Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi. 

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..." 

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna saud, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the black beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step. 

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!" 

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!" 

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand. 

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!" 

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass. 

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that. 

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces. 

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen. 

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed. 

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock. 

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.


===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR10009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?" 

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.


===Part 3===

Noel's eyelids fluttered at the sensation of a small fragment falling on her cheek.

Slowly, she tried to open her eyes. She couldn't understand where she was, what had happened to her, or the impact of being thrown around in her dazed state.

There was no way she could understand. That while descending underground, the elevator and wall were torn apart by the aftershocks of a flying slash, and she was blown all the way here along with the device she was riding on.

All she remembered was the sudden, tremendous shock that attacked her, the terrifying feeling of floating, and then the shock of being thrown somewhere. That was all.

"It... hurts..."

If she had suffered such an ordeal, it wouldn't have been strange if she had died. 

But fortunately, the protective Ars Magus applied to the elevator acted as a cushion. Although she had small cuts, scratches, and bruises here and there, she miraculously had no injuries that would prevent her from moving.

Instead, the elevator Noel was riding on was so badly broken that she thought it would never be used again.

Removing a piece of the elevator that was pressing down on her back, Noel got up and stood up. Shaking off the fragments of broken elevator and building materials that covered her clothes, fine metal particles scattered like dust and fell to the floor.

"Where is this?"

While pressing down on the slightly deep cut on her shoulder to stop the bleeding, Noel took a step, then another, away from the scattered debris and moved forward. Could this be an underground research lab? It was quite different from what she had imagined.

It was wide and empty, the ceiling was high... and a tremendously large device was enthroned as if it were the main object in the space. Beyond the device, there was something that looked like a mouth with a shape like overlapping wings. Noel knew at a glance that it would surely open.

Why was that? Noel tilted her head repeatedly as she walked to the front so that she could see the device better.

She didn't know such a place. She didn't even know it existed, there was no way she could know. And yet...

"I... know this...?"

No, that's not right, maybe it wasn't this. But she couldn't shake the feeling that she had seen something very similar. When and where did she see it? Certainly...

"Kya!?"

Interrupting Noel's thoughts, the surroundings suddenly began to vibrate dully. It gradually grew larger, eventually swelling to the point where Noel could barely stand.

"Wh-what!?"

Barely managing to keep from falling over, Noel fearfully looked around. She didn't know what was happening, but it was clear that something was happening. The bare skin on her arms instantly broke out in goosebumps.

No. Her mind was trying to recall something, but it stopped. She didn't want to be here. Because this place was...

Amidst the low rumbling, another vibration mixed in. The source of the sound was right beside her. Noel's scream caught in her throat as she turned around. 

It was that device. Towering over Noel, and seemingly extending far below as well, in the center of the impossibly huge device, the part that looked like folded wings, which had been closed until just now, was slowly beginning to open.

From the gradually widening gap, what slipped out was a dazzling crimson light, like a mixture of blazing flames and molten lava. Noel felt her consciousness being drawn in by that color, by the swirling texture.

"Ah... ah..." Whether her legs were trembling, or she was captivated, she couldn't move from the spot. As she stood there, within Noel's wide green eyes, the closed wings fully opened.

The place that had completely opened its mouth was a cauldron. The swirling lava-like substance inside was the Boundary. A world that people constantly sought and reached out for, a world that was not this one. A place that contained all kinds of information, knowledge, memories, time, and space.

Noel didn't know such things. She was simply terrified by the sight before her, unable to believe it...unable to speak.

The contents of the cauldron stirred, pulsating as if alive. As if being born from that fetal movement, the figure of a young girl emerged from within the boundary. 

It was a slender girl. She had white hair tied into long braids, and wore a white cape over a form-fitting bodysuit. Lightly spreading her hands, her large, seemingly innocent eyes were veiled by lowered eyelids. Her pale skin, which seemed to avoid the color of the flames from below, was almost sickly, and her figure appeared very... nostalgic to Noel.

A roar, as if fanning the swirling flames within the furnace, could be heard. 

With an aura as if commanding these sounds, the girl floated, moving without being pulled up by anything, nor walking on anything. In front of Noel, at the edge of the opening cauldron, she softly landed barefoot without a sound.

