred vision. Everything around the stake was being swallowed, including him.
Even if he completed the mission, Soma was going to die. This was something he knew. Yuki had told him at the moment of his awakening, but he didn't regret it. He simply closed his eyes and waited for the moment he would meet his mother...
*Bam
But that moment didn't come. Just as he was about to be swallowed, one of Nova's tentacles struck him hard, sending him flying.
"Goodbye, baby..."
Through Aisha's eyes, she once again saw the newborn baby she never had the chance to hold and care for, heard his cries and pain.
So, crying, she let herself and Nova be swallowed by the stake....
"Did he succeed?"
At the same time, Yuki in the Tower of Apocalypse opened his eyes, feeling his jutsu activate. This eased his worries one by one.
"Just in time..."
Muttering, he stood up and sank into the shadows. The last Tower of Apocalypse was about to be completed, so he needed to hurry...
*Creakkk
The suction from the stake was immense, almost completely swallowing the fourth floor, causing the artificial island to spring a leak and begin to collapse...
*Cough, cough...
Injured, Soma tried to stand. He didn't even know what had hit him. Unfortunately, that blow left him severely injured, causing him to sit and struggle to breathe...
"Well done, you survived..."
Suddenly, his shadow expanded, and Yuki emerged from it, surprised that Soma had survived without being sucked in by the seal. This was beyond his predictions, but it saved him from teleporting in the wrong direction...
"...."
Soma tried to speak but couldn't. His lungs had taken a hit, and he was in pain.
Yuki didn't care. Instead, he walked slowly toward the stake, entered his Sage Mode, and took the stake in his hands. He turned his head and looked at Soma one last time...
"Well, I suppose it's my turn now. Farewell... Soma..."
These words made Soma open his eyes in shock, and at the same time, Yuki shot upward.
*Bam, bam
He didn't care about obstacles and flew to the top...
Soma stared at the hole in the ceiling and slowly closed his eyes. He knew what Yuki's final words meant...
(Even you are cannon fodder, huh?....)
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TN: Damn poor soma being the only one alive gotta be troublesome