Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 1===

A sound of dripping, whether it was water or something more repulsive, echoed from the high ceiling. 

In the deep, foul-smelling sewer, a black mass lay on the cold, unclean floor. At first glance, it looked like a bag of slime or a corpse wrapped in black sludge. But it was neither. It was the prostrate form of a grotesque monster that inhabited the sewers, Arakune.

"Damn it... you sure know how to be a pain." Ragna muttered as he looked down at the blackened mass, sword dangling from his hand. 

He had wasted a lot of time subduing this creature whose unpredictable movements were far removed from those of humans or even beasts. He had been trying to take a shortcut, but this had been a huge detour.

'''"Gug... gug... overcharged kick..."''' Arakune, a quivering mass of black seithr, groaned with its white, mask-like face floating within it. It was as if a mud puddle were speaking. It could no longer resist. It seemed to have lost the power to spew out strange spirits as it had done before.

Taokaka, at Ragna's side, wagged her tail with a triumphant grin.

"Tao won! You won't do any more bad things, Squiddly! Or else, next time, I won't be so gentle!"

"Nah. There won’t be a next time." Ragna muttered under his breath, stepping forward.

"Meow?" Taokaka tilted her head, puzzled by his words. This strange, carefree cat-like creature likely had no concept of what he meant. Ragna, however, looked down at Arakune's writhing form and raised his sword.

"This thing's already lost all reason. It's completely consumed by the Boundary... by the seithr. If we leave it, it'll just gather more around it and recover, then start absorbing anything it comes into contact with." Ragna’s voice was matter-of-fact. 

Perhaps it needed life force. Things connected to the Boundary often had such properties. They couldn't help but devour the souls of others. It was the same as the instinct of a hungry animal, something separate from thought. Eat, eat, eat. That was all.

'''"Ugigi, not enough... not enough... crumbling... crumbling..."''' Arakune sputtered as it raised a skeletal arm from its blackened body, tracing an arc in the air. It looked pitiful, weak, and broken.

"Don't take it personally..." Ragna muttered, almost like an afterthought. "Though I guess, you won't be able to feel anything now."

With a single, swift motion, Ragna brought the sword down. There was a dull impact — the sword was light enough to crush bones and flesh, yet heavy enough to pound through the goo and slime. Something broke, something tore.

The sword struck true, and the black, shadowy form twisted and writhed on the blade. The skeletal hand reached out weakly, as if it had no strength left. With a final weak gesture and a trembling voice, it lost its shape.

The protruding bony arm fell to the floor and shattered into pieces. At the same time, the black body crumbled like dry earth, becoming as fine as sand, and then as fine as mist, turning into a mere blackened stain on the slime of the sewer.

There was no corpse left. Although traces could still be seen, who would think that this was the remains of a strange monster?

Perhaps it had already been a formless, non-existent thing. Thinking about that, Ragna frowned at the small murmur the Arakune had let out at the end.

'''"... Azure?"''' The voice was muffled and indistinct, but it had definitely said that.

Ragna knew exactly what that word symbolized. Something very close to him.

Naturally, Ragna's gaze fell on his prosthetic right arm. Hidden beneath the black clothes and red coat sleeve, the arm was covered by a black glove. No skin was visible from the outside. 

That arm was not the one he was born with. Though it had the same shape and moved like a human arm, what extended from his right shoulder down was a grimoire.

BlazBlue.

The Azure Grimoire.

He learned that name after losing his birth arm and gaining this one in its place.

Although it was called a grimoire, it wasn't used to activate spells. What it could use was... fragments of the Boundary's power.

This arm was connected to the Boundary. It was like a small "cauldron." And it could also be considered a condensed Arakune.

The blackened substance caked beneath him felt all too familiar.

"Damn it..." Ragna clenched his right fist tightly and involuntarily cursed. He could feel it. He could move it freely. But it wasn't his own flesh and blood; it was a terrifying foreign object. The sensation was disgusting.

Involuntarily, his memories stirred. The night he lost his arm flashed through his mind. It was from that night. From that night, Ragna's world changed, and everything began.

"Hey, Good Guy~!"

"Whoa!" A sudden shock, like being pushed from behind, shattered his thoughts.

It didn't take long to realize that Taokaka had jumped on him and clung to him, but it took a bit of effort and a lot of muscle to pull his body back from the big stumble he had taken because of the sudden force.

"Ouch... Hey! Don't just jump on me like that!" He had almost crashed face-first into Arakune’s remains. Ragna turned around sharply, trying to shake off Taokaka who was clinging to his back. But she stubbornly remained on his back, climbing up to his head and peering into his face.

"Meow, I called you and you were spacing out. If you didn't respond, I was going to throw you over there." 

"Ugh..." Taokaka's big hand pointed to the sewer river. Ragna didn't want to think about what the liquid flowing between the sludge and waste was composed of.

"So? What is it?" Remembering that she had called out to him, Ragna removed her arm and lifted Taokaka off his back.

This time, Taokaka obediently stepped down and stretched both hands high into the air, looking up at Ragna. The expression on her black face, hidden beneath her hood, was a joyful smile that seemed completely delighted.

"Thank you, Good Guy!"

"Huh? What for?"

"Good Guy is a benefactor. You not only fed Tao, but you also defeated the Squiggly. The villagers will be so happy!" Taokaka expressed her joy with her whole body, her voice as bright as a song.
Ragna smiled weakly. He returned his sword to his waist and scratched his head.

"Don't tell me you were going to throw your benefactor into the sewer."

