Dvergr 

Character death, graphic depictions of violence.

It was a symbol of resistance.

A long time ago, there were people who were driven underground by the government. Having suffered injustice, they—the Old Humans—used weapons stored in their underground city to challenge the united government forces.

The battle between the ruling class, the government, and their management AI resulted in many sacrifices. But in the end, the Old Humans executed their artificial god. It was a blow carrying the anger of the people, it must have surely reached God. For those who had nearly given up on the idea of opposing God, it was a satisfying blow that gave them hope.

But it was only a fleeting dream. The management AI instantly revived with a power beyond human comprehension, crushing their hopes to literal pieces.

The Old Humans were defeated by God.

This battle was the catalyst that led the System to decide that humanity was unnecessary to regenerate the polluted earth. All of humanity living on the surface was headed down the path of annihilation by mechanical gods.

Still, the light of humanity's hope did not go out.

Taking refuge underground, those who barely escaped God’s judgement did not give up hope, even as their survival was threatened with each passing moment. They dreamed of defeating God again one day.

—Many years have passed since then, and the world is new.

It is a world where an artificial human race of “Paragons”, designed to obey Machines, roam the earth in place of humanity.

It’s unearthed in a ruin on the African continent, where the scars of the old war were still vivid, an ancient mobile weapon. Its ominous appearance and head were the embodiment of rage, as if the anger and resentment of humanity driven underground had been condensed into its form.

The excavated machine parts ranged from intact to damaged beyond repair, and they were scattered far and wide. It wasn’t clear if they were one or many. The fragments, gathered by many from all over the country, eventually take on a new form, receiving a new body and name.

The dark spirit, Dvergr—who had appeared in the legends of Old Humans.

The Machines and Paragon Hardliners clashed on the battlefield along the Machine defense lines, when a new mobile weapon appeared—Dvergr. There wasn’t a single thing that could withstand the steel blows it unleashed. It swung its sword with all of its might, crushing and burning all in its path. The destructive power led to calamity, turning the tables and saving the Hardliners from their disadvantage.

“Haha, amazing, this is amazing… This is the power of Dvergr!"

The volunteer Dvergr pilot cries out in admiration and looks down upon the Machine army, licking his lips as he shouts.

"Machines! How does it feel to be the one being hunted?!"

They had caused them so much suffering for so long, but now the battle was one sided. He cuts them down ruthlessly without giving them a chance to resist or beg for their lives. He never imagined it would feel so exhilarating. 

Was it brought on by the godlike feeling of omnipotence? Or was it simply a destructive impulse that lay dormant in the man's very core? He didn’t know the answer, but it didn’t matter to him. Killing the enemy in front of him was enough.

“Hahaha! Let’s do it, Dvergr!”

Unable to contain his excitement, he pilots the machine towards the sprawling city before him—Perses.

There wasn’t a single thing on earth that could put a stop to this power.

Dvergr arrived at the outer shell of the city, cutting down everything in its path. Enemies continued to swarm, but each one was destroyed. With that outer shell destroyed, the pilot and his allies take their first steps into the mechanical city. In stark contrast to the battlefield, the interior of the city was enveloped in tranquility.

Just as they stepped into the huge conical tower that towered in the center, a voice suddenly echoed throughout the city.

“Well done on getting to this point.” 

It was a woman’s voice with a cold, almost distant quality, belonging to none other than the Machine that supervised Perses, Eva Dominance XII.

“DESTR▼Y…FABRIC◆TED…▼DREAM×◆◆!”

“Ah…Ggh!?”

The moment he perceived Eva, the pilot’s vision became distorted.

“An attack!? W-where the hell…did it come from…!?”

A sharp pain ran through his head with each vibration of Eva’s voice. It was as if his head was being crushed between two plates of metal.

The cause of the pain was Dvergr, which had merged with his own nerves, but he had no way of knowing such a thing.

With each of Eva's words, the Dwarves' resonance grows stronger.

