BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2

BBCT2 Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There

Part 1

December 30, 2199 - 17:15

As he followed the guide, before he knew it, the city of Orient Town had come to an end.

The neon lights, the signs, and the crowds had gone somewhere, and they were surrounded by a scenery that was hard to believe was within a large city, where only the framework and the foundation of the city began to move.

Chasing after Taokaka, who was leading the way with light footsteps, Ragna walked along the rocky path. It was not a paved road for passing, but a path like a mountain trail that was created because it was repeatedly trodden.

The fact that such a place was left unattended not far from Orient Town shows how little the lower layer of Kagutsuchi was in the eyes of the NOL. About half a day after the infiltration, not to mention the bounty hunters, they had yet to encounter any soldiers from the NOL, let alone even see them properly, which made him convinced of the current situation.

"Good Guy~, this way, meow~" Taokaka waved her big hand, nimbly crossing over what looked like the remains of a rockfall.

Ragna was used to rough roads, but this journey was a bit tough for post-meal exercise. Jumping down a steep step that was too steep to be called a staircase, Ragna finally realized that he had arrived at his destination. It was a hollow cave with a high ceiling and a wide opening. It was a wild space that was hard to believe was inside a large Hierarchical City.

It was much more humid than outside, and of course there was no sunlight, and it was dark all around. There were no colorful neon lights or streetlights like in Orient Town, but instead, torches and bonfires were lit here and there, and he could see several huts built between them.

"Is this... the 'village' you were talking about?"

Kaka Village. When he heard that, he was worried about what kind of outrageous place he would be taken to, but seeing it like this, it was certainly a village. It seemed that there was a different society there from the Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi and Orient Town.

"That's right, meow. It's the village of the Kaka tribe where we live, meow." Taokaka puffed out her chest proudly and wagged her tail happily. "You can rest here. Outsiders can never come in here."

"Yeah, that entrance is something you wouldn't enter unless you had a guide or some kind of accident."

A crack in the rock face at the edge of Orient Town, where there were only half-destroyed and abandoned huts and no one approached. Who would imagine that such a place would lead to such a village through a crack that could hardly be called a road?

Perhaps there were several other entrances, but at least Ragna would never think of trying to enter that crack.

"Now that you've come to the Kaka tribe's village, it's good to meet the elder, meow. The elder knows everything, meow!"

"Elder?"

Was she talking about the 'chief'? Ragna reluctantly followed Taokaka's bouncing figure, who had started walking without even waiting for a reply. It was unreasonable to ask that cat girl for a logical explanation.

Besides, if the 'elder' really knew everything, that would be perfect. While he was here, he might as well ask for a convenient shortcut.

Although, if that 'elder' was the same kind of person as Taokaka, he couldn't rely on him much.

When they left the wild rocky ground, a stone pavement-like ground appeared. Passing between the sporadically lit bonfires, Taokaka headed for the house furthest in among the small houses lined up.

The wooden door, which had a strange mark drawn on it instead of a nameplate, was a little small for Ragna. Taokaka opened that door with a very cheerful momentum. She stepped in with a casual stride without any hesitation.

"Elder, I'm home, meow!"

"Hey, you..."

For a moment, he wondered if it was a house for a wealthy person, but considering Taokaka's personality, she probably didn't even understand the meaning of a wealthy person. It wouldn't get through to her even if he said something. Ragna swallowed his grumbling words, scratching his temple in exasperation, and followed Taokaka.

Passing through a cloth hung like a partition, he entered the back room. There, without even confirming, was the 'elder' that Taokaka was talking about, sitting on a pile of cloths.

Her body was much smaller than Taokaka's, and even if she stood up, her head would not reach Ragna's chest. The shadowy face with round eyeballs and a crescent-shaped mouth wasn't there, but was hidden by a mask that imitated a guardian. However, the clothes that completely covered her body, the downward-pointing triangular ears, and the cat's tail extending from the back were very similar to Taokaka's.

In her large hands, which were shaped like a cat's paws, she held a pillow that was larger than her height, and just that made him feel that this masked Kaka tribe member was in a special and prestigious position.

The hair that flowed out from between the hood and the mask was fluffy and had a bright water-gray color, and the long tail that gently swayed only at the tip also had the same mysterious color.

"Oh, elder! I brought a guest!" When Taokaka energetically raised her hand and tail, the elder, leaning on her cane, slowly raised her waist and responded in exasperation.

"...Tao. I told you this morning to open the door more quietly."

"Huh? Was that so, meow? Well, don't worry about the small things, meow."

From that appearance, Ragna lost all tension and vigilance, and involuntarily dropped his shoulders behind Taokaka in amazement.

The elder looked at him slowly and sullenly through her mask.

"...Our guest."

"I'm sorry to intrude. It's just that... well, there's been a lot going on." Ragna, on the spur of the moment, was about to blurt out the whole truth, but he stopped the words that were about to spill out.

It was fine up to the point where he was attacked by Taokaka and was about to be forced to treat her to a meal, but he couldn't carelessly talk about how he was known as a wanted criminal by the bounty hunters and was chased after. Let alone that he was the bounty head "Ragna the Bloodedge" that Taokaka was chasing after.

"Elder. This white guy is a good guy, meow! He gave Tao a lot of food to eat while I was starving!" Taokaka cheerfully rejoiced, her expression joyful as she raised both hands high and posed like a banzai.

"Well, I haven't treated her yet." Ragna scratched his head out of a little guilt. That was unavoidable. But in reality, it was certainly a dine-and-dash.

With a small sound, the cane of the masked elder poked the laid-out cloth. Relying on that, the elder of the Kaka tribe took a few steps forward.

"Hmm... it seems that Tao was indebted to you. I'm sorry. Please allow me to express my apologies and gratitude as well." She was a Kaka tribe member who was smaller than Ragna, and even smaller than Taokaka. Her aged voice, though rough, had a certain charm.

Being addressed so formally made Ragna feel awkward. He frowned in confusion and looked away.

"Nah, it's nothing. It's already over... Besides, I'm the one who ended up being helped."

If there hadn't been a wanted poster there, Ragna's identity wouldn't have been known to the people around him, but it was Ragna himself who carelessly shouted the name of the most wanted criminal with the highest bounty in history. It's not like he didn't have a shred of gratitude for Taokaka, who took him to her village without even hearing the circumstances.

Ragna hadn't even told Taokaka his identity, let alone his name. And yet, being treated so unguardedly made the usually harsh world he was in seem ridiculous.

"Oh, that's right, Elder. Taokaka said that you 'know everything,' but are you familiar with the geography around here?" Pulling back the feelings that were about to completely slip away, Ragna asked the elder. Taokaka's purpose was probably just to have them meet, but for Ragna, there was no point in entering this house unless he heard that. "I want to go to the upper layer of Kagutsuchi. Do you know of any ways to get there as quickly as possible, or any secret passages, or anything like that?"

He couldn't criticize Taokaka. He was hardly polite himself and asked bluntly, looking down at the elder of the Kaka tribe without hesitation.

Without taking offense, the elder of the Kaka tribe leaned on her cane, raised her face, and stared at the white-haired young man standing before her. After a pause as if deeply pondering something, and when Ragna became slightly irritated by the silence, she slowly replied from under her mask.

"There is a path that leads to the outskirts of the upper layer."

"Seriously!? That's a big help!" At the elder's leisurely tone, Ragna took a step forward as if lunging at her.

The elder didn't flinch even when approached by a man taller than her with a weapon hanging at his waist. She was either very calm or just easygoing. Like Taokaka, who had already settled down in a corner of the room and was stretching her body, Ragna couldn't gauge how shallowly he should estimate what was inside him.

"Please, let me use that secret passage. Won't you guide me?" He was about to lunge again, but Ragna suppressed his volume as much as possible. But at his side, he clenched his fist tightly and pleaded.

