God Eater: The One Who Defies the Taboo

Stories

## Illustrations

## Character Introductions

Taiwanese edition. Transcribed from Lafrente @ Light Novel Kingdom.

Gis Crimzer

Age 17

A new-type God Arc wielder of Arthur God-Soul, the specialist unit that hunts taboo Aragami.

His God Arc is composed of the God-Erosion Sword Takiri, the God-Erosion Spear Tagitsu, and the God-Erosion Armor Ichikishi.

Cheerful and optimistic by nature, he often faces Aragami with the easy enjoyment of someone who still has plenty in reserve. He rarely stops to consider anyone else's circumstances, and always assumes that if he can do something, others ought to be able to do it too. Because of that, he sometimes says careless things without meaning to, and stirs up needless arguments.

※ Takiri, Tagitsu, and Ichikishi (Ichikishima) are the names of three goddesses who appear in Japan's Kojiki.

Marguerite Craffily

Age 16

Armorer of Arthur God-Soul, the specialist unit that hunts taboo Aragami. She and Gis were once both selected as compatibility candidates for the prototype "new-type God Arc," but she has yet to find a God Arc that suits her, and takes part in the unit's operations as an armorer. She is also highly skilled at compounding ammunition.

Gentle by nature, and deeply considerate of others. She looks after the everyday details of life for Gis, who has little common sense outside of battle. She, Gis, and Wiene are childhood friends, and the three of them have always gone everywhere together.

Wiene Reficar

Age 21

Captain of Arthur God-Soul, the specialist unit that hunts taboo Aragami. He was appointed a new-type God Eater one step ahead of Gis and the others, but his God Arc was devoured by Susanoo, and he is now in "retirement." He manages the three-person squad and the large plantation that serves as their base...

## Chapter One

"—All right. We're here."

With the red-and-black God Arc resting easily on his shoulder, Amamiya Rindo stood on a raised platform in a small corner of the abandoned streets and looked over the three God Eaters lined up neatly before him, every face tight with nerves.

Their expressions were stiff. Not one of them was an exception.

The unease and excitement coming off them—still young enough to be called children—brought back his own first battle ten years ago, and he could not help a bitter smile.

And yet, compared with those days, the age of the newcomers kept falling. Becoming a God Eater at sixteen had been rare enough back then. Now, recruits in their teens were no longer unusual.

That alone was enough to tell how strained the war remained.

Whenever he thought of a present in which children had to be led onto the battlefield, Rindo wanted nothing more than to drink himself blind and crawl into someone's bed.

But that, too, was only running away.

He had a duty to teach his juniors the rules of survival for fighting that unknown colony of cells, which devoured everything whether organic or inorganic—so Rindo had decided.

"From here on—today, at last, we begin live combat drills. Do you all still remember Dr. Sakaki's lecture?"

The boys, still young enough to be called children, nodded.

"Gooood. Then—you. Tell us."

Rindo pointed at the boy cradling the long-range God Arc, Falcon.

"What is it we fight for?"

"F-for humanity!"

The boy answered.

"Our mission is to save all of humanity from the Aragami!"

"Exactly."

...

## Chapter Two

"Even here, it's the same..."

The armored wall that sheltered people beneath the Aragami had only just been opened, and already Wiene, in the driver's seat, was murmuring.

"What's the same?" Gis, seated on the hard sofa set crosswise, turned his head and looked out through the lattice window.

Then he understood what Wiene meant.

Out there was a crowd of people living in poverty, thinking of nothing but how to get through today.

It was a scene Gis and the others had long since grown used to seeing.

Of course, this was their first time at the Far East Branch, and so their first time seeing the outer residential district here—but sights like this were much the same no matter where you went now.

The Oracle Cells, which devoured all matter, had drastically shrunk the regions where humanity could survive.

The only places people could still live were inside the Aragami armored walls. Yet set against supplies that could be produced anywhere, the number of human beings was still plainly greater.

And so poverty spread, as a matter of course.

Daily necessities were rationed, and commercial activity was restricted in every respect. That meant the means of climbing out of poverty by one's own effort were extremely limited. That was all there was to it.

If you wanted to leave behind the life outside the window—a life of "just staying alive, day after day"—you had to take on a matching responsibility.

And that was—to become a God Eater.

If you found a God Arc that suited you and became a God Eater, your circumstances could change overnight. Three meals a day, reliably rationed, and the pay earned hunting Aragami could also supp...

## Final Chapter

"—That concludes the report."

With that, Rindo closed his mouth.

Jixal, elbows planted on the desk, stared at that expressionless face and let out a quiet sigh.

"Arthur God-Soul, wiped out... is that it?"

Rindo's report said exactly that.

In the battle with Tsukuyomi, a new variant of Susanoo had broken in. Gis Crimzer was driven into a dead end. Wiene Reficar and Marguerite Craffily, who charged onto the battlefield to help him, died with him. Tsukuyomi was struck down by Susanoo, and in the end Gis Crimzer and Susanoo perished together.

Yes. That was what he had said.

He had also submitted a report of Ix's death. After Rindo entered the cargo hold, Ix had detonated himself on the spot.

The recovery team's report confirmed that it matched Rindo's. What Ix had actually done would have to wait on later analysis, but he seemed to have used an extremely powerful explosive. Almost nothing remained in its original form.

And even the few relics that did survive, Headquarters had already ordered returned at once.

"Understood. You may withdraw."

Rindo bowed, turned, squared his shoulders, and walked out of the room.

The door had only just shut when Pera Sakaki, standing leaned against the wall, let a muffled laugh slip from his throat. Jixal frowned and looked at him.

"Ah, sorry, sorry."

Behind his glasses, Sakaki's narrow eyes looked narrower still.

"He's quite the actor, isn't he. Honestly, that story just now...

## Commentary

Those who trade the crimes they bear for a blade, and go on devouring gods, are called GE—God Eaters.

And yet, is the future that awaits the boys and girls who break the taboos among them bright with hope—

This work, God Eater: Those Who Break the Taboo, takes the PlayStation Portable game GOD EATER as the foundation of its story, and is an original novel depicting events unknown within the game itself.

Its protagonists are the members of the special unit Arthur God-Soul, formed to hunt especially dangerous enemies classified as "Type-One Contact Taboo Species," including Susanoo and Amaterasu, who appear in the game as additional downloadable content.

The story carefully portrays, at that point in time, the affairs of this unit of only three, the fierce battles of Gis Crimzer—the sole active new-type GE—and the exchanges among his companions.

What it ultimately lays before the reader, however, is this: he, who at a glance seems devoted to battle, has in body already been exposed to grave mental contamination by the powerful "bias field" emitted by the taboo species' Oracle Cells—and the wretched reality that, knowing this, others still use him for the sake of research.

The mental resonance of the new-type GE mentioned in this work is depicted in part within the game itself, but in this world it still seems to be a subject of present research.

Humanity lives under the threat of its natural enemy, the Aragami, and at the same time sustains the life of this age by making use of all manner of resources manufactured from Oracle Cells. And those who possess the mastery...