"TH◆■F×TURE...IS◆OURS TO CREATE!"

Fragmented images flowed through the mind of the pilot. The world he should have been seeing with his eyes was replaced by video records stored within Dvergr. A tower stretching high into the sky. A group of Machines and people crushed under rubble. Fragments of the conflict between the City Alliance and the Unified Government, unfolding in a city somewhere else.

"W-what am I...? That's right, I’m..."

The fragmented footage doesn’t end, now showing something humanoid in the sky far above the tower—

“We don't need an ideal city from God!”

His anger overlapped with the resentful voices of those who had once piloted Dvergr before him. Egos melted together. Pain that shouldn’t exist is passed down through the steel body. The vortex of information being fed into the pilot presented him a different reality. No—the world he’s seeing in his brain was “reality”.

The overwhelming sense of omnipotence wasn’t the only thing Dvergr brought. It manipulated the pilot’s brainwaves, elevating and assimilating their consciousness and spirit into the machine.

No matter what happens as a result, Dvergr does not perceive it. All that mattered to Dvergr was the eradication of its nemesis who had wiped out the old human race from the face of the earth, snuffing out the false lifeforms roaming the earth as if it were their own.

The man could no longer remember who he was. He’d long since forgotten the cause he’d always held close to his heart. All that mattered now was killing the enemy before him.

“GOD WILL DIIIIIE!!!”

When Dvergr took off, the entire silver city of Perses “trembled”.

The sonic weapon Harmonia, the strategic weapon prepared by the Machines, shook the pilot inside of Dvergr.

At that moment, his body collapsed in on itself, disintegrating from the inside. His organs ruptured, and tears of blood poured from his entire body. The Paragon’s skeleton, supposedly strong, buckles and breaks against his will, and he’s reduced to a miserable form difficult to even describe as human.

Here, his hell came to an end.

The battle that broke out within Perses came to an unexpected conclusion. With the disappearance of the Machine Supervisor Eva Dominance XII, Perseus fell abruptly. Despite having subdued the Hardliners with the sonic weapon Harmonia, the central tower control room stood empty, and the front lines had collapsed. 

It was a desperate victory won at the cost of many Paragon lives, an all too wearisome thing.

――

――――

As the troops that had infiltrated the Perses Colony returned, Nadine went back to retrieve Dvergr, left behind in the central tower. 

“...What a mess.”

The city, once shining silver as it reflected the sunlight, had become a place of death, the foul stench clinging to the air.

“Well then,” Nadine said as he breathed in, pausing before climbing into the cockpit of Dvergr.

The cockpit remained uncleaned, and the lingering smell made even Nadine, who was very used to death, grimace for a moment. He wiped off the blood coating the headgear before putting it on to thoroughly check for any abnormalities. After a good look, it didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with Dvergr. If anything was unusual, it was the voice Nadine had heard the last time he was on board.

“Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I need to figure it out, but… Hm? What’s this?”

There was something unfamiliar on the headgear’s interface. It wasn’t even mentioned in the training manual. Could it have been fragmented visual data from the previous pilot? Nadine lightly tapped it and gained access, randomly selecting one of several fragments that placed him around the time they had entered Perses. From the pilot’s screams and frantic gestures, it was obvious what kind of frenzied state he’d been in.

“That’s surprising. I thought that guy was milder than that…”

As he continued cycling through selections, Nadine realized that the scenery before him was no longer the silver city of Perses he was in now, but another place bearing the scars of war.

“DESTR▼Y…FABRIC◆TED…▼DREAM×◆◆!”

“Comrades, rise to action!! Do not bend your knees to such a deity!”

“...!?”

The voice belonged to the previous pilot, but the speech was so slurred it was barely intelligible. 

 “▼CRE＊ATE▼!!!"

“Whoa–!?”

At the sound of a piercing scream, Nadine reflexively tore off the headgear. Nadine exhaled deeply, trying to steady his ragged breathing, but what had truly shocked him was realizing that the voice of the previous pilot had become his own without him noticing.