"Are there people... waiting for you above?" The elder, who looked like a resident of a fairy tale, asked quietly and deeply.

Ragna gritted his teeth and swallowed. "I can't say."

To destroy the Kagutsuchi branch of the NOL in the uppermost layer. Ragna's purpose was clear and simple, but to lightly mention it here would be to make this village his collaborator.

Though he kept his reasons to himself, Ragna directed a sharp, stern gaze straight and sincerely at the elder.

"I just have to get to the upper layer no matter what. There are things I have to do."

He doubted how much meaning human sincerity had to the tribe living in this dark town. But to the nonchalant Taokaka, who was already doing something like grooming, the elder looked back at Ragna's eyes and remained silent for a while, as if thinking.

Eventually…

"Very well. Tao, please guide him."The elder turned to Taokaka and spoke with a breath that seemed like a smile.

Called by her name, Taokaka, who had been narrowing her eyes sleepily, perked up her ears and looked up.

While glancing at Taokaka, who jumped to her feet, Ragna opened his mouth to confirm.

"Is it okay? To tell me?"

"It doesn't matter. Even if it's a secret passage, it's not like we made it. We're just telling you about a road that's been here since long ago." Saying that, the elder, as if laughing, brought her long sleeve to her mouth and tilted her head slightly.

The long, hairy tail that swayed leisurely was, like his gestures, somewhat languid.

"Here, Tao. Go on."

"Meow!" Urged, Taokaka made a gesture that imitated a sharp salute. Jumping up, she lined up next to Ragna and moved her big hand, urging him to come.

Ragna couldn't help but burst out laughing briefly. He thought he hated all the Hierarchical Cities controlled by the NOL, but this place didn't have a bad atmosphere.

"Alright, I'll ask you to guide me." Relaxing his rigid expression into a loose smile, Ragna lifted the cloth that served as the entrance to the room, as if brushing it aside, and followed Taokaka, who had bounced out. Stepping out, he turned back over his shoulder.

"Well, I'm sorry I disturbed you. Thanks for telling me."

"It's nothing. Be careful on your way, disciple of Mitsuyoshi-sama."

"Eh?" Ragna stopped at the name the elder uttered. Mitsuyoshi. It was a name he didn't know. Ragna was about to ask who she was talking about…

"Good Guy, let's go, meow!"

"Ugh!" Taokaka, who had jumped on him, wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and hung on him, stopping him. Perhaps his backward-leaning neck and head were so funny, Taokaka, still hanging on him, flailed her legs and frolicked.

Grabbing the arms of the cat girl, whose weight had suddenly increased, Ragna desperately, literally desperately, tried to straighten his body.

"Guh, ooh... let me go, you..."

"Come on, let's go. Secret passage, secret passage, meow. Otherwise, Tao will go play, anytime, meow. Good Guy will play with me, meow!"

"I'm not going to play! I don't understand what you mean!" While shouting, he peeled off Taokaka's clinging body. When he threw her, Taokaka put her feet on the wall and lightly reversed her body, passing Ragna and descending lightly.

"Meeeeooooowww~" She ran out of the hut playfully like a kitten.

"Wait, wait, wait! Where are you going on your own! Guide me!" If he left her alone, she might really go somewhere on her own. He had only just met Taokaka. He didn't know what kind of circumstances she was born and raised in, or what kind of background she had. He hardly knew anything. But... he had a feeling that she was the type to really go somewhere on her own in situations like this.

"See ya, grandma! Live long!"

As he left, he couldn't think of a farewell greeting on the spur of the moment, and he threw those words away as if abandoning them, and chased after Taokaka, leaving the elder's house.

The rough sound of the door closing shook the small house, and the hurried footsteps faded away. While listening to it... Elder Totokaka chuckled.

"My, my... what energetic children they are."

It was as if the wind had rushed through.

The elder leaned on her cane and returned to her designated spot on the piled cloths, then slowly lowered herself there, taking a deep breath as if recalling a distant past.

It was shortly after Ragna chased after Taokaka and set off for the secret passage. In the quiet room after the sudden visitors had left, the elder was dozing off on her favorite spot, the piled cloths.

The Kaka tribe's village was always peaceful and always serene. Even now, many Kaka people were probably enjoying their naps in their favorite spots all over the village. There was no Kaka tribe member who disliked naps.

It was at such a time the Kaka tribe's village welcomed another guest.

The wooden door was knocked on with a calm tempo. At that sound, the elder's slumber burst like a soap bubble, and her head, which had been leaning against the pillow she had crossed her arms on, rose.

"Come in." The elder responded, still sitting on the cloth.

But whether they had been waiting for that or not, the door was opened almost simultaneously with the words, and four small Kaka tribe members rolled into the elder's room one after another.

The first was Cali-kaka, with a light green ribbon on her chest and her white, brown, and black tricolor tail held upright. The second was Fluffy-kaka, with a black tail wagging and an orange ribbon on her chest. The third was Spotty-kaka, with only the tip of her white tail dyed gray and a pink ribbon on her chest. The fourth was Feisty-kaka, with a water-colored ribbon on her chest and a black tail with only a white tip.

"Elder!"

"Elder~ Elder~"

"There's a guest~"

"I guided her~"

The four small Kaka who came in, saying things one after another and jumping around, brought with them a woman.

"I'm sorry to be noisy, excuse me, Elder-sama." The woman being led by Spotty-kaka and Feisty-kaka said with a wry smile and a polite demeanor.

She was a beautiful woman. She wore a long dress based on red and white, and her sensual limbs could be seen through the body-hugging fabric. Full breasts, a constricted waist, and shapely protruding buttocks. The long legs extending from there swayed her red dress with every step, and a cool rustling sound echoed in her hair.

Her name was Litchi Faye Ling. She was a young female doctor who ran a small hospital in a corner of Orient Town.

In contrast to her alluring figure, her slender glasses and deep-colored eyes, framed by long eyelashes, were dignified and intelligent.

She was the main one who had knocked and one of the few people who knew of the Kaka tribe's village. She was close to the elder and visited the village like this from time to time.

She wasn't just here to play with the Kaka tribe members she knew.

Litchi was a doctor. In addition to checking the health condition of the Kaka tribe members who couldn't go to the hospital in the city, she was also asked by the elder to investigate the Kaka tribe's ecology. Today, she'd come to report on that investigation.

The elder invited Litchi, who bowed her head in greeting at the entrance of the room, into the room in a friendly manner.

"Litchi-dono, you've come all the way here. Please sit down. I'll get some tea."

"No, that's alright. I don't think it will take long." While gently declining, Litchi was about to sit down on the round cushion that Cali-kaka had brought. But that action stopped when she knelt.

"Eh?" A sigh of doubt leaked from her thinly rouged lips. Litchi's finger was touching the small stuffed panda attached to her hair. As if she was talking to it, she turned her attention to the stuffed animal in her hair, and then suddenly Litchi's expression became slightly tense.

"Elder, I'm sorry to ask you something strange. But... did someone come here a little while ago?" While touching the small panda hair ornament with her fingertips, Litchi slid her eyes behind her glasses and looked at the elder.

Her seductive gaze, which would not fail to captivate a man if she smiled like that, was now secretly sharp and trying to find something.

Tilting her head at Litchi's sharpness, the elder answered as she was asked.

"Hmm, Tao brought a guest. He said he wanted to know a secret passage that leads to the upper layer, so I had Tao guide him to the sewer that can be reached from the outskirts of the village."

"To the sewer? What did he look like?"

"He was a young man. With white hair and wearing red clothes."

"White hair, red clothes... and this presence." As if breaking something in the back of her throat, Litchi bit her lip slightly and covered her mouth with her fingertips that touched the stuffed panda.

She had felt an unusual presence. It was something she had often been exposed to, not as a doctor, but as a researcher before coming to this city. And something she continues to secretly experience even now, behind her work as a doctor.

The presence of the Azure.

