Chapter 1048: The Birth of a Multiversal Interdependency - God Arc!

There was only one way to kill an Aragami.

Use the Oracle Cores from the beasts to craft an artificial core called Artificial CNS. Such an artificial core can then be used to create a mechanical weapon. The Artificial CNS would then infuse the weapon with Oracle cells, effectively turning the weapon into an... Aragami!

These mechanical weapons were called God Arcs in the God Eater Bubble.

But what truly made them stand out in the Multiverse as a whole was their trait of devouring Aragamis to evolve.

These two facts combined made God Arcs an impossible-to-obtain power for Contestants.

That’s why, even after spending hundreds of years in the Primordial Tower, even after contending against many 12th Floor Contestants, the likes of Kai and Red Sun had not met any Contestant wielding a God Arc.

The reasons were undeniably complex.

First, Oracle Cells were capable of sentience. It was these cells that made an Aragami so special, turning them into a swarm-like existence, instead of an individual with one mind and body.

That’s why, when the Artificial CNS infused the mechanical weapon with Oracle Cells, turning them into a God Arc, they were also labeled as Aragami.

Here lay the paradox.

An Aragami was a Magical Creature.

The mechanical weapon, powered by an Artificial CNS, was an Item.

Thus, by the time this weapon became a God Arc — it possessed the dual traits of both Item and Magical Creature!

Second, and much simpler than the first, was the God Arc’s nature.

Because of its innate devouring trait to evolve itself, it always remained a Growth-type Item!

Third, unlike normal Item/Magical Creatures, God Arcs bonded with a Contestant for life, meaning a connection was established between their Sources.

The more time passed between them, the stronger the bond.

This property was similar to a Contestant with a Magical Creature.

However, it differed in a crucial, and defining, aspect — once a God Arc was destroyed, the Contestant could never obtain another God Arc!

Together, these three reasons were enough to turn God Arcs into the rarest of the rarest commodities in the Primordial Tower.

Not to mention, a God Arc was specifically created to kill Aragamis.

From the perspective of the Multiverse, it might just be another Growth-type Item or a powerful Magical Creature with promised evolution.

Both traits were quite attractive, but not enough to force a Contestant to dedicate their precious, early years to rearing God Arcs, instead of getting as many abilities and skills to survive various Missions in different Bubbles.

That’s why God Arcs were more prominently used by 5th Set Contestants and above.

Some 4th Set Contestants might have them, too, but Moraine couldn’t think of anyone who had made a name with them.

Thinking of all this, and surrounded by hundreds of failed Artificial CNS, Moraine gulped.

Another month had passed.

The High Priest had continued chasing the prey across the cities, enjoying the hunt.

Moraine had continued to run, from place to place, running in circles, as if she had lost all will to even think properly.

That was farthest from the truth, though.

She wanted him to continue the hunt, primarily using thousands of small Aragamis. Because they were easier to get away from. Because they didn’t possess as great an intelligence as the larger ones. Because she could keep gathering the fallen Aragamis’ Cores from the battlefield without letting them alert the High Priest about it.

The Hashiras, Upper Moons, and Demon King might not have needed God Arcs to kill several Aragamis, as the Characters had possessed the firepower to outright obliterate them, countering their incomprehensible regeneration rate.

However, it had also taken only one Deusphage Aragami to kill all of them, too, dying along with Muzan in the end.

As a Contestant, Moraine would never be able to match the storyline Characters’ strength.

For her, other than obtaining a God Arc, there was no other way to survive this ordeal.

And yet, time after time, day after day, she was meeting failures.

She knew the concept.

She knew the procedure.

She knew the art of creation.

But, even after wasting hundreds of Oracle Cores, she failed to create even one Artificial CNS.

Despite all that, despite her bleak fate, and despite her bleaker condition, Moraine... managed to smile.

In the cavern, deep within the mountains, a filthy, inelegant Stark stared into the darkness, smiling, reeking of a bloody stench.

"Dad..." Moraine closed her eyes. "... ready for another failure?"

When she opened her eyes, she saw Tony Stark, holding a massive hammer in his hand.

Moraine smiled at that, getting up, as dozens of seemingly indestructible Oracle Cores flew to land on the stone table.

"Again," Tony Stark said, handing over the hammer.

Moraine took the hammer, nodding. "Again..."

TANK!

The strike echoed within the cavern, the depths of the earth smothering it before it reached outside.

TANK!

Five minutes passed...

Breaking the Cores was not an option.

Moraine needed to mold them and give the living cells a new identity, blending them to create an Artificial CNS.

TANK!

Another fifteen minutes slipped by...

Till now, she had not succeeded in making a dent on an Oracle Core.

But...

"Continue..." Tony said with a proud smile plastered on his face.

Moraine lifted the hammer again and brought it down — just for that smile.

TANK!

An hour dragged on...

And, for the first time, a change occurred.

Not in the Oracle Cores, but within Moraine.

She was so torn apart, both psychologically and physically, that she didn’t even notice when she began using her Elegant Breathing Art in tandem with the strikes.

Her breath wrapped around the hammer.

Her grip adjusted itself, as if she were wielding a sword.

TANK!

Three hours bled into one another...

Every inch of Moraine’s muscles squirmed in some hidden joy.

The entire cavern seemed to breathe in and out along with her, expanding and contracting — crossing all limits.

TANK!

Ten hours had come and gone...

And Moraine was still swinging the hammer.

She was still using the Elegant Breathing Art.

At what point in time she had mastered the Total Concentration Breathing, Moraine didn’t know.

All she could think of at this moment was that her father was watching her work, and she must... MUST... not let him down.

TANK!

The fifteenth hour ended...

Little by little, the Oracle Cores began fusing, becoming something new...

... a petal-shaped mark burning itself on Moraine’s forehead!

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