“Remember—the reason we rose to fight against God.”

An auditory hallucination. That was what he had thought at first, but the voice he had just heard was undeniably his own. The sensation of losing himself made a chill run down Nadine’s spine.

“Damn it, I feel like I'm losing my mind..." 

Even though he was no longer watching the video, it flickered at the edge of his vision like an afterimage each time he blinked. 

“This feeling… It’s just like when Ahav was tampering with my memories…”

What was real, and what was an illusion? Nadine couldn’t tell.

“Tch, just how much longer are you going to stare and laugh at me?”

The afterimage floating in front of his eyes kept looking back at him with a smile.

Following the capture of Perses, a military council was convened aboard the Void’s flagship. Although the initial intent was to plan the next course of action, the focus of the discussion were the actions of Cainan Melvias, a member of leadership and the frontline commander. While in the midst of the war, he had managed to seize Supervisor Eva Dominance XII behind closed doors and vanish without a trace.

The information had come to light thanks to information provided by Sargon and the testimony of a girl from the assault team. Based on that information, Void decided to send a force to hunt down and kill Cainan. Officers like Rhea and Esther opposed dispersing their forces, wary of a Machine counterattack, but Void’s decision was final.

――

――――

In the staff room of the flagship, en route to hunt down Cainan, Void smiled, the corners of his mouth twisting upward into a smile.

“My intuition was right. Cainan has to be using Samarakanda as his base, the traitor.”

Data area around the Caspian Rift Valley dating back to the Bathsheba War was projected onto the monitor, overlaid with signals from the tracking device provided by Elisha Murcia. The beacon, blinking slowly, pointed to a point east of the Caspian Rift Valley.

Sargon looked at the light blinking in the empty section of the map with a puzzled expression.

"Samarkanda… The name doesn't ring a bell. What kind of place is it?" 

"It was the last city invaded by the unit carrying Mother's banner. I hear that while the capture itself was a success, they were forced to withdraw upon receiving news of Mother's passing." 

“So if we go there, we’ll figure out what Cainan meant by 'Bathsheba's wish'." 

“Yes… That’s right…”

Cainan and Bathsheba.

Those words carved into him like a knife, piercing Void’s heart and leaving his brow furrowed.

“I cannot allow him to fulfill my mother’s noble ideals… I’m the only one qualified to bear that great responsibility…”

Void’s loyalty to his late mother bordered on fanaticism. Sargon had once stood in the presence of Void for the first time and even fought alongside him as a fellow leader. His unwavering dedication to his initial goals hadn’t changed even a bit since then. That alone was enough to earn even Sargon’s respect.

“That amateur!! Mother is… Mother is mine! I’ll never ever hand her over!!”

And yet, for that exact same reason, Sargon thought that unrewarded existence was nothing but pathetic. 

Perhaps that extraordinary spirituality was linked to Bathsheba’s lineage. 

After leaving the council room, Sargon headed straight for the runway where Dvergr laid in wait. It was almost night, but the area around the ship was bathed in brilliant light.

“Ah, Nadine. So this is where you were.”

“...Lord Sargon.”

Even though the other workers had been dismissed, it seemed Nadine had stayed behind to continue working on maintenance alone. 

"It’s good to be enthusiastic, but you’ll burn yourself out at this rate, won't you?" 

“But…”

Sensing something lighthearted in Sargon's tone, Nadine gave him a suspicious glance—the answer immediately clear.

“I see, so that’s how it is.”

Sargon was holding two small amber-colored bottles.

“How about it? A little something to lift our spirits.”

Sargon broke into a broad grin, looking like a child caught in a prank. Amused, Nadine couldn’t help but smile as well.

“Haha, if it’s an order from my superior, I suppose can't refuse. 

The two sat cross-legged on the ground, leaning back against Dvergr to use the machine as a windbreak. 