"This is bad!" Taking a breath, Litchi stood up as if she had been bounced. "I'm sorry, Elder-sama. I'll come back later!"

Litchi said this in a panic as she threw away the documents and rushed out of the small house, her clothes and hair looking disheveled.

Part 2

With each step he took, the dull footsteps echoed all the way to the ceiling.

It was dark in the middle of a dark secret passage.

Entering through a crack in the bedrock at the very edge of the village, where no one from the Kaka tribe would approach, the secret passage to the upper layer that Ragna walked through was a sewer.

The ceiling was high, and the wide passageway was lined with many pipes. They circulated through Kagutsuchi like a maze, leading wherever they felt.

It was as if it were an artificial blood vessel attached to the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi. He, who was passing through it, would be a foreign object for Kagutsuchi. Thinking such a thing made him feel somewhat cynical, but even so, his footsteps did not lighten at all.

The secret passage used by the Kaka tribe to go to the upper layer was a terrible, rough road.

"Ugh..."

Unpleasant, watery, sticky footsteps could be heard from below, and Ragna's expression sank gloomily. How many times had he felt this way?

"Bye-bye, meow! Come play in the village again anytime, meow!!!"

It wasn't even an hour ago that he parted with Taokaka, whose piercingly cheerful voice was so out of place at the entrance of the secret passage.

If the starting point was at about the same altitude as Orient Town, how much did he need to climb to get to the upper layer? Thinking about that, it had been too short. But Ragna's chest was already full of discomfort.

It was unlikely that the sewer, which passed through the back side of the lower and upper levels, would be clean and well-guarded.

Mountains of discarded waste from who knows where were piled up here and there, and around them, muddy black things like sludge, sewer water, and slippery puddles of oil were playing a foul game.

The lighting was extremely poor, with a few lights occasionally dotted here and there, most of which had already lost their function. Instead, what illuminated Ragna's feet and helped him proceed was a strange light that grew on the floor covered with dirty waste and dirt.

An unpleasant warmth and a nauseating feeling weighed heavily on him. With every breath he took, he felt himself becoming turbid from the inside.

Worst of all was the seithr filling the air. If a normal human were in such a place, their body would become abnormal in a few hours, and if they spent a night there, they might not remain in their original mental state.

If there were any creatures living here, they would have long since been captured and maddened by the seithr, transforming them into something that should not be.

"Come to think of it, that Taokaka girl said something." Ragna muttered, suddenly remembering as he scraped an unidentified liquid from the bottom of his shoe. Before they parted, he received a warning from that silly-looking girl. That strange monsters appeared in this secret passage.

"Was it 'Squiggly'?"

The monster that Taokaka called by that name had a black body and seemed to be lurking in this sewer. It sometimes came to the Kaka tribe's village and ate their children.

It was probably some kind of animal that had been transformed by this excessive seithr.

It was ironic, Ragna thought.

Seithr was a particle substance that, if inhaled or touched in large quantities, could drive a creature mad or even destroy it.

It was a terrifying thing. That's why the NOL used a technique called Ars Magus to purify the air and supply it to the city. Even the air in the lower levels, where the concentration of seithr was high, had overwhelmingly less seithr compared to the outside of the city.

How did Ars Magus purify the air? It used seithr.

Ars Magus was activated using a grimoire and seithr. In other words, Ars Magus could not function without seithr.

However, what seithr was in the end, no one had yet been able to explain to the world. No one knew. What was seithr? Was it good or evil?

Moreover, humans could not live without seithr.

From air circulation to water purification, transportation, construction technology, and even cooking, Ars Magus was deeply involved in life. If seithr disappeared from the world and all Ars Magus became unusable, then the current human civilization would collapse.

That was why it was ironic. While fearing and eliminating seithr, nothing could be accomplished without it. That was very unsettling.

"It's still quiet." Unable to endure the long silence and the rhythmic footsteps, he muttered something to himself at every opportunity.

Normally he wouldn't have been talking to himself so much. But this place was bad.

It was dark and damp, and it looked as if some unknown shadow was peeking at him from here and there. From the gap between this pipe and that pipe, or from the back of the narrow side road he had just passed. He felt a non-existent gaze.

Come to think of it, he felt like he'd heard a story set in a place like this long ago. How long ago was it... that's right, when he was a child. It was a story he heard from his foster parent, the sister.

It was a story like this. One rainy night, a man was walking through a tunnel. Then suddenly he felt a presence behind him. But even if he turned around, there was only darkness there. The protagonist continued to walk, telling himself it's just his imagination. But the presence keeps getting closer and closer, and then suddenly he hears someone's voice in his ear…

"I..."

He heard someone's voice.

"Hic!" Ragna's throat shook and twitched. A sudden presence came up behind him. Ragna pulled back and turned around, desperately trying to deny that something was there.

What appeared in Ragna's vision was a white face. From the darkness, which looked like layers of shadows, only the floating face was staring at him.

The face was empty. Its seemingly hollowed out eyes reflected nothing, and its simplistic mouth was emitting a strange voice without changing its shape.

"Grrrr... I... need... I... need..."

A sound that could not be called a human voice. It was the voice of a grudge from one not of this world.

"Oh..."

A ghost. The moment that word came to mind, Ragna's whole body froze.

No, not something like that. Something unreasonable and bizarre, untouchable, unable to be cut down even with a sword, something that completely ignored his violence and resented him with curses and grudges.

A chill ran through him and fear stopped Ragna's breath. But…

"Hm? This guy..."

Feeling uncomfortable, Ragna frowned and kicked the floor to get some distance.

It was dark and barely visible, but he strained his eyes to see. It looked like a white face floating... but in reality, something black and amorphous was wriggling around the white face. Wriggling and trembling, with thin bones occasionally popping out, the blackness was a presence familiar to Ragna, unlike ghosts and spirits.

"Seithr?" Ragna muttered lowly, with hostility, and he glared at the white face again. His hand naturally reached for the sword at his waist.

It was not the grudge of the dead nor a wandering soul, but a mass of seithr that had gathered and taken shape.

Whether it was born from the seithr that lingered in this sewer, or whether it entered from outside Kagutsuchi, he did not know, but judging from its shape, this was probably the "Squiggly" that Taokaka had talked about.

Looking up at Ragna with its white face, it slid and crawled towards him.

"Aaah, Azure, Azure! I can smell the fragrant scent of Azure. The path to all wisdom..." The mass of seithr called out in a muddy voice. It could be heard as a human voice, but the already unclear voice was fragmented and cut off, and he couldn't understand it. But Ragna had no intention of listening and understanding in the first place.

When he saw that the liquid, mud-like thing was moving and jumping up, Ragna quickly drew his sword at his waist and braced himself.

The mass of seithr changed its body into countless sharp needles in the air, and fell down to pierce Ragna.

The intention to attack was clear. More than intention, it might be instinct.

Ragna drew his sword and held it up, catching the descending seithr with all his might.

"Tch!" The wriggling seithr was heavier and sharper than he'd expected. A screeching sound rang out from his sword and sparks flew.

The black monster had a foul appearance. It was like sludge accumulated in the sewer. It was sticky and wriggled as if dragging an unpleasant weight. It was probably some other creature originally. But now, it was a deformed thing that was clearly outside the framework of life.

"Uraaa!"

If so, there was nothing to fear. Roaring from the bottom of his stomach, Ragna pushed it back with a swing of his sword, then lightly jumped and swung the sword vertically.

"I'll crush you!"

"Kikikiki!"

Ragna's slash, carrying the weight of the sword, quickly struck the shadow. He intended to crush it together with the face, but the shadow, looking at Ragna, trembled and shook, and in an instant, it fell to the ground with a splattering sound as if being sucked in, slipping through Ragna's feet. It raised its head again, and began to chant something from behind.

"Geh!" It was a mist of seithr. Ragna quickly spat out what he had inhaled.

Meanwhile, worm-like bugs wriggling one after another jumped out of the seithr's body and pounced on Ragna.