After a brief pause, the girl lifted her eyelids. She wore an eye patch on her face, concealing only her right eye. The color of her open left eye was red. A beautiful, yet somewhat ominous red.

"You are..."

Staring at the girl who emerged from the cauldron, Noel's trembling voice was hoarse.

Perhaps hearing that voice, the girl with white hair and clothes raised her drowsy, distant eyes from within the depths of her long braids and looked at Noel.

Their gazes met. At that instant, something surged up from the depths of Noel's being like a raging torrent. The force was so overwhelming that she felt a dizzying illusion of impact. It rushed up to her head at once, robbing Noel of her thoughts, her senses, and her emotions.

"Loading... loading, loading. Checking all functions for normality. Murakumo, commencing activation." The white girl spoke in an emotionless voice.

As if lured by that voice, Noel's mouth moved on its own accord.

"Target's activation acknowledged. Target recognized as... 13th Unit. Shifting to combat mode."

Midway through her words, Noel regained consciousness as if a thin rope that had been veiling her vision had been brushed away. Her eyes, which had lost their brilliance, now held a human-like confusion, and Noel staggered backward.

"What- what was that just now? What did I..."

''(I mustn't understand, I mustn't comprehend, I mustn't recognize.)''

Clinging to the voice within her that was denying and rejecting, Noel desperately tried to avert her eyes from the white girl.

Ignoring Noel, the white girl continued speaking in a machine-like manner.

"Target recognized as the same entity. Target will be... eliminated."

"Huh?" Noel weakly voiced her question. If she hadn't misheard, she had just said "eliminated." Who? In this case, besides that girl, there was no one else standing here but herself.

While she was thinking this, a huge, pale blue sword flew in from somewhere and pierced the white girl's back. The sword immediately unfolded. Complex mechanisms changed shape one after another, and in response, the girl's attire also changed shape.

The transformed parts stripped the white cape from the girl and gave her eight wing-like swords, the hands and feet of the bodysuit gained sword-like decorations, and the eye patch was replaced by a large headgear.

Within seconds, the girl had transformed into a living combat weapon. Her expressionless, doll-like face found Noel through the headgear and posed as if reaching out her hand. But that was the same as pointing the tip of the blade attached to her arm.

"Ah... no..."

What the white girl was indicating was murderous intent. The machine-like voice that said "eliminate" told Noel what was about to happen to her.

But her body wouldn't move. She was scared of the pure murderous intent of the girl in front of her, but more than that, she felt like she was seeing something very terrifying, and her legs trembled, her hands trembled.

"Die." The white-haired girl coldly declared, the eight swords floating around her simultaneously releasing towards Noel. There was no mercy in the attack. The sharp tips of the incoming blades accurately targeted Noel's vital points, aiming to kill the target without fail.

''(I have to avoid them. I have to escape... I have to fight.)''

As if a predetermined program was running, thoughts automatically began to move within Noel's head.

"Attack confirmed. Evading." 

Her legs, which had been frozen until then, moved with a spring-like force, lightly carrying Noel's body backward. She quickly spun in the air and, even before landing, readied the guns in both hands and fired.

The two magic rounds fired in succession crossed the space and exploded to the left and right of the white girl. The girl's white hair fluttered greatly from the damage, and the sword's legs staggered slightly.

"Minor damage... No problem." The expression beneath the headgear barely moved; the girl murmured emotionless words as if whispering.

At the same time, she slid forward on the floor and swung her slender arm, followed by the eight swords. The swords moved as if slashing Noel, diagonally and vertically, in line with her arm's movements. However, Noel blocked and defended against this with her long gun barrel, and this time, the feather-like swords danced as if scooping up her feet.

The white girl's movements were fast and light. The continuous attacks unleashed from the swords she wore and her own legs were relentless, cutting into Noel one after another.

But Noel was just as light and fast. She used her gun barrels to parry the eight consecutive attacks that swept her feet, then instantly leaped, passing over the girl's head as she lowered her body and circled around to her back.

It was a close-range shot. Using her body itself as a weapon, Noel's hand struck the white girl's head with the grip of her Nox Nyctores, the Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk. Not stopping with one blow, she continued to strike her back with the gun barrel, and fired a shot at her feet as she tried to stand up.

