God Eater – Phase One Begins

POV: Lia / You / Kairo (Shifting)

Location: Genesis Core – Rift Chamber

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[The Moment It Begins – Lia's POV]

The rift split open above them—reality warping like glass bending in fire.

Zeyren hovered in front of it, the very air around him pulsing with energy. His body was human in shape, but flickering at the edges—like something far older, far darker, was trying to escape his skin.

Lia's hair floated behind her. The Genesis threads glowed in her veins.

She turned to you and Kairo, nodding once.

Then she launched forward—light and fire behind her.

Zeyren smiled.

And caught her with one hand.

It shouldn't have been possible—but he held her mid-air, the power between them sparking like dying stars.

"You still think you understand the Genesis?" he whispered.

"I wrote its language."

He threw her, and the world shattered.

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[Your POV – Shock and Return]

You caught Lia mid-fall, your boots skidding across molten metal.

She was dazed, barely breathing—but alive.

Kairo was already moving, blades forming around his arms, launching forward in twin arcs of lightning.

Zeyren snapped his fingers.

A wall of mirrored Genesis shards erupted from the ground, absorbing the attack and firing back shards of compressed time.

One grazed your cheek—and suddenly, for a heartbeat—you weren't there.

You saw a glimpse of your past. Lia, as a baby. Ada smiling. Then—

You came back.

Furious.

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[Kairo's POV – Dance of Fury]

Kairo didn't stop moving.

He couldn't.

Zeyren was faster than he should be. Every move was like watching the stars curve out of orbit.

Kairo ducked a strike that would have severed time itself—then slammed a Genesis charge into Zeyren's spine.

It exploded—

And Zeyren staggered.

Kairo landed hard, panting.

You appeared beside him. "Nice hit."

"Won't work twice," Kairo growled. "He's learning us."

Then Lia stood up again.

And something changed.

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[Phase One — End Trigger]

Lia's voice was low.

"I wasn't strong enough before."

Genesis light flared around her like solar wings.

"But I'm not afraid now."

Zeyren turned. "Good."

His arms opened.

And he welcomed her power.

They collided mid-air—explosions of color and energy consuming the chamber.

You and Kairo backed off just in time as the Core began to fracture.

Reality screamed.

And Zeyren laughed—his body cracking apart—revealing the creature beneath the human.

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[Phase Two Begins – The Architect Revealed]

Zeyren's skin peeled away, revealing his second form: a celestial being of jagged obsidian and starfire, with a crown of shifting galaxies.

His voice was no longer one voice.

It was many.

"You fight well… mortals."

He raised his hands.

The Genesis Core screamed.

The Echo Base began to collapse.

And he pointed toward Lia.

"I will reshape this world… with you at my side."