Seithr and small deformed creatures.

"You gross bastard!"

Watching it filled his heart with disgust. It was coarsely irritating.

Ragna put strength into the hand gripping the sword's hilt. Power flowed from inside him as if blood was being washed away. Pulling back greatly, he swung it in an arc towards the countless insects that were jumping in.

Suddenly, a sound like a burning bag ripped through the air. The sword that Ragna swung had somehow become a black, ominous flame-like darkness. The insects were burned by the dark flame and scattered, turning to dust and falling miserably to the ground. But they immediately returned to the body of the seithr, their master.

The deformed creature laughed loudly as the returning insects swirled around its feet.

"Kakakaka! I saw it, I saw it, it's Azure, you, your power is Azure! Unfathomable truth..."

It swelled up from below and burst, and at the same time, the deformed creature jumped up. From its expanded body, countless beetle leg-like organs emerged. Trembling, it jumped toward Ragna.

Ragna quickly retreated. In the next instant, the strange feet tore apart the floor where he had been standing.

The white face glared at Ragna resentfully, as if regretting that it had missed its prey.

"Gugu... come here, come here! I will eat, devour..."

Interrupting the monster's creaking voice, Ragna's slash swept through the seithr's body.

The sword, swung with a deep lunge, was wrapped in darkness. If the monster was a shadow, then what swallowed even that shadow would be darkness. As if subduing everything, Ragna's darkness slammed the deformed monster into the rubble, chemicals, and darkness.

A scream like crushed mud, a scream that could not be uttered from the throat of any animal, rang out. The crushed body rippled on the floor, gradually swelling and rising again. Its amorphous back trembled as if convulsing, and it stared at Ragna with empty eyes.

Ragna jumped once more, aiming for its face. This time he caught it. A heavy slash swung down towards the monster's head. It was... violently deflected by a rod-shaped object that came flying while rotating from the side.

"What!?" Losing his balance in midair, Ragna's body was forced to change its trajectory in an unexpected direction. He didn't want to touch it, but he put his hand on the piled-up rubble and reversed his body, landing on the slippery floor. Looking up, Ragna noticed an unexpected figure.

"Please, don't interfere anymore." The one who spoke was a woman's voice, suppressing her emotions as if trying to restrain them, yet still conveying a softness.

A dark, smelly, and filthy sewer. In that place with debris clinging to it, a woman was standing.

It was a woman in red clothes, with exposed, sensual thighs that looked white even in the dark. The design of her dress, with the large opening in its chest, would've attracted a lot of attention if she wasn't in this place.

But here, the clothes looked like they were only meant for jumping around and fighting.

What had been circling in an arc high above the ceiling was caught in the woman's hand as if being entangled. That was what had deflected Ragna's sword. It was a rod as tall as her.

The woman, with her long, ankle-length hair, gazed at Ragna from behind her slender glasses.

"Please, leave." She said once more.

Ragna lowered his waist and braced himself without letting his guard down. He re-gripped the sword that had almost slipped out of his hand.

"Who are you?"

"I am Litchi Faye Ling... a doctor."

"A doctor? What's a doctor doing in a place like this? And why did you get in the way?"

The rod just now was not for attacking, but for protecting that black monster from Ragna.

"Gu, gaga... agagagaga!" The black shadow monster groaned and wriggled, making a sticky, boiling sound. Its empty eyes looked at Ragna, and then at the woman, Litchi. There were a few seconds of hesitation.

After that... it let out a shriek like scratching metal and threw its body into the darkness behind it.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

Thinking it was escaping, Ragna was about to turn his sword towards it, but by the time he did, the mass of seithr had already disappeared in an instant, as if melting into the shadow and losing its shape.

Part 3

At the same time the shadow-like figure disappeared, the strange voice and the disturbing wriggling sound also disappeared, and the surroundings regained silence as if nothing had happened.

The white face, which had been maintaining its shape somewhere in the gap, was already nowhere to be seen. The surroundings had turned into nothing more than a peaceful and filthy sewer, as if nothing had happened.

"Tch!" A spitting-like click of the tongue emerged from Ragna's mouth. Meanwhile, a relieved sigh escaped from Litchi's lips.

Hearing that, Ragna turned a sharp gaze towards Litchi.

"You said you were a doctor just now?" Ragna asked with his sword in hand, smoldering with hostility.

Litchi, who had been staring at the area where the black monster had left, turned at Ragna's voice.

"Yes. That's right."

Compared to when she stopped Ragna by throwing the rod, her nodding, soft reply didn't fit the background of this stinking sewer. It was also hard to believe that she looked like a doctor, but even so, Ragna felt that she didn't really want to take up a weapon and fight.

"If you're a doctor, why the hell are you protecting that thing? Do you think it won't do any harm if it lives?"

A seithr monster that nests in the sewer. To know it exists and leave it alone is tantamount to accepting the loss of lives that await it.

"That doesn't sound like the words of a doctor. What? Are you keeping it for some kind of purpose?" Instead of pointing the tip of the sword downwards, he hurled extremely aggressive sarcasm.

At Ragna's words, Litchi frowned, looked down, and picked up the panda hairpin that was attached to her long, lowered hair. Holding that small stuffed animal-like thing to her chest, she replied as if dropping it.

"His name... is Arakune. His real name is different, but that's what he's called by people who've seen him in Kagutsuchi." Litchi's voice shook sadly.

Finding the meaning of that sadness, Ragna frowned with emotions different from hostility.

"'He'... does that mean that thing was once a 'human'?"

Although it was interrupted, unclear, and very jarring, the voice of the monster called Arakune was certainly closer to human speech than a beast's growl. Yes, he should have heard it several times. He was saying "Azure." Looking at Ragna, he said "Azure."

"He used to be a colleague who worked with me in the same workplace. He's in that form now, but in the past, of course, he had a human form, and he wore a white coat and held a book... he was a very talented researcher." The sad swaying in Litchi's voice was a nostalgic melancholy of recalling the past.

"Research, huh... I wonder what kind of research he was doing." Ragna deliberately said it as if throwing up. If the result of the research was that form, then no other research could be as worthless.

Perhaps taking it as a question, Litchi continued the story self-deprecatingly.

This place, like a vast secret room where no one else could eavesdrop, probably tempted her into wanting to talk to someone.

"He was researching the Boundary. The Boundary, he said... was something involved in the formation of the world and the birth of humanity. He became more and more absorbed in that research... and then one day, he changed."

The seithr body, the inhuman organs, and the large number of strange creatures that made up his current form.

Perhaps he touched the Boundary too much. It could also be said that he got too close. As a result of being involved with the Boundary beyond human knowledge for too long, his existence was drawn into the Boundary, and he lost the form he originally had in this world.

Litchi looked up from the small panda hairpin she'd been holding to her chest. With her thick lips and slender eyes, a pure, innocent gaze stared at Ragna as if pleading.

"A year ago, I finally found him in this city. I continued my research near him, hoping to one day return him to his original state. I want to bring him back from the Boundary. That's why..."

Litchi swallowed and held back the words that were about to rush out of her mouth. Perhaps she didn't want to show that she was flustered. Perhaps she didn't want to be thought of as being flustered.

Litchi suppressed her emotions in a long blink, and turned her calm eyes towards Ragna again.

"That's why I couldn't let you kill him... Ragna the Bloodedge."

"...You knew."

When his name was called, Ragna's vigilance caused his neck to stiffen slightly. He put strength into the arm gripping his sword, careful not to be noticed.

Litchi didn't brace herself, but instead gave a wry smile as if relaxing.

"Everyone knows your name. Wanted posters are plastered everywhere in Orient Town. Although... the portrait doesn't seem to be very accurate."

"Well..."

While still wary, Ragna couldn't help but frown. It was a picture he didn't really want to remember.

With a smile on her lips, Litchi gently narrowed her eyes. It was a truly feminine expression, both gentle and sharp.