――

――――

Samarkanda… It has no connection to the previous war. But that man’s pure obsession is haunting. We shouldn’t have to put up with him using the military for his own personal gain.

“That’s often just how it is with leaders. In his case, it at least makes him too predictable to be a real threat. Considering the big picture, the top priority is to take down Cainan and whoever is backing him.”

Nadine nodded in response to the tightly clenched fist before him. Then, the two of them exchanged thoughts and let their imaginations wander, discussing the world that would exist once everything was over. Put an end to the battle, break free from the System, and build a new world—it was the desire of the Old Blood.

“The dawn is near.”

“Yeah.”

“I’ll be counting on your strength in the new world, too.”

“What a mess. If things get any busier, I’ll have to clone myself to keep up.”

“Don’t say that. That’s exactly why you need to survive, Nadine.”

“...Of course. We lived through hell once already, after all.”

Nadine thrusts his fist against Sargon’s, feeling the steely resolve transmitted through the fist bump they had just shared. He silently swore to himself that he would make it out alive.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve had a talk like this.”

“I wonder? It feels like forever ago, but also like it was just yesterday.”

The amount of time they had spent together was beyond what any Paragon could compare to. Having survived all those years side by side, they had become like brothers to one another. It felt like the tension between them had eased up, however, thinking he shouldn't let his guard down too much, Nadine slowly stood up. 

“Well, I’ll be getting back to maintenance. There’s still a few things I want to check–”

A wave of intense dizziness suddenly overtook Nadine, forcing him to his knees. 

“What’s wrong? Are you[—bury it—]feeling sick?”

Dvergr’s voice blended with Sargon’s concern. It grew stronger, luring him to the depths of an unfathomable darkness.

“N-no, it’s nothing serious.”

“Alright, good. Just don’t[—The System, God—]do anything reckless.”

“Of course, I understand. But I'll push through it even knowing it's reckless. I'm your right-hand man, after all." 

[Destroy the Metaverse System. Kill God.]

Ignoring the voice in his head, Nadine feigned composure and smiled. Sargon still didn't seem convinced, but faced with Nadine’s stubbornness, he reluctantly returned to the ship. Nadine crouched down, his hands pressed against the tightly sealed bulkhead. 

“I’m going to live. No matter what, I’m going to make it. I… I won’t end up like that pilot. I won’t let that happen.”

Scowling at the moon peeking through the clouds, he made a powerful wish without knowing that conversation would be their final farewell. 

At the end of their long voyage, Cainan’s pursuers were met by the fortified, deep blue city of Samarakanda. Its imposing presence and military strength rivaled even Olympias and Perses. According to the intelligence Void possessed, Samarkanda was not supposed to be so formidable. It was clear someone had tampered with it.

And then, a fleet of white ships deployed in a radial formation as if guarding the skies above the city. It represented the banner that Saint Bathsheba and her followers raised during the previous war.

“Cainan! Not only did you betray me, but to think you would bring out Mother’s… Mother’s ark! You deserve to die a thousand deaths!”

From the captain's seat on the bridge, Void hurled a sea of venom toward the stronghold where the traitor Cainan lay in hiding. 

“No, death is too good for you! I want you to suffer in every way imaginable until you’re begging me to kill you!!”

A heavy silence hung in the air, no one able to respond to Void’s rage. Amidst the tension, a cheerful voice, entirely out of place, responded back from the gleaming white fleet. 

"Ooh, sca~ry! Is this what they call a love triangle?"

Even with cannons aimed at one another, in a situation where conflict could break out at any moment, he refused to disturb his own pace. Void’s eyes widened for a brief moment at the owner of the self-serving voice, but his mouth quickly twisted in displeasure.

“Lotto…! I wondered where you’d gone to slack off instead of joining me on the front lines, but I see you’ve been working behind the scenes all along.”

“Huuuuh? I’m surprised that you’re not surprised.”

“You think I’d trust you with that attitude?”