Noel's dazzling gunplay was somehow similar to the white-haired girl's continuous attacks. The white-haired girl widened the distance again with a low retreat. When she stretched out both hands into the air, the eight swords followed and flew towards Noel.

The same movement as before. Noel's mind predicted the attack trajectory.

"Useless." Her finger pulled the trigger without hesitation, and the fired Ars Magus round accurately pierced the eight swords.

However, it probably wasn't such a simple mechanism that would be silenced by that. As the girl staring at Noel swung her arm, the struck swords smoothly returned to the side of her white bodysuit, protecting her body.

"Target's possession of phenomena weapons confirmed. Shifting combat level." The girl's headgear flashed red lights as if engraving something.

That quiet pause gave Noel back her reason. Her green eyes, which had been staring at the white girl with unwavering focus until then, suddenly showed anxiety and lost strength. Her lips were trembling. Her knees and fingertips also trembled, as if being pulled along.

"Just now... what was I..." What was I doing?

The question instantly turned into agitation, and the agitation immediately turned into fear. 

In that short time, where were Noel's thoughts and consciousness of herself? Whose... what thoughts were there?

The feeling of being taken over by someone else's thoughts and being moved around against her will was horrifying. And yet, Noel's consciousness now, in this abnormal state... wasn't it calmly observing?

As if that was the original her.

"N-no... that's wrong. I- I didn't do anything..." Her trembling lips once again moved on their own. But this time, what leaked out wasn't the emotionless, machine-like murmur from before, but Noel's own voice, frightened and confused. Her whole body was about to lose strength. Her legs trembled terribly, and she couldn't stand.

Then—

"This is the end." The girl's emotionless voice was heard.

Noel gasped and looked up. The swords around the white girl, following her outstretched arm and the girl's thoughts, spread out in all directions and were released. 

But the swords, which seemed to have been released randomly, crossed the space and spread out around Noel, their tips aimed at her... converging as they rained down.

"Ah..."

It was too late. Her body shrank, and a frightened scream echoed in her throat.

''(Help me...)''

Even though she knew there was no one there, Noel's unconscious mind called out in a tearful voice.

''(Help me... Brother...)''

The next moment she involuntarily closed her eyes, Noel saw a dazzling and nostalgic scene behind her eyelids. 




It was an afternoon when warm sunlight streamed in through the window. 

There was someone who stroked her feverish forehead. 

Hard, golden hair, and strong, gentle green eyes that smiled. 

That person had always stroked her head. 

She loved that hand very much.




The eight blades that were released pierced not the girl's graceful body, but the toned body of a man.

On the cold, hard floor, a sound of dripping, heavier than water, echoed. While listening to the irregular sound...

...A man, Ragna, who jumped in as if interrupting, took a staggering step back.

"Ugh..." Blood flowed out. Blood mixed with saliva spilled onto the floor. Feeling the sensation of the sword deeply piercing his body, Ragna bitterly exhaled. "Tch... I messed up."

Saying that, he supported his faltering legs, which were pierced by the blade in his stomach and legs, using the sword as a crutch.

Of the eight swords released by the white girl, five were knocked down to the floor. But the remaining three pierced Ragna's body from front to back as he stood in the way, offering himself as a shield.

It seemed it was a little too late to deflect everything.

"Wh-why..." 

Behind him, he heard the girl's trembling voice.

"Huh?" Ragna reluctantly turned his head.

There, of course, was the girl soldier, Noel, wearing the blue and white uniform. Her arm, which she had raised to protect herself, remained as it was, and she was trembling with fear and confusion, unable to fully grasp the situation that had happened before her eyes. Her wide-open green eyes were filled with tears, and she stared at the slender sword protruding from Ragna's back as if seeing something unbelievable.

"Why did you protect me?"

"...I don't know. When I saw you about to be killed, my body moved on its own," Ragna replied, spitting it out.

He had no intention of putting on airs. In fact, that was all there was to it. He had already run out the moment he saw it. He didn't have time to think about what would happen as a result of jumping in.

But if there was a special reason... he thought without saying it, it might be because they resembled each other.

He realized after protecting her. He didn't know where she came from or what her intentions were, but this girl soldier who was carelessly walking alone in front of the cauldron... resembled his sister.