"The most wanted criminal with the highest bounty in history, the 'Grim Reaper' who's been attacking the Librarium's branches one after another. And the owner of the strongest grimoire, the 'Azure Grimoire.'"

The Azure Grimoire. The legendary grimoire that is rumored to be the strongest and whispered to be able to do anything because of its immense power.

But in reality, Ragna knew well that the legendary grimoire was nothing like that.

Litchi continued. When she slightly shook her head, her tied-up long hair swayed like a tail.

"I can tell even without a picture. Because... I can feel it from you. A strong power. The power of the grimoire in my mind."

At those words, Ragna frowned suspiciously.

It would be fine if it was determined by Ars Magus or an instrument to identify grimoires, or by knowledge gained from observing the grimoire's functions, but why could Litchi, who hadn't used Ars Magus or even witnessed the Azure Grimoire, sense its existence?

Ragna immediately arrived at a simple answer.

"Don't tell me... you..." Ragna's eyes became even sharper. It wasn't a sign that he was about to attack Litchi, but one of blame and reproach. Understanding what those eyes wanted to say, Litchi clearly nodded.

"Yes. I also touched the Boundary. Just like him... to learn what he'd been doing. If I did that, I might find a hint to save 'him.' Maybe I'd find the answer I was looking for... or so I thought."

He didn't need to ask if that choice had borne fruit. Arakune attacked Ragna, and Litchi stopped it. That fact was the answer.

"This Lao Jiu is connecting me to the Boundary. I've learned a lot thanks to it, and I've gained a strong body."

What Litchi introduced as Lao Jiu was the small panda plush that she was holding to her chest.

Ragna couldn't see how it worked, but the power of the Boundary seemed to be flowing from that stuffed animal to Litchi.

Litchi was a perfectly ordinary woman dressed in somewhat awkward clothes, but she wouldn't look out of place walking on the main street of Orient Town. But inside, she possessed information, senses, and physical abilities that she shouldn't have.

The wrinkles between Ragna's eyebrows deepened. His empty hand was gripped into a tight fist.

"If you've gone that far, you should already know, right? That Arakune guy is already beyond saving. Once he's become like that, he can never return to being human again." Ragna said in a low voice, as if presenting an unshakeable truth.

The Boundary is by no means a place that helps people. So why did researchers in the world, without learning from their mistakes, want to touch that mysterious thing? Ragna couldn't understand their nerves.

"...Even so, that doesn't mean I can abandon him. I..." Without retreating from Ragna's harsh words, Litchi also tightened her expression sternly. In her heart, there seemed to be a firm determination that she had been holding onto. No matter how unreasonable it was, it was imprinted in her as the only truth within her.

As if showing her will, Litchi returned the panda Lao Jiu, her connection to the Boundary, to her tied-up hair.

Ragna unconsciously clicked his tongue.

"You're an idiot... If you become a monster yourself, it'll be meaningless! Get away from the Boundary right now. You won't be able to come back!"

Again. Just like when he was confronting Arakune earlier, he felt a kind of simmering irritation.

Litchi narrowed her eyes. She was smiling, but the gaze through her slender glasses was as stubborn and strong as ever.

"Thank you for your concern. But... this is the path I have chosen. No matter what kind of ending awaits me, I will not give up." Litchi spoke like she didn't expect him to understand. "Or, will you lend me the Azure Grimoire instead of stopping me? It might be able to help him."

With a slightly self-deprecating smile, Litchi looked at Ragna as if testing him.

Ragna grimaced and let out a bitter sigh. His breath was hot with irritation, but it soon cooled down.

He was already beyond impatience and anger. Even though she'd witnessed the danger of the Boundary right in front of her, this woman didn't harbor the fear she should have, nor did she withdraw her hand, but rather, she was trying to get even deeper into it.

Foolish... without even knowing what the Azure Grimoire was like.

"Tch... do what you want. It's got nothing to do with me in the first place. I don't care what happens to you, or who gets eaten by that monster."

Looking away from Litchi, Ragna turned on his heel and turned his back. Continuing a parallel conversation would only be meaningless. More than anything, he was in a hurry. He didn't have time to talk to a woman in such an eerie place. But even so, his feet stopped, and Ragna turned back once over his shoulder.

"It's none of my business, but I'll say it one more time... things that have changed can never return to their original state. That's a fact."

Litchi's expression grew sad at Ragna's words and, without affirming or denying them, she watched his red back be swallowed into the darkness of the sewer.

Part 4

December 30, 2199 - 9:23

Below the lower levels of Kagutsuchi, even further below Orient Town, the city spread out.

On the rugged bedrock, there were roughly carved, unstable footholds. Although it was by no means a desirable place to build buildings, the city was built with various ingenuity, with bridges spanning deep crevices and pillars driven into steep rock faces.

Even so, not all of the roads could be paved, and some of the houses were left in a half-finished state, so it could not be called a sophisticated cityscape.

This was commonly known as Roningai.

The townscape, which strongly imitated the style of the Ikaruga region, had a unique atmosphere that combined gorgeousness and simplicity.

But for the man who had just stepped into this town a dozen or so minutes ago, the name of this town, its efforts and ingenuity, and its origins were utterly irrelevant.

Blue boots stepped forward in a regular manner on the path that had been made by moving rocks and tamping down the dry earth. The one who continued to walk silently was a young man with white skin and golden hair. There was no trace of emotion in his well-featured face or his beautiful green eyes.

The young man, who kept his lips tightly closed and moved his feet quickly without looking aside, wore a uniform based on blue and white, the uniform of a soldier of the NOL.

Major Jin Kisaragi, the commander of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

He had suddenly disappeared a few days ago and infiltrated the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi on foot, instead of using the Ars Magus ship that NOL soldiers would normally use for travel between Hierarchical Cities.

His goal was the uppermost layer, the NOL branch. But he was not heading there for surrender or return.

Silently stepping on the dry earth, Jin raised his head and looked up. Following the rock face of the high mountain that supported Kagutsuchi, he moved his gaze upwards.

Because it was at the very end of the lower level, Roningai was rather blessed with the sky and the sun. The sky was clear and sunny, and the ground of the uppermost layer could be faintly seen beyond the thin clouds.

There, even one more above that.

The NOL branch towering on the summit, there... eventually the "Grim Reaper" would appear.

That, and that alone, was his one and only purpose.

The "Grim Reaper," Ragna the Bloodedge, a wanted criminal who went around destroying NOL branches in various parts of the world. How many times had he repeated that name in his mind before reaching this place? How many times would he repeat it in his mind between here and the branch, his destination?

That name, as if it were a spell, commanded Jin's feet.

Walk. Head towards him... and...

But something suddenly fell and cut through Jin's vision, which seemed to be only looking at the destination and recognizing only that.

What fell were three things. Three black, shiny short swords were lined up and stuck into the ground just before Jin's toes, which he had stepped out.

They were special daggers called kunai.

Like the townscape, they were weapons that had been used for a long time in the Ikaruga region. They were also frequently used in the Ikaruga Civil War, which began eight years ago when the Ikaruga Federation declared independence from the NOL.

Jin had also participated in that war, just before its end. He knew about the weapons and the existence of special Ikaruga soldiers who used them.

"Ikaruga ninja, huh?" Muttering in a cold voice without inflection, Jin lifted his gaze, which had been taken by the kunai, and stared ahead.

It was on a bridge suspended over a deep crevice on the way to the upper layer. There should have been no one in that place until just before the kunai flew, but a man was standing there with his arms crossed.

He was a man with deep brown hair tied high in a single ponytail, his strong body clad in a deep green ninja outfit. On his back, he carried something that was too large to be considered a weapon, like a nail. On his forehead was a large cross-shaped scar, and beneath it, powerful eyes burned brightly as he glared straight at Jin.

