Gaia Chronicles: The Integral Saga

There were a hundred of them.

Hidden across the ruins of the old world—locked in vaults beneath collapsed cities, sunken temples, and caverns that whispered to no one. The Divine Artifacts were not forged by human hands. They were remnants of a civilization long erased from time, yet impossibly familiar in their purpose: to fight monsters that defied existence.

Each Artifact was unlike the other. Some were elegant, like Orisha—an ethereal pair of silver earrings that sang when activated. Others were brutal, like Dravok—the obsidian axe that roared with volcanic fury. A few defied the concept of weaponry entirely, such as Sanguira, the crescent scythe fed by blood and sorrow, or Vinthra, the harp-like threads that moved with the thoughts of their wielder.

Scholars called them "Relics of the Old Mind." Priests called them "God-Weapons." Gaia called them a chance.

But the Artifacts called themselves something else—when they spoke at all.

They called themselves Sentience.

The Heart of Gaia became a sanctum of testing. Recruits poured in—soldiers, orphans, scholars, criminals seeking redemption. All were tested, scanned, and brought before an Artifact to attempt synthesis. The results were never predictable.

Some were violently rejected—recoiling in bursts of ether that burned skin and memory alike.

Some vanished—consumed into the Artifact's core, never to be seen again.

And some… became legends.

"You don't choose an Artifact," explained Irene Synthesis 3, standing before a group of new applicants. "It chooses you. Not for strength. Not for fame. But for truth. Your truth."

"Then why so few of us?" asked a tall, bruised recruit. "There's a hundred weapons. Why are there only twenty-eight of you?"

"Because the truth hurts," Julius Synthesis 2 chimed in, arms crossed and smirking. "And most people can't survive it."

Each Artifact was discovered with a trialstone—a relic containing memory and judgment. When one touched an Artifact, they were cast into a mental plane formed by the consciousness of the weapon itself. There, the would-be Knight faced their deepest regrets, fears, and the echo of what they could be.

Failure meant rejection—or worse.

But success forged a bond: soul to steel.

And with that bond came Synthesis—a unification of body, weapon, and ether. Only then would the Artifact reveal its name, history, and combat form.

The database grew over time.

Caliburnus – Longsword of Sovereignty.

Umbrix – Daggers of Twilight.

Voltranox – Dual Blades of Thunder.

Velqor – Binding Chains of Intuition.

Thaneris – Greatsword of Gravity.

Dravok – Axe of the Blazing Core....

Aetheron – Gunblade of Logic and Death.

Orisha – Earrings of Harmony and Destruction.

Lexigra – Grimoire of Pure Creation.

Sanguira – Scythe of the Bloodbound Moon.

Kyrosyn – Chakram of Mechanized Time.

Each Artifact held Divine Assimilation, an ultimate form only unlocked under extraordinary conditions—usually during moments of near-death, emotional awakening, or overwhelming duty. This transformation pushed both user and weapon beyond their limits, merging them into something more than human.

And yet, as Gaia assembled the Integral Knights one by one, a disturbing truth emerged.

There were signs that not all the Artifacts had remained loyal to mankind.

Some began resisting synthesis outright.

Others whispered in languages no human could translate. A few began changing their wielders—twisting personalities, deepening obsessions.

When this was brought to Leonardo's attention, he simply nodded.

"They are not tools," he said. "They are survivors. And like us, not all of them came through history unscathed."

Far below Gaia HQ, in a sealed chamber only four people knew about, lay an Artifact no one had yet touched.

A sword so black it absorbed light itself. Cracks lined its blade, yet it pulsed like a dying heart.

Its name was Nihileth.

And it waited, like a prophecy.

For Erebus.