“Aha, sorry for being such an incompetent big bro♪ There's a thing called priorities, y’know.”

“Enough of your nonsense! Destroy them! These fools defiling Mother–”

Before he could finish, the flagship lurched violently. Dvergr, piloted by Nadine, had suddenly descended toward the ground without waiting for an order. Immediately after, there was a violent sound like the crash of a bomb, and a massive cloud of dust rose upward. Landing heavily on one knee, Dvergr’s massive frame emerged from the smoke. Its large mechanical body shown on the monitor in Lotto’s ship, Dvergr’s data points rapidly displayed one after another.

The reactions of the crew members varied. Some were taken aback by the figure’s shoulders rising and falling like a wild beast, while others tried to remain calm and report potential damage.

Yet Lotto paid the crew no mind, shouting joyfully, “That’s super HUUUUUGE! Come on, that’s cheating! Where did you even drag that thing out of?!”

“Hmph, you’ll pay for defiling Mother with your life!”

Void’s fleet launched a surprise attack. Lotto laughed in response to his younger brother’s ruthlessness, and ordered his entire crew to return fire.

Far above the blue city, the fleets of ash and white lashed. 

—Moments ago.

On standby inside Dvergr, Nadine was in a state of such turmoil that he had no capacity to heed Void’s words. Even though he hadn't touched the controls, the moment it perceived Samarkanda, it began to move on its own. 

“Ggh!? You..!!”

Nadine desperately tries to stop it, but Dvergr doesn’t respond. In fact, as if to tell him to stay out of the way, it attempts to subjugate Nadine by speaking to him in Sargon’s voice via neural link.

[Destroy the Metaverse System, Nadine.]

“You… Don’t you dare impersonate Lord Sargon…!!”

Nadine continued to fight against the intensifying distress. To shake his unyielding will, Dvergr sent electrical signals directly into his brain. It was a gruesome image of Sargon being murdered. By making the illusion feel as though it were real ,it heightened and amplified emotions, evoking a burning passion. The process repeated until Nadine’s spirit was broken—robbed of his ability to resist.

[We have no choice but to move forward, Nadine.]

“...”

[That’s right, there’s no other answer.]

He nodded weakly in response to the whispered voice. 

[Go forth, Nadine. With our blade, annihilate them all. God, the System, and their creations.]

As if in response to those words, Nadine muttered softly, “Mode: Ragnarok.”

Nadine embraced Dvergr and became its cursed blade. There was no need for defense, he transformed into a weapon forged solely to annihilate the enemy. 

The black box installed within Dvergr was a mechanism that drew the pilot's consciousness and mind into the machine, assimilating its occupant with Dvergr itself. The previous pilot couldn’t withstand the strain and “ruptured” before assimilating, but Nadine had Old Blood coursing through his veins that gave him the aptitude to do so.

“I’ll destroy—everything—”

There were countless things that must be destroyed, even on that battlefield alone. But Nadine knew that destroying them was the best way to fulfill Sargon’s wish.

The two sides clashed in the skies of Samarakanda. Outnumbered in terms of vessels, Void’s forces launched an offensive relying on the breakthrough power of their mobile weapons. However, they were thwarted by artillery fire from the city fortresses’ formidable defenses and failed to seize air superiority. 

Bardiel's turrets, deployed in multiple locations around the city, sweep the Megiddo Gog units deployed in the sky, pinning them down and robbing them of any opportunity to counterattack. If they continued to take damage from both the air and ground, Void’s fleet would be at an increasing disadvantage.

“Damn it, what the hell is Nadine doing!? Comms, order him to take down those cannons now!”

“W-well… I’ve already tried several times, but he isn’t responding…”

“Fuck!”

Void gritted his teeth, frustrated by the unexpectedly fierce resistance that kept the situation from going according to plan. Unable to stand the mounting frustration, Void lashed out at Sargon in the executive officer’s seat.

“Hey, Sargon! Your useless mutt is out of control! What are you going to do about it!?”