"Jin Kisaragi!!" The man roared with pressure that seemed to blow away the seithr-infused wind. As soon as he uncrossed his arms, he pointed at Jin's face as if holding a spear. "What on earth do you intend to do by appearing in our town! Are you not satisfied with tarnishing the pride of Ikaruga? Do you still intend to trample on our people!?"

Every time the man shouted, the air vibrated from the pressure. The intricately woven ropes supporting the bridge trembled and shook, but not because of the seithr-infused wind.

The man with the cross-shaped scar - as his appearance and weapons indicated, the ninja from the Ikaruga Federation, Bang Shishigami- was furious, his temples bulging with blue veins.

Jin, who had been stopped by the kunai, stared at him coldly. He didn't understand anything the man in front of him was saying. If all the information possessed by this cross-shaped man was water, it wouldn't reach Jin's brain, but would freeze near the kunai.

Jin stared at the man, and then, without hesitation, took a step forward. As if he couldn't see the man with the cross-shaped scar, he walked past the stuck kunai, and threw words at Bang, who seemed slightly bewildered by his reaction.

"You're in the way. Move." He tried to slip past him as he was. But...

"I won't move! There's no way I'll move! Jin Kisaragi! Do you intend to ignore me!?"

Coming to his senses, Bang spread his arms and blocked Jin's path.

The road in Roningai was narrow. He couldn't pass through this way. Jin was forced to stop again.

"What are you trying to do? Do you want to be killed?"

Cold green eyes looked at the obstructer. Their gaze was like a needle of ice. They were so unwavering it was hard to believe they belonged to a human.

Bang momentarily lost his words. It was as if he was staring at a mineral. What kind of mind did he have to make that look?

"I asked what your intentions were first! What else are you planning to do to Ikaruga...?"

But Bang's question seemed irrelevant to Jin, like it didn't even exist.

"Ikaruga? Ridiculous... I have no business with you people." As expected, there was no warmth or emotion in his voice. Rather, the temperature lowered even further and his eyes grew slightly sharper. "Move. Otherwise, I'll kill you."

Saying this, Jin reached for the blue sword he was carrying. It was something on a different level from ordinary weapons and weapons distributed by the NOL. This was not a weapon. It was a weapon of war.

About a hundred years ago, during the Dark War era, when humanity was on the verge of extinction, it was a phenomena weapon, a Nox Nyctores, created to fight against the worst threat in human history.

Its name was Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa.

When Jin touched the hilt, he felt a coldness that burned his skin even through his thick white gloves. The power hidden in that sword was the ability to break ice. Death freezes everything. The enemies standing in his way, the detestable obstacles, and even the heart of the one who wielded it.

There was no emotion in the gaze that stared sharply and coldly at the target in front of him, just like the blade of Yukianesa itself.

Recognizing that, Bang finally changed his premonition into conviction. He had no choice but to do so.

"You... don't tell me you've forgotten... This face of mine, this scar on my forehead!" Bang's voice trembled as if wavering. Gripping his fist like a rock, Bang pointed to his forehead with his thick finger.

The cross-shaped scar was a large one that extended not only across his forehead but also between his eyebrows and below his eyes. It was clear even to those who didn't take up arms and fight that it was not a scar caused by a half-hearted attack. Even if they didn't have a close relationship, this scar would leave a strong impression.

But Jin...

"I don't know you."

He couldn't remember anything.

It was natural for Jin.

He knew from his appearance that the man in front of him was an Ikaruga ninja, as he made no attempt to hide his true identity. But when he served as the 4th Squadron's commander during the war, he did not count how many ninja he had crossed blades with. It was unreasonable to expect he'd remember a single ninja when he didn't remember any of the others he'd cut down.

But for Bang, Jin Kisaragi was the exact opposite. No matter how many soldiers he crossed blades with, no matter how many deaths he overcame, he would not forget that face.

"You bastard! You should remember! I am the Ikaruga ninja, Bang Shishigami! On the day of that decisive battle in Ikaruga, I was the man whose forehead you split open with that sword!"

The engraved cross-shaped scar was from Yukianesa. The pain from that time, the intense coldness, remained under the scar even now.

That was not all. Bang once again pointed his finger at Jin.

"I won't let you forget! Even if you forget my face, you hurt many Ikaruga people in that war, you mercilessly trampled on our homeland! And above all, you killed our lord, the Ikaruga lord Tenjo!!"

Jin Kisaragi joined the Ikaruga Civil War as the young commander of the 4th Squadron and achieved remarkable results. He broke through the front lines and took the head of the Ikaruga Federation's leader, the instigator of the rebellion.

He was praised for his achievements and promoted two ranks to major, and at the same time, he was praised as the "Hero of Ikaruga."

That alias was praised as an honor within the NOL, but it was regarded with fear and hatred among the people of Ikaruga.

"The 'Hero of Ikaruga,' indeed, meeting you here is like meeting you after a hundred years. It must be the guidance of Lord Tenjo... who died in regret that we have met again like this!"

Putting strength into his stomach, Bang opened his legs wide and took a low stance. The hand that stretched out to the sky became a strong hand that could cut through blades. Its tip was aimed at Jin's throat.

The red scarf-like cloth that adorned Bang's neck fluttered greatly in the wind that passed through the bridge. Using the light fluttering sound as a signal to start... Bang jumped in an instant.

The jump was high and fast. Released in an instant, despite his strong build, were three sharp kunai that cut through the air. They were the same as the ones that had stopped Jin's feet earlier. However, this time the purpose was not to stop his feet. Jin jumped backwards to avoid them as they approached his torso and legs.

In the next moment, Bang landed in front of the retreating Jin, fluttering his red cloth.

"Tch!" Jin's breath caught in his throat. As if interrupting it, Bang's fist thrust upwards from below.

"Know the pain of Ikaruga in my fist!" The fist was wrapped in flames and was about to explode on Jin's lower jaw... but it was blocked by Jin's sheath, which he had pulled in as if to interrupt it.

"How insolent!" The pulled fist immediately changed into a thrust with both hands, slamming into the slender stomach of the uniformed figure. Jin also received this with his sheath. However, he could not completely nullify the impact, and Bang felt the recoil of flesh in his hand.

Jin frowned slightly at the unexpected impact that had struck his body. But the shallow wrinkle quickly disappeared, and he manipulated the sword, which he had been using for defense, in his hand. The slightly rotating sheath, along with the pointed tip, struck Bang's face hard.

"Gah!" Bang let out a crushed cry. Continuing, Jin kicked Bang, who had lost his balance, and pulled out his sword to fill the gap that had opened from the recoil. The sword, swung in a large horizontal sweep, slightly grazed the tip and failed to capture Bang's torso.

"...You dodged it?" Jin spoke in a small voice. This was somewhat unexpected. Even though he was from a defeated country, the ninja was apparently able to move to some extent.

Bang, who had escaped in the nick of time, immediately turned to offense. Rushing through like a whirlwind, he instantly circled behind Jin and swung down a wind-cutting chop at the exposed blue back.

The words came before that hand could touch him.

"Is that the pain of Ikaruga?"

Ridiculous. Jin's words, asked from behind his back, were so cold that there was something like an ice pillow gouging his chest.

In Bang's vision, where he swung his hand, the golden hair swayed like scattering. Green eyes stared at Bang, and the sword drew a silver arc as if chasing him. As it was, Yukianesa was about to cut off Bang's arm, regardless of whether its opponent was unarmed.

"What!" In an instant, Bang blocked the sword strike with his gauntlet. But there was a second strike. Jin's sheath, which was held in a different hand from the sword, violently struck Bang's temple. Passing through the loosened gauntlet's guard, Yukianesa diagonally cut through Bang's body.

"Guaaah!" Bang's scream was cut off. He was hit by the slash, and his entire body was frozen immediately afterwards.

Jin kicked it away, looking extremely bored.

