Editing BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5 (section)

===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.