The monitors displaying the battle on the ground showed Dvergr disregarding all orders, charging recklessly and mowing down enemy forces. They weren't movements of a skilled warrior, but those of a wild animal acting on pure instinct.

“If you don’t keep a tight leash, you’ll be worried sick, won’t you?”

“What was that?”

“But pull that leash too tight, and you’ll get bitten. We have no choice but to sit and wait. Besides, if you only look down and neglect what’s in front of you, we’ll lose everything.”

“Hmph, I don’t need you to tell me that!”

After issuing orders to increase the barrage of fire, Void returned to the captain's chair and kept a close eye on the changing battle situation. 

(My right-hand has never lost his composure on the battlefield, not even once. If something unexpected happened, then…)

Sargon had a hunch. There had been something off about Nadine the last time they spoke. His eyes were vacant, as if looking at something else entirely.

(Nadine… I’m sorry…)

Prayer meant nothing on the battlefield. That was an absolute immutable law that never changed throughout the ages. Sargon understood that, but he still couldn’t help but pray for Nadine’s safety.

――

――――

“That thing’s incredible, isn’t it? It should have taken damage from a direct hit from Bardiel, but it can still move somehow? I can’t believe it!”

“Captain Lotto, you seem to be having quite a bit of fun… But is it really okay to just ignore that monster?”

"Well, we just gotta do what we can♪"

The monitor showed Dvergr roaring like a beast and leaping at Bardiel. Watching the scene that felt almost surreal, Lotto clapped his hands together, his excitement still running high. 

“Could it be that the ‘fateful day’ has come a little early to claim little old me?”

“U-um…”

“Buuuut y’know, I don’t wanna be sliced in half by that big, stupid sword~”

“Isn’t it a soldier's greatest honor to die fighting on the battlefield until the bitter end?”

“Aha, you’re soooo serious. Look look, the barrage is weak! Keep shootiiiing!”

After giving that order, he threw himself back into his seat, muttering to no one in particular, “...Well, only until I fulfill Mom’s wish.”

Just then, a transmission came in from Samarakanda’s ground control.

“Captain Lotto, I’m being told there’s a high-speed projectile approaching our airspace. What should we do?”

“How many are there?”

“There’s just one. It’s…an airship?”

“Ooooh~ You’re a weirdo, aren’t you♪ Willingly thrusting yourself into this situation. Well okay then, let’s shoot them down!”

“Yes, sir!”

Lotto chuckled after ending the transmission. Unpredictable variables were appearing on the battlefield one after another. What roles would they play? What kind of chaos would they bring? He found it all amusing.

“This is the kinda excitement you'd expect for a climax, isn’t it! Come on, let’s make this final festival even more spectacular!

Dvergr was constructed by combining fragments of a “magic sword” with parts from another unit of the same model. Its performance was extraordinary and its construction formidable, it demanded a specific pilot much like the magic sword itself.

To truly unlock its full potential, one had to achieve perfect union—man and machine had to become one. It required the potent inheritance of Old Blood.

Under normal circumstances, the chances of him crossing paths with Dvergr in a world overrun with Paragons were one in a million... Or so it should have been. Fate had been woven with a twist of misfortune, bringing him and Dvergr together. And so, it lured those who dared to challenge the cursed sword to the battlefield for a final showdown.

Mene Tercera.

Anshar Audacia.

Marduk Animato.

Returnees—a new breed of humanity born into this land and nurtured by the very System the sword loathed. One stood at the terminus of the Old Blood, while the others stood at a singular point of arrival. The two of them could never come to an understanding.

The war would never come to an end unless one side was destroyed and wiped from history. The cycle of cause and effect would repeat—and now, once again, the world was about to face the cursed sword’s judgement.

• Lotto says “the barrage is weak” (弾幕薄いよ), which is a reference to Bright Noa in Mobile Suit Gundam. His line, “弾幕薄いぞ”, is referenced multiple times in the series as a fan favorite line. [info]