Editing BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 1===

The sky was unbelievably clear.

The weather was refreshingly fair, the sunlight was gentle, and a peaceful breeze was blowing. On this day, when the world was overflowing with so much proof of how beautiful and warm it could be that it seemed like an optical illusion, the army returned.

People disembarked from their massive ships one after another in Ishana's port. Well, rather than saying they 'disembarked,' it would be more accurate to say that they were carried off of their ships. Most of them had to be helped down by the people waiting on the dock when they finally got to port, and all the rest had to be carried on one of the countless stretchers prepared for them.

Aside from the sailors, not a single soul was uninjured. The ships were rank with the stench of blood, pus, and grime, and the people who came from them were in such a state that all they could manage was to slowly trudge up the gentle slope leading out of the harbor. The putrid smell of death that accompanied them was a somber indicator of how many people had died on the return trip over the sea. The blood-curdling scene made the bright, lovely sunshine seem like a lie.

At the end of the slope leading out of the harbor, Celica, Nine, and Trinity stood watching on in horror. Chills were coursing up and down their bodies, they felt nauseated, and their hearts were pounding uncomfortably. Just an hour ago they thought the blue sky above was nothing less than stunningly beautiful, but now it seemed to be laughing and mocking them down below.

"J... Jubei!"

All of a sudden, Nine screamed in a tearful voice and dashed down the slope.

Jubei had just trudged clear of the disorganized gaggle of soldiers coming from the harbor, holding onto Valkenhayn's arm for support. It was obvious from his gait that he was barely keeping himself upright, and the normally white fur of his feet had turned black.

Nine ran to him and dropped to her knees to throw her arms around his beaten and battered body, not caring that her triangular purple hat had fallen off along the way.

Burying her face into the shoulder of his cracked and half-destroyed battle armor, Nine hugged Jubei gently so as not to hurt him.

"Welcome back home..."

"Thanks. Sorry about this. In the end, we couldn't hold out for more than the one month we promised."

Letting go of Valkenhayn's arm that he had been clinging to this whole time, Jubei rested his filthy chin on Nine's shoulder. He tried to let out a self-deprecating laugh, but he couldn't manage it, and his pain showed on his face.

Nine nuzzled his cheeks as she shook her head, her long hair becoming disheveled as she did.

"Don't be stupid. You did plenty... so much that you ended up like this..."

In the end, the Joint HQ Army had lost more than half its number by the time they formed back up. Nevertheless, they kept on fighting and didn't return to Ishana until the end of the month.

Trinity retrieved Nine's hat and stood behind her friend who looked like she was about to break down and weep. Celica kneeled next to Nine and started casting healing magic on Jubei with an earnest look, but Jubei refused her help, the agony still evident on his face.

"I'm fine, don't mind me. Save your mana for someone else."

It was quite the statement for someone with blood dripping down their face to make.

Celica hesitated for a moment before continuing with her healing magic, but most of the wounds wouldn't heal. She could handle the wounds from mundane sources, but wounds inflicted by the Black Beast weren't so easy to fix.

"Just let me try right now. I promise I'll go help other people afterward."

She was talking more to herself than anyone else, continuing to heal the smaller wounds.

"Ah..."

Celica looked up as she heard a conspicuously heavy footstep.

Just as she expected, Hakumen had arrived. Unlike Jubei and all the other soldiers, he didn't have any visible, external wounds. Nevertheless, his white clothing was absolutely filthy, having deteriorated over the course of a whole month.

Hakumen walked until he stood just behind Jubei, and with his eyeless, noseless, mouthless mask, he somehow managed to bring a defiant aura to bear as he looked down at Nine.

"What of the weapons?"

That's all he wanted to know. He was too burnt out to ask about anything else. That was the state he was in at that moment.

Nine, having been holding Jubei up to that point, flipped the switch inside her and looked up to return Hakumen's gaze. There was an aggressive light shining in her bright eyes.

"I finished them."

She had confirmed that the weapons were maintaining stability, and they had passed their stress tests just two hours before the ships had landed.

The month that countless soldiers had paid for with their lives had been an immeasurably valuable month for humanity.

"Now they just need to be calibrated to their wielders."

They were complete.

There wasn't much time left before the Black Beast would make it to the last cauldron on the continent and move on to Ishana.

This was to be the final confrontation between humanity and the Black Beast.