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

===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.