The pale skin, the eyebrows, the eyes, the muscles, the color of her cheeks, the way she felt. Even the soft voice that came out of her mouth evoked memories that he had lost many years ago.

He even thought that she might be his sister herself, who had been taken away the night the church burned down.

"Ragna, you've finally come to see Nu!"

Identifying herself as Nu, the white girl who released the sword abandoned the emotionless attitude she had shown towards Noel, as if it were a lie, and wore an innocent, full smile. 

With a small sound, only the headgear that covered Nu's eyes came off. The moment that happened, Ragna grimaced at something different from the pain that pierced his body.

"Nu's been thinking about Ragna all the time, all the time, all the time. I wanted to see you first thing when I woke up. You're late, Ragna!" Lightly lifting the tips of her blade-shaped toes from the floor, Nu chuckled as if enjoying herself.

It was obvious when she took off her headgear. With white hair and red eyes, Nu also closely resembled Ragna's sister, though the colors were different.

No, it wasn't just that they resembled each other. There were slight differences in their gestures, so the impressions were somewhat different... but they had the same face.

That meant that Noel and Nu also had the same face.

"It's like I'm having a nightmare..."

The situation of being caught between a soldier of the NOL who had the same face as his sister, and a girl refined by the cauldron who had the same face as his sister, was somehow eerie.

Grumbling bitterly, Ragna grabbed one of the swords piercing his abdomen. He put strength into trying to pull it out.

"Fufufu, don't be so rough, Ragna. Don't worry, I'll pull it out for you soon." Nu said in a cheerful, spoiled voice, stroking the air with her slender white arm. Then, the swords that Ragna had knocked down and scattered on the floor floated up and returned to Nu. Similarly, the three swords that had been in his abdomen also came out of him in one breath, dripping red drops as they returned to Nu.

Ragna couldn't bear having them pulled out. His flesh was cut again by the three swords that simultaneously came out, and blood like a lump overflowed from his stomach.

"It looks painful... Are you okay, Ragna?" Nu tilted her head worriedly, while dancing eight blades around herself.

"Of course I'm not okay..."

With her utterly innocent appearance, it was foolish to even retort. The voice he returned was muddled by the blood rising up, and as soon as he finished speaking, Ragna had to spit out the blood that had welled up.

"Don't get carried away just because you've been refined... I'm going to destroy you!"

"That's fine. Because Nu belongs to Ragna. Break me, mess me up... Fufufu, ahahahaha!" Laughing loudly, Nu put on her headgear again. When she swung her arm as if hugging the sky, the eight swords once again jumped towards Ragna.

"Damn it!" Releasing his hand from his stomach, which was gushing blood with each heartbeat, Ragna knocked down Nu's oncoming swords. 

If he dodged, Noel would be behind him. Even if he demanded that she dodge in a hurry, he couldn't imagine that the completely frightened soldier could do such a thing.

So he knocked down all of them. With such spirit, he swung his sword at his feet, and a jet-black sword protruded out like a wave.

"Oh no!" He deflected it with his sword, and jumped away from the impact. But as if waiting for that action, Nu, who had jumped high at some point, cut into Ragna's shoulder with her legs, which had become swords.

"Gah!" He couldn't react to that at all. He staggered from the unavoidable slash, but he couldn't just be beaten, so he slashed upwards from below.

"Kyaa!" Ragna's slash caught Nu's torso.

Nu's landing was disrupted by the heavy impact. The impact must have been absorbed by the suit. But there was damage, and Nu hugged her stomach and crouched on the spot.

"Drop dead!" 

Not wanting to miss the chance for a follow-up attack, Ragna raised his sword high and swung it down to decapitate the girl.

Or so it should have been, but suddenly the air around Ragna became heavy, and he couldn't move.

"What? A gravity field!"

An intense gravity had been generated only around Ragna. If he lost his concentration, he would slam into the ground. As he desperately resisted this power... the eight swords once again pierced Ragna's body, this time from all sides at once.

He thought he heard a scream, probably Noel's, from far behind. But he couldn't respond to it anymore.

"You... bitch..."

He had to get out of this gravity field somehow. Ragna thrust his sword into the floor and struggled. But then—

"No, Ragna." Nu jumped and spun in the air, going behind Ragna. She wrapped her lithe arms around his neck. She brought her pink lips close to his ear and whispered sweetly. "Nu can't wait any longer. I want to become one with Ragna soon. Right now..."

As the tempting voice finished. A dull impact pierced Ragna's abdomen.

"Gaaaah!" Stiffening his body, which could barely move, Ragna lowered his gaze and looked at his own stomach. There, a far too thick and large acupuncture needle pierced straight through. From Nu's back, through her body, and together, they were tethered to Ragna's body.

The two were indeed connected as Nu had wished, becoming one.

''(Ah...)''

Ragna let out a sigh. In addition to the gravity field, it was probably because he had lost a lot of blood. His body was completely immobile.

Ragna's purpose was to destroy the cauldron and also destroy Nu.

Nu was a Boundary Interface Prime Field Device. She was a doll based on Ragna's sister, Saya, created for people to touch the Boundary and gain its power. That's why she had the same appearance as his sister.

While traveling around the world and destroying the cauldrons, Ragna's purpose was to destroy this Prime Field Device.

With this doll, people could easily reach out to the Boundary. Above all, they had kidnapped his sister and manipulated her as they pleased, creating a doll based on her, and used it as a tool to investigate the Boundary. There was no way he could leave even one of these things behind.

He had destroyed two of them so far. They were still in the state before the refining was completed, and were only unconscious dolls. So... if he only considered the work involved, it was easy, if he didn't look at the reality of killing a defenseless girl who had the same face as his sister.

He had intended to deal with the Kagutsuchi branch the same way.

"Nothing ever goes right..."

He was stopped by his brother, obstructed by a man calling himself one of the Six Heroes, the refining of the Prime Field Device was completed, and he even suffered a deep wound because of unnecessary meddling. As a result, he couldn't even fight properly and ended up like this.

''(Pathetic...)''

He felt empty at the thought that he would be cut off halfway. Did this hand accomplish anything? Did this hand create anything?

He felt empty, like all he had ever done was rage, destroy, and kill...

"Now we'll be together... forever." Nu's spoiled voice was heard near his ear. This was no joke. He wanted to push her away, shake her off, and take hold of his sword once more. But... he no longer had the strength to pull out the sword that connected Nu and himself. "Now, Ragna, let's go. Let's melt together as one... and destroy the world together."

Singing happily, Nu kicked off the floor with her sharp toes. 

The bodies of Ragna and Nu, connected together, floated up and then fell.

Into the Boundary where the all-consuming flames swirled.

That was the end of everything.

It should have been over.

''"Don't give up."''

A voice was heard. The one who called out was... his sister's voice.

It was a nostalgic voice.

When they were still in the church. The voice he always heard beside him during the time they spent reading books together, taking naps, and harvesting vegetables from the field.

Lured by the nostalgia, Ragna opened his eyes. And immediately, he found it and realized.

"Don't give up!" There was Noel shouting, her face covered in tears. Clinging to the edge of the cauldron, she stretched out her other arm with all her might, desperately grabbing Ragna's arm, shouting until her throat was hoarse. "Reach out your hand, quickly!!"

He was startled. His body, which had been heavy and immobile until then, suddenly moved.

There was no way Noel's slender arms could support Ragna's weight forever. Strongly pulling the arm of Noel, who was desperately holding on, he forcibly lifted his own body, and with that momentum, Ragna grabbed the edge of the cauldron with his free hand.

''(I won't fall down, I won't end here.)'' Those thoughts came to his mind.

That was when-

"Eh?" He heard the girl's bewildered voice, and something slipped out of Ragna's body along with her. It didn't take long for him to realize that it was Nu's greatsword.

The sword that connected them through Nu's back didn't have the power to stop Ragna's body from clinging to the edge. It slipped out with the same smoothness as when it pierced him... and the greatsword fell along with its owner, Nu.

"Rag..." 

Unable to understand. Nu called out his name, and her body was easily swallowed into the swirling flames of the Boundary.

And... this time, it was truly over.


===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble. 

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today." 

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway." 

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.


===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.


===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..." 

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered. 

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion." 

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi. 

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening. 

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)'' 

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.


[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]


"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'." 

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away. 

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.




'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began. 

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium... 

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