The life-sized ice statue rolled and flew to the other side of the bridge, crashing into a pillar. The ice that had captured Bang shattered and burst from the impact, spitting out the heavily wounded ninja. By that time, Bang's body could no longer move properly.

"Guh... gaah... Jin... Kisaragi..."

Still, Bang raised his head and struggled to get up. His eyes, which glared up at Jin even as he crawled on the ground, were not at all discouraged, and he still had the same strength and heat as his first attack.

A shallow sigh escaped Jin's mouth.

The sight of Bang collapsed there but still trying to climb up was reflected as something ugly in his green eyes. The battle had already been decided. He had just learned the difference in ability between himself and his opponent. And yet, he struggled miserably. It was so ridiculous.

"He's not here." He whispered in a barely audible voice, a faint feeling stirring within. "Even if I look at something like this... I won't find him."

"Brother" was not there.

Jin held Yukianesa and looked at the man glaring at him from across the bridge. Casually, yet with beautiful and flawless movements, he cut through the air. At that moment, ice ran from Jin's feet across the bridge.

A sound echoed like something being shattered. The ice froze the entire narrow bridge and ran upwards, creating a thick wall at the bridge's entrance. Dull sunlight shone in, making the ice sparkle. The transparent ice showed Bang's agitated face through it.

"You- you're running away! Turning your back on the enemy is the last thing a samurai should do...!"

Bang was surprised as he realized the meaning of the sudden obstacle.

Jin simply looked at him with cold eyes.

"You're my enemy? Don't be conceited." Jin returned Yukianesa to its blue sheath and turned on his heel. "You're not even worth killing. Disappear."

Leaving those words behind, he started walking away quickly. He could hear something like an angry voice from behind, but it was already out of Jin's ears. It was useless to even register in his mind.

He had wasted unnecessary time. Jin quickened his pace.

He felt incredibly empty. The time he spent dealing with that man was pointless. He had not come this far for that.

His purpose was singular and absolute. He was searching. For that man. That man who should be in this city.

"I have to... find my brother." Crushing a small lump of earth with his heel, Jin muttered as if in a trance. "I have to kill him. Ragna the Bloodedge... I have to kill my brother..."

The whispering breath that slipped out was colder than the wind passing through the mountainside, and his gaze at the layer above Roningai had a cold-blooded murderous intent far below human body temperature.

The sound of his hard shoes moved forward as if it were his duty, and the blonde young man in a blue-and-white uniform was sucked into the next level.

Part 5

Just go down to the point where you can get off.

With this thought, Noel descended to an area called Roningai.

The city wasn't built on a solid foundation like the upper levels. Houses were built directly on the rugged rocky areas, and bridges were hung to connect the roads without filling the opened crevices...

It couldn't be said that there was no artificial ground at all, but with its extreme difference in elevation and slope-like mountain roads, it was a sight that Noel wasn't very familiar with.

Was this the appearance of a town built in the lower, lower levels, in an area where even the soldiers of the NOL rarely descended?

Coupled with the Ikaruga style Noel wasn't familiar with, it was as if she had wandered into an unknown, different world.

In fact, everything there was something that Noel had never experienced. For Noel, who hadn't spent many years as a soldier, it was also her first time walking in such a dense and defenseless atmosphere of seithr.

If she stayed in such a place for a long time, her body might break down. Noel applied an Ars Magus barrier to her surroundings and headed for the first bridge leading from the narrow mountain road descending from the upper layer to Roningai.

Was this also Ikaruga style? The bridge, which didn't look very sturdy, was written with letters that Noel could not read, and it was designed to be walked across.

Although it looked light and slender enough to be overturned by a strong gust of wind, it was surprisingly unshaken and sturdy when the wind actually blew. But this bridge, strangely enough, had ice clinging to it here and there from the middle to the other side.

"That's... horrible!"

Noel, who had been cautiously crossing the bridge due to the unfamiliar scenery and the unknown town, suddenly turned her poncho and ran.

At the end of the bridge, a person had fallen down.

For some reason, a half-melted ice block was sitting at the end of the bridge. With the momentum of the run, she used Ars Magus to jump over the ice block and landed lightly, then Noel immediately knelt beside the fallen person.

"A-are you alright?"

The one who had fallen was a man. He had a strong, muscular build and his disheveled hair was tied tightly in a single bunch. On his back, for some reason, he carried something unusually huge, like a nail.

On his face, which was distorted in pain on the rough ground, a large cross-shaped scar remained on his forehead. It was Bang.

"Guh... you..." When Noel touched him as if grabbing his arm, the man with the cross-shaped scar, Bang's, face contorted even more painfully and he muttered in a hoarse voice.

"I'm glad you're conscious."

Relieved, Noel looked down at the ground where he had fallen and found a large amount of blood.

He was injured. And it was a considerably deep wound.

Surprised by the large amount of blood, Noel turned Bang's body over, thinking that she had to check the condition of the wound. The man's limp body was heavy and she couldn't move it without the power of Ars Magus.

"C-cold!" Bang's body rolled over, and the diagonal wound was exposed to Noel's eyes. As she had imagined from the amount of bleeding, the wound was quite severe. But more than that, Noel was concerned when she touched Bang's shoulder. It was terribly cold. It didn't seem to be hypothermia due to a serious injury. Something cold was clinging to it.

"Is this ice?" Muttering, Noel looked at the bridge behind her. There was ice there too. It was in a deliberate position, as if it were a barrier. "Why is there so much ice... No, I need to treat this man first, and fast."

If he's bleeding this much, he might die.

Thinking this, a vague fear brushed Noel's spine.

Even so, there were no tools to treat him. She couldn't heal the wound with Ars Magus. Noel looked around in dismay.

"Hospital... is there a hospital around here..."

But this was the outskirts of town. There was no one around and no buildings to be found. Was there a hospital in this town in the first place? Noel had doubts from there.

And then...

"Boss!!!"

"Boss!!!"

Just as she heard a voice screaming in agony, four men in matching Ikaruga-style outfits appeared from nowhere and jumped down to Noel and Bang's side. One of them pushed Noel's shoulder away, pulling her away from Bang.

Unable to react to the unexpected, Noel staggered back, and the men who appeared all at once braced themselves.

"You, that uniform is from the NOL..."

"Boss! We're here, so you'll be alright! We won't let those NOL guys do as they please anymore!"

"You! What were you doing, coming all the way down here to attack our boss!?"

"Don't tell me the NOL aren't satisfied with just destroying Ikaruga, and now you're trying to eliminate the survivors!?"

"E-excuse me, um... please wait a moment, I'm not...!"

Faced with the hostility thrust at her from all sides, Noel hesitated and took two or three steps back.

She immediately understood what they were saying. It was a complete misunderstanding; they thought that Noel was the one who had injured the man with the cross-shaped scar who had fallen over.

Noel hurriedly shook her head and appealed to them.

"I didn't hurt that man! Please submit a damage report to the branch. Then they'll investigate the matter and catch the culprit who inflicted such terrible injuries, right!"

Even if it was a personal dispute, this injury was clearly excessive. It might even be a random attack.

Noel believed that she had a duty as a soldier to investigate and arrest the perpetrator.

But the men protecting Bang glared back at Noel with even thicker hostility.

"Do you really think we'd be satisfied with such an excuse? Don't take us for fools!"

"Eh?"

What came back like a stab was a word of reproach and a strong voice of rejection.

As soon as one man opened his mouth, the other three men, as if not being able to remain silent, hurled their hostility at her.

"What damage report? Do you think people in the lower levels like us can get one!?"

"There's no way the NOL would act even if we requested an investigation in the first place!"

"To try and gloss this over with such a flimsy excuse... how despicable!"

"B-but... I..."

A flimsy excuse? She didn't mean to say that at all. Noel shook her head weakly, not knowing how to make them understand, and unable to think of any appropriate words.

At that moment, a low, thick male voice interrupted, as if cutting off the exchange between Noel and the men.

"Stop it, everyone!"