"That's different, meow."

"You..." Ragna could only manage a dry laugh at Taokaka’s casual response. "Well... whatever. Let's go anyway. We wasted a lot of time thanks to that guy, and if we stay here any longer, we'll start to smell." His nose had already gotten used to the smell, and he couldn’t tell how bad he smelled.

Taokaka jumped around Ragna happily. "Okay! Then let’s go, Good Guy! Tao will lead the way, meow~!"

"Alright, alright. I hope we won't run into any more of those monsters." 

"Don't worry. There's only one Squiggly. And even if more come out, Tao and Good Guy will beat it up!" Raising her fist as if in a cheer, Taokaka's light voice echoed through the sewer ceiling. Following the lively back of Taokaka, Ragna climbed over the rubble once more.

Thanks to Taokaka’s lively mood, the journey through the sewer felt surprisingly cheerful. It was a bit noisy, but the rest of the journey was peaceful, with no real problems to speak of. After passing through a long corridor, they encountered a complex set of ladders. Climbing those, they reached another dark, long hallway. They repeated this several times, walking for hours. Finally, Ragna reached the end of the escape route.

"Climbing this ladder will take us outside, meow." Taokaka said, stopping at the foot of the ladder. Instead of continuing as a passage, the end of the ladder was a dead end. It was probably a lid. Beyond that was the upper level of Kagutsuchi.

Relying on the green moss that grew slightly at his feet and the small, regularly spaced maintenance lights, Ragna looked up to gauge the distance to the lid and turned to Taokaka. 

"Thanks. I appreciate the guide."

"It was nothing. But I want more food, meow!" Taokaka wiped her mouth, as if she hadn't eaten several servings just a while ago. 

Ragna felt a cold shiver run down his spine. If he had paid for that meal properly, he would probably be washing dishes at that restaurant right now.

"...I'll buy you one meat bun." 

"Yay!" Taokaka waved her hands in joy. Ragna couldn’t help but chuckle and grabbed the ladder. It was surprisingly sturdy, probably because it was in the upper level area.

"Well, see you later. Be careful."

"Meow!" With a salute-like pose, Taokaka ran back the way she came, as if a kitten were running away. She stopped a few steps away, turned around, and waved vigorously at Ragna. "Come visit our village next time, Good Guy!"

Her unrestrained voice echoed throughout the sewer once more. With that loud echo, Taokaka finally disappeared into the darkness of the sewer. Her light footsteps were so faint, and the echoes of her voice bouncing off every wall slowly faded away, until the sound of her running was long gone.

An unnatural silence fell, as if more than just one person had left. Somehow, the darkness around seemed to grow thicker.

Ragna began to climb the ladder. There was no light in the narrow exit leading up, and he had to proceed completely by feel from halfway up. As he moved his hands and feet heavily, he let out a sigh.

(I never thought I'd be going through a place like this with such a noisy person...)

It was a completely unexpected situation. It would have been impossible to anticipate. After all, Ragna had always avoided traveling with anyone. There were several reasons for this.

One was that he was wanted as a criminal. Given that he was a target of the organization that ruled the world, he was not optimistic enough to wander around with someone in tow.

The other was... Azure. What the sewer monster, Arakune, had uttered. Ragna's right arm. The Azure Grimoire.

Things connected to the Boundary often had such properties.

Like Arakune, this arm also craved life force.

No, it's not that it craved it out of some kind of will. It was so fundamental and instinctive that even thinking of it as something as simple as eating because it was hungry felt too intellectual, Ragna thought.

Just by existing, it automatically absorbed the life force of those nearby.

Naturally, it would be fatal to be around it for too long. That's why Ragna never sought companions and had always traveled alone, visiting various branches of the NOL. He intended to continue doing so. In other words, this shortcut, though short-lived, was a very unusual experience.

"I wonder what that thing was all about. It said something about the Kaka tribe." Tired of listening to the hard-hitting sound of the ladder, Ragna muttered to himself. Since it had also mentioned a village, there must be a settlement near Orient Town. So, are there many more creatures like that?

"...That thing was so noisy."

Then, it seemed like he would never have enough food. 

The echo of his voice was different from before. The ceiling lid was near.

Thinking about that, Ragna's consciousness shifted away from the cat girl he had just parted ways with and turned sharply toward the outside.

A little more. Once he got out of here and through the upper city, he would climb higher and higher up Kagutsuchi. Then he would see it right away. The magnificent, yet unnecessarily large figure of the Novus Orbis Librarium’s Kagutsuchi branch.

Ah. The sigh he let out was hot and smoldering, a complete contrast to the one he had just let out.

(I'll wait until there’s nobody around and enter head-on. I'll knock out any guards who get in my way. Then, I'll take the elevator in the center to the very bottom... the basement.)

What’s hidden deep beneath the branch?

Destroy the cauldron.

His purpose and the actions he took to achieve it were always the same. Destroying the cauldron. For now, that was all that mattered. If he destroyed every cauldron in the world, then…

His outstretched hand touched something blocking his way instead of the ladder. Pushing upwards with all his might, a heavy object creaked as it slowly rose. Light from outside came in. He thought it might be dawn, but fortunately, the sun hadn't risen yet. It was dark outside. And quiet. There was no sign of anyone.

(First, I'll find somewhere to rest.)

It would be nice if he could find an unused storage room or warehouse before it got light and lie down to rest. Carefully and quietly, so as not to make any unnecessary noise, he opened the lid and inhaled a breath of fresh air for the first time in several hours.