At that moment, the men who were staring at Noel all turned around at once.

Pressing down hard on the wound that was cutting through his abdomen, Bang, who had been unconscious and collapsed until then, awkwardly raised his body. The wound was still not closed, and red droplets were dripping from under his thick hand.

"B-boss! Are you alright!?"

"Boss!"

With the momentum of jumping, the men crouched down beside Bang and reached out to support his body.

While wearing a painful expression, Bang, with the help of his four subordinates, lowered his waist onto his own pool of blood. He looked up at Noel, past his subordinates who were looking at him worriedly.

"Don't misunderstand... it wasn't this woman who cut me. She was trying to help me. Even if she is a member of the NOL, to blame a weak woman alone with unfounded accusations is something that Ikaruga men should not do." Bang, without shaking his voice from the pain of his deep wound, soothed the four surrounding men with strong words. He even showed a bold smile as if to say that he didn't care about the wound. Next, he turned his gaze to Noel, also with strength.

"My lady, my subordinates were rude. I will apologize for them. I am sorry." Still sitting down, Bang lowered his head with a clear gesture. Even if he moved, the wound would probably hurt, but he no longer seemed to care.

"N-no, it's nothing, I was just a little surprised." Noel also shook her head slightly. Following Bang, the four men lowered their heads in apology one after another, which in turn made her even more embarrassed.

The subordinate who had been supporting Bang's back opened his mouth while looking around them.

"But boss, if that's the case, then who the hell did this?"

There were clear signs of a struggle around them, and several kunai, Ikaruga's unique short swords, remained stuck in the bridge.

However, there were few signs that a fierce battle had taken place. In other words, although there was certainly a battle, it was by no means a long one. Bang was cut down in a short period of time.

Perhaps aware of this, Bang grimaced and answered with a heaviness that suggested hatred, different from his previous strong and energetic appearance.

"'The Hero of Ikaruga,' Jin Kisaragi."

"Jin... Kisaragi?" It was Noel who repeated the name reflexively. Her heart pounded when she heard it. At the same time, she understood. The frozen bridge, the ice block blocking the road, Bang's body that was too cold. Jin, she was sure, possessed a sword that manipulated ice.

"Excuse me, um, just now, Jin Kisaragi... did he come here?" Stepping forward as if rushing, Noel put her hand on her chest and asked Bang.

Controlling one of his subordinates who had turned around warily, Bang looked up at Noel and nodded seriously.

"Yes. There's no way I could mistake him. That figure, that technique, and that sword. No matter what, it is none other than Jin Kisaragi."

As if glaring at the already disappeared figure, Bang deeply furrowed his brow. There was no pretense in his gaze. His gaze was so emotional that it would seem foolish to even try to find pretense in his eyes.

Tension ran through Noel's chest.

Jin was here right after Bang had fallen. How much time had passed since then, neither Noel nor Bang could accurately count. But judging by how dry the blood on the ground was, it couldn't have been that long.

"Did he say where he was going, or which way?" She didn't expect to get concrete information so quickly, especially not in a town so far down in the lower level. Conversely, with this much concrete information, she might not be able to get any more in the future.

At Noel's impatient response, Bang moved his neck as if looking backward.

"He seemed to have gone up this road... but well, I don't know his destination."

"I see..."

"I don't know if it's a clue, but he kept muttering the name 'Ragna the Bloodedge.'" As if trying to encourage the disappointed Noel, Bang spoke to her in a strong voice.

"'Ragna the Bloodedge'..." Noel pulled her chin slightly and spoke the name aloud.

It was the name of the wanted criminal that Jin was said to be pursuing. Thinking back, the last conversation Noel had with Jin was about Ragna the Bloodedge.

Jin was pursuing Ragna the Bloodedge? But why? If it was to arrest him as a soldier, there was no need to deliberately disappear.

(Was there a need... to contact him personally?)

But even then, for what purpose?

Noel knew too little about Jin to speculate. She didn't know what kind of person he was, what kind of beliefs he had. Conversations with Jin were always limited to the minimum necessary formalities, and even that was mostly one-sided. Jin always looked at Noel with cold eyes and turned his face away without saying anything. She had no way of knowing what he was thinking when he disappeared, with that cold look...

(...This is a mission. I have to find Major Kisaragi.)

Her chest felt heavy. Shaking it off, Noel straightened her posture and turned to Bang.

"Thank you for the information. I'm sorry, but I'll take my leave now." She declared sternly as a soldier of the NOL, and then relaxed her tone slightly and added, "...Please take care of your injuries. Goodbye then."

As for treatment, Bang's subordinates would be fine.

Noel bowed her head, put on her thick poncho, and turned back the way she came. The ice block was still melting and remained as it was, and she jumped over it with Ars Magus as she had when she arrived.

While climbing the narrow mountain road, Noel repeated the name many times in her mind.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

Ragna.

Why was that? She felt like she knew that name.

Of course she knew it. She had said it and heard it many times before coming here.

The most wanted criminal with the highest bounty in history. A villain feared as the "Grim Reaper."

But why?

Suddenly that name... was nostalgic.

It felt like she had known him for much longer, even before he was called the "Grim Reaper."

(No, I don't know what I'm thinking. That can't be true. Maybe I'm just confused because I'm in a strange place.)

She made excuses to herself that the place called Kagutsuchi might not suit her. It was vast, complex, and packed with so many different people and scenery that it made her head spin.

(I have to find him quickly... and go home.)

And when that time came, she would contact Tsubaki and Makoto for the first time in a while, and the three of them would go somewhere together for the first time in a long time.

So for now, she would forget about the strange longing for the name Ragna, and think only about her mission. While telling herself that, Noel hurried to the upper layer.

Watching the slender figure disappearing into the mountain path, Bang hummed with admiration.

"Well, well, I never thought I would be helped by a soldier of the Library. Even among soldiers, there are those who behave like that, huh?" Frowning sternly with his thick eyebrows, Bang nodded thoughtfully, seemingly deeply moved.

His subordinates, from the left and right, were taking his arms and slowly trying to help him stand.

"It's not the time to be impressed, boss. If you don't treat that wound soon!"

He had been keeping a calm face since earlier, but the wound that cut through Bang's body was by no means shallow. Although not as much as when he'd collapsed, it was still bleeding.

But Bang laughed heartily while pressing the wound from above his clothes.

"There's no need to worry! A wound like this is but a scratch to the brave warrior of love and justice, Bang Shishigami! Wahahahaha!"

"Really? Then it seems like we don't have to take you to Dr. Litchi's place. Then we'll take care of it..."

"What? Dr. Litchi's hospital?" Bang, who had stood up with support from both sides, stopped at the words of one of his subordinates.

One of the subordinates who had been about to walk ahead turned back and nodded. "That's right. We can't do specialized treatment ourselves. But if you say you're okay, then surely you're okay..."

"Guwaaaaa!"

Interrupting his subordinate before he could start walking towards Roningai again, Bang shouted loudly, echoing throughout the area, and fell backwards. He rolled on the ground, writhing and clutching his chest painfully.

"Guuuh... gah... I'm already... no good... Gack!"

"B-boss!"

"What's wrong!?"

"Q-quickly... as soon as possible, to Dr. Litchi's hospital..." Grabbing the chest of one of the subordinates too roughly to be called clinging... Bang suddenly lost all strength in his body and collapsed on the spot.

His subordinates surrounded him in a great flurry. Four of them desperately lifted his muscular body, then quickly carried him out of Roningai.

"P-please hold on, boss!"

"We're taking you to Dr. Litchi's place right away!"

While listening to the panicking, flustered voices of his subordinates, fearing that Bang was about to die, Bang secretly grinned. With this, as planned, he would be treated by his beloved.

Now, the image of Jin Kisaragi was no longer in Bang's mind. It was filled with thoughts of the beautiful female doctor working in Orient Town.

Back to Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town

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Forward to Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero