Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 11

2025-11-05T14:17:26Z

Br3ndan5:

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Prologue|Prologue:Rebirth]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 7|Chapter 7: Siblings]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 8|Chapter 8: Thought and Felt]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 9|Chapter 9: Intervention]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 10|Chapter 10: Encounter]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 11|Chapter 11: Fusion]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
|-
| [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Extra Chapter|Extra Chapter: Fragments]]
|-
|[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
|}

===Part 1===

The vibrant western sun disappeared behind the towering buildings, and in its place, the eastern sky began to take on the colors of night. The gradual change in the color of the sky was like a deep breath, inhaling the day and exhaling the night.

The bustling downtown area, centered around a large building above the Shinkawahama Station, was adorned with a variety of restaurants and shops lining the main street. However, a few blocks in, there was a narrow alleyway that seemed a little too deserted to be called a downtown area, shrouded in shadows.

In such a dimly lit, cheap street, the streetlights began to flicker on as Valkenhayn ran ahead, guided by Relius.

“Relius! Explain what’s going on! Where are we heading?” Though Valkenhayn was overwhelmingly faster than Relius when it came to running, the uncertainty of their destination forced him to maintain an irksome pace just behind Relius, who was a step ahead. Frustrated, he shouted at him.

The black shadow they had just seen in the vacant storefront of the building was the result of magic. Although neither Valkenhayn nor Relius had confirmed the sorcerer’s identity, it was easy to deduce that it was the work of Spinner Superior, a magician who had recently appeared in Shinkawahama and had previously been involved with Kiiro.

However, Relius didn’t seem inclined to pursue the writhing darkness that was likely the magic of Spinner Superior. Instead, he suddenly ran off in a completely different direction after leaving the building.

It was clear that Relius had already lost interest in this matter and was not about to return. He must have some purpose. Otherwise, there was no way he would run on his own without proper instructions.

"Didn't I already tell you? 'We have something to do.'"

"I'm asking you what that something is. If your mouth can move more smoothly than your usual puppet, tell me where and what you intend to do."

“...It’s about the job.”

"What?" His words were too short. Valkenhayn asked again in a threatening tone.

Relius, glancing around, suddenly turned a corner, causing Valkenhayn to momentarily hesitate and quicken his pace slightly. With his blindfolded eyes looking ahead, Relius lifted his chin slightly.

“Spinner Superior is setting up a barrier in this area to strengthen his magic. As long as the barrier isn’t destroyed, the surrounding area is practically his body. Therefore, we will destroy it. Once the barrier disappears, Kiiro will attack Spinner. Until then, the boy and the vampire from earlier will keep him occupied.”

The cold, emotionless voice stated clearly. The boy and the vampire chasing Spinner and the darkness were merely bait to buy time. Their purpose was to destroy the barrier, allowing Kiiro or themselves to reach Spinner. If they were dead, so be it. And if they were alive, that was all there was to it.

Valkenhayn unconsciously frowned. He felt no sympathy for the group from earlier. However, he often found Relius’s statements like this quite unsettling. How did that man see the world? He was sure that he would never be able to share that feeling, no matter how long his life was.

“Where is the barrier?”

“The first one is up ahead. I’ll search for the rest while you’re destroying it.” Relius spoke without hesitation. Valkenhayn understood that destroying the barrier was his responsibility.

“How do we destroy the barrier?”

“Just physically destroy the places where the magic is applied. That should be your specialty.” Relius’s blunt tone sounded more like sarcasm than anything else. Annoyed, Valkenhayn snorted and brushed the comment aside, which he could only sense as being thrown at him.

The dimly lit side streets were beginning to glow with white light. The night’s veil slowly descended.

Ignoring the occasional curious glances from passersby, Relius and Valkenhayn ran quietly through the city, which was just starting to embrace the night.

===Part 2===

The sky was painted in hues of dusk and night.

With the sun in the west and the moon in the east, Naoto raced through the dimly lit backstreets, where the pale streetlights began to flicker on, without a moment to spare to look up at the transforming sky.

Running beside him was Raquel, her long hair fluttering like a golden ribbon. Her golden eyes, unlike any he had seen before, were fixed sternly ahead, guiding Naoto towards their destination.

That destination, of course, was where Spinner was.

After Spinner's darkness had taken Saya away and Naoto had chased it to the rooftop but lost sight of it, Raquel, who had come up to the rooftop later, immediately drew a magic circle and began to track Spinner.

Her concern wasn’t solely for Saya’s safety—though in a way, it could be said that it was. While quickly arranging the strange red symbols that Naoto couldn’t understand, Raquel murmured with a tone of urgency.

“Spinner’s target is probably Soul Eater. I don’t know his purpose, but…” It was unlikely that the man’s goals would align with Naoto or Raquel’s interests.

Hurriedly completing the magic circle, Raquel stood at its center, gathering the wind for a moment. She firmly engraved the sensed presence of the Azure into her senses, pulling it closer as she pursued Spinner.

Feeling rushed, Naoto stumbled occasionally, struggling to breathe not from fatigue, but from a different kind of tightness in his chest.

Why had things become so complicated? Nothing was going his way. Everything seemed to be going downhill. Naoto groaned in frustration.

(It’s all because of that stupid sister of mine!)

He just wanted to hunt Apostles with Raquel, get stronger, defeat Spinner, and become human again within a year. It was already complicated enough at this point, but now his suddenly appearing sister was getting involved.

(She should have just stayed at the Amanohokosaka Castle.)

Why did she always have to meddle in things?

Unconsciously, his tongue clicked again in annoyance.

As if to silence him, Raquel spoke sharply.

“Over there, Naoto.” As if awakened by Raquel's voice, Naoto's eyes and consciousness awakened to reality.

They had reached a construction site near the edge of the downtown area. The base of the building was surrounded by a white makeshift wall, behind which a greenish, thin covering draped over tall construction scaffolding. The building under construction was apparently quite tall, and the scaffold continued for a long distance.

Naoto looked up, his gaze wandering.

"Is it in there...?"

Fortunately, whether it was because of a holiday or some sort of trouble, there was no one at the site. Even though it was gradually getting dark, the surroundings were still faintly lit. But the inside of the scaffold was so dark that he couldn't see how far it extended. Naturally, there were no lights since no one was there. Searching inside would be quite difficult.

Just as Naoto was about to slip inside the white enclosure, Raquel's hand grabbed his sleeve and pulled him back.

"Naoto. Up there."

Up. Hearing that, Naoto looked up at the building. It was probably about eight stories high. It was taller than the apartment building where Naoto lived.

Raquel's eyes were fixed on the very top, the roof.

Naoto squinted. But from here, he couldn't even tell if there was anyone on the rooftop. However, a shiver ran down his spine.

"Ugh..." Naoto involuntarily gasped. It felt so… empty.

(Is it my imagination? Because Raquel feels that way, I'm being influenced by her… Or maybe...is it because of the vampire blood mixed in me?)

He had a feeling that something was there. And now, his intuition couldn't be easily ignored by his common sense and rationality.

"Raquel!" Looking up at the building under construction, Naoto called out quickly. Raquel immediately understood his intention and slid her arms around his.

The soft sensation of her body pressed closely against his made Naoto tense up involuntarily. The presence of a girl, clearly different from the boys around him, was sweetly colorful and right next to him, so close that he could feel her breath. It was only natural for him to feel a bit nervous.

"Be very careful." Raquel lifted her face from where it had been resting against his chest. In her serious gaze, Naoto's slightly flustered expression was reflected.

"I feel a great power swelling. Spinner is very strong. You can't handle him alone. Don't forget that. Understood?"

"Y-yeah." Raquel’s words, spoken in a warning tone, sent a chill down Naoto’s spine.

Ahead of him was Spinner. He had been so focused on getting Saya back, but he realized that he had to stand before that man, fight, and get her back. That realization filled Naoto with fear. But it wasn't a bad fear. It was a necessary fear. He wasn't someone to be faced without fear.

"Hold on tight." With that, Raquel pressed her lips together and concentrated. His senses began to sharpen.

A whirlwind swirled at Raquel's feet. Then, in an instant, it turned into a violent gust of wind, blowing her and Naoto high into the air.

With the wind surrounding them, they soared upward and landed on the rooftop of the building, which was solidly built despite being under construction. The gray concrete, likely to be painted or treated later, was beautifully smoothed out. Steel scaffolding surrounded it, resembling a small arena.

There was no need to look for their target. Amidst the cooler wind that blew stronger than on the ground, the man was leisurely standing in the center of the rooftop.

Dressed in a black, high-quality suit, with slicked-back gray hair and a large, menacing tattoo carved deeply into his cheek, Spinner Superior appeared. His sharply elongated, cold eyes were accompanied by a narrow, icy smile. Without showing any surprise at the arrival of Naoto and Raquel, he gracefully moved his long limbs into a deep bow.

"Good evening, Raquel Alucard. Even on this day, your beauty is blinding... the moon tonight might be too ashamed to emerge from behind the clouds." While keeping his body bowed, he lifted only his face, and Naoto caught a glimpse of a serpent-like tongue flickering from Spinner's mouth.

Behind him, something large was stirring.

Though the dusk was not particularly different from usual, the rooftop felt much darker than the ground below. Perhaps it was due to the faint residual light in the sky. The figure appeared like a shadow puppet backlit by the setting sun... but as Naoto squinted, its true nature became clearer.

"Ugh..." A sound of disgust involuntarily escaped Naoto’s lips.

It was an insect. And it was on a completely different scale from Spinner’s Apostles that Naoto had encountered before. It was enormous.

Its head, with dull reddish-black eyes, stood much higher than the tall Spinner. The smooth, round head had large, arched jaws protruding forward, and it was clear at a glance that they were its pride and joy.

It had a black, beetle-like skin, but its body was rather long, and it was standing up as if lifting its upper body. Twelve strong, crustacean-like legs were attached to its body, and the second pair from the top was firmly holding a small girl in its arms.

"Saya!" Naoto shouted instinctively.

The captured girl—Saya—was unconscious. Her thin arms, draped in a kimono the color of blossoms, hung limply. Yet, Naoto couldn't believe his eyes.

The number above Saya's head was rising at an astonishing rate.

"What the hell is that... why is Saya's life force skyrocketing?" It was like a broken counter. The number would occasionally slow down, then speed up again, increasing at an unstable pace. He had never seen anything like this before... No.

Recently, when Saya had come to Naoto's house, she had tried to suck out Naoto's life force and kill him. At that time, the number above Saya's head had also risen.

Of course, it wasn't at such an absurd pace as it was now.

"Is it... absorbing life force? From that insect?"

"No."

As Naoto muttered, thinking that couldn’t possibly be the case, Raquel threw a harsh denial at him.

"Your sister... the Soul Eater that resides within her is absorbing the life force of all the humans around this building."

"What... what the hell is that!?" For a moment, Naoto couldn’t grasp the meaning, his voice trembling with frustration. "Wasn't it supposed to be that Saya could only absorb the life force of the people she touched!?" He was sure Raquel had said that before. Turning sharply, he saw Raquel’s expression twisted as if she had bitten into something bitter.

"That's only if your sister is controlling Soul Eater. As I said, the original Soul Eater indiscriminately takes people's life force. Saya is unconscious. So, the one controlling Soul Eater now is..." There was only one person here who could do that, and who would do so.

That man Raquel was glaring at—Spinner.

"...Raquel Alucard. I am somewhat disappointed." While receiving hostility and caution from both Naoto and Raquel, Spinner pressed his hand to his chest with a sorrowful expression. His spread thin fingers were like spider legs. "It is an immense honor that you have chosen to chase after me yourself. However, this Spinner Superior had asked that next time we meet, you bring along the 'real Naoto Kurogane.' And yet..."

Dropping his angular, thin shoulders exaggeratedly, Spinner moved his gaze from Raquel to Naoto. In the meantime, his gaze turned cold and filled with disgust.

"To think you would bring this trash again." His eyes seemed to say that he couldn't stand it physiologically.

Naoto met Spinner’s condescending gaze with one of deep contempt. He had no intention of accepting being treated as trash, but that cheap disdain meant nothing to him.

"I don’t know what you were expecting, but I’m the real Kurogane Naoto! More importantly, you better let my sister go right now!" Naoto shouted, his anger surging as he carefully gauged the distance and his opponent's movements.

Spinner looked at him with a twisted expression, his large cheek tattoo distorting his features. He appeared utterly exasperated, as if he found Naoto's presence deeply repulsive and grotesque.

“I have no ears to waste on garbage… With all due respect, you should reconsider your pet. It will tarnish your dignity. It's a pity..."

"You bastard..." The words of detached disdain, which didn’t even acknowledge his dignity, were almost painfully obvious. The attitude toward Raquel was equally blatant. Naoto felt a deep resentment, wondering just how worthless he was seen.

Beside Naoto, Raquel stepped forward a few paces, lifting her chin without a hint of fear. Her posture straightened, and she locked her sparkling eyes onto Spinner’s figure, embodying a strength that matched her youthful appearance.

"Spinner Superior. I demand the same of you as Naoto. Release that girl immediately and stop Soul Eater." Her commanding tone had a strength that demanded no argument. Feeling that natural intimidation, Spinner smiled deeply, almost gleefully.

“I’m sorry, but even if it’s a request from 'Slave Red,' I cannot comply. This is a very important time... I need a great deal of human souls.”

“Important time? What exactly do you intend to do?” Raquel furrowed her brow. The man spoke in a strange way. There was no malice or ill will in his words, but rather a gentle tone and expression as if he were caressing something.

"It's all for my beloved Raquel Alucard." As if there were passion hidden there, Spinner clapped his hands together at his chest. With a pained expression, his dark eyes looked at Raquel.

The gaze that Spinner directed at Raquel was perverted and morbid, and even though he wasn't the one receiving it, Naoto felt a sense of discomfort creeping up from his feet. Raquel, who was directly receiving it, looked back at Spinner without changing her expression much.

Spinner continued to speak in a melodic tone. "My desire is to have you... all of you, the noble and beautiful maiden who is closest to the Azure’s wisdom... I want to have all of you..."

Mid-sentence, Spinner lightly licked his lips as if to quench his thirst. The tongue he revealed was long and had a black tattoo on it as well.

"Your hair, your eyes, your breath, your heartbeat, everything! I want to make it all mine, and reach the depths of the Azure that I yearn for so much. To do that, I have to capture you. But just an insect won't do. I need to prepare a special insect worthy of welcoming Raquel Alucard."

"I don't remember asking for such a thing."

"Isn't it disappointing to be a man who can only prepare what he is asked for?" Spinner replied calmly, but as he continued, his expression softened just a little, as if in concern. “But... to complete this special insect, a great many human souls are necessary. I had the insects create nests in places where people gather so that I could collect them in bulk…”

“I see, so that’s why it was Isa.” Naoto lowered his voice heavily, not wanting to understand.

Isa frequented a school, a place where many people gathered every day. It meant that Shinkawahama First High School was almost going to become Spinner’s feeding ground.

"Not only was I unable to gather resources, but before I could even finish building my nest, many of my Apostles were destroyed by you and those annoying people. I was at my wit's end. It was at that time..." Spinner slowly turned his head and looked at the massive insect quietly resting beside him. He narrowed his already slim eyes with a satisfied smile.

"I found this girl... this Soul Eater! As rumored, it is a wonderful power. With this, I can gather people's souls as I please. I no longer need to scatter Apostles and collect them slowly. Everything I need will be gathered tonight. On this glorious night of the full moon..."

As if blowing out a candle, the surroundings grew darker. The moon turned golden in the eastern sky. Spinner spread his arms wide and took a deep breath. The cold air was now completely night. He exhaled with pleasure, and his eyes fixed on Raquel like a snake.

“Do you understand, Raquel Alucard?” He asked. Raquel took a half-step back, as if startled. Spinner reached out his long hand to follow her. "This is fate. It cannot be resisted... You will be mine." As soon as he declared that, the quality of the air around him changed.

It was heavy. It felt heavy, as if a gravity had begun pulling in a different direction. The pull was coming from Spinner... no, from the insect beside him, from deep inside its legs, from Saya.

Naoto realized. He was being drained. His life force was vanishing at a speed far beyond what it had been moments ago.

It wasn’t just Naoto who was being robbed. Raquel, standing next to him, stumbled as if she were about to faint. Above her golden hair, tied with a black ribbon, a countdown of diminishing life force was visible only to Naoto’s eyes.

“Damn it... you’ve gotta be kidding me!” Struggling not to stumble, Naoto braced his weakening legs and shouted angrily, supporting Raquel next to him. Raquel clung to his supporting arm, her expression stern.

"This is bad... we have to stop Soul Eater. If we don't, it will suck the life out of everyone in this area, and Spinner will..."

"That's not the point! It's not about the insect..." Naoto grabbed Raquel's shoulders with both hands and pulled her close, gently shaking her to encourage her to stand strong. Raquel’s face was pale. The numbers above her head continued to decrease without stopping.If it continued to decrease like this, the number would eventually become '0'.

“If this goes on, everyone will die!”

Even random people who just happened to be around this building, or anyone he might have crossed paths with. Or even Raquel, whose life force was draining twice as fast as Naoto’s.

"I won't let that happen. Absolutely not." Naoto glared at Spinner and kicked the cold ground hard. His feet moved faster than he thought possible. His body felt light, and his limbs moved more smoothly than he expected.

He could reach it.

In a matter of seconds, Naoto was right in front of Spinner, and he raised his fist without hesitation…
"You bastard, don't think you can just do whatever you want!"

He struck with all his might.

===Part 3===

A wet sound sliced through the air.

It was the sound of blood. And then, the sound of flesh tearing.

"Ugh..." Naoto ground his teeth, trying to suppress a different kind of rising sensation. It was a pain that felt like his insides were being ripped out. The flesh below his ribs had been torn, fortunately missing his organs. But all the blood seemed to drain from his body at once, followed by a wave of pain and shock that forced Naoto's raised arm to fall limply.

His hand moved on its own to press against his side. Glancing down, he saw his hand was stained red from the blood seeping through his uniform.

“Damn…!”

Naoto quickly looked up, his gaze fixed on the creature that had suddenly appeared before him.

It was that bug.

Just a moment ago, it had been further back. Now, this enormous insect—or was it a caterpillar?—with its abdomen encased in a sheath, was right in front of Naoto's face. It was an ugly creature with an appearance so grotesque that it evoked a visceral sense of disgust.

Unlike Spinner's Apostles he had faced before, this creature was clearly different, and not just in its abnormal size. Its jaws were like a pair of serrated saws, its legs thick and sharp, and despite its rapid movements, there was a physical heaviness to it that could be felt in the sounds it made.

Its appearance and structure were simple as far as mechanics went, but each part was a one-sided weapon capable of easily taking a human life.

The very top, the thickest and sharpest of the insect's legs, was slightly stained with blood at its tip. It looked like a pillow, but its sharpness was more akin to a comb or a sliver of silver. The cutting edge was sharper than it appeared to the eye, and it had sliced open Naoto's side.

Thanks to his reflexes, or perhaps just pure luck, he had only been grazed, but if he had taken a direct hit, Naoto might have found himself looking at his severed lower half.

The insect raised its other leg to strike again. It was fast. But faster than that, a gust of wind swirled at Naoto's feet, pulling his injured body back. Raquel drew in the wind as she rushed over.

"How reckless. All you can think about is charging straight in? That's so naive."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" He had expected Spinner to counterattack, but he hadn't expected the bug to intercept him with such speed. If she said it was naive, he couldn't really argue. "If it were a humanoid opponent, I could at least apply some grappling techniques. But that’s such an obvious monster..."

"Are you already giving up?"

"Can't a guy at least complain a little?" No sooner had he retorted than Naoto dashed off again. But this time, not towards the bug, but towards the edge of the rooftop.

Perhaps because of its predatory instincts to chase things that ran, the insect plunged its sharp leg into the concrete floor and lunged towards Naoto. Looking over his shoulder, the scene was like something out of a horror movie. With a grimace, Naoto grabbed what he was aiming for.

With almost no strength left, he pulled a steel pipe from the scaffolding. As he turned around, he swung the pipe sideways to deflect the bug's massive attack.

"Damn...!"

There was a dull thud. It felt like he had hit a telephone pole. The shock sent a jolt up his arm to the shoulder.

Of course, he didn’t expect to break the insect’s legs. But he also didn’t think he could handle legs as thick as a telephone pole with just his bare hands. He hoped it would function as armor, not a weapon. Even if he could regenerate, injuries still hurt, and if his arm got blown off, he wouldn’t be able to attack until it healed.

Swinging the pipe wildly to avoid the cocoon, Naoto dodged the numerous legs and dove under the barrage of legs. He entrusted the crude weapon to his left hand and rose up like a cobra, striking the bug's torso with his right fist.

"Ugh..." It was hard. It was much more organic than the leg he had hit with the pipe, but even so, he felt like he might shatter his knuckles.

Naoto looked at his right hand and clicked his tongue.

(Something's wrong... it wasn't like this. Back then, it was more...)

Back then was when he had punched Isa. He didn't remember it clearly because he had been so caught up in the moment, but in his hazy memory, his fist had indeed sunk deeply into Isa’s body, stained red. It felt as if it were covered in a pot of blood.

If he could strike like he did back then, he would be able to deal more damage to this monster. But Naoto didn’t know how to do that.

"Damn it!"

He had no choice but to keep hitting. Pulling back his remaining fist for another strike, the insect twisted its lower limbs and swung them fiercely like a tail, delivering a powerful blow. It was more of a tackle than a leg sweep. Naoto, bracing himself with the iron pipe, was sent flying like a rag doll. He hit his back against something and bounced, rolling all the way to the opposite edge.

It was an insane amount of force. If he hadn't had the pipe, he probably would have cracked a rib or two. Fearing a follow-up attack, Naoto jumped up. But then, he felt a sharp pain and his face contorted.

"What...?" The pain was more intense in his side than in his chest or back. Gasping, Naoto looked down. He pressed his hand against the tear in his blood-soaked uniform. The wet sensation shot pain through him. Naoto stared in shock. When he lifted his hand, it was stained with fresh blood.

"No way... why...?"

His wound wasn't healing.

Normally a wound this small would have disappeared by now. But instead of closing, it was bleeding profusely with every movement.

Raquel quickly noticed Naoto's condition. She glared at Spinner with a stern expression.

"What's going on... what exactly is that bug?"

"Oh, are you interested? How unexpected. Someone as noble as you would be better suited to tea."

"That's not what I'm asking!" Raquel snapped, her voice sharp. Spinner raised an eyebrow leisurely, as if savoring the sweet sting in her tone.

"Yes... I understand. Don't worry, Raquel Alucard. This Spinner Superior may jest with you, but I would never lie." With an attitude that seemed designed to irritate people, Spinner gestured grandly towards the enormous insect. "That bug was originally intended for your owner, Clavis Alucard. Unfortunately, your owner is a mere Fantasy Creature." The mention of Clavis Alucard caused Raquel's shoulders to twitch.

Naoto, using the iron pipe as a makeshift pillow, grimaced at the name he heard. The blood drained from his face.

Spinner furrowed his brow in annoyance and traced the tattoo on his cheek with a long finger.

"Since you're dealing with the king of vampires, of course, it had to have the bare minimum of necessary qualities. That bug's jaws, fangs, claws... they wound 'existence itself.' No matter how quickly vampires can repair physical damage, wounds to their very existence can't be healed. ...Isn't that right, Raquel Alucard?" Spinner asked Raquel with a smug, leisurely tone, as if he were extracting an obvious answer.

Raquel bit her lip and looked down. To Naoto, her expression was more revealing than Spinner's words. He didn't understand the complicated reasoning, and he didn't want to. But basically, it seemed that wounds inflicted by that bug wouldn't heal.

(Hey, hey, hey, that's a cruel joke... so that's what you mean by a 'special bug'?)

Given that his body healed so quickly under normal circumstances, he had been reckless enough to charge straight at it.

Despite his shock, Naoto raised the iron pipe again, focusing on the bug. Judging from Spinner's words, and the fact that the cocoon was still absorbing life force from its surroundings, the special bug wasn't complete yet.

So what would happen when it was completed? Would it become a creature capable of withstanding a fight against Clavis?

(If that happens, I won’t stand a chance...)

A sense of crisis crept over Naoto.

With a sound like metal stakes being driven into the ground, the bug plunged its sharp leg into the concrete and lunged at Naoto. With the same speed and force, it swung its two upper legs down at Naoto in quick succession.

"Ugh, wait..." There was no hesitation, and he could hardly catch his breath. Naoto jumped back, narrowly avoiding the attack of the living weapon. But he jumped back too far and his back hit the wall. One of the insect's legs thrust in from the front, targeting his head.

Naoto ducked, his body slumping. A few strands of his hair scattered. This was no time to be afraid. Dragging his trembling body, Naoto threw himself forward.

Where Naoto's butt had been a moment ago, the bug's leg had shattered the concrete with a powerful swing.

He pushed himself up with his hands, but his legs wouldn’t move. As he turned to see what was happening, he found one of the bug's supporting legs had pinned his uniform to the concrete, embedding itself into the flesh of his calf.

"Ugh..." Once he saw it, the pain surged up to his brain. A red stain began to spread beneath the insect's foot.

(This is bad...)

His vision darkened briefly, and Naoto turned around with a vacant mind. The insect, having captured its prey, raised its sharp leg towards Naoto.

He couldn’t escape. He had to brace for impact. As he looked up at the insect, Naoto searched for the iron pipe in his hands. But it seemed he had let go of it when he collapsed earlier. His fingertips grazed the cold metal, but he couldn't reach it.

The air was torn apart with a sharp hiss. Naoto held his breath, bracing himself for impact and intense pain. But then, something caught him unexpectedly.

"Gagagagagaga!"

With a muddy scream resembling a gargle, a thick spray scattered around him. Naoto saw this through the strong wind that nearly obscured his vision.

"Ah... Thanks for the save!" He gave a relieved smile. It was Raquel, wrapped in a gust of wind, who had scooped Naoto up and carried him away from danger.

The insect's leg that had pinned Naoto's foot to the ground had been severed at the base. The wind, sharpened to an extreme, tore through it like a scythe.

Once they were a safe distance away, Naoto was released from Raquel's wind. As the wind returned to the night sky with a roar, Naoto lost his balance and fell on his butt. Next to him, Raquel also stumbled slightly as if the wind had swept her feet out from under her.

"Ha... ha… ha…" Raquel breathed heavily, her chest rising and falling rapidly. Her usually composed expression was gone, replaced by one of exhaustion, showing that even though her life force was several times that of a normal human, it was still taking its toll.

"Hey, are you okay?" Naoto couldn't help but ask, seeing her pale lips and cheeks.

Raquel answered without looking at him. "That’s my line... For a mere servant to cause me such trouble..."

"You're surprisingly energetic," he said with a forced smile, but Naoto was no more at ease than Raquel.

"If this drags on, it'll be bad. We need to stop Soul Eater somehow. If I can't keep going, neither can you." Before Raquel could finish, her words punctuated with heavy breaths, the insect turned around and charged towards them again.

With a cry of alarm, Naoto pulled himself up and jumped to the right, while Raquel jumped to the left, dodging the insect’s charge. The insect quickly turned back toward Naoto. It seemed he was its primary target. Naoto ducked low to avoid the sweeping leg and then took off running.

If Soul Eater continued to absorb life force, Raquel would eventually run out. And if that happened, Naoto would die too. Not to mention, if that special insect absorbed enough souls and completed its form, it would become a creature meant to face Clavis. Naoto could be easily killed in an instant. After all, in front of that insect, he was just an ordinary human with slightly better physical abilities.

(I have to stop Soul Eater... Stop it... But how? There's no way I can get Saya back without dealing with that damn bug first!)

"If I could reach out and grab her, I would. But if I tried to rip off the legs that are grabbing her, I'd probably get impaled three times before I could. Or maybe I'd get decapitated by those saw-like jaws."

(In that case...)

The insect's jaws lunged at Naoto as he fled. Pushed by the wind Raquel unleashed, Naoto barely managed to evade the attack, but the concrete nearby shattered as if it had exploded, and debris rained down like hail.

Unable to withstand the impact, Naoto collapsed, shielding his head with his arm. His injured leg hindered him. Dragging his sluggish body, he crawled on, desperately trying to escape. If he didn't fight back, he would just keep running away. Somehow, he had to attack.

Was it because he was thinking about these unnecessary things?

"Naoto!" Raquel's voice rang out sharply, warning him of danger. A sharp wind shot out from her, but it slid off the bug's tough, leathery skin, unable to wound it. Ignoring the blade-like wind on its back, the insect swung two of its legs down at Naoto, who was still rolling on the ground. Naoto could only stare in shock.

The insect's leg grazed Naoto's left shoulder, sinking into the concrete beside his face. The other leg narrowly missed capturing his torso. His evasion had been purely instinctual, a response driven by raw survival.

There was a strange feeling in his left ear. As he struggled to process this, he continued to breathe heavily, his whole body trembling. He was still alive. But at the same time, he realized something. The insect was now looming over Naoto, and right in front of him lay Saya, slumped like a broken doll.

"Naoto... the Soul Eater..." Raquel stumbled as she tried to run towards him, her voice trailing off. It was as if she had lost words. But Naoto understood what she was trying to say.

He could reach her now.

It wasn't enough to tear off the arm and retrieve Saya. But it was enough to kill.

If he killed Saya, Soul Eater would stop.

It will stop.

“Are you going to kill it?”

A voice asked the question. Where did it come from? Naoto was bewildered as he realized that his surroundings had closed in with darkness, leaving him unable to see anything.

His body, which should have been lying down, felt as if it were standing upright. There was no pain from his injuries, nor was there the fear of the insect looming nearby.

So where was he, and what was happening to him now?

Before Naoto could even gather his thoughts about the situation, the voice asked again.

"Will you kill her?"

Kill who? His sister... Saya.

The voice that asked was unfamiliar—deep, heavy, and powerful.

"Will you kill your sibling?"

“Of course I will!” Naoto squeezed out in a dry voice, unable to even look at himself. He had to stop Soul Eater. If he didn’t, both Raquel and he would die. Many innocent people would die too.

Saya was the murderer of Naoto's parents. Because of her, Naoto's peaceful life had been plunged into a bloody tragedy. That memory was deeply ingrained in his mind, something he could never forget.

In addition, Saya was trying to kill him to become the head of the family. She was trying to take his life, all for such a purpose, as if it were a noble cause.

Who would complain if he killed her?

Who would be sad if he killed her?

She was a girl feared and shunned by everyone.

“But still…” Naoto spat out. “Of course I’m going to save you!”

The moment he shouted, Naoto’s vision suddenly cleared. Before him was an enormous insect looming over him, and Saya, unconscious in its abdomen. The situation hadn’t changed. His time of hesitation in the black world seemed as if it had never existed in reality.

His ragged breathing calmed down. The insect’s jaws opened with a spring-like motion, ready to finish off its helpless prey. The jaws, curving gently, became flatter and sharper towards the tip, easily capable of slicing through human flesh and bone.

But before the jaws could decapitate him, Naoto moved as if he had been shot. His stomach was burning. It felt like something was boiling inside him. Driven by a sense of urgency bordering on desperation, he leaped up and punched with all his might.

"Uaaaaaah!" An involuntary scream erupted from his throat. His fist plunged straight into the bug's abdomen. His right arm was encased in a crimson, steel-like substance. With another blow, this time an upward thrust, he struck the bug's torso. His left hand grabbed the bug's leg.

His fist couldn't pierce the bug's skin this time. However, he could feel a distinctly different sensation of flesh and blood.

It was working. Although he couldn't visually confirm whether damage was actually being inflicted because the life force number above the bug's head was still '0,' Naoto was certain of it.

"Saya..."

Seemingly taken aback by the unexpected counterattack, the insect began thrashing around. To restrain the writhing giant, Naoto grabbed one of the insect's legs with his right hand to pin it down.

"Let go of meeeee!"

There was the sound of something hard breaking, and the bug’s black, armor-like skin split open in front of Naoto. Twisting its joint, he wrenched the bug’s leg off, spewing a foul liquid. A putrid, meat-like stench filled the air.

Tossing away the severed leg, Naoto grabbed the other leg that was still holding Saya and tore it off as well.

Angered by the violent act, the insect swung its jaws toward Naoto's head. Despite its size, its movements were swift, like a falling guillotine. If he had tried to dodge, he would have lost half his head. So Naoto raised both arms beside his face to block the approaching jaws from both sides.

His left arm, however, was not unscathed. The jaws’ blades sunk into his flesh, but they didn’t shatter the bone.

"Damn it..."

The insect's jaws continued to press down, intent on crushing Naoto. Naoto pushed back against the jaws, enduring the burning pain in his left arm as they sank deeper into the flesh with every push, unlike his right arm that was completely protected by a layer of blood.

Then a gust of wind swept past. A golden ribbon of hair fluttered at the edge of Naoto's vision. Raquel jumped in and delivered a powerful kick to the insect's jaw from below. With a hard crack, the bug's grip weakened for a moment. In that instant, Naoto escaped the threat of being amputated.

Flipping in midair, Raquel landed another kick on the jaw. The inhuman strength, befitting a vampire, forced the bug to stagger back. Taking advantage of the opening, Naoto stepped in.

A leg, swinging like a flail, slashed horizontally. Naoto caught it with his raised right arm and positioned his body to slip beneath the insect, aiming for its abdomen. One wrong move and he'd be crushed. If he was pierced by one of the countless moving legs, it would be the end. Using the leg he had just been pierced by—still soaked in blood—as leverage, he slammed his knee into it.

Another hard crack.

One more time, and then another. He continued to slam his knee, then switched to his fists. The insect's jaws thrashed wildly, swatting Naoto aside as he struggled with its abdomen.

As Naoto was sent flying like a pendulum, Raquel's wind quickly caught him. Taking advantage of that opening, Raquel was also swept away by the insect's jaws, but in the meantime, Naoto rushed to cover the distance he had been thrown.

Raquel's wind pushed him from behind. Naoto ran at the same speed as the wind. Slipping into the abdomen he had been pounding just moments ago, he thrust his right hand in with all his might. Finally, there was the sound of flesh tearing, and Naoto's blood-stained fist ripped a hole into the bug's body.

As he pulled his arm out, heavy bodily fluids poured out like a waterfall. The stench was horrible.

Ignoring it, Naoto kicked off the ground. The wind became his wings. Leaping high, Naoto reached above the insect's head and, this time, using the power of the wind to aid his descent, he drove his right arm into the insect's eye. After the feeling of breaking plastic, a jelly-like sensation came.

"Gagaga, ga, gagagagagaga!" The bug convulsed violently. But there was no extra reaction, no sign of pain. It simply thrashed around, trying to attack Naoto, and slammed its head into the concrete, keeping Naoto attached.

“...!” A silent scream escaped from Naoto's throat. The pain was distant, merely heavy. Naoto, buried under the insect's full weight and sunk into the concrete floor, was helplessly crushed.

(…No, I can move.)

It was different from that time... when he had first faced the Apostle and was buried under the rubble, unable to move. Even though the bug was crushing him, Naoto could move. It was then that he finally realized his body wasn’t being crushed at all.

A thin membrane, like... the wind, was separating Naoto from the concrete and from the bug, creating a thin protective barrier.

(Raquel…)

The reason he couldn’t breathe was because of the wind pressure. If that was the case, there was nothing to fear.

"Thank you... Master!"

Squeezing out a voice that was almost a whisper, Naoto grinned at the corners of his mouth. The wind seemed to dissipate as if losing its strength. The weight of the bug increased accordingly, but Naoto's body became free. As soon as the wind completely collapsed and disappeared, Naoto grabbed the bug's head with both arms. With a muffled thud echoing through his body, he poured all his strength into it.

"Ah… ah... g-n-n-n… OOOOOH!" Roaring from the depths of his stomach, Naoto pushed back against the bug's massive body with all his might. The weight that seemed immovable began to shift under his force.

Naoto could feel the blood rushing through his body like fire. His strength was circulating. It felt more like squeezing than surging, and Naoto lifted the massive body he was holding.

He saw a dark figure in the distance. Anger welled up inside him. He let out a roar of rage, expelling it like a breath from a bellows.

“Uraaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Naoto swung the massive body of the bug he had lifted and hurled it toward Spinner, who stood frozen with a look as if witnessing something grotesque.

===Part 4===

For a while, sound and sensation felt distant, and Naoto gasped for breath in the center of the shattered concrete crater, his whole body heaving. The blood vessels in his body had burst and were gushing out, soaking his forehead and back, and he almost lost consciousness. Blood was flowing from various places, and he couldn't tell where the sweat ended and the blood began.

A high-pitched ringing echoed in his ears. His blurred vision, which had been barely rising and falling with his breaths, gradually began to regain clarity.

It was night. A round moon hung in the sky, wrapped in a light that seemed both silver and gold, casting a soft glow over the dark rooftop. The cold wind blowing in from nowhere felt refreshingly cool against his body, which was nearing its limit.

“Right...”

As he watched the sweat dripping from his forehead to his chin and then to the ground, Naoto finally began to stir his sluggish thoughts. He moved his creaking body and turned to look over his shoulder.

Not far away, at the edge of the crater, Raquel was sitting and looking over at him. A girl’s head rested on her lap. It was unclear whether Saya was alive or dead. Her pale pink kimono lay lifeless, completely rumpled.

It seemed like such a waste for something that should have been so beautiful. With that random thought in mind, Naoto awkwardly climbed out of the crater.

“Thanks, Raquel.” As he approached her, Naoto managed a faint smile. It was obvious to Naoto that Saya was alive. Although it was much lower than that of a normal human, there was a sufficient life force number floating above Saya's sleeping head.

Raquel must have been protecting Saya just as she had protected Naoto. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude when he looked into her large, golden eyes that were gazing up at him.

“Uh, are you okay?” It was Raquel he was more worried about. Naoto grimaced as he asked.

The number floating above Raquel's head had decreased significantly. Apparently, the absorption of life force by Soul Eater had stopped, and the decrease in numbers had also stopped. But the number, which was eighty million, had dropped to ten million.

Naoto didn't know how critical a situation that was for a vampire. But after losing that much, there was no way she could be fine. In fact, Raquel had looked quite strained during the battle with the bug.

Would she go into his shadow and rest as she had before? Contrary to Naoto's expectations, Raquel gently laid Saya down on the concrete floor and stood up with a calm composure.

“I’m fine. More importantly, Naoto, this girl—”

“Ah, yeah.”

With that, Raquel brushed past Naoto and began walking away. What was she planning to do? Prompted by her tone, Naoto moved to stand beside Saya and watched Raquel’s movements.

Raquel headed toward the massive corpse of the insect that had been thrown on the rooftop of the building under construction. Beneath the lifeless body, which had lost its strength and could no longer move, was the upper half of a human. It was Spinner, who had been crushed after failing to dodge the creature Naoto had thrown.

With a light jump, Raquel crossed over the crater and landed beside the crawling Spinner.

The distance between Naoto and the place where Raquel and Spinner were wasn't that far. It was about twenty meters, with the crater in between. But to Naoto the scene looked like something happening on the other side of the Boundary.

“You’ve lost, Spinner Superior.” Raquel said quietly to Spinner, who was unable to crawl out from under the monster he had created.

Naoto remembered something he had completely forgotten. Raquel had been targeted by Spinner, but Raquel had also been targeting Spinner. Her goal was to obtain all information about the Azure that Spinner possessed. She probably intended to extract it from him.

Spinner, who was lying on his back, stretched his neck to look up at Raquel, who was standing in a position just out of reach of his outstretched hand.

"No…" Though his breathing was surely being constricted, Spinner responded calmly, almost serenely, a faint smile even appearing at the corners of his mouth.

It wasn't a look of defeat. Raquel frowned, puzzled. As if gazing at something dazzling, Spinner narrowed his eyes.

“No, Raquel Alucard. It seems you are greatly mistaken. I never thought I could win against you. Such an audacious notion is far too presumptuous. Didn’t I tell you? Or have you forgotten... about my law...”

His tone was gentle, yet there was an unexpected glimmer of something ominous mixed in. The air grew tense. Spinner deepened his smile and spoke with a hint of rapture.

“I said I want to have you.”

The moment Spinner finished that thought, suddenly, his shadow loomed large on the gray concrete floor, creeping up to Raquel's feet. Naturally, it was not a shadow cast by the empty moon. From the writhing shadow, something began to rise.

"Raquel!" Sensing something was wrong, Naoto shouted sharply. Raquel also sensed the disturbance, trying to pull her feet away from the eerie shadow at her feet. But those feet were ensnared by the countless legs that emerged from the darkness.

“Wha...!”

The shadow quickly took form, overpowering Raquel's voice of astonishment.

It resembled... a spider.

Though it was less massive than the enormous, grotesque insect from before, the sinister atmosphere it exuded was even more overwhelming.

Its black body had a vague outline, making it difficult to distinguish from the shadow. Eight white, bone-like legs, which seemed to have no flesh, stretched from the dark abyss and crawled up the concrete floor.

Those legs moved skillfully, grabbing Raquel and dragging her into its depths. It was trying to swallow her into the gaping maw of shadow.

“What... what is this power...?” Raquel, restrained by the bony legs, struggled to break free. But her feet sank into the shadow as if she had stepped into a swamp.

"Raquel! Run! Hurry!" Without understanding what was happening, Naoto started running urgently. He ran straight towards Raquel, crossing the broken and unstable ground. His injured legs felt like weights. He had never realized how bothersome it was that his wounds wouldn't heal. He seemed to have gotten used to his half-finished body. Stumbling and nearly falling, Naoto stretched out his arm with all his might.

Raquel also stretched her thin arm towards Naoto from between the cage-like bone legs.

"Nao...to..." It was the first time he had heard her voice begging for help. But before she could finish, the spider closed its eight legs like the mouth of an insectivorous plant, completely swallowing Raquel into the shadows. He could almost hear the sound of her being gulped down.

Having lost his target, Naoto leaned forward and fell to the ground. His outstretched arm had only grazed the edge of the shadow.

“No… this can’t be happening…” Naoto’s mind struggled to keep up with the shocking situation unfolding before him. He stared in disbelief at the writhing shape of the spider creature.

Raquel was gone. Not a single strand of her golden hair was visible. Instead, the eight bones opened again with a strange movement, returning to the shape of a spider's legs, and the shadow that had swallowed Raquel slowly climbed up onto the spider. The shadow writhed and took the form of a man. Spinner.

Looking down, Spinner was no longer under the giant bug's corpse. With his upper body protruding from the spider's body, Spinner pulled out a long, thin arm from the writhing darkness and spread his long, thin fingers wide, gazing at his hands with a smile.

"I have it... finally... ah, at last, what I have long sought..." The words came out in fragmented sighs, like whispers between the chimes of a bell. Spinner's thin, bony fingers trembled slightly as he crossed his outstretched hands over his chest. His eyebrows furrowed with intense pleasure.

His form could hardly be called human. His upper body still had the form of the man, Spinner Superior, but his lower half had lost all semblance of humanity, merging with the bony legs of the spider that crawled from the shadows. Half human, half monster. His appearance, which seemed to belong in a myth, filled Naoto with an intense feeling of disgust.

"Hey... you... what the hell did you do... to Raquel!?" Stumbling to his feet, Naoto shouted, shaking off the disgust that seemed to bind his whole body. He didn't understand what was happening. Whenever Naoto had questions, it was always Raquel who answered them.

But now Raquel was gone, and in her place was the strange man who had swallowed her, answering Naoto's questions.

“It’s exactly as it appears. I have absorbed Raquel Alucard, the key to reach the Azure. Her soul will slowly melt inside me, merging with mine until we become completely identical. We will fuse… yes, we will become one. I will merge with everything she has and eventually reach an unknown mystery…” Spinner sang as if it were something wonderful and sweet. And he probably truly believed it. “Oh, I never expected to obtain it so soon. Thanks to Soul Eater, I was able to create a special insect designed to capture Raquel Alcard.”

“Special insect…? So you weren’t after that huge thing after all…”

No matter how it had come to be, the insect that Spinner had carefully nurtured during their battle was the key to swallowing Raquel and merging with her.

Defeating Naoto wasn’t particularly important to Spinner; it was merely a diversion. While he watched Naoto desperately running and struggling, he must have thought, Come to me, Raquel Alucard… while licking his lips.

Spinner spread his arms wide and looked up at the sky.

"Now... I can hear it, I can feel it... I see the Gate. Distortion, open your mouth now and guide me… to the chaotic emptiness where everything swirls… to the ‘Boundary’!” He proclaimed loudly, as if some divine being were present.

His voice and words became powerful, causing a dark red magic circle to appear beneath the spider legs. The magic circle glowed dully, and its light flickered slowly like the heartbeat of a formless monster.

Something was stirring. A black mist surrounded Spinner, creeping in from all directions. It gradually began to gather beside him, starting to swirl like a whirlpool in the void. The vortex grew larger and larger.

Naoto frowned at the sight. He felt a sense of dread. Something very bad was about to begin. Above all, if this was the result of absorbing Raquel… it was terribly, terribly, unbearably unforgivable.

"You bastard... You used Raquel for something you don't even understand!" He raised his voice, trying to rouse himself. Naoto scolded himself for nearly succumbing to the pain and fear that threatened to overwhelm him, and he charged at Spinner.

Fortunately, the sensation from earlier still lingered. His fist, drawn back, instantly turned red, stained with Raquel's blood. But… just before reaching his target, Naoto’s right arm abruptly vanished.

“...Huh?”

With a heavy thud, what had once been his arm transformed into a mass of blood, falling at his feet. It happened in an instant. Without any pain, Naoto’s right arm, from the shoulder down, was gone, revealing a black, smooth cross-section devoid of flesh or bone.

He stopped short, frozen, just a step away, as Spinner quickly extended his arm and pressed his palm against Naoto's abdomen. In the next moment, a force erupted from that hand.

"Ugh..." A blow far more powerful than any clumsy punch struck Naoto's abdomen, gouging into it. The upward thrust from below completely took Naoto's breath away for a second, violently shaking his crammed internal organs.

“Geh, gah... oeh, *cough*!” With his lungs and stomach convulsing, Naoto collapsed to his knees, coughing violently. He had only taken one hit. Yet his brain was fading and his eyes were welling up with tears.

"There's no need to be so flustered, it's only natural." Spinner looked down at Naoto, who was doubled over coughing, from a higher position than before due to his monstrous transformation. "That right arm of yours was made from Raquel Alucard's blood, wasn't it? But Raquel Alucard has been absorbed into me, and your connection to her has weakened. Thus, the benefits of her blood have also lost their power. It’s as simple as that..."

"Damn it... then!" Biting his lip once, Naoto stepped forward again. Pivoting on his armless right side, he swung his leg horizontally, trying to kick the bony leg to pieces. But at that moment, a strange creature lunged from the ground and bit into his supporting leg.

It was so sudden that he couldn't tell if it was an insect or something else entirely. All he could see was a bulging eye that seemed on the verge of popping out and a disturbingly perfect set of pure white teeth.

“Ugh…”

Suddenly, his knee buckled, and he collapsed to the ground, unable to support himself. He didn't want to think about what had just happened, but his mind understood all too well. Memories of the time he had lost his arm in the abandoned apartment complex flooded back. A heavy, distant pain asserted itself behind the shock of loss, throbbing insistently.

He knew, but he couldn't help but look. Naoto looked at his lower right limb over his shoulder with his armless right side. His right leg had been bitten off just above the knee. A moment later, thick blood began to flow from the wound, as if it had been forgotten about.

Spinner looked down at him with a mocking smile. “Do you remember what I just said? Your connection to Raquel Alucard is fading... Her existence is gradually merging with me. ...Heh, the benefits you received from her were not limited to just your right arm, you foolish trash.”

The grandiose voice spoke the truth. Naoto would have been dead without Raquel's help. Thanks to her, he had gained an arm made of her blood and the regenerative abilities of an immortal body. If that connection was gone, then Naoto was no longer immortal. The unhealable wound and the lost leg meant a severance from Raquel.

"It can't be..." Crawling on the cold ground, Naoto pressed his hands down and forced himself to rise, despite the pain. Just because his connection to Raquel was weak—no, precisely because it was weak—he couldn't just lie there like this.

There were many things he had received from Raquel. His right arm was one. His resilient body was another. But more than anything, he had been given life. As long as Naoto existed, the connection between him and Raquel had not been severed.

Naoto was still alive. Until that connection faded, struggling and fighting back was the least a "servant" could do in return for the precious "master" who had shared such a grand thing as life. It was a troublesome situation—like an accident waiting to happen, filled with various troublesome conditions— but thanks to Raquel, Naoto could still be "Naoto Kurogane" today, just like yesterday.

As long as they were connected, he should be able to pull her back.

"Uoooooooh!"

Forcing his separated body to move, Naoto planted his feet on the ground. He pushed his heavy body up with his left arm. But that arm was suddenly seized by a pitch-black jaw with sharp fangs.

It was too late by the time he realized it, and Naoto collapsed into a pool of his own blood. He felt nauseous from the smell of his own blood. He tried to get up, but there were no more arms to support him. The right arm was gone from under his shoulder, and the left arm was gone from under his elbow, and neither would respond to Naoto's will.

Struggling without arms in the red puddle, Naoto was like a fish washed up on the beach.

"Hmm. You’ve become quite the sight. Like a dying caterpillar," Spinner said dismissively. At his feet, skeletal legs made dry sounds as they rearranged themselves. Naoto, forgetting his screams, could only expel harsh, ragged breaths. He didn't know which of his senses was in pain. He could feel himself rapidly weakening. But he was still alive.

"Raquel... give her back..."

Gritting his teeth, Naoto tried to keep his consciousness from fading as he struggled in the blood. Spinner looked down at him coldly.

"What a pathetic sight... To think this is the man Raquel Alcard presented to me as a condition. Understand this with your own body. You are nothing more than living trash, writhing at my feet, waiting to be discarded."

Spinner frowned as if looking at filth, and a needle formed at the corner of his mouth where the tattoo was. A muddy shadow stretched from beneath the bony spider legs that tapped on the ground, wrapping around Naoto's remaining left ankle. It tightened with a relentless force, binding him like garbage.

"You lowly sinner," it hissed, "this is your punishment."

Lifting him high enough for their gazes to meet, Spinner leaned in to look at Naoto's bloodied and tormented face.

"For you, a mere piece of filth, to have spoken to and touched the one chosen by the Azure... it is a defilement, a sin." The shadow tightened its grip around Naoto's ankle, the bones creaking under the pressure. "Every breath you've taken while associating with Raquel Alucard is a stain upon existence. Don't expect a quick death. No, you will witness everything... the fulfillment of my lifelong ambition to reach the Azure's wisdom, and the slow decay of your own powerlessness."

As soon as Spinner finished speaking, Naoto's body, held taut by the shadow, was violently swung from side to side. With a force that seemed more playful than lethal, he was slammed into the hard floor.

A pool of blood splattered across Naoto's face, staining it crimson. He was lifted again, blood dripping from his matted hair. This time, he was flung sideways, crashing into a makeshift scaffolding. The impact caused the pipes to buckle, striking his back and head, but the pain was almost nonexistent.

The back of his head felt numb, and his vision blurred. He couldn't comprehend his situation.

(What does he mean, "witness everything"?)

Naoto muttered weakly in his flickering consciousness. He felt like he was about to die.

The black vortex that was swirling beside Spinner, like an entrance to something, had somehow grown much larger. He wondered if this was the “lifelong ambition” that Spinner was talking about.

If this torture continued, Naoto doubted he would survive long enough to see the portal fully open.

(No, I have to do something. I have to save Raquel.)
But as he thought these words, his consciousness slipped away into darkness.

—

A voice.

Deep within his sinking consciousness, Naoto heard a voice calling out from somewhere.

It was that voice. The voice of the man he didn’t know, who had suddenly asked him such an intrusive question.

"What now?" Naoto thought. He wondered if the man was going to complain about him being worthless.

That’s right. What a sight I’m in. Sinking into a swamp of consciousness without sensation, Naoto mocks himself. He was weak. Overwhelmingly so. He couldn't even save the girl who had tried to help him, and now he was being hacked to pieces.

"I don't want to end like this..." he muttered.

A voice seemed to be asking something. But perhaps he was losing himself even within his own consciousness, for he couldn't understand what was being said. He couldn't hear.

"But, yeah," Naoto thought with a mind as frayed as thread. "If someone's going to save me... if they're going to let me stand again... and if they're going to give me enough strength to beat the crap out of that annoying bug-man, I'll gladly take whoever's hand, no matter who they are. I would never want it to end like this.”

Though he didn't say it out loud, he felt like screaming these words into the darkness. At that moment, someone's consciousness suddenly drew near. He felt like he was being pulled towards it, so strongly that he thought he was hallucinating. But he wasn’t.

As the presence of whoever it was drew closer, a pair of pitch-black arms extended from the depths of the darkness, where even his own form was invisible, and struck Naoto's chest with a heavy thud.

With that impact, Naoto woke up. His body jolted, trembling. Spinner, who was about to slam him to the ground, stopped in surprise.

The transformation began immediately. The blood that had been steadily dripping from Naoto's severed left arm and right leg stopped. In its place, a dark substance began to ooze out.

The rough, black mist, like a mass of shadows, smoothly and unhesitatingly shaped itself as if it were pouring water into a predetermined groove. The darkness rapidly solidified into an arm. Then, the damaged leg was restored.

"What the..." Spinner gasped in bewilderment. As if hearing that voice, Naoto's eyes snapped open. But they were not the usual soft, brownish black he was born with. They were red, as if blood had dripped into them and stained them a different color. As if seeping in, the blood-soaked black hair turned white.

Naoto's body moved. A realization struck him with the clarity of a taut string. Suspended in mid-air, he folded his body and sprang up. Grasping the viscous shadow that clung to his ankle with his newly revived hand, he pulled with all his might. With a sound like clay tearing, the shadow snapped.

Having forcefully gained his freedom, Naoto flipped his body a short distance to the ground and landed gracefully on his hands like a cat. A black insect flew out from Spinner's shadow, aiming for a landing. The insect bared its sharp fangs, intent on claiming Naoto's newly revived arm.

But Naoto crushed the insect with a single punch, his arm moving like a spring. Rising as if propelled by the impact, he closed the distance without hesitation.

Naoto's foot, launched high into the air, came crashing down onto Spinner's shoulder. Spinner, unable to counter a blow with the force of a swinging axe, stumbled back a few steps, dragging his spider-like legs.

With only a slight distance between them, Naoto swung his arms wide and pulled them back forcefully. A dark red substance gathered in the palm of his outstretched hand. Its viscous texture closely resembled the blood that had been spewing from Naoto's shoulder and thigh moments earlier.

—

The trembling red creates a long, slender handle, at the end of which resides a large blade. A big scythe was born. Naoto’s pitch-black arm grabbed the handle.

“Blood Edge...” Spinner’s mouth uttered in astonishment, as if in disbelief at what he was seeing.

True to its name, what Naoto held was indeed a blade of blood.

A blood-soaked blade.

In the next moment, faster than a blink, Naoto's scythe flashed. The scythe, arcing through the air, plunged deep into Spinner's body, slicing through flesh and bone in one swift motion. The sound of breath escaping burst out of the black man's chest. Dragging a wet sound, the sickle forcefully scattered the blackened blood around it.

One more strike. And another. And another. The sickle repeated its slashes, mercilessly cutting apart Spinner, or what was left of it.

With yet another slash, Spinner was forcefully pushed back, his body staggering and retreating. All but three of the eight bone legs that supported its body were shattered, spread out like broken pieces.

"Ga... ah..."

His body, carved up by countless intersecting wounds, was so mutilated that it was a wonder it still retained a human form. It was spewing an enormous amount of blood, staining his white hands.

Spinner's blood was pitch black. The soot-like blood flowed down its misshapen lower limbs, staining even the shattered bone legs. He could neither unleash insects nor manipulate shadows. The fierce assault, surpassing any movements a human could make, embodied the phrase “faster than the eye could track,” leaving Spinner no room for resistance.

What had changed this powerless boy? Spinner couldn't comprehend it. It was incomprehensible.

Before Spinner, still unable to fully accept the mercilessness that had befallen him, Naoto leaped lightly, closing the distance in an instant.

Black arm, black leg, white hair, red eyes.

"...Be devoured by the darkness..." With a thin opening, a feeling emerges, whispering softly. In response to that whisper, Naoto, who had seemed possessed and expressionless until then, felt a spark of emotion ignite within him.

"You… bastard!" His eyes widened in rage, and a feral killing intent filled him. With a mighty swing, his scythe sliced through the night in a crimson arc. The blade plunged deep into the black man’s flesh, tearing him open.

"Gah, gah, aaaah, aaah!" Spinner let out a distorted scream. But Naoto paid no attention to the sound or the dark blood splattering onto him. Discarding the bloody scythe, he thrust his arm into the gaping hole in Spinner's body.

What he found was not the flesh or bone of a living being, but a deep, pure black darkness. And so, Naoto understood immediately.

Raquel is in there.

For a brief moment, he felt the sensation of flesh, but soon his arm was submerged in an unfathomable darkness. Naoto, undeterred, rummaged through the depths of the darkness, which was clearly deeper than the thickness of Spinner's body, searching for his goal.

From the writhing body of Spinner, shadowy arms extended, grasping Naoto’s arm and shoulder. Instead of tearing him away, the countless arms attempted to pull him deeper into the fissure.

Struggling against the desperate force, he continued to push his arm further inside. At last, the sensation of smooth fabric brushed against his fingertips.

(There!)

For just a fleeting moment, he made contact, but he wouldn’t let it slip away. Naoto sank deeper, submerging his shoulder into Spinner, and desperately reached out to embrace what he had touched. The familiar texture of a slender, delicate waist. In the clinging, swamp-like darkness, Naoto held it tightly to his chest.

"Raquel! ...Come out, Raquel!" He shouted, shaking her violently. With a savage force, he tore away the shadow-arms that clung to his hair, clothes, and arms. Then, with all his might, he pulled himself free. "I won’t let you take her!"

With all his strength, Naoto kicked fiercely at Spinner with his remaining leg.

[[File:BE2-4.png|frameless|right]]

===Part 5===

Raquel watched.

She listened. She felt.

She sensed everything happening around her with all five senses.

The strength of the voice calling her, the warmth of the arms holding her... she felt it all.

Darkness.

Recognition.

In the enclosed darkness, "Raquel Alucard", whose self-awareness was becoming hazy, was forcibly dragged out and saw the moon in the sky with her own eyes.

It was a beautiful full moon.

At that moment, she was certain.

She had definitely chosen "him."

For a brief moment, he thought he had lost consciousness. But Naoto realized it was not so when he was startled by his own ridiculously noisy breathing.

"Ha, ha... ze, ha... zee, ze... ha, ha, ha, ha..." There was no way his breath would calm down at such an absurd pace. Contrary to his oddly calm thoughts, his body was desperately trying to take in oxygen, his shoulders heaving up and down.

Naoto was almost touching the ground but was slightly raised, in a crouched position. His body was heavy, his senses were dull, and he felt an overwhelming sense of fatigue, as if his whole body had come apart at the seams. Nevertheless, he knew he was alive. Could there be such a suffocating death?

Gradually, his body remembered how to breathe properly. As the tense muscles slowly relaxed... Naoto realized that a golden-haired girl was in his arms. It was Raquel.

He let out a sigh of relief. He could see a number above her head. A number in the tens of millions, overwhelmingly lower than usual, but she was definitely alive.

"...You look terrible." Raquel stirred slightly in Naoto's arms and opened her eyes slowly. She looked up at him with her large golden eyes and blinked once. He could clearly see her long eyelashes fluttering up and down like a doll's. And those were her first words after being saved. Naoto burst out laughing.

"You’re one to talk."

Raquel was a mess, covered in Naoto's blood, Spinner's blood, and the insect’s bodily fluids. The tattered ribbon still held her hair in place, but it was not neat.

Raquel sighed wearily. Gently pushing Naoto's chest, she staggered to her feet and looked down at the body that had just been holding her.

"I can say this much: I'm doing far better than you."

"Ah..." Naoto, upon looking at himself again, groaned softly. It was indeed a horrific sight. The left arm and right leg, which had been replaced by something black until just a moment ago, had completely vanished without a trace. As if to compensate, his right arm, created from Raquel's blood, had somehow returned to normal.

"Of course. Your right arm was lost because I was consumed by Spinner. It returned when you brought me back," Raquel explained. At the same time, Naoto's regeneration ability had also returned.

However, the injuries he had sustained while Raquel was absorbed by Spinner could not be healed even by his regeneration. When the connection to Raquel was severed, Naoto had been just a "normal human." Wounds from that time would not regenerate, just as his lost right arm had not returned when he first encountered Spinner's Apostle.

"That's right, Spinner!" At the mention of the name, Naoto jumped up as if he had been shocked. But the right arm he tried to use to support himself couldn't bear his weight, and it twitched and shook as he raised his upper body, unable to push himself up any further.

Instead of Naoto, Raquel turned around, staggering slightly. Through her, Naoto saw the crouched figure of a black-clad man.

"......What the...?" Naoto's expression twisted in shock. Could he really call what was there—no, who was there—Spinner Superior? The man's spider-like lower limbs were melting away, resembling overcooked flesh, and he was slumped against the ground. At the center, the man in black was curled up, hugging himself. With bony, thin shoulders, elongated arms, unnaturally pale skin, and tousled gray hair, he bore the unmistakable features of Spinner.

But his body was writhing strangely, as if countless insects were rampaging inside him. Arms, chest, back, it didn’t matter. Ignoring the positions of his joints and organs, his body was twisting and distorting its shape, as if it had lost all flesh and bone and become a mass of protoplasm.

"Gu, ooooo... oooOOOoooOOooh!"

A cry, sounding more like a vengeful spirit than a sound produced by a human throat, echoed through the area. It was a cry of agony.

Spinner's body trembled violently, beginning to collapse. It resembled a dry sand dune being gradually eroded by the wind. His crumbling body was being sucked into the black vortex that still lingered behind him, turning into fine black dust.

"He's losing control." Raquel muttered in a voice somewhere between pity and contempt. "What he was trying to open was a gate to another space-time called the 'Boundary'. But that could only happen because he had absorbed me... After you forcibly pulled me away from Spinner, he lost control of the gate he was trying to open, and now his existence will be consumed."

If that happened, there would be no one to save him. Even though Naoto didn't fully understand Raquel's words, that was the part that left the strongest impression on him.

As if he had heard their conversation, Spinner raised his head, stretching his neck.

Naoto's breath caught slightly.

It was undoubtedly Spinner's face that was raised. But his body was already so black it was that the line between clothing and flesh was indistinguishable, and only his face stood out strangely white, as if a white mask had been fitted onto a black, amorphous body.

The hands, white and untouched by darkness, reached out, dragged by arms that were elongated and stretched even further. The mass of shadow undulated and moved forward in a grotesque manner, neither human legs nor spider legs propelling him.

"Return... Azure." The cursed, pleading voice, like the scream before, was distorted, muddy, and twisted, unlike Spinner's original voice. "Return... return, return, it's mine, my Azure..." While calling out 'Azure', Spinner stared at Raquel with clouded eyes.

They were not far enough apart. Raquel instinctively took a step back from the approaching Spinner. However, when her small hand touched Naoto, who couldn’t stand, she briefly turned back, a determined look on her face, and faced the grotesque man again, standing up as if propelled by a spring.

Although she wasn't as intimately connected as Naoto, she must have been quite weakened. But she stood in front of Naoto like a wall, protecting him.

"Are you crazy? Just run away!" Naoto shouted, realizing that Raquel was the one being targeted.

Without looking back at him, Raquel maintained a confident expression and snapped her fingers. "Don't underestimate me... A single sorcerer on the verge of losing his self-awareness—there's nothing to worry about."

"That's a lie! Quit screwing around, just fly off and escape—!" Naoto shouted, but deep down, he understood that the reason she wasn’t doing that was because she didn’t have the strength left to do so.

Spinner's body shook violently. Prompted by the tremors racing up from his feet to his entire body, his form expanded grotesquely. From within his body, whose thickness was hard to define, something like ribs burst outward, opening as if splashing muddy water.

Was it his arms spreading wide, or the gaping maw of his sin? The exposed bones extended like silver-tipped blades, quivering in ecstasy as if to devour something.

"Devour, devour, devour, devour, devour, devour, devour, devour! The key to the Azure... my key... To the profound depths of noble knowledge, don't touch those hands, filthy blood, tainting the Azure... My hands are the rightful bearer of Azure... My Azure... Azure, Azure, Azure, ahh... Aah, aaah, aaah... At the end of the endless cycle, I shall create the truth before my eyes!"

Spouting incomprehensible words in a strangely broken voice, Spinner lunged at Raquel and Naoto. Raquel braced herself, pushing both hands forward. She summoned the wind. But only a weak wind gathered.

With a swift kick, Spinner dispersed the tiny gust of resistance and exposed his rib-like fangs…

But his predatory attack was halted by countless swords that seemed to appear from nowhere.

"Gaaaahhhh!" Swords with a white phosphorescence rained down on Spinner from all directions, sewing his deformed black body to the gray floor. A heavy, wet sound splattered disgustingly, and a similar scream escaped from Spinner's contorted mouth. His fingers, now thin like bones, trembled with fury as he raised his neck, looking up to the sky.

"Co... come, Mosaic..." Spinner called out, black blood bubbling at the corner of his mouth. At the sound of his voice, Naoto and Raquel also looked towards the sky.

In the bright night sky with a round moon floating, Kiiro Hikagami was floating with her long golden hair swaying. But her appearance was quite different from the one Naoto and the others knew.

Her hair, which was always neatly tied up for easy movement, flowed down her back, creating a more glamorous look than intellectual. She wasn’t wearing the slender glasses she usually did. There was no tight skirt or sexy suit that drew attention to her figure. Instead, she wore a full-body suit primarily in white and yellow, tightly hugging her form.

It looked almost like armor, with several metallic parts attached to it. Particularly striking were the large pieces on her arms and legs, which resembled the swords that had just been fired at Spinner.

In a word, her appearance was bizarre.

If not for Kiiro’s face above her neck, one might think she was a robot from some science fiction movie.

From a position higher than Naoto and Spinner, Kiiro looked down at Spinner, her crimson-purple eyes clearly burning with killing intent.

"I won't allow you to touch Naoto-kun with your filthy hands anymore." She said it with a piercing coldness.

Even though the words weren’t directed at them, the tone of her voice sent a chill through the air. More than the coldness in her voice, the murderous intent contained within it stirred a primal fear, as if their very lives were being threatened.

But Spinner seemed to pay no attention to Kiiro’s piercing gaze or cold voice. He contorted his face into a grimace and scratched at his chest, letting out a guttural, gurgling sound from his throat. His expression was far removed from the grotesque figure he had been just a moment ago. It was doubtful if there was any reason left in Spinner, who was turning into this blackened mass.

Spinner let out a muffled, strangled cry, reaching out to grab Kiiro, who hovered in the air above him.

[[File:BE2-5.png|frameless|right]]

However, as Spinner tried to rise higher, Kiiro grimaced in disgust and thrust out her arm, adorned with a sword-like part.

The space around her rippled like the surface of water. From within, swords cloaked in white light appeared. The light swords descended upon Spinner in the same way as before, but this time in more than double the number.

The heavy, wet sound of many layers of blades overlapping drowned out Spinner’s final screams. Bathed in swords from all sides, Spinner hesitated, remaining in place for a moment. But finally, as though he could no longer resist, his body was pulled strongly backward.

The black vortex created by Spinner—the portal that should have led to the "Boundary"—was now waiting for the wizard consumed by his runaway magic.

"Gi... aa, aA... Aaah...!" Spinner screeched with a meaningless, strained voice as he was sucked into the distortion he had created, disappearing. The portal shrank, and eventually, without a sound, it vanished. Only the scattered dark blood remained, like the ashes of Spinner, and the surroundings became eerily quiet.

"Ha..." Without realizing it, his breath had stopped, and Naoto slumped his shoulders, letting out a breath that had been trapped in his chest. His strength drained away, and the right arm he had been using to support himself gave out. Sliding his head along the concrete, Naoto collapsed onto his back.

"Ah... enough... It's over, it's over..." He muttered words that even he didn't quite understand.

Looking up at the sky, Naoto found Kiiro in her strange outfit. As their eyes met, Kiiro frowned painfully and descended towards Naoto.

"Naoto-kun..."

Kneeling beside him, Kiiro leaned forward, cupping his face with her bodysuit-covered hands.

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry I took so long... Oh, you've been so hurt... If I had gotten here sooner, I could have... I could have stopped all this...!" Her voice trembled emotionally, her face on the verge of tears. Finally, as if overwhelmed, she pulled Naoto’s head tightly against her chest.

The feeling of her soft breasts against the bodysuit was vivid. Naoto unconsciously pushed Kiiro's body away with more force than necessary.

"Hey, let go, calm down... ... I'm glad you came, but we can do that later..."

"No. I can't do it later." Kiiro firmly rejected Naoto's soothing offer, as if discarding her previous attitude. She turned her head to the side, and her gaze stopped when it landed on Raquel. Her eyes, staring fixedly, were filled with a harsh reproach.

"Raquel Alucard..." Raquel, who had been silent until then, stiffened at the low, threatening tone of Kiiro's voice. She flinched, as if trying to escape, and her gaze dropped to the floor.

Kiiro stood up, glaring at Raquel with overwhelming intensity. She extended her arm, and the sword-like parts attached to her arm were pointed directly at Raquel’s neck. The sharp tip, more dangerous than it appeared, was aimed precisely at Raquel’s throat.

"I can’t overlook this any longer. You are going to make Naoto-kun unhappy... make him suffer, hurt him..."

"I…" Raquel inhaled sharply as Kiiro's words, as sharp as the point of a blade, were thrust at her. She lifted her gaze, which she had once averted, and locked eyes with Kiiro. From her eyes, tone, and most of all, the murderous intent that was in no way concealed, Raquel could feel exactly what Kiiro was about to say.

"You can't protect Naoto-kun. If that's the case, then I will... I will protect Naoto-kun. I'll kill you and make Naoto-kun mine!"

"Wh-what are you talking about! You can't just..." Naoto couldn’t finish his words.

Without even turning to acknowledge Naoto’s plea, Kiiro extended her arm and summoned countless swords around her. They were the same swords she had used to carve Spinner to pieces just moments ago.

"Hey, wait! Stop it!"

“Ugh...”

“I won’t let you have Naoto Kurogane!” As Naoto struggled to get up, Raquel, despite her condition, braced herself. Even though she had no strength left to either receive or dodge the attack. At Kiiro’s command, the swords were unleashed all at once. Multiple deaths tore through the cold air. A chill ran down Naoto’s spine.

... And then, a soft, swaying night breeze cut between Kiiro and Raquel.

Suddenly appearing from the night, there was a man with long, glossy black hair reflecting the white moonlight and red eyes. With a single outstretched hand, he gently stopped all the swords that had been aimed at Raquel, and a faint smile appeared on his lips.

Kiiro's eyes widened in astonishment at his appearance. His appearance was something she had never anticipated, not even in the slightest. A sharp breath escaped her, and her voice trembled, her round eyes betraying her disbelief.

"Clavis... Alucard..."

It was the name of the monster among monsters that the Mitsurugi Agency, to which Kiiro belonged, had been hunting for years. Despite searching high and low, they had never been able to track his movements, and just recently, two mercenaries they had hired at a high price had come into contact with him—only to return with no useful information, having failed to capture him.

And here he was, blatantly revealing himself in front of her, calmly accepting her attacks without any resistance. The surprise disoriented Kiiro, and her disorientation silenced her.

"That's enough, Kiiro Hikagami." Clavis spoke softly, as if scolding a child for a pointless prank.

Even though Raquel and Kiiro were both beautiful women, each with their own charm, Clavis's overwhelming beauty and the irresistible aura of his demonic power shifted the balance of the situation. With just those few words, he became the true master of the scene.

Clavis waved his hand lightly, as if dismissing the incoming swords. With a casual gesture, all the swords that Kiiro had summoned dissipated into fine particles of light.

"Naoto Kurogane would be sad if this continued."

"You seem confident. Do you understand your position, Clavis Alucard?"

In response to his gentle, yet deadly tone, Kiiro shot back, her words sharp as she tried to shake off her unease. She slid back slightly, her feet barely touching the ground, and took up a defensive stance, ready to strike with the swords in her arms at a moment's notice.

"You are a target for extermination by the Mitsurugi Agency. I can't let you go here!" That was Kiiro's mission, and the mission of the Mitsurugi Agency to which she belonged.

But Clavis seemed uninterested in the sharp needle pointed at him, and he squinted his eyes sharply, twisting his lips somewhat sarcastically.

"It seems you're mistaken. The one who should be letting go... is you," the vampire, who reigned over the moonlight with such sweetness, threatened Kiiro. "If you want to die in vain, I don't mind granting your wish, but I refuse to lay a hand on the one taking care of my daughter. I will not ask you to disappear. Put away your weapons."

At those words, Kiiro hesitated, her gaze wandering uncertainly. She eventually looked at Naoto, and her expression softened slightly.

"...Fine. But this is the only time I'll follow your orders." She muttered reluctantly. With a resigned sigh, Kiiro lowered her eyelids. At that signal, the metal armor attached to her arms and legs disengaged.

The pieces of armor that had been attached to Kiiro’s body floated behind her, as if pulled by an invisible force, and merged into a single massive sword. This sword was her weapon in its dormant state, awaiting further use.

For now, she had no intention of fighting.

Seeing this, Raquel, who had held her ground until then, collapsed to her knees. She seemed unable to keep up with the series of events that had occurred, from Kiiro's appearance to Clavis's intrusion. With a somewhat dazed look, she stared at Naoto. Naoto looked back at her with a helpless smile.

Everyone was doing exactly what they wanted. But thanks to all that, it seemed he could finally get some rest.

He’d reached his limit.

Naoto let out a long breath, as if expelling it from his entire body, and let go of the thread of consciousness he had been holding onto for so long.

Just before his vision faded, Naoto clearly saw Raquel's awkward smile directed back at him.

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| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-08-31T22:13:11Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't show mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna said, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the Black Beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a scythe. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-08-31T21:48:05Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't show mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna said, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the Black Beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-08-31T21:24:25Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't show mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna said, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the black beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-08-31T21:04:43Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna said, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the black beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-08-31T21:03:51Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna said, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the black beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 1

2025-08-30T22:17:49Z

Br3ndan5:

== BBCT2 Chapter 1: Orient Town ==

=== Part 1 ===
'''2196 - Night'''

The meter clicks down by hundreds, announcing the depth.

A high-pitched electronic sound continued to ring out in the same perfectly unchanging rhythm, enough to drive someone insane.

It was a room like a square box surrounded by gray walls. There was no hint of human life in the cold room. There were a tremendous amount of books, various devices and equipment of all sizes packed in so tightly that it was doubtful whether they were intended for people to pass through, and colorful cords filled the floor.

Despite the air being kept normal and dust and dirt being thoroughly removed, a somewhat gloomy atmosphere drifted through the room.

In the midst of such a room, a small figure rose from a chair with a creaking sound.

The figure, illuminated by the light of monitors installed here and there, appeared to be a girl at first glance. However, the atmosphere and the dark circles under her eyes gave her a sharpness that could hardly be called girlish.

Some who felt her presence would sense intelligence, while others would feel a sense of intimidation. Both words were fitting for her.

She hadn't had a proper sleep for several nights. Her back swayed as she walked, dragging her unrecognized fatigue, and two "tails" swayed on her back. One was a ponytail tied high and tightly, flowing down her back. On her pink-haired head, small triangular cat ears, so small that they could be missed if not looked at closely, were peeking out slightly forward, folded slightly forward. The other was a pink tail, the same color as her hair, which had been passed through a hole in the white coat she was wearing. The tip of the forked tail was white, and it swayed to the left and right in a thoughtful manner, as if to prove that it was not a fake.

Her figure, with its beastly characteristics, looked like a beastkin, a beast-man who was human yet not human. But she was not a beast-person. The cat ears and tail were inherited from her father. Her human body was inherited from her mother. She was a hybrid of beast-man and human.

With bare feet and sandals, she skillfully avoided the cords as she walked, stopping in front of a huge device that sat at the back of the room. On the monitor next to it, countless data were recorded.

The electronic sound, which almost became one with the silence of the room, suddenly changed its rhythm and tone.

The girl, whose forked tail had been slow until then, was drawn to the monitor as if by a spring.

"...Found it."

Glaring at the monitor, and then at the device that had stopped in front of her, with tired, clouded eyes, she muttered in a low voice.

"I've found it... finally."

While moving her lips as if in a delirium, she quickly typed in more than ten numerical values and turned on several switches. The device began to start up sluggishly. But this was not the end. The work of capturing him was yet to come.

"...Six Heroes, Hakumen."

It was the name of a hero who was active during the past war, the Dark War, which began about a hundred years ago and ended about ninety years ago. The war between the "Black Beast," a monster that drove the world to despair, and humanity, which desperately tried to crawl out of despair. History books say that he was the one who fought at the forefront of humanity at that time.

Without even looking, her fingers reflexively turned on the communication switch. When the voice of a calm man responded from the speaker, she spoke indifferently, her eyes fixed on the device in the back of the room as if she were aiming at something.

"Tager. I've captured the target. I'll start the salvage operation immediately, help me with the preparations."

"Understood. I'll head over immediately, Kokonoe."

=== Part 2 ===
'''December 30, 2199 - 13:12'''

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

This city, built with many layers of streets piled on top of each other, is like other Hierarchical Cities scattered around the world, with the upper layers being more well-maintained and supplied with normal air.

Conversely, the lower you go, the more chaotic the town becomes, with some areas even having a desolate atmosphere. This area, which seemed to have been abandoned despite being under construction, looked like a corner of the lower layers that had been put off.

Looking back at the scaffolding that he had been walking on for several hours, he stretched his cramped body greatly.

"It was easier to infiltrate than I expected."

The one who said this while turning his neck was a tall, well-built young man. He wore a long, bright red jacket over his black clothes, and a thick, wide, large silver sword hung at his waist.

Even more eye-catching than his clothes was the color of his roughly grown white hair. Behind his bangs that reached his eyes, his left eye was green and his right eye was red, creating a somewhat rough look.

His name is Ragna the Bloodedge.

The same name can be seen on street corners all over the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The name is on the wanted posters that have been plastered everywhere.

An outlaw who has wandered in from somewhere. With such an appearance, he was actually an SS-class wanted criminal, a serious criminal with the highest bounty in history.

However, Ragna doesn't travel through dark alleys to avoid people or hide in the shadows to let passersby pass. Rather, with a natural gait that makes it hard to believe that he is really a wanted criminal, he heads for the center of the city that should be ahead of him.

This was probably a low-level area judging from the concentration of seithr in the air he inhaled - a substance that polluted the world's air along with the Black Beast that appeared a hundred years ago.

The eyes of the Novus Orbis Librarium- the organization that governs the world and manages public order, and also the organization that put a bounty on Ragna- do not reach to such lower levels. This is even more true in Kagutsuchi, which has a large and complexly intertwined structure compared to other cities.

They prioritize only the upper layers where people of status live, and a satisfactory security system does not reach the lower layers. The residents of the lower layers do not have good feelings towards the Novus Orbis Librarium- commonly known as the "NOL". If you pass through such people, being sneaky will only incite distrust.

"But, I thought I'd be able to get outside a little earlier..." Looking around at the surroundings where there wasn't a single person, Ragna muttered to himself as he moved forward.

From here, which is deep in the lower city, you can't even see the sun, let alone the sky, satisfactorily, but according to his internal sense of time, it's probably past noon now.

Ragna, being a wanted criminal, couldn't enter the Hierarchical City by regular means.

Therefore, he used a method that no one would normally use for fear of the dense seithr: approaching Kagutsuchi on foot, infiltrating the inside of the Hierarchical City from a place under construction, and climbing up to this point.

He arrived in Kagutsuchi late last night. He hadn't eaten since then.

In other words, he was hungry.

''(Ugh... I have to eat something soon. At this rate, I'll die of starvation before I reach the top layer...)''

Just as he was about to hurry his steps, clutching his stomach, he was suddenly called out to from behind.

"Oh my, what a terrible figure. It's just like a stray dog seeking nothing but control. I don't even want to admit I know you. Ragna?" The one who spoke, with excessive pity and blatant contempt, was a girl's voice.

Ragna reflexively stopped his feet, distorting his expression with a feeling other than emptiness.

"You... who are you calling a stray dog, rabbit?"

The place where he turned around was deserted and empty, and further back was a dead end that was closed for construction. Even so, a small table and a black single-seater sofa were placed there, and a girl was sitting there.

Rachel Alucard.

She was a girl with long, glossy golden hair tied in two bunches on either side, wearing a black, luxurious dress. Her skin color was transparently white, the ribbons that tied her hair stood up straight, and her large eyes were bright red. Because of this appearance, Ragna called her "rabbit".

She looks about twelve or thirteen years old, but she has lived for a time that cannot be compared to her appearance. She is not a human girl. She is a vampire who lives in the long night.

She gracefully pulled a cup towards her, gently touching it with her fingertips as if testing the temperature of the red liquid inside, then took a sip. She looked up at the elderly gentleman standing behind her and smiled elegantly.

"Delicious, Valkenhayn. Your tea is exceptional even when drunk in air clouded with seithr."

"I am honored, Madam Rachel." The old gentleman responded in a calm tone of voice, bending his waist politely. The white hair that was tied behind his back slid down from his broad shoulders to the front of his high-quality butler suit.

The old gentleman, who has an old appearance but suggests a somewhat robust physique, was Rachel's butler, the werewolf Valkenhayn.

On the table, a small red, rubber ball-like creature with busy wings was frantically moving about, stuffing financier pastries with the aroma of butter into its cheeks. This was Gii, Rachel's familiar. The shape-shifting black cat that had transformed into the sofa Rachel was sitting on was another of her familiars, Nago.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, can't you tell? I'm having tea."

"That's not what I'm asking! ...Haa, well, whatever."

Ragna reflexively raised his voice at Rachel's nonchalant reply, and his shoulders dropped dejectedly. He was very hungry. And yet, there were baked goods on the table, as if to show them off, and it was hateful to see them being swallowed into the familiar's mouth.

"So? What do you want? Coming all the way out here... are you bored?" With a hint of resentment, Ragna asked sarcastically, glaring at Rachel. His glaring eyes, with a face that can never be called good-natured, somehow reminded one of a ferocious beast.

If the one here was really a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, he might have made her cry with his extraordinary appearance. But Rachel, uninterested in Ragna's gaze, glanced up at him and sipped her tea coolly.

"My, aren't you being self-conscious? Just because I appear before you, you assume that I have business with you? Your arrogance is truly outrageous."

"The hell did you say? Tch, if you don't have any business, don't bother me. I'm in a hurry!"

[[File:BB_CT2_027.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Oh my. Where are you hurrying off to, you stray dog? You look hungry, perhaps you're going to beg for some food?" Rachel asked, tilting her head and placing a childlike fingertip to her white cheek, giggling.

"How pitiful, how miserable! Maybe I'm eating better than you? Pu pu."

"Now, now, stop it Gii. It's mean to say the truth like that."

Following their master's lead, Gii and Nago burst into laughter. Towards the heads on the second floor, Ragna mercilessly swung his fist down.

"Shut up, you familiars!"

"Gyah!"

"Eeeeek!"

"Tch, they're all so talkative..." It's always like this. Ragna muttered in exasperation.

This wasn't the first time Ragna had met Rachel, the butler Valkenhayn, Gii, and Nago. For years, ever since Ragna began wandering the world, he had frequently encountered Rachel.

Each time, her appearance was sudden, her words were harsh, the reasons were unclear, and her departure was equally abrupt. So, he was used to having his plans thwarted and being caught up in nonsensical farces when he was in a hurry. But being used to it doesn't mean he didn't care.

"Hey, rabbit. If you don't have any business, I'm leaving. I'm not as free as you guys." With a frown of irritation, Ragna turned his back and quickly left. He couldn't waste any more time with them. But Rachel, ignoring Ragna's bitter irritation, calmly put down her cup and continued.

"I do have business."

"Huh?!"

"I don't recall saying I didn't. Besides, the very idea that I would come before you without business is inconceivable. I doubt your sanity." Still maintaining her cool demeanor, Rachel directed a subtle barb at Ragna as she gracefully slid off Nago's sofa. Then, with a squirm, Nago contorted its body and transformed into a parasol, fitting into Rachel's hand.

Ragna, who had inadvertently turned around, watched the scene with a twitching eyebrow, feeling a vein throbbing near his temple.

"You... If you have something to say, then hurry up and say it! I told you I don't have time!"

Valkenhayn, who had been holding back until then, stepped forward as Ragna shouted in irritation. As he approached, he glared at Ragna with a vigor that belied his age. But Ragna was used to the intimidating aura of this wolf-man, like a ferocious beast. Without hesitation, Ragna snapped back.

"Shut up! It has nothing to do with you, old man! Don't butt in!"

"You... What do you..."

"Stop it, Valkenhayn. It's pointless to try to teach manners to a stray dog." It was Rachel who restrained him, in a gentle, chiding tone. However, she didn't forget to use words that belittled Ragna.

Valkenhayn, ignoring Ragna's twitching face, turned his gaze away from him as if nothing had happened, and bowed his head to his master once more.

"My apologies, Madam Rachel."

"And Ragna, you keep going on about business, business, but I already asked you earlier, didn't I? 'Where are you hurrying off to?'"

As if piercing his heart, Rachel looked intently at Ragna with her large, red eyes. They were eyes that seemed to see through to the depths of a person's soul.

This was no longer idle chatter. It seemed that way... Ragna swallowed his harsh tone and returned a strong gaze to Rachel.

"'Where'? What are you talking about? I'm going to the NOL's Kagutsuchi branch." He tightly clenched his fist at his side.

On the top floor of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, a massive building, boasting a divine exterior like the sword held aloft by a saint, towered high into the sky. At the very center and summit of the city, overlooking everything, was the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The reason Ragna had come to Kagutsuchi was to destroy that branch.

He had been traveling around the world, destroying NOL branches in various Hierarchical Cities, as well as facilities under their control. He had no idea how many he had destroyed so far, as he hadn't been counting from the beginning.

However, the crimes he had accumulated in doing so had earned him the label of SS-class criminal, a rare and unparalleled title.

But destroying the branch and defeating the guards was not Ragna's only goal. Ragna's real purpose lay elsewhere.

It was…

"I'm going to infiltrate the branch and destroy the 'cauldron'. Just like always."

The "cauldron."

Hidden beneath the branches and research facilities of the NOL was something called the "cauldron."

Its existence was not made public, and most residents of the Hierarchical Cities, even the NOL's soldiers, were completely unaware of it.

Deep, deep within the underground, in a space accessible only by the innermost elevator of the branch, was a massive object that could not be described as either a facility or a device... The destruction of the "cauldron" was the reason Ragna attacked the branches in various locations, and the purpose for which he had come to Kagutsuchi.

Releasing his clenched fist, Ragna frowned suspiciously.

"There's no need to ask something like that. Besides, weren't you the one that told me the next cauldron I should destroy was in Kagutsuchi?"

This was after he had attacked the branch and destroyed the cauldron in the 9th Hierarchical City of Akitsu, the city before Kagutsuchi. Before dawn, as Ragna was about to leave the Hierarchical City, Rachel appeared before him and indicated that he should head to Kagutsuchi.

Rachel, still gazing at Ragna, lightly shook her head as if trying to make him understand.

"I said that Kagutsuchi was the next place you should go. I don't recall ever instructing you to destroy the cauldron." It was a lecturing tone that didn't suit her childlike appearance. Feeling as if he was being reprimanded, Ragna scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"Well... yeah, you're right about that. So what? You're saying I shouldn't destroy the cauldron?"

"No, that's not it. It's your freedom whether you destroy something or not. If you wish to destroy it, then destroy it." As if reminiscing about the past, Rachel said in a distant, murmuring tone. After a moment of closing her eyes and gazing at some scene that appeared in her mind, Rachel looked up at Ragna again and asked: "But, Ragna... What are you thinking when you destroy the cauldron?"

It was a strange question. At least for Ragna.

It was like asking what he thinks when he breathes, or what he feels when he drinks water. That's how natural, how much a part of his daily routine, attacking NOL branches and destroying their cauldrons had become for Ragna.

What, indeed. Now that he thought about it, he had never really considered it deeply.

"That... Well, it's because I don't like it. Building a city on top of a cauldron, hiding its existence, and then using it for their own selfish research... Who do they think they are?" Ragna replied with a bitter tone.

The cauldron is a gate that connects to the Boundary. The Boundary is... an otherworldly realm.

It's the outside of the world as we know it, which humanity discovered and touched long ago, changing the world. However, it's an unknowable realm that humans can never fully reach, no matter how much they try.

A hundred years ago, a monster called the Black Beast emerged from that cauldron. The Black Beast scattered seithr throughout the world, destroying everything in its path according to its instincts... driving humanity, the world, to the brink of destruction. Humanity fought against the Black Beast. The ten-year war was known in this era as the "Dark War," and its content, as the name suggests, was like traversing a lightless, despairing darkness.

How could humans think they could control the place where such a monster, which caused so much damage and continues to leave deep scars in the form of seithr, was born? If the Boundary is useful, why do they hide it from the residents who live above it? If they really can control it, why don't they make its existence public?

The questions themselves became the answers. They weren't researching for the sake of helping people, and there was no guarantee that they could really control it.

That's why he would destroy it. He wouldn't allow the existence of such a thing.

Jubei, a beastkin who was Ragna's sword master, taught Ragna about the cauldron and the Boundary, and Ragna came to that conclusion.

''(And the cauldron has... "that"...)''

Rachel, who listened to Ragna's answer and looked into his heart, was silent for a while as if waiting for what was to come, and then opened her mouth slightly.

"That's all?" The words that spilled out softly mixed into the dusty air of Kagutsuchi, sounding somewhat lonely.

The wrinkles between Ragna's eyebrows deepened.

"What are you disappointed with?"

"I'm not saying I'm disappointed. It's just..." Rachel slid her fingertips and changed the angle of her umbrella, the parasol casting a shadow over her eyes. Her large eyes quietly averted their gaze from Ragna and blinked in the shadow. "Ragna... don't you remember anything 'this time' either?" The questioning voice passes quietly from Ragna's ears to his inside like a cold night wind. But Rachel's wind did not stay inside Ragna, and it escaped without color or shape.

"Huh? What do you mean by not remembering?" Ragna tilted his head, peering at Rachel, not understanding what she is talking about or what she is being asked. He was getting impatient with the riddle-like questions.

Rachel put the handle of her umbrella on her shoulder and looked up at Ragna again. The color that floated in her eyes was a pale disappointment.

"It's nothing. If you don't remember, then that's fine. That's what always happens." She let her small shoulders fall with a sigh, and again spoke mysterious words. It was as if only Ragna didn't understand. Ragna frowned even more.

He was about to ask for an explanation of what she meant, but Rachel interrupted him, waving her hand as if to shoo away even a stray dog.

"My business is already finished. Now, you're in a hurry, aren't you? Go and scavenge for food or something."

After being treated like that, and then being turned away as if she had no more interest in him, where was the motivation to continue the conversation?

Ragna promptly threw away the words he was about to ask in his heart, and clicked his tongue loudly in anger.

"What the hell was that all about? Damn it, I'm going! I won't turn around even if you stop me next time!" He spat out the words as if throwing them away, and started walking with large strides, determined not to waste any more time here.

After being yelled at so much, he suddenly remembered that he was terribly hungry. His feet were unsteady. He hadn't even had a proper drink of water. And yet, he had been forced to waste time on a nonsensical riddle and an unreasonable scolding, which was unbearable.

"Damn it!" He spat out his frustration once more, and hurried towards the city that should be ahead.

Rachel, who was supposed to have turned her back, saw off the retreating figure of the red jacket over her ornate shoulder. In her crimson eyes, there was a flat, pale resignation... and a drop of concern mixed in. As if to contain the flickering small emotions, Rachel lowered her eyelids, and turned her face away from the direction Ragna had left.

"He doesn't change. He's always the same. Again... always the same."

It was a matter of course for Rachel. It was always like this. There was never a time when it wasn't, but she always held a faint hope of "what if it wasn't," and then sighed at the fragility of that thought.

How many times had she had the same thought? It was already foolish to even count. How many times had she guided him to the same land, how many times had she asked the same question... how many times had she heard the same answer? How many times had she failed to hear the answer she had hoped for, and been disappointed?

Even so, the reason she comes to this city again, thinking "maybe," is probably due to the persistence of her mind, which she hasn't been able to give up on even though she thought she had long since given up.

"Will the world repeat itself again? And will I send him to this land again?"

And beyond this, the world will end, and the world will repeat itself again from the beginning.

To the beginning of the "Dark War" a hundred years ago, when the Black Beast was born.

"Madam Rachel. Shall we return now?" Valkenhayn inquired from beside a table set that is unsuitable for the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

Rachel smiled wryly.

"Yes, I would like to, but..."

But there was something else she wanted to see.

This time, Rachel looked upwards. At the far upper level of Kagutsuchi, beyond the clouds.

It was not clearly visible from here, but above was the city directly managed by the NOL for their own use.

Soon, a ship will arrive there.

"Valkenhayn, please return to the castle first. I will take a walk around Kagutsuchi a little longer before returning."

"Understood. Then I will prepare tea and await your return." Giving a respectful bow, Valkenhayn disappeared from the spot, along with the table set. He returned to Rachel's castle, which exists in a different place, a dimension that is nowhere.

Rachel, who remained, readjusted the handle of her umbrella. Waiting for Gii to bounce and come to her side, she created a rose-colored magic circle around her.

High above, in the distance, the sound of an Ars Magus ship could be heard cutting through the sky towards Kagutsuchi. She probably wanted to see what was on the ship.

"Even I find it comical."

Muttering to no one in particular, Rachel stirred up a wind scented with roses and teleported from the spot.

=== Part 3 ===
In the lower levels of the Hierarchical City, places where you can see the sky are precious.

The city is built like a pile of flat plates, and in the lower levels, even if you look up at the sky, the layer above becomes a thick, wide roof that blocks the light. Even if they built the city protruding from the upper layer, above it, countless layers still overlap as countless roofs. It is difficult to get light through them, and in the lower levels of the city, there is no choice but to rely on the light of the lights, whether it is day or night.

The lower city, Orient Town, where Ragna entered, suppressing his hunger, was no exception. Even though it was a clear afternoon, the alleys were dimly lit, and the main streets were brightly lit.

It was a very complex and miscellaneous city.

The buildings were built close as if huddled together, and narrow alleys ran between them. Some of the alleys were so narrow that it would be more accurate to say they were gaps between houses, and sometimes they were suffocatingly blocked by shelves and wooden boxes that seemed to have overflowed from the houses.

Even if you gave up on the maze-like alleys and went out to the main street, it was overflowing with people.

Most of the people coming and going were residents of this city. Everyone had an atmosphere that was not so much starving from poverty, but certainly not wealthy, along with their clothes, and blended in with the flashy colors of the cityscapes that stood out with their primary colors.

Occasionally, among them, unusual people who did not match the scenery of the city were lost in the unfamiliar alleys, spat out onto the main street, and then jostled by the unfamiliar crowd.

Ragna, following a common example, was one of the unusual people who was spat out from a back alley.

Even though it was called a main street, it was narrower than the upper levels. Still, it was worthy of being the main street of this city, with several stores competing to attract customers with flashing neon lights.

While looking for a name that looked like a restaurant among the neon signs, Ragna rubbed his completely weakened stomach and moved his legs.

"Damn it, that Rachel... she keeps saying things I don't understand. If you have something to say, just say it clearly... damn it." Complaints leaked from his mouth as if breathing. That kind of thing is always the case. It's always the case, but he can't help but say it. "What do you mean by 'it's nothing'?"

It didn't feel like that. It just hinted that Ragna was overlooking something important.

"Damn it!" He felt inexplicably irritated. That's probably because of this unbearable hunger. He thought so, and shifted his consciousness back to finding a restaurant.

But the moment Ragna found a name that looked like one among the neon signs, a disturbing presence jumped out from the alley he had just passed.

"What's that!?"

"Meow!"

Something that looked like a human figure swung its fist down, gouging out the spot where he had jumped back. Their eyes met. Red... but not human eyes. Round, just round red eyes.

He was pounced on in quick succession, and after they switched positions as if crossing each other, Ragna put his hand on the sword at his waist and braced himself.

"What? A beastkin? No..."

The human figure, bracing herself on the opposite side of the road and performing a light footwork shadow punch, had a strange appearance.

Although she wore clothes that completely covered her upper body, she was probably a girl judging from the figure that could be glimpsed from them. She was shorter than Ragna, with a height appropriate for a lively woman. Her legs, which stretched out from the hem of her short clothes, were a healthy tan and toned with muscle.

But no matter how you look at it, she was not a normal girl.

She had triangular cat-like ears on her large hood, and a dark brown tail with a white tip extending from her back. Furthermore, the inside of the hood did not have the usual face or organs, but a round red eyeball and a crescent-shaped mouth with bared white fangs floated in the blackness as if a shadow had been pushed in.

Ragna had seen this strange figure once before.

"A Kaka?" Ragna frowned suspiciously. He was sure he had met them once before with his sword master, Jubei. But why would he encounter one in a place like this?

"Meow! Tao is a Kaka warrior, Taokaka, meow!" Replying energetically with a bouncy voice that matched her nimble movements, the girl who called herself Taokaka pointed at Ragna with a large hand like a cat's paw. "You there! Fight with Tao, meow!"

"Fight? Don't joke around, I'm not in the mood for that right now."

He was about to die of hunger, and it was outrageous to waste any more time. But whether Taokaka heard him or not, she grinned with her crescent-shaped mouth, wagged her tail, and launched a hook into the air with a belligerent shuffle.

"If Tao wins~, you'll treat Tao to a full meal meow! And if Tao loses~, you'll still treat Tao to a full meal, meow!"

"Don't screw with me! That means I'll be treating you either way!"

"Don't worry about the details, meow. Well then, here I go, meow!!"

"Hey, wait..."

As if not caring about his words, the strange cat girl jumped up with the swiftness of a cat, kicked off a nearby wall, and leapt above Ragna's head. Silver claws popped out from the round tip of her robe-covered hand, sharply cutting through the air.

"Whoa!" Ragna reflexively pulled out his sword and blocked the claws that grazed his face. The sound of metal clashing echoed loudly, and the surrounding passersby turned around to see what was happening. But rough brawls like this are by no means uncommon around here. Everyone passed by indifferently or tried not to get close, looking annoyed.

Of course, Taokaka didn't care about the eyes of those around her, and this time, she jumped on Ragna's sword that had blocked her attack as a foothold, spun around in the air, and quickly unleashed a kick as if stomping on him. Claws popped out from her toes as well.

If he took such a thing head-on, he would have his flesh torn off. It felt as if he was being attacked by a carnivore in the middle of the city.

Moreover, his opponent seemed to be only half serious. In response to Ragna blocking the claw attack with his sword again and forcefully shaking it off, Taokaka kept a grin on her face and landed with a graceful movement.

"Oh, you're good, White Guy. But the food is... Tao's!!!"

"That's why I didn't say anything about treating you..." Naturally, Ragna's rebuttal didn't reach those triangular ears.

Taokaka ran out with the momentum of a whirlwind, jumped in front of Ragna, and spun behind him.

"Fast!"

She was incredibly fast. It was all he could do to keep track of her movements with his eyes.

At the same time Ragna turned around in a hurry, Taokaka's claws swung from above and below as if biting down. He bitterly choked back a breath, and pulled his sword closer, bracing himself to at least avoid being hit directly.

But…

"Meow... got you."

Taokaka's movements suddenly slowed down. At the same time, a ''grrgrgr'' like she'd just heard from Ragna's stomach echoed without a sense of urgency.
He was not so naive to miss the gap when Taokaka lost her strength. Ragna stretched out his arm, grabbed her collar, and slammed her into the ground with the momentum of pulling her in.

"Ugh!" Taokaka let out a muffled cry, struggling as Ragna's hand held her down. But when her stomach rumbled faintly once more, she threw both her hands and feet to the ground, and even her tail fell limply, becoming docile.

"Ugh~, I lost, meow~~"

"Haa, haa... you damn brat! You're attacking people without a word... "

Just as he was about to yell at her in anger, Ragna's stomach interrupted his words. The pathetic sound and the unbearable feeling of weakness made his words trail off, unable to continue. It must have been the smell of steamed food or something wafting from somewhere that made him feel this way.

In contrast to Ragna, who was so exhausted that he wanted to sit down on the spot, Taokaka, who had heard the sound of his stomach, cleverly raised her head while still being held down.

"Meow! White Guy is also hungry. Then let's eat together, meow! Tao will take you to a delicious restaurant, meow!"

"You... you could at least feel a little remorse..." He felt foolish for being in a hurry and getting angry. Ragna let go of Taokaka and held his head in his hands.

He didn't care about the details anymore. He just wanted to eat. But why did he have to get involved with Rachel and Taokaka one after another like this?

"Ah, damn it, I got it, I got it. Food, food! Take me to that so-called delicious restaurant. I'll feed you too!"

"Ooooh, really, White Guy!"

When Ragna said it in exasperation, Taokaka jumped up with such force that she completely forgot about being crushed just a moment ago. The corners of her eyes and mouth, which had drooped powerlessly, were already regained their liveliness.

"If that's decided, then let's go right away, meow! Yahoo, all-you-can-eat feast~!"

"It's not all-you-can-eat! Hey, are you listening to meeeeeee!"

Ragna's grumbling was of no concern to her. Taokaka grabbed Ragna's arm tightly, pushed and blew away the people on the main street, and ran through with the force of a raging wave.

A variety of dishes were lined up on a round table covered with a white cloth.

A stir-fry of green vegetables with the aroma of spices and garlic, a large plate of fried shrimp with roe, a large plate of pork and vegetables stewed with miso, a noodle dish with plenty of soup and a key placed on it, a chewy steamed rice cake wrapped in tree bark with wild vegetables, and a plate of fried noodles with a lot of seafood in the sauce.

On top of that, a large plate of freshly steamed meat buns piled high, steaming hot, was piled high, and Ragna was stunned by the sight spreading out in front of him.

For a moment, he thought it would disappear, but the freshly made steam that mercilessly stimulated his stomach and the spreading aroma told him the reality that if he reached out and put it in his mouth, he would immediately be promised a delicacy. Unable to bear it, his stomach cried out for work.

"Let's eat meeeeooooow!!" With a spirited declaration, Taokaka took the steamed rice in her right hand and the meat bun in her left, and began to eat with unimaginable speeds.

"Munchmunchmunchmunch~! Munchmunchmunchmunch~!" Taokaka busily moved her mouth and hands, making strange noises, whether it was the sound of biting, chewing, or a cry of joy at having reached the food. The number of meat buns decreased rapidly, and Ragna hurriedly grabbed one for himself.

"How hungry were you... is it good?"

Ragna gave a wry smile and, giving up, bit into the meat bun in his hand. Although it was about the size of his face, the skin was delicately and fluffily steamed, and the filling was juicy with the flavor oozing out, making it more delicious than he had imagined. It was as good as he had recommended. While he was inwardly impressed, Taokaka's hand snatched six or so shrimp dumplings from right in front of Ragna's eyes all at once.

"It's delicious, meow! This, this, that, all of them are super delicious!"

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that… oh dear."

Even if she ate so innocently and impolitely, the excessive number of items ordered and the way she stuffed herself seemed like a joke to her.

This would probably leave his wallet empty, but Ragna pushed that to the back of his mind and reached out for the food before Taokaka could take it all.

The crispy fried noodles were fragrant, the salty sauce was piping hot, and the plump ingredients bounced with a soft elasticity in his mouth.

It was too gentle and high-quality for Ragna's stomach, which was accustomed to crude meals like grilled meat or grilled mushrooms.

"Damn, it's delicious."

"That's right, meow! It's delicious! White Guy is a good guy for treating me to such delicious food!!"

"You attacked me and tried to force me to treat you, what's 'good person' supposed to mean, geez. Hey, hey, don't eat that all by yourself!"

''"Ahhhhn~"''

"Ahhh! Damn it, I haven't even had a bite of that shrimp dumpling!" Ragna's hand tried to stop Taokaka's outrageous act of pouring the food over the plate and into her mouth, but it was too late, and the white large plate was easily emptied.

Ragna's hand, having missed its target, trembled in the air, and he clenched it tightly to suppress his frustration.

"You..."

"Phew! Hm, what's wrong, Good Guy? Aren't you eating, meow? You can't chase after bounties on an empty stomach!"

"Shut up, you're eating my money without hesitation! ...Wait, chase after bounties?"

Unexpected words popped out from the cat girl, whose mind only seemed focused on eating, and Ragna unclenched his fist.

Chasing after bounties, or as it's also called: bounty hunting. Criminals beyond the control of the NOL are given a bounty, and the bounty hunters chase after the wanted criminals for the bounty.

To have a bounty placed on one's head means they have committed a crime worthy of such a reward. The profit is great, but it comes with a corresponding danger.

Taokaka's physical ability would certainly allow her to work as a bounty hunter, but that doesn't mean that a woman, child, or cat would like to choose such a job.

But Taokaka, somewhat proudly, took out something like a wanted poster from her chest, spread it out on the table, and wagged her tail in a good mood.

"Meow. Tao has become a bounty hunter from today. And then~, I'm going to blow this 'Rawgnya' guy away and get a lot of money, meow!"

"Rawgnya?"

What's that ridiculous name, Ragna wondered, peering at the wanted poster out of curiosity.

The moment he did…

"Bwah!"

The moment he saw the portrait and the name, he choked and almost spat out the meat bun in his mouth.

While hurriedly covering his mouth and swallowing the contents, he took the wanted poster in his hand and looked at it closely. Along with a very ugly portrait of a man, it contained a generous amount of reward money and the name of the wanted criminal. The name written was…

"Wh-what... 'Ragna the Bloodedge'... is that me!?" As if slamming down his surging anger and inexplicable feelings, Ragna roughly returned the wanted poster to the table. "Besides, what's with this picture, it's not even close! If you don't know what I look like, don't make a caricature! It's a bit hurtful!"

"Meow? Good Guy?" Taokaka's round eyes widened in surprise as she lifted her face from the large bowl she was holding. She had been noisily slurping the soup and noodles with tremendous speed, and a piece of roasted pork was sticking out of her busy mouth.

Noticing her expression, Ragna tried to suppress his discomposure and forced a smile.

"No, it's nothing..."

He couldn't continue after ''"it's nothing."'' As if erupting, a dangerous presence welled up behind Ragna. Hostility, malice, and then murderous intent. A low, rumbling murmur gradually approached them from the back of the store.

"Didn't that guy just say 'Ragna the Bloodedge'?"

Someone's whisper, contrary to its hushed volume, resounded around them for some reason. As if chasing after it, voices could be heard from all over the place.

"Hey, look. That white hair, red clothes..."

"'Grim Reaper'... Ragna the Bloodedge..."

"The most wanted criminal with the highest bounty in history..."

"Even if we split it, it'll be a considerable amount..."

At the sound of a chair being pulled, Ragna awkwardly turned his neck and checked behind him.

There were men and women filling the store's tables, with appearances that couldn't be described as harmless residents.

Someone began drawing their weapon.

"Hey, Taokaka." As soon as he called out, Ragna strongly grabbed Taokaka's arm, who had finished drinking the last drop of soup.

"Meow?"

Without asking any questions, he dragged the cat girl's body and started running at full speed.

Seeing that, the customers in the store slammed the tables and stood up.

"He's getting away!"

"As I thought, that guy was 'Grim Reaper'!"

"Chase him! Capture him- no, kill him!!!"

With their respective weapons in hand, they overturned tables, kicked away chairs, and the bounty hunters who were eating chased after them all at once. Even if Ragna tried to jump out of the store, tried to weave through the crowd and stumble, the persistent voices followed him without caring about anything.

"Damn it, what's with that store? The customers are all bounty hunters!!!"

"Meeeoooow, there's still a lot of my food left!!!"

"Shut up! Can't you see this isn't the time for that?" Carrying Taokaka's body on his shoulder as she tried to go back at this point, Ragna fled through the main street of the Orient Town. "Besides, if we go back now, we won't just lose our meal, we'll get beaten to a pulp! Since they saw me eating with you, they'll think you're my accomplice!"

"Meow? Accomplice? Tao and Good Guy are accomplices, meow?"

"Huh? No, that's what they'll think. Even if we say we're not, they won't listen... anyway, more importantly, isn't there somewhere we can escape to?"

The roaring voices and footsteps chasing after them, while not closing the distance, showed no signs of giving up on pursuing Ragna. As long as they were running through the main street, their figures were visible, so there was no reason to give up. If they killed Ragna, they'd be able to live without worries for the rest of their lives, and even build a mansion in the upper layers.

"I can't get caught by those guys no matter what!" While shouting, Ragna ran straight ahead. If he recklessly entered a back alley, he'd get lost in the intricate alleyways, and at worst, he'd run into a dead end and be cornered.

He was confident that he could defeat them if he fought them, but he wasn't confident that he could fight without involving these ordinary people in a place like this.

"I understand, meow!"

"Dowah!"

Suddenly, Taokaka jumped up on Ragna's shoulder, turned around in the air, and landed in front of him. She then used her hands like paws and ran alongside him.

"Good Guy is my benefactor who treated me to a meal, meow! And since he's Tao's friend, I'll give you a special guide, meow!"

"No, an accomplice is..."

"Kaka Village is safe, meow! Follow me!" As soon as she said that, Taokaka kicked the ground and jumped low, then increased her speed. She quickly distanced herself, and Ragna hurriedly quickened his pace.

He remembered what happened when he was attacked earlier. Come to think of it, this cat girl was incredibly fast. If he wasn't careful, he'd lose sight of her.

"Hey, wait! Don't leave me behind!!"

More desperately than when he was escaping, Ragna gritted his teeth and chased after Taokaka, who was running with the leg strength of a wild animal.

=== Part 4 ===
'''December 30, 2199 - 13:25'''

A dull, low driving sound droned on.

It was a small sound that normally wouldn't be noticed. However, after more than an hour of silence, it was impossible not to notice it, and as she didn't want to return her consciousness to the silence, she strained her ears to the driving sound.

How much longer would she have to listen to this sound?

Sinking her slender body into the unadorned seat, Noel Vermillion, a warrant officer of the Novus Orbis Librarium's 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron, quietly sighed.

Wearing a blue and white soldier uniform, she spread a blue poncho for cold weather over her lap like a blanket and leaned her head against the wall. Despite having completed the officer school course properly, she looked somewhat younger than her actual age due to her girlish features.

Her long, straight, golden hair reached down to her waist, but now it was gathered into the blue beret she wore on her head for duty. Her distant eyes were a soft green. She looked a little sleepy, gazing out the small window beside her. White skin, slender shoulders, slender arms. If she were wearing different clothes, she would not look like a soldier working for the NOL.

This was a ship owned by the NOL, traversing the sky - an Ars Magus ship.

Outside the small window that Noel was looking at, a white sea of clouds spread out, and the ship continued its smooth voyage to the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, its destination.

There were only two people sitting in the passenger cabin with rows of seats. Noel, who was sitting in the front seat looking listless, and one other person.

Although it was a relatively small Ars Magus ship, a considerable number of seats were available. Even so, there were only two people in the passenger cabin, which couldn't be considered narrow. And since they were not particularly close, there had been no conversation for a long time, and an awkward amount of silence continued between them.

She wondered what that person was doing now. Driven by such a slight interest, Noel fidgeted slightly on the seat and gently peered behind the shadow of the backrest.

The man sitting there was not wearing the uniform of a soldier like Noel, but a black suit. He was slender but tall, with a black hat on his green hair. Unlike Noel, he didn't seem to feel any awkwardness at all, and he crossed his long, thin legs and leaned back in his seat in a relaxed manner.

He was Captain Hazama of the Novus Orbis Librarium's Intelligence Department.

Right as the year was about to end, Noel and Hazama, who belonged to a different department, were heading to Kagutsuchi for a mission.

As long as you work as a soldier, you should basically follow orders from above. Of course, Noel had no intention of going against orders. However, that did not mean that such loyalty and sense of duty could dispel her anxiety about this mission.

''(Haa... why is it just me and Hazama-san?)''

Noel averted her eyes from Hazama, who was wearing a hat over his eyes and not moving as if he were asleep, and returned to the seat, grumbling in her heart while looking out the window again.

Noel belonged to the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron, and Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. It was not very common for people from different departments to take on the same mission. And yet they were each sent to a land far away from headquarters.

[[File:BB_CT2_057.jpg|frameless|right]]

The reason for this lay in the details of the "mission" given to Noel. This was a top-secret mission that could not leak information to unnecessary personnel.

The objective was to search for a certain person. Jin Kisaragi, Noel's direct superior, Major of the 4th Squadron, and the one she served under as his secretary. He had suddenly disappeared from the NOL headquarters a few days earlier and was missing.

If it were discovered that the commander of a division was missing due to unauthorized actions, it would have a negative impact on many soldier and expose the internal affairs of the NOL. Therefore, information about Jin's disappearance was conveyed to only a very small number of people.

A few days later, information came in that Jin seemed to be heading to Kagutsuchi.

Although the reason for this was unknown, there was no way Jin would be allowed to continue acting alone.

Jin was immediately ordered to return to base, and Hazama, who had obtained information about his whereabouts, and Noel, Jin's secretary, were chosen for the role of conveying this order.

...And now, Noel and Hazama were sitting alone in the seats of the Ars Magus ship.

''(But even so, there should be more manpower. Even if we're looking for Major Kisaragi, we don't have any information beyond that he seems to have gone to Kagutsuchi...)''

Could they really find a single soldier in the vast Kagutsuchi?

Even if they were able to find him, would Jin Kisaragi listen to Noel's order to return to base and obediently comply?

''(No way, he would never listen.)''

Noel shook her head slightly. Although she worked as a secretary, she was always met with Jin's cold and harsh gaze. It could not be said that they had a smooth superior-subordinate relationship. Rather, it was safe to say that it was the worst.

It was clearly a misjudgment in personnel selection. Even if they arrived in Kagutsuchi, what should they do and how should they start?

The more she thought about it, the more her anxiety grew and weighed heavily on her chest.

And there was one more major anxiety. The man named Hazama, who was sitting silently in the back seat. This was the first time she had met him on this mission, and he had a strange atmosphere, and she couldn't understand what he was thinking at all... somehow, he was scary.

''(If only everyone was here at a time like this...)''

Sighing once again, Noel hunched over as if trying to shrink her body.

She remembered the time she spent with her friends at the officer school before becoming a soldier for the NOL. Those were fun times. A lot of things happened, and there were difficult times, but those were happy days that more than made up for them.

In those nostalgic days, her best friends were always by Noel's side.

Noel wasn't a very social person and didn't have many friends. But even so, the small number of friends she had at school were precious to her.

Her two closest friends were Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya, who were in the same room in the dormitory. Tsubaki called out to Noel, who was unable to fit in with school life, and took care of her in various ways. Makoto pulled on Noel's withdrawn arm and taught her many fun things. The three of them talked about many things.

Tsubaki was smart and had top grades, so before exams, she always studied with Makoto and taught them.

They also went out together after school. They often went to a cafe with a comfortable open terrace, located a short walk from the school. It had many types of parfaits, which were Noel and her friends' favorites.

Makoto was particularly fond of them. Whenever they stopped by, a chestnut parfait in a tall glass was always placed in front of her.

Even after they were about to graduate and their future paths were decided... when the three of them went to that cafe, there was a chestnut parfait in front of Makoto.

"So, it's decided? Noel will become Kisaragi-senpai's secretary?"

It was a little early to call it evening, and the area overlooked by the clear sky was enveloped in a gentle and warm atmosphere. Even though it was the graduation season, there were no extreme temperature fluctuations in the hierarchical city where the climate and temperature were controlled by Ars Magus. Therefore, they could fully enjoy the parfait with cold ice cream and the coat without wearing it, in their officer school uniforms, on the open terrace.

Makoto, who was carrying the chestnut cream to her mouth, asked the question, and Noel, who was sitting across the round table, nodded slightly with a frown.

"Yeah... it's been decided."

"I see... Noel as a secretary..."

What kind of reaction should she give? With such a troubled face, Makoto put the long-handled parfait spoon in her mouth and rested her cheek on her hand.

Makoto was not human, but a beastkin. Her face and figure were not much different from an ordinary girl, but her small ears that popped out from her head and her tail, which was larger than her torso, were unmistakably squirrel-shaped.

It seemed that she had been looked at strangely in the past because of her special appearance, but the Makoto that Noel knew was an active and straightforward girl with lovely deep brown hair and big, sparkling brown eyes.

Seeing the complicated look on the normally cheerful Makoto, Noel inadvertently looked down at her strawberry parfait in front of her.

"I don't think I'm capable of doing it myself. If it's Kisaragi-senpai's secretary, someone like me..."

"Oh, that's not it, Noel! It's not that you're bad or anything like that. It's just that if you're Kisaragi-senpai's secretary..." Makoto hurriedly tried to follow up, but in the end, even those words became blurred.

Noel and Makoto were thinking the same thing.

The beginning of the story was a little before their future paths after graduation were decided. Noel, who was simply intending to apply to become a soldier for the NOL, was suddenly called in and ordered to become the secretary of Jin Kisaragi, who was the commander of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron after graduation.

Noel couldn't refuse it. But she had been thinking about it ever since she heard the story.

Jin Kisaragi. A senior at the officer school who graduated two years earlier, a member of the Duodecim's prestigious Kisaragi family, and a childhood friend of Tsubaki, the daughter of the Duodecim's Yayoi family.

They must have thought the same thing at the same time. When Noel raised her eyes as if peeking, Makoto was also peeking, looking at the red-haired girl sitting between them.

"You two shouldn't talk like that. There's a good reason why Noel was chosen."

With a knowing look on her face, the red-haired girl in front of them, Tsubaki, chided.

Her strikingly colored hair was glossy, long, and reached her waist, and her blue eyes resembled the color of the sky. Her posture was upright and elegant, and although she had no intention of doing so, she inevitably gave off an air of being brought up well.

Excellent grades, impeccable behavior. Such words suited Tsubaki very well. Kind to everyone and loved by everyone, she was a proud and boastful best friend to Noel. However, only a very small number of friends, including Noel and Makoto, knew that she liked bitter sweets such as matcha and adzuki beans.

With a dignified demeanor that did not shame her birth, Tsubaki took a spoonful of bracken rice cake and matcha ice cream sprinkled with matcha powder, and then continued in a gentle tone.

"Noel is good at both studying and sports, and above all, she has excellent Ars Magus aptitude, the best since the founding of the officer school. Qualities that are inherent cannot be improved later. As the secretary of the division commander, she has the perfect qualities."

"Well, I think Noel's Ars Magus aptitude is amazing. But…"

Despite agreeing, Makoto still had an unsettled look on her face. There was no objection to what Tsubaki said. But still, there was something that stuck in her mind. Noel had the same feeling, and she dropped her shoulders with a sigh.

"I... I don't have any confidence. I'm disliked by Kisaragi-senpai, and besides..."

Above all, she knew that Tsubaki really wanted to become Jin's secretary.

Tsubaki liked Jin. Not as a childhood friend or a senior at school, but as a man.

She had no memory of wanting to work by the side of someone she liked, wanting to be useful to that person. But she would understand, because she had seen Tsubaki, who had been studying hard every day to work next to Jin someday. She knew how pure and straightforward that feeling was.

However, she couldn't put that into words and throw it at Tsubaki.

It was not something to be treated so roughly.

So Noel swallowed the thoughts that came to her mind, along with the sweet and sour strawberry ice cream, before they reached her throat.

"Even if you don't have confidence, you have to work hard. You agreed to become Jin-sama's secretary for your parents, didn't you?"

"Eh?" When Tsubaki gently said that to her, Noel raised her face in surprise. At the end of her raised gaze, Tsubaki's blue eyes were looking at her with a gentle look.

"I heard. If you take on the secretary's position, your family, the Vermillion family's noble privileges will be restored. The Vermillion family will also be supported while you're in office."

At Tsubaki's words, Noel's heart skipped a beat. Driven by that momentum, her fingertips hit the spoon against the parfait glass.

She wondered for a moment how she knew about that, but Tsubaki was the daughter of the Duodecim. The internal affairs of the NOL would also reach her ears to some extent.

On the other hand, Makoto, who knew nothing, raised her body with a start in surprise and leaned forward.

"Eh, is that true, Noel!?"

"...Yeah. Actually..." Noel nodded, not wanting to lie to Makoto or Tsubaki.

Putting her raised belly back on the chair, Makoto slumped over the round table as if clinging to it. Her voluminous, fluffy tail also fell down powerlessly.

"Haa, I see. Then you can't refuse, can you? Your parents are... how should I say it, 'special' to you." Makoto's words, spoken with a deep sigh, were by no means sarcastic, compassionate, or anything that could hurt someone's heart. There was only simple understanding.

Makoto and Tsubaki knew, only in a rough outline, how Noel's family was "special," after hearing it from her.

Noel was adopted.

"About four years ago, wasn't it?" Makoto slowly raised her slumped body and asked nostalgically.

Noel nodded slightly.

"Yeah. During the explosion in Ibukido. I don't remember it well, but a person from the Librarium rescued me, and my current foster father adopted me when he'd heard about me."

Her foster parents, the Vermillions, were kind people. Noel felt a great debt to them for taking her in and treating her with love. At the same time, she felt a great pain in her heart for not being able to do anything for her foster father, who was struggling with his health in a life that could not be described as wealthy.

Therefore, the conditions presented by the NOL, "restoration of noble privileges" and "economic support," were too attractive for Noel, who wanted to repay her kindness in any way possible.

"I'm sorry, Tsubaki."

Unable to bear it, Noel apologized weakly. If she became Jin Kisaragi's secretary at this time, it would be impossible for Tsubaki to become his secretary in the future unless something extraordinary happened.

It hurt Noel to think that she had crushed Tsubaki's feelings with the heavy weight of her family's situation.

Perhaps Noel's mental state was evident on her face. Tsubaki gave a wry smile at Noel's apologetic expression and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why are you apologizing? Just because you became Jin-sama's secretary doesn't mean I can't be his secretary. Besides, with this chaotic situation where the civil war still isn't over, I'm relieved that a reliable friend is by Jin-sama's side."

Tsubaki's gentle words somehow sounded lonely and painful. It wasn't Noel's career path that was the reason. There was a more direct and immediate reason.

"The Ikaruga Civil War... Kisaragi-senpai hasn't returned from the battlefield yet, has he?" Makoto muttered as if dropping the words, while poking the remaining parfait with her spoon and scooping up the melting ice cream.

Jin was currently on the front line of the Ikaruga Civil War, having been appointed commander of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron immediately after graduating. That was why Tsubaki was constantly gloomy.

"Yes. My father's also gone to the battlefield and hasn't returned."

Tsubaki put a slightly bitter matcha ice cream on a silver spoon and brought it to her mouth. Then, as if spilling out her true feelings, she murmured, "...I wish the war would end soon."

"Tsubaki..." Noel called her name, but she didn't know what else to say.

The Ikaruga Civil War was a long-lasting war. Not only her father and Jin, but many people around Tsubaki were probably talking about who went to which battlefield.

Despite their subdued tone, the murmured words carried deep emotions that resonated heavily in Noel and Makoto's hearts.

"Oh, stop it! Stop this talk! Just because we're feeling gloomy doesn't mean the war will end, and even the parfait won't taste good!" With a vigorous movement as if shaking off the heavy atmosphere that had begun to drift, Makoto stood up and gripped her spoon tightly.

When gave them a cheerful smile, the heavy burden that had been weighing on Noel and Tsubaki's shoulders was dispelled and went elsewhere. Makoto's smile always lifted their spirits, no matter what.

"That's right, Tsubaki, what about your plans after graduation? You have to decide soon, right?"

Changing her mood, she sat back down and asked in a bright voice, while hooking her finger on the teacup she had completely forgotten about in her preoccupation with the parfait.

At the bouncy voice, Tsubaki relaxed her cheeks as if releasing tension.

"Well. I've been thinking about it a lot, but I haven't decided yet. But..." After closing her lips once, Tsubaki put down her spoon and opened her mouth again. "But, I hope I can go to a department where I can follow my own beliefs. I want to become stronger in such a place. So that I can protect what is important to me."

Contrary to her dreamy tone, there was a strong determination in the depths of Tsubaki's eyes. However, no one was able to find it in this place.

"What about you, Makoto?" As if trying to deceive something, Tsubaki turned her gaze away.

"Me?"

Noel also nodded, tilting her teacup towards Makoto, who was pointing at herself.

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard much about your plans. Have you submitted your application?"

"Well… sort of."

Though she'd brought up the topic herself, she was a little uncomfortable with this kind of talk, and Makoto scratched her cheek and laughed while taking a sip of tea.

"Um, for now, the Intelligence Department. I don't know what will actually happen, though."

"Intelligence Department? That's a bit unexpected."

While bringing her lips to the cup, Noel widened her eyes. Makoto was the most skilled in combat among the three. She had assumed that she would be applying for a department that would make use of this.

Putting down her cup, Makoto now scratched her head as if messing up her hair.

"How should I put it? I want to know more about this world. If it's the Intelligence Department or something like that, I feel like I can learn a lot of things I didn't know before."

"That's true, but..."

Even so, the Intelligence Department, which avoids people's eyes and hides in the shadows to act without being known, was far from Makoto's image, and Tsubaki looked puzzled.

Little by little, everyone would be moving in different directions from their student days. Such a thought suddenly passed through Noel's mind, and she secretly hugged the teacup in her hand tightly with both hands.

"Um, you know... it's almost graduation. Even after graduation, we'll still be friends, right?"

Noel had no memories before being rescued in Ibukido. So for her, Tsubaki and Makoto were her first friends in her life. There were other people she could call friends, but Tsubaki and Makoto were special. The time the three of them spent together was truly irreplaceable.

Noel watched her two best friends as if asking for confirmation, waiting for an answer, and Makoto and Tsubaki stared back at her before breaking into smiles as if bursting out.

"Of course, Noel! Right, Tsubaki?"

"Yes, of course."

Makoto's smile, which was like a clear sky, and Tsubaki's smile, which was like a blooming flower. Their kindness warmly enveloped her, and it was so, so happy.

Noel almost cried a little while drinking her tea.

The remaining few days of student life were coming to an end, and they would no longer be attending the same classroom, and they would no longer be able to wear the uniforms of this military academy. But even then, she thought that they could always get together like this and spend a peaceful time like this afternoon, surrounding a single table.

However, after that day, they never had the chance to visit this cafe together.

=== Part 5 ===
She wondered how long she had been immersed in nostalgic memories.

"...Lieutenant? Hello? Lieutenant Noel Vermillion?"

Suddenly, she heard a man's voice from right beside her.

"Huh, ah, y-yes!"

A beat late, Noel came to her senses and hurriedly straightened her head and body from the wall she had been leaning against.

In the passenger cabin where there were only two people, only one man could call out to her. Pressing down on her slipping hat, she turned around and saw the figure she had expected.

Black suit, white shirt, black tie, black hat. His green hair was so long in the front that it hid his eyes, and from the depths of those eyes, which were difficult to tell whether they were open or not, he looked down at Noel from a high position with an exasperated look.

"Are you finally awake? Honestly, we're still on duty, you know? Even if we're in transit, a nap is quite carefree, isn't it?"

"I-I'm sorry, Captain Hazama. But, um, I certainly wasn't sleeping...!"

While she thought being dazed was not much different, Noel straightened her posture and made excuses to Hazama, who was looking down at her. At that moment, she felt something terribly cold down her spine.

''(Eh... what...?)''

The air conditioning in the Ars Magus ship was comfortably adjusted, and she wasn't feeling unwell. And it was too... horrifying to be a chill from an unexpected cold.

Why was she being attacked by such a sensation? The unreasonable chills, no, rather, the fear, grabbed Noel and wouldn't let go.

Meanwhile, Hazama began to talk on his own, as if he didn't care about Noel being unable to speak.

"It's nice that you got plenty of rest, but we've already arrived in Kagutsuchi. If you stay on board like this, your work won't start at all, so could you please get off?"

"Eh, ah..."

Come to think of it, the driving sound during the voyage had stopped sometime. When she turned her gaze to the small window, the scenery outside was not the sky but a port for Ars Magus ships.

The fear that had been clogging her chest until just now was gone, and a feeling of shame rose like a rush.

Noel grabbed the seatbelt buckle as if jumping at it, and started to try to undo it. Her fingertips fumbled due to her agitation, and she couldn't undo the seatbelt, which should have been easy.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll get off right away, right now!"

"Oh, is that so? Then I'll get off first, so please don't break the seatbelt." With a light chuckle, Hazama waved his leather gloved hand and left the passenger cabin. Watching his back as he left, Noel's expression crumpled wretchedly as soon as she turned her face back to the seatbelt. She didn't even notice the descent, let alone the announcement of it. What a blunder.

As Hazama said, she was too carefree even though she was on duty.

After a bit of delay, Noel finally escaped from the unfastened seatbelt, and while putting on her blue poncho, she hurriedly rushed outside.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5.

Located at the edge of the upper layer, one of the smaller and quietly established ports among many, it was a port used for matters and missions that could not be made public even within the NOL.

Due to its intended use, there were fewer personnel working there compared to other ports. The number of Ars Magus ships that come in and out of the port was not very large, and it was a quiet port with few people around, but even so, it had a glamorous air that suggested that it was directly managed by the NOL.

The face of the port, so to speak, was the large clock hung in the management building. The gold hands indicating the time were finely decorated to the tips, giving it the appearance of a work of art.

With the large clock watching over the port with elegance and dignity, a small Ars Magus ship, which had entered the port under the name of the Intelligence Department of the NOL Headquarters, quietly rested its body.

Metal stairs extending from the abdomen of the ship urged passengers to go to the floor of the port.

While holding the handrail of the stairs, Noel looked around at the scenery from there. The sky was a pleasant clear day. The air, controlled by Ars Magus, was refreshing, and there was almost no magic element.

From this location, it was difficult to see clearly because it was blocked by the management building and the entrance to the port, but she could see some NOL facilities lined up beyond the relatively new Port 5. Beyond that, in the distance, the well-organized cityscape, typical of the upper layer, spread out. The green of the trees planted everywhere was deep and glistened in the sunlight. The buildings lined up were based on white and blue, giving a somewhat clear impression.

It was a beautiful city. And it was very large.

"This is Kagutsuchi..."

It was Noel's first visit to the city.

If it weren't for the information from her superior and senior at the military academy, Jin Kisaragi, she might not have visited it.

Sliding her fingertips covered with white gloves on the handrail, Noel ran down the short stairs and descended from the Ars Magus ship to the port. Beyond the protruding passageway, Hazama was leaning against the pillar of a one-legged clock, which pointed to the same time as the large clock, looking bored.

The sight startled Noel for a moment, and she ran towards him.

Noel was a little uncomfortable with the man from the Intelligence Department. The first time she had properly met him and talked to him was when she was summoned for this mission, but when she was in front of him, she felt somehow overwhelmed and swallowed up. However, she couldn't avoid him. He was the only collaborator in this top-secret mission.

Standing at attention in front of Hazama and straightening her back, Noel gave a small salute to the superior officer from a different department.

"I-I kept you waiting, Captain Hazama. I was very rude earlier."

"No, no, I'm used to waiting, so please don't worry about it." Hazama etched a deep smile on his lips, raised his body, and gave a light bow while speaking in a soft tone.

If you only listened to the words, it was normal and sounded considerate. But Noel felt a vague suspicion about his strangely suggestive way of speaking and exaggerated gestures, and she inadvertently looked down. At the same time, she felt somewhat depressed at her own narrow-mindedness, even though nothing had been done to her.

''(He's not a bad person... I think.)''

Even so, she felt sorry for the feeling of discomfort that welled up in her chest as if seeping out.

As Noel looked down with her salute still in place, Hazama suddenly clapped his hands as if he had come up with something.

"Ah, that's right, that's right. And about the 'Captain' and that salute, let's get rid of those formalities. I'm not your direct superior, and you're not my direct subordinate."

"Eh... but, but..."

"Those things are so troublesome. I don't want to put on a superior's face to you either. There's no one watching us, so please, okay?"

With a deep smile at the corners of his mouth, Hazama tilted his head slightly and looked down at Noel. His bangs were long, and the brim of his hat cast a shadow, making it difficult to see the eyes behind them. Even so, the gaze that was staring at her was clearly felt.

"Understood. Hazama… san."

Feeling that it would be rude to refuse outright, Noel nodded hesitantly. But she couldn't suddenly change her attitude as if turning her hand over, so she tried to start by at least changing how she called him.

Satisfied, Hazama's smile deepened and he spoke again.

"Now then. Let's get down to business right away. Our objective this time is to search for Major Jin Kisaragi, who is currently missing. If we find him, we'll tell him that a return order has been issued from headquarters, and if he obeys quietly, that's fine, but if he doesn't, we will have to restrain him and forcibly take him away."

At Hazama's words, Noel's expression became tense and stiff.

This was no longer the NOL headquarters where she had spent her days. It was Kagutsuchi, an unfamiliar city, although it was under the control of the NOL.
Hazama continued in a tone as if he were explaining to a student.

"Currently, Major Kisaragi seems to be hiding in Kagutsuchi. His objective is most likely Ragna the Bloodedge, the wanted criminal known as the 'Grim Reaper.' He went missing immediately after we received information that he was headed to Kagutsuchi, right?"

"Yes. The name Ragna the Bloodedge seemed to ring a bell with him. ...Although I didn't confirm it..." Noel replied with a serious face.

The last time Noel met Jin was when she delivered a report on the wanted criminal, "Grim Reaper."

At that time, Jin, as always, seemed reluctant to even deal with Noel. He snatched the report and changed his expression as soon as he heard from the Intelligence Department that the "Grim Reaper's" name was Ragna the Bloodedge.

Jin was laughing. Calm and ruthless. Noel clearly remembered that Jin, who always had an icy expression, laughed aloud only at that time. Noel had never seen him like this, not even during his student days or after becoming his secretary.

"Um, may I ask a question?"

"Yes, please?" Hazama gestured the the innocent Noel to prompt her.

Feeling as if she was being tested by his stiff smile, Noel couldn't look up at Hazama's face.

"If the information is correct, then Kisaragi-sama and Ragna the Bloodedge are hiding in Kagutsuchi, right?"

"That's what it seems."

"Um, if we come into contact with Ragna the Bloodedge before we find Kisaragi-sama... which one should we prioritize...?"

Arresting criminals was one of the duties of soldiers. If she encountered the "Grim Reaper" Ragna, Noel would normally have to move to arrest him.

Hazama put his hand on his black hat as if grabbing it, and replied with an indifferent, "Ah. Well, deal with it appropriately. I'll leave it up to you."

"Eh, is that... appropriate?"

Could there be such a, well, appropriate instruction? Noel's eyes widened in surprise at such an uncharacteristic response from a superior officer. Hazama, in a relaxed tone without any sense of urgency, opened his hands at shoulder height.

"You see, my mission is to secure Kisaragi-sama. As long as you complete that task, I don't intend to give you detailed instructions about the rest."

Saying that, he shrugged his slender shoulders and smiled lightly.

Not knowing how to react to that smile, Noel ended up only stammering with her lips and couldn't say anything. She wondered if she should say something back, or if she should keep her mouth shut. Such thoughts kept popping up in her head, and she kept thinking about them.

Meanwhile, Hazama put his hat back on and moved on with the conversation.

"Well then, I have some business at the branch office, so could you start the search from the lower levels first?"

"Branch office? What kind of...?"

"Oh, have you forgotten? I'm in the Intelligence Department, after all. I have a lot of business that I can't share with other people... could you be considerate?"

Hazama's smile shifted to a wry grin. His manner was gentle, but there was something somewhat mocking in his tone. It was as if he was exasperated with a child who didn't understand, and that made Noel feel impatient.

She must not forget. This was an important top-secret mission. She couldn't afford to fail, and she couldn't cause trouble for the Intelligence Department.

Noel straightened her back again, and with her hands tightly attached to her sides, she looked up at Hazama. Noel couldn't tell what kind of eyes were looking at her from beyond the shadow of the black hat and the long bangs.

"Understood. Then, um... I'll start the search from the lower levels."

Surely there was a structural drawing and map of Kagutsuchi in the materials. Relying on that, she should be able to reach the lower levels without getting lost. She was a little scared to go all the way to the lower levels... but she couldn't say such a thing.

''(I'll find Kisaragi-sama quickly and return to headquarters.)''

If Jin's disappearance went public, Tsubaki would surely worry. More than anyone else.

It's not that Noel wasn't worried about Jin. More than that, she was worried about the heartache that her best friend from high school would suffer.

Letting the cool port wind wrap around the ample hem of her donned poncho, Noel walked past Hazama as if slipping through. Before her feet had taken many steps, Hazama's voice stopped her from under the clock.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Lieutenant Noel Vermillion."

At the leisurely and drawn-out call, Noel turned around wondering what it was.

Hazama was leaning against the slender leg of the clock and looking at her.

"Currently, a D-alert has been issued in Kagutsuchi. It's the one that prohibits intervention from other organizations due to a state of emergency. Apparently, information that Ragna the Bloodedge is hiding has leaked to the outside from somewhere, and because of that, it seems some dangerous individuals have gotten involved. Please be careful when going to the lower levels."

For a warning from a member of the Intelligence Department to a soldier of the NOL, it lacked much urgency.

Hazama waved his hand lightly and saw Noel off.

He was not so much an irresponsible person as he was a person without any pretenses. She didn't know him well, but surely this was how he always was. With this impression in mind, Noel once again straightened her heels and lowered her head in a bow.

"Yes. Then, excuse me." This time, she turned her back and exited from the gate of Port 5 to the main city.

The sky looked close when looking up from the upper layer. The sun shone in the slightly cloudy sky color due to the magic elements drifting outside the city, pouring overflowing sunlight onto the ground. Receiving that light, the white-dominated upper city shone dazzlingly.

If she went straight on the large road, she could reach the center of the city. But where Noel should head was not the city center but the lower levels. She would turn left from here and head for the magic lift for NOL soldiers.

While letting the gold-colored hair spilling out from her hat shine in the sunlight, Noel took out a map of Kagutsuchi from the materials and spread it out. Seeing the overall view like this, she realized the size of this city once again.

''(Well then... for now, I'll go down as far as I can and then come up from there.)''

If possible, it would be best if she could find Jin immediately and he would obediently follow the order to return to base, but it was unlikely things would go so smoothly.

Her feet were likely to become heavy with worries about the future, but Noel lightly shook her head to refresh herself. There was no point in thinking only negatively. Now, she just needed to focus on what she should do, and take action as much as she could.

"...Be strong. I have to do my best."

After encouraging herself in a small voice, Noel raised her face and began to walk quickly through the upper city of Kagutsuchi.

There were red eyes watching every single part of that scene.

On the top of the management building, which was part of the 5th Port and had a large clock hanging, a small figure was gazing down at the bottom, on the roof decorated with delicate designs.

Wearing a black dress, a black bag on her shoulder, and her ribbon-like golden hair dancing wildly in the strong wind that traveled through the high sky, was Rachel Alucard. Her red eyes were fixed on the figure of the guard girl talking at the port.

"As I thought... that child is..."

The words muttered from her innocent lips were carried away by the sharp whistling wind. It was a mutter that should not have reached anyone's ears. And yet... the man from the NOL who remained at the 5th Port suddenly turned back to Rachel.

It was a man in a black suit. His name was... Hazama.

He looked up at Rachel nonchalantly and lifted his hat.

A grin, like a thin, deep slit, was carved on his lips.

It was a sneer. Or rather, a mocking laugh.

It wasn't accidental. He was looking up at her accurately, and he knew who Rachel was... that's why he laughed.

It wasn't surprising. Rachel also knew. She knew who that man in the black suit was... and why he was laughing.

Because she understood, it was even more irritating.

"...I wonder what kind of stage you will show us this time?" Rachel whispered to the sneering man on the ground. Her voice wouldn't reach him. The wind would cut it apart and blow it away somewhere.

But the man turned on his heel at the perfect moment, as if he had been waiting for Rachel's words to finish, and left the 5th Port as if nothing had happened.

What remained was Rachel. She turned her gaze to the top of the high mountain where Kagutsuchi was located, while holding her umbrella on the roof. As if holding a sacred sword on the top of the mountain, a white and pure building towered there. The Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium. That was... the stage for the performance that was about to begin.

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| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2| Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There]]
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Epilogue

2025-08-30T18:50:46Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT Epilogue: A New Beginning==

With each ending of the world, the cycle repeats.

The Takamagahara System declares:

''"The Beast detected. System shifting to Phase 29-H. Appearance axis: 2099, 12, 31. Japan. Event error margin: 1/7200... Previous event error margin: 1/400... Master unit completion: 267189... Initiating correction... System initialization complete."''

Takamagahara begins observation of Phase 299.

The Takamagahara System is functioning normally.

With the beginning of each new world, the blue cycle continues.

'''2149, some month, some day.'''

The 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido.

A vast research facility was constructed beneath this city several years ago.

The world was engulfed in the Ikaruga Civil War.

The Ikaruga Federation, with its stronghold in Ibukido, was fighting for independence from the Novus Orbis Librarium, the global authority that maintained order.

While the sounds of battle echoed far above ground, a new experiment was about to begin in the underground laboratory.

A large case was brought in secretly. Made of a new material that was as transparent as glass yet more flexible, it was just the right size for a person. Cylindrical in shape, it was filled with a liquid reminiscent of amniotic fluid. Floating within was not a fetus, but a girl.

Her mouth and body were covered by an inorganic device, leaving her naked except for a device attached to her shoulder that supported her underdeveloped limbs as she floated in the solution.

The pale blue liquid obscured her features, but her skin was a translucent white, and her hair, which reached past her shoulders, should have been golden. Beneath her collarbone, where her slender neck met her delicate shoulders, was a tattoo of the number 'twelve'.

"Move her carefully. She's one of the few functioning subjects we have."

"The pedestal is secured."

"No, raise it."

A faint whirring sound indicated that the case containing the girl was being lifted and moved to a designated position.

She was placed inside a device with numerous tubes attached to its top and bottom. Several men in white coats gathered around and connected the transparent case to the device.

... The girl, with a faint, almost imperceptible consciousness, perceived what was happening.

The impersonal voices outside the case. The white of the lab coats passing by. The sounds of work as procedures were checked.

The many gazes fixed upon her.

They were speaking of an experiment. She somehow knew it was a terrifying thing.

In her consciousness, which felt as if it might dissolve into the liquid surrounding her, she thought.

...Brother.

Without understanding the significance of the plea for help, she simply thought it.

Several mechanical arms entered the case and began attaching tubes to the girl's body. To her head, her throat, her arms, her chest, and her legs.

It was unpleasant. She wanted help. She called out, "Brother."

Something dark and murky flowed through the tubes into her body.

The girl, floating in the case, trembled slightly.

Then, she lost consciousness completely and fell silent.

A few months later, the underground research facility in Ibukido was destroyed in a mysterious explosion.

The research facility was completely demolished, and the 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido, built above it, suffered catastrophic damage.

At the time, the Ikaruga Civil War was still raging.

The damage caused by the explosion had a significant impact on the war, and the Ikaruga Federation was defeated by the Novus Orbis Librarium.

In the midst of the civil war, a girl was rescued from the ruins of Ibukido.

Though her clothes were torn and her consciousness was clouded due to the explosion, she was miraculously unharmed. She had golden hair that reached past her shoulders and green eyes.

Having forgotten everything about her past, she was later given a new name by her new family.

That name was…

"As of today, I, Second Lieutenant Noel Vermillion, have been appointed secretary to Major Jin Kisaragi, commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

[[File:BB_CT1_289.jpg|frameless|right]]

Cycling, cycling.

The world continues to trace intertwined rings.

Blue melts into white.

And from white, blue cycles once more.

Incessantly cycling through endless worlds.

Blue continues its cycle, leading to a new beginning.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Calamity black — Dark Demise]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1

2025-08-30T18:21:04Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT Chapter 1: Stratum city — Hierarchical City==

===Part 1===

A flurry of hurried footsteps echoed through the high, arched white ceiling. Everyone was shouting warnings and orders to attack. Catch the intruder, kill them, don't let them get any further. The voices, rather than sounding resolute or fierce, were strained with a more desperate tone, vividly portraying the dire situation.

With white hair and eyes of different colors—one green and one red—he was a striking figure. Clad in a sturdy black suit, he wore a striking scarlet coat over it.

(They sure do come in droves…) He thought with a hint of frustration, then let the broad, thick-bladed sword that had slung over his shoulder dangle from his hand.

He had no intention of hiding. In fact, if they found him and attacked, he preferred to meet them head-on. Sneaking around wasn't his style. If he was going to be conspicuous, he might as well do it in the flashiest way possible, so that one day, just hearing of his arrival would send them running.

Though, he thought, it was probably unrealistic to expect such a convenient outcome.

Soon, five or six men in blue and white uniforms rushed in, guns drawn. They hadn't noticed him yet, and when they saw him, the first few faltered. But he didn't stop. Bursting into a sprint, he charged straight forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc.

"Stop! Or we'll shoot!" The warning was meaningless. The uniformed men aimed their guns and fired simultaneously. A deafening roar echoed through the corridor. However, immediately after, he swung his raised sword with great force.

"Uraaaaaaaah!" The sword released a black, ominous wave that soared through the air, swallowing all the approaching bullets and completely obliterating them. The wave surged forward with the speed of fire, engulfing the uniformed men who were about to fire their next shots and blowing them away in a single breath.

With a roaring sound like a whirlwind, the men were knocked back and slammed into the wall. The wall cracked heavily under the impact.

Just one strike. With that alone, all the men who had bravely raised their guns to confront the intruder lost consciousness and collapsed in the hallway.

"...You knew you were going to be taken down, so why the hell did you show up? Idiots."

It was all so anticlimactic. As he glanced at the fallen soldiers in their uniforms, the man, wielding a large sword, immediately began running down the hallway.

He couldn't afford to waste any more time here. His destination was the deepest part of the facility, the lowest level.

From the end of the hallway, more soldiers in blue and white uniforms appeared. They shouted as they took aim with their guns or drew their swords. There were more of them this time, but it didn't change his approach. He charged straight in, brushing aside everything in his path.

One after another, the limp bodies of the soldiers in their uniforms tumbled across the hallway, security systems were completely destroyed, and even the doors, which had been shut tight, were chopped down and reduced to scrap metal.

He hadn't snuck in quietly at all. He'd kicked down the guards at the door and burst right in. As if to proudly display his strength and leave a deep mark, he had rampaged through the facility, destroying everything in his path, advancing deeper and deeper. Whatever stood in his way, he cut it down. With such violent strides, he pressed on, and on, and on…

And what he eventually reached was a deep, underground hall, beyond the long, long lift, which opened up like a gaping mouth.

...It was a world entirely different from the corridors and rooms he had passed through so far.

The air was different. The temperature was different.

The walls, ceiling, and floors were all covered with metal-like panels, and above the vast space, a glass-walled small room overlooked the hall. Beneath it, heavy machinery was lined up, and before these machines stood a strangely large device, silent and imposing.

There was no one there. The people who should have been here had probably evacuated upon hearing the alarm. And the people who should have rushed here had already been scattered by the white-haired intruder.

Step by step, he advanced towards the massive device that dominated the center of the chamber.

The strangeness clung to his body.

It felt as though the very air was saturated with an instinctual unease—something that warned of a sense of wrongness, as if this place were from a different world altogether. But to him, it was familiar.

He had visited places like this many times before. He couldn't count how many facilities with the same structure and hidden underground devices he had visited. Every time, the purpose was the same. To destroy these enormous devices.

He walked forward, his feet firmly planted on the floor.

What was this thing for? How many of the people who worked here even understood its purpose?

Every visit brought with it the same thorny question.

What did they think they were accomplishing, coming down to this gloomy, underground place day after day, fiddling with these flickering instruments whose purpose they didn't understand?

When he reached the edge, he glared at the device. The machine, constructed from silver metal, loomed so high it was almost impossible to see the top. It was as deep and vast as it was tall. The central part, the one he looked down upon, was circular.

This was the "cauldron."

[[File:BB_CT1_025.jpg|frameless|right]]

Now, multiple metal plates overlap to close the mouth of the device, but if they open, the inside is like the crater of a volcano. A fiery, lava-like substance swirls, burning fiercely as if it intends to swallow anyone who dares to look inside.

But what swirls within is neither lava nor flame.

It is another world. A distortion in the fabric of reality, a place where humans should not be. The other side of a gaping rift. The outside of the world's shell, a place that should never be seen, never entered.

The metal device he looked down upon was the one controlling and interacting with this "cauldron." A device to touch the otherworldly realm - the Boundary - that humans were never meant to reach.

He had been traveling the world, destroying these "cauldrons." And now, as he stood there, gazing at it, there was no sense of nostalgia or emotional attachment.

With no more hesitation, he sheathed his sword and extended his right hand toward the device. He muttered something under his breath—the same destructive words he had spoken countless times before. The words awakened the dormant power in his right arm, and the power sparked a blue light in his arm.

In the blink of an eye, the amplified light filled the room and he hurled it with full force toward the device. The next moment, the gate to the other world, which had been sealed deep underground, was blasted away, along with the vast chamber that surrounded it, leaving no trace behind.

Akitsu, the 9th Hierarchical City, the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The facility that stood at the center of the city had collapsed due to an attack by someone, and the entire city was in turmoil due to the commotion.

A white-haired man in a red long coat was quietly trying to leave the city. His work here was done. There was no need to stay longer.

In stark contrast to his flashy actions inside the facility, he took a winding path outside, avoiding the main streets and selecting the darkest, least noticeable exit. If he were to be found by the uniformed guards in the city, he would have no choice but to fight them off. That would be troublesome.

He passed through a rusty iron gate and headed toward the port further ahead. A passage beside it would lead him outside. At that moment, a faint scent of roses brushed his nostrils.

"You're like a stray dog with nowhere to go," came a voice, coolly mocking him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking up at a nearby streetlamp.

At the top of the simple lamp, which split at its end, stood a girl. She looked to be just past ten years old, though her youthful face was illuminated by the dim light, and her red eyes held an intelligence that seemed far beyond her apparent age.

It didn't really matter where he was going. As long as it was Kagutsuchi, it wasn't far from Akitsu. He glared fiercely at the spot where the girl had disappeared, then began walking toward the next destination.

A few days later, his name was publicly listed as a wanted criminal across the world. Ragna the Bloodedge. That was the name of the most-wanted criminal in history, known by the alias "Grim Reaper" and carrying the highest bounty ever offered.

===Part 2===

'''December 30, 2199 — 13:27'''

About a hundred years ago, the world was on the brink of destruction.

A giant and grotesque monster, known as the "Black Beast", suddenly appeared and began destroying everything in its path.

Humanity had no way of fighting against its overwhelming power, and the world's population was reduced to half in no time.

But then, six brave warriors appeared.

They challenged the Black Beast with weapons known as "phenomenon weapons," defeated the demonic beasts of calamity, and brought a future to humanity.

Praised as the Six Heroes, they disappeared without a trace into the sea of history and were lost to time. Yet, their glory lived on as a legend passed down through the ages.

That was a long time ago.

If there are any remnants from the Great Dark War—the war against the Black Beast—that are still known in the current era, they would be two major ones.

One is the Novus Orbis Librarium. This organization was born from the global coalition that fought alongside the Six Heroes during the Dark War, and now it oversees the entire world.

The second is seithr. A substance that overflowed worldwide with the appearance of the demonic beast of calamity, the Black Beast, and continued to remain in the world's atmosphere even after the Black Beast was defeated.

Now, it is used in various technologies and has become indispensable for everyday life. However, excessive exposure to seithr can still pose a danger to the human body. As a result, humanity must avoid large amounts of seithr while still using it for daily life. Seithr tends to accumulate in greater concentrations the closer one gets to the surface of the earth. This led to the creation of Hierarchical Cities.

Built upon the foundations of tall mountains, entire cities were constructed in plate-like layers, extending outward from the mountain's peak. The cities spread both vertically and horizontally along the height of the mountains, resulting in compact yet towering cities with multiple layers of urban plates.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi is one such complex, multi-layered city, just like other cities around the world.

In the midst of one such layered city, in the winding narrow streets of Orient Town, he walked with a slightly unsteady gait. With white hair, a green left eye and red right eye, his appearance was striking. His black attire was complemented by a bright red long coat. At his waist hung a sword with a wide, thick blade, unmistakable in its appearance.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

A wanted criminal with an SS-tier bounty, responsible for the destruction of several branches of the Novus Orbis Librarium. He was the highest-bounty fugitive in history.

Despite his fearsome reputation, none of the city's inhabitants paid him any mind as they went about their business. They probably thought he was just another outlaw who had wandered in. Occasionally, indifferent glances would briefly pass over him and then move on.

This was Orient Town, a district located in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

In layered cities, the higher the level, the further one is from the dangers of seithr, and the more clean and safe the area. Conversely, the lower the level, the less regulated it is, and the closer it is to dangerous concentrations of seithr. In such cities, the upper levels not only represent a higher standard of living but also a lesser risk to one's life, whereas the lower levels carry a greater degree of danger.

Naturally, the highest levels of the city are occupied by the Novus Orbis Librarium, which also serves as the governing body. Its related facilities and the residences of its affiliates take up most of the urban space.

Next come the wealthy and those with close ties to power, who live on the upper floors, while those with lesser status or wealth are pushed further down, their position in society dictating how far they must descend.

The residents of Orient Town were people who, by the nature of this societal hierarchy, had been pushed to the lower levels.

None of them could be called wealthy by any means. They were struggling to support themselves, their families, and a few close friends, and few would want to get involved with a strange, white-haired man and invite unnecessary trouble.

In truth, Ragna himself didn't have the luxury to pay attention to the people around him.

It had been two days since he infiltrated Kagutsuchi through an unused access point. Since then, he had been traveling through back alleys and abandoned areas. Though it wasn't by design, he had no choice but to walk through these endless, treacherous roads. To be honest, he was exhausted.

He had decided to take a better route on his wayback.

"Still, for a lower district, this place is pretty lively," Ragna muttered as he glanced around, offering a blunt observation.

Orient Town was a chaotic, poorly planned neighborhood, with houses haphazardly built and clustered together. The streets were narrow and constantly twisted, and the buildings were so close that they seemed ready to collapse into each other.

On top of that, all kinds of items—wooden crates, bags filled with unknown goods—cluttered the alleyways, making it impossible to pass through without obstacle. Often, a seemingly simple alley would turn out to be impassable.

There were strange statues with red pillars and bulging eyes. Small lanterns hung throughout the town, as well as countless signs of all shapes and sizes glowing with dazzling neon lights.

In most lower-level districts, the buildings were so tall and densely packed that sunlight was blocked out, leaving the area dark even during the day. But here, there seemed to be no such shadows.

As Ragna emerged from a narrow alley, he found himself in a slightly more open street. Shops lined both sides of the road, and it seemed like this was one of the main streets of the area. The colors and size of the signs were far more vibrant than those in the alleys.

(There's probably no one from the Library around here.) Ragna thought, feeling relieved.

Even in this relatively wide street, the people walking were all clearly locals. There was no sign of the Novus Orbis Librarium's dreaded blue-and-white uniforms.

This was a welcome sight. If any of those guards saw him, it would be a major issue. After all, Ragna was a wanted criminal. Without any consideration for his surroundings, he'd have to play cat-and-mouse with the guards who would inevitably gather to chase him down.

Ragna glanced around as he placed a hand on his stomach. The exhaustion was one thing, but the hunger was becoming unbearable. Since entering Kagutsuchi, he hadn't come across any shops selling food, and his preserved food had run out. He hadn't eaten anything since last night, and the hunger was starting to take its toll.

Even in a lower district like this, there should be at least a few restaurants. He began scanning the various signs for something that seemed like it might be a place to eat. Then, he stepped on something soft.

"MROW!" At the same time, a strange cry came from beneath his feet.

"Ugh." Thinking he had stepped on a cat, Ragna quickly lifted his foot. However, what he saw was far bigger than he expected. In fact, it wasn't an animal at all.

Lying on the ground, her arms and legs sprawled out limply, was a girl. Her body was entirely covered by a hooded robe, but her long braided hair and the color of her skin peeked out from beneath it.

"Wh...what the hell are you?" Ragna asked, his voice more of a question than a warning. A thin, weak tail swayed in his field of vision. The tail was attached to the girl lying there.

"Uh... ugh..." With a faint trembling voice, the girl groaned and slowly raised her face. Looking up at Ragna, there wasn't a girl's face inside the hood as one might expect. There was a dark, shadowy void. Within it, a pair of red, round eyes seemed to be sunken, and a crescent-shaped mouth with white teeth was turned downward. The triangular ears attached to the hood trembled as if convulsing.

It wasn't human. Nor did it resemble a beastkin with a beast-like tail and ears.

"Could it be... a Kaka?" Ragna had seen a creature with this strange appearance before. It was when he had visited his swordmaster. The creature then had a similar black face with very simple facial features. Though the girl before him and the Kaka woman he had seen were clearly different individuals, this distinct appearance was unlike anything else.

Although he knew the name "Kaka," he didn't know what kind of clan they were.

Now, what should he do with this girl? Should he turn back without getting involved, or should he ignore her and move on?

As he hesitated, the girl, whose face was the only part of her still raised, suddenly clung to Ragna's leg with a speed that belied her apparent weakness.

"Whoa! W-what the hell!"

"Oooo meow~... Help me... meow." The girl with triangular ears and a tail pleaded pitifully as she clung to Ragna's leg, while he tried to shake her off. Ragna vigorously shook his leg to loosen her grip, but for some reason, her arms wouldn't budge.

"Damn it, let go! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I won't let go, meow, I'll never let go meow... if you don't help me, I'll eat your leg, meow..." Despite her weak voice, her grip on his leg was surprisingly strong. Even with this commotion, the people around him only gave a brief glance, as if looking at something strange, and then passed by without getting involved. There was no danger of getting into trouble, but it didn't seem like he could count on any help from a kind passerby.

After a few more failed attempts, Ragna finally gave up. He lifted his leg halfway and looked down at the clinging Kaka girl, exhausted.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't eat my leg! And what the hell are you talking about? Help? What do you mean?"

"Oooo... thank... thank you for asking, meow. Tao is in a really bad situation neow. I'm... I'm at my limit, meow."

"Huh? H-Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Her voice was so desperate that it made him worry just a little. He lowered the foot he'd been lifting and looked down at the face that seemed to be filled with shadows.

The face, which resembled a black mask, had eyes and a mouth hanging weakly, gazing up at Ragna with a look of exhaustion, as though she might faint at any moment.

"I... I'm... hungry... meow"

On a round table covered with a yellow cloth, several dishes were lined up.

There were fried pieces of chicken, generously coated in a flavorful sauce, meatballs stir-fried with colorful vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, square-cut pieces of pork simmered in a rich, sweet and savory broth, and mountains of fried rice. There was beef and vegetables stir-fried in a rich miso sauce, crispy spring rolls wrapped in thin dough with finely sliced vegetables inside, and steaming, soft buns filled with ground meat…

With the white steam rising from the dishes, the strange girl with triangular ears and a hooded robe leaned forward so much that she almost fell off the chair, eagerly shoveling food into her mouth.

"Hguu-hguu-hguu meow hgu-hgu-hgu-hgu-hguu meow hgu-hgu."

Whether it was the sound of her chewing the food or slurping the chopsticks, a hollow sound continued to pierce the air. The eyes that had been drooping weakly a moment ago were now round, and her mouth was curved into an upward crescent.

Watching her with an exasperated look, Ragna picked up a piece of fried chicken from his plate. The thick batter was crisp and delicious. It had been a while since he'd had a meal that wasn't just grilled over an open flame.

"...Is it good?"

The food was rapidly disappearing. When the strange girl had started ordering massive amounts of food, Ragna had turned pale, thinking there was no way she could finish it all, but it seemed that worry had been unnecessary.

In fact, at this point, he was more worried how he was going to pay for all of it.

The girl, whose white-tipped tail was wagging happily, grabbed a fluffy bun with both hands and looked up at him.

"It's delicious, meow! This one, that one, and all of them—so yummy, meow!"

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad." Ragna sighed, rubbing his face in disbelief.

When she ate like this, without a care in the world, it made him wonder if she had any concept of restraint, or why he was the one buying a meal for this strange, unknown girl. And more importantly, why he had let her drag him along to this restaurant in the first place.

The girl took another big bite of the meat bun, chewing happily. Before he knew it, she had finished it and swallowed it in no time, causing Ragna to smile wryly as he picked up a spring roll. The plate, which had been full, now only had one left.

"To think that you're treating me to such a good meal, you're a good person, white guy, meow. Tao is really grateful, meow!" She swung her arms around dramatically to show her joy. Her hands were hidden entirely inside her sleeves, which were large and round, almost like the front paws of a cat.

Ragna finished his spring roll and then asked, "Is Tao your name?"

"Taokaka, meow!" She nodded enthusiastically and, with the meat bun still in one hand, took another bite in one big motion.

"Tao left the village and set off on a brave journey... but ended up so hungry she couldn't move. If Good Guy hadn't helped me back then, Tao would probably be dried up and turned into Kaka jerky by neow. I'll never forget this 'kindness,' meow."

While rambling about her backstory, Taokaka grabbed a plate of miso stir-fry, holding it down and shoveling the last bit into her mouth. Ragna didn't have the heart to point out that he hadn't eaten that yet, and instead just sighed with a frown, watching her. Resigned, he grabbed a meat bun for himself and slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Kindness,' huh? You'll probably forget about it once you're done eating."

"I won't forget, meow!"

Suddenly, Taokaka straightened her tail, and with a quick movement, she leaned forward, looking up at Ragna from the table. Her round, pupiless eyes and crescent-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth resembled a mask, giving her an eerie appearance. But for some reason, when she stared at him, it felt endearing.

"The Kaka tribe is a very loyal one, meow. We never forget a favor. When Tao becomes a rich person one day, I'll treat Good Guy to a meal, meow!"

"Rich... You? You were almost starving to death, and now you're talking about becoming rich? You don't even have a plan."

"Nuhfufufu, I do have a plan, meow." With that, Taokaka casually speared three meatballs with her chopsticks and popped them into her mouth. She then slid down her chair and pulled something out of her clothes.

It was a crumpled piece of paper. Taokaka spread it out on the table, smoothing out the wrinkles with her round hands.

"Tao is a bounty hunter, meow. I catch bad people and get a lot of money, meow."

"A bounty hunter?" Ragna furrowed his brow in confusion.

A bounty hunter was essentially a mercenary who earned money by hunting down criminals with bounties on their heads. Originally, when the ecosystem was disrupted by a massive amount of seithr, causing a surge in new species, the Librarium had assigned them to hunt down these new species.

But nowadays, the term more commonly referred to those who earned money by tracking down dangerous criminals or fugitives with large bounties on their heads. Most bounty hunters were people who couldn't find decent work, so they resorted to violence to make a living.

Though female bounty hunters weren't particularly rare, Ragna had never seen one as defenseless and unconcerned as Taokaka.

"That's right, meow. I became one today, meow."

"Today?!"

"And neow I'm gonna catch this guy, meow!" With a proud grin, Taokaka handed the crumpled paper to Ragna.

Ragna took the paper while still chewing some meatballs and vegetables. It was a wanted poster, the kind you'd see plastered around street corners. The bounty's reward was unusually generous, and there was a portrait of an extremely ugly man.

The name on the poster was Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Bwah?!" As soon as Ragna saw the name, he spat out his food

"'Bwah'? Why'd you suddenly spit out your food like that, Good Guy? What a waste, meow."

While Taokaka protested, still munching on her last meat bun, Ragna stared intently at the wanted poster in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.

(W-What... What is that picture? This doesn't look anything like me! If they don't even know what I look like, then why the hell are they spreading this around?! Don't go around telling people I look like this!)

He wondered if this poster was plastered all over Kagutsuchi. If so, it would be depressing. Not only was it embarrassing that this hideous drawing was being passed off as the face of Ragna the Bloodedge, but with this reward, there had to be a lot of bounty hunters looking for him. And a lot them were probably hanging out in Kagutsuchi.

(I can't just walk around town normally...)

It would be a pain to be found by those guys in blue and white uniforms, but bounty hunters would be even worse. They would certainly start "working" whether it was in the middle of the street or not.

"...Hey, Taokaka, right? You wouldn't happen to know any hidden paths to the upper levels of Kagutsuchi, would you?" Ragna asked, lowering his voice as he returned the crumpled poster. If there was one, it would be much better than causing trouble.

Taokaka licked the last of the sweet and sour sauce from the plate of meatballs and replied.

"Yup, I know a secret path, meow."

"Really!! That's great! Why don't you show me the way there in exchange for that meal I bought you?"

"That's fine, meow. Good Guy is Tao's benefactor. You can leave it to me, meow." Saying so, Taokaka grinned and slammed the clean plate down on the table.

Just then…

"Sorry to keep you waiting~!" A young waitress arrived, setting down several new dishes on the table.

There were noodles topped with minced meat, crispy fried noodles covered in a savory sauce and loaded with vegetables, a platter of sliced roast pork, and a variety of steamed dumplings filled with shrimp paste, minced pork, and aromatic vegetables, all wrapped in soft dough. Fresh, unrelenting steam rose to the ceiling along with a rich aroma.

"....Huh?" Ragna hadn't ordered any of this. He was about to protest, but then it dawned on him.

It had been just before... when he was looking at his wanted poster. Taokaka had finished off the last of the meat buns from the plates of food on the table at that point. Immediately after, Tao had reached for the menu.

"Wahoo, that looks delicious, meow! The secret path is dangerous, you know. Good Guy needs to have a full stomach, or he'll get hungry again, meow!"

Instead of feeling guilty, Taokaka gleefully pulled the steamed dumplings closer to herself, and Ragna, unable to take it anymore, grabbed her hand forcefully. The sudden movement made Taokaka almost rise from her seat.

"W-What the hell are you doing, adding more food?!"

"Meow? Is Good Guy full neow? Then Tao will eat it all..."

"No way! I can't pay for this mountain of food! I don't have that much money!"

Ragna was in a panic. He didn't have a steady job. Occasionally he earned travel expenses by pretending to be a bounty hunter or doing odd jobs, but that was just temporary. He couldn't even afford a decent place to stay, so the idea of adding more orders to what he had already ordered was unthinkable.

Just as Ragna was about to explode, a hand landed on his shoulder. He shrugged it off at first, irritated, but the hand immediately returned to tap his shoulder again, and a voice asked from behind.

"Excuse me, sir? Did you say... you don't have any money?"

"...Huh?" Ragna turned around, and there, standing behind him, was the waitress. She was much shorter than him and was smiling sweetly, but there was a hint of killing intent in her eyes.

"You said you don't have any money?" the waitress asked again.

Immediately after that, Ragna grabbed Taokaka's arm, who seemed completely unaware of the situation and was stuffing the steamed buns into her mouth, and slapped the waitress's hand away. He lifted Taokaka over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran out of the restaurant as if he had been shot.

"Meow!? Tao's food! I haven't eaten it yet, meow!"

"Shut up! This isn't the time for that!" Ragna shouted angrily at Taokaka, who was reaching out behind him and making pitiful sounds. He ran out into the main street of Orient Town and pushed through the crowd, running with all his might.

"Wait~!! Someone catch them! It's a dine-and-dash~~!!" The waitress's high-pitched voice rang out behind them. To Ragna's surprise, the waitress was keeping up with him, her speed matching his. Perhaps it was due to her infatuation.

Ragna cursed under his breath, realizing that the first trouble he caused in Kagutsuchi was going to be a dine-and-dash. Taokaka, being carried on his shoulder, hung her tail down in dejection, but her arms were still reaching back in the air as if trying to grab her lost meal.

"Ugh, Tao's food..."

"Forget about the food! Tell me where the secret path is, or do you want to be caught by the restaurant staff and turned into minced meat?!"

"Minced meat?"

"Yeah, meat! If you don't want to end up as the next dish on that menu, tell me quickly!" While Ragna didn't actually mean that the manager would mince them up, Taokaka, who had belatedly understood the meaning, seemed to take it seriously. Her tail jumped up suddenly and swelled up thick, as if in alarm.

"If I'm made into meat, I won't be able to eat meat anymore, meow! I don't want that, meow!" Agilely twisting her body on his shoulder, Taokaka landed in front of Ragna and started running on all fours like a beast.

"Good Guy, this way, meow!"

"Okay, I got it!"

Taokaka dashed into a narrow alley, and despite a slight delay in his reaction, Ragna followed suit, flipping his body as he turned sharply to follow her. As they moved away from the neon signs, the surroundings grew darker. As he ran, Ragna bitterly thought to himself.

Maybe the bounty on my head will go up tomorrow because of today's dine-and-dash…

===Part 3===

'''December 30, 2199 - 13:35'''

Against a sky shrouded in gray clouds, a type of ship arrived at the port. However, it wasn't a ship that sailed across the sea. It was a ship that crossed the sky. The magical cargo ship carried goods such as humans and equipment in its swollen belly, while its wings extended outwards, absorbing seithr to enable flight.

Naturally, a port where flying magic airships docked had to be specially constructed. The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5. Smaller and less conspicuous than the others, it was a port that was used for specific purposes.

Several guards in blue and white uniforms, with guns slung over their shoulders, got off and quickly took up their positions, exchanging reports on their radios. A moment later, a pair of black leather boots stepped onto the flat ground of the port. A tall man in a black suit emerged, adjusting his slender frame. He adjusted the black hat perched atop his green hair with his fingers and tilted his face upward toward the sky. The hat shaded his eyes, but his thin lips were twisted in a dissatisfied frown.

"Oh dear. Is it raining?"

A quiet rain fell from the gray clouds that filled the sky. It had been raining for quite a while, and Port 5 was thoroughly soaked. There seemed to be no movement in the clouds, so it looked like the rain would continue for some time.

Letting out a resigned sigh, the man quickly moved to a roofed area to shield himself from the rain.

The man in the black suit was a member of the Novus Orbis Librarium, often abbreviated as the NOL, and he was part of the organization's Intelligence Department. His name was Hazama, and his rank was Captain.

The magical cargo ship he had arrived on was used by the Intelligence Department of the NOL. Port 5 was typically used for covert missions or other sensitive tasks that couldn't be made public — essentially, it served as a port for avoiding prying eyes.

"Captain Hazama! You're outside." A woman's voice called from the stairs of the magic airship, and Hazama, who had been brushing the water droplets off his suit, looked up. A young woman in a blue and white uniform with a matching poncho quickly ran down the stairs. She wore a blue beret, and her long, camellia red hair flowed past her waist.

With a splash of rainwater from her blue boots, she reached the front of the management hut where Hazama was and took a deep breath, straightening her posture. Her sky-blue eyes were stern, and her expression was serious.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. But it would have been fine if you'd just called out to me... I thought you might still be inside, so I was looking for you," she said.

"Oh my, my. I apologize for the trouble, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." Hazama smiled with the corners of his mouth lifted, speaking to the woman who, as her eyes suggested, spoke with utmost seriousness.

Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi. Unlike Hazama, she wasn't part of the Intelligence Department, but belonged to the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The Novus Orbis Librarium was a huge and important organization that served as a substitute for the concept of a nation in the current world. With an Imperator at the top who held absolute decision-making power, it managed and operated all social infrastructures worldwide, including government, justice, and military.

Because of this, there were a vast number of departments, and it was not common for departments with different roles to work together on a single mission. However, despite being from different departments, Tsubaki and Hazama had come to Kagutsuchi together for a certain mission.

"Well, it's terrible weather, isn't it? Searching for a single man in vast Kagutsuchi in this rain is quite a challenge." Hazama said in a somewhat amused tone, his hand on his hat as he looked up at the rain.

Their mission was to find someone. Who were they looking for?

"Still, we must find Major Kisaragi... no matter what." Tsubaki muttered, her gaze dropping to her feet, as if reminding herself.

Major Jin Kisaragi. That was the name of the man Tsubaki and Hazama were looking for. He was the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron and Tsubaki's direct superior. She had served as his secretary and supported him.

A few days ago, he had suddenly disappeared from the headquarters of the NOL. It was neither a mission nor a reported absence. This was a serious breach of discipline in the Librarium. It was unprecedented for the commander of a division to suddenly disappear without a clear motive. To prevent this incident from affecting subordinates and other divisions, it had not been made public.

However, there was a possibility that the situation would leak out somewhere. Hazama was ordered to bring him back as soon as possible before that happened, and the person he chose to cooperate with was Tsubaki, Jin Kisaragi's secretary.

The cold rain chilled the air. Or was it just the cold metal of Port 5?

Beyond the wet gray stairs, one could glimpse the orderly cityscape of the upper floors. Going further in and climbing several floors would lead to the top floor, the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

As she lifted her gaze, even from here, she could see the beautiful and majestic silhouette of the Kagutsuchi branch, towering as if it were jutting out from the peak of the high mountain. However, due to the bad weather today, a curtain of rain blurred her view.

Looking up at the hazy branch office, Tsubaki furrowed her brow slightly.

"......Why would Major Kisaragi come to Kagutsuchi?"

It was a question that anyone who knew Jin would ask.

Jin Kisaragi, the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, was a very calm person. He was thoughtful, always analyzing the pros and cons before acting, and he was certainly not the type to foolishly jeopardize his position by suddenly turning his back on the NOL. This was truly unlike him.

Seeing Tsubaki pondering, Hazama said, "Oh," sounding a little surprised.

"This is surprising. Miss Tsubaki Yayoi, can't someone as intelligent and capable as you understand?" Hazama asked in a somewhat teasing tone, his smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Tsubaki felt a slight unease stir within her. He had a way of speaking that was just slightly grating.

Tsubaki didn't know Hazama very well. So she couldn't guess what he meant by saying that. But just those words were enough to make her dislike the man in the black suit.

Swallowing the mild discomfort that churned inside her, Tsubaki adjusted her expression to one befitting of a soldier and straightened her back. Even if she didn't like it, she was a lieutenant, and Hazama was a captain. He outranked her.

"I apologize, Captain. I..."

"You received the report, didn't you?" Hazama spread his hands slightly. Perhaps because of his teasing tone earlier, even that gesture seemed sarcastic to Tsubaki. "It mentioned that the 'Grim Reaper'—the wanted criminal Ragna the Bloodedge—was heading toward Kagutsuchi. If Major Kisaragi went to Kagutsuchi, it could only be because he was pursuing the 'Grim Reaper,' right?"

It was Hazama who had provided the information that Jin's destination after leaving the NOL was Kagutsuchi. Tsubaki had heard him grumble many times in the magic airship about how he had unwittingly gathered such information, which had led to this assignment to a remote location.

"With all due respect, Captain Hazama. I understand that. What I question is why the Major had to leave the organization to chase the 'Grim Reaper'." Tsubaki said sharply. As soon as she said it, she wondered if she had been too rude. It might have been a childish attitude unbecoming of a soldier.

However, Hazama didn't seem to mind Tsubaki's irritation. On the contrary, he let out a light laugh, as if amused by her childlike rebellious tone.

"Oh, I see. My apologies, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." He tipped his hat slightly in a salute. All the while, his thin neck trembled with a constant chuckle. "We can't possibly know what Major Kisaragi is thinking. Why don't you go and ask him directly when you find him?"

Though she thought bitterly that she was asking because she couldn't do that, Tsubaki pushed the extra words down. What she needed now was not doubt, but determination. That's what she told herself.

"...Understood, Captain." Tsubaki responded earnestly, and Hazama let out another chuckle before continuing.

"Well, there's no point in chatting forever, so let's get started on our work." The work, of course, meant the search for Jin Kisaragi.

Tsubaki's expression tightened, not due to her dislike of Hazama but out of a sense of duty toward the mission.

As Hazama glanced at the rain-soaked cityscape of Kagutsuchi, a grin spread across his lips as he continued speaking.

"First, let's confirm. Our mission is to capture Major Jin Kisaragi and force him to return to headquarters. However, since his disappearance hasn't been made public, we'll need to keep this discreet with the guards here in Kagutsuchi. Absolutely no outsiders involved."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, it's believed that Ragna the Bloodedge is hiding somewhere in Kagutsuchi. Due to this, a D-alert has been issued, so be on your guard."

A D-Alert meant that a special alert was in effect by the NOL. This prohibited anyone who was not a resident of Kagutsuchi or not affiliated with the NOL from conducting any activities in the city.

"If we come into contact with someone who violates the D-Alert, should we contact the Kagutsuchi branch? Or should we handle it ourselves?" Tsubaki asked, looking at Hazama with a straight back, her manner too dignified to be dismissed as just another soldier.

And it made sense. She was the key member of the Yayoi family, one of the twelve founding families that had supported the establishment of the NOL and produced many high-ranking officials.

But Hazama replied in a casual manner and twisted his mouth, as if to say that everything about Tsubaki, from the clothes she wore to her unfailingly serious nature, stank like acid.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Do whatever you want."

"…Yes."

"Well, I have some other business at the branch, so could you please start searching from the lower levels?"

"Other business?" Tsubaki asked, slightly confused, but Hazama only shrugged his shoulders and didn't explain.

Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. There were probably many things he couldn't tell other departments. Though Tsubaki felt a bit suspicious about his hidden purpose, she refrained from asking further out of consideration.

"Understood. I'll start with the lower levels... around Orient Town," she said.

"Good idea. That's one of the largest areas in Kagutsuchi, and it's a perfect place to hide." Nodding casually, Hazama took a step forward and looked up at Tsubaki from below. His eyes were hidden by the brim of his hat, but she could feel his gaze fixed on her. As if talking to a child, Hazama raised one finger. "Just be careful of one thing. Major Kisaragi's likely hiding in places with poor security, but at the same time, Ragna the Bloodedge could be lurking around. If you two happen to fight, we won't be able to do anything."

"Yes... I suppose so." Tsubaki bowed her head slightly, as if retreating, and replied bitterly.

Jin was known throughout the NOL as an unparalleled swordsman. On top of that, he possessed Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, a phenomenon weapon said to have been used during the Dark War, a war against the Black Beast about a hundred years ago.

And Ragna the Bloodedge, the "Grim Reaper," was a person with considerable power who single-handedly destroyed many branches of the NOL.

If these two were to clash, neither Tsubaki nor Hazama could stop them.

Hazama stated the biggest reason for this with a cheerful tone.

"Well, neither of us are experts in combat. If things get rough, we're completely out of our league, aren't we?"

Tsubaki had graduated from the military academy of the NOL, so she had at least undergone basic combat training. However, that was limited to self-defense techniques. After graduation, she had spent her time as Jin's secretary, dealing with paperwork and visitors on a daily basis. Under those circumstances, there was no chance for her to improve her combat skills.

On the other hand, as Hazama himself admitted, he was skilled in intelligence activities but was not good at dealing with situations with force.

With a pale hand that didn't seem to suit a weapon, Hazama waved casually in the air and grinned.

"Well, let's not push ourselves too hard. Our job is to bring back Major Kisaragi, so don't forget that."

"Understood." Without being swayed by Hazama's casualness, Tsubaki replied as a subordinate, and then straightened her back. "Then, Captain, I'll go and check the lower levels."

"Ah, yes. Please do. Kagutsuchi is quite dangerous right now, so do take care."

"Yes, sir. I'll take my leave."

Bowing deeply, Tsubaki ran out of the narrow entrance of the management hut into the rain. She climbed the stairs leading from the port into the city, splashing small amounts of water. Hazama watched her go, leaning against the wall of the management hut as the blue of her poncho and the sound of the water she splashed disappeared completely into the rain.

When the sounds of the blue poncho and splashing water disappeared completely into the rain, he slowly got up.

"Really, be careful," he murmured, his voice low and husky. With that, Hazama leisurely stepped out into the rain.

===Part 4===

...It was only a few years ago, but it felt like a priceless time that could never be replaced.

It was one day.

'''The Novus Orbis Librarium – Integrated Headquarters'''

Tsubaki walked down the straight white-tiled floor with a nervous expression.

The blue and white NOL soldier uniform, which she had only worn a few days ago, still didn't feel quite right on her body, and she was worried about whether the visorless cap she wore on her head and the boots that tapped against the floor were looking neat.

With a file of documents clutched to her chest, she adjusted her long hair, which she had done countless times before, with her fingertips. Then, Tsubaki knocked softly on the door of her destination.

"Come in." A voice came from the other side of the door after a moment's pause. At that moment, Tsubaki's heart leaped. It was a distant, obligatory voice, but there was still a hint of a boyish tone, a voice she knew well.

"Y-Yes, excuse me." Her voice trembled as she replied. Her hand on the doorknob was shaking even more.

What if she tripped? Oh, what should her face look like? She was so worried that her face would turn red, and she tried desperately to remain calm.

Tsubaki entered the room. The first thing she noticed was a man sitting at a desk, pen in hand. The sunlight coming in from the window behind him cast a gleam on his beautiful golden hair. From the distance of the room's entrance, she could see his emotionless gaze fixed on the documents. His eyes were a clear green, she knew.

There was no one else in the room besides him. After closing the door carefully, only Tsubaki and him were in the room.

Having seemingly finished what he was writing, the man at the desk looked up, looking somewhat bored. Then his eyes widened in surprise.

"Tsubaki...?" The voice that called her name was different from the obligatory voice she had heard outside the door. The tone of his voice, filled with emotion, was as surprised as his expression, and it sounded slightly higher than before. "Why are you here...?"

Tsubaki relaxed her tense shoulders at the casual tone, so unlike someone at work. The tension drained from her.

"The documents should have arrived. Haven't you read them?" Carrying the file, Tsubaki walked up to the desk and, with a salute, straightened her posture in front of the puzzled Jin. "I am Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, newly appointed as the secretary of Major Jin Kisaragi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron as of today. Major, I look forward to working with you." It was a line she had practiced many times in her room last night, but it was still formal.

Relieved that she had said it without any mistakes, Tsubaki noticed Jin raising his eyebrows slightly in confusion.

"Second Lieutenant?" Tsubaki understood the reason for the question very well.

Tsubaki was born into one of the Duodecim, which held an aristocratic position within the Novus Orbis Librarium. Members of the Duodecim were given at least the rank of Captain after graduating from the Librarium's military academy.

Tsubaki was no exception, and she was a captain immediately after graduation. So why was she a second lieutenant now? There was a serious reason for that.

"Well, that's..." Tsubaki hesitated, unable to speak. She couldn't possibly tell Jin that she had originally been assigned to a different post but had insisted on becoming his secretary, and that she had been demoted in exchange for her request.

It was rare for someone from the main family of the Duodecim to become the secretary of Jin, who was also from the main family.

Perhaps sensing Tsubaki's recklessness from that, Jin smiled wryly.

Tsubaki involuntarily let out a shaky breath. It was the first time she had seen Jin smile in a long time.

"I heard that a secretary would be coming, but I never expected it would be you... Well then, it's a pleasure, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi."

With that, Jin extended his hand, gloved in white. Tsubaki tucked the file under her arm, looked straight into his beautiful green eyes, and took his outstretched hand.

From that day forward, Tsubaki's days as the major's secretary began.

It was different from her time at the military academy, when she had only been able to follow in his footsteps. Now, she would be by his side, supporting his work.

'''December 30, 2199 — 17:30'''

As Tsubaki descended into the lower levels of Kagutsuchi, she carefully scanned her surroundings.

She was about to enter an area called Orient Town. She had heard that it was the largest and most densely populated area in Kagutsuchi. It was a bad place to look for people. But Tsubaki thought that was precisely why Jin might have gone there.

It would be easy to blend into the crowd there, and it would be possible to hide in the nooks and crannies of the complex maze-like city structure. Moreover, there were fewer NOL soldiers in the lower levels, and surveillance was less strict compared to the upper levels.

Jin must have understood the risk of being pursued by the Control Organization. So it was only natural that he would avoid them. At the same time, he would have considered the possibility that Ragna the Bloodedge, who was also on the run, would choose the lower levels as a hiding place.

Tsubaki walked quickly, the sound of her blue boots echoing against the hard ground. Her vibrant hair was damp from the rain.

After descending a short flight of stairs, she found herself at the edge of Orient Town. There were a row of abandoned-looking warehouses and a small grassy square beyond them. The scattered streetlights were covered in rust.

Because the lower levels were built on top of other levels, most of them were blocked from the sky, and even though they were outdoors, they were not as affected by the weather as indoors. But this area was still protruding from the other levels, and everything was wet from the rain.

Buildings she passed by, narrow alleys, shadows, people passing by. Tsubaki focused her attention on everything she saw. Her pace quickened, driven by growing anxiety. Unconsciously, her hands clenched the file more tightly.

(Major Kisaragi...)

She didn't know how many times she had called out his name in her mind. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes darted from side to side as if she were clinging to something. Her expression revealed a deeper emotional turmoil than that of someone simply searching for a missing superior.

(Where are you...? Brother Jin...)

Tsubaki was Jin Kisaragi's secretary. But before that, Jin had been a special person to Tsubaki.

If Tsubaki was the daughter of the Yayoi family, one of the Duodecim, Jin was the son of the Kisaragi family, another of the Duodecim. They had known each other since childhood. They had seen each other, talked to each other, and even played together as children.

The reason why Tsubaki had entered the military academy to become an NOL soldier was to follow Jin, who had already enrolled and was expected to become a division commander in the future.

Jin was good at everything, from studying to martial arts, but Tsubaki was not good at sports. So she studied hard to catch up with him. During her student days, she had worked with him on the student council, where he was the president.

Because he spoke bluntly and had a sharp gaze, people around him whispered that he was cold. But to Tsubaki, he was always a kind older brother.

His fine, golden hair, his cool green eyes, his slender body, his fair skin, and his handsome features. Sometimes, just sometimes, she had admired his intelligent profile.

How grateful she had been when she finally managed to get the position of Jin's secretary by using every connection she had.

She had admired him, and she still did. Since they were children, when she had been alone in the mansion, and even now, she had always looked up to him.

"Brother Jin..." Her hurried steps had gradually turned into a jog. Her toes kicked up water droplets as she stepped in small puddles. She wanted to find him as soon as possible. Her heart pounded in her chest.

The worst-case scenario that came to Tsubaki's mind was that Jin would encounter Ragna the Bloodedge somewhere. Jin was strong. There were only a handful of people in the NOL who could fight him on equal terms.

However, it would be dangerous to think of the "Grim Reaper" in the same way as other officers in the NOL. He had single-handedly rebelled against the Librarium and managed to escape without ever being captured. Tsubaki, who was in a position to pursue him, understood very well that this was impossible with ordinary strength.

Ragna is probably very strong. Perhaps even stronger than Jin. And what she feared even more was the grimoire that heinous criminal possessed.

The BlazBlue - the Azure Grimoire.

During the era of the Dark War, when the Black Beast was fought, a certain magician developed a technique called "Ars Magus." It was a technique that imitated magic, allowing one to create various phenomena such as fire and water using seithr.

The key to using these formulas was the grimoire.

Among the countless grimoires in the world, the Azure Grimoire is said to be the most powerful.

(Even Brother Jin wouldn't come out unscathed against the Azure Grimoire. If things went wrong...)

Thinking that far, Tsubaki shivered from the cold sweat that ran down her spine.

While the Azure Grimoire is highly praised for its power and strength, little is known about it.

First of all, although grimoires are "books," they come in various shapes and are not necessarily in the form of books.

Although it was known that Ragna the Bloodedge possessed the Azure Grimoire, it was not known what shape it took. Even the Misinformation Department of the NOL did not know exactly when or where the Azure Grimoire was created or what its hidden power was.

How could one be optimistic about facing a 'Grim Reaper' who was already strong, and who also had an unknown grimoire? It was simply reckless to challenge him alone.

(....Maybe Brother Jin came to Kagutsuchi alone to capture Ragna the Bloodedge.) Squinting into the shadows, Tsubaki muttered to herself.

Even if he had been forcibly ordered to return for acting on his own, Jin was a guard and major of the NOL. Tsubaki thought that if he had left the Librarium to chase after the 'Grim Reaper', his purpose must have been to eliminate the heinous criminal.

But was that really the case? She couldn't help but wonder.

(But if that were true… then why did he leave without telling anyone? Why didn't he say anything to me?) That was what really stuck in her chest. Jin was a hard person to read, but he had always told her if something happened. "...No, I'll ask him directly once I find him."

Tsubaki clenched her fist tightly against her chest and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't be speculating. She needed to find Jin as soon as possible. That was the only thing that mattered. If Jin was considered a traitor because of his actions, there would be no going back.

Hurry up. She took a big step forward, as if urging herself on, and turned around the back of the square where she had heard a small noise. Was it a storage shed? She turned a narrow corner to pass behind the two side-by-side huts.

Suddenly, a wall appeared in front of her.

"Kyah!?!" She was so startled that she couldn't react in time, and she collided with the wall with the force of her entry.

But then she realized. It was too thick to be a wall, and it felt too soft to be a building material.

"Huh...?" She heard a voice from behind the wall. It was a deep, masculine voice that resonated in her stomach.

The towering thing in front of her was not a wall, but a man's back, so large that she had to look up at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" The towering giant spoke with a gentlemanly manner that belied his extraordinary sense of oppression, and he slowly turned around. His strangeness was not limited to his size alone. His skin was an unusually deep red, and he had an imposing handcuff-like part attached to his already thick arms. White fangs extended upward from his compressed lips.

An oni.

Such a monster had appeared in the folk tales of Japan, a country that was destroyed about a hundred years ago. Tsubaki remembered a picture book she had read as a child. At the same time, she remembered who the red giant in front of her was.

"You... the Red Devil of Sector Seven!" As she called out, Tsubaki took a few steps back and readied herself.

Sector Seven. An external organization that opposed the NOL's world domination based on magic and aimed to create a world that did not rely on magic.

The Red Devil was a soldier belonging to Sector Seven, and, judging by his size, possessed overwhelming power. His official name was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg created by the researchers of Sector Seven. Noticing her presence, he took a step back with a foot that was thicker than Tsubaki's waist.

"Is that uniform from the Library?"

Because the NOL collected and managed grimoires from all over the world to prevent the misuse of magic, many people called it the Library. Most of the time, it was used as a derogatory term. Tsubaki couldn't tell what the giant called the Red Devil meant by using that derogatory term, but it was clear that he didn't feel any affection for her.

Although Tager didn't get ready for a fight, he frowned deeply and stared at Tsubaki with a stern expression.

".....Sorry, I came into contact with a Library guard." Looking away from Tsubaki, Tager put a large hand to his ear and whispered something to someone. A noise like static followed. It was a communicator.

"Cut the comm. Stay where you are." Tsubaki quickly drew the pistol she had been issued for emergencies. She gripped it firmly with both hands and pointed it at the Red Devil.

Tager moved his head slightly to look at Tsubaki. However, she couldn't see his eyes behind the thick lenses of his round glasses. Feeling intimidated by his towering presence, Tsubaki tried to stare sternly at the Red Devil.

"A D-Alert is currently in effect in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. Intervention by all other organizations, including Sector Seven, is prohibited. Answer me, what are you doing here?"

"Oh dear. Put down your gun, soldier girl. A toy like that won't even scratch my body."

"Th-That's not what I asked! Answer my question!" Tsubaki almost instinctively pulled her arm back at Tager's dismissive tone, but she resisted and kept her gun aimed at him, maintaining her intense gaze. She knew she had no chance of winning a fight against a cyborg. But even more importantly, she couldn't let him escape.

Her mission was to search for Jin Kisaragi. But there were no other NOL soldiers around. If she let him go, she couldn't ignore the chaos that Sector Seven might bring to Kagutsuchi and the Librarium.

Static crackled again.

"Everything's fine. No problem. I'll return to my mission immediately."

Tsubaki couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the line. But Tager's response was too casual, as if the problem with her was already solved. Feeling insulted, Tsubaki sharpened her voice.

"Cut the comm! I won't allow such reckless actions!"

"Calm down. We didn't come to Kagutsuchi to interfere with the operations of the NOL. Why don't we pretend this never happened? If you leave now, I won't have to hurt you."

"Are you saying this is an act of rebellion? Whatever your intentions are, I cannot allow this!" Tager's soothing tone only made Tsubaki more stubborn. If she showed weakness here, it would be seen as the NOL as a whole being weak against Sector Seven. She couldn't allow that to happen.

A soldier of the Librarium, which maintained world order, and the secretary of the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, who fought for peace, couldn't make a deal with a soldier of the lawless Sector Seven.

Aiming her gun at the giant Red Devil, Tsubaki took out a small handheld communicator. She couldn't handle this on her own. She needed reinforcements, and fast.

"This is Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron. I am currently in Orient Town in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi and have encountered a member of Sector Seven..."

"Dammit. I was hoping to settle this peacefully." The Red Devil muttered softly.

Before Tsubaki could understand the meaning of his words, Tager took a large step forward. His outstretched arm closed the distance between them in an instant. Before she could react, his clenched fist opened in front of her.

"Kyah...!" An electric shock was fired, knocking the communicator out of her hand and causing Tsubaki to let out a faint scream.

With that single blow, Tsubaki's consciousness faded. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed limply.

"Ugh..." Just before her delicate body could hit the hard ground, Tager, who had just fired his weapon, caught her. He scooped her up and looked down at the unconscious girl, sighing.

"As expected of a non-combatant. She's reckless."

"...I told you, don't get involved." A noise crackled, and an unpleasant female voice came from Tager's communicator.

Holding Tsubaki, Tager put his other hand to his ear. His mouth, with its upward-pointing canine teeth, twisted in even more bitterness than when he had faced Tsubaki.

"I can't just leave her out here in the rain. She's just a young girl."

"The mission is the top priority. There's no time to waste."

"...I'm cutting the comm for a while, Kokonoe."

"What? Hey, don't you dare pull that stunt..."

With a small sound that only the wearer could hear, the communication was cut off. Tager turned his back on the rain-soaked plaza and began walking. His destination? Orient Town, a dimly lit city where the sky was obscured by the upper city and the streets were illuminated by lanterns and neon lights

===Part 5===

'''December 30, 2199 — 18:00'''

How many alleys had they passed through? How many corners had they turned?

Guided by Taokaka, who moved with an unnatural agility despite her human-like appearance, Ragna found himself in a dark, dark sewer.

"This way, Good Guy~" Calling out, Taokaka jumped lightly over a pile of discarded rubble and broken furniture. It was a place isolated from the outside world, and it was late at night. Even if there were slight gaps, there was no hope of even a faint light.

And yet, Ragna and Taokaka were able to walk without any problems thanks to the strange moss that clung to the discarded rubble and accumulated mud. The moss emitted a faint greenish light, allowing the sewer to avoid being completely enveloped in pitch-black darkness.

Following Taokaka, Ragna continued, stumbling slightly on the rough footing.

"Hey, are you sure we can get out from here?" When he jumped down from the pile of rubble, he landed on something slick, possibly oil. Ragna reflexively wrinkled his nose and asked Taokaka with a hint of irritation, her white hood with triangular ears twitching slightly at the back of her head.

Ragna had learned from experience that escape routes were often not easy. But this was a much worse road than any of the "escape routes" he had been through before. Even though it wasn't wet, the floor, walls, and ceiling were damp, and the unpleasant humidity, mixed with the thick seithr that seemed to be seeping in from outside, gave his skin and lungs an unpleasant feeling.

A little further down, sewage and discarded waste flowed like muddy water, creating a nauseating stench.

Considering this was not far from the city yet there was no strong stench outside, it seemed the Hierarchical City's construction was surprisingly solid, despite its sloppy appearance. Rubbing his nose, which was already quite numb, Ragna muttered this to himself.

"Of course, meow. I often come here to get bread and sweets upstairs, meow." Taokaka said, looking up at the ceiling of the sewer. The blackened overhead was a complex network of protruding iron pipes and metal plates, and far beyond that, a dark ceiling was visible, clinging to a very high place.

And much farther away, there must be the upper city they were aiming for.

Following her gaze, Ragna sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"Get, huh? You don't mean you're stealing stuff from stores, do you?"

"Meow~"

"You're a thief!" Ragna's voice echoed hollowly and coldly in the sewer. When the echo subsided, a damp silence returned. The sound of water dripping and bouncing on the floor was eerie.

In the thick shadows, something unknown seemed to be wriggling, peering at them. A shiver ran down Ragna's spine, and he shuddered, following Taokaka. But... Ragna suddenly frowned and stopped.

(It's not an illusion. Someone's watching us.)

Somewhere in the depths of the thick shadows carved by the faintly glowing moss, in a distorted pile of rubble, he felt a gaze. No, it was more than just a gaze. It was something more fundamental. It felt like an existence, a will itself, was intently focused on him.

"Good Guy~? What's wrong, meow?" Wondering why Ragna wasn't following, Taokaka turned back. She lightly jumped over the remains of something that had been piled up and landed. Her small footsteps seemed to trigger it.

'''"Kikikikiikiki!"''' With a voice that seemed to tear through the air, shadows suddenly leaped out from the darkness. From them, sharp, bridge-like shadows shot out in countless numbers, rushing at Ragna.

"Ugh!" He was caught off guard by the suddenness and the perfectly camouflaged figure. The sound of thick cloth tearing filled the air, and something dug into his skin. Pulling his injured shoulder, he drew his sword with his other arm and brushed away the shadow in front of him.

There was no resistance. It was as if he had cut through a real shadow.

'''"Gugigigigi... true... towards truth... the truth I seek..."''' The voice was strange, almost human but not quite. Muttering in an odd tone, the shadow withdrew. It floated amid the thick sludge and rubble, hovering and swirling.

At first, Ragna thought it was a mindless, ferocious beast, a creature born of highly concentrated seithr that had warped the ecosystem. But this was different somehow. It was strange, distorted, and incomprehensible. It didn't look like a living creature at all.

The shadow moved around. And then, a face appeared from within the swirling darkness. A white circle with three holes for eyes and a mouth. Was it supposed to be a face? It was the only definite shape in the dark, amorphous shadow.

"What... What is this thing?" A sense of disgust, rather than fear, washed over him at the sight.

The shadow landed on the slimy floor with a disgusting movement and seemed to rise up. Vaguely, Ragna thought he could see some small creature wriggling at its feet, illuminated by the moss light.

"This guy is Squiggly, meow!"

"Squiggly? What's that?"

"He's a bad guy, meow! He attacks our village and eats the little Kakas, meow!" With a snarl, Taokaka changed her cheerful expression to one of fierce anger, her eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth and growled menacingly.

As if mocking her, the shadow with the white face trembled as if foaming all over.

'''"Kihihihi... I can feel it... the ugly flesh wriggling with power. For the wish to be granted, there is no need for consent... The denial of concepts, the gates that should never be closed... Gihihihihihihi..."'''

Each time the shadow trembled and laughed, the air grew thick and stagnant. Ragna grimaced. It was seithr. It wasn't flowing in from outside. It was overflowing from the shadow that was swirling in front of him, invading every part of the sewer.

It meant that the black substance that enveloped this shadow-like object was all seithr. And the fact that this strange monster, a mass of seithr, was uttering sounds that resembled human speech meant that it had originally been a being capable of understanding human language. In other words, it was human.

Before it became like this, the dark, amorphous monster that Taokaka called "Squiggly" and some people in Orient Town called Arakune was once a human being.

Ragna spat out the disgust that welled up in him.

"This guy... he's touched the Boundary..."

Ragna had been traveling from one NOL branch to another, destroying the cauldrons found in the basement of each. The cauldrons connected this world to another world - the Boundary. It was a place beyond human comprehension, an amorphous expanse filled with a concentration of seithr that is incomparable to the surface of the earth.

Just as the dense seithr gave birth to demonic beasts, so too could humans, exposed to such high concentrations, have their reason consumed by seithr. Eventually, they would be dragged into the Boundary, losing their humanity.

Arakune, this black monster with a rotten odor, a writhing, mucus-like body, and emitting strange noises, was the end result of such a transformation. Once a human, he had been corrupted by the Boundary.

"I don't know what you were trying to do by messing with something like that... you idiot."

A surge of anger rose from the depths of Ragna's stomach. The cauldron that the NOL cherished and kept deep underground… Not just them, but also various institutions, researchers, and scholars wanted it. Owning the cauldron meant owning the end of the Boundary that the cauldron connected to.

Everyone assumed that there was a treasure beyond human understanding sleeping in the Boundary. But there was no way humans could control something beyond their understanding. It was utterly infuriating. He was fed up with the NOL, their brazenness about meddling with such a cauldron, and with those who sought the cauldrons and chased after them. All of them.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Don't blame me. ...Well, if you have enough reason to blame anyone."

If he left this creature here, it would not only attack the "village" that Taokaka had mentioned, but it would also go out into Orient Town and the lower city and attack people.

Ragna lowered the tip of his sword and stepped forward, deeply into the monster's domain. He had no attachment to Kagutsuchi, but that didn't mean he was foolish enough to just stand there and let a blatant threat loom in front of him. He swung his sword, aiming for the creature's brain-like core, as it spread out to meet him.

'''"Gurgh…!"'''

"Tch!" With a gurgling sound, Arakune's body disappeared from Ragna's sight in an instant.

It was below him. Cursing, Ragna kicked downwards, and Arakune passed beneath his foot and reappeared behind his red coat.
'''
'''"You... You... Devour... Devour... Devour..."''' From an angle that would be impossible for a human or any four-limbed creature, a black mass protruded, leaping up at Ragna. Ragna parried it with his sword. The feeling was heavy and thick. And then, as if climbing up the sword's surface like mud, a strange shadow suddenly emerged from the seithr. It was an unfamiliar, utterly repulsive, wriggling thing that stirred up a sense of disgust.

"Ugh!" Repulsed by a nauseating disgust, Ragna backed away. As if to fill the gap, a sharp claw swung down, cutting through the countless bugs that had emerged and knocking them down. Taokaka had boldly jumped in.

"Squiggly! How many years has it been since we last met! Tao will tear you to pieces, meow!" Without pausing to land from her downward strike, Taokaka twisted in midair and sliced Arakune with her other claw. The claw caught what appeared to be the creature's face and tore it apart with a sound like breaking pottery. The blackened body twisted and fell limply backward. At the same time, Taokaka landed lightly beside Ragna. She thrust her large hand, claws extended in a threatening gesture.

Seeing this, Ragna let out a light laugh. She was a strange creature, just like him. But he didn't mind standing next to her, unlike "Squiggly".

'''"It's not how many years it's been, it's been a hundred years since we met here."'''

"Oh. Then I'll tear you to pieces for a hundred years, meow."

"Whatever." Ragna gripped his sword tightly, regaining the tension that had slipped away.

Arakune, which had become a pool of black mud, quickly rose up with a rippling motion and sprayed seithr around its feet with a gurgle.

'''"G-gii... Give... give it to me... I will eat it, burning, look, escape cannot escape from that eye, fate cannot escape!"'''

"I don't understand what you're saying! I'll put you out of your misery, so just die already! Let's do this, you pile of garbage!"

Swinging his sword wildly to clear away the remaining seithr, Ragna raised his weapon high and roared, striking down at the creature consumed by seithr.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Spiral fate — The Board's Pieces]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1

2025-08-30T18:18:55Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT Chapter 1: Stratum city — Hierarchical City==

===Part 1===

A flurry of hurried footsteps echoed through the high, arched white ceiling. Everyone was shouting warnings and orders to attack. Catch the intruder, kill them, don't let them get any further. The voices, rather than sounding resolute or fierce, were strained with a more desperate tone, vividly portraying the dire situation.

With white hair and eyes of different colors—one green and one red—he was a striking figure. Clad in a sturdy black suit, he wore a striking scarlet coat over it.

(They sure do come in droves…) He thought with a hint of frustration, then let the broad, thick-bladed sword that had slung over his shoulder dangle from his hand.

He had no intention of hiding. In fact, if they found him and attacked, he preferred to meet them head-on. Sneaking around wasn't his style. If he was going to be conspicuous, he might as well do it in the flashiest way possible, so that one day, just hearing of his arrival would send them running.

Though, he thought, it was probably unrealistic to expect such a convenient outcome.

Soon, five or six men in blue and white uniforms rushed in, guns drawn. They hadn't noticed him yet, and when they saw him, the first few faltered. But he didn't stop. Bursting into a sprint, he charged straight forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc.

"Stop! Or we'll shoot!" The warning was meaningless. The uniformed men aimed their guns and fired simultaneously. A deafening roar echoed through the corridor. However, immediately after, he swung his raised sword with great force.

"Uraaaaaaaah!" The sword released a black, ominous wave that soared through the air, swallowing all the approaching bullets and completely obliterating them. The wave surged forward with the speed of fire, engulfing the uniformed men who were about to fire their next shots and blowing them away in a single breath.

With a roaring sound like a whirlwind, the men were knocked back and slammed into the wall. The wall cracked heavily under the impact.

Just one strike. With that alone, all the men who had bravely raised their guns to confront the intruder lost consciousness and collapsed in the hallway.

"...You knew you were going to be taken down, so why the hell did you show up? Idiots."

It was all so anticlimactic. As he glanced at the fallen soldiers in their uniforms, the man, wielding a large sword, immediately began running down the hallway.

He couldn't afford to waste any more time here. His destination was the deepest part of the facility, the lowest level.

From the end of the hallway, more soldiers in blue and white uniforms appeared. They shouted as they took aim with their guns or drew their swords. There were more of them this time, but it didn't change his approach. He charged straight in, brushing aside everything in his path.

One after another, the limp bodies of the soldiers in their uniforms tumbled across the hallway, security systems were completely destroyed, and even the doors, which had been shut tight, were chopped down and reduced to scrap metal.

He hadn't snuck in quietly at all. He'd kicked down the guards at the door and burst right in. As if to proudly display his strength and leave a deep mark, he had rampaged through the facility, destroying everything in his path, advancing deeper and deeper. Whatever stood in his way, he cut it down. With such violent strides, he pressed on, and on, and on…

And what he eventually reached was a deep, underground hall, beyond the long, long lift, which opened up like a gaping mouth.

...It was a world entirely different from the corridors and rooms he had passed through so far.

The air was different. The temperature was different.

The walls, ceiling, and floors were all covered with metal-like panels, and above the vast space, a glass-walled small room overlooked the hall. Beneath it, heavy machinery was lined up, and before these machines stood a strangely large device, silent and imposing.

There was no one there. The people who should have been here had probably evacuated upon hearing the alarm. And the people who should have rushed here had already been scattered by the white-haired intruder.

Step by step, he advanced towards the massive device that dominated the center of the chamber.

The strangeness clung to his body.

It felt as though the very air was saturated with an instinctual unease—something that warned of a sense of wrongness, as if this place were from a different world altogether. But to him, it was familiar.

He had visited places like this many times before. He couldn't count how many facilities with the same structure and hidden underground devices he had visited. Every time, the purpose was the same. To destroy these enormous devices.

He walked forward, his feet firmly planted on the floor.

What was this thing for? How many of the people who worked here even understood its purpose?

Every visit brought with it the same thorny question.

What did they think they were accomplishing, coming down to this gloomy, underground place day after day, fiddling with these flickering instruments whose purpose they didn't understand?

When he reached the edge, he glared at the device. The machine, constructed from silver metal, loomed so high it was almost impossible to see the top. It was as deep and vast as it was tall. The central part, the one he looked down upon, was circular.

This was the "cauldron."

[[File:BB_CT1_025.jpg|frameless|right]]

Now, multiple metal plates overlap to close the mouth of the device, but if they open, the inside is like the crater of a volcano. A fiery, lava-like substance swirls, burning fiercely as if it intends to swallow anyone who dares to look inside.

But what swirls within is neither lava nor flame.

It is another world. A distortion in the fabric of reality, a place where humans should not be. The other side of a gaping rift. The outside of the world's shell, a place that should never be seen, never entered.

The metal device he looked down upon was the one controlling and interacting with this "cauldron." A device to touch the otherworldly realm - the Boundary - that humans were never meant to reach.

He had been traveling the world, destroying these "cauldrons." And now, as he stood there, gazing at it, there was no sense of nostalgia or emotional attachment.

With no more hesitation, he sheathed his sword and extended his right hand toward the device. He muttered something under his breath—the same destructive words he had spoken countless times before. The words awakened the dormant power in his right arm, and the power sparked a blue light in his arm.

In the blink of an eye, the amplified light filled the room and he hurled it with full force toward the device. The next moment, the gate to the other world, which had been sealed deep underground, was blasted away, along with the vast chamber that surrounded it, leaving no trace behind.

Akitsu, the 9th Hierarchical City, the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The facility that stood at the center of the city had collapsed due to an attack by someone, and the entire city was in turmoil due to the commotion.

A white-haired man in a red long coat was quietly trying to leave the city. His work here was done. There was no need to stay longer.

In stark contrast to his flashy actions inside the facility, he took a winding path outside, avoiding the main streets and selecting the darkest, least noticeable exit. If he were to be found by the uniformed guards in the city, he would have no choice but to fight them off. That would be troublesome.

He passed through a rusty iron gate and headed toward the port further ahead. A passage beside it would lead him outside. At that moment, a faint scent of roses brushed his nostrils.

"You're like a stray dog with nowhere to go," came a voice, coolly mocking him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking up at a nearby streetlamp.

At the top of the simple lamp, which split at its end, stood a girl. She looked to be just past ten years old, though her youthful face was illuminated by the dim light, and her red eyes held an intelligence that seemed far beyond her apparent age.

It didn't really matter where he was going. As long as it was Kagutsuchi, it wasn't far from Akitsu. He glared fiercely at the spot where the girl had disappeared, then began walking toward the next destination.

A few days later, his name was publicly listed as a wanted criminal across the world. Ragna the Bloodedge. That was the name of the most-wanted criminal in history, known by the alias "Grim Reaper" and carrying the highest bounty ever offered.

===Part 2===

'''December 30, 2199 — 13:27'''

About a hundred years ago, the world was on the brink of destruction.

A giant and grotesque monster, known as the "Black Beast", suddenly appeared and began destroying everything in its path.

Humanity had no way of fighting against its overwhelming power, and the world's population was reduced to half in no time.

But then, six brave warriors appeared.

They challenged the Black Beast with weapons known as "phenomenon weapons," defeated the demonic beasts of calamity, and brought a future to humanity.

Praised as the Six Heroes, they disappeared without a trace into the sea of history and were lost to time. Yet, their glory lived on as a legend passed down through the ages.

That was a long time ago.

If there are any remnants from the Great Dark War—the war against the Black Beast—that are still known in the current era, they would be two major ones.

One is the Novus Orbis Librarium. This organization was born from the global coalition that fought alongside the Six Heroes during the Dark War, and now it oversees the entire world.

The second is seithr. A substance that overflowed worldwide with the appearance of the demonic beast of calamity, the Black Beast, and continued to remain in the world's atmosphere even after the Black Beast was defeated.

Now, it is used in various technologies and has become indispensable for everyday life. However, excessive exposure to seithr can still pose a danger to the human body. As a result, humanity must avoid large amounts of seithr while still using it for daily life. Seithr tends to accumulate in greater concentrations the closer one gets to the surface of the earth. This led to the creation of Hierarchical Cities.

Built upon the foundations of tall mountains, entire cities were constructed in plate-like layers, extending outward from the mountain's peak. The cities spread both vertically and horizontally along the height of the mountains, resulting in compact yet towering cities with multiple layers of urban plates.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi is one such complex, multi-layered city, just like other cities around the world.

In the midst of one such layered city, in the winding narrow streets of Orient Town, he walked with a slightly unsteady gait. With white hair, a green left eye and red right eye, his appearance was striking. His black attire was complemented by a bright red long coat. At his waist hung a sword with a wide, thick blade, unmistakable in its appearance.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

A wanted criminal with an SS-tier bounty, responsible for the destruction of several branches of the Novus Orbis Librarium. He was the highest-bounty fugitive in history.

Despite his fearsome reputation, none of the city's inhabitants paid him any mind as they went about their business. They probably thought he was just another outlaw who had wandered in. Occasionally, indifferent glances would briefly pass over him and then move on.

This was Orient Town, a district located in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

In layered cities, the higher the level, the further one is from the dangers of seithr, and the more clean and safe the area. Conversely, the lower the level, the less regulated it is, and the closer it is to dangerous concentrations of seithr. In such cities, the upper levels not only represent a higher standard of living but also a lesser risk to one's life, whereas the lower levels carry a greater degree of danger.

Naturally, the highest levels of the city are occupied by the Novus Orbis Librarium, which also serves as the governing body. Its related facilities and the residences of its affiliates take up most of the urban space.

Next come the wealthy and those with close ties to power, who live on the upper floors, while those with lesser status or wealth are pushed further down, their position in society dictating how far they must descend.

The residents of Orient Town were people who, by the nature of this societal hierarchy, had been pushed to the lower levels.

None of them could be called wealthy by any means. They were struggling to support themselves, their families, and a few close friends, and few would want to get involved with a strange, white-haired man and invite unnecessary trouble.

In truth, Ragna himself didn't have the luxury to pay attention to the people around him.

It had been two days since he infiltrated Kagutsuchi through an unused access point. Since then, he had been traveling through back alleys and abandoned areas. Though it wasn't by design, he had no choice but to walk through these endless, treacherous roads. To be honest, he was exhausted.

He had decided to take a better route on his wayback.

"Still, for a lower district, this place is pretty lively," Ragna muttered as he glanced around, offering a blunt observation.

Orient Town was a chaotic, poorly planned neighborhood, with houses haphazardly built and clustered together. The streets were narrow and constantly twisted, and the buildings were so close that they seemed ready to collapse into each other.

On top of that, all kinds of items—wooden crates, bags filled with unknown goods—cluttered the alleyways, making it impossible to pass through without obstacle. Often, a seemingly simple alley would turn out to be impassable.

There were strange statues with red pillars and bulging eyes. Small lanterns hung throughout the town, as well as countless signs of all shapes and sizes glowing with dazzling neon lights.

In most lower-level districts, the buildings were so tall and densely packed that sunlight was blocked out, leaving the area dark even during the day. But here, there seemed to be no such shadows.

As Ragna emerged from a narrow alley, he found himself in a slightly more open street. Shops lined both sides of the road, and it seemed like this was one of the main streets of the area. The colors and size of the signs were far more vibrant than those in the alleys.

(There's probably no one from the Library around here.) Ragna thought, feeling relieved.

Even in this relatively wide street, the people walking were all clearly locals. There was no sign of the Novus Orbis Librarium's dreaded blue-and-white uniforms.

This was a welcome sight. If any of those guards saw him, it would be a major issue. After all, Ragna was a wanted criminal. Without any consideration for his surroundings, he'd have to play cat-and-mouse with the guards who would inevitably gather to chase him down.

Ragna glanced around as he placed a hand on his stomach. The exhaustion was one thing, but the hunger was becoming unbearable. Since entering Kagutsuchi, he hadn't come across any shops selling food, and his preserved food had run out. He hadn't eaten anything since last night, and the hunger was starting to take its toll.

Even in a lower district like this, there should be at least a few restaurants. He began scanning the various signs for something that seemed like it might be a place to eat. Then, he stepped on something soft.

"MROW!" At the same time, a strange cry came from beneath his feet.

"Ugh." Thinking he had stepped on a cat, Ragna quickly lifted his foot. However, what he saw was far bigger than he expected. In fact, it wasn't an animal at all.

Lying on the ground, her arms and legs sprawled out limply, was a girl. Her body was entirely covered by a hooded robe, but her long braided hair and the color of her skin peeked out from beneath it.

"Wh...what the hell are you?" Ragna asked, his voice more of a question than a warning. A thin, weak tail swayed in his field of vision. The tail was attached to the girl lying there.

"Uh... ugh..." With a faint trembling voice, the girl groaned and slowly raised her face. Looking up at Ragna, there wasn't a girl's face inside the hood as one might expect. There was a dark, shadowy void. Within it, a pair of red, round eyes seemed to be sunken, and a crescent-shaped mouth with white teeth was turned downward. The triangular ears attached to the hood trembled as if convulsing.

It wasn't human. Nor did it resemble a beastkin with a beast-like tail and ears.

"Could it be... a Kaka?" Ragna had seen a creature with this strange appearance before. It was when he had visited his swordmaster. The creature then had a similar black face with very simple facial features. Though the girl before him and the Kaka woman he had seen were clearly different individuals, this distinct appearance was unlike anything else.

Although he knew the name "Kaka," he didn't know what kind of clan they were.

Now, what should he do with this girl? Should he turn back without getting involved, or should he ignore her and move on?

As he hesitated, the girl, whose face was the only part of her still raised, suddenly clung to Ragna's leg with a speed that belied her apparent weakness.

"Whoa! W-what the hell!"

"Oooo meow~... Help me... meow." The girl with triangular ears and a tail pleaded pitifully as she clung to Ragna's leg, while he tried to shake her off. Ragna vigorously shook his leg to loosen her grip, but for some reason, her arms wouldn't budge.

"Damn it, let go! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I won't let go, meow, I'll never let go meow... if you don't help me, I'll eat your leg, meow..." Despite her weak voice, her grip on his leg was surprisingly strong. Even with this commotion, the people around him only gave a brief glance, as if looking at something strange, and then passed by without getting involved. There was no danger of getting into trouble, but it didn't seem like he could count on any help from a kind passerby.

After a few more failed attempts, Ragna finally gave up. He lifted his leg halfway and looked down at the clinging Kaka girl, exhausted.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't eat my leg! And what the hell are you talking about? Help? What do you mean?"

"Oooo... thank... thank you for asking, meow. Tao is in a really bad situation neow. I'm... I'm at my limit, meow."

"Huh? H-Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Her voice was so desperate that it made him worry just a little. He lowered the foot he'd been lifting and looked down at the face that seemed to be filled with shadows.

The face, which resembled a black mask, had eyes and a mouth hanging weakly, gazing up at Ragna with a look of exhaustion, as though she might faint at any moment.

"I... I'm... hungry... meow"

On a round table covered with a yellow cloth, several dishes were lined up.

There were fried pieces of chicken, generously coated in a flavorful sauce, meatballs stir-fried with colorful vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, square-cut pieces of pork simmered in a rich, sweet and savory broth, and mountains of fried rice. There was beef and vegetables stir-fried in a rich miso sauce, crispy spring rolls wrapped in thin dough with finely sliced vegetables inside, and steaming, soft buns filled with ground meat…

With the white steam rising from the dishes, the strange girl with triangular ears and a hooded robe leaned forward so much that she almost fell off the chair, eagerly shoveling food into her mouth.

"Hguu-hguu-hguu meow hgu-hgu-hgu-hgu-hguu meow hgu-hgu."

Whether it was the sound of her chewing the food or slurping the chopsticks, a hollow sound continued to pierce the air. The eyes that had been drooping weakly a moment ago were now round, and her mouth was curved into an upward crescent.

Watching her with an exasperated look, Ragna picked up a piece of fried chicken from his plate. The thick batter was crisp and delicious. It had been a while since he'd had a meal that wasn't just grilled over an open flame.

"...Is it good?"

The food was rapidly disappearing. When the strange girl had started ordering massive amounts of food, Ragna had turned pale, thinking there was no way she could finish it all, but it seemed that worry had been unnecessary.

In fact, at this point, he was more worried how he was going to pay for all of it.

The girl, whose white-tipped tail was wagging happily, grabbed a fluffy bun with both hands and looked up at him.

"It's delicious, meow! This one, that one, and all of them—so yummy, meow!"

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad." Ragna sighed, rubbing his face in disbelief.

When she ate like this, without a care in the world, it made him wonder if she had any concept of restraint, or why he was the one buying a meal for this strange, unknown girl. And more importantly, why he had let her drag him along to this restaurant in the first place.

The girl took another big bite of the meat bun, chewing happily. Before he knew it, she had finished it and swallowed it in no time, causing Ragna to smile wryly as he picked up a spring roll. The plate, which had been full, now only had one left.

"To think that you're treating me to such a good meal, you're a good person, white guy, meow. Tao is really grateful, meow!" She swung her arms around dramatically to show her joy. Her hands were hidden entirely inside her sleeves, which were large and round, almost like the front paws of a cat.

Ragna finished his spring roll and then asked, "Is Tao your name?"

"Taokaka, meow!" She nodded enthusiastically and, with the meat bun still in one hand, took another bite in one big motion.

"Tao left the village and set off on a brave journey... but ended up so hungry she couldn't move. If Good Guy hadn't helped me back then, Tao would probably be dried up and turned into Kaka jerky by neow. I'll never forget this 'kindness,' meow."

While rambling about her backstory, Taokaka grabbed a plate of miso stir-fry, holding it down and shoveling the last bit into her mouth. Ragna didn't have the heart to point out that he hadn't eaten that yet, and instead just sighed with a frown, watching her. Resigned, he grabbed a meat bun for himself and slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Kindness,' huh? You'll probably forget about it once you're done eating."

"I won't forget, meow!"

Suddenly, Taokaka straightened her tail, and with a quick movement, she leaned forward, looking up at Ragna from the table. Her round, pupiless eyes and crescent-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth resembled a mask, giving her an eerie appearance. But for some reason, when she stared at him, it felt endearing.

"The Kaka tribe is a very loyal one, meow. We never forget a favor. When Tao becomes a rich person one day, I'll treat Good Guy to a meal, meow!"

"Rich... You? You were almost starving to death, and now you're talking about becoming rich? You don't even have a plan."

"Nuhfufufu, I do have a plan, meow." With that, Taokaka casually speared three meatballs with her chopsticks and popped them into her mouth. She then slid down her chair and pulled something out of her clothes.

It was a crumpled piece of paper. Taokaka spread it out on the table, smoothing out the wrinkles with her round hands.

"Tao is a bounty hunter, meow. I catch bad people and get a lot of money, meow."

"A bounty hunter?" Ragna furrowed his brow in confusion.

A bounty hunter was essentially a mercenary who earned money by hunting down criminals with bounties on their heads. Originally, when the ecosystem was disrupted by a massive amount of seithr, causing a surge in new species, the Librarium had assigned them to hunt down these new species.

But nowadays, the term more commonly referred to those who earned money by tracking down dangerous criminals or fugitives with large bounties on their heads. Most bounty hunters were people who couldn't find decent work, so they resorted to violence to make a living.

Though female bounty hunters weren't particularly rare, Ragna had never seen one as defenseless and unconcerned as Taokaka.

"That's right, meow. I became one today, meow."

"Today?!"

"And neow I'm gonna catch this guy, meow!" With a proud grin, Taokaka handed the crumpled paper to Ragna.

Ragna took the paper while still chewing some meatballs and vegetables. It was a wanted poster, the kind you'd see plastered around street corners. The bounty's reward was unusually generous, and there was a portrait of an extremely ugly man.

The name on the poster was Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Bwah?!" As soon as Ragna saw the name, he spat out his food

"'Bwah'? Why'd you suddenly spit out your food like that, Good Guy? What a waste, meow."

While Taokaka protested, still munching on her last meat bun, Ragna stared intently at the wanted poster in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.

(W-What... What is that picture? This doesn't look anything like me! If they don't even know what I look like, then why the hell are they spreading this around?! Don't go around telling people I look like this!)

He wondered if this poster was plastered all over Kagutsuchi. If so, it would be depressing. Not only was it embarrassing that this hideous drawing was being passed off as the face of Ragna the Bloodedge, but with this reward, there had to be a lot of bounty hunters looking for him. And a lot them were probably hanging out in Kagutsuchi.

(I can't just walk around town normally...)

It would be a pain to be found by those guys in blue and white uniforms, but bounty hunters would be even worse. They would certainly start "working" whether it was in the middle of the street or not.

"...Hey, Taokaka, right? You wouldn't happen to know any hidden paths to the upper levels of Kagutsuchi, would you?" Ragna asked, lowering his voice as he returned the crumpled poster. If there was one, it would be much better than causing trouble.

Taokaka licked the last of the sweet and sour sauce from the plate of meatballs and replied.

"Yup, I know a secret path, meow."

"Really!! That's great! Why don't you show me the way there in exchange for that meal I bought you?"

"That's fine, meow. Good Guy is Tao's benefactor. You can leave it to me, meow." Saying so, Taokaka grinned and slammed the clean plate down on the table.

Just then…

"Sorry to keep you waiting~!" A young waitress arrived, setting down several new dishes on the table.

There were noodles topped with minced meat, crispy fried noodles covered in a savory sauce and loaded with vegetables, a platter of sliced roast pork, and a variety of steamed dumplings filled with shrimp paste, minced pork, and aromatic vegetables, all wrapped in soft dough. Fresh, unrelenting steam rose to the ceiling along with a rich aroma.

"....Huh?" Ragna hadn't ordered any of this. He was about to protest, but then it dawned on him.

It had been just before... when he was looking at his wanted poster. Taokaka had finished off the last of the meat buns from the plates of food on the table at that point. Immediately after, Tao had reached for the menu.

"Wahoo, that looks delicious, meow! The secret path is dangerous, you know. Good Guy needs to have a full stomach, or he'll get hungry again, meow!"

Instead of feeling guilty, Taokaka gleefully pulled the steamed dumplings closer to herself, and Ragna, unable to take it anymore, grabbed her hand forcefully. The sudden movement made Taokaka almost rise from her seat.

"W-What the hell are you doing, adding more food?!"

"Meow? Is Good Guy full neow? Then Tao will eat it all..."

"No way! I can't pay for this mountain of food! I don't have that much money!"

Ragna was in a panic. He didn't have a steady job. Occasionally he earned travel expenses by pretending to be a bounty hunter or doing odd jobs, but that was just temporary. He couldn't even afford a decent place to stay, so the idea of adding more orders to what he had already ordered was unthinkable.

Just as Ragna was about to explode, a hand landed on his shoulder. He shrugged it off at first, irritated, but the hand immediately returned to tap his shoulder again, and a voice asked from behind.

"Excuse me, sir? Did you say... you don't have any money?"

"...Huh?" Ragna turned around, and there, standing behind him, was the waitress. She was much shorter than him and was smiling sweetly, but there was a hint of killing intent in her eyes.

"You said you don't have any money?" the waitress asked again.

Immediately after that, Ragna grabbed Taokaka's arm, who seemed completely unaware of the situation and was stuffing the steamed buns into her mouth, and slapped the waitress's hand away. He lifted Taokaka over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran out of the restaurant as if he had been shot.

"Meow!? Tao's food! I haven't eaten it yet, meow!"

"Shut up! This isn't the time for that!" Ragna shouted angrily at Taokaka, who was reaching out behind him and making pitiful sounds. He ran out into the main street of Orient Town and pushed through the crowd, running with all his might.

"Wait~!! Someone catch them! It's a dine-and-dash~~!!" The waitress's high-pitched voice rang out behind them. To Ragna's surprise, the waitress was keeping up with him, her speed matching his. Perhaps it was due to her infatuation.

Ragna cursed under his breath, realizing that the first trouble he caused in Kagutsuchi was going to be a dine-and-dash. Taokaka, being carried on his shoulder, hung her tail down in dejection, but her arms were still reaching back in the air as if trying to grab her lost meal.

"Ugh, Tao's food..."

"Forget about the food! Tell me where the secret path is, or do you want to be caught by the restaurant staff and turned into minced meat?!"

"Minced meat?"

"Yeah, meat! If you don't want to end up as the next dish on that menu, tell me quickly!" While Ragna didn't actually mean that the manager would mince them up, Taokaka, who had belatedly understood the meaning, seemed to take it seriously. Her tail jumped up suddenly and swelled up thick, as if in alarm.

"If I'm made into meat, I won't be able to eat meat anymore, meow! I don't want that, meow!" Agilely twisting her body on his shoulder, Taokaka landed in front of Ragna and started running on all fours like a beast.

"Good Guy, this way, meow!"

"Okay, I got it!"

Taokaka dashed into a narrow alley, and despite a slight delay in his reaction, Ragna followed suit, flipping his body as he turned sharply to follow her. As they moved away from the neon signs, the surroundings grew darker. As he ran, Ragna bitterly thought to himself.

Maybe the bounty on my head will go up tomorrow because of today's dine-and-dash…

===Part 3===

'''December 30, 2199 - 13:35'''

Against a sky shrouded in gray clouds, a type of ship arrived at the port. However, it wasn't a ship that sailed across the sea. It was a ship that crossed the sky. The magical cargo ship carried goods such as humans and equipment in its swollen belly, while its wings extended outwards, absorbing seithr to enable flight.

Naturally, a port where flying magic airships docked had to be specially constructed. The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5. Smaller and less conspicuous than the others, it was a port that was used for specific purposes.

Several guards in blue and white uniforms, with guns slung over their shoulders, got off and quickly took up their positions, exchanging reports on their radios. A moment later, a pair of black leather boots stepped onto the flat ground of the port. A tall man in a black suit emerged, adjusting his slender frame. He adjusted the black hat perched atop his green hair with his fingers and tilted his face upward toward the sky. The hat shaded his eyes, but his thin lips were twisted in a dissatisfied frown.

"Oh dear. Is it raining?"

A quiet rain fell from the gray clouds that filled the sky. It had been raining for quite a while, and Port 5 was thoroughly soaked. There seemed to be no movement in the clouds, so it looked like the rain would continue for some time.

Letting out a resigned sigh, the man quickly moved to a roofed area to shield himself from the rain.

The man in the black suit was a member of the Novus Orbis Librarium, often abbreviated as the NOL, and he was part of the organization's Intelligence Department. His name was Hazama, and his rank was Captain.

The magical cargo ship he had arrived on was used by the Intelligence Department of the NOL. Port 5 was typically used for covert missions or other sensitive tasks that couldn't be made public — essentially, it served as a port for avoiding prying eyes.

"Captain Hazama! You're outside." A woman's voice called from the stairs of the magic airship, and Hazama, who had been brushing the water droplets off his suit, looked up. A young woman in a blue and white uniform with a matching poncho quickly ran down the stairs. She wore a blue beret, and her long, camellia red hair flowed past her waist.

With a splash of rainwater from her blue boots, she reached the front of the management hut where Hazama was and took a deep breath, straightening her posture. Her sky-blue eyes were stern, and her expression was serious.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. But it would have been fine if you'd just called out to me... I thought you might still be inside, so I was looking for you," she said.

"Oh my, my. I apologize for the trouble, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." Hazama smiled with the corners of his mouth lifted, speaking to the woman who, as her eyes suggested, spoke with utmost seriousness.

Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi. Unlike Hazama, she wasn't part of the Intelligence Department, but belonged to the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The Novus Orbis Librarium was a huge and important organization that served as a substitute for the concept of a nation in the current world. With an Imperator at the top who held absolute decision-making power, it managed and operated all social infrastructures worldwide, including government, justice, and military.

Because of this, there were a vast number of departments, and it was not common for departments with different roles to work together on a single mission. However, despite being from different departments, Tsubaki and Hazama had come to Kagutsuchi together for a certain mission.

"Well, it's terrible weather, isn't it? Searching for a single man in vast Kagutsuchi in this rain is quite a challenge." Hazama said in a somewhat amused tone, his hand on his hat as he looked up at the rain.

Their mission was to find someone. Who were they looking for?

"Still, we must find Major Kisaragi... no matter what." Tsubaki muttered, her gaze dropping to her feet, as if reminding herself.

Major Jin Kisaragi. That was the name of the man Tsubaki and Hazama were looking for. He was the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron and Tsubaki's direct superior. She had served as his secretary and supported him.

A few days ago, he had suddenly disappeared from the headquarters of the NOL. It was neither a mission nor a reported absence. This was a serious breach of discipline in the Librarium. It was unprecedented for the commander of a division to suddenly disappear without a clear motive. To prevent this incident from affecting subordinates and other divisions, it had not been made public.

However, there was a possibility that the situation would leak out somewhere. Hazama was ordered to bring him back as soon as possible before that happened, and the person he chose to cooperate with was Tsubaki, Jin Kisaragi's secretary.

The cold rain chilled the air. Or was it just the cold metal of Port 5?

Beyond the wet gray stairs, one could glimpse the orderly cityscape of the upper floors. Going further in and climbing several floors would lead to the top floor, the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

As she lifted her gaze, even from here, she could see the beautiful and majestic silhouette of the Kagutsuchi branch, towering as if it were jutting out from the peak of the high mountain. However, due to the bad weather today, a curtain of rain blurred her view.

Looking up at the hazy branch office, Tsubaki furrowed her brow slightly.

"......Why would Major Kisaragi come to Kagutsuchi?"

It was a question that anyone who knew Jin would ask.

Jin Kisaragi, the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, was a very calm person. He was thoughtful, always analyzing the pros and cons before acting, and he was certainly not the type to foolishly jeopardize his position by suddenly turning his back on the NOL. This was truly unlike him.

Seeing Tsubaki pondering, Hazama said, "Oh," sounding a little surprised.

"This is surprising. Miss Tsubaki Yayoi, can't someone as intelligent and capable as you understand?" Hazama asked in a somewhat teasing tone, his smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Tsubaki felt a slight unease stir within her. He had a way of speaking that was just slightly grating.

Tsubaki didn't know Hazama very well. So she couldn't guess what he meant by saying that. But just those words were enough to make her dislike the man in the black suit.

Swallowing the mild discomfort that churned inside her, Tsubaki adjusted her expression to one befitting of a soldier and straightened her back. Even if she didn't like it, she was a lieutenant, and Hazama was a captain. He outranked her.

"I apologize, Captain. I..."

"You received the report, didn't you?" Hazama spread his hands slightly. Perhaps because of his teasing tone earlier, even that gesture seemed sarcastic to Tsubaki. "It mentioned that the 'Grim Reaper'—the wanted criminal Ragna the Bloodedge—was heading toward Kagutsuchi. If Major Kisaragi went to Kagutsuchi, it could only be because he was pursuing the 'Grim Reaper,' right?"

It was Hazama who had provided the information that Jin's destination after leaving the NOL was Kagutsuchi. Tsubaki had heard him grumble many times in the magic airship about how he had unwittingly gathered such information, which had led to this assignment to a remote location.

"With all due respect, Captain Hazama. I understand that. What I question is why the Major had to leave the organization to chase the 'Grim Reaper'." Tsubaki said sharply. As soon as she said it, she wondered if she had been too rude. It might have been a childish attitude unbecoming of a soldier.

However, Hazama didn't seem to mind Tsubaki's irritation. On the contrary, he let out a light laugh, as if amused by her childlike rebellious tone.

"Oh, I see. My apologies, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." He tipped his hat slightly in a salute. All the while, his thin neck trembled with a constant chuckle. "We can't possibly know what Major Kisaragi is thinking. Why don't you go and ask him directly when you find him?"

Though she thought bitterly that she was asking because she couldn't do that, Tsubaki pushed the extra words down. What she needed now was not doubt, but determination. That's what she told herself.

"...Understood, Captain." Tsubaki responded earnestly, and Hazama let out another chuckle before continuing.

"Well, there's no point in chatting forever, so let's get started on our work." The work, of course, meant the search for Jin Kisaragi.

Tsubaki's expression tightened, not due to her dislike of Hazama but out of a sense of duty toward the mission.

As Hazama glanced at the rain-soaked cityscape of Kagutsuchi, a grin spread across his lips as he continued speaking.

"First, let's confirm. Our mission is to capture Major Jin Kisaragi and force him to return to headquarters. However, since his disappearance hasn't been made public, we'll need to keep this discreet with the guards here in Kagutsuchi. Absolutely no outsiders involved."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, it's believed that Ragna the Bloodedge is hiding somewhere in Kagutsuchi. Due to this, a D-alert has been issued, so be on your guard."

A D-Alert meant that a special alert was in effect by the NOL. This prohibited anyone who was not a resident of Kagutsuchi or not affiliated with the NOL from conducting any activities in the city.

"If we come into contact with someone who violates the D-Alert, should we contact the Kagutsuchi branch? Or should we handle it ourselves?" Tsubaki asked, looking at Hazama with a straight back, her manner too dignified to be dismissed as just another soldier.

And it made sense. She was the key member of the Yayoi family, one of the twelve founding families that had supported the establishment of the NOL and produced many high-ranking officials.

But Hazama replied in a casual manner and twisted his mouth, as if to say that everything about Tsubaki, from the clothes she wore to her unfailingly serious nature, stank like acid.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Do whatever you want."

"…Yes."

"Well, I have some other business at the branch, so could you please start searching from the lower levels?"

"Other business?" Tsubaki asked, slightly confused, but Hazama only shrugged his shoulders and didn't explain.

Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. There were probably many things he couldn't tell other departments. Though Tsubaki felt a bit suspicious about his hidden purpose, she refrained from asking further out of consideration.

"Understood. I'll start with the lower levels... around Orient Town," she said.

"Good idea. That's one of the largest areas in Kagutsuchi, and it's a perfect place to hide." Nodding casually, Hazama took a step forward and looked up at Tsubaki from below. His eyes were hidden by the brim of his hat, but she could feel his gaze fixed on her. As if talking to a child, Hazama raised one finger. "Just be careful of one thing. Major Kisaragi's likely hiding in places with poor security, but at the same time, Ragna the Bloodedge could be lurking around. If you two happen to fight, we won't be able to do anything."

"Yes... I suppose so." Tsubaki bowed her head slightly, as if retreating, and replied bitterly.

Jin was known throughout the NOL as an unparalleled swordsman. On top of that, he possessed Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, a phenomenon weapon said to have been used during the Dark War, a war against the Black Beast about a hundred years ago.

And Ragna the Bloodedge, the "Grim Reaper," was a person with considerable power who single-handedly destroyed many branches of the NOL.

If these two were to clash, neither Tsubaki nor Hazama could stop them.

Hazama stated the biggest reason for this with a cheerful tone.

"Well, neither of us are experts in combat. If things get rough, we're completely out of our league, aren't we?"

Tsubaki had graduated from the military academy of the NOL, so she had at least undergone basic combat training. However, that was limited to self-defense techniques. After graduation, she had spent her time as Jin's secretary, dealing with paperwork and visitors on a daily basis. Under those circumstances, there was no chance for her to improve her combat skills.

On the other hand, as Hazama himself admitted, he was skilled in intelligence activities but was not good at dealing with situations with force.

With a pale hand that didn't seem to suit a weapon, Hazama waved casually in the air and grinned.

"Well, let's not push ourselves too hard. Our job is to bring back Major Kisaragi, so don't forget that."

"Understood." Without being swayed by Hazama's casualness, Tsubaki replied as a subordinate, and then straightened her back. "Then, Captain, I'll go and check the lower levels."

"Ah, yes. Please do. Kagutsuchi is quite dangerous right now, so do take care."

"Yes, sir. I'll take my leave."

Bowing deeply, Tsubaki ran out of the narrow entrance of the management hut into the rain. She climbed the stairs leading from the port into the city, splashing small amounts of water. Hazama watched her go, leaning against the wall of the management hut as the blue of her poncho and the sound of the water she splashed disappeared completely into the rain.

When the sounds of the blue poncho and splashing water disappeared completely into the rain, he slowly got up.

"Really, be careful," he murmured, his voice low and husky. With that, Hazama leisurely stepped out into the rain.

===Part 4===

...It was only a few years ago, but it felt like a priceless time that could never be replaced.

It was one day.

'''The Novus Orbis Librarium – Integrated Headquarters'''

Tsubaki walked down the straight white-tiled floor with a nervous expression.

The blue and white NOL soldier uniform, which she had only worn a few days ago, still didn't feel quite right on her body, and she was worried about whether the visorless cap she wore on her head and the boots that tapped against the floor were looking neat.

With a file of documents clutched to her chest, she adjusted her long hair, which she had done countless times before, with her fingertips. Then, Tsubaki knocked softly on the door of her destination.

"Come in." A voice came from the other side of the door after a moment's pause. At that moment, Tsubaki's heart leaped. It was a distant, obligatory voice, but there was still a hint of a boyish tone, a voice she knew well.

"Y-Yes, excuse me." Her voice trembled as she replied. Her hand on the doorknob was shaking even more.

What if she tripped? Oh, what should her face look like? She was so worried that her face would turn red, and she tried desperately to remain calm.

Tsubaki entered the room. The first thing she noticed was a man sitting at a desk, pen in hand. The sunlight coming in from the window behind him cast a gleam on his beautiful golden hair. From the distance of the room's entrance, she could see his emotionless gaze fixed on the documents. His eyes were a clear green, she knew.

There was no one else in the room besides him. After closing the door carefully, only Tsubaki and him were in the room.

Having seemingly finished what he was writing, the man at the desk looked up, looking somewhat bored. Then his eyes widened in surprise.

"Tsubaki...?" The voice that called her name was different from the obligatory voice she had heard outside the door. The tone of his voice, filled with emotion, was as surprised as his expression, and it sounded slightly higher than before. "Why are you here...?"

Tsubaki relaxed her tense shoulders at the casual tone, so unlike someone at work. The tension drained from her.

"The documents should have arrived. Haven't you read them?" Carrying the file, Tsubaki walked up to the desk and, with a salute, straightened her posture in front of the puzzled Jin. "I am Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, newly appointed as the secretary of Major Jin Kisaragi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron as of today. Major, I look forward to working with you." It was a line she had practiced many times in her room last night, but it was still formal.

Relieved that she had said it without any mistakes, Tsubaki noticed Jin raising his eyebrows slightly in confusion.

"Second Lieutenant?" Tsubaki understood the reason for the question very well.

Tsubaki was born into one of the Duodecim, which held an aristocratic position within the Novus Orbis Librarium. Members of the Duodecim were given at least the rank of Captain after graduating from the Librarium's military academy.

Tsubaki was no exception, and she was a captain immediately after graduation. So why was she a second lieutenant now? There was a serious reason for that.

"Well, that's..." Tsubaki hesitated, unable to speak. She couldn't possibly tell Jin that she had originally been assigned to a different post but had insisted on becoming his secretary, and that she had been demoted in exchange for her request.

It was rare for someone from the main family of the Duodecim to become the secretary of Jin, who was also from the main family.

Perhaps sensing Tsubaki's recklessness from that, Jin smiled wryly.

Tsubaki involuntarily let out a shaky breath. It was the first time she had seen Jin smile in a long time.

"I heard that a secretary would be coming, but I never expected it would be you... Well then, it's a pleasure, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi."

With that, Jin extended his hand, gloved in white. Tsubaki tucked the file under her arm, looked straight into his beautiful green eyes, and took his outstretched hand.

From that day forward, Tsubaki's days as the major's secretary began.

It was different from her time at the military academy, when she had only been able to follow in his footsteps. Now, she would be by his side, supporting his work.

'''December 30, 2199 — 17:30'''

As Tsubaki descended into the lower levels of Kagutsuchi, she carefully scanned her surroundings.

She was about to enter an area called Orient Town. She had heard that it was the largest and most densely populated area in Kagutsuchi. It was a bad place to look for people. But Tsubaki thought that was precisely why Jin might have gone there.

It would be easy to blend into the crowd there, and it would be possible to hide in the nooks and crannies of the complex maze-like city structure. Moreover, there were fewer NOL soldiers in the lower levels, and surveillance was less strict compared to the upper levels.

Jin must have understood the risk of being pursued by the Control Organization. So it was only natural that he would avoid them. At the same time, he would have considered the possibility that Ragna the Bloodedge, who was also on the run, would choose the lower levels as a hiding place.

Tsubaki walked quickly, the sound of her blue boots echoing against the hard ground. Her vibrant hair was damp from the rain.

After descending a short flight of stairs, she found herself at the edge of Orient Town. There were a row of abandoned-looking warehouses and a small grassy square beyond them. The scattered streetlights were covered in rust.

Because the lower levels were built on top of other levels, most of them were blocked from the sky, and even though they were outdoors, they were not as affected by the weather as indoors. But this area was still protruding from the other levels, and everything was wet from the rain.

Buildings she passed by, narrow alleys, shadows, people passing by. Tsubaki focused her attention on everything she saw. Her pace quickened, driven by growing anxiety. Unconsciously, her hands clenched the file more tightly.

(Major Kisaragi...)

She didn't know how many times she had called out his name in her mind. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes darted from side to side as if she were clinging to something. Her expression revealed a deeper emotional turmoil than that of someone simply searching for a missing superior.

(Where are you...? Brother Jin...)

Tsubaki was Jin Kisaragi's secretary. But before that, Jin had been a special person to Tsubaki.

If Tsubaki was the daughter of the Yayoi family, one of the Duodecim, Jin was the son of the Kisaragi family, another of the Duodecim. They had known each other since childhood. They had seen each other, talked to each other, and even played together as children.

The reason why Tsubaki had entered the military academy to become an NOL soldier was to follow Jin, who had already enrolled and was expected to become a division commander in the future.

Jin was good at everything, from studying to martial arts, but Tsubaki was not good at sports. So she studied hard to catch up with him. During her student days, she had worked with him on the student council, where he was the president.

Because he spoke bluntly and had a sharp gaze, people around him whispered that he was cold. But to Tsubaki, he was always a kind older brother.

His fine, golden hair, his cool green eyes, his slender body, his fair skin, and his handsome features. Sometimes, just sometimes, she had admired his intelligent profile.

How grateful she had been when she finally managed to get the position of Jin's secretary by using every connection she had.

She had admired him, and she still did. Since they were children, when she had been alone in the mansion, and even now, she had always looked up to him.

"Brother Jin..." Her hurried steps had gradually turned into a jog. Her toes kicked up water droplets as she stepped in small puddles. She wanted to find him as soon as possible. Her heart pounded in her chest.

The worst-case scenario that came to Tsubaki's mind was that Jin would encounter Ragna the Bloodedge somewhere. Jin was strong. There were only a handful of people in the NOL who could fight him on equal terms.

However, it would be dangerous to think of the "Grim Reaper" in the same way as other officers in the NOL. He had single-handedly rebelled against the Librarium and managed to escape without ever being captured. Tsubaki, who was in a position to pursue him, understood very well that this was impossible with ordinary strength.

Ragna is probably very strong. Perhaps even stronger than Jin. And what she feared even more was the grimoire that heinous criminal possessed.

The BlazBlue - the Azure Grimoire.

During the era of the Dark War, when the Black Beast was fought, a certain magician developed a technique called "Ars Magus." It was a technique that imitated magic, allowing one to create various phenomena such as fire and water using seithr.

The key to using these formulas was the grimoire.

Among the countless grimoires in the world, the Azure Grimoire is said to be the most powerful.

(Even Brother Jin wouldn't come out unscathed against the Azure Grimoire. If things went wrong...)

Thinking that far, Tsubaki shivered from the cold sweat that ran down her spine.

While the Azure Grimoire is highly praised for its power and strength, little is known about it.

First of all, although grimoires are "books," they come in various shapes and are not necessarily in the form of books.

Although it was known that Ragna the Bloodedge possessed the Azure Grimoire, it was not known what shape it took. Even the Misinformation Department of the NOL did not know exactly when or where the Azure Grimoire was created or what its hidden power was.

How could one be optimistic about facing a 'Grim Reaper' who was already strong, and who also had an unknown grimoire? It was simply reckless to challenge him alone.

(....Maybe Brother Jin came to Kagutsuchi alone to capture Ragna the Bloodedge.) Squinting into the shadows, Tsubaki muttered to herself.

Even if he had been forcibly ordered to return for acting on his own, Jin was a guard and major of the NOL. Tsubaki thought that if he had left the Librarium to chase after the 'Grim Reaper', his purpose must have been to eliminate the heinous criminal.

But was that really the case? She couldn't help but wonder.

(But if that were true… then why did he leave without telling anyone? Why didn't he say anything to me?) That was what really stuck in her chest. Jin was a hard person to read, but he had always told her if something happened. "...No, I'll ask him directly once I find him."

Tsubaki clenched her fist tightly against her chest and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't be speculating. She needed to find Jin as soon as possible. That was the only thing that mattered. If Jin was considered a traitor because of his actions, there would be no going back.

Hurry up. She took a big step forward, as if urging herself on, and turned around the back of the square where she had heard a small noise. Was it a storage shed? She turned a narrow corner to pass behind the two side-by-side huts.

Suddenly, a wall appeared in front of her.

"Kyah!?!" She was so startled that she couldn't react in time, and she collided with the wall with the force of her entry.

But then she realized. It was too thick to be a wall, and it felt too soft to be a building material.

"Huh...?" She heard a voice from behind the wall. It was a deep, masculine voice that resonated in her stomach.

The towering thing in front of her was not a wall, but a man's back, so large that she had to look up at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" The towering giant spoke with a gentlemanly manner that belied his extraordinary sense of oppression, and he slowly turned around. His strangeness was not limited to his size alone. His skin was an unusually deep red, and he had an imposing handcuff-like part attached to his already thick arms. White fangs extended upward from his compressed lips.

An oni.

Such a monster had appeared in the folk tales of Japan, a country that was destroyed about a hundred years ago. Tsubaki remembered a picture book she had read as a child. At the same time, she remembered who the red giant in front of her was.

"You... the Red Devil of Sector Seven!" As she called out, Tsubaki took a few steps back and readied herself.

Sector Seven. An external organization that opposed the NOL's world domination based on magic and aimed to create a world that did not rely on magic.

The Red Devil was a soldier belonging to Sector Seven, and, judging by his size, possessed overwhelming power. His official name was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg created by the researchers of Sector Seven. Noticing her presence, he took a step back with a foot that was thicker than Tsubaki's waist.

"Is that uniform from the Library?"

Because the NOL collected and managed grimoires from all over the world to prevent the misuse of magic, many people called it the Library. Most of the time, it was used as a derogatory term. Tsubaki couldn't tell what the giant called the Red Devil meant by using that derogatory term, but it was clear that he didn't feel any affection for her.

Although Tager didn't get ready for a fight, he frowned deeply and stared at Tsubaki with a stern expression.

".....Sorry, I came into contact with a Library guard." Looking away from Tsubaki, Tager put a large hand to his ear and whispered something to someone. A noise like static followed. It was a communicator.

"Cut the comm. Stay where you are." Tsubaki quickly drew the pistol she had been issued for emergencies. She gripped it firmly with both hands and pointed it at the Red Devil.

Tager moved his head slightly to look at Tsubaki. However, she couldn't see his eyes behind the thick lenses of his round glasses. Feeling intimidated by his towering presence, Tsubaki tried to stare sternly at the Red Devil.

"A D-Alert is currently in effect in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. Intervention by all other organizations, including Sector Seven, is prohibited. Answer me, what are you doing here?"

"Oh dear. Put down your gun, soldier girl. A toy like that won't even scratch my body."

"Th-That's not what I asked! Answer my question!" Tsubaki almost instinctively pulled her arm back at Tager's dismissive tone, but she resisted and kept her gun aimed at him, maintaining her intense gaze. She knew she had no chance of winning a fight against a cyborg. But even more importantly, she couldn't let him escape.

Her mission was to search for Jin Kisaragi. But there were no other NOL soldiers around. If she let him go, she couldn't ignore the chaos that Sector Seven might bring to Kagutsuchi and the Librarium.

Static crackled again.

"Everything's fine. No problem. I'll return to my mission immediately."

Tsubaki couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the line. But Tager's response was too casual, as if the problem with her was already solved. Feeling insulted, Tsubaki sharpened her voice.

"Cut the comm! I won't allow such reckless actions!"

"Calm down. We didn't come to Kagutsuchi to interfere with the operations of the NOL. Why don't we pretend this never happened? If you leave now, I won't have to hurt you."

"Are you saying this is an act of rebellion? Whatever your intentions are, I cannot allow this!" Tager's soothing tone only made Tsubaki more stubborn. If she showed weakness here, it would be seen as the NOL as a whole being weak against Sector Seven. She couldn't allow that to happen.

A soldier of the Librarium, which maintained world order, and the secretary of the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, who fought for peace, couldn't make a deal with a soldier of the lawless Sector Seven.

Aiming her gun at the giant Red Devil, Tsubaki took out a small handheld communicator. She couldn't handle this on her own. She needed reinforcements, and fast.

"This is Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron. I am currently in Orient Town in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi and have encountered a member of Sector Seven..."

"Dammit. I was hoping to settle this peacefully." The Red Devil muttered softly.

Before Tsubaki could understand the meaning of his words, Tager took a large step forward. His outstretched arm closed the distance between them in an instant. Before she could react, his clenched fist opened in front of her.

"Kyah...!" An electric shock was fired, knocking the communicator out of her hand and causing Tsubaki to let out a faint scream.

With that single blow, Tsubaki's consciousness faded. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed limply.

"Ugh..." Just before her delicate body could hit the hard ground, Tager, who had just fired his weapon, caught her. He scooped her up and looked down at the unconscious girl, sighing.

"As expected of a non-combatant. She's reckless."

"...I told you, don't get involved." A noise crackled, and an unpleasant female voice came from Tager's communicator.

Holding Tsubaki, Tager put his other hand to his ear. His mouth, with its upward-pointing canine teeth, twisted in even more bitterness than when he had faced Tsubaki.

"I can't just leave her out here in the rain. She's just a young girl."

"The mission is the top priority. There's no time to waste."

"...I'm cutting the comm for a while, Kokonoe."

"What? Hey, don't you dare pull that stunt..."

With a small sound that only the wearer could hear, the communication was cut off. Tager turned his back on the rain-soaked plaza and began walking. His destination? Orient Town, a dimly lit city where the sky was obscured by the upper city and the streets were illuminated by lanterns and neon lights

===Part 5===

'''December 30, 2199 — 18:00'''

How many alleys had they passed through? How many corners had they turned?

Guided by Taokaka, who moved with an unnatural agility despite her human-like appearance, Ragna found himself in a dark, dark sewer.

"This way, Good Guy~" Calling out, Taokaka jumped lightly over a pile of discarded rubble and broken furniture. It was a place isolated from the outside world, and it was late at night. Even if there were slight gaps, there was no hope of even a faint light.

And yet, Ragna and Taokaka were able to walk without any problems thanks to the strange moss that clung to the discarded rubble and accumulated mud. The moss emitted a faint greenish light, allowing the sewer to avoid being completely enveloped in pitch-black darkness.

Following Taokaka, Ragna continued, stumbling slightly on the rough footing.

"Hey, are you sure we can get out from here?" When he jumped down from the pile of rubble, he landed on something slick, possibly oil. Ragna reflexively wrinkled his nose and asked Taokaka with a hint of irritation, her white hood with triangular ears twitching slightly at the back of her head.

Ragna had learned from experience that escape routes were often not easy. But this was a much worse road than any of the "escape routes" he had been through before. Even though it wasn't wet, the floor, walls, and ceiling were damp, and the unpleasant humidity, mixed with the thick seithr that seemed to be seeping in from outside, gave his skin and lungs an unpleasant feeling.

A little further down, sewage and discarded waste flowed like muddy water, creating a nauseating stench.

Considering this was not far from the city yet there was no strong stench outside, it seemed the Hierarchical City's construction was surprisingly solid, despite its sloppy appearance. Rubbing his nose, which was already quite numb, Ragna muttered this to himself.

"Of course, meow. I often come here to get bread and sweets upstairs, meow." Taokaka said, looking up at the ceiling of the sewer. The blackened overhead was a complex network of protruding iron pipes and metal plates, and far beyond that, a dark ceiling was visible, clinging to a very high place.

And much farther away, there must be the upper city they were aiming for.

Following her gaze, Ragna sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"Get, huh? You don't mean you're stealing stuff from stores, do you?"

"Meow~"

"You're a thief!" Ragna's voice echoed hollowly and coldly in the sewer. When the echo subsided, a damp silence returned. The sound of water dripping and bouncing on the floor was eerie.

In the thick shadows, something unknown seemed to be wriggling, peering at them. A shiver ran down Ragna's spine, and he shuddered, following Taokaka. But... Ragna suddenly frowned and stopped.

(It's not an illusion. Someone's watching us.)

Somewhere in the depths of the thick shadows carved by the faintly glowing moss, in a distorted pile of rubble, he felt a gaze. No, it was more than just a gaze. It was something more fundamental. It felt like an existence, a will itself, was intently focused on him.

"Good Guy~? What's wrong, meow?" Wondering why Ragna wasn't following, Taokaka turned back. She lightly jumped over the remains of something that had been piled up and landed. Her small footsteps seemed to trigger it.

'''"Kikikikiikiki!"''' With a voice that seemed to tear through the air, shadows suddenly leaped out from the darkness. From them, sharp, bridge-like shadows shot out in countless numbers, rushing at Ragna.

"Ugh!" He was caught off guard by the suddenness and the perfectly camouflaged figure. The sound of thick cloth tearing filled the air, and something dug into his skin. Pulling his injured shoulder, he drew his sword with his other arm and brushed away the shadow in front of him.

There was no resistance. It was as if he had cut through a real shadow.

'''"Gugigigigi... true... towards truth... the truth I seek..."''' The voice was strange, almost human but not quite. Muttering in an odd tone, the shadow withdrew. It floated amid the thick sludge and rubble, hovering and swirling.

At first, Ragna thought it was a mindless, ferocious beast, a creature born of highly concentrated seithr that had warped the ecosystem. But this was different somehow. It was strange, distorted, and incomprehensible. It didn't look like a living creature at all.

The shadow moved around. And then, a face appeared from within the swirling darkness. A white circle with three holes for eyes and a mouth. Was it supposed to be a face? It was the only definite shape in the dark, amorphous shadow.

"What... What is this thing?" A sense of disgust, rather than fear, washed over him at the sight.

The shadow landed on the slimy floor with a disgusting movement and seemed to rise up. Vaguely, Ragna thought he could see some small creature wriggling at its feet, illuminated by the moss light.

"This guy is Squiggly, meow!"

"Squiggly? What's that?"

"He's a bad guy, meow! He attacks our village and eats the little Kakas, meow!" With a snarl, Taokaka changed her cheerful expression to one of fierce anger, her eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth and growled menacingly.

As if mocking her, the shadow with the white face trembled as if foaming all over.
'''
"Kihihihi... I can feel it... the ugly flesh wriggling with power. For the wish to be granted, there is no need for consent... The denial of concepts, the gates that should never be closed... Gihihihihihihi..."'''

Each time the shadow trembled and laughed, the air grew thick and stagnant. Ragna grimaced. It was seithr. It wasn't flowing in from outside. It was overflowing from the shadow that was swirling in front of him, invading every part of the sewer.

It meant that the black substance that enveloped this shadow-like object was all seithr. And the fact that this strange monster, a mass of seithr, was uttering sounds that resembled human speech meant that it had originally been a being capable of understanding human language. In other words, it was human.

Before it became like this, the dark, amorphous monster that Taokaka called "Squiggly" and some people in Orient Town called Arakune was once a human being.

Ragna spat out the disgust that welled up in him.

"This guy... he's touched the Boundary..."

Ragna had been traveling from one NOL branch to another, destroying the cauldrons found in the basement of each. The cauldrons connected this world to another world - the Boundary. It was a place beyond human comprehension, an amorphous expanse filled with a concentration of seithr that is incomparable to the surface of the earth.

Just as the dense seithr gave birth to demonic beasts, so too could humans, exposed to such high concentrations, have their reason consumed by seithr. Eventually, they would be dragged into the Boundary, losing their humanity.

Arakune, this black monster with a rotten odor, a writhing, mucus-like body, and emitting strange noises, was the end result of such a transformation. Once a human, he had been corrupted by the Boundary.

"I don't know what you were trying to do by messing with something like that... you idiot."

A surge of anger rose from the depths of Ragna's stomach. The cauldron that the NOL cherished and kept deep underground… Not just them, but also various institutions, researchers, and scholars wanted it. Owning the cauldron meant owning the end of the Boundary that the cauldron connected to.

Everyone assumed that there was a treasure beyond human understanding sleeping in the Boundary. But there was no way humans could control something beyond their understanding. It was utterly infuriating. He was fed up with the NOL, their brazenness about meddling with such a cauldron, and with those who sought the cauldrons and chased after them. All of them.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Don't blame me. ...Well, if you have enough reason to blame anyone."

If he left this creature here, it would not only attack the "village" that Taokaka had mentioned, but it would also go out into Orient Town and the lower city and attack people.

Ragna lowered the tip of his sword and stepped forward, deeply into the monster's domain. He had no attachment to Kagutsuchi, but that didn't mean he was foolish enough to just stand there and let a blatant threat loom in front of him. He swung his sword, aiming for the creature's brain-like core, as it spread out to meet him.

'''"Gurgh…!"'''

"Tch!" With a gurgling sound, Arakune's body disappeared from Ragna's sight in an instant.

It was below him. Cursing, Ragna kicked downwards, and Arakune passed beneath his foot and reappeared behind his red coat.
'''
'''"You... You... Devour... Devour... Devour..."''' From an angle that would be impossible for a human or any four-limbed creature, a black mass protruded, leaping up at Ragna. Ragna parried it with his sword. The feeling was heavy and thick. And then, as if climbing up the sword's surface like mud, a strange shadow suddenly emerged from the seithr. It was an unfamiliar, utterly repulsive, wriggling thing that stirred up a sense of disgust.

"Ugh!" Repulsed by a nauseating disgust, Ragna backed away. As if to fill the gap, a sharp claw swung down, cutting through the countless bugs that had emerged and knocking them down. Taokaka had boldly jumped in.

"Squiggly! How many years has it been since we last met! Tao will tear you to pieces, meow!" Without pausing to land from her downward strike, Taokaka twisted in midair and sliced Arakune with her other claw. The claw caught what appeared to be the creature's face and tore it apart with a sound like breaking pottery. The blackened body twisted and fell limply backward. At the same time, Taokaka landed lightly beside Ragna. She thrust her large hand, claws extended in a threatening gesture.

Seeing this, Ragna let out a light laugh. She was a strange creature, just like him. But he didn't mind standing next to her, unlike "Squiggly".

'''"It's not how many years it's been, it's been a hundred years since we met here."'''

"Oh. Then I'll tear you to pieces for a hundred years, meow."

"Whatever." Ragna gripped his sword tightly, regaining the tension that had slipped away.

Arakune, which had become a pool of black mud, quickly rose up with a rippling motion and sprayed seithr around its feet with a gurgle.

'''"G-gii... Give... give it to me... I will eat it, burning, look, escape cannot escape from that eye, fate cannot escape!"'''

"I don't understand what you're saying! I'll put you out of your misery, so just die already! Let's do this, you pile of garbage!"

Swinging his sword wildly to clear away the remaining seithr, Ragna raised his weapon high and roared, striking down at the creature consumed by seithr.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Spiral fate — The Board's Pieces]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 3

2025-08-30T18:14:40Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT Part 1 Chapter 3: Grim Reaper — The Man Called Death God==

===Part 1===

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

BlazBlue.

The Azure Grimoire.

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

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

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

The blackened substance caked beneath him felt all too familiar.

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

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

"Hey, Good Guy~!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thank you, Good Guy!"

"Huh? What for?"

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

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

"That's different, meow."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Thanks. I appreciate the guide."

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

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

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

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

"Well, see you later. Be careful."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Things connected to the Boundary often had such properties.

Like Arakune, this arm also craved life force.

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

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

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

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

"...That thing was so noisy."

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

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

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

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

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

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

What’s hidden deep beneath the branch?

Destroy the cauldron.

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

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

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

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

===Part 2===

'''December 31, 2199 — 13:58'''

Her arm moved at the sense of someone's presence.

With blurry eyes and a hazy mind, she recognized the clean white sheets and the long, camellia red hair scattered on them - her own hair. Then the warm blanket draped over her shoulders and her own white hand gently held within it.

It took Tsubaki a few seconds to understand that she was lying on a bed.

(…A bed?)

But why was she sleeping in a bed? A question popped up in her mind, but her head wasn't working well enough to do anything about it. She sighed. Her consciousness was unclear.

(No, I can't do this. I have to be strong...)

Without voicing it, Tsubaki told herself to steady her sluggish mind. Slowly, she sat up.

"......Huh?" Suddenly, she realized the strangeness of her situation.

It was a place she had never seen before. The walls were a yellowish white, the ceiling and floor were made of brown wood. The oddly latticed windows were round, and the view outside was clearly that of a lower-class district with a dimly lit, cluttered cityscape. There was a sharp smell of disinfectant in the air.

Tsubaki blinked her clear blue eyes a few times. This was not her room. Of course, it wasn't a facility of the NOL either.

"Where am I...?" Her weak voice expressed her confusion. And then…

"Meow!" Suddenly, a pair of large triangular ears popped out from the foot of the bed where Tsubaki was lying. Then, a large, round hand was placed on the edge of the bed, and a head slowly peered over, as if to observe the situation.

It was a strange-looking creature. It resembled a stuffed cat made of sewn-together cloth, but the face peeking over the edge of the bed was not adorned with buttons or embroidery thread. Instead, it had a pair of red circles floating in a pitch-black space, which seemed to be its eyes. Its mouth seemed to be a white triangle floating below the red circles.

It was strange, but rather than being creepy, it felt endearing, perhaps because of the tail, which was the only part that was white and swayed gently behind it. It was long and slender, more like a real cat than a stuffed animal.

(It... it's not a cat, is it...?)

She tilted her head awkwardly, staring at the red circles that were staring back at her. The cat-like creature with the triangular ears also tilted its head. It might even be cute, she thought. But that thought was short-lived.

"Ohh~ here it is!"

"Huh... what?"

"Boobie Lady, Boobie Lady! The sleeping person woke up!" Suddenly, the creature with the triangular ears and tail jumped up and shouted loudly, waving its hands towards the outside of the room. Startled, Tsubaki hugged the blanket on the bed, and she could hear the sound of several people running towards her.

"Oh, you're awake! Well, that's good!" The first person to rush into the room was a large man. As soon as he entered, he shouted so loudly that it seemed to vibrate the air in the room, and then he strode over to the bedside where Tsubaki was lying.

He was dressed in something like an Ikaryu ninja outfit, with a red cloth wrapped around his neck like a muffler. There was a large scar in the shape of an X on his face.

Next came a small girl. Pushing aside the big man, she slid to the side of the bed and placed her hand on Tsubaki's forehead with a slightly sullen expression.

"You don't seem to have a fever. I'll check your temperature properly later, but how are you feeling?"

"I... I'm fine... I think." Tsubaki replied, confused.

"You ''think''? What does that even mean? Be clear about it." The girl pursed her lips in dissatisfaction. She had bright, spirited eyes and skin as smooth as the hand that had touched Tsubaki. She had her neatly combed black hair tied up at the back of her head. She was wearing clothes that were easy to move in. If she hadn't heard her voice, Tsubaki might have mistaken her for a boy.

"Linhua, you shouldn’t speak like that to someone who’s just woken up." A new voice spoke softly, with a hint of sensuality in its tone. The large man stepped aside to make way. Behind him appeared a beautiful woman carrying a pitcher and a glass on a tray.

Tsubaki was instantly captivated by her refined features, supple limbs, and curvaceous figure. Her skin was smooth and white, and the thin lenses of her glasses and the black eyes twinkling behind them conveyed a gentle intelligence. Yet, the thinly painted red lips were oddly alluring, and whenever she smiled, it was impossible to look away.

It wasn’t just Tsukaki who was drawn to her captivating appearance. The large man with the red scarf seemed similarly entranced. When she thanked him for clearing the way, he visibly blushed and gave a wide smile.

Passing in front of him, she flicked the long hem of her red dress and placed a tray on the bedside table. The beautiful woman with glasses poured water from a pitcher into a glass and offered it to Tsubaki.

"I'm Litchi Faye-Ling. This is a hospital in Orient Town, and I'm the doctor here."

"A doctor? Oh..." As she accepted the glass, Tsukaki wondered why she was in a doctor's office. Then she remembered.

That's right. It was raining. She had parted ways with Hazama, the intelligence officer, at Kagutsuchi's fifth port and came to Orient Town alone. And then she’d spotted a man working on something. The Red Devil from Sector Seven. She was supposed to contact the Kagutsuchi branch of the Librarium to apprehend him. Or was she? Her memory was hazy and unclear.

Just then, the Red Devil had suddenly reached out to her, and as she braced herself for the attack... or perhaps just before that moment, sparks flew in front of her eyes, and she had no memory of what happened after that.

"That's right, I... at that time..." Tsubaki gripped the glass in her hand. She realized that she had lost to the Red Devil. And it had been with just one blow, so easily that she couldn't even remember it.

It was pathetic, even though she was a soldier. While scolding herself inwardly, Tsubaki tried to put on a calm expression and looked up. ...However, she couldn't say that she was successful.

"Litchi-san... ...right? You saved me."

"Oh, no. I simply took you in, gave you some basic treatment, and lent you a bed. Someone else brought you here." Litchi lowered her eyebrows slightly, looking a bit troubled, and waved her hand in front of her. Suddenly, the alluring and enchanting atmosphere around her became warm and friendly. Next to Litchi, the girl with a boyish appearance pouted and crossed her thin arms, looking dissatisfied.

"…If it weren't for this place, you probably would’ve been dumped somewhere nearby. You should thank the doctor."
"Now, Linhua." Litchi quickly chided her with a sharp tone. Linhua didn't argue, but she snorted and turned her face away from Tsubaki and Litchi.

Litchi pushed up the end of her glasses with her finger and gave Tsubaki a wry smile.

"I'm sorry about that. This child is my assistant, Linhua, and she was born and raised in this town. So... she has complicated feelings about people like soldiers." Tsubaki nodded, sensing the complex emotions contained in the single word "complicated."

The NOL was a huge organization. But the world was even bigger, and even in the Hierarchical Cities, there were inevitably parts where the government's reach was effective and parts where it was not.

Kagutsuchi's Orient Town was a good example. The NOL did not have enough manpower to maintain the city's infrastructure or public safety, and support for the poor was insufficient. Therefore, it was not uncommon for people in these lower-class towns to resent the NOL.

...Tsubaki had heard rumors about this in the NOL. This was the first time she had seen this resentment firsthand. Somehow, she didn't know how to put it into words.

Seeing Tsubaki's somber expression, Litchi smiled again and, as if to cheer her up, introduced the other two people in a bright voice.

"This is Taokaka, and this is Bang. They're both my friends." She first pointed to a strange girl with a triangular hood covering her head and a swaying cat's tail.

Taokaka thrust her arm towards Tsubaki with a bouncy motion. "If you're a friend of the Boobie Lady, then you're a friend of Tao too! Nice to meet you!"

"I'm Bang Shishigami. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance!" Bang, the large man with the scarred face who was introduced next, greeted her with as much vigor as Taokaka. Their excitement was enough to blow away the tense and strained atmosphere with Linhua just a moment ago.

Tsubaki involuntarily drew back slightly on the bed. She had heard that there were all sorts of people living in the lower levels of the city, but she was truly experiencing it firsthand now. As if seeing through Tsubaki's confusion or admiration, Litchi smiled slightly and amusedly.

"If you don’t mind, may I ask your name?"

Only then did Tsukaki realize she hadn't introduced herself. Thanks to her Librarium uniform, her role as a soldier was apparent, but that alone wasn't enough to show her gratitude to the person who had helped her. Hurriedly, Tsubaki straightened her posture, clasped her hands neatly on her lap, and bowed to Litchi, Linhua, Taokaka, and Bang.

"My apologies. I am Tsukaki Yayoi, Second Lieutenant in the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium. I am truly grateful for all your help."

"Oh, you don't have to be so formal. I just wanted to know your name because I thought it would be rude to keep calling you soldier forever." Litchi waved her hand hurriedly and smiled gently. Tsubaki couldn't help but relax her cheeks at her easygoing manner. Perhaps she was more cheerful than she looked.

Next to her, Bang grabbed his chin with his thick fingers and groaned thoughtfully.

"It's rare to see a soldier from headquarters in such a lower level. Even the Kagutsuchi guards don't come down here very often."

"Well..." Tsubaki hesitated and took another sip from the cup she was holding. She wanted to be honest and tell him everything since she had been helped, but the command that this was a top-secret mission came to mind.

Just as she was about to say that she was sorry but couldn't talk about the mission, Bang suddenly clapped his hands.

"Come to think of it, I saw a strange soldier yesterday. Could that blond man be your companion?"

"A blond... man?" For Bang, it was probably just a casual thought. But those words pulled Tsubaki's attention like a magnet.

There were countless blond-haired men in the NOL. Considering that there were a considerable number of them at headquarters alone, the total number, including all the branches nationwide, was unimaginable.

But for Tsubaki, only one person came to mind.

"That man! Who was he?! When and where did you see him!?" Suddenly throwing off the blanket, Tsubaki pressed herself up from the bed towards Bang. Even Bang seemed taken aback and leaned back, spreading his arms in front of his chest as if to calm her. But Tsubaki didn't see any of that.

"Please tell me, what was he like? Did you talk to him? What was his name? Was he injured...?" Before Tsubaki could finish her rapid-fire questions, a dizziness distorted her vision. Losing her balance, she pressed her head and dropped her raised bottom onto the bed mat.

Litchi touched her shoulder and forehead soothingly. "Don't push yourself, Tsubaki-san. You've been asleep all night. Even though there are no visible external injuries, you did lose consciousness once. You should rest first..."

"I- no, I'm fine... wait, all night!" Tsubaki's voice cracked in belated realization. She accidentally slapped Litchi's hand away, causing her to gasp in surprise. Tsubaki realized that she had been rude and became flustered. "I-I’m sorry, but… the whole night...?"

"Yes, yes. You were brought here yesterday... around six thirty in the evening, I think. It's the next day now, the 31st, around two o'clock." Litchi answered, looking at the clock in the room while still a little shaken.

Seeing Tsubaki's face turn pale, Linhua frowned worriedly.

"What's wrong? Did you have a date?"

"Are you hungry, meow?"

"Tao, be quiet for a moment."

"Okay, meow?" At the foot of the bed, Taokaka's large hand began to knead the crumpled blanket. Normally, Tsubaki would have smiled at the sight, but she didn't have the energy.

"No, what should I do? I'm on a mission..." Oh, but that's not what's important right now. Even as the shock of reality caused another dizzy spell, Tsubaki looked up at Bang pleadingly. "Please tell me about that blond-haired man. When and where did you meet him?"

"I saw him yesterday morning in a vagrant town below this one," Bang replied with a serious expression, instead of his usual bold smile, seeing Tsubaki's unusual state. "I didn't get his name, but he was a young man. He was rather thin, with green eyes. He had sharp eyes and was wearing the same uniform as you. He also had a sword with a blue sheath."

Tsubaki's eyes widened at the words "blue sheath." Jin's beloved sword. Tsubaki didn't know its name, but Jin had never let anyone, especially Tsubaki, touch that sword with its cold blue sheath.

It had to be him. There was no doubt about it. Thinking that, Tsubaki's heart began to pound like a drum.

"Where... where was he going? Didn't he say anything?" Her voice trembled as she asked.

Bang replied in a clear, low voice. "He didn't say where, but he said he was going up. And he said he was looking for a man with white hair and a red coat..."

The words "white hair and red coat" had become synonymous with a certain man in the current NOL.

"The 'Grim Reaper'... Ragna the Bloodedge." The words slipped from Tsukaki’s lips before she even realized it, bringing with them a deep understanding.

"Tsubaki-san?"

"Yes, because Brother Jin… he said it himself. But why… why didn’t I realize it sooner?"

No, wait… it wasn’t that she didn’t realize it. It was that she hadn’t wanted to see it.

Without paying any attention to Litchi, who was peering at her with concern, Tsubaki touched her trembling lips with her fingertips. Her fingertips were also trembling slightly.

Jin Kisaragi, who had disappeared from the NOL, had come to Kagutsuchi to pursue Ragna the Bloodedge. That meant he must also be searching for Ragna the Bloodedge in Kagutsuchi. How would he search? Would he wander around the vast Kagutsuchi aimlessly, like Tsubaki?

Jin was a calm and intelligent person. He knew how to achieve his goals. Ragna the Bloodedge was a vicious criminal who went around destroying branches all over the world. So, if he waited at a branch that was his target, the Grim Reaper would eventually come. After all, his purpose in coming to Kagutsuchi was the branch itself.

"I have to go!" Tsubaki slid off the bed as if she had been shot. But Litchi immediately stopped her.

"Wait. I told you, you still—"

"I have to go! There's someone I'm looking for. Someone important! I have to go quickly..." She didn't know what would happen if she didn't go. She didn't know why she felt such a burning sense of urgency. Tsubaki pleaded with Litchi as if she were spitting out words.

Suddenly, the look of anxiety, apprehension, and worry, typical of a doctor, disappeared from Litchi's face. Her gentle eyes were now stern, and she looked at Tsubaki intently.

"Did you come here from headquarters for that person?"

"Y... yes. I don't know if I can do anything. But I have to find him no matter what."

If she didn't, Jin would be pursued by the NOL as a traitor. It wasn’t because of the mission. It wasn’t because of an order. She couldn’t let Jin be accused of something he didn’t do.

Litchi took her hand off Tsubaki's shoulder and went to a machine at the end of the room, flipping the hem of her long dress. There, neatly folded, were Tsubaki's gloves and the removable parts of her uniform. There was also a beret-like hat and a holster with a small gun.

"If you still feel dizzy, don't run or overexert yourself. If you overdo it, it'll be counterproductive." As she spoke, Litchi handed Tsubaki the gloves and sleeves and put the hat on her head.

Tsukaki clenched the items tightly and nodded deeply. "Yes. Thank you very much." She quickly put on the sleeve parts and gloves, then stepped into her boots. Her body swayed slightly when she stepped down, but she didn't feel any pain.

"Thank you so much for everything. Excuse me!" Bowing deeply, Tsubaki turned around and ran out hurriedly. Her steps weren’t light by any means, and the door slammed loudly behind her, echoing through the clinic. Litchi, watching the whirlwind of activity, looked back toward the door with a faintly troubled expression.

"Is that okay, Dr. Litchi?"

"She doesn’t have any injuries, and her health seems fine for now, so she should be okay for the time being. Even if something happens, she’s a soldier. Once she reaches the upper levels, there are plenty of facilities that can help her if needed." With one arm around her chest and her fingertip touching her mouth, Lychee looked back at the door, just like Linhua. Her expression was half-dazed, but that daze was not directed at Tsubaki herself.

"Besides, she seems to have very important business." She's looking for someone important. When that thought was directed at her so straightforwardly, Litchi couldn't deny it. She couldn't refuse. She was also here because she was looking for someone important.

"Kuu, Litchi-dono is so kind! I, Bang Shishigami, am deeply moved by Litchi-dono's words of love!" Bang grabbed Litchi's hands tightly with both of his, tears of emotion streaming down his face.

"Oh, Bang-san, you're so dramatic..." Litchi's gaze was directed straight at him, just as it had been with Tsubaki. But when it came from this man, she didn't know how to react. While smiling wryly, she felt something nostalgic in the warmth of his touch.

Litchi turned her head to the left, towards the bed.

"Nyuuhh... Nyaaah... Meow…"

"Come on, Tao. That's not a bed for napping, so get down. Another patient might come, and I'll have to change the sheets right away."

"Five more minutes, meow~..." Taokaka rolled over, and a hard object she had been holding in her paw fell under the bed. At the same time, she kicked the side table with her foot, causing the cup and pitcher on the table to almost topple over.

Litchi quickly reached out, and both the glass cup and the ceramic pitcher were saved from falling. But because of that, no one heard the small sound of something falling into the gap between the bed and the wall.

What had fallen? It was the small gun that Tsukaki, in her rush, hadn’t noticed slipping out of her holster. The gun that was issued by the NOL.

===Part 3===

Having fled Litchi's clinic, Tsubaki ran desperately through the lower city, surrounded by air mixed with seithr and dimness that didn’t seem right for midday. Above her head, countless artificial lights and neon signs that had been on all day passed by.

She would leave Orient Town and go through the park and warehouse district, then climb the stairs to the next level. After crossing the main street to the opposite side, she would go through the bridge, take the ritual lift, and go even higher.

If she contacted them while running, she might be able to meet up with a Librarium cart on a middle level. If she could catch it, she could get to the branch quickly, but if she couldn't arrange it, she would have to take shuttles.

Tsubaki desperately tried to recall the structure and map of Kagutsuchi that she had memorized in the magic ship.

How long would it take to get from here to the top-level branch? What was the shortest time, and what was the longest? She didn't have the shuttle timetable in her head. There would probably be plenty of shuttles going to the upper levels, but there probably wouldn't be many in the lower levels.

As she ran, Tsubaki bit her lip. Why? Why did it feel like this? She couldn’t shake the feeling that she had to meet Jin quickly, as if something bad would happen if she didn’t.

(Why... it's obvious, isn't it...)

The bitterness in her mouth was probably due to regret. She had known the reason for her premonition for a long time. She should have remembered it long ago.

Because Jin... the man she had always watched over, had acted strangely just before he disappeared.

The Novus Orbis Librarium branch in Akitsu, the Hierarchical City, was attacked by the "Grim Reaper." The news quickly reached the NOL headquarters, and all the recorded information related to the "Grim Reaper" was analyzed.

The approximate appearance of the heinous criminal who had attacked the NOL branches in various places was identified the day after the analysis began. Three days after the analysis began, the Intelligence Department traced the name "Grim Reaper."

The information was quickly compiled into a document and delivered to each division. Of course, a report was also submitted to the fourth division, and that day, Tsubaki visited the division commander's office with several documents, including a report on the "Grim Reaper."

"Excuse me." Waiting for the voice to respond to her knock, Tsubaki opened the door and entered the room.

The first thing she noticed was the temperature of the room. The corridor separated by a single door was not so cold, but Jin's office had always been chilly lately. He wasn't changing the special air conditioning, and when Tsubaki asked Jin about it, he said he didn't feel any change in temperature at all.

Tsubaki was the only one who was concerned, and she thought maybe he had been a little under the weather for a while. Thinking that way again today, as she had the previous day, Tsubaki walked at a steady pace to the desk where Jin was sitting.

"Good morning, Major Kisaragi. This is the morning report. First, the location of the division commander's meeting three days from now has been changed. Then there’s a report and request regarding the renovation of the training facility. The contents are a summary of what has been submitted so far, so there are no significant changes. Please read through the request and sign it. And then this..." While briefly explaining the contents, Tsubaki placed one report after another on Jin's desk.

Jin watched her silently, leaning on his cheek with a light grip. His sharp, cold, yet beautiful green eyes seemed to be focused somewhere far away, and it was doubtful whether he was looking at the documents that had been handed to him.

Concerned by Jin's lack of response, even after she had placed several documents, Tsubaki asked with a caring softness, instead of her usual businesslike tone.

"Major? Are you alright? If you're not feeling well..."

"There's nothing wrong. Continue." The only reply was a cold voice and words, just like his gaze.

"Y-yes, sorry." Tsubaki tightened her lips before moving on to the next document.

How many times had she had this exchange? Just as she had become concerned about the temperature of the room, Jin's attitude had also been causing Tsubaki to worry lately.

As the room grew colder, so too did Jin's attitude seem to grow colder. He had never been a hot-blooded type, and he was rather calm and collected. Many people described him as cold. But Jin's recent behavior was different from that coldness. It was as if something was gradually eroding at the very core of him, and he was shutting himself up in a cold place.

In the past, he had been expressionless in formal situations, but he had responded when she greeted him in the morning. He would give her a nod of approval when she explained documents, and when he was tired, he would sometimes confide in Tsubaki. He would occasionally complain about things he didn't like, or smile wryly at Tsubaki's nagging. And very rarely, he would even smile at her.

But now, Jin didn’t show any of that. The human warmth he once had seemed to be fading day by day, and every time she noticed it, anxiety built up in Tsubaki's heart.

But she couldn’t do anything about it, and was left feeling frustrated, having no choice but to carry out the work that had been assigned to her.

“...This is the last one. We’ve received new information about the ‘Grim Reaper,’ who has been destroying the Library’s branches.” Tsukaki took the last stack of documents still in her arms and handed them over while speaking.

Jin didn’t even lift his head. He was only facing the paper she had placed earlier, so he seemed to recognize it. However, it didn’t look like he was reading the text.

“This is completely new information, but the ‘Grim Reaper’s’ appearance and name have been confirmed. Regarding his appearance, it seems he’s a man with white hair wearing a red coat. The shape of the rumored 'Azure Grimoire' is still unknown, but it seems that he possesses a large sword.”

The document had a printout of the video recording used for analysis. Due to the seithr and the shock from the explosion in the branch's basement, the data was quite damaged, and although they had attempted restoration, the video was quite blurry. Moreover, it only showed the figure from behind.

But the white hair, red coat, and the striking features of those eyes were clearly visible. Incidentally, it seemed to be a tall man with a well-built physique.

"Then the Intelligence Department looked into the name. The 'Grim Reaper's' name is Ragna the Bloodedge. We don't know if it's his real name, but according to intelligence, it seems he calls himself that..."

Tsukaki trailed off halfway through. Lifting her gaze from the document, she saw that Jin had suddenly stood up from his chair. He placed both hands on the desk, his eyes widening significantly from the cold indifference he had shown a moment ago.

"Uh, Major Kisaragi?" Something seemed off. Thinking that, Tsubaki called out to him hesitantly.

As if drawn by her voice, Jin slowly, eerily slowly, lifted his head. He looked at her with disbelief, as though he couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

"What did you just say?"

“Eh...? Oh, Ragna the Bloodedge?” Tsukaki answered reflexively, and she immediately regretted it.

Jin's eyes changed color.

His eyes, which had been as cold and thin as ice, devoid of emotion, suddenly turned as dark as ink.

“Ragna the Bloodedge... Ragna...” Jin repeated the name. As if to confirm the sound and form of the name, he repeated it over and over again.

It was already an uncanny sight. His low, warm, and stifled voice trembled ominously. His pale lips trembled, and soon the trembling caused Jin's thin shoulders to vibrate rhythmically.

“Fuhaha!” The trembling turned into laughter. A chill ran down Tsubaki's spine, and Jin's laughter grew steadily louder. "Hahahahahahahaha!"

Along with the tingling, numb air in the room, Tsubaki froze solid.

Jin was laughing. He laughed with his mouth wide open, his voice echoing loudly.

Tsubaki had never seen him like that before. Even though she had been watching him since he was a child, he had never once laughed with such a terrifying demeanor.

"Major K... Kisaragi?" Tsukaki stammered, unable to continue.

But Jin didn’t look at her. He was looking at the 'Grim Reaper' document that Tsubaki was holding.

Jin's sudden, strange laughter, which seemed like it would never end, finally receded into the depths of his being like a convulsion. Yet he still appeared delighted, his shoulders shaking in quiet, subtle spasms, before finally looking at Tsubaki.

But it was no longer the Jin that Tsubaki knew. His eyes were somehow vacant, and his smiling lips were terribly cruel. His hand, encased in a white glove, swayed gently in the air, reaching out to Tsubaki. His cold green eyes looked at her with a cruel color.

"Give me the documents."

"Ah... y-yes."

Hesitantly handing over the stack of papers clipped together, Jin snatched the documents as if her gesture was too slow for his liking.

He stared at the first page, which displayed a still shot from the footage of the Grim Reaper. Jin twisted his lips into a cruelly beautiful smile, as if he were lost in a blissful trance.

“Ah… hahaha, I finally found you… right here… kukukukukuku…”

Why was he laughing? What kind of emotion was clouding those once clear and noble eyes? Why was the handsome face she had admired so much contorted in such ecstasy? Why was she so terrified of him?

Tsubaki stared at Jin, her face pale and lifeless, desperately trying to hold back her trembling. She didn’t even know why she was trying to hold back.

“Jin… Brother.”

Did he hear her call? Or did he perhaps remember the presence he had forgotten?

Without looking at her, Jin waved his hand as if shooing away a dog.

“Lieutenant Yayoi, you’ve worked hard. That’s enough. Get out.” A flat, emotionless voice, unlike the cold one he had used before. It was as though even addressing her was a bothersome task. Tsubaki’s nose twitched. She took a shaky step back. She pursed her lips and hugged the thick notebook, the only thing left in her chest after she had let go of all the documents.

She was on duty, and the person in front of her was her superior. What he had said was an order.

“Understood. Call me if you need anything. ... Excuse me.” She said, and then forced her feet to take steady steps as she left Jin’s office.

Just before she closed the door, she heard Jin’s voice.

“Finally… I can finally meet you... brother.”

As soon as the words reached Tsubaki’s ears, the door closed heavily. She couldn’t think about who the ‘brother’ was that the man she called ‘Brother Jin’ was talking about. As soon as she stepped out into the hallway, she hurried away from the spot.

As she reached the outskirts of Orient Town, gray clouds covered the sky. Without time to worry about the weather, Tsubaki crossed a small park with grass and passed in front of a lonely, rusty streetlight. It was around where she had encountered the Red Devil of Sector Seven yesterday.

But she had no time to dwell on that.

(Jin... I’m so sorry...)

At that moment, when she saw Jin acting so strangely in his office, she shouldn’t have left. She shouldn’t have left him alone. She should have stayed by his side no matter how harshly he treated her or how much he insulted her. If he had tried to abandon his position and leave the NOL, she should have physically stopped him.

If she had, Jin wouldn’t have been pursued by the intelligence department or herself, and he wouldn’t have been accused of treason. Tsubaki wouldn’t have had to search for him alone in distant Kagutsuchi. She wouldn't have been running, gasping for air under the crushing weight of uncertainty.

If this were the usual “Jin Kisaragi” she knew, she wouldn’t be tormented by such overwhelming anxiety. But the current Jin was different. Because she was close to him, she should have known something was wrong.

(I turned away from Brother Jin. I was afraid of him. I didn’t want to be scolded or disliked, and because of such trivial reasons, I turned my back on him and ignored him...)

She didn’t want to understand what she had seen. She turned away from Jin’s ecstatic reaction to the name Ragna the Bloodedge. She wanted to pretend she hadn’t seen it.

She wanted to believe that everything was as usual, and that this was just a result of a series of unexpected events. She wanted to think that there was some serious reason why Jin had left the NOL on his own accord. But that wasn’t the case.

(I’m so sorry... I’ll go right away. I may not be able to do anything, and I may be nothing more than a stranger to Brother Jin now, but... what should I do if I do nothing and things turn irreparably worse?)

What if Jin was killed by the “Grim Reaper”? What if Jin killed someone from the Librarium? What if Jin was killed as a traitor?

Ah, ah. An endless anxiety choked Tsubaki’s neck. It urged her feet to hurry, but her body couldn’t keep up.

Had she ever hated her slow feet so much? With her chest heaving with each breath, she swallowed her dry saliva and dragged her tears to the corners of her eyes, running as hard as she could.

Even though it wasn’t raining, the sky seemed ready to cry.

===Part 4===

As evening gave way to night, darkness enveloped the surroundings. The rain that had fallen continuously the day before had stopped in the early hours of the morning, but the dark clouds covering the sky remained, blocking the light from above even after half a day had passed.

At the usual time, the streetlights attached to the poles illuminated the city of Kagutsuchi more brilliantly than usual, reflecting on the remnants of the rain that still lingered on the ground. Many would call it beautiful. But to Ragna, who had been hiding in a warehouse’s corner and healing his exhaustion through sleep, it was just a damp, dreary cityscape that left him unmoved.

As he stretched his stiff body from his hard bed, Ragna walked through the back alleys of the city, which was now completely dark. He didn't know what this area, with its port managed by the NOL, was called in Kagutsuchi. However, the orderly streets and the sophisticated design of the public facilities seemed to silently proclaim that they were under the direct jurisdiction of the Control Organization, and each thing he saw made him feel increasingly irritated and disgusted.

His expression hardened naturally, and his presence faded. When he saw a figure in an NOL uniform passing by on a side street connecting the main street and the alley, he turned into a darker alley to avoid being seen and let out an exasperated sigh.

Ragna hated the Novus Orbis Librarium.

No, it wasn't hatred. It was resentment. For many years now, Ragna had lived with an unwavering resentment towards the NOL.

Although he had been claiming the plausible reason that he was destroying cauldrons all over the world because the Boundary connected to the cauldrons was dangerous, the truth was that he was driven by his resentment and various other negative emotions towards the NOL.

While he didn't feel guilty about humiliating the guards who challenged him with blind loyalty, he wouldn't lie if he said he didn't feel a slight sense of satisfaction when the branches, which flaunted their prosperity, were destroyed in a miserable way.

However, the absurd thing was that no matter how many times he repeated such acts, Ragna's feelings didn't darken... and the things that the detestable organization had taken from him weren't returned.

And that, in turn, became a great source of frustration for Ragna, driving him to wield his sword.

(Even I think I'm doing something pointless.)

And if he were asked what else he would do, there was nothing more he could do. It would be fun to raid the headquarters, but he planned to do that after he had destroyed all the other cauldrons.

Ahead, he could see the NOL branch, which stood out white against the night's cloudy sky. Once he passed this point, his destination would not be far.

(If I arrive too early, a crowd of onlookers will gather, and that’ll just be a hassle... I could have slept for another hour.) He muttered to himself and reached up to his neck, cracking it.

Suddenly, his feet stopped.

With his neck still cracked, Ragna's gaze, filled with a slight sense of caution, fixed on the end of the road. In the very back of the quiet, dark alley, where streetlights were sparsely placed as if no one would ever pass through, stood a strange pair, looking at him. One was short, and the other was clearly taller than Ragna. A child and a woman.

But what was strange was that the tall woman's arms were unusually long, and she was in an unnatural posture with her arms hanging limply. And the shorter one, a boy wearing a hat like a silk hat, had an aura about him that was strangely dangerous for his age.

"Sorry, but can I pass through there?" Ragna asked, his voice deliberately calm, without any sign of tension. A strange, unsettling energy mingled with the air that had been purified by the seithr air purifiers. Ragna could feel it on his skin as he spoke.

In the white light, the boy bowed politely.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Carl Clover. And this is my older sister." He said, introducing himself politely with a friendly smile. He was a boy with a well-groomed appearance that suggested a wealthy upbringing. He had soft golden hair and bright blue eyes that seemed intelligent. The large round glasses on his fair-skinned face accentuated his youthful appearance.

However, the figure that Carl introduced as his sister was hardly similar to him. It was hard to believe they were related. It was clearly not human.

A metallic, female-shaped doll. That was the closest description for what Carl called his “sister”.

"Your sister? You mean..." Ragna frowned.

"Yes, I know." As if choosing his words carefully, Carl replied without the slightest change in his smile. "It’s complicated. As you can see, she's not in a human body right now, but my sister is definitely inside."

"Inside." The way Carl said it so casually sounded incredibly creepy to Ragna. And indeed, he had a feeling he was going to get a creepy answer, so he decided not to ask for more details. Though, to be honest, he wasn't that interested in the first place.

Ignoring Ragna's reaction, which was marked by disgust, Carl continued in a mature tone. "You are... Ragna the Bloodedge, right? The bounty hunter with the highest bounty in history that the NOL is looking for, commonly known as 'The Grim Reaper'."

The words, rattled off so smoothly, were a list of information that was far too dangerous for a boy of his age to utter. But knowing that meant his identity was limited.

"You're not a bounty hunter, are you?"

Even though the wanted poster was circulating throughout the city, it wasn't natural for a young boy to be aware of such details, especially if he was smiling while knowing he was talking to the wanted criminal.

Ragna lowered his waist slightly and naturally assumed a stance ready to draw his sword. Understanding the meaning of his gesture, Carl lowered his eyebrows and smiled wryly.

"Don't misunderstand me. We are indeed bounty hunters, but we didn't approach you just because we wanted the reward."

"Then what do you want? You're not here for small talk. I'm about to get busy, so I don't want to get involved in anything extra." Ragna glared at the pursuing boy, raising one eyebrow.

He was an uncomfortable person to be around. He looked like a polite young master who lived in this upper-class neighborhood, but the blue eyes behind his round glasses were unreadable. Right behind the boy, the tall, self-supporting doll, with a simple face like a mask, stared fixedly at Ragna. The silence of the expressionless face carried a cold sense of intimidation, making Ragna even more uncomfortable.

Carl lowered his eyebrows apologetically, but without hesitation, he stated directly, contrary to his hesitant expression.

"What I want is the grimoire you have."

"...A grimoire?" A growl of caution sounded in Ragna's throat.

Carl nodded slightly. "The Azure Grimoire. You have it, don't you?"

Ragna had heard rumors that it was the most powerful grimoire. Was this boy also looking for him because of those rumors?

Ragna clenched his right hand into a tight fist. Carl didn't seem to realize that his right arm was the grimoire itself, and he paid no attention to Ragna’s subtle movements.

If this had been a normal child's playful banter, and if the strange doll hadn't been silently following behind him, he might have reacted differently. But since that wasn't the case, Ragna bared his teeth like fangs and said in a threatening voice.

"What if I do?"

"Give it to me." The boy said.

"Huh?"

"I said, give it to me. I really need that grimoire." Carl said, extending his hand as if he were certain Ragna would give it to him.

"Hey, listen..." Ragna scratched his head in irritation. "Are you stupid? Do you think I'm just going to hand over anything to a complete stranger who suddenly asks for it? If you want something, at least ask for something more childish." His exasperation was stronger than his anger, and he let out a heavy sigh. He couldn't deal with this. He had limited time, and he wasn't going to waste it on a child's nonsense.

"Forget it. Get out of the way." If he was going to force his way through, he might as well take a detour to the main street. Ragna tried to pass by Carl. His heavy red coat flapped, and his arm reached out to push aside Carl's small shoulder. Just before his gloved fingers touched the boy's purple cloak, there was a sound of air tearing apart.

"What!?" A sense of foreboding surged through him. Ragna quickly jumped backward. His feet slipped slightly on the wet ground as he landed. He supported himself with his hands and looked up.

The long arm of the doll that had been standing behind Carl was stuck in the ground where Ragna had just been standing. Realizing that it had missed its prey, the doll awkwardly pulled its arm out. A huge claw, lined up with the others, gleamed dully.

"Oh, he dodged it, sister." The boy sighed lightly, as if disappointed. His large blue eyes, seen through his round glasses, no longer hid his true nature. There was a naive killing intent in them. It was a pure, straightforward intent to kill, without any desire or malice.

Carl turned his small body towards Ragna and spread his arms as if to brace himself. In response, his sister also assumed a stance, clearly indicating her intention to fight. Without withdrawing his killing intent, Carl smiled as he had before.

"Ragna-san. Please, one more time. Give me the Azure Grimoire. Or else... I'll kill you." Carl's arm swept through the air. Then, the doll lunged forward like a spring-loaded mechanism. Its long arm stretched out straight towards Ragna.

The lined-up claws were thick enough to crush a person's face with a single blow. And yet, the sharp wound on the ground where it had pierced earlier clearly showed that it was sharper than a blunt instrument.

Ragna quickly turned sideways to avoid the attack. The doll's arm pierced the air where Ragna had been, its length exceeding the distance it had traveled. As if realizing it had missed, the doll turned its head around to face him.

"What the hell is that thing!" Despite the obviously unnatural and dangerous atmosphere, when the doll turned towards him, Ragna instinctively felt a chill run down his spine. A doll that could move on its own and attack was incredibly creepy.

Ragna drew his sword from his waist and swung it upward diagonally at the doll. A dull sound of metal clashing echoed through the back alley. The sword strike was blocked by the doll's arm and deflected upwards. The other arm moved to take advantage of the opening.

"Damn it!" The impact of the heavy metal echoed. He forcibly pulled back his deflected sword and blocked the doll's claw, which was trying to pierce his torso, with the vertically held blade. "It's so heavy..."

Unlike the strength of human muscles, the doll's arm did not weaken with each breath, and instead, it pressed down on the sword as if trying to pierce it completely.

[[File:BB_CT1_169.jpg|frameless|right]]

If he kept this up, he’d eventually lose to her strength and become a stain on the wall.

"Raaaah!" Ragna roared and, with all his might, let go of the hilt with his right arm. His outstretched arm grabbed the doll's neck, which was as thin as any normal woman's. He pulled the doll's body forward forcefully. Kicking away its unsteady feet, he used the momentum to slam its body onto the ground.

Ragna's arm, which he had forcefully thrown, also had a weight that seemed inhuman. The doll, thrown violently, was embedded in the sturdy floor that supported the city, creating a deep crack.

"Sister, come back!" Carl called out loudly. As if pulled by an invisible thread, the doll returned from Ragna to Carl in its distorted posture. There, the doll regained its balance.

Ragna, who had been about to swing his sword for a follow-up attack, returned his blade to its original position and lowered his stance. Watching this, Carl smiled. In the boy's dangerous eyes, still filled with killing intent, there was a glimmer as if he had found something wonderful.

"That power... Aha, I see. It's your arm." With an insightfulness that was uncharacteristic of a child, he looked at Ragna's right arm. "That's the Azure Grimoire!"

This time, both the doll and Carl rushed towards Ragna. The doll closed the distance first. As it came before Ragna, it spun around and swung its arms like a crusher.

A streetlight caught in the sweep was broken in half and flew off, scattering sparks. He deflected the incoming arm with his sword and twisted his body to avoid it. The doll's blow was heavy, but its movements were not particularly agile.

He dodged the gust of wind. A small figure jumped out from under his feet, and Ragna reflexively kicked it away.

"Ouch!" Ragna's movements slowed for a moment at the child's sudden cry. But it wasn't enough to give him an opening. He kicked off the ground and retreated behind the broken streetlight.

Carl, who had been knocked against the building by Ragna's kick, was trying to pick himself up while holding his hat, which was about to fall off.

"Tch..." Ragna clicked his tongue in annoyance. This was troublesome. "I don't have time to toy with a kid. Go home before you get seriously hurt." He spoke loudly and firmly, and thrust his sword into the ground as a warning. The tip of the sword split the ground, creating a long, thin crack.

But the warning had no effect. Carl brushed off the dust that soiled his clothes and looked at Ragna with eyes that showed no sign of losing his fighting spirit.
"If you don't want to kill a child, give me the grimoire. I'll get it even if I die."

"You're talking nonsense... Damn it!" Ragna exclaimed, roughly scratching his head. He was irritated. He wasn’t good at explaining things to others in words. That was for church sisters, not someone like him. What he could do was simple.

Ragna gripped the hilt of the sword he had thrust into the ground. Baring his teeth like fangs, he glared at Carl with a fierce intent to strike.

"If you don't understand when I tell you, I'll make you understand!" No sooner had he said it than Ragna pulled the buried tip of the sword and swung it upward. Along with the pressure of the sword, a dark, shadowy wave was released. It was a blade of darkness.

The sinister black, which appeared from Ragna's right arm, swelled in one breath, taking the shape of a beast's fang, and tore through the air towards Carl.

"Shit!" Carl's expression contorted for a moment as the darkness instantly covered his vision. Just before the darkness enveloped the small body, the doll suddenly lunged in from the side and caught the shadow with its large hands.

"Sister!!" A voice more painful than before came from Carl's throat as the darkness, making a sound like it was sucking out a soul, gushed out from between the sharp claws and spread to engulf the doll. The darkness stretched wider, its fangs biting into the doll's hard skin. The black jaw seemed ready to shatter the doll's arm and slam both it and Carl into the wall behind them... at least it should have.

"What the..." It was Ragna who widened his eyes in astonishment.

The doll's hands, which had so carelessly met the released darkness, had crushed it like a ball of paint. The remnants of the darkness, like charred embers, were swept away as the doll sprinted forward. The doll swung its heavy fist, and Ragna barely managed to avoid it by leaping to the left. But perhaps due to the shock of seeing his previous strike so easily crushed, his reaction was a moment too slow. The doll’s claw grazed Ragna’s side, leaving a shallow wound.

"Ugh! Aaaah!" As he drew his sword and landed in a defensive stance, Ragna involuntarily let out a muffled scream at the burning pain. He pressed his hand against the bleeding cheek. "What the hell is that thing!?"

The wound was shallow—just a graze, barely enough to make blood ooze out. And yet, for a moment, it felt as though his flesh had been torn apart.

The doll continued to thrust its arms forward. It was strange. The boy, Carl, was human, and this doll was nothing more than an artifact. Yet, he felt a killing intent from this doll that even surpassed the boy's.

He deflected the first blow of the claw and dodged the second by retreating.

(No, it's more like a sense of duty...)

Or perhaps a compulsion to destroy. To tear, to shatter, to destroy. That was all it seemed to do.

He saw Carl start to move again at the edge of his vision. Ragna clicked his tongue. He had managed to react in time before, but as a bounty hunter, even a child would be able to fight to some extent. He could probably defeat him one-on-one, but it was annoying to have to deal with the doll as well.

He had a big job to do. He wanted to avoid any more wear and tear.

“Dammit, this is a pain!” With a hiss, Ragna lowered his body to avoid the doll's arm, which was aimed straight at his head. He kicked off the ground and ran straight towards Carl.

Noticing Ragna's sudden approach, Carl braced himself and swung his arm. A large, hand-like mechanism, seemingly hidden somewhere, popped out and intercepted Ragna's slash. Immediately, the doll turned around. Carl took out another device and swung it. Ragna cut down the light blow with a forceful strike. There was a high-pitched metallic clang. The sound echoed, and Carl's hand followed suit.

Without a moment's hesitation, Ragna turned and plunged his lowered blade into the boy's side. Carl's body folded at the hard boot. Before he could get into a proper stance, Ragna reached out and grabbed Carl's neck, just as he had done with the doll, and slammed him against the wall instead of throwing him.

"Gah!" A choked sound escaped the boy's mouth. Immediately, Ragna turned his sword towards the rear. He blocked a blow from the doll that had come running to save its master.

"Don't mess around. I won’t kill you if you don’t do anything unnecessary." Ragna said in a low, calm voice, despite his hostile actions. Whether the doll understood the words or if Carl had manipulated it, the doll stopped with its arm raised and then let it hang limply in front of its body.

After confirming this with the corner of his eye, Ragna turned back to the captured Carl. "Listen. I don't know who told you what, but my grimoire... it doesn't grant any miracles."

“Ugh... n-no... that’s a lie...” With his back pressed firmly against the cold wall and his body slightly raised from the ground, Carl looked up at Ragna with a pained expression. "The Azure Grimoire is connected to 'Azure', to the Gate of Sheol... The Azure Grimoire should be able to access the other side of the gate and make anything possible!"

"Ugh..." Just when Ragna almost felt pity for the boy's foolish expectations, Carl jumped up and kicked him. At the same time, the doll, which had moved without warning from the scene, thrust forward. Ragna, who had instinctively blocked the kick, had to lean forward to avoid having his neck cut by the doll's claw. The doll's arm, which had thrust forward, passed over Ragna's head and caught Carl, pulling him close.

Once again, Ragna found himself facing both Carl and the doll. But Carl, who was injured, was held in the doll's arms and bit his lip in frustration.

"...I can't beat you now if I confront you head-on. I'll take my leave for today."

Obeying Carl's words, the doll stepped back, its cold, feminine chest cradling the boy's small frame.

"But I won't give up. I will definitely get the Azure Grimoire!" Carl declared, his gaze unwavering, not showing any signs of weakness. It wasn't fear of pursuit; he was asserting his unwavering, resolute will. “Let’s go, sister.”

Without nodding, the doll kept its gaze fixed on Ragna, and with a sudden, mechanical movement, it departed from the scene.

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2

2025-08-30T18:12:45Z

Br3ndan5: Corrected some formatting that looks wrong on mobile

==BBCT Chapter 2: Spiral fate — The Board's Pieces==

===Part 1===

A magnificent garden, adorned with deep red roses, was overseen by a pale full moon.

It was a quiet night. The air was crisp and cold, and a thick curtain of night enveloped the area as if to mark the end of the world. At the end of the garden stood a beautiful and lovely castle that looked straight out of a fairy tale. Its windows, illuminated by orange lights, seemed like countless eyes.

On a terrace overlooking the castle, beyond a hedge of red roses, a young girl sat at a small round table, elegantly sipping from a teacup.

Her long golden hair, which shone so brightly in the moonlight that it seemed almost blinding, was tied in two braids on either side and adorned with large ribbons. She wore a lavish black dress on her petite frame, and her small hands were as white and smooth as porcelain. Even as she gazed at the tea swirling in her cup, her eyes seemed to be looking far off, towards the edge of the world, their crimson hue outshining even the roses. She possessed an elegance and grace that belied her youthful appearance.

The girl's name was Rachel Alucard.

Although she appeared to be no more than a ten-year-old girl, she was in fact a vampire who had lived for nearly a century. She was the current head of the Alucard vampire clan, which had existed for over a thousand years, and the mistress of the castle overlooking the rose garden. She was also the mistress of this eternal night, a realm dominated by the moon, the night sky, the roses, and the castle.

This was a place cut off from all other parts of the world. And yet, it was a place that connected to all points of the world. It was a realm that floated between spaces, existing in the narrow margin between worlds. It was a special dwelling place managed by the head of the Alucard family.

Returning her cup to the saucer on which a gold spoon rested, Rachel sighed wearily. The cut roses on the wrought iron table, with its intricate floral pattern, emitted a faint fragrance.

Rachel spent much of her time on the terrace in this rose garden, in this land where daylight never came.

She loved roses. They were beautiful and smelled good. And more than anything, they were the flowers her late father had loved.

"Isn't it magnificent tonight, Father?" Rachel murmured, giving in to a sudden wave of sentiment. She took a sip of the tea, fragrant with the roses her father had loved. In that brief moment, her heart was faintly comforted.

This castle, where the night never ends, was untouched by the flow of time. Just as the night is eternal, so too was time—endless. And Rachel's time was also eternal.

Still, boredom would come. At times like this, she would think back to days long past, sighing as if to avoid forgetting her words, much like the roses that never withered.

"Excuse me, Madam Rachel." A sharp click of leather shoes echoed on the terrace's brick tiles, followed by a hoarse voice calling her name gently. Without making her turn, the owner of the voice, an elderly man with long white hair tied at the back, approached, his steps steady. Reaching the edge of Rachel's field of vision, he placed his hand on his chest and gave a shallow bow.

Valkenhayn "R" Helsing. He had served the Alucard family since the time of Rachel's father, Clavis Alucard, and now, he was the elderly butler serving Rachel. His smile was lined with wrinkles, and his poised stance was as elegant as Rachel's.

But he, too, was not human. He was both man and beast, neither fully one nor the other—he was a werewolf.

His physique, far stronger than one might expect from his age, was evident even through his high-quality butler suit.

[[File:BB_CT1_085.jpg|frameless|right]]

"What's wrong, Valkenhayn?" Rachel turned her red eyes to him, her white fingers playing with the rim of her teacup.

Valkenhayn bowed his head and replied simply, "Ragna the Bloodedge seems to have appeared at Kagutsuchi."

Without wasting words, Valkenhayn delivered only the necessary information, causing Rachel to stop tracing the edge of her teacup with her finger. She hooked her finger around the small handle and lifted the nearly empty cup to her lips, taking a sip. After setting the cup back onto its saucer, Rachel finally moved her lips.

"Yes ... It's already that time." She murmured to herself.

Suddenly, two voices broke the otherwise quiet and intimate atmosphere, making it unexpectedly lively.

"Oh, Princess, isn't Ragna that white-haired punk?"

"I remember him too, that cocky brat!"

The first voice was a husky, cat-like purr from the chair Rachel was sitting on. Upon closer inspection, the seemingly black sofa had a pair of triangular ears and a cat's face at the top of its backrest, and it was the cat's face that was speaking.

The second voice, high-pitched and cheerful, came from a small, red, round creature that had bounced up from Rachel's feet like a rubber ball. Its body appeared soft, with small hands, feet, and tiny wings sticking out, and its large, innocent eyes and upturned mouth were just as small and adorable.

The black cat sofa was named Nago, and the red rubber ball was named Gii. They were Rachel's familiars.

"He's your favorite, isn't he, Princess? Do you like that kind of guy? You're quite the type to fall for a bad boy, aren't you!" Gii flapped his tiny wings busily and spoke cheerfully. Then, Rachel quickly reached out and pulled the creature's soft cheeks, or rather, its entire head, from side to side.

"What? I didn't catch that. Could you say it again? If you can, that is."

"I-I-I'm sorry, P-Princess! It hurts! It hurts so much!"

"You really do seem like the type to get yourself into trouble with that mouth." Rachel looked down at Gii, whose face had expanded to twice its usual size, and Nago sighed in exasperation. After listening to Gii's pitiful screams for a while, Rachel finally released him. With a pop, Gii's red cheeks returned to their original round shape. Ignoring him, Rachel touched a petal of the red rose that was arranged on the table.

"If he's gotten this far, it means nearly nine hundred and ninety-nine years have passed."

"Indeed, it does." Valkenhayn responded respectfully to Rachel's almost sing-song murmuring.

"And so will the world." The faintly spoken addition didn't get a reply from Valkenhayn. He understood that Rachel wasn't seeking one.

Instead, the old werewolf butler asked in his usual steady voice, "Madam Rachel, shall I replace your tea with a fresh brew?"

"…Perhaps you should." Though Rachel had business to attend to, she felt like wasting just a little more time here, in this seemingly pointless moment. After all…

(It doesn't look like we can expect anything good from this one either.) She muttered to herself silently, a soft sigh escaping her chest. But she quickly swallowed that breath, sharpening her gaze. Her crimson eyes were now fixed on the endless rose garden.

"Valkenhayn. It seems an uninvited guest has arrived." The wind rustled the deep green leaves. It was a wind summoned by Rachel herself, to brush away the unpleasant presence that had mixed with the intense night air.

In the corner of the circular terrace, in front of the rose hedge, the space seemed to warp, as if a dizziness had taken hold. And then, it appeared—the shadow.

Something vaguely humanoid stood there, its body black wrapped in green.

A green circle, looking like an eyeball from a child's drawing, floated on top of a shadow with a disturbingly slit red mouth. It looked up at Rachel, sitting in her chair, and smiled creepily. It was clearly not human, nor vampire, nor werewolf.

This was a thought. A being with only a will and no physical body. It was a man's spirit body.

"Well, well, you shitty vampire. Having a tea party with your entourage and lapdog again? You're awfully relaxed, aren't you?" The spirit, a trespasser who had entered the rose garden without permission, spoke sarcastically in a muffled voice.

Immediately, Valkenhayn frowned, and Gii let out a pitiful scream, hiding behind his master's black dress with rubber-like agility. Rachel stared coldly at the shadow. She lightly lifted her body, and Nago, who had been serving as a chair, contorted his body and transformed into a black umbrella. Rachel stood up, holding it. Although she had a graceful smile on her lips, her crimson eyes were filled with disgust.

"To make people feel this uncomfortable just by showing yourself… In a way, that's a talent. I'm impressed, Terumi." Rachel spoke softly, like the scent of roses, yet with the sharpness of thorny vines.

The spirit she spoke to, the shadow called Terumi, swayed as if caught in the wind. He was laughing.

"Well, that's mutual, isn't it? Looking at that disgusting face, I feel sick to my stomach."

Yuki Terumi. That was the shadow's name.

"Then you should leave quickly. This is not a place where someone like you can casually trespass." Valkenhayn stepped forward with a heavy, yet uncompromising hostility. The gentle elegance he had shown towards Rachel had vanished, and with a strong, aggressive gaze that belied his age as a white-haired old man, he glared at the swaying shadow.

Terumi twisted his red mouth in annoyance. "Ha! You're still as irritable as ever. Quit barking, you stupid dog. I'll kill you, got it?"

"It seems that the one who only knows how to bark is you. What can you possibly do to me now that you have no body?"

"Dammit... I should have killed you back then, old man."

"You should have learned your lesson ninety years ago." When Terumi spat out insults, Valkenhayn returned them with overwhelming hostility. It felt as though a deep-seated grudge was festering between them, a swamp of animosity.

"So, what do you want? You are aware of the current situation. I'm sure you're not exactly free to waste time either." Though not as overt as Valkenhein's hostility, Rachel spoke in a dismissive tone.

Terumi tilted his head with a languid gesture and once again shook his indistinct form, laughing in a high-pitched, unclear manner.

"Not really~. The episode's almost over, so I thought I'd come see your pathetic faces." His voice was low and he had a gleeful smile. Rachel watched him impassively, her red eyes reflecting his image.

"You really are a persistent man." Rachel whispered, her cold voice resembling the light of an unfading moon. "No matter how many times it's repeated, the result is always the same. The world rewinds, and everything begins again, from that day, that moment."

A breeze passed between Rachel and the shadow. Amidst the smell of sake, Terumi's demonic figure was eerie and unbecoming. The wind carried the strong scent of flowers, as if reminding him that he was out of place, and he smiled deeply.

"Then I'll start again," he said in a different voice. A nasty undercurrent seemed to taint even the inviting breeze that Rachel beckoned. "As many times as it takes? Is that it? Every time, I just start over. Again and again. Even if you get bored and stop coming out of your castle, again and again... again and again."

"It's in bad taste."

"Who are you calling bad taste, shitty vampire?" Terumi sneered.

Valkenhayn, who always had a deep furrow between his brows, watched with increased scrutiny. Rachel surveyed those around her, curving her lips into an elegant smile. While it was deeply displeased to agree with him, it was true that she was just as bad.

Again and again. They had this exchange here countless times. The conversations, repeated over and over across time, had become something like a rite of passage. For the next few hours, their fates would intertwine, separate, shatter, and crumble in a dizzying whirl. It was a regular event, a solemn witnessing of the outcome.

"Well, I better go and start the final preparations. I don't feel like dealing with you anymore, so just sit there and drink tea while you wait for it to end," Terumi said, taking a large step back. His figure flickered, like a shadow becoming blurred and disappearing. Beyond the black body, a faint tinge of rose red could be seen.

"See ya. Enjoy being a spectator, I guess," he spat out before disappearing soundlessly, like mist dissolving into the air.

Nothing remained. Only the garden, where the bright red roses that Rachel gazed upon daily proudly bloomed. A gentle breeze carried the sweet scent of roses, as if to erase the unpleasantness caused by Terumi.

Valkenhayn, who had been ready to leap at his throat a moment ago, quickly returned to his role as a butler. Straightening his back without a flaw, he turned to Rachel.

"How shall we proceed, Madam Rachel?" he asked, feigning ignorance of what his master must already have in mind. Rachel opened the umbrella-shaped Nago, draped it over her shoulder like a parasol, and looked at Valkenhayn.

"Valkenhayn, let's postpone the tea for later." It was childish and simple provocation to rise to, but to turn away would be seen as weakness, which would be even more irritating. More than anything, she couldn't let that man have his way. "Nago, Gii. We're leaving."

"Yes, Princess."

"Understood!"

Nago, still stuck as an umbrella, struck a graceful pose, and Gii, who had been trembling just moments before, leapt into the air with a newfound energy.

With her two familiars in tow, Rachel reached out towards the sky. A rose-colored magic circle, glowing faintly, appeared on the brick-tiled floor beneath her feet.

It was a teleportation spell. An ancient technique, a foundation of this world's magic system. But now, very few people could use it. It was a lost art.

Among teleportation spells, this one in particular required a tremendous amount of magical power and concentration, as well as exceptionally difficult control. That was why, throughout human history, there were only a handful of people skilled enough to be called masters of it.

Rachel, who could freely use teleportation magic, knew of only one other person who could handle this spell as well as she could.

“I'm off to Kagutsuchi. Valkenhayn, please look after the castle while I'm gone,” she said.

“As you wish. Please take care,” Valkenhayn replied, bowing at an ideal angle as he watched his young master depart from the magical storage room.

A gentle breeze swirled, carrying the intoxicating scent of roses as Rachel stepped out of the eternal castle. Valkenhayn waited until the lingering scent of roses was absorbed by the night air before placing the tea set left on the terrace table onto a wagon and beginning to clear it away. He silently wished that something, anything, would bring comfort to his small master this time.

===Part 2===

'''December 30, 2199, 9:23'''

Normally, the eastern sky of Kagutsuchi would be illuminated by the brilliance of the sunlight, its dazzling light making one forget about the stagnant seithr on the earth's surface. But today, unfortunately, thick clouds covered the sky from early morning. They were rain clouds. The damp air told him that it would rain before noon.

On the outskirts of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, there was a city that wasn’t built as part of the city but was constructed spontaneously by refugees who had drifted to this place. It was called Ronin-Gai.

This city was built by the losers of the Ikaruga Civil War, which ended five years ago, and who had lived in the Ikaruga Federation. Their homeland had been lost in the civil war. The displaced people of Ikaruga scattered all over the world, and those who had fled to Kagutsuchi had gathered here to make a living. It was a complex terrain, far from ideal for building a city. Located below the high mountain where Kagutsuchi was situated, the area was rocky, with many cracks and cliffs.

Nevertheless, the Ikaruga refugees had built a city that seemed to be half-floating in the air, with intricate structures built on rocky platforms, bridges spanning chasms, and stairs carved into cliffs.

It was a small city, a makeshift city built from whatever materials they could find. But despite that, the city was neat and tidy, with a distinctive Ikaruga atmosphere. And today, a man’s loud voice echoed through the streets.

“Hey everyone! I hope you're all doing well and in peace today!! Hmm, good, good, very good! Hahahahahaha!” The owner of that thick, resonant voice was Bang Shishigami. A large, muscular man, he was walking down the main street of Ronin-Gai, greeting everyone he passed with a hearty hello.

With his bushy black hair tied up high and wearing a unique deep green outfit, he was dressed in traditional Ikaruga ninja attire. Normally, ninjas were supposed to work in the dark, but Bang Shishigami was the complete opposite—he was always trying to attract attention.

A strong, large physique, a broad back that couldn't be hidden, a cross-shaped scar etched on his face, and a bright red cloth wrapped around his neck. Every time that red cloth fluttered in the canyon wind, no one could help but look back at him. It wasn't the distinctive outfit that caught the attention of the people in the Ronin-Gai. The long, red cloth wrapped around him like a scarf was a mark of identification.

It was the symbol of Bang Shishigami, the leader of the Ikaruga ninjas, who had gathered the lost refugees, led them to build the Ronin-Gai, and now walked through the streets daily, checking if the residents faced any troubles or problems.

"Good morning, Bang-sama!"

"Bang! Thank you for helping us capture the runaway chicken the other day!"

"Bang-sama! Hello!"

Bang waved his hand in response to the calls from all directions and returned a cheerful smile.

"Yes, good morning! Oh, that's right—since it looks like it'll rain today, if there are any houses leaking, just call on me! I'll fly over immediately and help with repairs!" He said as he continued walking forward, his voice echoing through the streets.

The weather wasn't great, but Bang's heart was as bright as ever. He had comrades, and a place to live. How fortunate this was—Bang, who had spent years running behind the scenes of war as a ninja, now fully understood and cherished this peace every single day.

Peace was good. Love could only exist in peace.

"Hmm?" Bang grunted in surprise as he noticed someone ahead of him. It was a man he didn't recognize. Bang had memorized the faces and bodies of every Ikaruga refugee living in the district.

The man had short blonde hair and a slender build. From the way he walked, Bang guessed that he was still young. But what really caught Bang's attention was the man's clothing. The blue and white uniform he wore was undoubtedly that of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

"Hey, you there! Wait!" Shouting out, Bang leapt high into the air. In a moment that seemed to defy gravity, he soared over the young man’s head and landed directly in front of him. The unfamiliar man stopped in his tracks, furrowing his brow in confusion at Bang’s sudden appearance.

As expected, he was a young man, still carrying the traces of youth. There was no mistaking that his outfit was the uniform of the NOL, and he was holding a sword in a blue sheath. Bang's brow furrowed even deeper, filled with growing suspicion.

"What are you doing in our town? You're wearing the uniform of the NOL, aren't you?" Was he a Kagutsuchi guard? Bang didn't recognize him. If he was a guard of Kagutsuchi, it would be unusual for him to come down to such a lower level, and if he were from a different branch, he would have entered Kagutsuchi from a higher tier. The sight of someone wearing the Librarium's uniform in this street felt completely out of place.

The blonde young man didn't answer, but simply looked at Bang with cold green eyes. Eventually, he parted his pale lips and murmured in a low voice.

"That outfit... an Ikaruga ninja?" His voice was far from friendly. Some might have heard disdain or mockery in those words. However, Bang chose to interpret the cold tone as a form of caution, rather than hostility.

Raising his body, which had tensed in preparation, Bang hurriedly extended his hands in a gesture of reassurance.

"No, no, please don't misunderstand. I have no intention of fighting you. This is indeed a town of the Ikaruga people, and I was once an Ikaruga ninja. But the Ikaruga Civil War ended five years ago." Bang crossed his thick arms and nodded solemnly several times as he continued. "True, the cause of the end of the war wasn't a battle, but rather the explosion of our capital, Ibukido." The Ikaruga Civil War had started when the Ikaruga Federation, with the 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido as its capital, declared its independence from the Novus Orbis Librarium. The NOL attempted to suppress this by force, and the Ikaruga Federation fought back with military resistance.

This war had continued for four years until one day…

Suddenly, an unexplained massive explosion occurred underground in Ibukido, the center of command for the Ikaruga Federation, and the city was annihilated. The explosion dealt a severe blow not only to the Ikaruga Federation, but also to the NOL, which was in the midst of the conflict. Both sides lost enough strength that they could no longer continue the war.

In the end, the Ikaruga Federation fragmented and lost its shape as an organization. But the NOL was too busy recovering from its own losses to pursue further retaliation, and the civil war gradually fizzled out and ended without anyone really noticing.

"Still, we lost. I will not throw away the peace we now have to foolishly oppose the Librarium," Bang said with a bitter smile, reaching up to touch the cross-shaped scar on his forehead with a thick hand. That scar had been caused by the explosion during the accident. Whether the accident that ended the civil war had been a blessing or a curse for him, Bang still couldn't decide. All he knew was that the people of Ikaruga had fought enough. Now, he wanted them to live in peace, even if it wasn't an easy life.

The blonde young man said nothing, quietly staring at Bang. It was impossible to discern his thoughts from his blank expression, which seemed almost absent, as if he were lost in thought. There was no sign of emotion or intention in his face.

Was he even listening? Bang, feeling uneasy, repeated his earlier question.

"So, who are you, and what are you doing in Ronin-Gai?"

"...I have no business here." Finally, the young man gave a direct answer to Bang's question. It was a curt and dismissive response, but Bang felt relieved.

If the young man had drawn his sword and said something like, "I'm here to hunt Ikaruga remnants," Bang would have been forced to put on a big display in the middle of the town, which was bustling with people. That would have caused some collateral damage, with a few houses possibly getting caught in the crossfire, and maybe a few people injured.

The young man remained expressionless, his gaze now turning toward the mountains looming in the distance. On top of those mountains were several city districts, and at the peak stood the Kagutsuchi branch of the NOL.

"I'm not interested in you people. I just want to go up."

"Up? Do you mean the Librarium's branch?" Bang asked.

"You're in the way. Move... or, no." The young man spoke coldly, but then, as if reconsidering, he lowered his voice, still remaining distant. "By the way, have you seen a man with white hair and a red coat in Kagutsuchi?" His expression remained as frozen as before, but for a brief moment, Bang could have sworn the green eyes glimmered with something like amusement.

Bang scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "White hair and a red coat... Hmm. No, I haven’t seen anyone like that around here. If he had such a noticeable appearance, I’d remember him after a glance..."

"I see. That's fine." As if he had instantly lost all interest in Bang, the youth glided past him, walking smoothly and without hesitation. The wind that passed by them was strangely cold, as if it had brushed against ice.

"Oh, you there!" Bang called out to the young man’s retreating back. "I am Bang Shishigami. What is your name?"

But the man didn't turn around. It was as if Bang's words hadn't reached him at all. As if guided by something, the young man disappeared into the outskirts of Ronin-Gai.

Bang stood there with his arm still outstretched as if trying to stop him, his face twisting in confusion. He turned his neck and muttered to himself.

"Hmm... What a strange man. It's as if his soul is missing... like he's being possessed by something."

But it was midday, and the sun was getting higher. Such ghostly phenomena—like losing one's soul or being possessed—were clearly not the kind of thing that would happen in broad daylight.

Shaking off the strange thoughts, Bang refocused his energy and straightened his chest. His patrol of Ronin-Gai wasn't over yet. The sky was growing steadily darker, and the rain would start soon. He needed to check if any houses needed repairs before the rain hit.

"Tch, these young people today, they're lacking in spirit! They walk around looking so gloomy. They need to be more dignified, stronger, and more passionate! Just like me, Bang Shishigami, the ninja of love and justice!" Laughing loudly, his voice echoing throughout the area, Bang resumed his patrol.
Once this was done and his subordinates’ training was finished, if there was still time, he planned to head to Orient Town to visit and greet the woman he admired. He had already made plans in his mind.

Ronin-Gai was peaceful today.

And that, above all, was wonderful.

===Part 3===

'''December 30, 2199 - 18:21'''

Although located in the lower levels of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Orient Town was a bustling and vibrant place. Houses were built so close together that the walls almost touched, and neighbors lived together like family, sharing limited land and resources. Although none of them were wealthy, and although there were occasional dark shadows lurking in the dim alleys, the town was warm.

Litchi Faye-Ling, a doctor who ran a small clinic in a corner of Orient Town, had always felt that way.

“Don’t overdo it until the pain goes away. Alright?” Litchi waved goodbye to a young boy who had fallen down the stairs and sprained his ankle, her smile following him as he left the clinic.

Her lustrous black hair, which reached down to her feet, was elegantly tied up high and coiled into a large updo. She had a naturally beautiful eyebrow shape that required no makeup, long eyelashes that cast shadows when she looked down, and eyes that shone with an intelligent light behind her black-framed glasses. However, her slightly upturned eyes carried a certain allure that suggested a seductive grace.

Her beauty wasn’t just limited to her appearance. Her full, firm breasts, her slender waist, her voluptuous hips that flowed smoothly into her slender ankles—her body was a work of art, with curves that would make anyone envious. Her silhouette alone was enough to draw the eyes of passersby.

It had been about a year since this beautiful doctor had come to this town. When she suddenly appeared, seeking a place to live and work, the residents of the area welcomed her warmly. She didn't say anything about where she came from, her background, or why she had come to Orient Town alone, only her name.

It would have been natural for people to be suspicious of a woman of unknown origin. But the residents of Orient Town did not probe deeply when she remained silent. Litchi was still grateful for that, even a year later. She opened the door to her clinic every day, making sure that treatment was as affordable and accessible as possible, not just for the sake of making a living, but also as a way of repaying Orient Town for the kindness and generosity with which they had welcomed her.

"Well then..." Once the boy's figure disappeared around the corner, Litchi closed the door with a soft thud and let out a sigh. Orient Town was already enveloped in the darkness of night, and small lanterns and lamps were hanging everywhere, illuminating the houses.

The sound of rain could be heard in the distance. It must have been raining steadily since early afternoon. The air in this upper part of the sky, which was now completely covered, was damp and quite cold.

Litchi’s outfit— a loose white blouse layered over a long, bright red cheongsam —perfectly outlined her alluring figure but was hardly suitable for standing in the cold. Shivering involuntarily at the sudden cold wind, Litchi hugged herself, drawing her ample bosom together. The small panda hair ornament clinging to her bun seemed to be shivering as well.

Tonight was sure to be chilly. However, she reflected that in the past, before the appearance of the Black Beast and the spread of seithr throughout the world, December used to be even colder. Back then, such thin clothing would have made walking outside impossible. Perhaps the current temperatures were mild by comparison.

She remembered that, in the past, snow would often fall during this season in this very area. As she reminisced about the winter-like season that had been distorted and lost due to the seithr, Litchi couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss. She turned on her heels to return to the clinic.

But before her pointed heels, which made her already long legs look even slenderer, could step inside, a voice called out to her abruptly from behind.

“Litchi.”

It was a deep, calm male voice.

Litchi immediately knew who it was. There was only one person who called her by her first name so warmly. Well, at least for now.

Turning around, rubbing her arms, Litchi widened her eyes in slight surprise. As expected, it was the person she had thought it would be. But he was carrying something unexpected in his arms. The owner of the voice emerged from the deep shadows of the building. Though Litchi was not short, he was so tall she had to look up at him.

He was a cyborg, known as the Red Devil of Sector Seven, with an incredibly strong body that was impossible for a normal human to possess.

“Tager…” Litchi called his name softly, and as soon as he confirmed that there was no one else around, Tager approached her. In his arms was a young girl. She was unconscious, her body limp and lifeless. She had long, soft, camellia red hair and a slender frame. And she was wearing the blue and white uniform of the NOL.

"Tager, what’s going on here? Why…?" Litchi was about to ask why he was carrying a soldier from the NOL, but before she could finish, Tager interrupted her, gently handing over the unconscious girl.

"I’m sorry, but could you take care of this girl for me? I had to knock her out for a reason, but I can’t just leave her here, and I can’t contact the Library either." He looked at her with a troubled expression, almost pleading.

She couldn't refuse him when he looked at her like that. Even though she knew him well enough to know that he would do something like this, Litchi peered at the girl in Tager’s arms. Her pulse was normal. There were no external injuries, and her breathing was steady. She had probably simply fainted from a strong shock and was now fast asleep.

“So, you’re saying you knocked her out?” Litchi glanced up at Tager’s red face through the gap in her glasses, her tone slightly reproachful.

It wasn’t hard to imagine that something had happened between Tager and this girl. Litchi was well aware of the relationship between Sector Seven and the NOL. After all, before coming to Orient Town, she had worked at the same facility as Tager, under the same superior.

“Why are you in Kagutsuchi?” While agreeing to take custody of the girl, Litchi asked in a firm voice. Sector Seven, where Tager worked, had a research facility located far from Kagutsuchi. It wasn't a place he would casually visit for personal reasons.

Tager hesitated, his face troubled, but he eventually opened his mouth, a hint of mischief in his upturned eyes.

"I don't mind if it's you. Actually..." A third voice suddenly cut in.

"Kokonoe!" Tager was startled, though he kept his voice low out of consideration for those around him. A tense feeling ran through Litchi. The third voice came from a small communication device in Tager's ear. On the other side of that device was Tager’s superior and creator, and until a year ago, Litchi’s own superior: Kokonoe.

"What are you so surprised about? Hacking into the line is nothing. Don’t cut off the connection without permission, understood, Tager?" The voice, altered to be heard not only by Tager but those nearby, spoke in a low, controlled tone. The words had a sharpness and tension to them that left no room for argument or rebuttal. It was an authoritative tone, tinged with an air of irritability.
A year ago, Litchi had often been scolded by this voice. Bitterness and nostalgia welled up within her, and she looked away from Tager, as if to shield her eyes from the sound.

"Professor Kokonoe..."

"Long time no see, Litchi. What are you doing in a place like this?"

Litchi didn't know how to react. She tightened her arms around herself, as if to protect herself from something other than the cold. She could feel Kokonoe's sharp, penetrating gaze, honed by intellect and reason, watching her through the communication device.

"That's... Well, professor, shouldn’t you already know?" She knew that Kokonoe must know why she was in Kagutsuchi, why she had chosen to live in the lower-level Orient Town, and why she had left Sector Seven. There was nothing more she needed to explain.

"You still haven't given up on him?"

As she thought, Kokonoe already knew. She knew why Litchi was here. Perhaps that’s why the voice from the comm device felt almost like an accusation, as if Kokonoe were rebuking her.

"Give up? How could I possibly give up?" Litchi replied, squeezing the words from her chest. There was a burst of static from the comm device. It was Kokonoe’s sigh—sounding more exasperated than anything else.

"I’ll say it one more time. Stop thinking about saving him. He’s beyond saving. You can’t help him."

"I still don't understand!" Litchi shook her head vigorously.

The kind, gentle, and sometimes stern doctor that the residents of Orient Town knew was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there was the face of a weak girl desperately trying to protect something. A face like she was shaking her head to prevent her precious treasure from being taken away.

Litchi looked sternly at Tager, her eyes fixed on the communication device on his ear.

"How can you be so indifferent, professor? You haven't tried everything. He just made a small mistake. He rushed things a little. And... he was your... your first subordinate, wasn’t he?" Litchi’s voice trembled with emotion. It could almost be called a quiver.

She couldn’t understand. She couldn’t accept it. She didn’t want to accept it. That rejection was evident not just in her voice but also in her sad, furrowed brow.

Once again, Kokonoe’s sigh came through the comm device. This time, it wasn’t a sigh of exasperation, but of frustration, almost as if she were pulling her hair out.

"I'm sorry, professor... But I... I can't give up," Litchi said, clenching her hands tightly in front of her chest. But deep down, she understood. She was a doctor, and until a year ago, she had been a researcher. That was why, despite the emotions she felt, she also knew how to remain cold and rational when necessary. She had understood this about herself long ago, though it was something she hated.

"There's nothing I can do."

A year ago, Litchi had left Sector Seven, where she’d worked alongside Kokonoe and Tager, to help someone. That person had been researching seithr and the Boundary, which was said to have brought this substance into the world. But then, something happened to him. He became increasingly confused, eventually disappearing from public view, and finally, he ceased to be human.

It was the result of his continued exposure to seithr and his overzealous research into the Boundary. He became unable to distinguish himself from the Boundary, and lost his original form.

Just as it is impossible to restore something that has been digested back to its original state, it is also impossible to return something that has been assimilated into the Boundary back to its previous form.

Even though Litchi followed him all the way to this place, Orient Town in Kagutsuchi, even though she stayed here, heard rumors about him, and searched for his shadow, even though she studied seithr and non-human species, even though she reached for the Boundary just as he did...

She couldn't change anything.

The "man" Litchi was looking for had taken refuge in the sewers beneath the lower levels of Kagutsuchi, accessible through Orient Town. Day after day, he wandered aimlessly, driven solely by his instincts.

"All of my subordinates are idiots..." Kokonoe spat out. Litchi couldn't look up. She thought she was foolish too. She had no rebuttal.

A heavy silence fell for a few seconds. Then, light footsteps ran towards the entrance of Litchi's hospital.

"I'm home... Wow, you're huge!"

A small girl appeared. She had brown skin, her black hair was tied up in a ponytail, and she was wearing clothes that allowed for easy movement. She had a small bag filled with daily necessities slung over her thin arms and chest, but when she looked up at Tager's massive figure, she was so surprised that she hugged it tightly.

"Linhua...! W-welcome back!" Litchi quickly turned around, a bit flustered.

Linhua was Litchi's assistant, a young girl who aspired to be a doctor. Linhua’s large, round eyes widened even further as she stared up at Tager, who was much more imposing up close than from a distance.

"I'm home, Doctor. Uh... who is this person? A patient?"

"Well, that..." Litchi hesitated, at a loss for words. Linhua was a reliable assistant, both personally and professionally, but Litchi had never told her about her past, nor did she intend to.

Litchi could not let Tager or Kokonoe overhear their conversation. She cast a glance toward Teiger, silently pleading for help. But by then, Tager had already turned off the comm. The giant, who was more rational than he looked, understood perfectly well what Litchi disliked. However, as if in exchange, he thrust the unconscious girl into Litchi's arms.

"I have a mission. I have to go now. Please take care of this girl." Tager had come here not to broadcast Kokonoe's feelings or to start an argument between his superior and Litchi, but for the safety of this red-haired girl.

"I understand. I'll take care of her." In this situation, there was no way Litchi could refuse. She accepted the girl without hesitation.

The girl’s limp, unresponsive body certainly wasn’t light, but Litchi had enough strength to carry her to bed. She was confident in her physical strength, even if it wasn't befitting of a doctor or researcher.

Seeing the person Litchi had taken, Linhua frowned unhappily.

"Isn't she a guard from the Library? Why..."

Why would she be taking care of a guard? That's what Linhua was about to say.

Linhua was born in Orient Town. Like most of the lower levels’ residents, she strongly resented the NOL’s oppressive rule. The blue and white uniform worn by the unremarkable female guard seemed to symbolize the root cause of the hardships and poverty that had plagued her life. Even though Litchi understood this sentiment, she gently scolded Linhua.

"No matter who she is, a patient is a patient. Linhua, prepare the bed."
"Yes, Dr. Litchi," Linhua replied, understanding her point. Clutching the paper bag tightly once more, Linhua reluctantly nodded and ran to the back of the hospital.

Watching her go, Litchi slung the unconscious girl's arm over her shoulder to support her wet body. As Litchi looked up one last time, Tager spoke.

"Litchi. There's something I want to tell you. Kokonoe wants you to return to the institution. If you're willing, she's ready to help you anytime." Tager interpreted this as the message Kokonoe had wanted to say by intruding on the communication line earlier. The difficult, neurotic voice of their superior was terrible at conveying emotional things to people. Tager, having worked closer with Kokonoe than anyone else, knew this firsthand.

Litchi looked surprised, then relaxed her face and shook her head sadly.

"I can’t return. Not until I settle things with that man." She would surely regret it if she did. She might even resent Kokonoe, unjustly. "And even if I do settle it, if I try to go back, I'm sure Kokonoe wouldn't accept me."

If she could bring that person back, it wouldn't be easy, and it certainly wouldn't be humane. She would have to touch things that she shouldn't touch. She would have to see things that she shouldn't see. She would have to know things that she shouldn't know. She didn't want to imagine how Kokonoe would look at her when that happened.

Tager groaned thoughtfully, his expression twisting with bitterness.

"I see. I don’t understand these complicated matters, but…" He couldn't stay and talk forever. Tager turned his broad red back to Litchi. "I'll take my leave now. ...Take care."

With those words, Tager walked back the way he came without looking back. As he disappeared into the dark shadows, his large back vanished into the alleyways of Orient Town. Litchi, too, turned her back on him and carried the unconscious soldier into the clinic. Once she closed the door behind her, she was back in her small, familiar hospital.

The girl's body was completely cold from being carried in the rain. After carrying her to the bed that Linhua had prepared, Litchi laid her down on the clean sheets and carefully removed the blue hat and boots that were part of her uniform. Taking her hands, which had lost all strength down to the fingertips, Litchi removed her gloves and the stiff metal cuffs attached to the sleeves.

Listening to the sound of Linhua tidying up the supplies she had bought in the next room, Litchi gently covered the sleeping girl with a blanket, though it wasn't the best quality.

"It might be a little cold tonight with just this..." she murmured aloud.

At that moment, a strange sensation, like an invisible thread being cut, ran down Litchi's spine. However, she mistook it for a chill brought on by the cold and left the room to fetch another blanket for her new patient. She would never know that in that moment, she had lost something precious to her.

===Part 4===

'''December 30, 2199 - 18:21'''

The rain continued to fall. The sky grew darker, and eventually, a strong wind began to blow. As night fell, the air grew colder. This was already a high place, incredibly high when counted from the ground. And to top it all off, there was nothing to block the wind and rain.

"Ah... this is just the worst."

Standing on the rooftop of the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium, at the highest point of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Hazama stared up at the endless rainstorm, genuinely exasperated.

His black suit, not part of the uniform, and the hat he wore for protection against the rain, were useless. Within seconds of arriving, they were soaked through. He had thought that if he waited a bit, the rain would lighten up, but he now wondered what the point of wasting that time was.

"If this wasn't a direct order from my superior or that person, I'd call in sick and go back to the script department." It was utterly depressing. The thought of having to work alone in this wind and rain was unbearable.

"Well, there's no use complaining forever." Hazama muttered, pitying himself as he pulled a small communicator from his suit's inner pocket. He put it to his ear and waited.

The day had long since passed, and it was dark. There was no chance of moonlight with these thick rain clouds. The pale light from the rooftop entrance behind Hazama illuminated the circular, wet rooftop like a spotlight, casting a cold glow.

"It’s me." A voice came through the communicator. It was a man's voice. Low, with no trace of emotion in it.

Hazama put his hands in his pants pocket and straightened his back slightly.

"Good evening. This is Hazama. I've arrived at the scene. It's pouring rain, by the way."

"I see. Then begin."

"Oh, so cold. No words of encouragement, Colonel?" The brim of his hat was useless. Hazama pushed back his wet bangs with his fingers and smiled wryly. Although, if the man on the other end had offered words of encouragement, it would have been so creepy that he wouldn't be able to focus on his work.

""We don't have much time. Hurry up."

"Yeah, yeah. Honestly, both you and that person are so demanding." Hazama added, "I'll see you later," and ended the communication. He tossed the small communicator into the air as if it were a toy, caught it, and then returned it to his pocket.

The rain was cold. Hazama slightly lifted the brim of his black hat. Golden eyes peered out from beneath his wet hair. He fixed his sharp gaze on the countless raindrops shimmering in the light, and beyond that, on the empty, silent rooftop space that was also quietly getting wet.

Hazama shrugged slightly and smiled. It was as if he were speaking to someone.

"I know. I want to finish this quickly too."

The sound of the rain continued uninterrupted. There was no one else there but Hazama, and of course, there was no one else to see. The rooftop, bathed in rain and mist, was silent and empty, unable to speak or complain. It only grew wetter.

Hazama put away the communicator, adjusted his hat a little, and stepped toward the center of the rooftop. The sound of his hard leather shoes tapping against the wet floor echoed with a faint splash of water.

Hazama smiled as he walked. With both hands in his pockets, his thin shoulders rose slightly, and they shook rhythmically with each sound he made. Alone, on the peak of Kagutsuchi where not even birds dared to approach, Hazama smiled softly, as if without a care in the world. He spoke as though soothing someone only he could understand.

"Don't rush me so much. We'll get it back eventually, Terumi."

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| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Grim Reaper — The Man Called Death God]]
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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1

2025-08-30T18:09:34Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT Chapter 1: Stratum city — Hierarchical City==

===Part 1===

A flurry of hurried footsteps echoed through the high, arched white ceiling. Everyone was shouting warnings and orders to attack. Catch the intruder, kill them, don't let them get any further. The voices, rather than sounding resolute or fierce, were strained with a more desperate tone, vividly portraying the dire situation.

With white hair and eyes of different colors—one green and one red—he was a striking figure. Clad in a sturdy black suit, he wore a striking scarlet coat over it.

(They sure do come in droves…) He thought with a hint of frustration, then let the broad, thick-bladed sword that had slung over his shoulder dangle from his hand.

He had no intention of hiding. In fact, if they found him and attacked, he preferred to meet them head-on. Sneaking around wasn't his style. If he was going to be conspicuous, he might as well do it in the flashiest way possible, so that one day, just hearing of his arrival would send them running.

Though, he thought, it was probably unrealistic to expect such a convenient outcome.

Soon, five or six men in blue and white uniforms rushed in, guns drawn. They hadn't noticed him yet, and when they saw him, the first few faltered. But he didn't stop. Bursting into a sprint, he charged straight forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc.

"Stop! Or we'll shoot!" The warning was meaningless. The uniformed men aimed their guns and fired simultaneously. A deafening roar echoed through the corridor. However, immediately after, he swung his raised sword with great force.

"Uraaaaaaaah!" The sword released a black, ominous wave that soared through the air, swallowing all the approaching bullets and completely obliterating them. The wave surged forward with the speed of fire, engulfing the uniformed men who were about to fire their next shots and blowing them away in a single breath.

With a roaring sound like a whirlwind, the men were knocked back and slammed into the wall. The wall cracked heavily under the impact.

Just one strike. With that alone, all the men who had bravely raised their guns to confront the intruder lost consciousness and collapsed in the hallway.

"...You knew you were going to be taken down, so why the hell did you show up? Idiots."

It was all so anticlimactic. As he glanced at the fallen soldiers in their uniforms, the man, wielding a large sword, immediately began running down the hallway.

He couldn't afford to waste any more time here. His destination was the deepest part of the facility, the lowest level.

From the end of the hallway, more soldiers in blue and white uniforms appeared. They shouted as they took aim with their guns or drew their swords. There were more of them this time, but it didn't change his approach. He charged straight in, brushing aside everything in his path.

One after another, the limp bodies of the soldiers in their uniforms tumbled across the hallway, security systems were completely destroyed, and even the doors, which had been shut tight, were chopped down and reduced to scrap metal.

He hadn't snuck in quietly at all. He'd kicked down the guards at the door and burst right in. As if to proudly display his strength and leave a deep mark, he had rampaged through the facility, destroying everything in his path, advancing deeper and deeper. Whatever stood in his way, he cut it down. With such violent strides, he pressed on, and on, and on…

And what he eventually reached was a deep, underground hall, beyond the long, long lift, which opened up like a gaping mouth.

...It was a world entirely different from the corridors and rooms he had passed through so far.

The air was different. The temperature was different.

The walls, ceiling, and floors were all covered with metal-like panels, and above the vast space, a glass-walled small room overlooked the hall. Beneath it, heavy machinery was lined up, and before these machines stood a strangely large device, silent and imposing.

There was no one there. The people who should have been here had probably evacuated upon hearing the alarm. And the people who should have rushed here had already been scattered by the white-haired intruder.

Step by step, he advanced towards the massive device that dominated the center of the chamber.

The strangeness clung to his body.

It felt as though the very air was saturated with an instinctual unease—something that warned of a sense of wrongness, as if this place were from a different world altogether. But to him, it was familiar.

He had visited places like this many times before. He couldn't count how many facilities with the same structure and hidden underground devices he had visited. Every time, the purpose was the same. To destroy these enormous devices.

He walked forward, his feet firmly planted on the floor.

What was this thing for? How many of the people who worked here even understood its purpose?

Every visit brought with it the same thorny question.

What did they think they were accomplishing, coming down to this gloomy, underground place day after day, fiddling with these flickering instruments whose purpose they didn't understand?

When he reached the edge, he glared at the device. The machine, constructed from silver metal, loomed so high it was almost impossible to see the top. It was as deep and vast as it was tall. The central part, the one he looked down upon, was circular.

This was the "cauldron."

[[File:BB_CT1_025.jpg|frameless|right]]

Now, multiple metal plates overlap to close the mouth of the device, but if they open, the inside is like the crater of a volcano. A fiery, lava-like substance swirls, burning fiercely as if it intends to swallow anyone who dares to look inside.

But what swirls within is neither lava nor flame.

It is another world. A distortion in the fabric of reality, a place where humans should not be. The other side of a gaping rift. The outside of the world's shell, a place that should never be seen, never entered.

The metal device he looked down upon was the one controlling and interacting with this "cauldron." A device to touch the otherworldly realm - the Boundary - that humans were never meant to reach.

He had been traveling the world, destroying these "cauldrons." And now, as he stood there, gazing at it, there was no sense of nostalgia or emotional attachment.

With no more hesitation, he sheathed his sword and extended his right hand toward the device. He muttered something under his breath—the same destructive words he had spoken countless times before. The words awakened the dormant power in his right arm, and the power sparked a blue light in his arm.

In the blink of an eye, the amplified light filled the room and he hurled it with full force toward the device. The next moment, the gate to the other world, which had been sealed deep underground, was blasted away, along with the vast chamber that surrounded it, leaving no trace behind.

Akitsu, the 9th Hierarchical City, the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The facility that stood at the center of the city had collapsed due to an attack by someone, and the entire city was in turmoil due to the commotion.

A white-haired man in a red long coat was quietly trying to leave the city. His work here was done. There was no need to stay longer.

In stark contrast to his flashy actions inside the facility, he took a winding path outside, avoiding the main streets and selecting the darkest, least noticeable exit. If he were to be found by the uniformed guards in the city, he would have no choice but to fight them off. That would be troublesome.

He passed through a rusty iron gate and headed toward the port further ahead. A passage beside it would lead him outside. At that moment, a faint scent of roses brushed his nostrils.

"You're like a stray dog with nowhere to go," came a voice, coolly mocking him. He stopped in his tracks and turned around, looking up at a nearby streetlamp.

At the top of the simple lamp, which split at its end, stood a girl. She looked to be just past ten years old, though her youthful face was illuminated by the dim light, and her red eyes held an intelligence that seemed far beyond her apparent age.

It didn't really matter where he was going. As long as it was Kagutsuchi, it wasn't far from Akitsu. He glared fiercely at the spot where the girl had disappeared, then began walking toward the next destination.

A few days later, his name was publicly listed as a wanted criminal across the world. Ragna the Bloodedge. That was the name of the most-wanted criminal in history, known by the alias "Grim Reaper" and carrying the highest bounty ever offered.

===Part 2===

'''December 30, 2199 — 13:27'''

About a hundred years ago, the world was on the brink of destruction.

A giant and grotesque monster, known as the "Black Beast", suddenly appeared and began destroying everything in its path.

Humanity had no way of fighting against its overwhelming power, and the world's population was reduced to half in no time.

But then, six brave warriors appeared.

They challenged the Black Beast with weapons known as "phenomenon weapons," defeated the demonic beasts of calamity, and brought a future to humanity.

Praised as the Six Heroes, they disappeared without a trace into the sea of history and were lost to time. Yet, their glory lived on as a legend passed down through the ages.

That was a long time ago.

If there are any remnants from the Great Dark War—the war against the Black Beast—that are still known in the current era, they would be two major ones.

One is the Novus Orbis Librarium. This organization was born from the global coalition that fought alongside the Six Heroes during the Dark War, and now it oversees the entire world.

The second is seithr. A substance that overflowed worldwide with the appearance of the demonic beast of calamity, the Black Beast, and continued to remain in the world's atmosphere even after the Black Beast was defeated.

Now, it is used in various technologies and has become indispensable for everyday life. However, excessive exposure to seithr can still pose a danger to the human body. As a result, humanity must avoid large amounts of seithr while still using it for daily life. Seithr tends to accumulate in greater concentrations the closer one gets to the surface of the earth. This led to the creation of Hierarchical Cities.

Built upon the foundations of tall mountains, entire cities were constructed in plate-like layers, extending outward from the mountain's peak. The cities spread both vertically and horizontally along the height of the mountains, resulting in compact yet towering cities with multiple layers of urban plates.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi is one such complex, multi-layered city, just like other cities around the world.

In the midst of one such layered city, in the winding narrow streets of Orient Town, he walked with a slightly unsteady gait. With white hair, a green left eye and red right eye, his appearance was striking. His black attire was complemented by a bright red long coat. At his waist hung a sword with a wide, thick blade, unmistakable in its appearance.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

A wanted criminal with an SS-tier bounty, responsible for the destruction of several branches of the Novus Orbis Librarium. He was the highest-bounty fugitive in history.

Despite his fearsome reputation, none of the city's inhabitants paid him any mind as they went about their business. They probably thought he was just another outlaw who had wandered in. Occasionally, indifferent glances would briefly pass over him and then move on.

This was Orient Town, a district located in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

In layered cities, the higher the level, the further one is from the dangers of seithr, and the more clean and safe the area. Conversely, the lower the level, the less regulated it is, and the closer it is to dangerous concentrations of seithr. In such cities, the upper levels not only represent a higher standard of living but also a lesser risk to one's life, whereas the lower levels carry a greater degree of danger.

Naturally, the highest levels of the city are occupied by the Novus Orbis Librarium, which also serves as the governing body. Its related facilities and the residences of its affiliates take up most of the urban space.

Next come the wealthy and those with close ties to power, who live on the upper floors, while those with lesser status or wealth are pushed further down, their position in society dictating how far they must descend.

The residents of Orient Town were people who, by the nature of this societal hierarchy, had been pushed to the lower levels.

None of them could be called wealthy by any means. They were struggling to support themselves, their families, and a few close friends, and few would want to get involved with a strange, white-haired man and invite unnecessary trouble.

In truth, Ragna himself didn't have the luxury to pay attention to the people around him.

It had been two days since he infiltrated Kagutsuchi through an unused access point. Since then, he had been traveling through back alleys and abandoned areas. Though it wasn't by design, he had no choice but to walk through these endless, treacherous roads. To be honest, he was exhausted.

He had decided to take a better route on his wayback.

"Still, for a lower district, this place is pretty lively," Ragna muttered as he glanced around, offering a blunt observation.

Orient Town was a chaotic, poorly planned neighborhood, with houses haphazardly built and clustered together. The streets were narrow and constantly twisted, and the buildings were so close that they seemed ready to collapse into each other.

On top of that, all kinds of items—wooden crates, bags filled with unknown goods—cluttered the alleyways, making it impossible to pass through without obstacle. Often, a seemingly simple alley would turn out to be impassable.

There were strange statues with red pillars and bulging eyes. Small lanterns hung throughout the town, as well as countless signs of all shapes and sizes glowing with dazzling neon lights.

In most lower-level districts, the buildings were so tall and densely packed that sunlight was blocked out, leaving the area dark even during the day. But here, there seemed to be no such shadows.

As Ragna emerged from a narrow alley, he found himself in a slightly more open street. Shops lined both sides of the road, and it seemed like this was one of the main streets of the area. The colors and size of the signs were far more vibrant than those in the alleys.

(There's probably no one from the Library around here.) Ragna thought, feeling relieved.

Even in this relatively wide street, the people walking were all clearly locals. There was no sign of the Novus Orbis Librarium's dreaded blue-and-white uniforms.

This was a welcome sight. If any of those guards saw him, it would be a major issue. After all, Ragna was a wanted criminal. Without any consideration for his surroundings, he'd have to play cat-and-mouse with the guards who would inevitably gather to chase him down.

Ragna glanced around as he placed a hand on his stomach. The exhaustion was one thing, but the hunger was becoming unbearable. Since entering Kagutsuchi, he hadn't come across any shops selling food, and his preserved food had run out. He hadn't eaten anything since last night, and the hunger was starting to take its toll.

Even in a lower district like this, there should be at least a few restaurants. He began scanning the various signs for something that seemed like it might be a place to eat. Then, he stepped on something soft.

"MROW!" At the same time, a strange cry came from beneath his feet.

"Ugh." Thinking he had stepped on a cat, Ragna quickly lifted his foot. However, what he saw was far bigger than he expected. In fact, it wasn't an animal at all.

Lying on the ground, her arms and legs sprawled out limply, was a girl. Her body was entirely covered by a hooded robe, but her long braided hair and the color of her skin peeked out from beneath it.

"Wh...what the hell are you?" Ragna asked, his voice more of a question than a warning. A thin, weak tail swayed in his field of vision. The tail was attached to the girl lying there.

"Uh... ugh..." With a faint trembling voice, the girl groaned and slowly raised her face. Looking up at Ragna, there wasn't a girl's face inside the hood as one might expect. There was a dark, shadowy void. Within it, a pair of red, round eyes seemed to be sunken, and a crescent-shaped mouth with white teeth was turned downward. The triangular ears attached to the hood trembled as if convulsing.

It wasn't human. Nor did it resemble a beastkin with a beast-like tail and ears.

"Could it be... a Kaka?" Ragna had seen a creature with this strange appearance before. It was when he had visited his swordmaster. The creature then had a similar black face with very simple facial features. Though the girl before him and the Kaka woman he had seen were clearly different individuals, this distinct appearance was unlike anything else.

Although he knew the name "Kaka," he didn't know what kind of clan they were.

Now, what should he do with this girl? Should he turn back without getting involved, or should he ignore her and move on?

As he hesitated, the girl, whose face was the only part of her still raised, suddenly clung to Ragna's leg with a speed that belied her apparent weakness.

"Whoa! W-what the hell!"

"Oooo meow~... Help me... meow." The girl with triangular ears and a tail pleaded pitifully as she clung to Ragna's leg, while he tried to shake her off. Ragna vigorously shook his leg to loosen her grip, but for some reason, her arms wouldn't budge.

"Damn it, let go! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"I won't let go, meow, I'll never let go meow... if you don't help me, I'll eat your leg, meow..." Despite her weak voice, her grip on his leg was surprisingly strong. Even with this commotion, the people around him only gave a brief glance, as if looking at something strange, and then passed by without getting involved. There was no danger of getting into trouble, but it didn't seem like he could count on any help from a kind passerby.

After a few more failed attempts, Ragna finally gave up. He lifted his leg halfway and looked down at the clinging Kaka girl, exhausted.

"Wait, wait, wait, don't eat my leg! And what the hell are you talking about? Help? What do you mean?"

"Oooo... thank... thank you for asking, meow. Tao is in a really bad situation neow. I'm... I'm at my limit, meow."

"Huh? H-Hey, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Her voice was so desperate that it made him worry just a little. He lowered the foot he'd been lifting and looked down at the face that seemed to be filled with shadows.

The face, which resembled a black mask, had eyes and a mouth hanging weakly, gazing up at Ragna with a look of exhaustion, as though she might faint at any moment.

"I... I'm... hungry... meow"

On a round table covered with a yellow cloth, several dishes were lined up.

There were fried pieces of chicken, generously coated in a flavorful sauce, meatballs stir-fried with colorful vegetables in sweet and sour sauce, square-cut pieces of pork simmered in a rich, sweet and savory broth, and mountains of fried rice. There was beef and vegetables stir-fried in a rich miso sauce, crispy spring rolls wrapped in thin dough with finely sliced vegetables inside, and steaming, soft buns filled with ground meat…

With the white steam rising from the dishes, the strange girl with triangular ears and a hooded robe leaned forward so much that she almost fell off the chair, eagerly shoveling food into her mouth.

"Hguu-hguu-hguu meow hgu-hgu-hgu-hgu-hguu meow hgu-hgu."

Whether it was the sound of her chewing the food or slurping the chopsticks, a hollow sound continued to pierce the air. The eyes that had been drooping weakly a moment ago were now round, and her mouth was curved into an upward crescent.

Watching her with an exasperated look, Ragna picked up a piece of fried chicken from his plate. The thick batter was crisp and delicious. It had been a while since he'd had a meal that wasn't just grilled over an open flame.

"...Is it good?"

The food was rapidly disappearing. When the strange girl had started ordering massive amounts of food, Ragna had turned pale, thinking there was no way she could finish it all, but it seemed that worry had been unnecessary.

In fact, at this point, he was more worried how he was going to pay for all of it.

The girl, whose white-tipped tail was wagging happily, grabbed a fluffy bun with both hands and looked up at him.

"It's delicious, meow! This one, that one, and all of them—so yummy, meow!"

"Is that so? Well, I'm glad." Ragna sighed, rubbing his face in disbelief.

When she ate like this, without a care in the world, it made him wonder if she had any concept of restraint, or why he was the one buying a meal for this strange, unknown girl. And more importantly, why he had let her drag him along to this restaurant in the first place.

The girl took another big bite of the meat bun, chewing happily. Before he knew it, she had finished it and swallowed it in no time, causing Ragna to smile wryly as he picked up a spring roll. The plate, which had been full, now only had one left.

"To think that you're treating me to such a good meal, you're a good person, white guy, meow. Tao is really grateful, meow!" She swung her arms around dramatically to show her joy. Her hands were hidden entirely inside her sleeves, which were large and round, almost like the front paws of a cat.

Ragna finished his spring roll and then asked, "Is Tao your name?"

"Taokaka, meow!" She nodded enthusiastically and, with the meat bun still in one hand, took another bite in one big motion.

"Tao left the village and set off on a brave journey... but ended up so hungry she couldn't move. If Good Guy hadn't helped me back then, Tao would probably be dried up and turned into Kaka jerky by neow. I'll never forget this 'kindness,' meow."

While rambling about her backstory, Taokaka grabbed a plate of miso stir-fry, holding it down and shoveling the last bit into her mouth. Ragna didn't have the heart to point out that he hadn't eaten that yet, and instead just sighed with a frown, watching her. Resigned, he grabbed a meat bun for himself and slumped his shoulders.

"Yeah, yeah. 'Kindness,' huh? You'll probably forget about it once you're done eating."

"I won't forget, meow!"

Suddenly, Taokaka straightened her tail, and with a quick movement, she leaned forward, looking up at Ragna from the table. Her round, pupiless eyes and crescent-shaped mouth full of sharp teeth resembled a mask, giving her an eerie appearance. But for some reason, when she stared at him, it felt endearing.

"The Kaka tribe is a very loyal one, meow. We never forget a favor. When Tao becomes a rich person one day, I'll treat Good Guy to a meal, meow!"

"Rich... You? You were almost starving to death, and now you're talking about becoming rich? You don't even have a plan."

"Nuhfufufu, I do have a plan, meow." With that, Taokaka casually speared three meatballs with her chopsticks and popped them into her mouth. She then slid down her chair and pulled something out of her clothes.

It was a crumpled piece of paper. Taokaka spread it out on the table, smoothing out the wrinkles with her round hands.

"Tao is a bounty hunter, meow. I catch bad people and get a lot of money, meow."

"A bounty hunter?" Ragna furrowed his brow in confusion.

A bounty hunter was essentially a mercenary who earned money by hunting down criminals with bounties on their heads. Originally, when the ecosystem was disrupted by a massive amount of seithr, causing a surge in new species, the Librarium had assigned them to hunt down these new species.

But nowadays, the term more commonly referred to those who earned money by tracking down dangerous criminals or fugitives with large bounties on their heads. Most bounty hunters were people who couldn't find decent work, so they resorted to violence to make a living.

Though female bounty hunters weren't particularly rare, Ragna had never seen one as defenseless and unconcerned as Taokaka.

"That's right, meow. I became one today, meow."

"Today?!"

"And neow I'm gonna catch this guy, meow!" With a proud grin, Taokaka handed the crumpled paper to Ragna.

Ragna took the paper while still chewing some meatballs and vegetables. It was a wanted poster, the kind you'd see plastered around street corners. The bounty's reward was unusually generous, and there was a portrait of an extremely ugly man.

The name on the poster was Ragna the Bloodedge.

"Bwah?!" As soon as Ragna saw the name, he spat out his food

"'Bwah'? Why'd you suddenly spit out your food like that, Good Guy? What a waste, meow."

While Taokaka protested, still munching on her last meat bun, Ragna stared intently at the wanted poster in his hands, his hands trembling slightly.

(W-What... What is that picture? This doesn't look anything like me! If they don't even know what I look like, then why the hell are they spreading this around?! Don't go around telling people I look like this!)

He wondered if this poster was plastered all over Kagutsuchi. If so, it would be depressing. Not only was it embarrassing that this hideous drawing was being passed off as the face of Ragna the Bloodedge, but with this reward, there had to be a lot of bounty hunters looking for him. And a lot them were probably hanging out in Kagutsuchi.

(I can't just walk around town normally...)

It would be a pain to be found by those guys in blue and white uniforms, but bounty hunters would be even worse. They would certainly start "working" whether it was in the middle of the street or not.

"...Hey, Taokaka, right? You wouldn't happen to know any hidden paths to the upper levels of Kagutsuchi, would you?" Ragna asked, lowering his voice as he returned the crumpled poster. If there was one, it would be much better than causing trouble.

Taokaka licked the last of the sweet and sour sauce from the plate of meatballs and replied.

"Yup, I know a secret path, meow."

"Really!! That's great! Why don't you show me the way there in exchange for that meal I bought you?"

"That's fine, meow. Good Guy is Tao's benefactor. You can leave it to me, meow." Saying so, Taokaka grinned and slammed the clean plate down on the table.

Just then…

"Sorry to keep you waiting~!" A young waitress arrived, setting down several new dishes on the table.

There were noodles topped with minced meat, crispy fried noodles covered in a savory sauce and loaded with vegetables, a platter of sliced roast pork, and a variety of steamed dumplings filled with shrimp paste, minced pork, and aromatic vegetables, all wrapped in soft dough. Fresh, unrelenting steam rose to the ceiling along with a rich aroma.

"....Huh?" Ragna hadn't ordered any of this. He was about to protest, but then it dawned on him.

It had been just before... when he was looking at his wanted poster. Taokaka had finished off the last of the meat buns from the plates of food on the table at that point. Immediately after, Tao had reached for the menu.

"Wahoo, that looks delicious, meow! The secret path is dangerous, you know. Good Guy needs to have a full stomach, or he'll get hungry again, meow!"

Instead of feeling guilty, Taokaka gleefully pulled the steamed dumplings closer to herself, and Ragna, unable to take it anymore, grabbed her hand forcefully. The sudden movement made Taokaka almost rise from her seat.

"W-What the hell are you doing, adding more food?!"

"Meow? Is Good Guy full neow? Then Tao will eat it all..."

"No way! I can't pay for this mountain of food! I don't have that much money!"

Ragna was in a panic. He didn't have a steady job. Occasionally he earned travel expenses by pretending to be a bounty hunter or doing odd jobs, but that was just temporary. He couldn't even afford a decent place to stay, so the idea of adding more orders to what he had already ordered was unthinkable.

Just as Ragna was about to explode, a hand landed on his shoulder. He shrugged it off at first, irritated, but the hand immediately returned to tap his shoulder again, and a voice asked from behind.

"Excuse me, sir? Did you say... you don't have any money?"

"...Huh?" Ragna turned around, and there, standing behind him, was the waitress. She was much shorter than him and was smiling sweetly, but there was a hint of killing intent in her eyes.

"You said you don't have any money?" the waitress asked again.

Immediately after that, Ragna grabbed Taokaka's arm, who seemed completely unaware of the situation and was stuffing the steamed buns into her mouth, and slapped the waitress's hand away. He lifted Taokaka over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and ran out of the restaurant as if he had been shot.

"Meow!? Tao's food! I haven't eaten it yet, meow!"

"Shut up! This isn't the time for that!" Ragna shouted angrily at Taokaka, who was reaching out behind him and making pitiful sounds. He ran out into the main street of Orient Town and pushed through the crowd, running with all his might.

"Wait~!! Someone catch them! It's a dine-and-dash~~!!" The waitress's high-pitched voice rang out behind them. To Ragna's surprise, the waitress was keeping up with him, her speed matching his. Perhaps it was due to her infatuation.

Ragna cursed under his breath, realizing that the first trouble he caused in Kagutsuchi was going to be a dine-and-dash. Taokaka, being carried on his shoulder, hung her tail down in dejection, but her arms were still reaching back in the air as if trying to grab her lost meal.

"Ugh, Tao's food..."

"Forget about the food! Tell me where the secret path is, or do you want to be caught by the restaurant staff and turned into minced meat?!"

"Minced meat?"

"Yeah, meat! If you don't want to end up as the next dish on that menu, tell me quickly!" While Ragna didn't actually mean that the manager would mince them up, Taokaka, who had belatedly understood the meaning, seemed to take it seriously. Her tail jumped up suddenly and swelled up thick, as if in alarm.

"If I'm made into meat, I won't be able to eat meat anymore, meow! I don't want that, meow!" Agilely twisting her body on his shoulder, Taokaka landed in front of Ragna and started running on all fours like a beast.

"Good Guy, this way, meow!"

"Okay, I got it!"

Taokaka dashed into a narrow alley, and despite a slight delay in his reaction, Ragna followed suit, flipping his body as he turned sharply to follow her. As they moved away from the neon signs, the surroundings grew darker. As he ran, Ragna bitterly thought to himself.

Maybe the bounty on my head will go up tomorrow because of today's dine-and-dash…

===Part 3===

'''December 30, 2199 - 13:35'''

Against a sky shrouded in gray clouds, a type of ship arrived at the port. However, it wasn't a ship that sailed across the sea. It was a ship that crossed the sky. The magical cargo ship carried goods such as humans and equipment in its swollen belly, while its wings extended outwards, absorbing seithr to enable flight.

Naturally, a port where flying magic airships docked had to be specially constructed. The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5. Smaller and less conspicuous than the others, it was a port that was used for specific purposes.

Several guards in blue and white uniforms, with guns slung over their shoulders, got off and quickly took up their positions, exchanging reports on their radios. A moment later, a pair of black leather boots stepped onto the flat ground of the port. A tall man in a black suit emerged, adjusting his slender frame. He adjusted the black hat perched atop his green hair with his fingers and tilted his face upward toward the sky. The hat shaded his eyes, but his thin lips were twisted in a dissatisfied frown.

"Oh dear. Is it raining?"

A quiet rain fell from the gray clouds that filled the sky. It had been raining for quite a while, and Port 5 was thoroughly soaked. There seemed to be no movement in the clouds, so it looked like the rain would continue for some time.

Letting out a resigned sigh, the man quickly moved to a roofed area to shield himself from the rain.

The man in the black suit was a member of the Novus Orbis Librarium, often abbreviated as the NOL, and he was part of the organization's Intelligence Department. His name was Hazama, and his rank was Captain.

The magical cargo ship he had arrived on was used by the Intelligence Department of the NOL. Port 5 was typically used for covert missions or other sensitive tasks that couldn't be made public — essentially, it served as a port for avoiding prying eyes.

"Captain Hazama! You're outside." A woman's voice called from the stairs of the magic airship, and Hazama, who had been brushing the water droplets off his suit, looked up. A young woman in a blue and white uniform with a matching poncho quickly ran down the stairs. She wore a blue beret, and her long, camellia red hair flowed past her waist.

With a splash of rainwater from her blue boots, she reached the front of the management hut where Hazama was and took a deep breath, straightening her posture. Her sky-blue eyes were stern, and her expression was serious.

"Sorry to have kept you waiting. But it would have been fine if you'd just called out to me... I thought you might still be inside, so I was looking for you," she said.

"Oh my, my. I apologize for the trouble, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." Hazama smiled with the corners of his mouth lifted, speaking to the woman who, as her eyes suggested, spoke with utmost seriousness.

Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi. Unlike Hazama, she wasn't part of the Intelligence Department, but belonged to the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The Novus Orbis Librarium was a huge and important organization that served as a substitute for the concept of a nation in the current world. With an Imperator at the top who held absolute decision-making power, it managed and operated all social infrastructures worldwide, including government, justice, and military.

Because of this, there were a vast number of departments, and it was not common for departments with different roles to work together on a single mission. However, despite being from different departments, Tsubaki and Hazama had come to Kagutsuchi together for a certain mission.

"Well, it's terrible weather, isn't it? Searching for a single man in vast Kagutsuchi in this rain is quite a challenge." Hazama said in a somewhat amused tone, his hand on his hat as he looked up at the rain.

Their mission was to find someone. Who were they looking for?

"Still, we must find Major Kisaragi... no matter what." Tsubaki muttered, her gaze dropping to her feet, as if reminding herself.

Major Jin Kisaragi. That was the name of the man Tsubaki and Hazama were looking for. He was the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron and Tsubaki's direct superior. She had served as his secretary and supported him.

A few days ago, he had suddenly disappeared from the headquarters of the NOL. It was neither a mission nor a reported absence. This was a serious breach of discipline in the Librarium. It was unprecedented for the commander of a division to suddenly disappear without a clear motive. To prevent this incident from affecting subordinates and other divisions, it had not been made public.

However, there was a possibility that the situation would leak out somewhere. Hazama was ordered to bring him back as soon as possible before that happened, and the person he chose to cooperate with was Tsubaki, Jin Kisaragi's secretary.

The cold rain chilled the air. Or was it just the cold metal of Port 5?

Beyond the wet gray stairs, one could glimpse the orderly cityscape of the upper floors. Going further in and climbing several floors would lead to the top floor, the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

As she lifted her gaze, even from here, she could see the beautiful and majestic silhouette of the Kagutsuchi branch, towering as if it were jutting out from the peak of the high mountain. However, due to the bad weather today, a curtain of rain blurred her view.

Looking up at the hazy branch office, Tsubaki furrowed her brow slightly.

"......Why would Major Kisaragi come to Kagutsuchi?"

It was a question that anyone who knew Jin would ask.

Jin Kisaragi, the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, was a very calm person. He was thoughtful, always analyzing the pros and cons before acting, and he was certainly not the type to foolishly jeopardize his position by suddenly turning his back on the NOL. This was truly unlike him.

Seeing Tsubaki pondering, Hazama said, "Oh," sounding a little surprised.

"This is surprising. Miss Tsubaki Yayoi, can't someone as intelligent and capable as you understand?" Hazama asked in a somewhat teasing tone, his smile curling at the corner of his mouth. Tsubaki felt a slight unease stir within her. He had a way of speaking that was just slightly grating.

Tsubaki didn't know Hazama very well. So she couldn't guess what he meant by saying that. But just those words were enough to make her dislike the man in the black suit.

Swallowing the mild discomfort that churned inside her, Tsubaki adjusted her expression to one befitting of a soldier and straightened her back. Even if she didn't like it, she was a lieutenant, and Hazama was a captain. He outranked her.

"I apologize, Captain. I..."

"You received the report, didn't you?" Hazama spread his hands slightly. Perhaps because of his teasing tone earlier, even that gesture seemed sarcastic to Tsubaki. "It mentioned that the 'Grim Reaper'—the wanted criminal Ragna the Bloodedge—was heading toward Kagutsuchi. If Major Kisaragi went to Kagutsuchi, it could only be because he was pursuing the 'Grim Reaper,' right?"

It was Hazama who had provided the information that Jin's destination after leaving the NOL was Kagutsuchi. Tsubaki had heard him grumble many times in the magic airship about how he had unwittingly gathered such information, which had led to this assignment to a remote location.

"With all due respect, Captain Hazama. I understand that. What I question is why the Major had to leave the organization to chase the 'Grim Reaper'." Tsubaki said sharply. As soon as she said it, she wondered if she had been too rude. It might have been a childish attitude unbecoming of a soldier.

However, Hazama didn't seem to mind Tsubaki's irritation. On the contrary, he let out a light laugh, as if amused by her childlike rebellious tone.

"Oh, I see. My apologies, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi." He tipped his hat slightly in a salute. All the while, his thin neck trembled with a constant chuckle. "We can't possibly know what Major Kisaragi is thinking. Why don't you go and ask him directly when you find him?"

Though she thought bitterly that she was asking because she couldn't do that, Tsubaki pushed the extra words down. What she needed now was not doubt, but determination. That's what she told herself.

"...Understood, Captain." Tsubaki responded earnestly, and Hazama let out another chuckle before continuing.

"Well, there's no point in chatting forever, so let's get started on our work." The work, of course, meant the search for Jin Kisaragi.

Tsubaki's expression tightened, not due to her dislike of Hazama but out of a sense of duty toward the mission.

As Hazama glanced at the rain-soaked cityscape of Kagutsuchi, a grin spread across his lips as he continued speaking.

"First, let's confirm. Our mission is to capture Major Jin Kisaragi and force him to return to headquarters. However, since his disappearance hasn't been made public, we'll need to keep this discreet with the guards here in Kagutsuchi. Absolutely no outsiders involved."

"Yes, sir."

"Also, it's believed that Ragna the Bloodedge is hiding somewhere in Kagutsuchi. Due to this, a D-alert has been issued, so be on your guard."

A D-Alert meant that a special alert was in effect by the NOL. This prohibited anyone who was not a resident of Kagutsuchi or not affiliated with the NOL from conducting any activities in the city.

"If we come into contact with someone who violates the D-Alert, should we contact the Kagutsuchi branch? Or should we handle it ourselves?" Tsubaki asked, looking at Hazama with a straight back, her manner too dignified to be dismissed as just another soldier.

And it made sense. She was the key member of the Yayoi family, one of the twelve founding families that had supported the establishment of the NOL and produced many high-ranking officials.

But Hazama replied in a casual manner and twisted his mouth, as if to say that everything about Tsubaki, from the clothes she wore to her unfailingly serious nature, stank like acid.

"Oh, it doesn't matter. Do whatever you want."

"…Yes."

"Well, I have some other business at the branch, so could you please start searching from the lower levels?"

"Other business?" Tsubaki asked, slightly confused, but Hazama only shrugged his shoulders and didn't explain.

Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. There were probably many things he couldn't tell other departments. Though Tsubaki felt a bit suspicious about his hidden purpose, she refrained from asking further out of consideration.

"Understood. I'll start with the lower levels... around Orient Town," she said.

"Good idea. That's one of the largest areas in Kagutsuchi, and it's a perfect place to hide." Nodding casually, Hazama took a step forward and looked up at Tsubaki from below. His eyes were hidden by the brim of his hat, but she could feel his gaze fixed on her. As if talking to a child, Hazama raised one finger. "Just be careful of one thing. Major Kisaragi's likely hiding in places with poor security, but at the same time, Ragna the Bloodedge could be lurking around. If you two happen to fight, we won't be able to do anything."

"Yes... I suppose so." Tsubaki bowed her head slightly, as if retreating, and replied bitterly.

Jin was known throughout the NOL as an unparalleled swordsman. On top of that, he possessed Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, a phenomenon weapon said to have been used during the Dark War, a war against the Black Beast about a hundred years ago.

And Ragna the Bloodedge, the "Grim Reaper," was a person with considerable power who single-handedly destroyed many branches of the NOL.

If these two were to clash, neither Tsubaki nor Hazama could stop them.

Hazama stated the biggest reason for this with a cheerful tone.

"Well, neither of us are experts in combat. If things get rough, we're completely out of our league, aren't we?"

Tsubaki had graduated from the military academy of the NOL, so she had at least undergone basic combat training. However, that was limited to self-defense techniques. After graduation, she had spent her time as Jin's secretary, dealing with paperwork and visitors on a daily basis. Under those circumstances, there was no chance for her to improve her combat skills.

On the other hand, as Hazama himself admitted, he was skilled in intelligence activities but was not good at dealing with situations with force.

With a pale hand that didn't seem to suit a weapon, Hazama waved casually in the air and grinned.

"Well, let's not push ourselves too hard. Our job is to bring back Major Kisaragi, so don't forget that."

"Understood." Without being swayed by Hazama's casualness, Tsubaki replied as a subordinate, and then straightened her back. "Then, Captain, I'll go and check the lower levels."

"Ah, yes. Please do. Kagutsuchi is quite dangerous right now, so do take care."

"Yes, sir. I'll take my leave."

Bowing deeply, Tsubaki ran out of the narrow entrance of the management hut into the rain. She climbed the stairs leading from the port into the city, splashing small amounts of water. Hazama watched her go, leaning against the wall of the management hut as the blue of her poncho and the sound of the water she splashed disappeared completely into the rain.

When the sounds of the blue poncho and splashing water disappeared completely into the rain, he slowly got up.

"Really, be careful," he murmured, his voice low and husky. With that, Hazama leisurely stepped out into the rain.

===Part 4===

...It was only a few years ago, but it felt like a priceless time that could never be replaced.

It was one day.

'''The Novus Orbis Librarium – Integrated Headquarters'''

Tsubaki walked down the straight white-tiled floor with a nervous expression.

The blue and white NOL soldier uniform, which she had only worn a few days ago, still didn't feel quite right on her body, and she was worried about whether the visorless cap she wore on her head and the boots that tapped against the floor were looking neat.

With a file of documents clutched to her chest, she adjusted her long hair, which she had done countless times before, with her fingertips. Then, Tsubaki knocked softly on the door of her destination.

"Come in." A voice came from the other side of the door after a moment's pause. At that moment, Tsubaki's heart leaped. It was a distant, obligatory voice, but there was still a hint of a boyish tone, a voice she knew well.

"Y-Yes, excuse me." Her voice trembled as she replied. Her hand on the doorknob was shaking even more.

What if she tripped? Oh, what should her face look like? She was so worried that her face would turn red, and she tried desperately to remain calm.

Tsubaki entered the room. The first thing she noticed was a man sitting at a desk, pen in hand. The sunlight coming in from the window behind him cast a gleam on his beautiful golden hair. From the distance of the room's entrance, she could see his emotionless gaze fixed on the documents. His eyes were a clear green, she knew.

There was no one else in the room besides him. After closing the door carefully, only Tsubaki and him were in the room.

Having seemingly finished what he was writing, the man at the desk looked up, looking somewhat bored. Then his eyes widened in surprise.

"Tsubaki...?" The voice that called her name was different from the obligatory voice she had heard outside the door. The tone of his voice, filled with emotion, was as surprised as his expression, and it sounded slightly higher than before. "Why are you here...?"

Tsubaki relaxed her tense shoulders at the casual tone, so unlike someone at work. The tension drained from her.

"The documents should have arrived. Haven't you read them?" Carrying the file, Tsubaki walked up to the desk and, with a salute, straightened her posture in front of the puzzled Jin. "I am Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, newly appointed as the secretary of Major Jin Kisaragi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron as of today. Major, I look forward to working with you." It was a line she had practiced many times in her room last night, but it was still formal.

Relieved that she had said it without any mistakes, Tsubaki noticed Jin raising his eyebrows slightly in confusion.

"Second Lieutenant?" Tsubaki understood the reason for the question very well.

Tsubaki was born into one of the Duodecim, which held an aristocratic position within the Novus Orbis Librarium. Members of the Duodecim were given at least the rank of Captain after graduating from the Librarium's military academy.

Tsubaki was no exception, and she was a captain immediately after graduation. So why was she a second lieutenant now? There was a serious reason for that.

"Well, that's..." Tsubaki hesitated, unable to speak. She couldn't possibly tell Jin that she had originally been assigned to a different post but had insisted on becoming his secretary, and that she had been demoted in exchange for her request.

It was rare for someone from the main family of the Duodecim to become the secretary of Jin, who was also from the main family.

Perhaps sensing Tsubaki's recklessness from that, Jin smiled wryly.

Tsubaki involuntarily let out a shaky breath. It was the first time she had seen Jin smile in a long time.

"I heard that a secretary would be coming, but I never expected it would be you... Well then, it's a pleasure, Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi."

With that, Jin extended his hand, gloved in white. Tsubaki tucked the file under her arm, looked straight into his beautiful green eyes, and took his outstretched hand.

From that day forward, Tsubaki's days as the major's secretary began.

It was different from her time at the military academy, when she had only been able to follow in his footsteps. Now, she would be by his side, supporting his work.

'''December 30, 2199 — 17:30'''

As Tsubaki descended into the lower levels of Kagutsuchi, she carefully scanned her surroundings.

She was about to enter an area called Orient Town. She had heard that it was the largest and most densely populated area in Kagutsuchi. It was a bad place to look for people. But Tsubaki thought that was precisely why Jin might have gone there.

It would be easy to blend into the crowd there, and it would be possible to hide in the nooks and crannies of the complex maze-like city structure. Moreover, there were fewer NOL soldiers in the lower levels, and surveillance was less strict compared to the upper levels.

Jin must have understood the risk of being pursued by the Control Organization. So it was only natural that he would avoid them. At the same time, he would have considered the possibility that Ragna the Bloodedge, who was also on the run, would choose the lower levels as a hiding place.

Tsubaki walked quickly, the sound of her blue boots echoing against the hard ground. Her vibrant hair was damp from the rain.

After descending a short flight of stairs, she found herself at the edge of Orient Town. There were a row of abandoned-looking warehouses and a small grassy square beyond them. The scattered streetlights were covered in rust.

Because the lower levels were built on top of other levels, most of them were blocked from the sky, and even though they were outdoors, they were not as affected by the weather as indoors. But this area was still protruding from the other levels, and everything was wet from the rain.

Buildings she passed by, narrow alleys, shadows, people passing by. Tsubaki focused her attention on everything she saw. Her pace quickened, driven by growing anxiety. Unconsciously, her hands clenched the file more tightly.

(Major Kisaragi...)

She didn't know how many times she had called out his name in her mind. Her lips were tightly pursed, and her eyes darted from side to side as if she were clinging to something. Her expression revealed a deeper emotional turmoil than that of someone simply searching for a missing superior.

(Where are you...? Brother Jin...)

Tsubaki was Jin Kisaragi's secretary. But before that, Jin had been a special person to Tsubaki.

If Tsubaki was the daughter of the Yayoi family, one of the Duodecim, Jin was the son of the Kisaragi family, another of the Duodecim. They had known each other since childhood. They had seen each other, talked to each other, and even played together as children.

The reason why Tsubaki had entered the military academy to become an NOL soldier was to follow Jin, who had already enrolled and was expected to become a division commander in the future.

Jin was good at everything, from studying to martial arts, but Tsubaki was not good at sports. So she studied hard to catch up with him. During her student days, she had worked with him on the student council, where he was the president.

Because he spoke bluntly and had a sharp gaze, people around him whispered that he was cold. But to Tsubaki, he was always a kind older brother.

His fine, golden hair, his cool green eyes, his slender body, his fair skin, and his handsome features. Sometimes, just sometimes, she had admired his intelligent profile.

How grateful she had been when she finally managed to get the position of Jin's secretary by using every connection she had.

She had admired him, and she still did. Since they were children, when she had been alone in the mansion, and even now, she had always looked up to him.

"Brother Jin..." Her hurried steps had gradually turned into a jog. Her toes kicked up water droplets as she stepped in small puddles. She wanted to find him as soon as possible. Her heart pounded in her chest.

The worst-case scenario that came to Tsubaki's mind was that Jin would encounter Ragna the Bloodedge somewhere. Jin was strong. There were only a handful of people in the NOL who could fight him on equal terms.

However, it would be dangerous to think of the "Grim Reaper" in the same way as other officers in the NOL. He had single-handedly rebelled against the Librarium and managed to escape without ever being captured. Tsubaki, who was in a position to pursue him, understood very well that this was impossible with ordinary strength.

Ragna is probably very strong. Perhaps even stronger than Jin. And what she feared even more was the grimoire that heinous criminal possessed.

The BlazBlue - the Azure Grimoire.

During the era of the Dark War, when the Black Beast was fought, a certain magician developed a technique called "Ars Magus." It was a technique that imitated magic, allowing one to create various phenomena such as fire and water using seithr.

The key to using these formulas was the grimoire.

Among the countless grimoires in the world, the Azure Grimoire is said to be the most powerful.

(Even Brother Jin wouldn't come out unscathed against the Azure Grimoire. If things went wrong...)

Thinking that far, Tsubaki shivered from the cold sweat that ran down her spine.

While the Azure Grimoire is highly praised for its power and strength, little is known about it.

First of all, although grimoires are "books," they come in various shapes and are not necessarily in the form of books.

Although it was known that Ragna the Bloodedge possessed the Azure Grimoire, it was not known what shape it took. Even the Misinformation Department of the NOL did not know exactly when or where the Azure Grimoire was created or what its hidden power was.

How could one be optimistic about facing a 'Grim Reaper' who was already strong, and who also had an unknown grimoire? It was simply reckless to challenge him alone.

(....Maybe Brother Jin came to Kagutsuchi alone to capture Ragna the Bloodedge.) Squinting into the shadows, Tsubaki muttered to herself.

Even if he had been forcibly ordered to return for acting on his own, Jin was a guard and major of the NOL. Tsubaki thought that if he had left the Librarium to chase after the 'Grim Reaper', his purpose must have been to eliminate the heinous criminal.

But was that really the case? She couldn't help but wonder.

(But if that were true… then why did he leave without telling anyone? Why didn't he say anything to me?) That was what really stuck in her chest. Jin was a hard person to read, but he had always told her if something happened. "...No, I'll ask him directly once I find him."

Tsubaki clenched her fist tightly against her chest and shook her head to clear her thoughts. She shouldn't be speculating. She needed to find Jin as soon as possible. That was the only thing that mattered. If Jin was considered a traitor because of his actions, there would be no going back.

Hurry up. She took a big step forward, as if urging herself on, and turned around the back of the square where she had heard a small noise. Was it a storage shed? She turned a narrow corner to pass behind the two side-by-side huts.

Suddenly, a wall appeared in front of her.

"Kyah!?!" She was so startled that she couldn't react in time, and she collided with the wall with the force of her entry.

But then she realized. It was too thick to be a wall, and it felt too soft to be a building material.

"Huh...?" She heard a voice from behind the wall. It was a deep, masculine voice that resonated in her stomach.

The towering thing in front of her was not a wall, but a man's back, so large that she had to look up at him.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Are you hurt?" The towering giant spoke with a gentlemanly manner that belied his extraordinary sense of oppression, and he slowly turned around. His strangeness was not limited to his size alone. His skin was an unusually deep red, and he had an imposing handcuff-like part attached to his already thick arms. White fangs extended upward from his compressed lips.

An oni.

Such a monster had appeared in the folk tales of Japan, a country that was destroyed about a hundred years ago. Tsubaki remembered a picture book she had read as a child. At the same time, she remembered who the red giant in front of her was.

"You... the Red Devil of Sector Seven!" As she called out, Tsubaki took a few steps back and readied herself.

Sector Seven. An external organization that opposed the NOL's world domination based on magic and aimed to create a world that did not rely on magic.

The Red Devil was a soldier belonging to Sector Seven, and, judging by his size, possessed overwhelming power. His official name was TR-0009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg created by the researchers of Sector Seven. Noticing her presence, he took a step back with a foot that was thicker than Tsubaki's waist.

"Is that uniform from the Library?"

Because the NOL collected and managed grimoires from all over the world to prevent the misuse of magic, many people called it the Library. Most of the time, it was used as a derogatory term. Tsubaki couldn't tell what the giant called the Red Devil meant by using that derogatory term, but it was clear that he didn't feel any affection for her.

Although Tager didn't get ready for a fight, he frowned deeply and stared at Tsubaki with a stern expression.

".....Sorry, I came into contact with a Library guard." Looking away from Tsubaki, Tager put a large hand to his ear and whispered something to someone. A noise like static followed. It was a communicator.

"Cut the comm. Stay where you are." Tsubaki quickly drew the pistol she had been issued for emergencies. She gripped it firmly with both hands and pointed it at the Red Devil.

Tager moved his head slightly to look at Tsubaki. However, she couldn't see his eyes behind the thick lenses of his round glasses. Feeling intimidated by his towering presence, Tsubaki tried to stare sternly at the Red Devil.

"A D-Alert is currently in effect in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. Intervention by all other organizations, including Sector Seven, is prohibited. Answer me, what are you doing here?"

"Oh dear. Put down your gun, soldier girl. A toy like that won't even scratch my body."

"Th-That's not what I asked! Answer my question!" Tsubaki almost instinctively pulled her arm back at Tager's dismissive tone, but she resisted and kept her gun aimed at him, maintaining her intense gaze. She knew she had no chance of winning a fight against a cyborg. But even more importantly, she couldn't let him escape.

Her mission was to search for Jin Kisaragi. But there were no other NOL soldiers around. If she let him go, she couldn't ignore the chaos that Sector Seven might bring to Kagutsuchi and the Librarium.

Static crackled again.

"Everything's fine. No problem. I'll return to my mission immediately."

Tsubaki couldn't hear the voice on the other end of the line. But Tager's response was too casual, as if the problem with her was already solved. Feeling insulted, Tsubaki sharpened her voice.

"Cut the comm! I won't allow such reckless actions!"

"Calm down. We didn't come to Kagutsuchi to interfere with the operations of the NOL. Why don't we pretend this never happened? If you leave now, I won't have to hurt you."

"Are you saying this is an act of rebellion? Whatever your intentions are, I cannot allow this!" Tager's soothing tone only made Tsubaki more stubborn. If she showed weakness here, it would be seen as the NOL as a whole being weak against Sector Seven. She couldn't allow that to happen.

A soldier of the Librarium, which maintained world order, and the secretary of the commander of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron, who fought for peace, couldn't make a deal with a soldier of the lawless Sector Seven.

Aiming her gun at the giant Red Devil, Tsubaki took out a small handheld communicator. She couldn't handle this on her own. She needed reinforcements, and fast.

"This is Second Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi of the Fourth Thaumaturgist Squadron. I am currently in Orient Town in the lower levels of Kagutsuchi and have encountered a member of Sector Seven..."

"Dammit. I was hoping to settle this peacefully." The Red Devil muttered softly.

Before Tsubaki could understand the meaning of his words, Tager took a large step forward. His outstretched arm closed the distance between them in an instant. Before she could react, his clenched fist opened in front of her.

"Kyah...!" An electric shock was fired, knocking the communicator out of her hand and causing Tsubaki to let out a faint scream.

With that single blow, Tsubaki's consciousness faded. Her knees buckled, and she collapsed limply.

"Ugh..." Just before her delicate body could hit the hard ground, Tager, who had just fired his weapon, caught her. He scooped her up and looked down at the unconscious girl, sighing.

"As expected of a non-combatant. She's reckless."

"...I told you, don't get involved." A noise crackled, and an unpleasant female voice came from Tager's communicator.

Holding Tsubaki, Tager put his other hand to his ear. His mouth, with its upward-pointing canine teeth, twisted in even more bitterness than when he had faced Tsubaki.

"I can't just leave her out here in the rain. She's just a young girl."

"The mission is the top priority. There's no time to waste."

"...I'm cutting the comm for a while, Kokonoe."

"What? Hey, don't you dare pull that stunt..."

With a small sound that only the wearer could hear, the communication was cut off. Tager turned his back on the rain-soaked plaza and began walking. His destination? Orient Town, a dimly lit city where the sky was obscured by the upper city and the streets were illuminated by lanterns and neon lights

===Part 5===

'''December 30, 2199 — 18:00'''

How many alleys had they passed through? How many corners had they turned?

Guided by Taokaka, who moved with an unnatural agility despite her human-like appearance, Ragna found himself in a dark, dark sewer.

"This way, Good Guy~" Calling out, Taokaka jumped lightly over a pile of discarded rubble and broken furniture. It was a place isolated from the outside world, and it was late at night. Even if there were slight gaps, there was no hope of even a faint light.

And yet, Ragna and Taokaka were able to walk without any problems thanks to the strange moss that clung to the discarded rubble and accumulated mud. The moss emitted a faint greenish light, allowing the sewer to avoid being completely enveloped in pitch-black darkness.

Following Taokaka, Ragna continued, stumbling slightly on the rough footing.

"Hey, are you sure we can get out from here?" When he jumped down from the pile of rubble, he landed on something slick, possibly oil. Ragna reflexively wrinkled his nose and asked Taokaka with a hint of irritation, her white hood with triangular ears twitching slightly at the back of her head.

Ragna had learned from experience that escape routes were often not easy. But this was a much worse road than any of the "escape routes" he had been through before. Even though it wasn't wet, the floor, walls, and ceiling were damp, and the unpleasant humidity, mixed with the thick seithr that seemed to be seeping in from outside, gave his skin and lungs an unpleasant feeling.

A little further down, sewage and discarded waste flowed like muddy water, creating a nauseating stench.

Considering this was not far from the city yet there was no strong stench outside, it seemed the Hierarchical City's construction was surprisingly solid, despite its sloppy appearance. Rubbing his nose, which was already quite numb, Ragna muttered this to himself.

"Of course, meow. I often come here to get bread and sweets upstairs, meow." Taokaka said, looking up at the ceiling of the sewer. The blackened overhead was a complex network of protruding iron pipes and metal plates, and far beyond that, a dark ceiling was visible, clinging to a very high place.

And much farther away, there must be the upper city they were aiming for.

Following her gaze, Ragna sighed and slumped his shoulders.

"Get, huh? You don't mean you're stealing stuff from stores, do you?"

"Meow~"

"You're a thief!" Ragna's voice echoed hollowly and coldly in the sewer. When the echo subsided, a damp silence returned. The sound of water dripping and bouncing on the floor was eerie.

In the thick shadows, something unknown seemed to be wriggling, peering at them. A shiver ran down Ragna's spine, and he shuddered, following Taokaka. But... Ragna suddenly frowned and stopped.

(It's not an illusion. Someone's watching us.)

Somewhere in the depths of the thick shadows carved by the faintly glowing moss, in a distorted pile of rubble, he felt a gaze. No, it was more than just a gaze. It was something more fundamental. It felt like an existence, a will itself, was intently focused on him.

"Good Guy~? What's wrong, meow?" Wondering why Ragna wasn't following, Taokaka turned back. She lightly jumped over the remains of something that had been piled up and landed. Her small footsteps seemed to trigger it.

'''"Kikikikiikiki!"''' With a voice that seemed to tear through the air, shadows suddenly leaped out from the darkness. From them, sharp, bridge-like shadows shot out in countless numbers, rushing at Ragna.

"Ugh!" He was caught off guard by the suddenness and the perfectly camouflaged figure. The sound of thick cloth tearing filled the air, and something dug into his skin. Pulling his injured shoulder, he drew his sword with his other arm and brushed away the shadow in front of him.

There was no resistance. It was as if he had cut through a real shadow.
'''
"Gugigigigi... true... towards truth... the truth I seek..."''' The voice was strange, almost human but not quite. Muttering in an odd tone, the shadow withdrew. It floated amid the thick sludge and rubble, hovering and swirling.

At first, Ragna thought it was a mindless, ferocious beast, a creature born of highly concentrated seithr that had warped the ecosystem. But this was different somehow. It was strange, distorted, and incomprehensible. It didn't look like a living creature at all.

The shadow moved around. And then, a face appeared from within the swirling darkness. A white circle with three holes for eyes and a mouth. Was it supposed to be a face? It was the only definite shape in the dark, amorphous shadow.

"What... What is this thing?" A sense of disgust, rather than fear, washed over him at the sight.

The shadow landed on the slimy floor with a disgusting movement and seemed to rise up. Vaguely, Ragna thought he could see some small creature wriggling at its feet, illuminated by the moss light.

"This guy is Squiggly, meow!"

"Squiggly? What's that?"

"He's a bad guy, meow! He attacks our village and eats the little Kakas, meow!" With a snarl, Taokaka changed her cheerful expression to one of fierce anger, her eyes narrowed. She bared her teeth and growled menacingly.

As if mocking her, the shadow with the white face trembled as if foaming all over.
'''
"Kihihihi... I can feel it... the ugly flesh wriggling with power. For the wish to be granted, there is no need for consent... The denial of concepts, the gates that should never be closed... Gihihihihihihi..."'''

Each time the shadow trembled and laughed, the air grew thick and stagnant. Ragna grimaced. It was seithr. It wasn't flowing in from outside. It was overflowing from the shadow that was swirling in front of him, invading every part of the sewer.

It meant that the black substance that enveloped this shadow-like object was all seithr. And the fact that this strange monster, a mass of seithr, was uttering sounds that resembled human speech meant that it had originally been a being capable of understanding human language. In other words, it was human.

Before it became like this, the dark, amorphous monster that Taokaka called "Squiggly" and some people in Orient Town called Arakune was once a human being.

Ragna spat out the disgust that welled up in him.

"This guy... he's touched the Boundary..."

Ragna had been traveling from one NOL branch to another, destroying the cauldrons found in the basement of each. The cauldrons connected this world to another world - the Boundary. It was a place beyond human comprehension, an amorphous expanse filled with a concentration of seithr that is incomparable to the surface of the earth.

Just as the dense seithr gave birth to demonic beasts, so too could humans, exposed to such high concentrations, have their reason consumed by seithr. Eventually, they would be dragged into the Boundary, losing their humanity.

Arakune, this black monster with a rotten odor, a writhing, mucus-like body, and emitting strange noises, was the end result of such a transformation. Once a human, he had been corrupted by the Boundary.

"I don't know what you were trying to do by messing with something like that... you idiot."

A surge of anger rose from the depths of Ragna's stomach. The cauldron that the NOL cherished and kept deep underground… Not just them, but also various institutions, researchers, and scholars wanted it. Owning the cauldron meant owning the end of the Boundary that the cauldron connected to.

Everyone assumed that there was a treasure beyond human understanding sleeping in the Boundary. But there was no way humans could control something beyond their understanding. It was utterly infuriating. He was fed up with the NOL, their brazenness about meddling with such a cauldron, and with those who sought the cauldrons and chased after them. All of them.

"There's nothing we can do about it now. Don't blame me. ...Well, if you have enough reason to blame anyone."

If he left this creature here, it would not only attack the "village" that Taokaka had mentioned, but it would also go out into Orient Town and the lower city and attack people.

Ragna lowered the tip of his sword and stepped forward, deeply into the monster's domain. He had no attachment to Kagutsuchi, but that didn't mean he was foolish enough to just stand there and let a blatant threat loom in front of him. He swung his sword, aiming for the creature's brain-like core, as it spread out to meet him.

'''"Gurgh…!"'''

"Tch!" With a gurgling sound, Arakune's body disappeared from Ragna's sight in an instant.

It was below him. Cursing, Ragna kicked downwards, and Arakune passed beneath his foot and reappeared behind his red coat.
'''
'''"You... You... Devour... Devour... Devour..."''' From an angle that would be impossible for a human or any four-limbed creature, a black mass protruded, leaping up at Ragna. Ragna parried it with his sword. The feeling was heavy and thick. And then, as if climbing up the sword's surface like mud, a strange shadow suddenly emerged from the seithr. It was an unfamiliar, utterly repulsive, wriggling thing that stirred up a sense of disgust.

"Ugh!" Repulsed by a nauseating disgust, Ragna backed away. As if to fill the gap, a sharp claw swung down, cutting through the countless bugs that had emerged and knocking them down. Taokaka had boldly jumped in.

"Squiggly! How many years has it been since we last met! Tao will tear you to pieces, meow!" Without pausing to land from her downward strike, Taokaka twisted in midair and sliced Arakune with her other claw. The claw caught what appeared to be the creature's face and tore it apart with a sound like breaking pottery. The blackened body twisted and fell limply backward. At the same time, Taokaka landed lightly beside Ragna. She thrust her large hand, claws extended in a threatening gesture.

Seeing this, Ragna let out a light laugh. She was a strange creature, just like him. But he didn't mind standing next to her, unlike "Squiggly".

'''"It's not how many years it's been, it's been a hundred years since we met here."'''

"Oh. Then I'll tear you to pieces for a hundred years, meow."

"Whatever." Ragna gripped his sword tightly, regaining the tension that had slipped away.

Arakune, which had become a pool of black mud, quickly rose up with a rippling motion and sprayed seithr around its feet with a gurgle.

'''"G-gii... Give... give it to me... I will eat it, burning, look, escape cannot escape from that eye, fate cannot escape!"'''

"I don't understand what you're saying! I'll put you out of your misery, so just die already! Let's do this, you pile of garbage!"

Swinging his sword wildly to clear away the remaining seithr, Ragna raised his weapon high and roared, striking down at the creature consumed by seithr.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Spiral fate — The Board's Pieces]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

BlazBlue

2025-06-23T01:41:57Z

Br3ndan5:

{{Status|Active}}

[[Image:BBCFCover.PNG|thumb|BBCF: Console Release Main Design]]

'''BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger''' (ブレイブルーカラミティトリガー Bureiburū: Karamiti Torigā) is a fighting game developed by Arc System Works. The game's name is a portmanteau of "blaze" and "blue," with the "z" sound omitted in the Japanese pronunciation, rendering it similar to the word "brave" in pronunciation.

The game is currently released for the Taito Type X2 arcade system board, with a 16:9 ratio and 768p resolution and was released on November 19, in Japan and November 20, 2008 in the United States. It was released on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 home consoles on June 25, 2009 in Japan. A port for the PlayStation Portable, titled BlazBlue Portable (ブレイブルーポータブル Bureiburū Pōtaburu), was released on February 25, 2010 in Japan. The PC version was released in Europe on August 20 and in Japan on August 26, 2010. The PlayStation Portable port was released in Europe on September 9, 2010. The PC port is a direct conversion of the Xbox 360 version, and contains cross-platform compatibility via the Games for Windows - Live service.

A sequel, also next episode featuring new content and characters, titled '''BlazBlue: Continuum Shift''' (ブレイブルーコンティニュアムシフト Bureiburū: Kontinyuamu Shifuto) has also been released for the arcade, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360.

Other game sequels include '''Blazblue: Chronophantasma''' and '''Blazblue: Central Fiction''' both released on various systems.

Additionally an anime adaptation titled '''Blazblue: Alter Memory''' was released for both '''Calamity Trigger''' and '''Continuum Shift''' 's main plot.

Lite novel adaptations for '''Calamity Trigger''' and '''Continuum Shift''' also exist and are listed below.

Two visual novel spinoffs titled '''Xblaze: Code Embryo''' and '''Xblaze: Lost Memories''' were released and are the original story to feature the character Es recently announced for '''Blazblue: Central Fiction'''. It is believed Nine and Celica A. Mercury make cameo appearances in Lost Memories as well.

A loosely linked spinoff, '''Blazblue: Bloodedge Experience''' was released in two parts and provides some questionable links and backstory to Blazblue featuring returning characters Relius Clover, Valkenhayn R. Hellsing, and Clavis Alucard and stars Naoto Kurogane, a new addition to the cast of '''Blazblue: Central Fiction'''.

'''Phase Shift''' is a novel series based on that game written by Komao Mako and the illustrations by Yuuki Katou. It provides insight into the backstory of the Dark War, the conflict with the Black Beast between 2100-2110 in Blazblue's timeline and culminated with the introduction of Celica A. Mercury to the game's plot in '''Chronophantasma''' as the final Phase Shift novel was released right before the game came out.

'''Bloodedge Experience''' came out between '''Chronophantasma''' and '''Central Fiction's''' game releases and before Naoto Kurogane's introduction as a playable character to Blazblue.

Additionally several canon short-stories were released in various formats, including inside Material Collections and Drama Cds.

==Organization==
Due to the convoluted and non-linear flow of how lore is presented in Blazblue, this site will organize the releases in '''order of release'''.

==Alternative Languages==
The ''BlazBlue'' series is also available in the following languages:
*[[BlazBlue:Phase~Brazilian_Portuguese~|Português Brasileiro (Brazilian Portuguese)]]

(Note: Translation progress varies for each version.)

==Story Synopsis==
Before the events of the game, humanity was on the verge of extinction from a creature called the "Black Beast." The world was saved by six heroes who wielded magic. They helped humanity create "Ars Magus", a fusion of magic and science, to defeat the Black Beast. This event would be later known as the First War of Magic.

After the war, the Novus Orbis Librarium (the Library or NOL for short) was created to govern the world with the use of Ars Magus. A great deal of dissent was caused by the Library, partly due to Ars Magus' use in nearly every facet of society, and the widening socioeconomic gap between those who could and couldn't use Ars Magus. This dissent would eventually form years later into the Second War of Magic or also known as the Ikaruga Civil War, when the city of Ikaruga openly rebelled against the NOL. Upon winning the war, the NOL imposed a harsher rule on the world, punishing any rebellion against the NOL with death.

In December AD 2199, several years after the Second War of Magic, a branch of the NOL was utterly destroyed by an SS-class rebel named "Ragna" also known as the "Grim Reaper", in an attempt to destroy the Librarium. The NOL, hoping to stop him, immediately announced the largest bounty ever, available to anyone who could capture him. Interestingly, Ragna possesses a powerful form of Ars Magus known as the "Azure Grimoire." This led the NOL, as well as the other fighters, to hunt Ragna not just for his bounty, but also his Azure Grimoire.

The games slowly develop Ragna's battle with his nemesis Yuuki Terumi and other fighters as various factions follow their agendas to harness the Azure, destroy the Master Unit: Amatarasu, or protect those they care for.

==Updates (Br3ndan5)==
*14 January 2025 - Bloodedge Experience Part 1 has been fully translated
*18 January 2025 - Bloodedge Experience Part 2 is done
*19 January 2025 - Blazblue Calamity Trigger Part 1 is now translated
*22 June 2025 - Blazblue Calamity Trigger Part 2 is now translated

==Updates (Bloodedge666)==
*31 July 2024, The Wheel of Fortune is fully translated and published. All credits for the translation and editing goes to CMYOGS and Umberwolf respectively.
*21 December 2024, Phase Shift 4 is fully uploaded onto the site, making the entire Phase Shift series complete.
==Updates (Ziggurat)==
21 Septermber 2017 Lowtier asked me to pick this up since he got salty and stopped caring about BB lore after CF's story mode. Use message or Talk to communicate with me.

== Updates (Lowtierscrub)==
* 7 November 2016 - Bloodedge Experience Chapter 2 is complete. RIP. We're getting their. Holidays get busy at my household so next update might take slightly longer, but we'll see. I'm shooting for a chapter a month so release in February/March?
*18 October 2016 - Bloodedge Experience Chapter 1 is complete. Hold me fam, Overtime + Translating = Sadness. At least I'm not CF Kagura... Also updated the page a lttle.
*4 September 2016 - Bloodedge Experience Guesslation Project Began (Got novels, will translate in free time and '''will upload once entire novel done''' so I can proofread and make sure all translations are consistent).
B-baka, it's not like I want this translation to be as good as possible or anything... (tilts head to side as twin-tails sway in the wind). kappa. Post in Dustloop short story thread if you have questions or comments for me.

== Updates (Spesialo)==
*17 July 2015 - Phase Shift 3 started.
*17 July 2015 - Phase Shift 2 completed.
*10 July 2014 - Phase Shift 2 started.
*1 July 2014 - Phase Shift 1 completed.
*28 July 2013 - Phase Shift 1 started.
*28 July 2013 - Phase 0 completed.
*7 April 2013 - BlazBlue project created.

== Updates (zephyr07 from Dustloop)==
*Hakumen's story added (20-8-2010)
*Rachel's story added (20-8-2010)
*Noel's story added (20-8-2010)
*Carl's story added (21-8-2010)
*Arakune's story added (24-8-2010)
*Bang's story added (25-8-2010)
*Tager's story added (6-9-2010)
*Taokaka's story added (19-9-2010)
*Litchi's story added (5-10-2010)

== Updates (Suzaku from Dustloop)==
*Ragna's Short Story "Memory of Blue"
*Jin's Short Story "purgatory hell"

== Translation ==

===[[BlazBlue:Registration_Page|Registration]]===

Those who wish to contribute are asked to first notify a supervisor beforehand.

'''Translators are asked to [[BlazBlue:Registration_Page|register]] which chapters they're working on'''

===Format Standards===
'''Every chapter (after editing) must conform to the general format guidelines.'''
*[[Format_guideline|General Format/Style Guideline]]

===[http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5752 Feedback]===
'''If you enjoyed the teasers, why don't you tell us in the [http://www.baka-tsuki.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=5752 Feedback Thread]'''

 
 

== Blazblue: Calamity Trigger Material Collection==
[[File:BlazBlue Material Collection (Cover).jpg|thumbnail|Material Collection Cover]]
===Calamity Trigger Material Collection ([[Calamity Trigger Material Collection|Full Text]])===
'''Synopsis:''' Canon short stories for the Calamity Trigger cast.

::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Ragna Short Story "Memory of Blue"|Ragna Short Story: "Memory of Blue"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Jin Short Story "purgatory hell"|Jin Short Story: "purgatory hell"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Noel Short Story "THE BLUE"|Noel Short Story: "THE BLUE"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Rachel Short Story "Endless Waltz"|Rachel Short Story: "Endless Waltz"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Litchi Short Story "Borderline"|Litchi Short Story: "Borderline"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Arakune Short Story "The Diary"|Arakune Short Story: "The Diary"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Taokaka Short Story "Capricious Us"|Taokaka Short Story: "Capricious Us"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Bang Short Story "Fortune favours the bold"|Bang Short Story: "Fortune favours the bold"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Tager Short Story "Trust You"|Tager Short Story: "Trust You"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Carl Short Story "Puppeteers"|Carl Short Story: "Puppeteers"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Hakumen Short Story "Innocent Black"|Hakumen Short Story: "Innocent Black"]]
::*[[BlazBlue:CT Material Collection Nu Short Story "an evil sign"|Nu Short Story: "an evil sign"]]

 
 
 
 

==Blazblue Continuum Shift Material Collection: Trigger Shift==
[[File:BBCS Material Collection Cover.jpg|thumb]]
===Trigger Shift ([[Trigger Shift|Full Text]])===

This is an official short story that was written specifically for the Continuum Shift Extend Material Collection.

"BlazBlue Calamity Trigger" to "BlazBlue Continuum Shift".

A story about a day in the lifes of the characters who moved into the world of "possibility".
A story about those who can live on from the never ending world.
May the wheel of fate turn in their fortune.

Author: Mako Komao, Designer: Toshimichi Mori

::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Rachel's Side|Rachel's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Kagatsuchi's Side|Kagatsuchi's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Arakune's Side|Arakune's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Jin's Side|Jin's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Hazama's Side|Hazama's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Carl's Side|Carl's Side]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Trigger Shift Ragna's & Noel's Side|Ragna's & Noel's Side]]
 
 
 
 

== Blazblue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD ==
[[File:BBWoF.jpg|thumbnail|Drama CD Cover]]
'''Synopsisː''' The story of how Hakumen came to exist in the main Blazblue timeline in an alternate Kagasuchi where Noel Vermillion never existed and Tsubaki Yayoi became Jin Kisaragi's secretary instead.

::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Prologue-The Day of Fate|Prologue-The Day of Fate]]
::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Long reunion-Meeting Again|Long reunion-Meeting Again]]
::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Friendly Daily-Calm Routine|Friendly Daily-Calm Routine]]
::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Creeping doom-Beginning of the Destruction|Creeping doom-Beginning of the Destruction]]
::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Snake venom-Farewell|Snake venom-Farewell]]
::*[[BlazBlue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD: Camellia-Tsubaki Prays|Camellia-Tsubaki Prays]]
 
 

 
 

 

== BlazBlue: Phase 0==

===Phase 0 ([[BlazBlue:Phase 0|Full Text]] - [http://www.mediafire.com/download/li75i629i25hvva/ PDF])===
[[Image:BlazBlue_Phase0_Cover.jpg|thumb|Phase 0 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' Ragna the Bloodedge. That man is nicknamed Grim Reaper and possesses the power of Azure Grimoire. Yet, he awakens in an unfamiliar land and has lost both the Azure's power and his memory.

In this unknown world, he comes across Celica, a girl who is able to use healing magic, and a beastkin warrior named Mitsuyoshi. Their journey is closely related to the Black Beast, a being which drive humanity to devastation. However...

The popular fighting game series BlazBlue's history, previously shrouded in history, is about to be laid bare. The official story leading to where it all begins  has arrived!

::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Lost White]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Destructive Black]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Reality's Red]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Chance-met Silver]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Sealed Green]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Promised Azure]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase 0 Afterword|Afterword]]

 
 

==The ''BlazBlue: Phase Shift'' Series==

===Phase Shift 1 ([[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1|Full Text]])===
[[Image:BlazBlue_PhaseShift1_Cover.jpg|thumb|Phase Shift 1 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' AD 2106. The world is in chaos from the threatening Black Beast. At the Mage's Guild-governed island Ishana, a student Kazuma lives a normal life. But when he meets Yuuki Terumi by chance, history receives a new Phase Shift.

"If you can get the Azure, you can take back whatever you want. Things you lost, things you forgot, whatever."

Is that the prelude of destruction? Or a gospel of salvation...?

Within the light and darkness of the Boundary, hope and despair blend together. The curtain for a new episode of BlazBlue's official story has been raised!

::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Island of Green Wisdom]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Cat of Crimson Sunset]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Mind of Azure Deviation]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Doubt of Yellow Equilibrium]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Night of Black Betrayal]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Voice of Emerald Evil]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 

===Phase Shift 2===
[[Image:BlazBlue_PhaseShift2_Cover.jpg|thumb|Phase Shift 2 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' "Mr. Hero."

"How would you like to become a real hero?"

Jin Kisaragi, in the brink of death, meets one young girl. At that moment, the last gear to truth begins to turn...

Finally, the ''Black Beast'' is about to be resurrected. The ones who fight, the ones who protect, and the ones working in the shadows... Many feelings and thoughts are entangled, and the stage of the final battle for mankind's survival is set.

'The Dark War'. The biggest mystery in BlazBlue history that leads to all possible futures. All of its secrets will be revealed here!

::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: White Blade, A Flower]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Purple Ones, Their Theory]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Scarlet Guardian, the Doll]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Indigo Heart, the Conception]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Black Beast, Reappears]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 2 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 

===Phase Shift 3===
[[Image:BlazBlue_PhaseShift3_Cover.jpg|thumb|Phase Shift 3 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' Nox Nyctores: Take-Mikazuchi. It appears all of a sudden during the decisive battle between mankind and Black Beast. With one blow, it overturns the battle situation. Nine, rejecting the powerful weapon, deepens her conflict with the other Ten Sages. Furthermore, she is restrained from participating in the battle.

During the intensifying chaos and hopeless situation, Celica reunites with 'that person' once more. That meeting leads to a new fateful Phase Shift, and yet...

'The Dark War'. The biggest mystery in the popular fighting game BlazBlue. The heroes are advancing to the final battle. Their thoughts and bonds are weaving a tale of truth, a tale that will be recited here!

::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Battlefield with Blue Sky]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Ashen Current]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Copper Catgirl]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Silvery Illusion]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Hope and Despair on the Green Hilltop]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 3 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 
 

===Phase Shift 4===
[[Image:BlazBlue_PhaseShift4_Cover.jpg|thumb|Phase Shift 4 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' Since the fall of Take-Mikazuchi, the Magical City of Ishana finally acknowledges the Black Beast's threat. Within desperation, the Six Heroes and the entire human race are about to start their last counterattack!

Just what is the fateful Phase Shift that waits for the heroes after their battle...? This shocking novel series will draw the truth of the biggest mystery in the popular fighting game BlazBlue's history, 'The Dark War'. The time for conclusion has come!

"...Later, Celica. If we meet again, teach me properly, okay?"

::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Swirling Tea]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Sweeping Away Crimson Grief]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Demonic Human Weapon]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Azure Wish's Fate]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Colorless Guiding Light]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Blue Snake's Crazed Play]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Phase Shift 4 Afterword|Afterword]]

 
 
 
 
 

==The ''BlazBlue'' Series==

===Volume 1: Calamity Trigger — Part 1===
[[Image:BlazBlue_CalamityTrigger_Cover.jpg|thumb|Calamity Trigger — Part 1 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' AD 2199. The world is covered in seithr and mankind is forced to live in Hierarchical cities, ascending constructions similar to towers.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi has been infiltrated by a man with the most bounty in the world. He is Ragna the Bloodedge, the 'Grim Reaper', a man who possesses the ''Azure Grimoire''. Thus, the wheel of fate begins to turn.

"Restriction 666 released, Dimensional Interference Field deployed! BlazBlue, activate!"

The popular fighting game BlazBlue's first installment, ''Calamity Trigger''. The new legend starts here!

::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Stratum city — Hierarchical City]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Spiral fate — The Board's Pieces]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Grim Reaper — The Man Called Death God]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Burned church — Brothers]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Calamity black — Dark Demise]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Epilogue|Epilogue: A New Beginning]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 

===Volume 2: Calamity Trigger — Part 2===
[[Image:BlazBlue_CalamityTrigger_Part_2_Cover.jpg|thumb|Calamity Trigger — Part 2 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:''' During his journey, Ragna the Bloodedge, the 'Grim Reaper', travels to the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi to destroy the Cauldron. At the same time, Noel Vermillion, carrying the magic guns Bolverk, also heading to Kagutsuchi in accordance with the order from Librarium. Ragna and Noel... When both of their destinies intertwine, the eternally turning wheel of fate shall be altered!

The super popular fighting game BlazBlue's first installment, ''Calamity Trigger''. Its legend will be concluded!

::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Prologue|Prologue: A Certain's Prologue]] (blank page)
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Memorable church — Siblings]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Calamity trigger — Successor of the Azure]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 
 
 

===Volume 3: Continuum Shift — Part 1===
[[Image:BlazBlue Continuum Shift Part 1 Cover.jpg|thumb|Continuum Shift — Part 1 Cover]]
After the intervention of ''Calamity Trigger'' Noel Vermillion, the loops that appear to last forever came to an end. However, when a warrior from Sector Sever named Tager encounters a 'prime field' in the ruins of the 5th Hierarchical City of Ibukido, fate changes to a new phase.

On the other hand, after he went through a struggle to death with Nu, the 'Grim Reaper' Ragna the Bloodedge sees the image of his sister on a Librarium girl named Noel. However, a shadow aiming for them is inviting Ragna to a new battle——. A new Continuum Shift of the super popular fighting game BlazBlue begins!

::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Wheel turns — A New Gear]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Recollection Dream — The Children Are Dreaming]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Fragile balance — The Power of Order]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Sister's illusion — Vestiges]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Dead once — Phenomenon Intervention]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 
 
 

===Volume 4: Continuum Shift — Part 2===
[[Image:BlazBlue Continuum Shift Part 2 Cover.jpg|thumb|Continuum Shift — Part 2 Cover]]
"...Irregularity: none. Resuming combat action."

Λ – 11, the girl who assaulted Ragna the 'Grim Reaper'. He meets with the 'prime field' girl, but she invites Ragna to an even harsher battle. Meanwhile, Noel was hurrying to meet her best friend Makoto Nanaya. But before her, her other best friend Tsubaki Yayoi appears. Toward Noel who is glad with the meeting, Tsubaki——.

Continuum Shift. It is all the possibilities of the world. The result of many destinies and infinitely equal endings is waiting for Ragna and the others. Now, the decisive battle that shakes the world begins!!

::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Code number — Sector Seven]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: The despair — Truth]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Continuum shift — Probability Phenomenon]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Material girl — Murakumo]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Call name — Human to the End]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Continuum Shift Part 2 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 
 
 

==The ''BlazBlue: Bloodedge Experience'' Series==

'''Synopsis:'''
This new expansion to the Blazblue universe follows the story of Naoto Kurogane
a high school boy with a special right eye and connection to the Amanohokosaka Clan.
Learn the story of Blazblue: Central Fiction's newest playable character in this multi-part story
that bridges the gap between Xblaze and Blazblue that includes familiar characters as well!

===Blazblue: Bloodedge Experience Part 1 ===
[[File:Blazblue Bloodedge Experience 1 Thumbnail.jpg|thumb|Bloodedge Experience — Part 1 Cover]]

'''Synopsis:'''
"Kurogane Naoto was a mostly ordinary high schooler who lived a peaceful life
with his childhood friend Hayami Haruka. What wasn't ordinary with Naoto is that
his right eye is a little special, it possesses a special ability, "Hunter's Eye",
that make it possible for Naoto to see other people's Life Force in numerical values.

But his ordinary days ended when he met a girl with such high Life Force that she couldn't
possibly be human. The girl introduced herself as Raquel Alucard, a vampire. She ordered
him to get the hold of the Azure.

And so Naoto was dragged into a bloody battle surrounding the Azure." [From BB wikia; verify if from back cover]

::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Prologue|Prologue: Rebirth]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 1|Chapter 1: Contact]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Immortal]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Mitsurugi]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Secret]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Encounter]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Interlude]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 1 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 

===Blazblue: Bloodedge Experience Part 2 ===
[[File:Blazblue Bloodedge Experience 2 Thumbnail.jpg|thumb|Bloodedge Experience — Part 2 Cover]]
'''Synopsis:'''
"The swung down red blade, will carve a new legend of BlazBlue!

Kurogane Naoto, who have awaken the "Bloodedge". His little sister Saya's deadly sword is approaching him! A collision of several special ability users. And what awaits at the end of the Azure seeking Raquel Alucard's wish... " Outside Chapter is speculated to be set after Central Fiction's events, but before Central Fiction Naoto enters main Blazblue Central Fiction. It's similar to how the Black Beast existed in 2100 even though Ragna was not created until 2190s.

::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Prologue|Prologue:Rebirth]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 7|Chapter 7: Siblings]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 8|Chapter 8: Thought and Felt]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 9|Chapter 9: Intervention]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 10|Chapter 10: Encounter]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Chapter 11|Chapter 11: Fusion]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Epilogue|Epilogue: Heartbeat]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Extra Chapter|Extra Chapter: Fragment]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Bloodedge Experience Part 2 Afterword|Afterword]]
 
 
 
 
 
 

==The ''BlazBlue: Sprial Shift'' Series==

=== Blazblue : Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu - Hero of the Iceblade ([[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu|Full Text]])===
[[Image:SpiralShift.jpg|thumb|Announcment Image]]
'''Synopsis:'''
The story follows the graduation of Jin Kisaragi from the Military Academy as he enlists to fight in the Second War of Ars Magus or the Ikaruga Civil War for the NOL. In this tale, some light is shed on the brutality of NOL in dealing with the insurrection of the Ikaruga Federation for freedom against the NOL hegemony and monopoly of Grimories. Being deployed to the most contested region with the most violent opposition, Jin must deal with social tensions of being a Duodecim member among lower-class allies with the tide turning against their forces. There is more than meets the eye to this war though, as Jin and his new unit encounter signs of Sector Seven (the other faction against the NOL) experiments. Not only that, but Jin's new unit, the 9th Unit or "The Hounds" exist to only weaken enemy forces enough so that higher-class units can sweep in and claim both the spoils and glory of war in a battlefield meant only to test new weapons and never to retreat or advance. What other hidden-agendas will Jin Kisaragi discover in this farce of a war?

::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Illustrations|Illustrations]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu STORY|STORY]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Prologue|Prologue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 1|Chapter 1: The Human of the Kisaragi Family / Distorted recognition]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 2|Chapter 2: Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa/ Laughing man]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 3|Chapter 3: Accumulated death / He is near]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 4|Chapter 4: Promises and Vows / Listening]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 5|Chapter 5: Foolish man / Left behind]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Chapter 6|Chapter 6: Eiyu (Hero) / True face]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Epilogue|Epilogue]]
::*[[BlazBlue:Spiral Shift - Hyokujin no Eiyu Afterword|Afterword]]
 

 

==Project Staff==

*Supervisor:
*Project Manager:

===Translators===

'''ACTIVE'''

*[[User:RikiWu|RikiWu]]

'''INACTIVE'''

*[[User:Ziggurat|Ziggurat]]
*[[User:Lowtierscrub|Lowtierscrub]]
*[[User:Suzaku|Suzaku]]
*[[User:Hayashi_s|zephyr07]]
*[[User:Spesialo|Spesialo]]

===Editors===

'''ACTIVE'''

*[[User:RikiWu|RikiWu]]

'''INACTIVE'''

*[[User:Lowtierscrub|Lowtierscrub]]
*[[User:Emma|Emma]]
*[[User:Nerokun|Nerokun]]

== Series Overview ==

<big>''' BlazBlue: Material Collection'''</big>
*BLAZBLUEー設定資料集 (2009 ISBN 9784797354836)[CT Short Story Source]

<big>'''The BlazBlue: Phase 0'''</big>
*ＢＬＡＺＢＬＵＥ─ブレイブルー─ フェイズ０ (August 20, 2010 ISBN 978-4829145920)[Phase 0]

<big>'''Blazblue Wheel of Fortune Drama CD'''</big>
BLAZBLUE 「THE WHEEL OF FORTUNE ～運命の輪～」ドラマCD (September 2010)

<big>'''The BlazBlue: Phase Shift Series'''</big>
*ＢＬＡＺＢＬＵＥ‐ブレイブルー‐ フェイズシフト１(April 20, 2011 ISBN 978-4829146170)[Phase Shift 1]
*ＢＬＡＺＢＬＵＥ‐ブレイブルー‐ フェイズシフト２(January 20, 2012 ISBN 978-4829146309)[Phase Shift 2]
*ＢＬＡＺＢＬＵＥ‐ブレイブルー‐ フェイズシフト3(May 19, 2012 ISBN 978-4829146712)[Phase Shift 3]
*ＢＬＡＺＢＬＵＥ‐ブレイブルー‐ フェイズシフト4(September 20, 2012 ISBN 978-4829146897)[Phase Shift 4]

<big>'''The BlazBlue Series'''</big>

Calamity Trigger Retelling
*BLAZBLUE‐ブレイブルー‐1 カラミティトリガー〈上〉(January 19, 2013 ISBN 978-4829147078)
*BLAZBLUE―ブレイブルー―2 カラミティトリガー〈下)(May 18, 2013 ISBN 978-4829147290)

Continuum Shift Retelling
*BLAZBLUE―ブレイブルー―3　コンティニュアムシフト〈上〉(September 20, 2013 ISBN 978-4829147474)
*BLAZBLUE―ブレイブルー―4 コンティニュアムシフト〈下〉(January 18, 2014 ISBN 978-4040700175)

<big>'''The BlazBlue: Bloodedge Experience Series'''</big>

*BLAZBLUE―ブレイブルー―ブラッドエッジエクスペリエンス(上) (June 20, 2014 ISBN 978-4040702254)[Bloodedge Experience Part 1]
*BLAZBLUE-ブレイブルーブラッドエッジ・エクスペリエンス（下） (November 20, 2014 ISBN 978-4040702155)[Bloodedge Experience Part 2]

<big>'''The Blazblue: Spiral Shift Series''' </big>

*BLAZBLUE-ブレイブルースパイラルシフト氷刃の英雄 (October 20, 2016 ISBN 978-4040708577 (4040708571) )[Hyokin no Eiyu/"Ice Blade-Wielding Hero"]

[[Category:Light novel (English)]]
[[Category:Fujimi Dragon Book]]
[[Category:Mako Komao]]

[[Category:Genre - Action]]
[[Category:Genre - Fantasy]]

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Afterword

2025-06-23T01:39:21Z

Br3ndan5:

===Afterword===
Thank you for picking up this book, "BLAZBLUE CALAMITY TRIGGER"! I am the author, Mako Komao.

"BLAZBLUE," as the title suggests, is a 2D fighting game released by Arc System Works Co., Ltd. This is a novelization of that game, and specifically, it is the second volume of "CALAMITY TRIGGER."

If you happened to pick this up because you were drawn to the beautiful cover, I would be happy if you could also enjoy the first volume!

Also, the latest installment in the original 2D fighting game "BLAZBLUE" series, "CHRONOPHANTASMA," is currently very popular in arcades as of this writing, so if you are interested in the work, I think you will find a fun future if you take the opportunity to play it! I personally like the new character, Amane!

Furthermore, I would be happy if you could also check out the other novelized series of "BLAZBLUE" that have already been released!

Now then, to those who have been with me since the first volume, I suppose I should say, "Thank you for waiting." I somehow managed to write the afterword for the second volume, and now I am simply feeling somewhat dazed, or rather, I am in a state of disbelief at this open future.

I think I have said this in an afterword somewhere before, but I thought it would never end!

Has it safely arrived in your hands? I suppose that since you are reading this, it must have a wonderful cover, a beautiful color opening, illustrations, and be in the form of a novel published by Fujimi Dragon Book.

But of course, when I am writing the afterword, the book has not yet been published, so I am still nervous! I wonder if something will happen, and I imagine all sorts of bad things. I am the type of person who worries about whether I locked the door after I leave!

Since there is nothing I can do by just fantasizing, let's assume that the book has been safely published. How was it? This novelized version of "BLAZBLUE CALAMITY TRIGGER."

It is structured in two volumes, and this is the form in which it was delivered to you, but I wrote it with the hope that you would find many enjoyable parts within it.

In the first and second volumes, I tried to create scenes that correspond to each other. They are hidden in small places as well, so I hope you will enjoy those as well.

Also, in the second volume, the heroine finally appeared! I was filled with the feeling of "I finally got to write her!" It was the first time for me to write her in a novel, so I was excited.

However, although I had been looking forward to it since the first volume, when I actually started writing, she was an incredibly delicate character, and she became a character whose emotional expression I had to pay more attention to than ever before... I am worried about how she appears in your eyes. It's like sending my daughter off to elementary school or something.

The game itself, "BLAZBLUE CALAMITY TRIGGER," is very deep, and it's truly a story that makes you wonder if it's really a fighting game, and the story is prepared for each character, so this book does not cover everything in "CT." I think there will be various criticisms and so on.

But anyway, if these two volumes, as the main story of "CT," were enjoyable for you, then there is nothing more I could ask for!

I have written "BLAZBLUE" in various forms for quite some time now, and this time as well... I was happy. There were quite a few difficult things, but when it was over, I felt that I had been allowed to write such a wonderful book.

"BLAZBLUE" is great, isn't it? Somehow, the more I write about it, the more I like it. But the more I write about it, the more pressure I feel. Because the things I write become history. But if I could have my way... I would like to write more history. I really mean it.

Well, well, well. If I try to avoid spoilers, I will end up not being able to say anything about the content, so please allow me to list some thank yous... or rather, apologies, as usual, to the people who helped me.

To my editor... thank you very much. I have run out of words of apology and that's all I can say, but I was truly, truly indebted to you. Thanks to you, I am alive. Thank you.

To Sugiyama-sama, who drew the cover, the opening illustrations, and the illustrations, I am truly sorry for the trouble this time... I don't know how to apologize... It was a difficult time for you, and yet you gave me the illustrations for the manuscript that was not easily completed. Thank you so much!

And of course, to Producer Mori-sama. Thank you for your many advices from the plot stage. I am sorry for suddenly calling you and only asking about the setting of the hierarchical city and hanging up. I am sorry for being slow. But thank you for letting me write "CT." I am truly honored to have become a writer.

Finally, in the usual order, to you who read this book. Thank you so much. I am truly happy to be able to conclude the second volume and say hello to you like this, and how should I say it, thank you again for letting me write "BLAZBLUE" like this.

I hope to see you again next time, under the same title.

Goodbye then! When all the manuscript work is finished, I will practice Amane!

Mako Komao

[[File:BB_CT2_321.jpg|frameless|right]]

[[File:BB_CT2_322.jpg|frameless|right]]

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Afterword

2025-06-23T01:37:33Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "===Afterword=== Thank you for picking up this book, "BLAZBLUE CALAMITY TRIGGER"! I am the author, Mako Komao. "BLAZBLUE," as the title suggests, is a 2D fighting game released by Arc System Works Co., Ltd. This is a novelization of that game, and specifically, it is the second volume of "CALAMITY TRIGGER." If you happened to pick this up because you were drawn to the beautiful cover, I would be happy if you could also enjoy the first volume! Also, the latest installme..."

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Epilogue

2025-06-23T01:36:34Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "==BBCT2 Epilogue== In a corner of the middle layer city, destroyed by the explosion of the underground facility, a pile of rubble, collapsed by the blast, crumbled and fell. As one piece fell, the rubble began to collapse one after another, as if being impacted from the other side, and soon a gap opened up, large enough for a person to pass through. Then, a human hand covered in a black glove emerged from the gap. Grabbing the edge of the rubble, a man crawled out, dr..."

==BBCT2 Epilogue==

In a corner of the middle layer city, destroyed by the explosion of the underground facility, a pile of rubble, collapsed by the blast, crumbled and fell.

As one piece fell, the rubble began to collapse one after another, as if being impacted from the other side, and soon a gap opened up, large enough for a person to pass through.

Then, a human hand covered in a black glove emerged from the gap. Grabbing the edge of the rubble, a man crawled out, dragging his body.

"''Cough''... ''cough'', ugh... damn, I inhaled dust... ugh..."

The one who came out, hunched over and coughing, was Ragna, his white hair and red jacket stained with dust.

Exhausted, he climbed over the rubble with unsteady steps and set foot in the long-unseen city, breathing roughly.

The light of the morning sun poured down on the area, dazzlingly bright to his eyes, which had been in the dark rubble until then.

"Ugh, damn... that rabbit bitch... if you're going to send me somewhere with teleportation, at least send me to a decent place... Right under the collapsed rubble, she definitely did that on purpose..."

Ragna, who had been thrown out by the teleportation magic, had been dropped onto a building that had collapsed in the explosion.

Fortunately... because he would have died otherwise, the building was buried in waves of rubble and bedrock, but the main framework was solid, and it was not immediately crushed.

However, the mission immediately after the teleportation was quite difficult: digging through the rubble from the inside without knowing the direction, and getting out of an outer shell that would collapse even if he tried to break it down.

And here he was, injured and with another person to carry. As always, that vampire's mischievousness was physically exhausting.

"Hey, are you okay?" Having coughed out most of the dust he had inhaled, Ragna put his beloved sword, which had been used as a pickaxe, beside him and returned to the gap in the rubble.
Reaching into the darkness, he grabbed the wrist of the woman he saw, and pulled her up with a strong tug.

"W-wait, please! Hyaaa!" Having been forcibly pulled out from the inside, Noel - unsure of where to put her feet- slipped and fell spectacularly from the rubble.

"It hurts..."

After bouncing once in the middle, she landed on the ground with her butt. Noel let out a pathetic cry, rubbing her butt as she staggered to her feet.

"You're clumsy."

Noel's eyes filled with tears out of patheticness or pain. Ragna gently grabbed her arm and helped her up. Her steps were unsteady, but still, she somehow managed to stand on her own two feet.

There, finally, Ragna was able to see Noel under the gentle sunlight, not the dim light or the flames of the cauldron. Looking at her again, he couldn't take his eyes off her.

The smooth texture of her golden hair that fell over her slender shoulders, her teary eyes, her small nose, the color of her lips. As she lightly brushed off the dust and dirt from her clothes, the image of his sister flickered in his mind, and her voice grazed his ears.

"Are you alright?" Ragna's mouth naturally asked that question.

Finally realizing that she was being watched, Noel let out an "ah" and hurriedly straightened her back, making a serious expression typical of a soldier.

"I'm fine. Thank you for your concern."

"I see. That's good." He couldn't help but smile at that serious face.

Thinking she was being made fun of, Noel's expression crumbled for a moment as if she had lost confidence. After adjusting it a bit, she once again bowed her head politely to Ragna.

"Thank you so much for helping me so many times. If you hadn't been there, I... "

She would have died, her emotions swaying behind her words told him.

Ragna frowned uncomfortably. He wasn't good in this kind of atmosphere.

"I told you earlier, you helped me too. Let's call it even. I don't want you to owe me anything."

Such things were heavy and troublesome. He also wasn't good at being connected by troublesome ties because of such things.

Unaware of his true feelings, Noel took his reply as one of humility and kindness.

"Um... would it be okay if I used your name?"

"Name? Ah..." Ragna hesitated for a moment. This girl was a soldier of the NOL, after all. Giving his name was not a wise choice. But... he somehow thought that it would be okay with this girl. He decided to answer honestly.

"Ragna the Bloodedge."

The moment she heard that name, Noel's movements stopped completely.

"Eh? Ragna... the... Bloodedge?"

With a questioning expression, she remained frozen, repeating Ragna's name falteringly. Before long, understanding slowly came.

"Ah, you- you are- are you Ragna the Bloodedge?! The vicious criminal, the wanted fugitive!"

"Well, yeah. What about it?"

Only the external features of his white hair and red jacket were incorporated into the wanted poster, which didn't even resemble him that much, so she should have noticed it sooner.

Ragna thought to himself that the soldier in front of him was not only clumsy, but also stupid.

While Ragna scratched his cheek in confusion, Noel pulled out her two handguns, awkwardly aiming them at Ragna.

"P-please be quiet! If you don't run or hide, you have the right to remain silent and the right to a lawyer, and I will arrest you!"

"W-whoa, calm down, you're not making sense!" It was nothing short of incoherent. Surprised by her confusion more than the arrest or the wanted poster, Ragna involuntarily pulled his upper body back. Then, he put his hand to his head with a troubled look. He was at a loss for how to handle her and how to react.

For the time being, he couldn't consider her an excellent soldier, but he could at least tell that she was doing her best. Such a clumsy stance. Of course, Ragna didn't know what that hard work was for.

"Ha... jeez. You should look at the situation before you say anything. I'm battered, and you're battered. How can you arrest me in this state?"

If Ragna ran at full speed with all the power he had now, Noel wouldn't be able to catch up. He was also confident that he could get through the city without being shot by that gun.

Putting aside the ability of this slender female soldier, she didn't seem to have much combat experience. If he was just going to escape, she was an opponent that Ragna could easily manipulate.

"That's..."

Disappointed, Noel withdrew the firmness that she had desperately created from her tone and attitude. Noel didn't think it was something necessary for them now.

Above all, she didn't want to threaten and arrest "Ragna," who was kind as the mysterious premonition had told her, with a gun. But that was something that Noel couldn't convey to Ragna in words.

"So? What's your name?" Ragna asked bluntly, looking at Noel sideways.

The eyes that were directed at Noel were just on the left side. Ragna's green eye reflected in Noel's green eyes.

Suppressing some kind of feeling that welled up, Noel clasped her hands in front of her chest. While staring back at Ragna's left eye, she replied.

"Noel... Noel Vermillion."

Neither Noel nor Ragna noticed that what she had told him was not her name and rank as an NOL soldier, but her name as a girl.

The sunlight that reached here, unfiltered by the upper layers, was soft and gentle.

While warming their cheeks with the temperature of the sunlight, Ragna and Noel finally learned each other's names at this time.

'''The 3rd Hierarchical City of Iwasu'''

In a certain office of the NOL branch on its highest floor, a woman entered.

Her dignified demeanor could be seen in some places, and it made her feel that she had been raised well.

The color of her uniform's poncho was white. Her beautiful crimson camellia red hair, which flowed down her back, was beautiful. The hat, which had a unique color and was on her head, was also white, the same color as the poncho.

"Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, I have arrived." Her line, spoken with a dignified posture, was directed at a man leaning against the desk in the office.

He was not wearing the NOL uniform, but a black suit and a black hat. He was a slender man, and green hair could be seen peeking out from under the hat, which hid his eyes. The green-haired man remained in his relaxed posture, and moved his lips, a deep smile on his face.

"Ah, thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry to have called you here, but actually, I have a top-secret imperial order for you."

"An imperial order... for me?" Tsubaki widened her eyes slightly in surprise and frowned.

An imperial order was a direct command from the Novus Orbis Librarium's integrated headquarters... in other words, a direct order from the 'Imperator', the head of the NOL.

"Yes, of course, it's genuine. Would you like to check the documents? I have the Imperator's signature." Seeing Tsubaki's suspicious expression, the man asked, somewhat mockingly. It was a tone that seemed to be testing her inner thoughts.

"No, it's not necessary. May I ask about the details of the mission?"

"Oh, is that so? Well, about the details of the mission... it's a top-secret mission, you see. I'll tell you the details verbally. But don't worry, it's a very, very simple mission."

[[File:BB_CT2_315.jpg|frameless|right]]

With a weightless tone and attitude, the man, still leaning against the desk, told Tsubaki the details of the imperial order.

The contents made Tsubaki's expression stiff. It didn't immediately register in her mind.

That's how shocking the assigned mission was to her.

The direct order from the Imperator, which the man in the black suit told Tsubaki... that order, which she could never disobey as one who swore loyalty to the NOL...

"Lieutenant Tsubaki Yayoi, of the Zero Squadron. I order you... to assassinate the traitors, Major Jin Kisaragi and Lieutenant Noel Vermillion."

The destination was the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The departure date was soon.

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5

2025-06-23T01:32:21Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure== ===Part 1=== Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi. The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far. In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond..."

==BBCT2 Chapter 5: Calamity Trigger — Successor of the Azure==

===Part 1===
Soundlessly and quietly, the elevator slid down, carrying Ragna deep into the underground of Kagutsuchi.

The cylindrical box opened its mouth, revealing a scene to Ragna that was completely different from the interior of the branch he had passed through so far.

In stark contrast to the clean and magnificently decorated atmosphere of the NOL's branch, the hall and the corridor leading beyond it, located deep underground, were dark, inorganic, and chilly.

Even the end of the ceiling, which was so high that it made him look up, was covered with metallic scaffolding, and the walls were equipped with countless surveillance cameras and various other monitors.

Despite being unmanned, the machines and Ars Magus seemed to be faithfully doing their jobs, and the quiet air conditioning and dim lighting welcomed Ragna to the underground world.

The branches of the NOL all had the same structure wherever you went. It wasn't a very new sight for Ragna, who had already infiltrated the underground of the branch many times.

His destination was beyond this corridor. Ragna started walking towards the corridor, which was lit by a lamp that illuminated only his feet.

But he stopped as soon as he stepped into the dimly lit corridor.

Someone was there.

Was it a premonition from the strange déjà vu that had been bothering Ragna earlier, or was it due to the primal instincts awakening in his brain? He didn't know. But beyond the corridor that continued in a graceful curve, from the shadow that couldn't be clearly seen, a gust of murderous intent blew towards Ragna.

"What?!"

In reality, it wasn't wind. But its force and pressure were extraordinary, and Ragna instinctively put both arms in front of him to protect himself.

The illusion that his breath had been taken away by the wind pressure pulled Ragna's feet back from the corridor.

What was this? What on earth was this? Suddenly, his heart was beating wildly in his chest.

Someone was beyond this corridor. And that someone, still clad in an abnormal amount of murderous intent, was walking towards him step by step.

"Who- who the hell are you?"

He was going to be killed.

Feeling an instinctive fear, Ragna involuntarily raised his voice. It was like a wild dog's threat. He hadn't even seen this man yet, and his voice already lacked any composure.

No, it wasn't something, it wasn't someone. He knew this presence, this murderous intent... He felt like he'd seen it before.

He should have seen it before.

Ragna wasn't sure if it was the same or not. But he could recall "that guy" who appeared before him as if he were a symbol of fear, spewing out a killing intent that could kill a person on its own.

Footsteps were approaching. What he saw first was the foot that stepped out.

White feet with dull, grayish-silver claw-like parts attached to them. Those inhuman feet would take away one's breath and their power to stand if they were slammed into the stomach.

Next, the knees, the arms, the shoulders, the torso. As if floating in the unreliable light of the corridor, they came into Ragna's view.

''(That's right. That white shadow... it's him.)''

Completely swallowed by the approaching presence of that figure, forgetting how to even breathe normally, Ragna felt strangely convinced.

The one who appeared was a white oni.

His body was tall and toned, like a man's. He wore a white outfit that covered his entire body, and on that outfit, there were many red, eyeball-like things attached to it.

There were no eyes on his face. Not just eyes. There was no nose, no mouth, nothing. Only a smooth surface in the place where it should have carried an expression. From his head, something like silver hair hung down in a long strand, swaying left and right in accordance with his heavy steps. On his back was a huge sword. An odachi that was probably as tall as he was.

The moment he saw it, Ragna remembered the pain of a slash he hadn't even received. His expression contorted violently and he pressed his shoulder, feeling as if his body was being gouged and torn apart.

''(It's okay. I haven't taken a single hit yet.)''

But it felt like it wouldn't be long before that happened.

"Damn... you..."

There was no way he could remain silent. Ragna dragged his feet and retreated inch by inch, glaring strongly at the man who had stopped at the entrance of the hall where the elevator was.

His legs were shaking. He didn't know why, but fear ran up from his feet and dulled Ragna's body.

The man with the white face stared at Ragna calmly. Since he had no eyes, it might be strange to say that he was staring, but even though their eyes didn't meet, the man stared at Ragna, and restrained Ragna's movements with his gaze and presence.

"It's been a while, Dark One." A low voice spoke from under the surface.

At that moment, a shiver ran through Ragna's entire body. He gritted his chattering teeth, desperately resisting the fear that was about to drag him in from his feet.

"It's been a while? I don't remember meeting you. Where the hell did we meet?" He put strength in his stomach and glared at the white mask. He chose a strong and aggressive tone purely as a bluff. It took all his might to keep his legs from giving way. "Sorry, but could you let me through? I've got business in the back. I don't have time to deal with you."

If you try to interfere, I won't mercy. As if to show that intention, Ragna put his hand on the sword hanging at his waist.

"I cannot allow you to pass." Solemnly declaring this, the white-faced man put his hand on the sword on his back. Grasping the hilt that protruded from around his shoulder, he pulled it out with a cool, sharp sound. The excessively long blade was illuminated by the dim light, making it appear even sharper, even colder, and enhancing its brilliance.

Holding the sword vertically, the white-faced man said, "You are destined to die here. You will not go any further."

Die. Ragna let out a breath as if sneering. It was a surprisingly unsurprising word. This white guy wanted to kill Ragna. He felt that he knew this from something like experience, more than the murderous intent directed at him.

No matter what Ragna saud, this man wouldn't back down, and would persistently aim for his neck with that sword. And the difference in strength between himself and this man was so clear that it was desperate.

Was this a memory? Or was it instinct? Either way, it was annoying and irritating.

This guy is stronger than you, even his own sense of reason told him that.

However, even if he was told that, he couldn't turn back. The cauldron, his target, was ahead. It was almost there. If he didn't destroy it before it was too late, the charges he'd piled up so far would be in vain.

"Destiny? Don't screw with me. Even if you say that, I can't just say yes and be killed!" He shouted as if slamming the words down. He felt like he couldn't make a sound otherwise. The pressure blowing from the front made it hard to breathe. Sweat had somehow appeared on his forehead, and his bangs were sticking to his face, making him feel uncomfortable.

Naturally, the white-faced man showed no signs of flinching or pondering. With his sharp gaze still directed at Ragna, he further sharpened his murderous intent, as if his blade was also a part of him, making it even sharper.

"...The world is said to be dreaming." The low words spoken under the mask made Ragna frown.

"Huh? A dream?" He didn't understand what he was talking about.

Perhaps sensing Ragna's fear and desperation to control himself, or perhaps not, the muffled voice continued as if telling a story from a distant past.

"This is a never-ending dream that repeats over and over again. As long as the dream repeats, the world will only repeat tragedy."

The world repeats. Ragna took a sharp breath at the words of the mysterious man whose identity he didn't even know.

Again, something like a memory flashed through his mind.

A strange déjà vu that cuts in as if crossing his field of vision from time to time. Why did it feel like he had a similar experience somewhere other than here?

What if... this man's words were not the flashy metaphor of a great storyteller, but exactly as he said?

What did he do and what did he accomplish in the repeated world? This thought suddenly touched Ragna's consciousness.

"You are the bane of the world and the root of all evil. With my blade, I shall sever the chain of the world." The quiet words slightly gained strength, and the white man's arm moved. He lowered his stance and repositioned the sword, which had been held vertically, into a low thrust.

The sharp tip aimed at Ragna's neck without a single deviation. Ragna's neck tingled with pain at the gaze of the tip that was staring at him. The first attack was a thrust. If he didn't dodge it, he would surely die.

"I am the void, I am the steel, I am the blade. With one swing of my sword, I will reap all sins and destroy evil... I am Hakumen."

"Hakumen?" In the midst of the gradually stronger and more powerful voice, Ragna picked up a name he had heard before.

Hakumen. One of the Six Heroes who was said to have defeated the black beast, and the most skilled warrior among the six.

Why was Hakumen here?

"The end has come!"

With a roar, Hakumen, the white man who kicked with his claw-like feet, stepped in quickly and deeply. At the same time as closing the distance, the odachi tore through the air and approached Ragna. Even though he knew it, it was fast.

"Damn!" Praying that he would make it in time, Ragna vigorously swung his own sword. Just before Hakumen's thrust caught Ragna's throat, Ragna's sword with its rugged design deflected the odachi. A dull sound of swords clashing echoed in the inorganic ceiling.

Using his stepping foot as an axis, Hakumen twisted his body. Ragna barely managed to block the kick with his sword and endured it as it slammed straight into him.

"Tch, cough..." Still, the impact struck his stomach, and Ragna spat out bitter saliva onto the floor. "Strong..."

Regrettably, the voice of déjà vu was indeed correct. It wasn't just that their abilities were different, but their power was dimensions apart. He didn't feel like he could win at all.

"Damn it!" He hated being overpowered by overwhelming force.

Ragna swung his sword horizontally. Hakumen lightly jumped and opened the distance.

This place was narrow. It was hard to swing a big weapon around and fight. But at the same time, Hakumen stood in front of Ragna as if not allowing him to even choose to change the location.

Ragna's slash was received by the odachi. Hakumen's sword, Ookami, slid vigorously against Ragna's sword, guiding it downwards. In that gap, the clawed foot took another step.

Ragna's breath caught in his throat from the gouging impact, and his consciousness momentarily drifted away.

"Guh!"

Hakumen's shoulder was embedded in Ragna's chest as he struck. The compressed breath collapsed in his chest, and for a few seconds, he didn't know how to breathe.

At the same time as he straightened his body, Hakumen's sword drew an arc. With smoothness and sharpness as if to cut off the space along with Ragna's body.

Ragna jumped into Hakumen's feet. The sword passed right above his lowered head. He dragged his body and crawled along the floor to escape. He thought it would be a terrible sight. But against this man, there was no such thing as unsightly.

He rolled around to Hakumen's back, reaching the corridor behind him, and Ragna stumbled and ran. He couldn't fight at all. He at least needed more space.

"Running away, Dark One?"

"Shut up, of course I'm running, damn it!"

It was like a game of tag. Feeling the murderous intent approaching from behind, he instinctively jumped to the side, and Hakumen's sword pressure that ran along the ground grazed Ragna and passed by. He should have dodged it. Even so, Ragna's thigh was sharply torn.

"Damn it... Damn it, damn it!"

When he was like this, he really felt like a hunted beast. As soon as he escaped the corridor and turned around, Ragna held his sword in his right hand, putting strength into it as if to retaliate.

Through his right arm, the Azure Grimoire, the sword resonated with power. Its flickering appearance was like an oncoming disaster. With the tip pointing downwards, he slid it along the ground and released it with great power, and the darkness that was born chased after Hakumen in the form of fangs.

The fangs made Hakumen's feet stop. But the next moment, it was scattered by a slash that came down from the upper level.

"Tch!"

It didn't reach. It wasn't enough. Ragna clicked his tongue at the difference between himself and Hakumen, and looked at his right hand.

If he activated the Azure Grimoire, he should still be able to do it. With that thought, he gripped it tightly.

"Restriction 666 released..."

"Tsubaki!"

Hakumen's sword, which had jumped in while twisting his body, slashed Ragna's torso from below as if stroking it. He tried to jump and retreat. But he couldn't jump at once enough to dodge the odachi.

"Gah!"

He was careless. He was blown backwards and fell on the floor from his back. While holding down the laceration running through his chest with his hand, he hurriedly got up.

The wound wasn't deep. But a troublesome pain slowed his body.

He somehow dodged the slash that followed, but beyond that was a wall.

A moment of hesitation robbed Ragna of the opportunity to make a retreat. When he noticed and looked up, Hakumen was in front of him, and in his hand was an odachi that was pulled far back.

"It's over. Perish." As soon as he said that, he swung the sword in a horizontal arc.

...But the movement stopped halfway.

"What... is this?"

It was like the still image of a video. But Hakumen certainly existed there with mass.

With a crackle, a sound like scattering sparks was heard. Hakumen's body shook fiercely, as if trying to resist the sparks.

Ragna couldn't grasp the situation. It seemed that an invisible force was capturing Hakumen and trying to suppress him.

"Gah... Phenomenon Intervention?" Hakumen's body sank slightly as if he couldn't bear the weight. But the hero in white endured even greater indignity. Unable to hold it up any longer, he muttered in a muffled voice, his head bowed. "I... will never... repeat it again..."

The low voice squeezed out from his whole body, sounding resentful. With deep remorse and heavy despair, Hakumen stiffened his distorting body. Sparks scattered around the area, followed by a series of sounds like circuits short-circuiting one after another. The hand, still gripping the odachi, lifted as if to subdue an invisible force suppressing it.

"Don't get in my way, grimalkin!" Hakumen roared, swinging his sword with a mighty force. The sword's pressure alone would have torn human flesh just by grazing it.

That single blow shook the underground floor violently as if splitting the ground, cutting through the ceiling, walls, and floor with the tip. Then, a powerful gust of wind blew, slashing everything around it.

"Whoa!"

That was terrible. It was a mess. Ragna lowered his body and used his sword as a shield to protect himself from the wild impact.

Before long, the vibration subsided. When he saw Hakumen and the surroundings from the shadow of his sword, Ragna lost his words and turned pale involuntarily.

Centered around the white oni holding his odachi, countless cracks spread in all directions. At his clawed feet, the slashes from his own attacks were deeply engraved. Fearfully, Ragna looked around to find them on the wall not far from himself, and when he looked up, they spread from there to the ceiling.

Ragna had no time to check how deep the slash had cut into the wall. Now he realized what he is facing.

Hakumen of the Six Heroes. The hero who defeated the Black Beast. Even without experiencing it firsthand, his strength was beyond measure.

Even so, it must have been a fierce struggle. Hakumen's arms hung down limply, his odachi dragged its tip, and his open legs seemed to barely support him. With heavy breathing and his shoulders rising and falling, his white face lifted towards Ragna.

"Dark One..."

His voice was one of resentment.

Ragna thought it was over. But their one-sided confrontation was interrupted by a noisy sound that rose from far behind.

"What?"

Something collapsed at a height near the ceiling, and along with it, a large object fell to the floor.

With a gasp, Ragna looked up at Hakumen's slash that had cut through the ceiling. The gouged scratch marks continue endlessly. It must have cut through the wall, through the bedrock in the back, and then whatever was beyond that.

In other words, it cut off part of the elevator.

Looking up, he saw that the ceiling near the floor above had collapsed as if it had been scraped away, revealing a cylindrical structure. The cylindrical structure had been cut open on its side by something sharp, and was turned outwards as if it had spewed something out.

The ejected material lay scattered on the floor. Along with numerous rocks and metal fragments, the elevator car was smashed to pieces.

Within the wreckage, there was a figure lying motionless.

"A person?" Something white moved next to Ragna, who was doubting his eyes. It was Hakumen.

''(At a time like this...)'' He thought, turning around and bracing himself, but then Ragna witnessed an unbelievable sight.

Hakumen was leaning over the railing of the floor below, staring intently at the fallen elevator. Of course, it was impossible to tell where his gaze was directed from his featureless mask. But he was definitely staring intently at the woman who had fallen.

He muttered, stunned and somewhat bewildered.

"That... that girl... is different..." His voice was as weak as a lie. It was as if he had forgotten his soul somewhere; he was empty. "Why..."

Seizing his chance, Ragna quickly raised his right hand and activated the grimoire.

"Restriction 666 released, dimensional imaginary number formed! Azure Grimoire, activate!" At Ragna's voice, Hakumen turned around.

But it was too late. His right hand, brimming with its original power, channeled that power into the sword, transforming its shape into that of a key. The darkness that gathered like a fountain engulfed the surroundings.

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" With all the might and power he could muster, Ragna slammed the scythe of darkness into Hakumen.

The darkness overflowed along with the slash, engulfing Hakumen's white body and effortlessly blowing him away. The darkness continued its pursuit, violently raining down on Hakumen as if pinning him to the wall it struck.

The destructive sound continued dully, and Ragna's vision and Hakumen's body were covered in darkness.

"Haa... Haa... Haa, don't... Don't you dare look away..." The sword, which had returned from the scythe to its usual form, felt heavy, and the arm that swung it couldn't be lifted immediately.

Gasping for breath, Ragna glared at the white oni-jin who was embedded in the wall and motionless.

''(Don't move.)'' He prayed.

Fortunately, Hakumen did not move, as if he were a mechanical doll whose switch had been turned off. His tall body was half-submerged in the wall and bedrock.

''(If he doesn't move, that's fine.)'' He didn't intend to bother with him any further.

More importantly, he was worried about the woman who had fallen with the elevator. She was near the cauldron. If she stayed in a place like that...

"Wait, that girl..."

The woman, who had been unconscious, had somehow gotten up and moved to in front of the cauldron.

Judging by her clothes, she was a soldier of the NOL. Fortunately, the cauldron was still closed, so it was fine, but if it were to open...

"Tch!"

As if reading Ragna's mind, a sinking tremor surged through the underground floor. He was momentarily confused by what had happened. The dimly lit underground floor was becoming brighter, as if light had entered from somewhere. The light source... was the cauldron.

"Damn it!"

The main culprit of the earth-shaking rumble that shook the entire underground, the cauldron, was now about to open the gate it held in its center.

===Part 2===

A low vibration sound briefly shook the small hall deep underground and the border of the corridor leading beyond it. Then, several explosive crashes echoed... and then, a part of the hall's wall, which had been silently present even during the previous battle, shattered and collapsed.

The opening that was created was quite large for a hole meant for one person.

As if parting the rubble that was falling down, a large man, fitting the massive hole, forcefully entered the hall from the opening.

He was probably close to two and a half meters tall. On top of that, his body was covered in rock-like, bulging muscles, making him look rugged and sturdy at first glance. His clothes were strangely reddish, and fang-like protrusions jutted upward from his tightly closed mouth. On his arms, which were as thick as logs, there were ominous devices like armlets or shackles. With the power of these devices, he had made his way here through his own unique route.

This man with a demonic appearance was TR10009 Iron Tager. He was a cyborg soldier created with special gene manipulation, belonging to Sector Seven - a research institution that, while originally within the NOL, broke away due to a decisive difference in policy and became independent to change the world with its own values.

Escaping from the cramped hole, Tager found the white-clad man who had created a magnificent crack in the wall and collapsed at the end of the corridor. He put his equally huge hand to his ear.

A small electronic sound. When the communication connected, he calmly reported to his superior on the other side.

"Found him. Retrieving him immediately."

"Alright. Be careful. It would be unbearable if he escaped again." From the other side of the communicator attached to his ear, a woman's voice, slightly irritated, could be heard. The voice belonged to Kokonoe, a researcher at Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

"Seriously... after all the trouble we went through to pull him up from the Boundary, he's always doing whatever he wants."

"What do you want to do? Return immediately?"

"No, just send him over here with the transfer device first. You have two more jobs to do."

"Two?"

While asking, Tager began working beside the communication. What he took out was a device about the size of his palm. When activated, it recognized Hakumen, who showed no reaction at all. While monitoring his process, Kokonoe spoke from the other side of the communicator.

"One is to recover the devices scattered throughout Kagutsuchi to forcibly interfere with that man. You can remotely detonate them, but it took a considerable amount of time and effort to make them. Collect as many as you can."

"Understood. What's the other?"

"There's something I want you to see." Kokonoe's voice suddenly became heavy and somber. Unable to read that emotion, Tager hesitated about what to say. In the end, he returned the usual words.

"Understood. Please give me the instructions."

Without asking about the details or objecting to the vague instructions, he sent a submissive reply, and Tager finished preparing the device with a dexterity that seemed ill-suited to his large body and thick fingers.

"Transfer preparation complete."

"Understood."

The small device carried the white oni to Kokonoe, the developer, while Tager, who remained behind, began cleaning up to stabilize the surrounding dimensions and minimize the impact.

===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.

===Part 4===

Ragna couldn't remember how he got there.

His body, which should have fallen into the cauldron and been swallowed by the Boundary, was now slumped against the cold wall in a corner of the research facility under Kagutsuchi.
His rough breathing continued, and his head was still dizzy. His whole body was exhausted to the point where he already felt distant, and his arms and legs hung powerlessly. How long had he been like that?

At the calling voice, Ragna raised his eyelids, which he seemed to have closed at some point. There, as he had expected, was the soldier girl with blonde hair, wearing the soldier's uniform, her face contorted as if she was about to cry at any moment.

"Yo." Her face was so pathetic that Ragna gave a light chuckle and called out to her.

Instantly, Noel's face became even more pathetic and distorted, and she began crying uncontrollably, as if she couldn't bear it any longer.

"I'm glad. You're alive... you're alive..." Looking at the seated Ragna from the side, Noel supported him with both hands, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her body seemed ready to lose its strength from relief.

The dripping tears warmed Ragna's cheeks. Neither cold nor lukewarm, the drops of human body temperature were somewhat ticklish.

"You... I didn't notice because you were wearing a hat earlier... your hair's long." His mind wasn't working, and only his thoughts came out of his mouth.

As expected, or rather, as it should be, Noel, who had been crying until then, looked up sternly and began scolding him.

"T-this isn't the time for that! H-how worried do you think I was? You fell into such a strange place, and if you fell in there, you'd never be able to come back again!? And yet... and yet..."

Again, tears welled up and wet Noel's white cheeks.

Perhaps it was unintentional. Noel made fists with her trembling hands and hit Ragna in the chest, as if to vent her unbearable sadness and anger.

"Idiot... idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot idiot!!"

"Whoa, hey, that hurts, don't hit me!"

"But, but...!"

From there on, words no longer formed, and Noel slumped down, wiping away the overflowing tears with both hands, crying and screaming like a child. She did that for a while, wailing and sobbing at the top of her lungs. Then, suddenly, her tears subsided, and a slight weight leaned against Ragna's shoulder.

Ragna, who had been listening to "idiot" mixed with tears all this time, turned around and was utterly dumbfounded. No, it would be more accurate to say he was impressed.

Noel, who had been crying until just now, had completely relaxed her body and was leaning against his shoulder, fast asleep. Her long hair swayed and moved on her slender shoulders, following her breathing. Her eyes were swollen red from rubbing them so many times. Occasionally, mixed with her breathing, her thin chest bounced with sobbing breaths.

"She's crying even in her dreams? Seriously?" Ragna muttered, twisting his lips into a wry smile. "Still..."

Taking advantage of the fact that she was asleep, Ragna stared intently at Noel's face, which was leaning against him, and lowered his eyebrows.

"She really does look like her."

The two Prime Field Devices he had destroyed so far, and Nu from earlier, were of course similar, but this soldier girl was outstandingly similar to his sister, Saya.

That was why, when she showed such behavior... like a scene from a long time ago, he couldn't help but feel bewildered. He didn't know what kind of face he should make or how he should sit beside her.

As if interrupting such a drowsy time, the space in front of Ragna warped. The faint scent of a different fragrance and a pale, familiar face appeared by teleportation.

"You've worked hard. It was an unexpected conclusion that she would inherit the Azure."

A girl with crimson eyes, her black dress and golden hair dancing in the gently swirling wind. It was Rachel Alucard. However, her familiars, Nago and Gii, whom she always brought with her, were nowhere to be seen. She was unusually alone.

"You, rabbit!?"

Not expecting her to appear in such a place, Ragna tried to get up as if he had been bounced. But before he could completely separate his back from the wall, Rachel put her index finger to her lips and silenced the boorish man.

"Be quiet. She'll wake up."

"But..." At Rachel's words, which sounded like a reprimand, Ragna gasped and closed his mouth. He awkwardly glanced sideways, feeling embarrassed, but the face leaning against him remained unchanged, still fast asleep without any tension. He involuntarily let out a sigh, wondering why he was being so considerate.

Rachel, who had been watching the series of his gestures and changes in expression, raised her lips with a mix of astonishment under her pressed index finger.

"Honestly, you're an unpredictable man. You don't have a single bit of etiquette towards a lady."

"Shut up.I don't care about that. More importantly, what's going on this time? And what were you talking about just now, 'inheriting the Azure'?"

''(You're talking to me like I'm a child or an idiot.)'' Ragna cursed inwardly, glaring up at Rachel.

The Azure. Was it different from the "Azure Grimoire"? Then there was the word "inherit." He didn't understand the meaning at all.

"Oh, you were listening properly. I'm impressed."

But she knew he didn't understand the meaning. Ragna hunched over and lowered his head at the red eyes that seemed to read his mind.

"Well, thanks. Never mind that, just explain it to me quickly. But make it as easy to understand as possible. Right now, my head is pretty foggy, so if you talk about something difficult, I won't be able to understand it as well as usual."

"You're saying you understand a little bit normally, then?"

"I do a little bit, don't I!" Ragna raised his voice as if biting back, and Rachel showed him her index finger with a "shush" gesture. That made Ragna choke and pull back. He was extremely displeased with himself for doing so.

Rachel took a breath, looked at Noel with an unusually gentle gaze, and opened her mouth.

"Inheriting the Azure means, in other words, succeeding the Azure. This child was chosen as the true Successor of the Azure."

"This child... you mean her?" Ragna glanced at the girl who was leaning on his shoulder, sleeping peacefully and snoring.

"Yes, that's right. By this child helping you, after you fell into the cauldron, the world was able to escape from the eternally continuing loop." After this introduction, Rachel began to speak slowly, as if telling an old tale. "The world, you know, has repeated the same history... the same story over and over and over again."

It was a story. A story that Rachel, who had lived for a long time, had been watching with her red eyes.

It began a hundred years ago, always, from the point when a monster called the Black Beast appeared from the Boundary.

The Black Beast would eventually be defeated by six heroes, and the world would gradually heal its wounded civilization over a hundred years.

And now, on December 31, 2199, Ragna appeared in the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, failed to destroy the underground cauldron, and by falling into the cauldron with the Prime Field Device... the world would be reset.

And again, on December 31, 2099, the Black Beast was born, the Six Heroes defeated it, humanity prospered again, and Ragna appeared in Kagutsuchi again.

Rachel didn't know how many times she had repeated that hundred years. But after seeing those hundred years many times, she had now witnessed the first time that Ragna didn't fall into the cauldron, welcoming the year 2200.

"Is that... something amazing?" Ragna asked. He understood vaguely, but he still didn't really understand. Rachel playfully shrugged her shoulders.

"Well, it depends. If you think it's amazing, it's amazing, and if you think it's normal, it's normal."

"That's why I told you to stop being so incomprehensible..."

He was getting more and more confused.

As Ragna grumbled and scratched his head, Rachel narrowed her eyes and gazed at him. Then she crouched down in front of the sleeping Noel and continued while looking at her carefree sleeping face.

"To put it simply about the Successor of the Azure... well, how should I put it, it's like a new possibility born in the world. Without this child, the world would still be repeating the loop. This child showed the possibility of a new world... the possibility of the Azure. That's why the world was able to move forward."

"I still don't understand."

"You're an idiot."

"Shut up. But..."

He couldn't argue back. But Ragna looked down at Noel and lowered his eyebrows in trouble.

If this girl had given the world a future, then this girl had also given him a future at the same time. With these slender arms.

"I understand that she helped me a lot."

Despite being a soldier with a fine gun, she was a weak girl who suddenly became unable to move and cowered in fear in front of Nu.

And yet, when Ragna was about to fall into the cauldron, she somehow ran out and reached out her hand, knowing it was reckless.

She must have a cowardly personality. She must have been scared at that time. Her legs must have been trembling, and she must have felt like her heart was about to stop when she thought about what would happen if she fell.

But this soldier... Noel, reached out her hand.

Rachel let out a sigh at Ragna's words. But it was different from being exasperated or making fun of him; it felt like a warmer sigh.

"It's no use talking about anything more difficult than this. You wouldn't understand it right now. So, let's stop here. I'll explain again when we have another chance... to that child as well."

Rachel's face as she spoke was somewhat joyful. Ragna was impressed that she could make such a face. It was a rare and precious face that he didn't often see.

However, as Ragna blinked a few times, Rachel returned to her usual composed vampire princess expression, smoothed out her dress, and stood up. The swirling scent of roses made him forget that it was a cramped underground research lab.

"Stay there and rest for a while longer. I have some business to take care of. When I return, I'll send you up to the surface."

"You're being quite kind today."

Until now, even if she knew that Ragna was going to raid the branch, she had never once helped him escape or infiltrate. Ragna said it jokingly, intending it as a little revenge for his everyday grievances.

Letting her two-tied golden hair flutter in the swirling wind, Rachel smiled gracefully within the rose-colored magic circle she had deployed. As if saying she would generously forgive Ragna's remark.

"Be grateful and crawl." With a cheerful tone, Rachel vanished with the sound of the wind blowing.

Only Ragna and Noel were left behind.

Noel's tears in her dream seemed to have stopped, and she was now just sleeping soundly and peacefully. She probably wouldn't wake up for a while.

Even if Rachel hadn't told him to, it seemed he would be forced to stay in this position for a while longer.

"...Well, not that I could move right away anyway."

His whole body felt heavy with immense fatigue and deep wounds. Most of all, he was drained and didn't think he could stand.

He couldn't stay by Noel's side for too long because of the Azure Grimoire's insatiable hunger for life force, but...

A little longer should be alright.

Ragna gently repositioned Noel's head, which was about to slip off his shoulder, then let out a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling.

===Part 5===

A rose-scented wind swept through.

With the moon, filled with light to the brim of a silver basin, behind her, Rachel was in the night sky. High, high up. So high she almost reached the moon.

Below her, she could see the vast expanse of land and the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The summit of the NOL branch, which had conquered the top of the high mountain, was a lovely miniature far below from Rachel's current position.

Not a single person could be seen even as dots.

Commanding the night wind that raged at such a high altitude, Rachel looked up. There was only a deep, dark night. But what Rachel was looking at was even beyond that, the end of the sky beyond this planet, the universe.

There, something nostalgic for Rachel was floating.

Could it be seen in her wide open eyes? Far enough away to see the land below as a planet, a giant coffin floating in the sea of space was opening its mouth, trying to awaken the giant sleeping inside.

The giant, bound by the coffin and sealed too firmly, once had a form like a human shadow. But now, as it was being awakened and emerging from the coffin, its body was like an assembly of countless magical patterns and alchemical devices.

In its center, several magic circles floated up. They began to rotate one after another, like gears influencing each other, and energy rapidly gathered in the center.

The target was the lower part overlooked by the coffin, a corner of the planet, a certain city. It was a huge Hierarchical City given the number thirteen.

A serious irregularity had occurred there. Therefore, it would be destroyed. That was the role given to this giant.

That was why Rachel was waiting for it in the sky.

A wind that didn't exist in space fluttered Rachel's dress, her hair, and her large ribbon. But the wind never hurt or disturbed Rachel.

Standing serenely on the rough but obedient wind, Rachel waited for it to approach.

"...It's here."

A sound was approaching. A phenomena weapon developed during the Dark War and sealed immediately after the end of the war due to its overwhelming power. Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi.

The irradiation... had begun.

At the same time, lightning-like light was born and began to rage around Rachel. With crackling sounds that seemed to scorch the night sky, in its center, Rachel reached out her hand and commanded.

"Zero-type restriction released, dimensional interference imaginary number form deployed... Connecting to the inherent Boundary... 'Tsukuyomi Unit,' activate."

In response to the girl's whispering call, the light surrounding her increased its intensity and raged wildly. The wind was also drawn in and raged, creating a storm zone around Rachel. It was as if a storm was raging only there.

Rachel remained motionless, staring upwards. The moment she perceived the beam of light that shot straight down to the ground, her vision was fixed on it.

At Rachel's gaze, an extraordinarily large magic circle was created in front of her. Its brilliance was equal to the moon that illuminated the night. In its center, the giant's beam, emitted from far away, struck as if being absorbed.

However, the light could only penetrate that far, up to the magic circle that Rachel deployed. The giant's light was blocked by the magic circle and exploded on the spot.

A roar echoed through the night. Light and heat flared up, burning the dark blue sky orange. But only the light scattered. The magic circle that Rachel created absorbed all the heat, the shock, all the power, on the spot.

Eventually, what had risen into the air lost its heat and melted away, and soon the night regained its tranquility. Waiting for the giant's unrefined light to converge easily, Rachel gracefully flicked her fingers and erased the magic circle into the moonlight.

In the night that was regaining its original colors as if nothing had happened, Rachel looked beyond the stars.

At heights that were too far to see from here, the giant who had failed to destroy the target would probably be losing power and returning to his coffin.

"Good night, Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi. You'll have four years to sleep soundly."

Until the next irradiation, the giant must accumulate power. At the earliest, four years. It would take longer if it's late.

That giant's light was a means to forcibly reset the world when it could not repeat for some reason.

But Rachel had just ruined that, too.

With this, the world had truly escaped from the repetition. It had returned to the flow of time that should have been.

"...Such an important destiny, being decided by only a few people. I'm a little envious." Circling in the sky, Rachel looked down at Kagutsuchi and quietly muttered.

Decisions, actions, fate, or coincidence that would change the world. For someone like herself, who could only watch the world's future from the outside, these things would be forever unrelated to her.

"Well then, I have to go pick up those children."

Even if they were contributors who saved the world, leaving them alone together forever would be somewhat irritating.

Suddenly, Rachel's expression lost its composure.

"This presence is..."

She had a bad feeling. That alone was enough for Rachel to hurry. Only when she sensed this presence at this very moment.

"To think that I would..." What a blunder.

Furrowing her narrow, raised eyebrows, Rachel hurriedly flew away with teleportation magic.

===Part 6===

The wide, inorganic underground facility was now completely silent.

The open cauldron was closed by Ragna, who had slept and somehow managed to move, by operating the machine appropriately. As a result, some of the instruments stopped responding, but in the end, it didn't matter since he was going to destroy this place and leave anyway.

Was there anything else to do? He couldn't come up with anything, and just stared at the closed cauldron for a while.

Hearing the sound of something moving and the sound of a thick jacket slipping off, Ragna turned his head. In front of him, about two people apart, Noel, who had been sleeping against the cold metal wall, was rubbing her eyes with both hands, still looking sleepy.

It must have fallen when she raised her head, which she had been resting behind her back. Ragna's red jacket, which he had offered as a blanket, was crumpled on her lap.

"You finally woke up." Ragna called out to Noel, with his elbows on his raised knees. He was the one who'd set the distance where to sit.

He had carried the girl's sleeping, defenseless face on his shoulder, but it was also strange to be staring at it, so he deliberately stared elsewhere. The girl's hair and breath occasionally brushed against him as she stirred, perhaps instead of rolling over, and he told himself not to react strangely to it and pretended to be calm.

That continued for several minutes, and Ragna gradually felt miserable for paying attention to such a thing, and finally left Noel under the guise of closing the open cauldron.

[[File:BB_CT2_293.jpg|frameless|right]]

Even if he could remain calm, what about Noel? If she were to wake up from her slumber and find Ragna's face right next to her...

It probably wasn't a reality she'd want to know, that she fell asleep leaning on the shoulder of a man who just appeared in her moment of need.

''(I don't want her to think I'm a pervert either.)''

He didn't need such an undeserved accusation.

Turning to Ragna's voice, Noel looked bewildered, alternating her gaze between the jacket on her lap and Ragna.

Ragna put his hand on the wall, lifted his heavy body, and went in front of Noel, snatching the jacket from her hand and putting it back on.

"You're..."

She seemed to be in the middle of trying to understand the situation. As Noel muttered blankly, Ragna handed her a blue hat, which was placed next to her along with the gun and holster, as a replacement for the jacket.

"Do you remember? You beat me up and called me an idiot, and then you fell asleep." He didn't say "on my shoulder." But Noel blushed and, hiding her face with the hat she was handed, apologized.

"I- I'm sorry! I was, well, I was confused- I mean- I'm really sorry for calling the person who saved me an idiot!"

Still hiding her face with the hat, she sat properly on the spot and repeatedly lowered her head as if crouching down.

She seemed to be safe and sound with no serious injuries. Ragna chuckled lightly.

"We were both saved, so you don't have to thank me."

"Oh, good! You're still here, Miss Noel Vermillion!"

Suddenly, the voice of a man Ragna didn't know jumped in.

Ragna turned around as if he had been bounced and gripped the sword he had lowered.

In front of the cauldron, which was now closed and only illuminated by dim lights, a man in a black suit was standing. How long had he been there, and how had he gotten here? Ragna felt a sense of unease due to the man's sudden appearance.

Next to Ragna, who was openly wary and on guard, Noel hurriedly ran in with a flustered look. Without even bothering to gather her hair, she put her hat on her head and straightened her posture.

"Captain Hazama! I'm sorry, I..."

With that one word, Ragna understood.

''(From the NOL... but... there's a strange atmosphere.)''

A part of him instinctively whispered danger to Ragna. There was a smell of dark schemes from this man.

"Oh, no, no, it's quite alright. I was worried that something might have happened since you hadn't come back in quite a while." The black-suited man, whom Noel called Hazama, put on a light, seemingly frivolous smile around his mouth, but kept his eyes hidden under his hat, and approached with a soothing gesture. With each step he took, the sound of his hard leather shoes echoed up to the ceiling.

When his feet stopped at a position that was still a little far to have a friendly conversation. Hazama removed the hat he was wearing with a flick of his finger and looked at Noel.

"By the way... Noel Vermillion."

The voice he spoke with suddenly changed its tone midway. Ominously, eerily. His narrow eyes, which were stretched out behind his long green hair, flickered. The color of his pupils was gold.

Abandoning his previous polite demeanor, Hazama suddenly pressed his wide hand against his chest with an insolent attitude, and gave Noel a deep smile.

"Look at me. Observe me very carefully with those eyes!"

"What... Hazama-san?" With a puzzled expression as if she didn't understand, Noel tilted her head, looking at Hazama as she was told. But her expression changed immediately.

She seemed to stiffen, and her eyes widened as if she'd seen something terrifying. Her unsteady feet took a step back, but her gaze remained fixed on the man before her, as if forbidden to look away.

"You're different. You're not Hazama-san! A black shadow... Who are you?" Noel asked in a trembling voice. Her eyes, which continued to stare without blinking, had changed to a clear blue before she knew it. In front of her blue gaze, "Hazama" smiled.

"Who am I? Me? I'm... Yuuki Terumi." He uttered a different name.

It was also a name that Ragna remembered. Yuuki Terumi. The name of the shadow that attacked, burned, killed, and plundered the church where Ragna had lived.

"You!" A surge of hatred exploded within him, and Ragna drew his sword and tried to slash at Hazama... no, Terumi.

But before Ragna could move, Noel's lips traced the name that had been spoken, in a daze.

"Yuuki... Terumi..."

The moment the faint voice clearly called out that name, Terumi grinned maliciously with a distorted smile, and at the same time, a whirlwind swirled behind Ragna and Noel.

"No! Noel, you mustn't observe that man!" Rachel, who had teleported there, raised her voice in a rare panic. But by that time, the atmosphere had already changed completely.

"Hyahahahahaha! You recognized me? You finally recognized me, this me? Hihhihihi, that's right, I am 'me'! I've finally regained it, thank you! As expected of the 'Successor of the Azure,' the Calamity Trigger!" Raising his arms to the sky and laughing loudly, Terumi's voice dyed the space with an ominousness that spread far and wide.

Even Ragna, who couldn't grasp the situation, could tell that something bad was happening.

Holding his drawn sword towards Terumi, Raguna stood to protect Noel behind him. Noel, still staring at Terumi, turned pale and hugged her trembling body.

"Hey, get a hold of yourself!"

"What is that? Black... Susano'o..."

"Hey!"

While muttering words, Noel shed tears from the corners of her eyes. Even so, she couldn't take her eyes off him as if she was being forced to. No matter how many times Ragna called her, it was the same.

"Damn it, that bastard!!"

''(If that's the case, then it's this way.)''

Ragna swung the sword in his hand widely.

[[File:BB_CT2_299.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Ragna, stop!" Rachel's voice didn't reach him. He continued running as he was, swinging his sword down at Terumi, who was smiling without even defending himself. But the sword was easily caught by the casually raised arm of a black suit.

"Oh my, you're so stylish, Ragna-chan. How's your right arm doing? Oh, that's right, I cut it off, didn't I? Sorry, sorry, hahahaha!" Terumi laughed, not even flinching at Ragna's sword, which was swung with all his might. Ragna glared at Terumi's gleeful face, his murderous intent growing as he put more weight into the sword.

Terumi's free hand moved slightly. His lips curled into a twisted smile, and he shouted menacingly.

"Since we've reunited... I'll go ahead and tear off your left side too! Ouroboros!" In response to his call, Ragna heard the sound of chains moving from somewhere. The next moment, a chain shaped like a snake's jaw burst out from Hazama's shoulder.

"What?"

The target, as Terumi declared, was Ragna's left arm. But before the snake's head could bite into his flesh, the chain was grabbed by a giant arm that suddenly appeared from the side and was thrown away with brute force.

Both Ragna and Terumi shouted in surprise at the next intruder.

Standing in the middle of the distance they'd created by leaping back, was the giant who threw Terumi, chains and all. He was a tall, muscular figure, easily towering over them. His skin was unnaturally red, and his arm was fitted with a crude device. It was Tager, the cyborg soldier of Sector Seven.

As he turned towards Terumi, the communication line connected to Tager switched open, and the voice from the other side of the communicator, who wasn't there, echoed through the room.

"We finally meet... Yuuki Terumi!" The voice was a low and spirited female voice, its hostility clear even though there was no one there... It belonged to Kokonoe, the researcher of Sector Seven and Tager's creator.

Terumi's expression immediately twisted in disgust.

"That voice... Kokonoe? Tch, you're all coming out in droves, aren't you? Don't you people have anything better to do?"

"Shut up! Now that you've shown yourself, I'll definitely kill you!"

"Hmph, kill me? You? Hah, don't make me laugh! If you can do it, then try it!"

If the woman on the other side of the communicator raised her voice, Terumi would further provoke her as if mocking her.

Meanwhile, Tager calmly took a stance, never rushing in and carefully observing the situation. He stood as a wall between Kokonoe, Ragna, and Terumi.

Rachel, who had lightly kicked off the floor, flew down and landed in front of the red giant. Her crimson eyes stared piercingly straight at Terumi.

"You're in a good mood as soon as you're observed. If you want to play that much, I wouldn't mind being your opponent... 'Boy'."

The smile on her lips was somewhat cruel, carrying something colder than killing intent. The oppressive aura she exuded was disproportionate to her appearance as a young girl, intimidating not only Terumi in front of her but everyone around her.

It was Terumi who decided to leave the pressure first.

"Oh, scary, scary... I can't afford to fail here, now that I've finally fused with the vessel." Chuckling as his thin shoulders shook, Terumi lowered his body and leapt away.

While still low to the ground, he picked up a hat that was lying near Tager's feet, then moved to the lid of the cauldron.

"Kukuku, I don't like it, but I'll go along with your suggestion. Let's not touch each other's pieces and retreat for now. But..."

The chain he released upwards grabbed the void, pulling up the slender figure of Hazama, who called himself Terumi.

"I'll show you a special show soon, so wash your neck and look forward to it, you damn vampire!! Hyahahahahahahahaha!!"

Using the snake's head of the chain as a foothold, Terumi scattered his violent laughter and disappeared from the underground space.

Once his presence was gone, Rachel flicked her dress, dispelling the extraordinary aura she had been exuding. Finally, a proper, non-threatening air returned there.

"Ugh, ah..."

Perhaps due to the release of tension, or perhaps because Terumi had disappeared, Noel's body suddenly lost strength, as if a string had been cut. Just as she was about to collapse, Ragna caught her unsteady body in his arms.

"Whoa... that was close."

"S-sorry..." Her face was pale and the strength in her grip on his arm was weak, barely enough to keep her standing. Even so, Noel finally seemed to be responding normally. For the time being, Ragna was relieved about that.

But soon the next situation approached.

It was as if the rocky mountain that supported Kagutsuchi was trembling, and the surroundings began to shake. The source of the tremor immediately made itself known. Part of the mountain of equipment that was holding the cauldron exploded into flames.

"Whoa!?"

"Kyah!"

As soon as the explosion occurred, an even larger tremor shook the ground beneath Ragna and the others, causing Noel to collapse and sit down.

Ragna took her arm and pulled her up, making her stand. The next explosion, which occurred as if chasing after them, broke the ceiling and caused rubble to fall.

Some of it hit the device, causing another explosion.

"There's a serious malfunction in the cauldron's control system. This was caused by the aftereffects of the rampage here, as well as the severe damage to its machinery. The circuits inside the device are probably all short-circuited. It seems that some of them have exploded."

Tager reported calmly, without any sign of panic despite the situation, listing the results of his visual analysis.

"More importantly, if we stay here, we'll be crushed!" Ragna shouts roughly, slightly irritated by his calmness. He had some idea about the serious malfunction of the machine.

Kokonoe's unpleasant voice emerged from the still open communicator.

"Tager, evacuate."

"Understood. But what about the others? With the current output, I can barely transfer myself." The giant cyborg looked at the other three with concern through his opaque sunglasses.

Rachel gave a sarcastic yet elegant bow to Tager.

"Don't worry, I'm better at teleportation than your master." As soon as she said that, Rachel formed a rose-colored magic circle around herself, including Ragna and Noel. A colorful wind blew from nowhere, scattering the fragrant aroma of roses around them.

"I see. My apologies."

"Don't worry about it... Well then, Kokonoe, I'll be going ahead."

After saying a word to Tager, who pushed up his sunglasses with his rough fingers, and Kokonoe, who was on the other side of the communicator, Rachel waved her hand in the air, adorned with luxurious lace.

Rachel, who was in the center of the magic circle, Noel, who couldn't stand due to the tremors of the explosion, and Ragna, who was holding her up and supporting her.

The three of them teleported away from the collapsing underground, accompanied by the sweet scent of roses.

'''January 1, 2200 - Dawn'''

Shortly after the new year began.

The sky was still the color of night, and only a part of the eastern sky had begun to prepare for the morning.

A violent tremor shook the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

The large-scale explosion that occurred deep underground quickly spread, tearing and shattering various parts of Kagutsuchi, even destroying the city...

And as the night fully gave way to day, and the sun began to rise in the sky, illuminating the surroundings.

Kagutsuchi was exposing its tragically damaged appearance in the first morning of the new year.

News ran through Kagutsuchi that day.

The explosion that suddenly occurred in the middle of the night was the work of the infamous criminal, the most wanted man with the highest bounty in history, the "Grim Reaper" Ragna the Bloodedge, who had attacked the branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium...

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2

2025-06-23T01:06:30Z

Br3ndan5:

==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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 1| Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 3| Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 4

2025-06-23T01:05:04Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 4: Memorable church — Siblings==
===Part 1===

'''December 31, 2199 - 20:57'''

Night.

The sun was setting, the moon was waxing, the sky was completely repainted, and Kagutsuchi was preparing for a special night that would mark the end of another year in just a few hours.

The moon hanging in the deep-colored night sky was a full moon. Like a hole poked in the sky, the perfectly round light looked down on the ground.

Looking up at that moon, Ragna was very close to the Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch.

Beneath his white bangs, he narrowed his green and red eyes, glaring at the moon. He glared at the NOL's branch, which floated fantastically in the moonlight.

The branch stood there with a magnificent presence, befitting its role in ruling over the upper city streets. Illuminated by lights from below, it resembled three swords raised towards the heavens, with the central one towering particularly high, its tip pointing towards the moonlit night.

This was the place. That NOL branch, with its clean face looking down on the city with a composed expression. In its deepest part, hidden deep underground, was the "'cauldron" that Ragna should aim for, that he should destroy.

As it had been until now, Ragna didn't devise strategies to infiltrate the branch. He always entered from the front entrance. He went in proudly, as if it was natural, was inevitably stopped, and then began beating down its reckless soldiers.

Unlike when entering the city, only NOL personnel were in the branch at night. He could rampage to his heart's content, without any reservations.

The NOL. A hateful, unbearably hateful name. The one that stole everything from him. This time he would steal everything from them.

Ragna, who had unknowingly clenched his fist, unclenched it and started walking.

The cool night air touched his cheeks. The upper levels were quite far from the ground, so the wind that occasionally blew was strong and unceremonious.

While his hair was sometimes roughly ruffled by the wind, Ragna frowned at the growing sensation as he advanced. It was sticky, like it was clinging to the inside of his head or chest. He felt like it had been gradually getting worse since last night.

Haven't I done the same thing before?

If this was what they called déjà vu, then the déjà vu that Ragna had felt until now was truly insignificant. It was as if unknown memories were stored somewhere in his brain, and only fragments of them were being shown to him.

Of course, the act of aiming for the branch and destroying the cauldron itself was something that Ragna had repeated many times already. So perhaps it was just his tired mind making a mistake.

But even if he tried to dismiss it like that, there was still a feeling that he couldn't easily wipe away.

"Tch… annoying." Even though he was just walking, he wanted to silence his head, which immediately said, "This happened before," and so on.

He had never come to Kagutsuchi, and walking through the upper levels aiming for the branch was something he always did. What was strange about that?

Standing amidst the hazy feeling, Ragna scratched his hair in a frenzy. He hated things that were unclear like this. It irritated him.

Suddenly, another wind blew. But that wind was different from the ones he had felt so far in the upper levels. It smelled like roses.

"Rabbit?"

Along with the wind that blew from behind him to the front and danced around Ragna's destination, a girl in a black dress appeared. Despite her usual sudden appearance, Ragna was strangely not surprised at all. Somehow, he had a feeling that she would appear soon.

"Good evening." As always, holding her Nago umbrella and accompanied by her red rubber ball, Gii, Rachel gave Ragna a graceful smile that was uncharacteristic of a girl.

"What is it? Got some business with me?" Ragna stopped walking and spoke curtly, putting his hand behind his neck.

Somehow, Rachel's appearance seemed as if it had been planned in advance. If that was the case, then him going to the branch like this, even his coming to Kagutsuchi itself, seemed to be according to plan, and he felt inexplicably dissatisfied.

Perhaps surprised by Ragna's reaction, Rachel blinked her large, doll-like eyes several times.

"Oh, you're quite cold despite the big job ahead of you. You were more aggressive before."

When was "before"? Ragna couldn't immediately grasp it. Was it before Kagutsuchi, when he destroyed the branch? Or was it when they met near Orient Town yesterday afternoon?

Or was it a different "before" altogether?

"It's none of your business. I've got my own problems." Ragna wondered if Rachel had seen through everything about this strange, inexplicable feeling he had been harboring. He ignored his own thoughts and spat the words towards the ground.

The black umbrella left Rachel's hand and wriggled, and Nago transformed into its original form, a large cat, and grinned.

"Being all delicate. It doesn't suit you at all." As Nago laughed, Gii, hiding behind Rachel, also chuckled mockingly.

"He's probably just hungry again. He hasn't eaten anything decent since then, has he~?"

Normally, he would get irritated by the familiars' lighthearted remarks and either yell at them or hit them. But right now, the sticky feeling of déjà vu was more concerning, and he wasn't really in the mood.

"Tch. Still as annoying as ever." Even his curses didn't have much bite.

Nago laid down on the ground in a cat-like posture, looking at Ragna with his huge eyes.

"Oh my, you're really not energetic. No fun at all~"

"It's not like that. It's just… what do you call it?" He couldn't find the right words to connect and convey what he was feeling.

Rachel often belittled him, calling him dull, but Ragna, as if scolding himself for his truly dull thought process, ruffled his hair messily.

"Ah, damn it, never mind me! More importantly, what do you want? If you don't have any business, go home already!" He didn't want to be any more irritated than this when he was about to infiltrate enemy territory.

But there was no way that Rachel would listen to such a request from Ragna. While twirling her long hair with her fingertips, her intelligent and arrogant crimson eyes made a look of exasperation.

"I thought you were unusually calm, but it seems you're just distracted. If you're like that, you'll get stabbed again by that child you're about to meet."

"That child I'm about to meet?"

Rachel once again spoke in a meaningful way. Disliking that, Ragna frowned and asked, but immediately sensed something.

"Could it be… Jin?"

He had heard that Jin fought in the Ikaruga Civil War as a soldier of the NOL and became a hero. The Hero of Ikaruga, and the wielder of the Nox Nyctores, Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa.

As if amused that Ragna had guessed correctly, Rachel, with a hint of something lingering in her large eyes, neither nodded nor shook her head, but opened her mouth.

"What I want is… I have something I want to ask you."

"...Why are you being so formal?"

"Ragna." As if silencing the howling wind, Rachel's wind scattered the scent of roses, swallowing the surrounding wind sounds. Rachel's flowing golden hair danced like ribbons, eventually falling onto her shoulders. "Why do you aim for the Cauldron?"

The question had a strange resonance. Ragna grimaced suspiciously. He had just been asked a similar question yesterday.

While directing a searching gaze towards Rachel's eyes, which were much lower than his own, Ragna repeated the same answer.

"Because I don't like it. That's why I'll destroy it... What else do you want me to answer?"

Rachel's way of asking questions seemed like a mean-spirited trick, as if she wouldn't stop asking until she got a specific answer.

Rachel put her index finger to her red lips, like rose petals, and let out a chuckle.

"That's a secret." She didn't deny that she had such an intention.

Ragna was surprised, which was rare. Usually, at this point, he'd receive a barrage of insults that would make him think he shouldn't have pried any further, and in the end, it would be glossed over without him really understanding.

Rachel waved her white fingers in the air, as if brushing something away.

"My business is finished. You can go, Ragna."

Saying that, she beckoned to Nago, turning the cat back into an umbrella and holding it. In the shadow of the umbrella that blocked the dazzling moonlight, Rachel seemed to show a fleetingly lonely expression... or so it seemed. At least, that's how it appeared to Ragna's eyes, if only for an instant.

"Rachel." Thinking such a thing, her name involuntarily spilled from his mouth.

"What is it?" Raising the angle of the umbrella just a little, Rachel responded with her usual leisurely smile.

Ragna hesitated for a few seconds, wondering what to ask. But he quickly gave up on finding the right words and asked as he thought.

"That question you just asked, have you asked me before?"

"Are you stupid? I asked you yesterday afternoon."

"I know that. I'm not talking about then... what I'm trying to say is, before that."

"Are you talking about when you were little?"

"No."

That's not it. What he wanted to say was too abstract.

Rachel, with a capricious air, waited for him on the spot while Ragna restlessly scratched his head, busily moving his hands up and down, and struggled with his lips.

"I can't put it into words well, but... I feel like something similar happened before. When I was on my way to the Kagutsuchi branch, you asked me that question... Did something like that happen?"

Ragna was aware that he was asking something strange. He was certain that this was the first time he had come to Kagutsuchi, and therefore, even stepping into the upper levels of Kagutsuchi was a first for him last night. Even so, he was asking if she had asked him the same question here before.

He wondered if she would tease him, saying he had a dream or something. Or perhaps he would get her usual insults.

But to Ragna, who was prepared to be thoroughly told off, Rachel showed an expression as if her eyes had widened in surprise. Then, with a gentle smile, as if releasing the strength from her shoulders, she softly smiled.

"Well, I wonder. If you think it happened, then it happened... and if you don't think it happened, then it didn't happen, right?"

Although her attitude was softer than usual, the words that came back were like a riddle, typical of Rachel.

"Huh? What do you mean? Did it happen? Or didn't it?" He had asked the question himself without really understanding it, and with Rachel's answer, he understood even less. As the heat between Ragna's eyebrows deepened, Rachel chuckled as if amused by it.

"That's something you can decide, Ragna."

"I don't understand..."

At the very least, he wanted her to say yes or no. Since Rachel had never shown such kindness before, perhaps it was wrong to expect it.

Ragna let out an impatient sigh and bared his fangs. Looking at that, Rachel lightly kicked the ground. Carrying an overwhelmingly dense scent of roses, Rachel's body floated into the air.

Rachel, standing in a composed pose with her umbrella held high above Ragna, moved her gaze as if urging him to the bridge-like passage leading to the branch.

"Come on, go now. If you dawdle around here like this, you'll accidentally miss the change of day."

In this situation, even if he persisted, Rachel probably wouldn't answer his question. Sensing this from his past experiences, Ragna let out a sigh of resignation, dropped his shoulders, and started walking listlessly.

"I know that without you telling me. See ya."

"Yes, goodbye, Ragna. And... don't forget."

"Forget what? ...Ah, no." Ragna, who had already started walking, looked up at Rachel over his shoulder, stuck his finger in his ear as if annoyed, and said,"That thing, right? 'Never think that the Azure Grimoire is your own power'..."

At Ragna's words, Rachel smiled. Like a red rose blooming from a bud.

Realizing there would be no further reply, Ragna crossed the bridge, adjusting the sword hanging at his waist so that it would be easy to draw.

If he went through the bridge-shaped passage, the front entrance of the NOL's Kagutsuchi branch would be ahead. During the day, many soldiers and residents with business at the branch come and go.

But at this hour, there was no one there. Or rather, there were too few people.

It was strange that not a single soldier could be seen. There was no sign of the barrier magic that should have been stretched out across the road for crime prevention. It was different from the branch he knew. Ragna quickened his pace, feeling a tingling unease and abnormality.

Rachel, high above in the sky, watched him with the moon behind her.

What lit up in her chest was not despair this time. Nor was it resignation. It was... a small…

"...To think you'd make me have even a sliver of expectation. You've come up with an interesting scheme, Ragna."

Narrowing her crimson eyes, raising her red rose lips in a good mood, Rachel saw off the red jacket figure hurrying along the passage far below.

"God keeps repeating endless dreams... hundreds, thousands of times the same dream," Rachel said, as if singing.

Yes, she had repeated it over and over again. She had spent countless nights. The end of the year with the full moon in Kagutsuchi.

Now, the final chapter was about to begin.

This time, the curtain might fall with a slightly different production than usual. Even if it had the same ending, if there was even one thing that caught her eye, she couldn't miss it.

Rachel deployed a teleportation magic in the sky, scattered the fragrance of roses, and disappeared from the spot.

===Part 2===

'''December 31, 2199 - 21:00'''

The Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch is entered by crossing a bridge-shaped passage illuminated by pale lights, and passing through the front entrance located beyond.

In front of the front entrance, barrier magic was set up to keep out outsiders, and its power was such that it would turn anyone unrelated to ashes in an instant. Therefore, in order to enter, even a soldier had to state their identity in front of it.

But for some reason, there were no guards on watch at the branch tonight, and the barrier magic had also disappeared. Even if one entered, there wasn't a single soldier to be found.

There was no damage to the front entrance door, and there was no sign that someone had forced it open and broken through. It wasn't attacked by anyone.

What showed this more than the disappeared barrier and the undamaged door was the inside of the branch. There were no scratches on the floor or walls. The furniture was in its usual position, and not a single tear was on the carpet or curtains. Even so, the inside of the branch was completely deserted.

No one was there. There wasn't even a faint murmur or a slight trace of human presence. Not even a single corpse.

If this abnormal situation was caused by an attack, how meticulous and obsessively persistent would the attacker be? It would be comically thorough to eliminate people from the branch and then disappear themselves.

But so what? Such a thing was trivial.

For Jin Kisaragi, who had infiltrated the branch with the intent to kill anyone who got in his way, the unexplained disappearance of the soldiers was of no concern. It was rather fortunate that troublesome things were taken care of without him knowing.

Now he could wait without worrying about anything.

He could fight without being disturbed by anything.

He could kill.

That man.

Going further into the entrance, the view opened up dazzlingly, and he came to a place called the sanctuary, a high ceilinged atrium. Circular passages stacked several floors high uniformly surrounded and faced a huge and solemn statue of a goddess.

The white, immaculate figure was radiant and beautiful, attracting the worship of many soldiers.

The entire area, including the sanctuary, never sank into darkness like the city at night. This was because countless magic circles deployed above the goddess statue constantly cast light in a white, divine color on the goddess statue and on each floor of the branch overlooked by the goddess.

The soft, veil-like light alone made the place look extremely divine... it must have dazzled many eyes.

Jin looked down at the space provided straight ahead from the entrance, where such light poured down from directly in front, from the top of a staircase one step up.

The top of the stairs was in the shadow of a thick pillar, and the light-filled space viewed from there looked even more brilliant.

He was waiting for someone to appear in that light.

Red jacket, white hair, wielding a sword and carrying a grimoire around his neck, his eyes red on the right and green on the left. The one Jin waited an eternity for, who he could imagine in much finer detail than the NOL's ridiculous information network.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

It would be soon. A little later than him, he would appear here... yes, he should appear in that stage of light.

He was so impatient, so impatient for that moment.

Ah, look. Conveniently, there was no one in the branch, so there was no unnecessary noise. That's why he could hear it well.

The sound of a man's footsteps echoing from the entrance down the corridor, making the deserted branch feel eerie, walking towards here with large strides.

How many more steps? Shall we count? Look, a little more, just a little more. He's getting closer. Six more steps and his toes will be visible. Four more steps and his whole body will be visible.

Two steps. One step.

There, he found him.

The eye-catching red jacket and pure white hair.

"Brother..." The moment he caught sight of that figure, a large tremor shook the depths of his body. Only the impulse from within his stomach seemed to leap out and slash. But no, that's not right. Because the one who would kill him...

"It's me!" He swayed forward, his heel clicking on the cold floor. The hard sound echoed, and Ragna turned around at that sound.

At the same time, Jin kicked the floor and leapt down from the top of the stairs, drawing Yukianesa in his hand—

The memories of the dazzling sunlight are like a deeply thrust knife.

Jin doesn't remember much about his childhood.

He only remembered fragments of it, like an album with only parts of scenes cut out and arranged. Happy memories, kind memories... sad memories, scary memories. Painful memories, agonizing memories, bitter memories. None of which he really wanted to see, so he kept them securely in a box deep within his brain and locked it.

Even so, the memories insist from inside the box. They whisper not to his consciousness but to his unconsciousness, distorting his emotions as if running extra horizontal threads.

Because they are lonely memories. Every single one of them, they were always lonely memories.

The high-pitched sound of a ''kaan'' was the sound of the wooden branches they clashed with, repelled by the force.

The branch he gripped in his hand was of a moderate length and moderate weight. It was something he found and picked up in the forest, and while it was in the hands of the still young boys, it was not just a branch but a famous sword.

On a fine noon, the sun warmly watched over the fruitful forest and the meadow that spread next to it, and the 'Church of the Ark' that stood there.

The space between the church and the forest was the perfect match field for the two boys living in the church. Once they finished their daily task of picking up firewood, they would take the special sword they found along the way and have a mock sword fight. They had never learned swordsmanship, so they imagined the many brave warriors and heroes that appeared in the many stories they heard from the sister, and acted like them.

Sometimes they were a hero who defeated a giant dragon with a magic sword, sometimes they were a knight who galloped through the battlefield fighting against a large army, sometimes they were a warrior who saved a country with his bravery, sometimes they were six heroes who fought through a giant monster to save the world.

But always, it was the older brother who ultimately won.

"Ugh!"

The vibration of the strongly repelled branch... or rather, his beloved sword, traveled through his arm, and Jin, who was still only ten years old or so at this time, staggered backward as if tripping. Before he could take even a few steps back, his feet got tangled, and he fell over.

The ground was a soft carpet of grass, so it didn't hurt much. Even so, while he rubbed his bottom that had hit the ground and pretended to be in pain, his brother hurriedly threw away his sword and rushed over, calling out "Brother."

Even though it was Jin who got carried away and forgot to control his strength, his brother would give a wry smile, saying "What are you falling down for?" and then reach out his hand to Jin, who was still flipped over.

"My foot got stuck." Happy at the hand and gaze directed straight at him, Jin tried to grab his brother's hand with a shy smile.

But at that moment...

"''Cough''... "

A little distance away, a girl who had been sitting near the church, watching the match between his brother and Jin, suddenly hunched over and started coughing.

"''Cough, cough''... haa, haa..." Shaking her chest and shrinking her small body, the girl hunched over as if holding down her chest.

His brother, who had turned back at the sound of the first cough, hurriedly ran towards the girl, noticing her abnormality.

"Saya! Are you okay?!"

His brother rushed to the girl, supporting her slender shoulders and rubbing her thin back. Not with the roughness he had when he repelled the wooden sword, but with a gentle touch, as if handling something very precious.

"''Cough''... it hurts... brother... ''cough cough''..."

"It's okay, breathe slowly. Here... breathe in... breathe out. That's right. I'll carry you to bed right away." Saying that, his brother easily picked up the girl's small body and went back into the church. Soon, the hurried voice of the sister could be heard from inside.

"Oh my, that's terrible. I was careless because her fever had gone down. Let her sleep in her room, Ragna. I'll get a towel and water right away."

"Yeah, I understand... Here, don't cry, Saya. It'll be okay. Me and the sister are here." The sound of the sister's footsteps rushing around busily. The sound of his brother's footsteps walking carefully to the children's room, being careful not to drop her.

Jin had been watching that scene all along. Jin had been listening to that sound all along. On the soft grassland, he had been sitting flipped over, listening all along.

After staying like that silently for a while, and eventually getting up without anyone's help, Jin returned to the church alone.

When he entered from the back door, the kitchen was right there. In the kitchen, the sister was making something warm. While he was peeking secretly from the shadows, the sister noticed Jin, perhaps hearing some sound, turned around and smiled at him, saying:

"Welcome back, Jin. Lunch will be ready soon, so can you call Ragna? I think he's with Saya."

"...Yeah." He didn't really want to go. But since the sister asked him, he couldn't refuse, so Jin nodded meekly and headed to the children's room.

The children's room was close by. So Jin quickly reached his destination, and secretly peeked inside through the gap in the half-open door.

Warm light from outside was shining through the window with white curtains, and the room was bright. On the bed by the window, his sister was lying down with a blanket and comforter up to her shoulders. Beside her, his brother was sitting on a chair, watching over her.

"Don't worry, you'll get better soon. I'm here, so rest assured and get some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah... brother."

A gentle voice and a spoiled voice.

His brother was stroking his sister's head. His sister narrowed her eyes happily at that hand, and smiled blissfully.

Jin looked at his own hand beyond the door. The hand that was reached out and was supposed to be held back and helped up… was cold.

It was cold.

The high-pitched ''kiin'' was the sound of clashing swords, repelled by the weak force.

In Jin's hand was the ice sword, Yukianesa. Facing him was the man with the red jacket and white hair, Ragna, holding his beloved sword with its wide, thick blade. Orange sparks scattered between them as they clashed, mixing with the light pouring down from the high ceiling and disappearing.

Jin's slashing attacks, unleashed in quick succession, were one, two, three. Diagonally, diagonally, horizontally. Ragna's sword blocked and parried each of them, repelling them with a seemingly waning strength.

How long had they been repeating this exchange? From the very first blow, Jin, wielding his sword, shouted gleefully as he pressed towards Ragna, evaded the counterattacks, retreated again, and then rushed in again.

"Hahaha! What's wrong, brother? Come at me more seriously. Otherwise... it won't be fun!"

Ragna used his sword as a shield to withstand Jin's continuous slashes, which intended to cut him to pieces. Matching the last strike, he parried the sword and repelled it strongly, then retreated to create distance. He couldn't keep taking those attacks endlessly.

"Jin... you'd better stop messing around!" Ragna roared, his body trembling with anger. Closing the distance with a growl and a light leap, Ragna swung his sword high and brought it down towards Jin with all his might.

Even the sound of it cutting through the air was violent. If he took it head-on, his arm would be numbed.

Jin evaded the heavy slash with minimal movement. But he was too close. The wind pressure shook his golden hair along with his head, causing a slight dizziness. Despite this, he kicked high towards Ragna's head.

Ragna's head was also shaken greatly by the tip of the colliding boot, and Ragna and Jin both staggered back a few steps, holding their heads.

"Tch... kuku... it hurts. I'm dizzy even though it didn't hit... You really are amazing, brother." While shaking his head to clear his blurred vision, Jin moved his shoulder as if shaking it off, letting out a twisted laugh. Ragna, also shaking his head to regain his senses, glared at him.

"Don't laugh, you bastard." The voice he spat out was hot, as if it was about to burn from inside his stomach. He thought that if it did burn, he would just burn him to death as he was. While tightly gripping his sword, he left it to his instincts.

The root of Ragna's loss was his younger brother in front of him, wearing blue and white clothes and laughing. The madness that befell this man had distorted everything.

But Ragna's anger didn't reach him at all, and Jin laughed as innocently as ever.

The root of Jin's establishment was his older brother in front of him, wearing red and black clothes and raging. Only this man's existence gave everything to Jin.

"Ah, it's fun, brother... let's play more... let's kill each other more! Here, no one can disturb us... no one is here! Brother is my only brother! Only mine...!" Jin's scream, tearing his throat, had a terrible sound of madness. "Haha... that's right, my only brother... That's why I'll kill you, kill you, kill you... I'm the only one who can kill you, brother!!"

The disturbingly chaotic voice, no matter how many times it was repeated, only sounded to Ragna's ears like the sad ramblings of his crazed younger brother. He only became more and more angry, thinking that this madness had destroyed everything.

"Quit acting like a childish brat! Stop spouting nonsense and just drop dead already!"

Jin jumped in, kicked with his knee, and then desperately swung his sword at Ragna. Glaring down at Jin from a slightly higher position, Ragna angrily swung his sword.

"Tch!" The shock that ran through his body made Jin's arm numb. At that moment, Jin's face twisted into an insane grimace... yet, for some reason, it also seemed to hold a hint of a joyful smile.

In an instant, the scenery of the past flashed through Ragna's mind. He thought he heard his brother's voice, calling him sweetly.

"This..."

Hateful. Hateful. Hatred ran through Ragna's body. He hadn't forgotten the pain and despair when he was stabbed by his brother's sword, lying next to the burning church.

It was foul play to make such a brotherly face.

"You idiot!!"

Instead of swinging the sword he'd pulled back with all his might, Ragna dropped it. In its place, Ragna slammed his fist into Jin's stomach. A large amount of air escaped from Jin's throat with a dull impact. The force probably reached his bones. Ragna felt something hard break along with the flesh in his fist. He then struck Jin's face with the same arm, sending him flying.

"Gah!" Jin let out a crushed scream, his body flying away. He was violently slammed against the mirror-like polished corridor of the NOL's branch, bouncing twice before collapsing onto the floor. The impact caused Yukianesa to leave Jin's hand and roll to Ragna's feet.

"Gu... hah... geh..." The fallen Jin coughed distortedly. He was trying to get up, supporting himself with his arms. Beyond his disheveled golden hair, his green eyes were wide open with manic glee, staring at Ragna.

"S-still... not... not going to kill... me... I... have to... kill... you, brother..." He said breathlessly, putting his hand on the wall and dragging himself up. Leaning his back against the wall, Jin somehow managed to stand, and he wore a smile on his face, which was cut and covered in blood.

"Brother... I've always wanted to see you... I've been searching all this time."

If these words weren't heard in this place... with this expression, with this tone of voice, Ragna might have felt different emotions. But even at this point, the deranged aura from Jin's face didn't disappear, and his voice trembled with a small, cackling laugh.

"All this time... I've wanted... to kill you. Again, again and again, I'll kill you, kill you... Only I can liberate you, brother..." Jin spoke somewhat ecstatically and somewhat in agony. Even though he hadn't received any slashes, there was no doubt that he couldn't even breathe properly. The breath he inhaled trying to laugh didn't circulate well, and Jin coughed violently, spitting blood from his mouth.

Even so, Jin took a step forward, trying to approach him. As if to stop him, Ragna quickly walked towards Jin.

"Liberate me from what?" Ragna's voice was sharp with irritation. He felt like they'd had this kind of exchange before. In the same place, in the same way. What was this feeling? What was this emotion that remained somewhere in his head?

It was irritating. Perhaps he didn't understand anything. Perhaps he was just venting his anger on what was in front of him without understanding anything.

Following his instincts, Ragna grabbed Jin's swaying collar. Roughly pulling him closer, he forcefully slammed his forehead against his brother's forehead.

"Don't get cocky, you damn brat!"

"Ugh..." The sound of bones colliding shook Jin's consciousness greatly and made him dizzy.

Jin's green eyes, which had been fixed on Ragna until then, even while contorting in pain, became dark and clouded. His body lost its strength as if collapsing, and he fell to the ground when Ragna released him.

Ragna stared down at Jin, who was like a puppet with its strings cut, for a while. He could kill him now. He could stop his breath. Just like Jin had done to him once in the church, he could just stab him once in the back. He could even cut off his head.

Even if his head and body were connected, this brother would not experience the same hatred and sense of loss that Ragna had experienced. He wouldn't yearn for those days and lament that he wanted to protect them. He might not even regain his sanity and feel the slightest regret.

But... for some reason he hesitated.

''(...Hey, Sister.)''

Ragna kicked the Yukianesa that was rolling around, sending it far away. The forceful gesture was clearly an act of anger.

''(What should I do? What would you do...)''

Remembering the Sister who always strictly told him to always get along with his brothers, he picked up his own sword this time.

''(What would you do...)''

Ragna looked at Jin once more.

If he killed Jin here, the Sister would be angry. That person had a strange fixation on what a brother should be.

"...How ridiculous." It was ridiculous to think about it. "If you want to play, come again."

If he wasn't in such a hurry, he might have been able to give him a proper fight. With that thought in mind, Ragna returned his sword to his waist and left Jin there, heading for the stairs further back. Deep into the underground of the branch, to head to the cauldron.

Jin heard the sound of Ragna's footsteps moving away, his consciousness already fading and disappearing.

''(No... Brother, don't go.)''

Something instinctive whispered to him that he had to stop him. He must not go. Otherwise, everything would be the same as before.

''(Before? Before what... when...?)''

His thoughts sank. He couldn't understand anything anymore.

In the darkness of his falling consciousness, Jin muttered.

''(Your hands are cold... brother.)''

Just like that, Jin lost all his strength on the cold floor.

===Part 3===

Noel ran through the corridors of the Kagutsuchi branch, her head filled with bewilderment and confusion.

Something was wrong. This was absolutely wrong.

The barrier magic had disappeared without a trace, and there wasn't a single soldier on watch, even though someone should have been on duty all night. On top of that, the door at the front entrance was roughly split in two, as if it had been slashed.

Someone had broken in. It was probably either Jin or Ragna the Bloodedge.

What in the world happened to the barrier and the missing soldiers? Could it be the work of the Azure Grimoire, which she'd heard Ragna the Bloodedge possessed?

Thinking about it like that, Ragna the Bloodedge seemed more and more like an uncontrollable monster, and it scared her.

But what was truly the scariest of all... was the silence ringing painfully in her ears.

The sound of her running shoes echoed surprisingly. An empty branch. Was this place always so vast and desolate?

She had the illusion that even the sound of her pounding heartbeat was leaking out.

Running through the corridor, which felt many times longer than it actually was, her vision suddenly opened up.

What jumped into her sight was the sanctuary, a brightly-lit, high-ceilinged cathedral with a deep, open space. The white goddess statue was illuminated by the light from a magic circle that shone brighter than sunlight, greeting Noel with a breathtakingly beautiful sight that made her gasp.

As expected, there wasn't a single soldier to be seen here either.

"Is... anyone there!?"

Even one person would do. She wanted to meet someone, anyone wearing the same uniform. Because how on earth could something like this happen? The more she felt the absence of people, the more her confusion grew.

She would have been much calmer if there had been even a trace of blood.

The branch was empty, as if no one had been there from the start. There was no sign of a struggle, nor any indication that someone had been forcibly taken away.

An indescribable unease felt as if it was scraping away at Noel from the inside.

As Noel staggered towards the goddess statue, as if drawn to it, she suddenly felt a raw smell stimulating her nostrils.

It was the smell of blood. To be more precise, it was a foul and violent smell, like blood mixed with sweat, saliva, and vomit.

Someone was there. Noel looked around desperately, and... there he was. Near the stairs leading further inside. At the border between the faint shadow cast by the thick pillar and the light-filled space where Noel stood, there was a man lying face down on the cold floor.

He was wearing a blue and white uniform. A soldier of the NOL.

Noel rushed over in a hurry.

"Are you okay!? Please get a hold of yourself!" When she got to his side, she finally realized who it was.

A slender body with smooth, golden hair. His lightly tilted face was fair-skinned, with familiar features.

"M-Major Kisaragi!?"

It was an unbelievable sight.

Jin Kisaragi, who had shown unparalleled success in the Ikaruga Civil War and risen to the rank of Major in just a few years after graduating from the military academy... the man who was even hailed as the "Hero of Ikaruga," was collapsed powerlessly on the floor like a discarded doll.

There was almost nothing frozen in the surrounding area. If Jin had rampaged, the area would have been cold and frozen. The absence of that meant that there was someone who had restrained and defeated Jin without allowing him to use his full power.

An average soldier wouldn't be a match for him even if they came in numbers. Even the above average soldiers wouldn't be a match. If that was the case...

"Could it be, Ragna the Bloodedge..." Noel muttered the name of the "Grim Reaper" as if whispering. He was here. And... strangely, she was drawn to him.

''(Huh...?)''

Noel was puzzled by what the name she had spoken aloud had evoked in her heart.

Ragna the Bloodedge. When she first heard the name "Grim Reaper," he sounded much more terrifying. An unreasonable destroyer who went around destroying Librarium branches one after another. She had thought that if she saw him, he would be a vicious and terrifying man who would make her legs tremble if she faced him.

But, when was it? She no longer felt the same fear towards this name as before. Even though she hadn't met him in person, and there hadn't been any events that changed her impression.

Yes, now she even thought that he might be a surprisingly normal person, a surprisingly kind person...

''(That can't be right...)''

He was the most wanted criminal in history, a villain that the entire Librarium was chasing.

Had she become accustomed to the situation that he might be nearby while she was in Kagutsuchi?

She had often been warned since her student days that she was short-sighted and simplistic, but she didn't think she was that bad. But... it was true that she felt something warm about the name Ragna.

''(...No. If I think about unnecessary things... I won't understand.)''

The act of thinking would only confuse her, and she wouldn't be able to think anything.

"Right, I have to contact them and get Major Kisaragi treated..."

"Oh my, you've been thoroughly beaten up, haven't you?"

"Eek!"

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her from behind, and she was called out to, making Noel jump and turn around. In that instant, she flipped over and landed on her butt right next to the fallen Jin. Looking up with a face pale from surprise, she saw the familiar black suit standing there.

"Come on, come on, there's no need to scream like that. It hurts my feelings!"

It was Hazama. He looked down at Noel, who had embarrassingly lost her composure, with an exasperated expression, and shook his head as usual, as if saying "Oh dear."

Even though she was looking up at him from quite a low position, it was strange that she couldn't see his eyes behind his hat.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just surprised..."

"Well, it can't be helped. The branch is in this state... it's like a haunted house."

Hazama twisted his mouth, which was shaped like the kanji "へ," into a wry smile, and looked around. The wide and bright sanctuary was devoid of any human presence, so much so that Jin's fallen figure stood out from the scenery.

While supporting the holster hanging at her waist, Noel stood up and asked timidly.

"Um, Hazama-san... where is everyone else from the branch?"

"Well. I don't know. I've been looking around the branch, but I couldn't find a single person. Well, I'm glad I was able to contact you safely."

Noel didn't know what kind of face to make at Hazama, who said such things lightly and nonchalantly, so she looked down and simply replied, "I see."

She shuddered at the thought that everywhere, even the executive offices and sleeping quarters that couldn't be seen from here, was deserted.

"For now, let's contact the crew of the Ars Magus ship and have Major Kisaragi transported. We can't do anything about investigating this branch by ourselves."

"Y-yes... but..." Noel looked up at Hazama, who was starting to manipulate his communicator, and then let her gaze wander around the area. Seeing that, Hazama turned his gaze towards Noel while putting the communicator to his ear.

"Is there anything you're concerned about, Lieutenant Vermilion?"

"...Um, I think it was Ragna the Bloodedge who did this to Major Kisaragi..."

If she kept silent, she would surely feel uncomfortable later, as if something was stuck in her chest. So Noel resolutely raised her face and appealed to Hazama.

Hazama tilted his head somewhat quizzically, as if what he'd been told was unexpected.

"Oh, probably. There's no one else."

"Then, we have to chase after him too. This situation may be the fault of the 'Grim Reaper,' and we might still be able to catch him now!" Noel's voice had an unusual strength in it. It wasn't that she was so passionate about arresting the "Grim Reaper," nor that she wanted to avenge Jin Kisaragi. It was just that she felt inexplicably impatient.

But Hazama looked unenthusiastic, and scratched his cheek with his slender index finger, then smiled vaguely.

"You know… I think I told you this before, but I'm not really a combat specialist. My mission is solely to secure Major Kisaragi, and the 'Grim Reaper' is a separate matter, so to speak..."

"That's fine. I'll pursue Rag... the 'Grim Reaper' by myself. Captain Hazama, please take care of Major Kisaragi."

"By yourself? That's a bit too reckless, isn't it?"

"I'll be fine... probably." She wasn't confident, but she felt terribly guilty about turning a blind eye and leaving Ragna the Bloodedge alone here.

And more than anything else, if she chased after him here... she might be able to meet Ragna the Bloodedge. She wasn't clearly aware of that feeling, but there was certainly that thought in Noel's heart.

Hazama put his hand on his hat and shrugged.

"Well, I suppose I have no choice. I'll take care of Major Kisaragi. And as for Ragna the Bloodedge, he's probably heading underground."

"Underground? You mean the underground research facility?" She had heard that there were various research facilities deep underground in the NOL's branches. Soldiers rarely set foot there, but Noel had witnessed people who looked like researchers boarding the elevator to the underground.

"Yes. The destruction of that underground lab is Ragna the Bloodedge's real purpose. To get to the underground, you can go up these stairs and use the very back of the hall at the end." Hazama said, pointing his sharp chin to the back of the stairs with magnificent decorations.

The elevator to the underground. Noel had never used it before.

"Thank you very much. Then, excuse me!"

Was it really okay to go by herself? Noel swallowed the anxiety that was gradually swelling in her heart, then gave a stiff salute and turned on her heel. She ran up the stairs leading to the back with light steps.

She aimed for the elevator in the back. She had to move quickly, quickly. For some reason, such impatience hastened Noel's steps.

She didn't notice that Hazama was shaking his shoulders and laughing behind her back as she left.

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 4

2025-06-23T01:04:41Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "==BBCT2 Chapter 4: Memorable church — Siblings== ===Part 1=== '''December 31, 2199 - 20:57''' Night. The sun was setting, the moon was waxing, the sky was completely repainted, and Kagutsuchi was preparing for a special night that would mark the end of another year in just a few hours. The moon hanging in the deep-colored night sky was a full moon. Like a hole poked in the sky, the perfectly round light looked down on the ground. Looking up at that moon, Ragna was..."

==BBCT2 Chapter 4: Memorable church — Siblings==
===Part 1===

'''December 31, 2199 - 20:57'''

Night.

The sun was setting, the moon was waxing, the sky was completely repainted, and Kagutsuchi was preparing for a special night that would mark the end of another year in just a few hours.

The moon hanging in the deep-colored night sky was a full moon. Like a hole poked in the sky, the perfectly round light looked down on the ground.

Looking up at that moon, Ragna was very close to the Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch.

Beneath his white bangs, he narrowed his green and red eyes, glaring at the moon. He glared at the NOL's branch, which floated fantastically in the moonlight.

The branch stood there with a magnificent presence, befitting its role in ruling over the upper city streets. Illuminated by lights from below, it resembled three swords raised towards the heavens, with the central one towering particularly high, its tip pointing towards the moonlit night.

This was the place. That NOL branch, with its clean face looking down on the city with a composed expression. In its deepest part, hidden deep underground, was the "'cauldron" that Ragna should aim for, that he should destroy.

As it had been until now, Ragna didn't devise strategies to infiltrate the branch. He always entered from the front entrance. He went in proudly, as if it was natural, was inevitably stopped, and then began beating down its reckless soldiers.

Unlike when entering the city, only NOL personnel were in the branch at night. He could rampage to his heart's content, without any reservations.

The NOL. A hateful, unbearably hateful name. The one that stole everything from him. This time he would steal everything from them.

Ragna, who had unknowingly clenched his fist, unclenched it and started walking.

The cool night air touched his cheeks. The upper levels were quite far from the ground, so the wind that occasionally blew was strong and unceremonious.

While his hair was sometimes roughly ruffled by the wind, Ragna frowned at the growing sensation as he advanced. It was sticky, like it was clinging to the inside of his head or chest. He felt like it had been gradually getting worse since last night.

Haven't I done the same thing before?

If this was what they called déjà vu, then the déjà vu that Ragna had felt until now was truly insignificant. It was as if unknown memories were stored somewhere in his brain, and only fragments of them were being shown to him.

Of course, the act of aiming for the branch and destroying the cauldron itself was something that Ragna had repeated many times already. So perhaps it was just his tired mind making a mistake.

But even if he tried to dismiss it like that, there was still a feeling that he couldn't easily wipe away.

"Tch… annoying." Even though he was just walking, he wanted to silence his head, which immediately said, "This happened before," and so on.

He had never come to Kagutsuchi, and walking through the upper levels aiming for the branch was something he always did. What was strange about that?

Standing amidst the hazy feeling, Ragna scratched his hair in a frenzy. He hated things that were unclear like this. It irritated him.

Suddenly, another wind blew. But that wind was different from the ones he had felt so far in the upper levels. It smelled like roses.

"Rabbit?"

Along with the wind that blew from behind him to the front and danced around Ragna's destination, a girl in a black dress appeared. Despite her usual sudden appearance, Ragna was strangely not surprised at all. Somehow, he had a feeling that she would appear soon.

"Good evening." As always, holding her Nago umbrella and accompanied by her red rubber ball, Gii, Rachel gave Ragna a graceful smile that was uncharacteristic of a girl.

"What is it? Got some business with me?" Ragna stopped walking and spoke curtly, putting his hand behind his neck.

Somehow, Rachel's appearance seemed as if it had been planned in advance. If that was the case, then him going to the branch like this, even his coming to Kagutsuchi itself, seemed to be according to plan, and he felt inexplicably dissatisfied.

Perhaps surprised by Ragna's reaction, Rachel blinked her large, doll-like eyes several times.

"Oh, you're quite cold despite the big job ahead of you. You were more aggressive before."

When was "before"? Ragna couldn't immediately grasp it. Was it before Kagutsuchi, when he destroyed the branch? Or was it when they met near Orient Town yesterday afternoon?

Or was it a different "before" altogether?

"It's none of your business. I've got my own problems." Ragna wondered if Rachel had seen through everything about this strange, inexplicable feeling he had been harboring. He ignored his own thoughts and spat the words towards the ground.

The black umbrella left Rachel's hand and wriggled, and Nago transformed into its original form, a large cat, and grinned.

"Being all delicate. It doesn't suit you at all." As Nago laughed, Gii, hiding behind Rachel, also chuckled mockingly.

"He's probably just hungry again. He hasn't eaten anything decent since then, has he~?"

Normally, he would get irritated by the familiars' lighthearted remarks and either yell at them or hit them. But right now, the sticky feeling of déjà vu was more concerning, and he wasn't really in the mood.

"Tch. Still as annoying as ever." Even his curses didn't have much bite.

Nago laid down on the ground in a cat-like posture, looking at Ragna with his huge eyes.

"Oh my, you're really not energetic. No fun at all~"

"It's not like that. It's just… what do you call it?" He couldn't find the right words to connect and convey what he was feeling.

Rachel often belittled him, calling him dull, but Ragna, as if scolding himself for his truly dull thought process, ruffled his hair messily.

"Ah, damn it, never mind me! More importantly, what do you want? If you don't have any business, go home already!" He didn't want to be any more irritated than this when he was about to infiltrate enemy territory.

But there was no way that Rachel would listen to such a request from Ragna. While twirling her long hair with her fingertips, her intelligent and arrogant crimson eyes made a look of exasperation.

"I thought you were unusually calm, but it seems you're just distracted. If you're like that, you'll get stabbed again by that child you're about to meet."

"That child I'm about to meet?"

Rachel once again spoke in a meaningful way. Disliking that, Ragna frowned and asked, but immediately sensed something.

"Could it be… Jin?"

He had heard that Jin fought in the Ikaruga Civil War as a soldier of the NOL and became a hero. The Hero of Ikaruga, and the wielder of the Nox Nyctores, Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa.

As if amused that Ragna had guessed correctly, Rachel, with a hint of something lingering in her large eyes, neither nodded nor shook her head, but opened her mouth.

"What I want is… I have something I want to ask you."

"...Why are you being so formal?"

"Ragna." As if silencing the howling wind, Rachel's wind scattered the scent of roses, swallowing the surrounding wind sounds. Rachel's flowing golden hair danced like ribbons, eventually falling onto her shoulders. "Why do you aim for the Cauldron?"

The question had a strange resonance. Ragna grimaced suspiciously. He had just been asked a similar question yesterday.

While directing a searching gaze towards Rachel's eyes, which were much lower than his own, Ragna repeated the same answer.

"Because I don't like it. That's why I'll destroy it... What else do you want me to answer?"

Rachel's way of asking questions seemed like a mean-spirited trick, as if she wouldn't stop asking until she got a specific answer.

Rachel put her index finger to her red lips, like rose petals, and let out a chuckle.

"That's a secret." She didn't deny that she had such an intention.

Ragna was surprised, which was rare. Usually, at this point, he'd receive a barrage of insults that would make him think he shouldn't have pried any further, and in the end, it would be glossed over without him really understanding.

Rachel waved her white fingers in the air, as if brushing something away.

"My business is finished. You can go, Ragna."

Saying that, she beckoned to Nago, turning the cat back into an umbrella and holding it. In the shadow of the umbrella that blocked the dazzling moonlight, Rachel seemed to show a fleetingly lonely expression... or so it seemed. At least, that's how it appeared to Ragna's eyes, if only for an instant.

"Rachel." Thinking such a thing, her name involuntarily spilled from his mouth.

"What is it?" Raising the angle of the umbrella just a little, Rachel responded with her usual leisurely smile.

Ragna hesitated for a few seconds, wondering what to ask. But he quickly gave up on finding the right words and asked as he thought.

"That question you just asked, have you asked me before?"

"Are you stupid? I asked you yesterday afternoon."

"I know that. I'm not talking about then... what I'm trying to say is, before that."

"Are you talking about when you were little?"

"No."

That's not it. What he wanted to say was too abstract.

Rachel, with a capricious air, waited for him on the spot while Ragna restlessly scratched his head, busily moving his hands up and down, and struggled with his lips.

"I can't put it into words well, but... I feel like something similar happened before. When I was on my way to the Kagutsuchi branch, you asked me that question... Did something like that happen?"

Ragna was aware that he was asking something strange. He was certain that this was the first time he had come to Kagutsuchi, and therefore, even stepping into the upper levels of Kagutsuchi was a first for him last night. Even so, he was asking if she had asked him the same question here before.

He wondered if she would tease him, saying he had a dream or something. Or perhaps he would get her usual insults.

But to Ragna, who was prepared to be thoroughly told off, Rachel showed an expression as if her eyes had widened in surprise. Then, with a gentle smile, as if releasing the strength from her shoulders, she softly smiled.

"Well, I wonder. If you think it happened, then it happened... and if you don't think it happened, then it didn't happen, right?"

Although her attitude was softer than usual, the words that came back were like a riddle, typical of Rachel.

"Huh? What do you mean? Did it happen? Or didn't it?" He had asked the question himself without really understanding it, and with Rachel's answer, he understood even less. As the heat between Ragna's eyebrows deepened, Rachel chuckled as if amused by it.

"That's something you can decide, Ragna."

"I don't understand..."

At the very least, he wanted her to say yes or no. Since Rachel had never shown such kindness before, perhaps it was wrong to expect it.

Ragna let out an impatient sigh and bared his fangs. Looking at that, Rachel lightly kicked the ground. Carrying an overwhelmingly dense scent of roses, Rachel's body floated into the air.

Rachel, standing in a composed pose with her umbrella held high above Ragna, moved her gaze as if urging him to the bridge-like passage leading to the branch.

"Come on, go now. If you dawdle around here like this, you'll accidentally miss the change of day."

In this situation, even if he persisted, Rachel probably wouldn't answer his question. Sensing this from his past experiences, Ragna let out a sigh of resignation, dropped his shoulders, and started walking listlessly.

"I know that without you telling me. See ya."

"Yes, goodbye, Ragna. And... don't forget."

"Forget what? ...Ah, no." Ragna, who had already started walking, looked up at Rachel over his shoulder, stuck his finger in his ear as if annoyed, and said,"That thing, right? 'Never think that the Azure Grimoire is your own power'..."

At Ragna's words, Rachel smiled. Like a red rose blooming from a bud.

Realizing there would be no further reply, Ragna crossed the bridge, adjusting the sword hanging at his waist so that it would be easy to draw.

If he went through the bridge-shaped passage, the front entrance of the NOL's Kagutsuchi branch would be ahead. During the day, many soldiers and residents with business at the branch come and go.

But at this hour, there was no one there. Or rather, there were too few people.

It was strange that not a single soldier could be seen. There was no sign of the barrier magic that should have been stretched out across the road for crime prevention. It was different from the branch he knew. Ragna quickened his pace, feeling a tingling unease and abnormality.

Rachel, high above in the sky, watched him with the moon behind her.

What lit up in her chest was not despair this time. Nor was it resignation. It was... a small…

"...To think you'd make me have even a sliver of expectation. You've come up with an interesting scheme, Ragna."

Narrowing her crimson eyes, raising her red rose lips in a good mood, Rachel saw off the red jacket figure hurrying along the passage far below.

"God keeps repeating endless dreams... hundreds, thousands of times the same dream," Rachel said, as if singing.

Yes, she had repeated it over and over again. She had spent countless nights. The end of the year with the full moon in Kagutsuchi.

Now, the final chapter was about to begin.

This time, the curtain might fall with a slightly different production than usual. Even if it had the same ending, if there was even one thing that caught her eye, she couldn't miss it.

Rachel deployed a teleportation magic in the sky, scattered the fragrance of roses, and disappeared from the spot.

===Part 2===

'''December 31, 2199 - 21:00'''

The Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch is entered by crossing a bridge-shaped passage illuminated by pale lights, and passing through the front entrance located beyond.

In front of the front entrance, barrier magic was set up to keep out outsiders, and its power was such that it would turn anyone unrelated to ashes in an instant. Therefore, in order to enter, even a soldier had to state their identity in front of it.

But for some reason, there were no guards on watch at the branch tonight, and the barrier magic had also disappeared. Even if one entered, there wasn't a single soldier to be found.

There was no damage to the front entrance door, and there was no sign that someone had forced it open and broken through. It wasn't attacked by anyone.

What showed this more than the disappeared barrier and the undamaged door was the inside of the branch. There were no scratches on the floor or walls. The furniture was in its usual position, and not a single tear was on the carpet or curtains. Even so, the inside of the branch was completely deserted.

No one was there. There wasn't even a faint murmur or a slight trace of human presence. Not even a single corpse.

If this abnormal situation was caused by an attack, how meticulous and obsessively persistent would the attacker be? It would be comically thorough to eliminate people from the branch and then disappear themselves.

But so what? Such a thing was trivial.

For Jin Kisaragi, who had infiltrated the branch with the intent to kill anyone who got in his way, the unexplained disappearance of the soldiers was of no concern. It was rather fortunate that troublesome things were taken care of without him knowing.

Now he could wait without worrying about anything.

He could fight without being disturbed by anything.

He could kill.

That man.

Going further into the entrance, the view opened up dazzlingly, and he came to a place called the sanctuary, a high ceilinged atrium. Circular passages stacked several floors high uniformly surrounded and faced a huge and solemn statue of a goddess.

The white, immaculate figure was radiant and beautiful, attracting the worship of many soldiers.

The entire area, including the sanctuary, never sank into darkness like the city at night. This was because countless magic circles deployed above the goddess statue constantly cast light in a white, divine color on the goddess statue and on each floor of the branch overlooked by the goddess.

The soft, veil-like light alone made the place look extremely divine... it must have dazzled many eyes.

Jin looked down at the space provided straight ahead from the entrance, where such light poured down from directly in front, from the top of a staircase one step up.

The top of the stairs was in the shadow of a thick pillar, and the light-filled space viewed from there looked even more brilliant.

He was waiting for someone to appear in that light.

Red jacket, white hair, wielding a sword and carrying a grimoire around his neck, his eyes red on the right and green on the left. The one Jin waited an eternity for, who he could imagine in much finer detail than the NOL's ridiculous information network.

Ragna the Bloodedge.

It would be soon. A little later than him, he would appear here... yes, he should appear in that stage of light.

He was so impatient, so impatient for that moment.

Ah, look. Conveniently, there was no one in the branch, so there was no unnecessary noise. That's why he could hear it well.

The sound of a man's footsteps echoing from the entrance down the corridor, making the deserted branch feel eerie, walking towards here with large strides.

How many more steps? Shall we count? Look, a little more, just a little more. He's getting closer. Six more steps and his toes will be visible. Four more steps and his whole body will be visible.

Two steps. One step.

There, he found him.

The eye-catching red jacket and pure white hair.

"Brother..." The moment he caught sight of that figure, a large tremor shook the depths of his body. Only the impulse from within his stomach seemed to leap out and slash. But no, that's not right. Because the one who would kill him...

"It's me!" He swayed forward, his heel clicking on the cold floor. The hard sound echoed, and Ragna turned around at that sound.

At the same time, Jin kicked the floor and leapt down from the top of the stairs, drawing Yukianesa in his hand—

The memories of the dazzling sunlight are like a deeply thrust knife.

Jin doesn't remember much about his childhood.

He only remembered fragments of it, like an album with only parts of scenes cut out and arranged. Happy memories, kind memories... sad memories, scary memories. Painful memories, agonizing memories, bitter memories. None of which he really wanted to see, so he kept them securely in a box deep within his brain and locked it.

Even so, the memories insist from inside the box. They whisper not to his consciousness but to his unconsciousness, distorting his emotions as if running extra horizontal threads.

Because they are lonely memories. Every single one of them, they were always lonely memories.

The high-pitched sound of a ''kaan'' was the sound of the wooden branches they clashed with, repelled by the force.

The branch he gripped in his hand was of a moderate length and moderate weight. It was something he found and picked up in the forest, and while it was in the hands of the still young boys, it was not just a branch but a famous sword.

On a fine noon, the sun warmly watched over the fruitful forest and the meadow that spread next to it, and the 'Church of the Ark' that stood there.

The space between the church and the forest was the perfect match field for the two boys living in the church. Once they finished their daily task of picking up firewood, they would take the special sword they found along the way and have a mock sword fight. They had never learned swordsmanship, so they imagined the many brave warriors and heroes that appeared in the many stories they heard from the sister, and acted like them.

Sometimes they were a hero who defeated a giant dragon with a magic sword, sometimes they were a knight who galloped through the battlefield fighting against a large army, sometimes they were a warrior who saved a country with his bravery, sometimes they were six heroes who fought through a giant monster to save the world.

But always, it was the older brother who ultimately won.

"Ugh!"

The vibration of the strongly repelled branch... or rather, his beloved sword, traveled through his arm, and Jin, who was still only ten years old or so at this time, staggered backward as if tripping. Before he could take even a few steps back, his feet got tangled, and he fell over.

The ground was a soft carpet of grass, so it didn't hurt much. Even so, while he rubbed his bottom that had hit the ground and pretended to be in pain, his brother hurriedly threw away his sword and rushed over, calling out "Brother."

Even though it was Jin who got carried away and forgot to control his strength, his brother would give a wry smile, saying "What are you falling down for?" and then reach out his hand to Jin, who was still flipped over.

"My foot got stuck." Happy at the hand and gaze directed straight at him, Jin tried to grab his brother's hand with a shy smile.

But at that moment...

"''Cough''... "

A little distance away, a girl who had been sitting near the church, watching the match between his brother and Jin, suddenly hunched over and started coughing.

"''Cough, cough''... haa, haa..." Shaking her chest and shrinking her small body, the girl hunched over as if holding down her chest.

His brother, who had turned back at the sound of the first cough, hurriedly ran towards the girl, noticing her abnormality.

"Saya! Are you okay?!"

His brother rushed to the girl, supporting her slender shoulders and rubbing her thin back. Not with the roughness he had when he repelled the wooden sword, but with a gentle touch, as if handling something very precious.

"''Cough''... it hurts... brother... ''cough cough''..."

"It's okay, breathe slowly. Here... breathe in... breathe out. That's right. I'll carry you to bed right away." Saying that, his brother easily picked up the girl's small body and went back into the church. Soon, the hurried voice of the sister could be heard from inside.

"Oh my, that's terrible. I was careless because her fever had gone down. Let her sleep in her room, Ragna. I'll get a towel and water right away."

"Yeah, I understand... Here, don't cry, Saya. It'll be okay. Me and the sister are here." The sound of the sister's footsteps rushing around busily. The sound of his brother's footsteps walking carefully to the children's room, being careful not to drop her.

Jin had been watching that scene all along. Jin had been listening to that sound all along. On the soft grassland, he had been sitting flipped over, listening all along.

After staying like that silently for a while, and eventually getting up without anyone's help, Jin returned to the church alone.

When he entered from the back door, the kitchen was right there. In the kitchen, the sister was making something warm. While he was peeking secretly from the shadows, the sister noticed Jin, perhaps hearing some sound, turned around and smiled at him, saying:

"Welcome back, Jin. Lunch will be ready soon, so can you call Ragna? I think he's with Saya."

"...Yeah." He didn't really want to go. But since the sister asked him, he couldn't refuse, so Jin nodded meekly and headed to the children's room.

The children's room was close by. So Jin quickly reached his destination, and secretly peeked inside through the gap in the half-open door.

Warm light from outside was shining through the window with white curtains, and the room was bright. On the bed by the window, his sister was lying down with a blanket and comforter up to her shoulders. Beside her, his brother was sitting on a chair, watching over her.

"Don't worry, you'll get better soon. I'm here, so rest assured and get some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah... brother."

A gentle voice and a spoiled voice.

His brother was stroking his sister's head. His sister narrowed her eyes happily at that hand, and smiled blissfully.

Jin looked at his own hand beyond the door. The hand that was reached out and was supposed to be held back and helped up… was cold.

It was cold.

The high-pitched ''kiin'' was the sound of clashing swords, repelled by the weak force.

In Jin's hand was the ice sword, Yukianesa. Facing him was the man with the red jacket and white hair, Ragna, holding his beloved sword with its wide, thick blade. Orange sparks scattered between them as they clashed, mixing with the light pouring down from the high ceiling and disappearing.

Jin's slashing attacks, unleashed in quick succession, were one, two, three. Diagonally, diagonally, horizontally. Ragna's sword blocked and parried each of them, repelling them with a seemingly waning strength.

How long had they been repeating this exchange? From the very first blow, Jin, wielding his sword, shouted gleefully as he pressed towards Ragna, evaded the counterattacks, retreated again, and then rushed in again.

"Hahaha! What's wrong, brother? Come at me more seriously. Otherwise... it won't be fun!"

Ragna used his sword as a shield to withstand Jin's continuous slashes, which intended to cut him to pieces. Matching the last strike, he parried the sword and repelled it strongly, then retreated to create distance. He couldn't keep taking those attacks endlessly.

"Jin... you'd better stop messing around!" Ragna roared, his body trembling with anger. Closing the distance with a growl and a light leap, Ragna swung his sword high and brought it down towards Jin with all his might.

Even the sound of it cutting through the air was violent. If he took it head-on, his arm would be numbed.

Jin evaded the heavy slash with minimal movement. But he was too close. The wind pressure shook his golden hair along with his head, causing a slight dizziness. Despite this, he kicked high towards Ragna's head.

Ragna's head was also shaken greatly by the tip of the colliding boot, and Ragna and Jin both staggered back a few steps, holding their heads.

"Tch... kuku... it hurts. I'm dizzy even though it didn't hit... You really are amazing, brother." While shaking his head to clear his blurred vision, Jin moved his shoulder as if shaking it off, letting out a twisted laugh. Ragna, also shaking his head to regain his senses, glared at him.

"Don't laugh, you bastard." The voice he spat out was hot, as if it was about to burn from inside his stomach. He thought that if it did burn, he would just burn him to death as he was. While tightly gripping his sword, he left it to his instincts.

The root of Ragna's loss was his younger brother in front of him, wearing blue and white clothes and laughing. The madness that befell this man had distorted everything.

But Ragna's anger didn't reach him at all, and Jin laughed as innocently as ever.

The root of Jin's establishment was his older brother in front of him, wearing red and black clothes and raging. Only this man's existence gave everything to Jin.

"Ah, it's fun, brother... let's play more... let's kill each other more! Here, no one can disturb us... no one is here! Brother is my only brother! Only mine...!" Jin's scream, tearing his throat, had a terrible sound of madness. "Haha... that's right, my only brother... That's why I'll kill you, kill you, kill you... I'm the only one who can kill you, brother!!"

The disturbingly chaotic voice, no matter how many times it was repeated, only sounded to Ragna's ears like the sad ramblings of his crazed younger brother. He only became more and more angry, thinking that this madness had destroyed everything.

"Quit acting like a childish brat! Stop spouting nonsense and just drop dead already!"

Jin jumped in, kicked with his knee, and then desperately swung his sword at Ragna. Glaring down at Jin from a slightly higher position, Ragna angrily swung his sword.

"Tch!" The shock that ran through his body made Jin's arm numb. At that moment, Jin's face twisted into an insane grimace... yet, for some reason, it also seemed to hold a hint of a joyful smile.

In an instant, the scenery of the past flashed through Ragna's mind. He thought he heard his brother's voice, calling him sweetly.

"This..."

Hateful. Hateful. Hatred ran through Ragna's body. He hadn't forgotten the pain and despair when he was stabbed by his brother's sword, lying next to the burning church.

It was foul play to make such a brotherly face.

"You idiot!!"

Instead of swinging the sword he'd pulled back with all his might, Ragna dropped it. In its place, Ragna slammed his fist into Jin's stomach. A large amount of air escaped from Jin's throat with a dull impact. The force probably reached his bones. Ragna felt something hard break along with the flesh in his fist. He then struck Jin's face with the same arm, sending him flying.

"Gah!" Jin let out a crushed scream, his body flying away. He was violently slammed against the mirror-like polished corridor of the NOL's branch, bouncing twice before collapsing onto the floor. The impact caused Yukianesa to leave Jin's hand and roll to Ragna's feet.

"Gu... hah... geh..." The fallen Jin coughed distortedly. He was trying to get up, supporting himself with his arms. Beyond his disheveled golden hair, his green eyes were wide open with manic glee, staring at Ragna.

"S-still... not... not going to kill... me... I... have to... kill... you, brother..." He said breathlessly, putting his hand on the wall and dragging himself up. Leaning his back against the wall, Jin somehow managed to stand, and he wore a smile on his face, which was cut and covered in blood.

"Brother... I've always wanted to see you... I've been searching all this time."

If these words weren't heard in this place... with this expression, with this tone of voice, Ragna might have felt different emotions. But even at this point, the deranged aura from Jin's face didn't disappear, and his voice trembled with a small, cackling laugh.

"All this time... I've wanted... to kill you. Again, again and again, I'll kill you, kill you... Only I can liberate you, brother..." Jin spoke somewhat ecstatically and somewhat in agony. Even though he hadn't received any slashes, there was no doubt that he couldn't even breathe properly. The breath he inhaled trying to laugh didn't circulate well, and Jin coughed violently, spitting blood from his mouth.

Even so, Jin took a step forward, trying to approach him. As if to stop him, Ragna quickly walked towards Jin.

"Liberate me from what?" Ragna's voice was sharp with irritation. He felt like they'd had this kind of exchange before. In the same place, in the same way. What was this feeling? What was this emotion that remained somewhere in his head?

It was irritating. Perhaps he didn't understand anything. Perhaps he was just venting his anger on what was in front of him without understanding anything.

Following his instincts, Ragna grabbed Jin's swaying collar. Roughly pulling him closer, he forcefully slammed his forehead against his brother's forehead.

"Don't get cocky, you damn brat!"

"Ugh..." The sound of bones colliding shook Jin's consciousness greatly and made him dizzy.

Jin's green eyes, which had been fixed on Ragna until then, even while contorting in pain, became dark and clouded. His body lost its strength as if collapsing, and he fell to the ground when Ragna released him.

Ragna stared down at Jin, who was like a puppet with its strings cut, for a while. He could kill him now. He could stop his breath. Just like Jin had done to him once in the church, he could just stab him once in the back. He could even cut off his head.

Even if his head and body were connected, this brother would not experience the same hatred and sense of loss that Ragna had experienced. He wouldn't yearn for those days and lament that he wanted to protect them. He might not even regain his sanity and feel the slightest regret.

But... for some reason he hesitated.

''(...Hey, Sister.)''

Ragna kicked the Yukianesa that was rolling around, sending it far away. The forceful gesture was clearly an act of anger.

''(What should I do? What would you do...)''

Remembering the Sister who always strictly told him to always get along with his brothers, he picked up his own sword this time.

''(What would you do...)''

Ragna looked at Jin once more.

If he killed Jin here, the Sister would be angry. That person had a strange fixation on what a brother should be.

"...How ridiculous." It was ridiculous to think about it. "If you want to play, come again."

If he wasn't in such a hurry, he might have been able to give him a proper fight. With that thought in mind, Ragna returned his sword to his waist and left Jin there, heading for the stairs further back. Deep into the underground of the branch, to head to the cauldron.

Jin heard the sound of Ragna's footsteps moving away, his consciousness already fading and disappearing.

''(No... Brother, don't go.)''

Something instinctive whispered to him that he had to stop him. He must not go. Otherwise, everything would be the same as before.

''(Before? Before what... when...?)''

His thoughts sank. He couldn't understand anything anymore.

In the darkness of his falling consciousness, Jin muttered.

''(Your hands are cold... brother.)''

Just like that, Jin lost all his strength on the cold floor.

===Part 3===

Noel ran through the corridors of the Kagutsuchi branch, her head filled with bewilderment and confusion.

Something was wrong. This was absolutely wrong.

The barrier magic had disappeared without a trace, and there wasn't a single soldier on watch, even though someone should have been on duty all night. On top of that, the door at the front entrance was roughly split in two, as if it had been slashed.

Someone had broken in. It was probably either Jin or Ragna the Bloodedge.

What in the world happened to the barrier and the missing soldiers? Could it be the work of the Azure Grimoire, which she'd heard Ragna the Bloodedge possessed?

Thinking about it like that, Ragna the Bloodedge seemed more and more like an uncontrollable monster, and it scared her.

But what was truly the scariest of all... was the silence ringing painfully in her ears.

The sound of her running shoes echoed surprisingly. An empty branch. Was this place always so vast and desolate?

She had the illusion that even the sound of her pounding heartbeat was leaking out.

Running through the corridor, which felt many times longer than it actually was, her vision suddenly opened up.

What jumped into her sight was the sanctuary, a brightly-lit, high-ceilinged cathedral with a deep, open space. The white goddess statue was illuminated by the light from a magic circle that shone brighter than sunlight, greeting Noel with a breathtakingly beautiful sight that made her gasp.

As expected, there wasn't a single soldier to be seen here either.

"Is... anyone there!?"

Even one person would do. She wanted to meet someone, anyone wearing the same uniform. Because how on earth could something like this happen? The more she felt the absence of people, the more her confusion grew.

She would have been much calmer if there had been even a trace of blood.

The branch was empty, as if no one had been there from the start. There was no sign of a struggle, nor any indication that someone had been forcibly taken away.

An indescribable unease felt as if it was scraping away at Noel from the inside.

As Noel staggered towards the goddess statue, as if drawn to it, she suddenly felt a raw smell stimulating her nostrils.

It was the smell of blood. To be more precise, it was a foul and violent smell, like blood mixed with sweat, saliva, and vomit.

Someone was there. Noel looked around desperately, and... there he was. Near the stairs leading further inside. At the border between the faint shadow cast by the thick pillar and the light-filled space where Noel stood, there was a man lying face down on the cold floor.

He was wearing a blue and white uniform. A soldier of the NOL.

Noel rushed over in a hurry.

"Are you okay!? Please get a hold of yourself!" When she got to his side, she finally realized who it was.

A slender body with smooth, golden hair. His lightly tilted face was fair-skinned, with familiar features.

"M-Major Kisaragi!?"

It was an unbelievable sight.

Jin Kisaragi, who had shown unparalleled success in the Ikaruga Civil War and risen to the rank of Major in just a few years after graduating from the military academy... the man who was even hailed as the "Hero of Ikaruga," was collapsed powerlessly on the floor like a discarded doll.

There was almost nothing frozen in the surrounding area. If Jin had rampaged, the area would have been cold and frozen. The absence of that meant that there was someone who had restrained and defeated Jin without allowing him to use his full power.

An average soldier wouldn't be a match for him even if they came in numbers. Even the above average soldiers wouldn't be a match. If that was the case...

"Could it be, Ragna the Bloodedge..." Noel muttered the name of the "Grim Reaper" as if whispering. He was here. And... strangely, she was drawn to him.

''(Huh...?)''

Noel was puzzled by what the name she had spoken aloud had evoked in her heart.

Ragna the Bloodedge. When she first heard the name "Grim Reaper," he sounded much more terrifying. An unreasonable destroyer who went around destroying Librarium branches one after another. She had thought that if she saw him, he would be a vicious and terrifying man who would make her legs tremble if she faced him.

But, when was it? She no longer felt the same fear towards this name as before. Even though she hadn't met him in person, and there hadn't been any events that changed her impression.

Yes, now she even thought that he might be a surprisingly normal person, a surprisingly kind person...

''(That can't be right...)''

He was the most wanted criminal in history, a villain that the entire Librarium was chasing.

Had she become accustomed to the situation that he might be nearby while she was in Kagutsuchi?

She had often been warned since her student days that she was short-sighted and simplistic, but she didn't think she was that bad. But... it was true that she felt something warm about the name Ragna.

''(...No. If I think about unnecessary things... I won't understand.)''

The act of thinking would only confuse her, and she wouldn't be able to think anything.

"Right, I have to contact them and get Major Kisaragi treated..."

"Oh my, you've been thoroughly beaten up, haven't you?"

"Eek!"

Suddenly, a shadow fell over her from behind, and she was called out to, making Noel jump and turn around. In that instant, she flipped over and landed on her butt right next to the fallen Jin. Looking up with a face pale from surprise, she saw the familiar black suit standing there.

"Come on, come on, there's no need to scream like that. It hurts my feelings!"

It was Hazama. He looked down at Noel, who had embarrassingly lost her composure, with an exasperated expression, and shook his head as usual, as if saying "Oh dear."

Even though she was looking up at him from quite a low position, it was strange that she couldn't see his eyes behind his hat.

"I-I'm sorry, I was just surprised..."

"Well, it can't be helped. The branch is in this state... it's like a haunted house."

Hazama twisted his mouth, which was shaped like the kanji "へ," into a wry smile, and looked around. The wide and bright sanctuary was devoid of any human presence, so much so that Jin's fallen figure stood out from the scenery.

While supporting the holster hanging at her waist, Noel stood up and asked timidly.

"Um, Hazama-san... where is everyone else from the branch?"

"Well. I don't know. I've been looking around the branch, but I couldn't find a single person. Well, I'm glad I was able to contact you safely."

Noel didn't know what kind of face to make at Hazama, who said such things lightly and nonchalantly, so she looked down and simply replied, "I see."

She shuddered at the thought that everywhere, even the executive offices and sleeping quarters that couldn't be seen from here, was deserted.

"For now, let's contact the crew of the Ars Magus ship and have Major Kisaragi transported. We can't do anything about investigating this branch by ourselves."

"Y-yes... but..." Noel looked up at Hazama, who was starting to manipulate his communicator, and then let her gaze wander around the area. Seeing that, Hazama turned his gaze towards Noel while putting the communicator to his ear.

"Is there anything you're concerned about, Lieutenant Vermilion?"

"...Um, I think it was Ragna the Bloodedge who did this to Major Kisaragi..."

If she kept silent, she would surely feel uncomfortable later, as if something was stuck in her chest. So Noel resolutely raised her face and appealed to Hazama.

Hazama tilted his head somewhat quizzically, as if what he'd been told was unexpected.

"Oh, probably. There's no one else."

"Then, we have to chase after him too. This situation may be the fault of the 'Grim Reaper,' and we might still be able to catch him now!" Noel's voice had an unusual strength in it. It wasn't that she was so passionate about arresting the "Grim Reaper," nor that she wanted to avenge Jin Kisaragi. It was just that she felt inexplicably impatient.

But Hazama looked unenthusiastic, and scratched his cheek with his slender index finger, then smiled vaguely.

"You know… I think I told you this before, but I'm not really a combat specialist. My mission is solely to secure Major Kisaragi, and the 'Grim Reaper' is a separate matter, so to speak..."

"That's fine. I'll pursue Rag... the 'Grim Reaper' by myself. Captain Hazama, please take care of Major Kisaragi."

"By yourself? That's a bit too reckless, isn't it?"

"I'll be fine... probably." She wasn't confident, but she felt terribly guilty about turning a blind eye and leaving Ragna the Bloodedge alone here.

And more than anything else, if she chased after him here... she might be able to meet Ragna the Bloodedge. She wasn't clearly aware of that feeling, but there was certainly that thought in Noel's heart.

Hazama put his hand on his hat and shrugged.

"Well, I suppose I have no choice. I'll take care of Major Kisaragi. And as for Ragna the Bloodedge, he's probably heading underground."

"Underground? You mean the underground research facility?" She had heard that there were various research facilities deep underground in the NOL's branches. Soldiers rarely set foot there, but Noel had witnessed people who looked like researchers boarding the elevator to the underground.

"Yes. The destruction of that underground lab is Ragna the Bloodedge's real purpose. To get to the underground, you can go up these stairs and use the very back of the hall at the end." Hazama said, pointing his sharp chin to the back of the stairs with magnificent decorations.

The elevator to the underground. Noel had never used it before.

"Thank you very much. Then, excuse me!"

Was it really okay to go by herself? Noel swallowed the anxiety that was gradually swelling in her heart, then gave a stiff salute and turned on her heel. She ran up the stairs leading to the back with light steps.

She aimed for the elevator in the back. She had to move quickly, quickly. For some reason, such impatience hastened Noel's steps.

She didn't notice that Hazama was shaking his shoulders and laughing behind her back as she left.

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| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 5| Chapter 5: Calamity trigger — Successor of the Azure]]
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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 1

2025-06-23T00:50:37Z

Br3ndan5:

== BBCT2 Chapter 1: Orient Town ==

=== Part 1 ===
'''2196 - Night'''

The meter clicks down by hundreds, announcing the depth.

A high-pitched electronic sound continued to ring out in the same perfectly unchanging rhythm, enough to drive someone insane.

It was a room like a square box surrounded by gray walls. There was no hint of human life in the cold room. There were a tremendous amount of books, various devices and equipment of all sizes packed in so tightly that it was doubtful whether they were intended for people to pass through, and colorful cords filled the floor.

Despite the air being kept normal and dust and dirt being thoroughly removed, a somewhat gloomy atmosphere drifted through the room.

In the midst of such a room, a small figure rose from a chair with a creaking sound.

The figure, illuminated by the light of monitors installed here and there, appeared to be a girl at first glance. However, the atmosphere and the dark circles under her eyes gave her a sharpness that could hardly be called girlish.

Some who felt her presence would sense intelligence, while others would feel a sense of intimidation. Both words were fitting for her.

She hadn't had a proper sleep for several nights. Her back swayed as she walked, dragging her unrecognized fatigue, and two "tails" swayed on her back. One was a ponytail tied high and tightly, flowing down her back. On her pink-haired head, small triangular cat ears, so small that they could be missed if not looked at closely, were peeking out slightly forward, folded slightly forward. The other was a pink tail, the same color as her hair, which had been passed through a hole in the white coat she was wearing. The tip of the forked tail was white, and it swayed to the left and right in a thoughtful manner, as if to prove that it was not a fake.

Her figure, with its beastly characteristics, looked like a beastkin, a beast-man who was human yet not human. But she was not a beast-person. The cat ears and tail were inherited from her father. Her human body was inherited from her mother. She was a hybrid of beast-man and human.

With bare feet and sandals, she skillfully avoided the cords as she walked, stopping in front of a huge device that sat at the back of the room. On the monitor next to it, countless data were recorded.

The electronic sound, which almost became one with the silence of the room, suddenly changed its rhythm and tone.

The girl, whose forked tail had been slow until then, was drawn to the monitor as if by a spring.

"...Found it."

Glaring at the monitor, and then at the device that had stopped in front of her, with tired, clouded eyes, she muttered in a low voice.

"I've found it... finally."

While moving her lips as if in a delirium, she quickly typed in more than ten numerical values and turned on several switches. The device began to start up sluggishly. But this was not the end. The work of capturing him was yet to come.

"...Six Heroes, Hakumen."

It was the name of a hero who was active during the past war, the Dark War, which began about a hundred years ago and ended about ninety years ago. The war between the "Black Beast," a monster that drove the world to despair, and humanity, which desperately tried to crawl out of despair. History books say that he was the one who fought at the forefront of humanity at that time.

Without even looking, her fingers reflexively turned on the communication switch. When the voice of a calm man responded from the speaker, she spoke indifferently, her eyes fixed on the device in the back of the room as if she were aiming at something.

"Tager. I've captured the target. I'll start the salvage operation immediately, help me with the preparations."

"Understood. I'll head over immediately, Kokonoe."

=== Part 2 ===
'''December 30, 2199 - 13:12'''

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi.

This city, built with many layers of streets piled on top of each other, is like other Hierarchical Cities scattered around the world, with the upper layers being more well-maintained and supplied with normal air.

Conversely, the lower you go, the more chaotic the town becomes, with some areas even having a desolate atmosphere. This area, which seemed to have been abandoned despite being under construction, looked like a corner of the lower layers that had been put off.

Looking back at the scaffolding that he had been walking on for several hours, he stretched his cramped body greatly.

"It was easier to infiltrate than I expected."

The one who said this while turning his neck was a tall, well-built young man. He wore a long, bright red jacket over his black clothes, and a thick, wide, large silver sword hung at his waist.

Even more eye-catching than his clothes was the color of his roughly grown white hair. Behind his bangs that reached his eyes, his left eye was green and his right eye was red, creating a somewhat rough look.

His name is Ragna the Bloodedge.

The same name can be seen on street corners all over the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi. The name is on the wanted posters that have been plastered everywhere.

An outlaw who has wandered in from somewhere. With such an appearance, he was actually an SS-class wanted criminal, a serious criminal with the highest bounty in history.

However, Ragna doesn't travel through dark alleys to avoid people or hide in the shadows to let passersby pass. Rather, with a natural gait that makes it hard to believe that he is really a wanted criminal, he heads for the center of the city that should be ahead of him.

This was probably a low-level area judging from the concentration of seithr in the air he inhaled - a substance that polluted the world's air along with the Black Beast that appeared a hundred years ago.

The eyes of the Novus Orbis Librarium- the organization that governs the world and manages public order, and also the organization that put a bounty on Ragna- do not reach to such lower levels. This is even more true in Kagutsuchi, which has a large and complexly intertwined structure compared to other cities.

They prioritize only the upper layers where people of status live, and a satisfactory security system does not reach the lower layers. The residents of the lower layers do not have good feelings towards the Novus Orbis Librarium- commonly known as the "NOL". If you pass through such people, being sneaky will only incite distrust.

"But, I thought I'd be able to get outside a little earlier..." Looking around at the surroundings where there wasn't a single person, Ragna muttered to himself as he moved forward.

From here, which is deep in the lower city, you can't even see the sun, let alone the sky, satisfactorily, but according to his internal sense of time, it's probably past noon now.

Ragna, being a wanted criminal, couldn't enter the Hierarchical City by regular means.

Therefore, he used a method that no one would normally use for fear of the dense seithr: approaching Kagutsuchi on foot, infiltrating the inside of the Hierarchical City from a place under construction, and climbing up to this point.

He arrived in Kagutsuchi late last night. He hadn't eaten since then.

In other words, he was hungry.

''(Ugh... I have to eat something soon. At this rate, I'll die of starvation before I reach the top layer...)''

Just as he was about to hurry his steps, clutching his stomach, he was suddenly called out to from behind.

"Oh my, what a terrible figure. It's just like a stray dog seeking nothing but control. I don't even want to admit I know you. Ragna?" The one who spoke, with excessive pity and blatant contempt, was a girl's voice.

Ragna reflexively stopped his feet, distorting his expression with a feeling other than emptiness.

"You... who are you calling a stray dog, rabbit?"

The place where he turned around was deserted and empty, and further back was a dead end that was closed for construction. Even so, a small table and a black single-seater sofa were placed there, and a girl was sitting there.

Rachel Alucard.

She was a girl with long, glossy golden hair tied in two bunches on either side, wearing a black, luxurious dress. Her skin color was transparently white, the ribbons that tied her hair stood up straight, and her large eyes were bright red. Because of this appearance, Ragna called her "rabbit".

She looks about twelve or thirteen years old, but she has lived for a time that cannot be compared to her appearance. She is not a human girl. She is a vampire who lives in the long night.

She gracefully pulled a cup towards her, gently touching it with her fingertips as if testing the temperature of the red liquid inside, then took a sip. She looked up at the elderly gentleman standing behind her and smiled elegantly.

"Delicious, Valkenhayn. Your tea is exceptional even when drunk in air clouded with seithr."

"I am honored, Madam Rachel." The old gentleman responded in a calm tone of voice, bending his waist politely. The white hair that was tied behind his back slid down from his broad shoulders to the front of his high-quality butler suit.

The old gentleman, who has an old appearance but suggests a somewhat robust physique, was Rachel's butler, the werewolf Valkenhayn.

On the table, a small red, rubber ball-like creature with busy wings was frantically moving about, stuffing financier pastries with the aroma of butter into its cheeks. This was Gii, Rachel's familiar. The shape-shifting black cat that had transformed into the sofa Rachel was sitting on was another of her familiars, Nago.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Oh, can't you tell? I'm having tea."

"That's not what I'm asking! ...Haa, well, whatever."

Ragna reflexively raised his voice at Rachel's nonchalant reply, and his shoulders dropped dejectedly. He was very hungry. And yet, there were baked goods on the table, as if to show them off, and it was hateful to see them being swallowed into the familiar's mouth.

"So? What do you want? Coming all the way out here... are you bored?" With a hint of resentment, Ragna asked sarcastically, glaring at Rachel. His glaring eyes, with a face that can never be called good-natured, somehow reminded one of a ferocious beast.

If the one here was really a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl, he might have made her cry with his extraordinary appearance. But Rachel, uninterested in Ragna's gaze, glanced up at him and sipped her tea coolly.

"My, aren't you being self-conscious? Just because I appear before you, you assume that I have business with you? Your arrogance is truly outrageous."

"The hell did you say? Tch, if you don't have any business, don't bother me. I'm in a hurry!"

[[File:BB_CT2_027.jpg|frameless|right]]

"Oh my. Where are you hurrying off to, you stray dog? You look hungry, perhaps you're going to beg for some food?" Rachel asked, tilting her head and placing a childlike fingertip to her white cheek, giggling.

"How pitiful, how miserable! Maybe I'm eating better than you? Pu pu."

"Now, now, stop it Gii. It's mean to say the truth like that."

Following their master's lead, Gii and Nago burst into laughter. Towards the heads on the second floor, Ragna mercilessly swung his fist down.

"Shut up, you familiars!"

"Gyah!"

"Eeeeek!"

"Tch, they're all so talkative..." It's always like this. Ragna muttered in exasperation.

This wasn't the first time Ragna had met Rachel, the butler Valkenhayn, Gii, and Nago. For years, ever since Ragna began wandering the world, he had frequently encountered Rachel.

Each time, her appearance was sudden, her words were harsh, the reasons were unclear, and her departure was equally abrupt. So, he was used to having his plans thwarted and being caught up in nonsensical farces when he was in a hurry. But being used to it doesn't mean he didn't care.

"Hey, rabbit. If you don't have any business, I'm leaving. I'm not as free as you guys." With a frown of irritation, Ragna turned his back and quickly left. He couldn't waste any more time with them. But Rachel, ignoring Ragna's bitter irritation, calmly put down her cup and continued.

"I do have business."

"Huh?!"

"I don't recall saying I didn't. Besides, the very idea that I would come before you without business is inconceivable. I doubt your sanity." Still maintaining her cool demeanor, Rachel directed a subtle barb at Ragna as she gracefully slid off Nago's sofa. Then, with a squirm, Nago contorted its body and transformed into a parasol, fitting into Rachel's hand.

Ragna, who had inadvertently turned around, watched the scene with a twitching eyebrow, feeling a vein throbbing near his temple.

"You... If you have something to say, then hurry up and say it! I told you I don't have time!"

Valkenhayn, who had been holding back until then, stepped forward as Ragna shouted in irritation. As he approached, he glared at Ragna with a vigor that belied his age. But Ragna was used to the intimidating aura of this wolf-man, like a ferocious beast. Without hesitation, Ragna snapped back.

"Shut up! It has nothing to do with you, old man! Don't butt in!"

"You... What do you..."

"Stop it, Valkenhayn. It's pointless to try to teach manners to a stray dog." It was Rachel who restrained him, in a gentle, chiding tone. However, she didn't forget to use words that belittled Ragna.

Valkenhayn, ignoring Ragna's twitching face, turned his gaze away from him as if nothing had happened, and bowed his head to his master once more.

"My apologies, Madam Rachel."

"And Ragna, you keep going on about business, business, but I already asked you earlier, didn't I? 'Where are you hurrying off to?'"

As if piercing his heart, Rachel looked intently at Ragna with her large, red eyes. They were eyes that seemed to see through to the depths of a person's soul.

This was no longer idle chatter. It seemed that way... Ragna swallowed his harsh tone and returned a strong gaze to Rachel.

"'Where'? What are you talking about? I'm going to the NOL's Kagutsuchi branch." He tightly clenched his fist at his side.

On the top floor of the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, a massive building, boasting a divine exterior like the sword held aloft by a saint, towered high into the sky. At the very center and summit of the city, overlooking everything, was the Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium.

The reason Ragna had come to Kagutsuchi was to destroy that branch.

He had been traveling around the world, destroying NOL branches in various Hierarchical Cities, as well as facilities under their control. He had no idea how many he had destroyed so far, as he hadn't been counting from the beginning.

However, the crimes he had accumulated in doing so had earned him the label of SS-class criminal, a rare and unparalleled title.

But destroying the branch and defeating the guards was not Ragna's only goal. Ragna's real purpose lay elsewhere.

It was…

"I'm going to infiltrate the branch and destroy the 'cauldron'. Just like always."

The "cauldron."

Hidden beneath the branches and research facilities of the NOL was something called the "cauldron."

Its existence was not made public, and most residents of the Hierarchical Cities, even the NOL's soldiers, were completely unaware of it.

Deep, deep within the underground, in a space accessible only by the innermost elevator of the branch, was a massive object that could not be described as either a facility or a device... The destruction of the "cauldron" was the reason Ragna attacked the branches in various locations, and the purpose for which he had come to Kagutsuchi.

Releasing his clenched fist, Ragna frowned suspiciously.

"There's no need to ask something like that. Besides, weren't you the one that told me the next cauldron I should destroy was in Kagutsuchi?"

This was after he had attacked the branch and destroyed the cauldron in the 9th Hierarchical City of Akitsu, the city before Kagutsuchi. Before dawn, as Ragna was about to leave the Hierarchical City, Rachel appeared before him and indicated that he should head to Kagutsuchi.

Rachel, still gazing at Ragna, lightly shook her head as if trying to make him understand.

"I said that Kagutsuchi was the next place you should go. I don't recall ever instructing you to destroy the cauldron." It was a lecturing tone that didn't suit her childlike appearance. Feeling as if he was being reprimanded, Ragna scratched his head, a little embarrassed.

"Well... yeah, you're right about that. So what? You're saying I shouldn't destroy the cauldron?"

"No, that's not it. It's your freedom whether you destroy something or not. If you wish to destroy it, then destroy it." As if reminiscing about the past, Rachel said in a distant, murmuring tone. After a moment of closing her eyes and gazing at some scene that appeared in her mind, Rachel looked up at Ragna again and asked: "But, Ragna... What are you thinking when you destroy the cauldron?"

It was a strange question. At least for Ragna.

It was like asking what he thinks when he breathes, or what he feels when he drinks water. That's how natural, how much a part of his daily routine, attacking NOL branches and destroying their cauldrons had become for Ragna.

What, indeed. Now that he thought about it, he had never really considered it deeply.

"That... Well, it's because I don't like it. Building a city on top of a cauldron, hiding its existence, and then using it for their own selfish research... Who do they think they are?" Ragna replied with a bitter tone.

The cauldron is a gate that connects to the Boundary. The Boundary is... an otherworldly realm.

It's the outside of the world as we know it, which humanity discovered and touched long ago, changing the world. However, it's an unknowable realm that humans can never fully reach, no matter how much they try.

A hundred years ago, a monster called the Black Beast emerged from that cauldron. The Black Beast scattered seithr throughout the world, destroying everything in its path according to its instincts... driving humanity, the world, to the brink of destruction. Humanity fought against the Black Beast. The ten-year war was known in this era as the "Dark War," and its content, as the name suggests, was like traversing a lightless, despairing darkness.

How could humans think they could control the place where such a monster, which caused so much damage and continues to leave deep scars in the form of seithr, was born? If the Boundary is useful, why do they hide it from the residents who live above it? If they really can control it, why don't they make its existence public?

The questions themselves became the answers. They weren't researching for the sake of helping people, and there was no guarantee that they could really control it.

That's why he would destroy it. He wouldn't allow the existence of such a thing.

Jubei, a beastkin who was Ragna's sword master, taught Ragna about the cauldron and the Boundary, and Ragna came to that conclusion.

''(And the cauldron has... "that"...)''

Rachel, who listened to Ragna's answer and looked into his heart, was silent for a while as if waiting for what was to come, and then opened her mouth slightly.

"That's all?" The words that spilled out softly mixed into the dusty air of Kagutsuchi, sounding somewhat lonely.

The wrinkles between Ragna's eyebrows deepened.

"What are you disappointed with?"

"I'm not saying I'm disappointed. It's just..." Rachel slid her fingertips and changed the angle of her umbrella, the parasol casting a shadow over her eyes. Her large eyes quietly averted their gaze from Ragna and blinked in the shadow. "Ragna... don't you remember anything 'this time' either?" The questioning voice passes quietly from Ragna's ears to his inside like a cold night wind. But Rachel's wind did not stay inside Ragna, and it escaped without color or shape.

"Huh? What do you mean by not remembering?" Ragna tilted his head, peering at Rachel, not understanding what she is talking about or what she is being asked. He was getting impatient with the riddle-like questions.

Rachel put the handle of her umbrella on her shoulder and looked up at Ragna again. The color that floated in her eyes was a pale disappointment.

"It's nothing. If you don't remember, then that's fine. That's what always happens." She let her small shoulders fall with a sigh, and again spoke mysterious words. It was as if only Ragna didn't understand. Ragna frowned even more.

He was about to ask for an explanation of what she meant, but Rachel interrupted him, waving her hand as if to shoo away even a stray dog.

"My business is already finished. Now, you're in a hurry, aren't you? Go and scavenge for food or something."

After being treated like that, and then being turned away as if she had no more interest in him, where was the motivation to continue the conversation?

Ragna promptly threw away the words he was about to ask in his heart, and clicked his tongue loudly in anger.

"What the hell was that all about? Damn it, I'm going! I won't turn around even if you stop me next time!" He spat out the words as if throwing them away, and started walking with large strides, determined not to waste any more time here.

After being yelled at so much, he suddenly remembered that he was terribly hungry. His feet were unsteady. He hadn't even had a proper drink of water. And yet, he had been forced to waste time on a nonsensical riddle and an unreasonable scolding, which was unbearable.

"Damn it!" He spat out his frustration once more, and hurried towards the city that should be ahead.

Rachel, who was supposed to have turned her back, saw off the retreating figure of the red jacket over her ornate shoulder. In her crimson eyes, there was a flat, pale resignation... and a drop of concern mixed in. As if to contain the flickering small emotions, Rachel lowered her eyelids, and turned her face away from the direction Ragna had left.

"He doesn't change. He's always the same. Again... always the same."

It was a matter of course for Rachel. It was always like this. There was never a time when it wasn't, but she always held a faint hope of "what if it wasn't," and then sighed at the fragility of that thought.

How many times had she had the same thought? It was already foolish to even count. How many times had she guided him to the same land, how many times had she asked the same question... how many times had she heard the same answer? How many times had she failed to hear the answer she had hoped for, and been disappointed?

Even so, the reason she comes to this city again, thinking "maybe," is probably due to the persistence of her mind, which she hasn't been able to give up on even though she thought she had long since given up.

"Will the world repeat itself again? And will I send him to this land again?"

And beyond this, the world will end, and the world will repeat itself again from the beginning.

To the beginning of the "Dark War" a hundred years ago, when the Black Beast was born.

"Madam Rachel. Shall we return now?" Valkenhayn inquired from beside a table set that is unsuitable for the lower levels of Kagutsuchi.

Rachel smiled wryly.

"Yes, I would like to, but..."

But there was something else she wanted to see.

This time, Rachel looked upwards. At the far upper level of Kagutsuchi, beyond the clouds.

It was not clearly visible from here, but above was the city directly managed by the NOL for their own use.

Soon, a ship will arrive there.

"Valkenhayn, please return to the castle first. I will take a walk around Kagutsuchi a little longer before returning."

"Understood. Then I will prepare tea and await your return." Giving a respectful bow, Valkenhayn disappeared from the spot, along with the table set. He returned to Rachel's castle, which exists in a different place, a dimension that is nowhere.

Rachel, who remained, readjusted the handle of her umbrella. Waiting for Gii to bounce and come to her side, she created a rose-colored magic circle around her.

High above, in the distance, the sound of an Ars Magus ship could be heard cutting through the sky towards Kagutsuchi. She probably wanted to see what was on the ship.

"Even I find it comical."

Muttering to no one in particular, Rachel stirred up a wind scented with roses and teleported from the spot.

=== Part 3 ===
In the lower levels of the Hierarchical City, places where you can see the sky are precious.

The city is built like a pile of flat plates, and in the lower levels, even if you look up at the sky, the layer above becomes a thick, wide roof that blocks the light. Even if they built the city protruding from the upper layer, above it, countless layers still overlap as countless roofs. It is difficult to get light through them, and in the lower levels of the city, there is no choice but to rely on the light of the lights, whether it is day or night.

The lower city, Orient Town, where Ragna entered, suppressing his hunger, was no exception. Even though it was a clear afternoon, the alleys were dimly lit, and the main streets were brightly lit.

It was a very complex and miscellaneous city.

The buildings were built close as if huddled together, and narrow alleys ran between them. Some of the alleys were so narrow that it would be more accurate to say they were gaps between houses, and sometimes they were suffocatingly blocked by shelves and wooden boxes that seemed to have overflowed from the houses.

Even if you gave up on the maze-like alleys and went out to the main street, it was overflowing with people.

Most of the people coming and going were residents of this city. Everyone had an atmosphere that was not so much starving from poverty, but certainly not wealthy, along with their clothes, and blended in with the flashy colors of the cityscapes that stood out with their primary colors.

Occasionally, among them, unusual people who did not match the scenery of the city were lost in the unfamiliar alleys, spat out onto the main street, and then jostled by the unfamiliar crowd.

Ragna, following a common example, was one of the unusual people who was spat out from a back alley.

Even though it was called a main street, it was narrower than the upper levels. Still, it was worthy of being the main street of this city, with several stores competing to attract customers with flashing neon lights.

While looking for a name that looked like a restaurant among the neon signs, Ragna rubbed his completely weakened stomach and moved his legs.

"Damn it, that Rachel... she keeps saying things I don't understand. If you have something to say, just say it clearly... damn it." Complaints leaked from his mouth as if breathing. That kind of thing is always the case. It's always the case, but he can't help but say it. "What do you mean by 'it's nothing'?"

It didn't feel like that. It just hinted that Ragna was overlooking something important.

"Damn it!" He felt inexplicably irritated. That's probably because of this unbearable hunger. He thought so, and shifted his consciousness back to finding a restaurant.

But the moment Ragna found a name that looked like one among the neon signs, a disturbing presence jumped out from the alley he had just passed.

"What's that!?"

"Meow!"

Something that looked like a human figure swung its fist down, gouging out the spot where he had jumped back. Their eyes met. Red... but not human eyes. Round, just round red eyes.

He was pounced on in quick succession, and after they switched positions as if crossing each other, Ragna put his hand on the sword at his waist and braced himself.

"What? A beastkin? No..."

The human figure, bracing herself on the opposite side of the road and performing a light footwork shadow punch, had a strange appearance.

Although she wore clothes that completely covered her upper body, she was probably a girl judging from the figure that could be glimpsed from them. She was shorter than Ragna, with a height appropriate for a lively woman. Her legs, which stretched out from the hem of her short clothes, were a healthy tan and toned with muscle.

But no matter how you look at it, she was not a normal girl.

She had triangular cat-like ears on her large hood, and a dark brown tail with a white tip extending from her back. Furthermore, the inside of the hood did not have the usual face or organs, but a round red eyeball and a crescent-shaped mouth with bared white fangs floated in the blackness as if a shadow had been pushed in.

Ragna had seen this strange figure once before.

"A Kaka?" Ragna frowned suspiciously. He was sure he had met them once before with his sword master, Jubei. But why would he encounter one in a place like this?

"Meow! Tao is a Kaka warrior, Taokaka, meow!" Replying energetically with a bouncy voice that matched her nimble movements, the girl who called herself Taokaka pointed at Ragna with a large hand like a cat's paw. "You there! Fight with Tao, meow!"

"Fight? Don't joke around, I'm not in the mood for that right now."

He was about to die of hunger, and it was outrageous to waste any more time. But whether Taokaka heard him or not, she grinned with her crescent-shaped mouth, wagged her tail, and launched a hook into the air with a belligerent shuffle.

"If Tao wins~, you'll treat Tao to a full meal meow! And if Tao loses~, you'll still treat Tao to a full meal, meow!"

"Don't screw with me! That means I'll be treating you either way!"

"Don't worry about the details, meow. Well then, here I go, meow!!"

"Hey, wait..."

As if not caring about his words, the strange cat girl jumped up with the swiftness of a cat, kicked off a nearby wall, and leapt above Ragna's head. Silver claws popped out from the round tip of her robe-covered hand, sharply cutting through the air.

"Whoa!" Ragna reflexively pulled out his sword and blocked the claws that grazed his face. The sound of metal clashing echoed loudly, and the surrounding passersby turned around to see what was happening. But rough brawls like this are by no means uncommon around here. Everyone passed by indifferently or tried not to get close, looking annoyed.

Of course, Taokaka didn't care about the eyes of those around her, and this time, she jumped on Ragna's sword that had blocked her attack as a foothold, spun around in the air, and quickly unleashed a kick as if stomping on him. Claws popped out from her toes as well.

If he took such a thing head-on, he would have his flesh torn off. It felt as if he was being attacked by a carnivore in the middle of the city.

Moreover, his opponent seemed to be only half serious. In response to Ragna blocking the claw attack with his sword again and forcefully shaking it off, Taokaka kept a grin on her face and landed with a graceful movement.

"Oh, you're good, White Guy. But the food is... Tao's!!!"

"That's why I didn't say anything about treating you..." Naturally, Ragna's rebuttal didn't reach those triangular ears.

Taokaka ran out with the momentum of a whirlwind, jumped in front of Ragna, and spun behind him.

"Fast!"

She was incredibly fast. It was all he could do to keep track of her movements with his eyes.

At the same time Ragna turned around in a hurry, Taokaka's claws swung from above and below as if biting down. He bitterly choked back a breath, and pulled his sword closer, bracing himself to at least avoid being hit directly.

But…

"Meow... got you."

Taokaka's movements suddenly slowed down. At the same time, a ''grrgrgr'' like she'd just heard from Ragna's stomach echoed without a sense of urgency.
He was not so naive to miss the gap when Taokaka lost her strength. Ragna stretched out his arm, grabbed her collar, and slammed her into the ground with the momentum of pulling her in.

"Ugh!" Taokaka let out a muffled cry, struggling as Ragna's hand held her down. But when her stomach rumbled faintly once more, she threw both her hands and feet to the ground, and even her tail fell limply, becoming docile.

"Ugh~, I lost, meow~~"

"Haa, haa... you damn brat! You're attacking people without a word... "

Just as he was about to yell at her in anger, Ragna's stomach interrupted his words. The pathetic sound and the unbearable feeling of weakness made his words trail off, unable to continue. It must have been the smell of steamed food or something wafting from somewhere that made him feel this way.

In contrast to Ragna, who was so exhausted that he wanted to sit down on the spot, Taokaka, who had heard the sound of his stomach, cleverly raised her head while still being held down.

"Meow! White Guy is also hungry. Then let's eat together, meow! Tao will take you to a delicious restaurant, meow!"

"You... you could at least feel a little remorse..." He felt foolish for being in a hurry and getting angry. Ragna let go of Taokaka and held his head in his hands.

He didn't care about the details anymore. He just wanted to eat. But why did he have to get involved with Rachel and Taokaka one after another like this?

"Ah, damn it, I got it, I got it. Food, food! Take me to that so-called delicious restaurant. I'll feed you too!"

"Ooooh, really, White Guy!"

When Ragna said it in exasperation, Taokaka jumped up with such force that she completely forgot about being crushed just a moment ago. The corners of her eyes and mouth, which had drooped powerlessly, were already regained their liveliness.

"If that's decided, then let's go right away, meow! Yahoo, all-you-can-eat feast~!"

"It's not all-you-can-eat! Hey, are you listening to meeeeeee!"

Ragna's grumbling was of no concern to her. Taokaka grabbed Ragna's arm tightly, pushed and blew away the people on the main street, and ran through with the force of a raging wave.

A variety of dishes were lined up on a round table covered with a white cloth.

A stir-fry of green vegetables with the aroma of spices and garlic, a large plate of fried shrimp with roe, a large plate of pork and vegetables stewed with miso, a noodle dish with plenty of soup and a key placed on it, a chewy steamed rice cake wrapped in tree bark with wild vegetables, and a plate of fried noodles with a lot of seafood in the sauce.

On top of that, a large plate of freshly steamed meat buns piled high, steaming hot, was piled high, and Ragna was stunned by the sight spreading out in front of him.

For a moment, he thought it would disappear, but the freshly made steam that mercilessly stimulated his stomach and the spreading aroma told him the reality that if he reached out and put it in his mouth, he would immediately be promised a delicacy. Unable to bear it, his stomach cried out for work.

"Let's eat meeeeooooow!!" With a spirited declaration, Taokaka took the steamed rice in her right hand and the meat bun in her left, and began to eat with unimaginable speeds.

"Munchmunchmunchmunch~! Munchmunchmunchmunch~!" Taokaka busily moved her mouth and hands, making strange noises, whether it was the sound of biting, chewing, or a cry of joy at having reached the food. The number of meat buns decreased rapidly, and Ragna hurriedly grabbed one for himself.

"How hungry were you... is it good?"

Ragna gave a wry smile and, giving up, bit into the meat bun in his hand. Although it was about the size of his face, the skin was delicately and fluffily steamed, and the filling was juicy with the flavor oozing out, making it more delicious than he had imagined. It was as good as he had recommended. While he was inwardly impressed, Taokaka's hand snatched six or so shrimp dumplings from right in front of Ragna's eyes all at once.

"It's delicious, meow! This, this, that, all of them are super delicious!"

"Is that so? I'm glad to hear that… oh dear."

Even if she ate so innocently and impolitely, the excessive number of items ordered and the way she stuffed herself seemed like a joke to her.

This would probably leave his wallet empty, but Ragna pushed that to the back of his mind and reached out for the food before Taokaka could take it all.

The crispy fried noodles were fragrant, the salty sauce was piping hot, and the plump ingredients bounced with a soft elasticity in his mouth.

It was too gentle and high-quality for Ragna's stomach, which was accustomed to crude meals like grilled meat or grilled mushrooms.

"Damn, it's delicious."

"That's right, meow! It's delicious! White Guy is a good guy for treating me to such delicious food!!"

"You attacked me and tried to force me to treat you, what's 'good person' supposed to mean, geez. Hey, hey, don't eat that all by yourself!"

''"Ahhhhn~"''

"Ahhh! Damn it, I haven't even had a bite of that shrimp dumpling!" Ragna's hand tried to stop Taokaka's outrageous act of pouring the food over the plate and into her mouth, but it was too late, and the white large plate was easily emptied.

Ragna's hand, having missed its target, trembled in the air, and he clenched it tightly to suppress his frustration.

"You..."

"Phew! Hm, what's wrong, Good Guy? Aren't you eating, meow? You can't chase after bounties on an empty stomach!"

"Shut up, you're eating my money without hesitation! ...Wait, chase after bounties?"

Unexpected words popped out from the cat girl, whose mind only seemed focused on eating, and Ragna unclenched his fist.

Chasing after bounties, or as it's also called: bounty hunting. Criminals beyond the control of the NOL are given a bounty, and the bounty hunters chase after the wanted criminals for the bounty.

To have a bounty placed on one's head means they have committed a crime worthy of such a reward. The profit is great, but it comes with a corresponding danger.

Taokaka's physical ability would certainly allow her to work as a bounty hunter, but that doesn't mean that a woman, child, or cat would like to choose such a job.

But Taokaka, somewhat proudly, took out something like a wanted poster from her chest, spread it out on the table, and wagged her tail in a good mood.

"Meow. Tao has become a bounty hunter from today. And then~, I'm going to blow this 'Rawgnya' guy away and get a lot of money, meow!"

"Rawgnya?"

What's that ridiculous name, Ragna wondered, peering at the wanted poster out of curiosity.

The moment he did…

"Bwah!"

The moment he saw the portrait and the name, he choked and almost spat out the meat bun in his mouth.

While hurriedly covering his mouth and swallowing the contents, he took the wanted poster in his hand and looked at it closely. Along with a very ugly portrait of a man, it contained a generous amount of reward money and the name of the wanted criminal. The name written was…

"Wh-what... 'Ragna the Bloodedge'... is that me!?" As if slamming down his surging anger and inexplicable feelings, Ragna roughly returned the wanted poster to the table. "Besides, what's with this picture, it's not even close! If you don't know what I look like, don't make a caricature! It's a bit hurtful!"

"Meow? Good Guy?" Taokaka's round eyes widened in surprise as she lifted her face from the large bowl she was holding. She had been noisily slurping the soup and noodles with tremendous speed, and a piece of roasted pork was sticking out of her busy mouth.

Noticing her expression, Ragna tried to suppress his discomposure and forced a smile.

"No, it's nothing..."

He couldn't continue after ''"it's nothing."'' As if erupting, a dangerous presence welled up behind Ragna. Hostility, malice, and then murderous intent. A low, rumbling murmur gradually approached them from the back of the store.

"Didn't that guy just say 'Ragna the Bloodedge'?"

Someone's whisper, contrary to its hushed volume, resounded around them for some reason. As if chasing after it, voices could be heard from all over the place.

"Hey, look. That white hair, red clothes..."

"'Grim Reaper'... Ragna the Bloodedge..."

"The most wanted criminal with the highest bounty in history..."

"Even if we split it, it'll be a considerable amount..."

At the sound of a chair being pulled, Ragna awkwardly turned his neck and checked behind him.

There were men and women filling the store's tables, with appearances that couldn't be described as harmless residents.

Someone began drawing their weapon.

"Hey, Taokaka." As soon as he called out, Ragna strongly grabbed Taokaka's arm, who had finished drinking the last drop of soup.

"Meow?"

Without asking any questions, he dragged the cat girl's body and started running at full speed.

Seeing that, the customers in the store slammed the tables and stood up.

"He's getting away!"

"As I thought, that guy was 'Grim Reaper'!"

"Chase him! Capture him- no, kill him!!!"

With their respective weapons in hand, they overturned tables, kicked away chairs, and the bounty hunters who were eating chased after them all at once. Even if Ragna tried to jump out of the store, tried to weave through the crowd and stumble, the persistent voices followed him without caring about anything.

"Damn it, what's with that store? The customers are all bounty hunters!!!"

"Meeeoooow, there's still a lot of my food left!!!"

"Shut up! Can't you see this isn't the time for that?" Carrying Taokaka's body on his shoulder as she tried to go back at this point, Ragna fled through the main street of the Orient Town. "Besides, if we go back now, we won't just lose our meal, we'll get beaten to a pulp! Since they saw me eating with you, they'll think you're my accomplice!"

"Meow? Accomplice? Tao and Good Guy are accomplices, meow?"

"Huh? No, that's what they'll think. Even if we say we're not, they won't listen... anyway, more importantly, isn't there somewhere we can escape to?"

The roaring voices and footsteps chasing after them, while not closing the distance, showed no signs of giving up on pursuing Ragna. As long as they were running through the main street, their figures were visible, so there was no reason to give up. If they killed Ragna, they'd be able to live without worries for the rest of their lives, and even build a mansion in the upper layers.

"I can't get caught by those guys no matter what!" While shouting, Ragna ran straight ahead. If he recklessly entered a back alley, he'd get lost in the intricate alleyways, and at worst, he'd run into a dead end and be cornered.

He was confident that he could defeat them if he fought them, but he wasn't confident that he could fight without involving these ordinary people in a place like this.

"I understand, meow!"

"Dowah!"

Suddenly, Taokaka jumped up on Ragna's shoulder, turned around in the air, and landed in front of him. She then used her hands like paws and ran alongside him.

"Good Guy is my benefactor who treated me to a meal, meow! And since he's Tao's friend, I'll give you a special guide, meow!"

"No, an accomplice is..."

"Kaka Village is safe, meow! Follow me!" As soon as she said that, Taokaka kicked the ground and jumped low, then increased her speed. She quickly distanced herself, and Ragna hurriedly quickened his pace.

He remembered what happened when he was attacked earlier. Come to think of it, this cat girl was incredibly fast. If he wasn't careful, he'd lose sight of her.

"Hey, wait! Don't leave me behind!!"

More desperately than when he was escaping, Ragna gritted his teeth and chased after Taokaka, who was running with the leg strength of a wild animal.

=== Part 4 ===
'''December 30, 2199 - 13:25'''

A dull, low driving sound droned on.

It was a small sound that normally wouldn't be noticed. However, after more than an hour of silence, it was impossible not to notice it, and as she didn't want to return her consciousness to the silence, she strained her ears to the driving sound.

How much longer would she have to listen to this sound?

Sinking her slender body into the unadorned seat, Noel Vermillion, a warrant officer of the Novus Orbis Librarium's 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron, quietly sighed.

Wearing a blue and white soldier uniform, she spread a blue poncho for cold weather over her lap like a blanket and leaned her head against the wall. Despite having completed the officer school course properly, she looked somewhat younger than her actual age due to her girlish features.

Her long, straight, golden hair reached down to her waist, but now it was gathered into the blue beret she wore on her head for duty. Her distant eyes were a soft green. She looked a little sleepy, gazing out the small window beside her. White skin, slender shoulders, slender arms. If she were wearing different clothes, she would not look like a soldier working for the NOL.

This was a ship owned by the NOL, traversing the sky - an Ars Magus ship.

Outside the small window that Noel was looking at, a white sea of clouds spread out, and the ship continued its smooth voyage to the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, its destination.

There were only two people sitting in the passenger cabin with rows of seats. Noel, who was sitting in the front seat looking listless, and one other person.

Although it was a relatively small Ars Magus ship, a considerable number of seats were available. Even so, there were only two people in the passenger cabin, which couldn't be considered narrow. And since they were not particularly close, there had been no conversation for a long time, and an awkward amount of silence continued between them.

She wondered what that person was doing now. Driven by such a slight interest, Noel fidgeted slightly on the seat and gently peered behind the shadow of the backrest.

The man sitting there was not wearing the uniform of a soldier like Noel, but a black suit. He was slender but tall, with a black hat on his green hair. Unlike Noel, he didn't seem to feel any awkwardness at all, and he crossed his long, thin legs and leaned back in his seat in a relaxed manner.

He was Captain Hazama of the Novus Orbis Librarium's Intelligence Department.

Right as the year was about to end, Noel and Hazama, who belonged to a different department, were heading to Kagutsuchi for a mission.

As long as you work as a soldier, you should basically follow orders from above. Of course, Noel had no intention of going against orders. However, that did not mean that such loyalty and sense of duty could dispel her anxiety about this mission.

''(Haa... why is it just me and Hazama-san?)''

Noel averted her eyes from Hazama, who was wearing a hat over his eyes and not moving as if he were asleep, and returned to the seat, grumbling in her heart while looking out the window again.

Noel belonged to the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron, and Hazama belonged to the Intelligence Department. It was not very common for people from different departments to take on the same mission. And yet they were each sent to a land far away from headquarters.

[[File:BB_CT2_057.jpg|frameless|right]]

The reason for this lay in the details of the "mission" given to Noel. This was a top-secret mission that could not leak information to unnecessary personnel.

The objective was to search for a certain person. Jin Kisaragi, Noel's direct superior, Major of the 4th Squadron, and the one she served under as his secretary. He had suddenly disappeared from the NOL headquarters a few days earlier and was missing.

If it were discovered that the commander of a division was missing due to unauthorized actions, it would have a negative impact on many guards and expose the internal affairs of the NOL. Therefore, information about Jin's disappearance was conveyed to only a very small number of people.

A few days later, information came in that Jin seemed to be heading to Kagutsuchi.

Although the reason for this was unknown, there was no way Jin would be allowed to continue acting alone.

Jin was immediately ordered to return to base, and Hazama, who had obtained information about his whereabouts, and Noel, Jin's secretary, were chosen for the role of conveying this order.

...And now, Noel and Hazama were sitting alone in the seats of the Ars Magus ship.

''(But even so, there should be more manpower. Even if we're looking for Major Kisaragi, we don't have any information beyond that he seems to have gone to Kagutsuchi...)''

Could they really find a single guard in the vast Kagutsuchi?

Even if they were able to find him, would Jin Kisaragi listen to Noel's order to return to base and obediently comply?

''(No way, he would never listen.)''

Noel shook her head slightly. Although she worked as a secretary, she was always met with Jin's cold and harsh gaze. It could not be said that they had a smooth superior-subordinate relationship. Rather, it was safe to say that it was the worst.

It was clearly a misjudgment in personnel selection. Even if they arrived in Kagutsuchi, what should they do and how should they start?

The more she thought about it, the more her anxiety grew and weighed heavily on her chest.

And there was one more major anxiety. The man named Hazama, who was sitting silently in the back seat. This was the first time she had met him on this mission, and he had a strange atmosphere, and she couldn't understand what he was thinking at all... somehow, he was scary.

''(If only everyone was here at a time like this...)''

Sighing once again, Noel hunched over as if trying to shrink her body.

She remembered the time she spent with her friends at the officer school before becoming a guard for the Control Organization. Those were fun times. A lot of things happened, and there were difficult times, but those were happy days that more than made up for them.

In those nostalgic days, her best friends were always by Noel's side.

Noel wasn't a very social person and didn't have many friends. But even so, the small number of friends she had at school were precious to her.

Her two closest friends were Tsubaki Yayoi and Makoto Nanaya, who were in the same room in the dormitory. Tsubaki called out to Noel, who was unable to fit in with school life, and took care of her in various ways. Makoto pulled on Noel's withdrawn arm and taught her many fun things. The three of them talked about many things.

Tsubaki was smart and had top grades, so before exams, she always studied with Makoto and taught them.

They also went out together after school. They often went to a cafe with a comfortable open terrace, located a short walk from the school. It had many types of parfaits, which were Noel and her friends' favorites.

Makoto was particularly fond of them. Whenever they stopped by, a chestnut parfait in a tall glass was always placed in front of her.

Even after they were about to graduate and their future paths were decided... when the three of them went to that cafe, there was a chestnut parfait in front of Makoto.

"So, it's decided? Noel will become Kisaragi-senpai's secretary?"

It was a little early to call it evening, and the area overlooked by the clear sky was enveloped in a gentle and warm atmosphere. Even though it was the graduation season, there were no extreme temperature fluctuations in the hierarchical city where the climate and temperature were controlled by Ars Magus. Therefore, they could fully enjoy the parfait with cold ice cream and the coat without wearing it, in their officer school uniforms, on the open terrace.

Makoto, who was carrying the chestnut cream to her mouth, asked the question, and Noel, who was sitting across the round table, nodded slightly with a frown.

"Yeah... it's been decided."

"I see... Noel as a secretary..."

What kind of reaction should she give? With such a troubled face, Makoto put the long-handled parfait spoon in her mouth and rested her cheek on her hand.

Makoto was not human, but a beastkin. Her face and figure were not much different from an ordinary girl, but her small ears that popped out from her head and her tail, which was larger than her torso, were unmistakably squirrel-shaped.

It seemed that she had been looked at strangely in the past because of her special appearance, but the Makoto that Noel knew was an active and straightforward girl with lovely deep brown hair and big, sparkling brown eyes.

Seeing the complicated look on the normally cheerful Makoto, Noel inadvertently looked down at her strawberry parfait in front of her.

"I don't think I'm capable of doing it myself. If it's Kisaragi-senpai's secretary, someone like me..."

"Oh, that's not it, Noel! It's not that you're bad or anything like that. It's just that if you're Kisaragi-senpai's secretary..." Makoto hurriedly tried to follow up, but in the end, even those words became blurred.

Noel and Makoto were thinking the same thing.

The beginning of the story was a little before their future paths after graduation were decided. Noel, who was simply intending to apply to become a soldier for the NOL, was suddenly called in and ordered to become the secretary of Jin Kisaragi, who was the commander of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron after graduation.

Noel couldn't refuse it. But she had been thinking about it ever since she heard the story.

Jin Kisaragi. A senior at the officer school who graduated two years earlier, a member of the Duodecim's prestigious Kisaragi family, and a childhood friend of Tsubaki, the daughter of the Duodecim's Yayoi family.

They must have thought the same thing at the same time. When Noel raised her eyes as if peeking, Makoto was also peeking, looking at the red-haired girl sitting between them.

"You two shouldn't talk like that. There's a good reason why Noel was chosen."

With a knowing look on her face, the red-haired girl in front of them, Tsubaki, chided.

Her strikingly colored hair was glossy, long, and reached her waist, and her blue eyes resembled the color of the sky. Her posture was upright and elegant, and although she had no intention of doing so, she inevitably gave off an air of being brought up well.

Excellent grades, impeccable behavior. Such words suited Tsubaki very well. Kind to everyone and loved by everyone, she was a proud and boastful best friend to Noel. However, only a very small number of friends, including Noel and Makoto, knew that she liked bitter sweets such as matcha and adzuki beans.

With a dignified demeanor that did not shame her birth, Tsubaki took a spoonful of bracken rice cake and matcha ice cream sprinkled with matcha powder, and then continued in a gentle tone.

"Noel is good at both studying and sports, and above all, she has excellent Ars Magus aptitude, the best since the founding of the officer school. Qualities that are inherent cannot be improved later. As the secretary of the division commander, she has the perfect qualities."

"Well, I think Noel's Ars Magus aptitude is amazing. But…"

Despite agreeing, Makoto still had an unsettled look on her face. There was no objection to what Tsubaki said. But still, there was something that stuck in her mind. Noel had the same feeling, and she dropped her shoulders with a sigh.

"I... I don't have any confidence. I'm disliked by Kisaragi-senpai, and besides..."

Above all, she knew that Tsubaki really wanted to become Jin's secretary.

Tsubaki liked Jin. Not as a childhood friend or a senior at school, but as a man.

She had no memory of wanting to work by the side of someone she liked, wanting to be useful to that person. But she would understand, because she had seen Tsubaki, who had been studying hard every day to work next to Jin someday. She knew how pure and straightforward that feeling was.

However, she couldn't put that into words and throw it at Tsubaki.

It was not something to be treated so roughly.

So Noel swallowed the thoughts that came to her mind, along with the sweet and sour strawberry ice cream, before they reached her throat.

"Even if you don't have confidence, you have to work hard. You agreed to become Jin-sama's secretary for your parents, didn't you?"

"Eh?" When Tsubaki gently said that to her, Noel raised her face in surprise. At the end of her raised gaze, Tsubaki's blue eyes were looking at her with a gentle look.

"I heard. If you take on the secretary's position, your family, the Vermillion family's noble privileges will be restored. The Vermillion family will also be supported while you're in office."

At Tsubaki's words, Noel's heart skipped a beat. Driven by that momentum, her fingertips hit the spoon against the parfait glass.

She wondered for a moment how she knew about that, but Tsubaki was the daughter of the Duodecim. The internal affairs of the NOL would also reach her ears to some extent.

On the other hand, Makoto, who knew nothing, raised her body with a start in surprise and leaned forward.

"Eh, is that true, Noel!?"

"...Yeah. Actually..." Noel nodded, not wanting to lie to Makoto or Tsubaki.

Putting her raised belly back on the chair, Makoto slumped over the round table as if clinging to it. Her voluminous, fluffy tail also fell down powerlessly.

"Haa, I see. Then you can't refuse, can you? Your parents are... how should I say it, 'special' to you." Makoto's words, spoken with a deep sigh, were by no means sarcastic, compassionate, or anything that could hurt someone's heart. There was only simple understanding.

Makoto and Tsubaki knew, only in a rough outline, how Noel's family was "special," after hearing it from her.

Noel was adopted.

"About four years ago, wasn't it?" Makoto slowly raised her slumped body and asked nostalgically.

Noel nodded slightly.

"Yeah. During the explosion in Ibukido. I don't remember it well, but a person from the Librarium rescued me, and my current foster father adopted me when he'd heard about me."

Her foster parents, the Vermillions, were kind people. Noel felt a great debt to them for taking her in and treating her with love. At the same time, she felt a great pain in her heart for not being able to do anything for her foster father, who was struggling with his health in a life that could not be described as wealthy.

Therefore, the conditions presented by the NOL, "restoration of noble privileges" and "economic support," were too attractive for Noel, who wanted to repay her kindness in any way possible.

"I'm sorry, Tsubaki."

Unable to bear it, Noel apologized weakly. If she became Jin Kisaragi's secretary at this time, it would be impossible for Tsubaki to become his secretary in the future unless something extraordinary happened.

It hurt Noel to think that she had crushed Tsubaki's feelings with the heavy weight of her family's situation.

Perhaps Noel's mental state was evident on her face. Tsubaki gave a wry smile at Noel's apologetic expression and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why are you apologizing? Just because you became Jin-sama's secretary doesn't mean I can't be his secretary. Besides, with this chaotic situation where the civil war still isn't over, I'm relieved that a reliable friend is by Jin-sama's side."

Tsubaki's gentle words somehow sounded lonely and painful. It wasn't Noel's career path that was the reason. There was a more direct and immediate reason.

"The Ikaruga Civil War... Kisaragi-senpai hasn't returned from the battlefield yet, has he?" Makoto muttered as if dropping the words, while poking the remaining parfait with her spoon and scooping up the melting ice cream.

Jin was currently on the front line of the Ikaruga Civil War, having been appointed commander of the 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron immediately after graduating. That was why Tsubaki was constantly gloomy.

"Yes. My father's also gone to the battlefield and hasn't returned."

Tsubaki put a slightly bitter matcha ice cream on a silver spoon and brought it to her mouth. Then, as if spilling out her true feelings, she murmured, "...I wish the war would end soon."

"Tsubaki..." Noel called her name, but she didn't know what else to say.

The Ikaruga Civil War was a long-lasting war. Not only her father and Jin, but many people around Tsubaki were probably talking about who went to which battlefield.

Despite their subdued tone, the murmured words carried deep emotions that resonated heavily in Noel and Makoto's hearts.

"Oh, stop it! Stop this talk! Just because we're feeling gloomy doesn't mean the war will end, and even the parfait won't taste good!" With a vigorous movement as if shaking off the heavy atmosphere that had begun to drift, Makoto stood up and gripped her spoon tightly.

When gave them a cheerful smile, the heavy burden that had been weighing on Noel and Tsubaki's shoulders was dispelled and went elsewhere. Makoto's smile always lifted their spirits, no matter what.

"That's right, Tsubaki, what about your plans after graduation? You have to decide soon, right?"

Changing her mood, she sat back down and asked in a bright voice, while hooking her finger on the teacup she had completely forgotten about in her preoccupation with the parfait.

At the bouncy voice, Tsubaki relaxed her cheeks as if releasing tension.

"Well. I've been thinking about it a lot, but I haven't decided yet. But..." After closing her lips once, Tsubaki put down her spoon and opened her mouth again. "But, I hope I can go to a department where I can follow my own beliefs. I want to become stronger in such a place. So that I can protect what is important to me."

Contrary to her dreamy tone, there was a strong determination in the depths of Tsubaki's eyes. However, no one was able to find it in this place.

"What about you, Makoto?" As if trying to deceive something, Tsubaki turned her gaze away.

"Me?"

Noel also nodded, tilting her teacup towards Makoto, who was pointing at herself.

"Come to think of it, I haven't heard much about your plans. Have you submitted your application?"

"Well… sort of."

Though she'd brought up the topic herself, she was a little uncomfortable with this kind of talk, and Makoto scratched her cheek and laughed while taking a sip of tea.

"Um, for now, the Intelligence Department. I don't know what will actually happen, though."

"Intelligence Department? That's a bit unexpected."

While bringing her lips to the cup, Noel widened her eyes. Makoto was the most skilled in combat among the three. She had assumed that she would be applying for a department that would make use of this.

Putting down her cup, Makoto now scratched her head as if messing up her hair.

"How should I put it? I want to know more about this world. If it's the Intelligence Department or something like that, I feel like I can learn a lot of things I didn't know before."

"That's true, but..."

Even so, the Intelligence Department, which avoids people's eyes and hides in the shadows to act without being known, was far from Makoto's image, and Tsubaki looked puzzled.

Little by little, everyone would be moving in different directions from their student days. Such a thought suddenly passed through Noel's mind, and she secretly hugged the teacup in her hand tightly with both hands.

"Um, you know... it's almost graduation. Even after graduation, we'll still be friends, right?"

Noel had no memories before being rescued in Ibukido. So for her, Tsubaki and Makoto were her first friends in her life. There were other people she could call friends, but Tsubaki and Makoto were special. The time the three of them spent together was truly irreplaceable.

Noel watched her two best friends as if asking for confirmation, waiting for an answer, and Makoto and Tsubaki stared back at her before breaking into smiles as if bursting out.

"Of course, Noel! Right, Tsubaki?"

"Yes, of course."

Makoto's smile, which was like a clear sky, and Tsubaki's smile, which was like a blooming flower. Their kindness warmly enveloped her, and it was so, so happy.

Noel almost cried a little while drinking her tea.

The remaining few days of student life were coming to an end, and they would no longer be attending the same classroom, and they would no longer be able to wear the uniforms of this military academy. But even then, she thought that they could always get together like this and spend a peaceful time like this afternoon, surrounding a single table.

However, after that day, they never had the chance to visit this cafe together.

=== Part 5 ===
She wondered how long she had been immersed in nostalgic memories.

"...Lieutenant? Hello? Lieutenant Noel Vermillion?"

Suddenly, she heard a man's voice from right beside her.

"Huh, ah, y-yes!"

A beat late, Noel came to her senses and hurriedly straightened her head and body from the wall she had been leaning against.

In the passenger cabin where there were only two people, only one man could call out to her. Pressing down on her slipping hat, she turned around and saw the figure she had expected.

Black suit, white shirt, black tie, black hat. His green hair was so long in the front that it hid his eyes, and from the depths of those eyes, which were difficult to tell whether they were open or not, he looked down at Noel from a high position with an exasperated look.

"Are you finally awake? Honestly, we're still on duty, you know? Even if we're in transit, a nap is quite carefree, isn't it?"

"I-I'm sorry, Captain Hazama. But, um, I certainly wasn't sleeping...!"

While she thought being dazed was not much different, Noel straightened her posture and made excuses to Hazama, who was looking down at her. At that moment, she felt something terribly cold down her spine.

''(Eh... what...?)''

The air conditioning in the Ars Magus ship was comfortably adjusted, and she wasn't feeling unwell. And it was too... horrifying to be a chill from an unexpected cold.

Why was she being attacked by such a sensation? The unreasonable chills, no, rather, the fear, grabbed Noel and wouldn't let go.

Meanwhile, Hazama began to talk on his own, as if he didn't care about Noel being unable to speak.

"It's nice that you got plenty of rest, but we've already arrived in Kagutsuchi. If you stay on board like this, your work won't start at all, so could you please get off?"

"Eh, ah..."

Come to think of it, the driving sound during the voyage had stopped sometime. When she turned her gaze to the small window, the scenery outside was not the sky but a port for Ars Magus ships.

The fear that had been clogging her chest until just now was gone, and a feeling of shame rose like a rush.

Noel grabbed the seatbelt buckle as if jumping at it, and started to try to undo it. Her fingertips fumbled due to her agitation, and she couldn't undo the seatbelt, which should have been easy.

"I-I'm sorry! I'll get off right away, right now!"

"Oh, is that so? Then I'll get off first, so please don't break the seatbelt." With a light chuckle, Hazama waved his leather gloved hand and left the passenger cabin. Watching his back as he left, Noel's expression crumpled wretchedly as soon as she turned her face back to the seatbelt. She didn't even notice the descent, let alone the announcement of it. What a blunder.

As Hazama said, she was too carefree even though she was on duty.

After a bit of delay, Noel finally escaped from the unfastened seatbelt, and while putting on her blue poncho, she hurriedly rushed outside.

The 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, Port 5.

Located at the edge of the upper layer, one of the smaller and quietly established ports among many, it was a port used for matters and missions that could not be made public even within the NOL.

Due to its intended use, there were fewer personnel working there compared to other ports. The number of Ars Magus ships that come in and out of the port was not very large, and it was a quiet port with few people around, but even so, it had a glamorous air that suggested that it was directly managed by the NOL.

The face of the port, so to speak, was the large clock hung in the management building. The gold hands indicating the time were finely decorated to the tips, giving it the appearance of a work of art.

With the large clock watching over the port with elegance and dignity, a small Ars Magus ship, which had entered the port under the name of the Intelligence Department of the NOL Headquarters, quietly rested its body.

Metal stairs extending from the abdomen of the ship urged passengers to go to the floor of the port.

While holding the handrail of the stairs, Noel looked around at the scenery from there. The sky was a pleasant clear day. The air, controlled by Ars Magus, was refreshing, and there was almost no magic element.

From this location, it was difficult to see clearly because it was blocked by the management building and the entrance to the port, but she could see some NOL facilities lined up beyond the relatively new Port 5. Beyond that, in the distance, the well-organized cityscape, typical of the upper layer, spread out. The green of the trees planted everywhere was deep and glistened in the sunlight. The buildings lined up were based on white and blue, giving a somewhat clear impression.

It was a beautiful city. And it was very large.

"This is Kagutsuchi..."

It was Noel's first visit to the city.

If it weren't for the information from her superior and senior at the military academy, Jin Kisaragi, she might not have visited it.

Sliding her fingertips covered with white gloves on the handrail, Noel ran down the short stairs and descended from the Ars Magus ship to the port. Beyond the protruding passageway, Hazama was leaning against the pillar of a one-legged clock, which pointed to the same time as the large clock, looking bored.

The sight startled Noel for a moment, and she ran towards him.

Noel was a little uncomfortable with the man from the Intelligence Department. The first time she had properly met him and talked to him was when she was summoned for this mission, but when she was in front of him, she felt somehow overwhelmed and swallowed up. However, she couldn't avoid him. He was the only collaborator in this top-secret mission.

Standing at attention in front of Hazama and straightening her back, Noel gave a small salute to the superior officer from a different department.

"I-I kept you waiting, Captain Hazama. I was very rude earlier."

"No, no, I'm used to waiting, so please don't worry about it." Hazama etched a deep smile on his lips, raised his body, and gave a light bow while speaking in a soft tone.

If you only listened to the words, it was normal and sounded considerate. But Noel felt a vague suspicion about his strangely suggestive way of speaking and exaggerated gestures, and she inadvertently looked down. At the same time, she felt somewhat depressed at her own narrow-mindedness, even though nothing had been done to her.

''(He's not a bad person... I think.)''

Even so, she felt sorry for the feeling of discomfort that welled up in her chest as if seeping out.

As Noel looked down with her salute still in place, Hazama suddenly clapped his hands as if he had come up with something.

"Ah, that's right, that's right. And about the 'Captain' and that salute, let's get rid of those formalities. I'm not your direct superior, and you're not my direct subordinate."

"Eh... but, but..."

"Those things are so troublesome. I don't want to put on a superior's face to you either. There's no one watching us, so please, okay?"

With a deep smile at the corners of his mouth, Hazama tilted his head slightly and looked down at Noel. His bangs were long, and the brim of his hat cast a shadow, making it difficult to see the eyes behind them. Even so, the gaze that was staring at her was clearly felt.

"Understood. Hazama… san."

Feeling that it would be rude to refuse outright, Noel nodded hesitantly. But she couldn't suddenly change her attitude as if turning her hand over, so she tried to start by at least changing how she called him.

Satisfied, Hazama's smile deepened and he spoke again.

"Now then. Let's get down to business right away. Our objective this time is to search for Major Jin Kisaragi, who is currently missing. If we find him, we'll tell him that a return order has been issued from headquarters, and if he obeys quietly, that's fine, but if he doesn't, we will have to restrain him and forcibly take him away."

At Hazama's words, Noel's expression became tense and stiff.

This was no longer the NOL headquarters where she had spent her days. It was Kagutsuchi, an unfamiliar city, although it was under the control of the NOL.
Hazama continued in a tone as if he were explaining to a student.

"Currently, Major Kisaragi seems to be hiding in Kagutsuchi. His objective is most likely Ragna the Bloodedge, the wanted criminal known as the 'Grim Reaper.' He went missing immediately after we received information that he was headed to Kagutsuchi, right?"

"Yes. The name Ragna the Bloodedge seemed to ring a bell with him. ...Although I didn't confirm it..." Noel replied with a serious face.

The last time Noel met Jin was when she delivered a report on the wanted criminal, "Grim Reaper."

At that time, Jin, as always, seemed reluctant to even deal with Noel. He snatched the report and changed his expression as soon as he heard from the Intelligence Department that the "Grim Reaper's" name was Ragna the Bloodedge.

Jin was laughing. Calm and ruthless. Noel clearly remembered that Jin, who always had an icy expression, laughed aloud only at that time. Noel had never seen him like this, not even during his student days or after becoming his secretary.

"Um, may I ask a question?"

"Yes, please?" Hazama gestured the the innocent Noel to prompt her.

Feeling as if she was being tested by his stiff smile, Noel couldn't look up at Hazama's face.

"If the information is correct, then Kisaragi-sama and Ragna the Bloodedge are hiding in Kagutsuchi, right?"

"That's what it seems."

"Um, if we come into contact with Ragna the Bloodedge before we find Kisaragi-sama... which one should we prioritize...?"

Arresting criminals was one of the duties of soldiers. If she encountered the "Grim Reaper" Ragna, Noel would normally have to move to arrest him.

Hazama put his hand on his black hat as if grabbing it, and replied with an indifferent, "Ah. Well, deal with it appropriately. I'll leave it up to you."

"Eh, is that... appropriate?"

Could there be such a, well, appropriate instruction? Noel's eyes widened in surprise at such an uncharacteristic response from a superior officer. Hazama, in a relaxed tone without any sense of urgency, opened his hands at shoulder height.

"You see, my mission is to secure Kisaragi-sama. As long as you complete that task, I don't intend to give you detailed instructions about the rest."

Saying that, he shrugged his slender shoulders and smiled lightly.

Not knowing how to react to that smile, Noel ended up only stammering with her lips and couldn't say anything. She wondered if she should say something back, or if she should keep her mouth shut. Such thoughts kept popping up in her head, and she kept thinking about them.

Meanwhile, Hazama put his hat back on and moved on with the conversation.

"Well then, I have some business at the branch office, so could you start the search from the lower levels first?"

"Branch office? What kind of...?"

"Oh, have you forgotten? I'm in the Intelligence Department, after all. I have a lot of business that I can't share with other people... could you be considerate?"

Hazama's smile shifted to a wry grin. His manner was gentle, but there was something somewhat mocking in his tone. It was as if he was exasperated with a child who didn't understand, and that made Noel feel impatient.

She must not forget. This was an important top-secret mission. She couldn't afford to fail, and she couldn't cause trouble for the Intelligence Department.

Noel straightened her back again, and with her hands tightly attached to her sides, she looked up at Hazama. Noel couldn't tell what kind of eyes were looking at her from beyond the shadow of the black hat and the long bangs.

"Understood. Then, um... I'll start the search from the lower levels."

Surely there was a structural drawing and map of Kagutsuchi in the materials. Relying on that, she should be able to reach the lower levels without getting lost. She was a little scared to go all the way to the lower levels... but she couldn't say such a thing.

''(I'll find Kisaragi-sama quickly and return to headquarters.)''

If Jin's disappearance went public, Tsubaki would surely worry. More than anyone else.

It's not that Noel wasn't worried about Jin. More than that, she was worried about the heartache that her best friend from high school would suffer.

Letting the cool port wind wrap around the ample hem of her donned poncho, Noel walked past Hazama as if slipping through. Before her feet had taken many steps, Hazama's voice stopped her from under the clock.

"Oh, right, I forgot. Lieutenant Noel Vermillion."

At the leisurely and drawn-out call, Noel turned around wondering what it was.

Hazama was leaning against the slender leg of the clock and looking at her.

"Currently, a D-alert has been issued in Kagutsuchi. It's the one that prohibits intervention from other organizations due to a state of emergency. Apparently, information that Ragna the Bloodedge is hiding has leaked to the outside from somewhere, and because of that, it seems some dangerous individuals have gotten involved. Please be careful when going to the lower levels."

For a warning from a member of the Intelligence Department to a soldier of the NOL, it lacked much urgency.

Hazama waved his hand lightly and saw Noel off.

He was not so much an irresponsible person as he was a person without any pretenses. She didn't know him well, but surely this was how he always was. With this impression in mind, Noel once again straightened her heels and lowered her head in a bow.

"Yes. Then, excuse me." This time, she turned her back and exited from the gate of Port 5 to the main city.

The sky looked close when looking up from the upper layer. The sun shone in the slightly cloudy sky color due to the magic elements drifting outside the city, pouring overflowing sunlight onto the ground. Receiving that light, the white-dominated upper city shone dazzlingly.

If she went straight on the large road, she could reach the center of the city. But where Noel should head was not the city center but the lower levels. She would turn left from here and head for the magic lift for NOL soldiers.

While letting the gold-colored hair spilling out from her hat shine in the sunlight, Noel took out a map of Kagutsuchi from the materials and spread it out. Seeing the overall view like this, she realized the size of this city once again.

''(Well then... for now, I'll go down as far as I can and then come up from there.)''

If possible, it would be best if she could find Jin immediately and he would obediently follow the order to return to base, but it was unlikely things would go so smoothly.

Her feet were likely to become heavy with worries about the future, but Noel lightly shook her head to refresh herself. There was no point in thinking only negatively. Now, she just needed to focus on what she should do, and take action as much as she could.

"...Be strong. I have to do my best."

After encouraging herself in a small voice, Noel raised her face and began to walk quickly through the upper city of Kagutsuchi.

There were red eyes watching every single part of that scene.

On the top of the management building, which was part of the 5th Port and had a large clock hanging, a small figure was gazing down at the bottom, on the roof decorated with delicate designs.

Wearing a black dress, a black bag on her shoulder, and her ribbon-like golden hair dancing wildly in the strong wind that traveled through the high sky, was Rachel Alucard. Her red eyes were fixed on the figure of the guard girl talking at the port.

"As I thought... that child is..."

The words muttered from her innocent lips were carried away by the sharp whistling wind. It was a mutter that should not have reached anyone's ears. And yet... the man from the NOL who remained at the 5th Port suddenly turned back to Rachel.

It was a man in a black suit. His name was... Hazama.

He looked up at Rachel nonchalantly and lifted his hat.

A grin, like a thin, deep slit, was carved on his lips.

It was a sneer. Or rather, a mocking laugh.

It wasn't accidental. He was looking up at her accurately, and he knew who Rachel was... that's why he laughed.

It wasn't surprising. Rachel also knew. She knew who that man in the black suit was... and why he was laughing.

Because she understood, it was even more irritating.

"...I wonder what kind of stage you will show us this time?" Rachel whispered to the sneering man on the ground. Her voice wouldn't reach him. The wind would cut it apart and blow it away somewhere.

But the man turned on his heel at the perfect moment, as if he had been waiting for Rachel's words to finish, and left the 5th Port as if nothing had happened.

What remained was Rachel. She turned her gaze to the top of the high mountain where Kagutsuchi was located, while holding her umbrella on the roof. As if holding a sacred sword on the top of the mountain, a white and pure building towered there. The Kagutsuchi branch of the Novus Orbis Librarium. That was... the stage for the performance that was about to begin.

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| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2| Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There]]
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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2

2025-06-23T00:50:25Z

Br3ndan5:

==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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 1| Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 3| Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 3

2025-06-23T00:50:07Z

Br3ndan5:

==BBCT2 Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero==

===Part 1===
'''December 30, 2199 - 23:45'''

The night deepened quietly under the clear silver moon.

The wind that crossed the heights was strong, making a sound like death cutting through the air. The clouds, thin and stretched out, occasionally blocked the moonlight and were easily swept away, disappearing into the sky.

The commercial district of the upper layer of Kagutsuchi was already mostly closed, with few people around, enveloped in a secretive atmosphere. The stores that operated at night were only lined up on the main street, and if you took the back streets, you could head to the city center without attracting unnecessary attention.

There were few lights and no unnecessary facilities. This was a city that was managed for order. Those who sought entertainment would go down a few levels to a place with less surveillance.

Otherwise, they would obediently return to their blessed homes and enjoy the warmth of a warm room.

The people who lived around here, whether shallow or deep, all had some kind of connection with the NOL. With the Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch nearby, and many related facilities lined up around it, there were few who would choose to go out at night.

Yes. The Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch was visible nearby.

"Every time I see it, it's always... a hollow figure."

In the nighttime of the upper city, a white shadow stopped and chewed.

It had a form that was like a human, but not a human. The toned body was the silhouette of a man, and he was tall. He wore a strange outfit based on white and black, not revealing a single piece of human skin. Not his fingertips, toes, not even his head.

The man in white and black had no expression. The face, which looked like it was covered with a white mask, had no eyes, nose, or mouth, and a long tuft of white hair-like things grew from his head.

On his back, he carried a sword that was abnormally long. It was one of only two in the world, a Nox Nyctores: Interfectum Malus: Ookami.

It was a weapon created during the Dark War, which began about a hundred years ago, to fight against the Black Beast.

The fact that he carried it on his back indicated that he was a hero, the owner of Ookami.

His name was Hakumen. He was one of the Six Heroes said to have taken the lead in challenging the Black Beast that rampaged to destroy humanity during the "Dark War," a war where the world once saw despair.

He was said to have gone missing immediately after the war, and since then, no one knew his whereabouts... and now, about ninety years later, the hero in white attire was in the land of Kagutsuchi.

Large, claw-like feet walked, hidden in the shadows of the dark back streets. The destination was the rumored Kagutsuchi branch of the NOL, which shone in the moonlight.

The sophisticated cityscape that led to it was nostalgic for Hakumen.

No, the word nostalgic was not enough. It was a distant memory. An old, old memory. Parts of it were blurred and painful, or torn and lost, and they would never be repaired. But someday, it was a fragment of memory that the soul certainly saw, heard, touched, and tasted.

He once walked this land in a different form than now, chasing the same man as now. And at the end of that...

"That's... a phenomena weapon."

Suddenly, Hakumen stopped walking.

Ahead, beyond the darkness of the night, there was a known presence. A phenomena weapon - like the Ookami on his back, it seemed that one of the weapons created during the Dark War was there.

But it was strange. The weapon that Hakumen knew was long sealed, and shouldn't exist as a Nox Nyctores. Moreover, the presence that felt like it was clinging to this thread somehow felt different from the one that was in the same battlefield in the past.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, as if he had stepped into a muddy place. This unclear feeling, even if he tried to ignore it, was persistent and clung to him. Either way, it was the destination. Hakumen lowered his waist while facing the direction of the presence, and jumped high.

Jumping to the roof of the building beside him, he kicked off his feet as they were and went forward. Overlooking the moon, he jumped over the roofs one after another.

The moon was swelling into an almost perfect circle. Tomorrow would be a full moon.

The full moon did not bring good memories.

Jumping over the last roof, he found the owner of the presence below. If Hakumen had an expression, he would have frowned in suspicion.

A child was walking on a back street that deliberately deviated from the main street, a dark path with only the light leaking from the windows of the buildings. Although he was wearing fine clothes, the path he was walking and the time of day were completely unsuitable.

Walking alongside the child, as if accompanying him, was the owner of the déjà vu and discomfort that Hakumen felt.

Catching the night wind, Hakumen jumped down. He landed right in front of the child and the strange figure standing beside him.

"Whoa!" The child raised a voice of surprise appropriate for his age at the white intruder who had fallen from the sky. But at the same time, the way he jumped back was by no means childish.

As Hakumen recognized from a distance, he was a boy in fine clothes. A purple outfit with a cloak of the same color and a top hat. Behind the round glasses, there were eyes that seemed to be of good birth nestled in the eye sockets, but the emotions there were strangely uneasy.

Was it because of the figure beside him? Hakumen straightened his posture from the landing position and turned his face to the tall figure who had stepped out in front of the boy, instead of the boy.

It was a mechanical doll.

Although it was modeled after a woman in a purple dress, it was clear at a glance that it wasn't human. The inorganic and metallic texture, the face that looked like a mere creation, the arms that were too long and looked like sturdy gauntlets, and the sharp claws lined up instead of fingers.

"Nox Nyctores... Deus Machina: Nirvana." In a muffled voice under the mask, Hakumen spoke the doll's name.

At that moment, murderous intent gushed out from the boy like a spray. His wide-open blue eyes harbored a dangerous light, and he stared at Hakumen as if challenging him without fear. The hand he held out, as if protecting the mechanical doll standing one step behind him, could be seen as if he were bracing himself.

"I don't know who you are, but I don't know anyone by that name. I'm Carl Clover, and this is my sister, Ada. There's no one named Nirvana here." The boy, who identified himself as Carl in an innocent but hostile voice, told Hakumen. But immediately, as if called by someone, he turned around sharply. What he looked up at through his large glasses was the mechanical doll he called his sister.

"Huh? What's wrong, sister?" Carl behaved as if he could hear the voice of the doll behind him.

Hakumen's ears could not hear the voice of the mechanical doll Nirvana. Even if there were other people in this place, they would probably not be able to hear it.

The voice of his sister whispering to him was only heard by Carl. Whether it was really Nirvana's voice or not was another matter.

"This person..."

While turning his ear to his sister, Carl looked at Hakumen with caution. They were not the eyes of a child. His eyes, which were both ruthless and aggressive, as well as intelligent, observed Hakumen closely. Soon, the boy found an answer and frowned with his handsome eyebrows as if doubting his own eyes.

"That body... and the odachi on your back... could it be the Interfectum Malus: Ookami? Then you're... Hakumen of the Six Heroes?" Carl's tone, which suggested that he had some knowledge of Ookami and the Six Heroes, made him feel like he had a level of education beyond his years.

Why such a boy was with this doll was unclear to Hakumen.

"Child, that doll is a Nox Nyctores. Touching it demands a corresponding burden from the user. Even if it's Nirvana, it will be too much poison for a young mind." Hakumen spoke calmly without returning any of the hostility or murderous intent that were directed at him.

A Nox Nyctores is not just a weapon. In the past, each weapon had its own "individuality," and in order to wield its power, it interfered with the user's mind to draw out even more power, making it a semi-living weapon.

The Ookami that Hakumen possessed, and the Nirvana over there, had sealed their "individuality," so there wasn't as much burden as during the war. Even so, possessing a Nox Nyctores meant that the mind was being eroded and interfered with every day.

Unless one had a stronger mental strength than necessary, or something that could replace it, it was difficult not only to handle, but to even maintain a sane mind.

"Then, what are you trying to say?" Carl glared at Hakumen with an upward glance and an unsettling voice. The well-mannered face he had been trying to maintain was now abandoned, and he was measuring the distance between himself and Hakumen with an uneasy calmness.

"What I do is none of your business. What's wrong with siblings being together in the first place?" Carl's tone was slightly different from a child's tantrum or selfishness. It was more insightful and calm.

"You understand, and yet you say you will follow it?" Hakumen muttered to himself.

He could see that the boy named Carl understood that the doll he called his sister, Nirvana, was a Nox Nyctores. That being together was bizarre to others. That being together put a strain on his mind. However, it was doubtful how truly he felt the sense of crisis that he might be ruined as a result.

"You have a rude way of speaking for someone who's supposed to be one of the Six Heroes." Carl grimaced unhappily.

Without being moved by his desperate glare, Hakumen asked again. "Where did you get it?"

That which should have been sealed long ago.

"I have no obligation to answer. Please move out of the way. If you are going to interfere with us, even if you are Hakumen, one of the Six Heroes... I will not forgive you."

As if to show that there was no falsehood in those words, Carl clenched his hand wrapped in a white glove tightly. Seemingly induced by Carl's will, Nirvana slid forward several steps, and then, as he had been done to her earlier, she stood to protect her little master behind her back.

"Sister?" That seemed to be different from what Carl had intended, and the boy looked up at his sister in bewilderment. The inorganic sister stood motionless in front of Carl, lightly opening both arms as if to block the way. The face with lowered metallic eyelids had no eyes, but a quiet gaze stared at Hakumen.

Carl knew that if he jumped out, Hakumen would draw the odachi on his back without hesitation and fight back.

Nirvana probably understood that. Or perhaps it was a memory.

From behind Nirvana, who was trying to protect her master by shielding him, Carl, unable to grasp the situation, raised his voice in agitation.

"What's wrong, sister!? Can you hear me!? ...Y-you, what did you do to my sister!?" His expression, which had been so calm until then, changed drastically. His eyes narrowed and he showed intense anger. But Nirvana firmly held Carl back, preventing him from moving even a step forward.

As if measuring the distance, Nirvana took a step back. Following her, Hakumen grabbed his odachi.

At that moment, Nirvana, with a sudden movement that ignored breathing, grabbed Carl as if snatching him up, and jumped up to the roof. Immediately, she avoided the moonlight and chose the darkness, running from the roof to the alley, and then dashing towards the main street and disappearing.

Soon the presence moved away, and eventually blended into the lights of the city.

"Did they get away?" Hakumen took his hand off the odachi.

If they went to a crowded place, it would be difficult to chase them. If they were found by the NOL soldiers, who would be suitable for maintaining security, there would be various troubles.

Besides... it seemed that another person had come whom he'd have to deal with.

When the presence of the Nox Nyctores disappeared and the quiet night air descended again, this time the fragrance of flowers mixed in and danced there.

Hakumen turned around. A small whirlwind danced in front of him, and as if a flower bud blossomed and opened, the scent of roses overflowed in that place. At the same time, a girl appeared, crossing the space.

With golden hair and red eyes, wearing a gorgeous black dress, and appearing with a parasol with a cat's face and a red, round familiar, it was the summoned ghost in the form of a girl, Rachel Alucard.

Leaning the umbrella she held in both hands on her small shoulder and looking at Hakumen diagonally, Rachel let out a chuckle and a provocative smile.

"It's been a while, Mr. Hero."

"Harlequin."

To Rachel, who called out to him teasingly, Hakumen replied in a low voice, faintly showing his disgust.

But Rachel directed a smile like a sneer at Hakumen's quiet, threatening spirit, and turned her umbrella around.

"You seem to have plenty of time on your hands. To be meddling with a passing phenomena weapon..."

"It's none of your business."

"Do you remember the old you, the one who was trapped by the Nox Nyctores?"

The old you. At those mischievous words, Hakumen turned towards Rachel.

Perhaps his reaction was amusing, Rachel put a white fingertip to her lips and let out a laugh like the rustling of clothes.

"Oh, how terrible. Is it true?"

"A Nox Nyctores is not something that should be left in human history... That is the only reason."

All of the Nox Nyctores should have been destroyed immediately after the end of the Dark War. It was hard to believe that they still remain in this world.

But even that was probably nothing more than a foolish sentiment for this cunning vampire.

Even now, perhaps thinking that Hakumen's excuse was a poor one, she did not stop her mocking gaze.

"It's not just the phenomena weapon. This city is also nostalgic, isn't it? I wonder how long ago it was for you. The memory of you, as Jin Kisaragi, wandering Kagutsuchi with a different sword than you have now, and fighting your brother deep underground..."

"Harlequin." Hakumen stopped Rachel, who spoke like a rolling bell, in a heavy tone. He had no intention of listening any further. "I have discarded that name. My name is Hakumen. From the time you led me to this forest and made it mine, I have only been myself. No one else."

Not now. Not in this place. Hakumen was certainly a young man with a different name. But that is exactly what "not the current dimension" means.

"You, on the other hand, are quite eloquent this time. You, a mere bystander who knows everything but does not lift a finger, are able to line up words so skillfully." Hakumen retorted, mixing in a sound that could be taken as a snort or a sneer.

Rachel, while hooking her short hair behind her small ear, smiled with a composed face. It was a mature, bewitching smile that made one forget for a moment that she was a girl in appearance.

"That's right. As you say, I am a 'bystander.' In other words, I am an 'audience' of this story. The audience can throw jeers from the outside, but they cannot change the content of the stage, can they? Even if I am shown the same stage many times."

"Nonsense."

But Hakumen also understands that this is the truth.

The vampire is a bystander who can only watch the scene. A spectator who has no choice but to watch the way fate continues to roll.

But Hakumen does not even think for a moment that he will be content with that infinitely powerless position. If there are skillful hands, he will not stop pulling them, and if there are feet to step on, he will not stop struggling. He is determined to fight as long as this body can move.

Hakumen put his hand on his mask and bowed deeply. After a moment of silence, he released his hand and turned his back to Rachel.

"You can stay there and enjoy the show as long as you like. I will cut off the world in my own way."

"You can't do it, Mr. Hero."

"Even if I can't, my sword is in my hand."

The logic was enough.

Even as Hakumen walked away, shaking the silver tufts hanging from his head, Rachel did not stop him. As if she thought that even stopping him was too much of a jeer for a spectator.

The night wind was cold, and the swirling sound high in the sky seemed to be a sign of something.

But without feeling any emotion at the sound, Hakumen walked along the dark back streets.

The destination was the magnificent Novus Orbis Librarium Kagutsuchi branch. Underneath that... he intended to wait for him.

===Part 2===
'''December 30, 2199 - 23:45'''

The cold wind of midnight carried the clouds and hid the moon.

But from here, the closest place to the sky in all of Kagutsuchi, most of the way the clouds flow was an event at his feet.

Novus Orbis Librarium Kagutsuchi branch. The rooftop was usually unused and empty, with nothing on it.

The fact that there was not even a single handrail despite being at the highest height was because it was not originally a place where one should set foot.

But there, tonight, was the figure of a man.

"Well, then. I guess this is about it." Hazama of the Intelligence Department muttered in a nonchalant, drawn-out tone.

Hazama, who had been crouching on the empty circular stage-like rooftop, stood up while lightly brushing his hands.

As expected, the wind was strong just because of the altitude. Hazama took out a palm-sized communication device from his suit's inner pocket, easily operated something with his knobby fingers, and firmly held his hat so that it would not be blown away by the wind.

The communication device, which was put to his ear, repeated a boring ringing tone.

He was kept waiting for a few seconds. Soon the ringing tone stopped, and a clicking sound rang in his ear, followed by a voice responding.

"It's me." It was a low and lustrous male voice. However, there was no trace of emotion in that voice, and it made a completely bland sound on flat ground. Hazama's smile deepened at the sound of the voice, and put his hat on even more carefully.

"Ah, it's Hazama. Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry to bother you at this late hour."

"Are the preparations complete?" Whether he heard Hazama's voice or not, the person on the other end of the phone asked emotionlessly, as if he did not care at all about the words spoken to him.

"Good grief." Hazama could not help but shake his head. He was always like this. "Seriously, you're as impatient as ever. You could at least return a proper greeting! It's a basic rule for a working adult, you know?"

"Is it done?" He apparently had no intention of listening. It was a truly typical response from the other party in the communication. Hazama shrugged his shoulders. The sharply ringing wind cut through the clouds behind him and disappeared somewhere.

"Yes, it's done. Everything is ready. Well... I don't know if this will be useful, though." Saying that, Hazama looked up at the sky. A cold moon was shining beyond the clouds that were flowing at an incredible speed. Perhaps it would be a full moon tomorrow?

At the composed round face that he looked down from that height, Hazama gave a derisive sigh.

"After this, we'll be observing the situation here... what will you do? If you have anything else you want me to do, please tell me now. Tomorrow, I have to monitor a certain lieutenant, you know."

The person on the other end of the communication suddenly gave him errands sometimes, which was troublesome.

As if to make sure, Hazama confirmed, and the other party replied after a few seconds, seemingly without interest.

"Nothing in particular for now... let me know if there's anything."

"Understood. Then, I'll take my leave. Colonel Relius Clover." The communication was cut off with a small sound.

Sliding the silent communicator back into his suit's inner pocket, Hazama turned his back on the empty space of the rooftop and started walking.

As he walked, the heels of his hard leather shoes clicking on the rooftop floor, a voice spoke to his consciousness.

"Well, well, tomorrow is the real show, Hazama."

The voice was sticky, unpleasant, sarcastic, and seemed to be making fun of him.

That way of speaking would sometimes grate on people's nerves and irritate them. But for Hazama, who heard that voice closer than anyone else, his foul mouth and attitude weren't something to be concerned about.

While walking with a nonchalant and frivolous gait, Hazama lowered the corners of his eyebrows greatly with a wry smile.

"Oh dear, it was quite a task, really. But when I think about how many times there have been patterns where I've worked hard on this and that, and then everything is ruined at the very end... it's just depressing to even imagine it."

"That's right, that's right? I'm having a hard time, you know?" The owner of the voice spoke with an exaggeratedly bored tone. Hazama listened to it and smiled wryly.

But there was only Hazama on the rooftop. There wasn't even a sign of someone else.

Even so, while strangely conversing with someone, Hazama returned to the inside of the branch.

There was still nothing on the rooftop where Hazama said he had "prepared" something. However, the moon illuminated the lonely scene in a somewhat ominous way.

'''December 31, 2199 - 13:05'''

After walking through a disgusting sewer for a long time and crawling out of a narrow exit, the sky was already dyed in the color of night.

The proper air that he inhaled after several hours was the kind of clean air that was typical of the upper city, which in turn made him feel sick.

The people who live above would probably faint immediately if they inhaled the air of the lower level. He couldn't help but think that sarcastically.

Fortunately, it was late and there were almost no people around, and if he chose a dark road, he could walk around without anyone watching him.

Avoiding shopping streets and residential areas, Ragna went as far as possible to escape to the city's outskirts. What he sought is a place where he could rest his body.

The journey of several hours through the bad roads from Orient Town to the Kaka tribe's village, and from there through the sewer to the upper layer, had taken its toll on his body. Tonight, he would rest his body for the time being, and aim for the NOL branch tomorrow night.

Having decided so, he wandered around the corner of the upper layer where no one was around. It was already past midnight when he finally found a warehouse that seemed to be unused and rolled into it.

There was something like a natural park nearby, and the warehouse he found seemed to be a forgotten relic of some building that used to be here. The lock was only a simple one, and he forced it open and entered.

The inside was dusty enough to make him cough lightly as soon as he opened it, but after ventilating it for a while and mixing it with the clean air that the upper layer provided, the dusty warehouse was more comfortable for Ragna.

The warehouse wasn't very large, but it wasn't extremely small either. It was enough space for a man of Ragna's size to lean his back against the wall, stretch his legs, and sleep overnight. It also helped that there were few things in it, as it was not used.

He often slept outdoors. Tonight's sleeping place, with a roof, walls, and floor, and most important, privacy, was quite good.

Avoiding people's eyes, he closed the door. Faint moonlight seeps in through a small gap, drawing a pale blue line in the warehouse.

Crossing it, Ragna sat down. He took off the sword that he had been lowering and placed it beside him, then leaned his head against the cold, simple wall and used it as a pillow.

"Hah...I don't know..." As soon as he settled down, a deep sigh escaped and his shoulders dropped. Looking back, he had hardly walked on a proper road all day today.

''(No wonder I'm tired...)'' Ragna thought vaguely while looking at the streak of moonlight that passed through the floor and his knees.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, he would be walking on roads that were too proper. He would go through the upper city and break into the NOL's branch.

The time was always at night. During the day, many people enter and exit the branch.

He had no feelings of hesitation or consideration towards the NOL, but he didn't want to involve innocent people who happened to be there. He didn't want to make a fuss and attract people's attention.

On the contrary, it was honestly refreshing to see the NOL's people being wary at night, and yet being caught off guard and flustered. He hoped that they would never have a peaceful night.

"NOL, huh..."

No matter how much fatigue weighed on him, that name alone stirred Ragna's heart. A scorching heat spread from the depths of his body, stirring Ragna's fighting spirit.

It was the same even now. The light in his eyes, which should have been relaxed to rest his body, was completely lit with the fire of hostility, and his large teeth, which were clenched as if trying to suppress the impulsive outburst, bit down on his senses.

For Ragna, the NOL was the target of all the hatred that arose. It was hostility, murderous intent, and all the harm he could think of.

The root of this was seven years ago. The day when the church of the sister who raised them was attacked and burned down... it had been firmly burned into Ragna's heart and memory, and would never be erased.

===Part 3===
When he opened his eyes, the area had been raining for some time.

The soil under his face was wet and smelled suffocating. But more than that, the smell of burnt wood was lingering around, and he almost coughed from the non-existent smoke in the area.

The fire was out. The rain must have put it out.

In Ragna's hazy vision, the unrecognizable, unsightly form of the church, which had been roaring and burning just a while ago, remained.

"Too late... rain..." Powerless lips trembled in a voice that could not be heard.

The white wall where he used to throw mud balls and get scolded was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the pointed roof, nor the simple cross that stood on top of it, nor the small skylight that allowed the morning sun to enter.

Only a few charred, pillar-like sticks were standing here and there, looking forlornly at the sky.

The rain must have been falling for a long time. Ragna's body, rolling on the ground, was completely soaked, his clothes were heavy with absorbed rainwater, as if his whole body was being pressed down by something.

He couldn't move his arms or legs. His body was cold and his senses were distant, and he wasn't sure if he was alive or dead.

Ragna's right arm was missing. He was blown away without knowing why by a shadowy man who attacked the border. There was a deep stab wound on his back. It was a wound inflicted by Ragna's younger brother, who was standing next to the shadowy man, with a sword.

Those were the only two major wounds, but how much blood had been lost while he was unconscious? How much of his life had Ragna lost while the church burned down and the rain extinguished the fire?

It was not all due to the rain that his body would not move or that he had no sensation. Even if it had not rained, Ragna's body would not have moved, and sensation would not have been left.

Like the embers smoldering at the edge of the charcoal being extinguished by the rain, Ragna's life was about to be extinguished.

He felt that it was over.

The church was burned down. The sister was dead. His younger brother and sister were taken away... and eventually Ragna's life would be lost.

''(Sister, Jin, Saya!)''

The call remained in his heart. There was not even the strength left to engrave it on his lips.

He was going to die. Without knowing anything, without being able to do anything. While being stained with blood and dirt between the rain and mud, he would die as he was taken away.

Prompted by the sensation that seemed to be crawling up from his fingertips, his eyelids slowly closed... at that moment. Suddenly, the rain moved away.

"How unsightly." A voice was heard. It was a woman's voice. He didn't recognize it. But that voice gave Ragna a little strength.

''(Who is it?)''

That question made Ragna lift his eyelids. He couldn't move his neck or chin, but his eyeballs moved. Rolling his eyeballs in their sockets, Ragna searched for the owner of the voice.

She was there.

Right next to Ragna's turning head.

Wearing thick-soled shoes and a black dress with fluttering hem, a girl was standing with a large bat umbrella. She was about the same age as his younger sister. She looked a little over ten years old. The ribbon that stood upright, tying up her long golden hair, looked like rabbit ears.

The rain was gone because Ragna's head was under the shadow of her umbrella.

"Shall I watch you die like this? It's lonely to die alone, isn't it?" Whether she was serious or joking, the girl with the umbrella spoke to Ragna in a calm tone.

Ragna could only respond to that question with a faint breath. However, he did not avert his eyes.

He couldn't bear to be in grief, cry out, or despair in front of this child. He didn't want to die while being pitied.

How long had they been doing this, exchanging glances and staring at each other? The girl's eyes were a deep red color that suited the silhouette of the rabbit-eared ribbon. The crimson eyes eventually asked.

"Or do you want an arm to stand up?"

"Uh... wha...?" His throat reflexively trembled, squeezing out a voice.

The girl nodded.

"You've lost it, haven't you? Here... you can get anything you want if you wish." The girl's voice was both teasing and cold.

Not understanding what she was saying, Ragna just glared at the girl. If he could get anything he wanted, what would he want? Such a thing crossed his mind in a corner of his dull thoughts.

''(...I want power.)''

He thrust his fingertips, which had not moved even a bit, into the wet soil.

''(I want power... power that no one can beat.)''

He wanted the power to rush to the sister's aid and protect her.

He wanted the power to bring back his deranged brother's consciousness.

He wanted the power to keep anyone from touching his unconscious sister.

He wanted the power to keep anyone, anything, from being taken from him.

If he only had that, he could have protected them. He should have been able to protect them.

Ragna's hand clenched the soil tightly. His nails were about to peel off and he felt a dull pain. The pain revived his senses.

His lost right arm was hot. His stabbed back was hot. The breath and blood he exhaled were hot.

Regret and powerlessness were hot inside him.

Suddenly, he heard a sound like a beast's growl in his ear. The moment he realized it was his own breath, Ragna's body suddenly disappeared.

"What?"

In that instant, he didn't understand what had happened. But when he saw the girl's shoes, which should have been in front of him, suddenly rising, he somehow understood.

The ground under Ragna collapsed and broke, swallowing him.

There was nothing he could do about the sudden fall, and Ragna fell into the abyss.

While feeling instinctive fear at the fall as if being sucked in, Ragna heard the girl's voice whispering the moment he fell.

"Besides, whether you wish it or not, fate will not change." The girl's voice was the last thing Ragna heard, and he lost consciousness in the fall.

Consciousness returned not long after the fall. But whether that consciousness was the real world or a dream, Ragna couldn't tell.

The first thing he recognized was darkness. It was pitch black all around, and only the hard ground was something he could trust. Trying to get up, he rubbed his hand on the ground. From the sensation, it seemed to be soil or rock.

''(Damn it...)''

He couldn't get up because he had no strength. He was already missing one arm to support his body on the ground. There was no way he could lift his body, which was heavy and unable to move.

Even so, he couldn't just lie there, and Ragna clung to the ground with his remaining arm and dragged his body forward. He didn't know what was in that direction. He didn't know if he should've moved forward. But he couldn't just lie there without doing anything.

That girl had said, "If you wish, you can get it."

''(Anything is fine... any form is fine.)''

That was what he wanted.

Forward, forward. In the darkness where he didn't even know if there was an end, he crawled forward.

Ragna soon reached a wall. It seemed that his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, and he could see that there was a dirt wall there.

Something strange was protruding from that wall. Was it a statue? Or... a corpse? It was a black mass that had completely dyed everything while taking the shape of a human body.

The body was in the shape of a man. It looked as if he was kneeling on the ground, drooping his arms limply beside his body. But that black body had no head. From the middle of the neck up, it looked as if a sharp blade had been used to cut it off in a single stroke.

It was a grotesque object. But for some reason, Ragna couldn't take his eyes off it.

Again, he heard something like a beast's growl. This time it was not the breath he exhaled. It echoed deep in his ears, as if a hallucination.

"...Power."

This is the one who will give it to me.

Thinking this, Ragna stretched out his remaining hand while crawling on the ground. The moment his fingertips touched it, the black headless object suddenly collapsed, turning into black sand or mist. As it was, it swallowed Ragna without giving him a chance to breathe.

Ragna's body and consciousness were instantly snatched away by the black particles. And once again, he lost his memory.

When he felt stillness and opened his eyes next, Ragna's body had a right arm. However, it was not an arm with a human-like color that he originally had. It was black... a pitch-black arm, like the darkness that had gushed out at that time had been woven and solidified.

And Ragna's right eye, looking down at that arm, had changed to a sinister red.

Seeing the black arm, the rabbit-like girl taught Ragna.

"That's good. That is the Azure Grimoire. It should lend you power that surpasses anything. But be careful. That is not your arm. It is not the real you. So never think that the Azure Grimoire is your own power."

After obtaining a new arm, Ragna's life was no longer as peaceful as it had been when he was in the church.

In place of the sister, a beastkin took over as Ragna's guardian. He was only as tall as Ragna's waist, and his two-tone black and white fur gave him the appearance of a bipedal cat. His large eyes were red, and the tail extending to his back was forked at the tip.

His name was Jubei. When Ragna heard that name for the first time, he doubted his ears.

Jubei was the name of one of the Six Heroes who fought against the Black Beast in the Dark War. He had heard many stories and anecdotes about his exploits from the sister. He had heard them much more richly than old tales and lullabies.

When he learned he was the real Jubei, one of the Six Heroes, he felt surprised and admired him. He felt a little proud when he heard that the Six Heroes were old friends with the sister.

But in reality, the life that began under Jubei... was so harsh that any envy was blown away somewhere.

"Guhoah!"

Blown away by an impact that was like being gouged out along with a dull sound, Ragna crashed into a tree trunk that should have been several meters behind him and stopped. When he fell face down on the ground with a thud, green leaves that had fallen from the impact rained down on him as if pitying him.

Several years had passed since Ragna had been attacked at the church, fell underground, survived, and began living with Jubei. It was several years of harsh training under Jubei.

He learned the art of fighting, the skills and knowledge to survive in the forests and mountains, the history of the world, and the current world situation. And about how to use the black right arm - the "Azure Grimoire."

Among them, fighting techniques were particularly strict and thorough... and sometimes he was gleefully beaten day and night.

Even now, he was in the middle of such sword training. He was given a sword and told to show him a single strike, but he was brilliantly challenged by Jubei's two small branches, and as a result, he was defeated by a powerful kick.

"Oh, damn it! You're hopping around!" Brushing off the leaves, Ragna jumped up and slammed the ground with his fist, revealing his irritation. Beside him, a practice sword given to him by Jubei was rolling around.

It was unadorned and very ordinary, but it was real, not blunt. If the tip grazed, it could even brush off the tip of a cat's hair, and it should be easy to cut down a small branch.

"Are you hurt, Ragna?"

A small figure came through the bushes, which were warped by Ragna's body. It was Jubei, a large bipedal cat and Ragna's master. He glanced at his disciple's face without any disturbance in his posture.

His expression looked cheerful for no reason, and Ragna sat down and looked up at his teacher sullenly.

"You should have warned me a little before you did that. You just blew me away."

"What are you talking about? I've been quite lenient. If I were serious, it wouldn't be training for you." Jubei laughed and shrugged his shoulders, as if Ragna had just told a joke. Ragna couldn't continue, so he groaned and kept silent.

As expected of one of the Six Heroes, Jubei was very strong. Over the past few years, Ragna had been training desperately to catch up with him, but just when he thought he had gotten closer, Jubei was somehow farther away, and he didn't feel like he was catching up at all. He no longer thought that he might be able to become as strong as this little cat man.

Recently, he had been struggling to narrow the gap between himself and his master, which he finally realized was too big. But no matter how many times he was reminded and made aware of his own abilities, there was always impatience and eagerness inside Ragna. It was an emotion that was always stuck inside Ragna, and it always tormented him. If he were to give it a name in simple words, it would be "hatred."

Training after training, discipline after discipline. Through all of it, Ragna had never forgotten about that night when everything was taken from him.

"...Hey, master." Trying to stand up, he stopped once, and leaned his back against the tree trunk while sitting with one knee raised. Jubei calmly watched the situation, wagging his tail leisurely.

"What is it, Ragna?"

"When will I be able to go and crush the NOL?" The tone of the question was disguised with a casual, everyday one, but deep down, there was an anger that threatened to burn up at any moment.

Without realizing it, Ragna's hand was clenched with such force that it seemed to be cutting into his palm.

After being taken away from the church, Jin seemed to have been taken in by a family called the Kisaragi family and was living as an adopted child.

The Kisaragi family was said to be a noble class called the "Duodecim" belonging to an organization called the Novus Orbis Librarium. He didn't remember the details, but in any case, he was being educated to become a soldier as the child of a prestigious family.

On the other hand, Saya's whereabouts after being taken away by the NOL were unknown. All that was known is that she seemed to be hidden in the center of the organization... or so it seems.

All of this information was what he had heard from Jubei.

In between training with Ragna, Jubei would occasionally slip out, no one knew when he had the time, and run around here and there for investigations.

According to Ragna's only source of information, the name of the shadowy man who attacked their church was Terumi. He was one of the Six Heroes like Jubei, and currently belonged to the NOL under a different name and status.

As a result of taking in the story about that church incident, Ragna had come to the following conclusion. It was the Novus Orbis Librarium that took the church, the sister, Jin, Saya, and everything from Ragna...

Terumi and Jin both had the existence of the NOL behind them. If the NOL retrieved Saya, then it was also the NOL that made such a cruel decision in search of Saya.

It was difficult to hold many grudges. Each one was dispersed and became fragmented within themselves. That was why Ragna bundled the hatred within him under the name of the NOL. With just that one, he could move with hatred as much as he wanted.

"It's still too early. Do you wanna die for nothing?" Jubei sighed and answered bitterly.

Ragna knew his master would say that. They had repeated this exchange many times. But even so, he couldn't help but ask. He wanted to shatter that target of hatred as soon as possible, not even a second sooner.

"I know I can't beat you yet, Master, but I've gotten a lot stronger, haven't I!? Those NOL guys aren't gonna stand a chance against me, even if they come at me all at once!"

Unable to swallow his anger, Ragna punched the tree trunk he had been leaning against, and stood up with that momentum. When Ragna stood up, he looked down at Jubei. The red cat eyes that looked up at him from below showed deep understanding, but also sternly watched his disciple.

"If you can't defeat me, you won't be able to crush the NOL."

"But-"

"'You won't know until you try'?"

Suddenly, a third voice cut into the conversation between Ragna and Jubei.

At the same time, a rose-scented breeze blew around. What appeared was a graceful girl with long golden hair tied with an upright ribbon. It was the vampire Rachel Alucard, the girl who appeared before Ragna in the pouring rain at the ruins of a burned-down church.

The sight of the girl in a gorgeous black dress standing against the backdrop of the forest, where the seithr was thick and the air was gloomy, was truly mismatched and strange.

But she didn't care about such a thing, and when she closed the bat umbrella she was holding, she made a gesture as if she was sitting in the air. In response to that movement, the familiar, which was the bat umbrella, changed its shape and became a relaxed sofa, receiving the noble princess.

Leaning on the black sofa that appeared in the forest, Rachel chuckled and laughed at Ragna teasingly.

"There are many things in this world that you can know without even trying. It might be something too complex for your limited mind to understand."

What she said was probably correct, but Ragna's irritation quickly grew at her utterly condescending tone.

"How do you know if you haven't even tried it!"

"Because you're weak." Rachel immediately responded with the sharpness of a knife.

Beside her, a red rubber ball-like familiar, Gii, jumped up and busily flapped its wings while laughing mischievously.

"Weak, weak!"

"Huh!?"

"Eek!" As Ragna stepped forward with a frightening expression, Gii easily dodged and hid behind the sofa where Rachel was sitting.

Letting out a disappointed sigh at the pathetic familiar's scream, Rachel rested her cane on the sofa. She lightly placed a finger on her white cheek and gave another disappointed sigh to the other person standing in front of her.

"All you can do is vent your anger on such a small creature. With that fragile spirit and body of yours… you'll be easily devoured." As if telling a ghost story to scare a child, Rachel narrowed her red eyes and whispered. She wasn't good at inducing fear. Ragna frowned while taking half a step back, intimidated by the eerie aura that Rachel exuded more than the content of her words.

"Devoured?"

"By your right arm."

Told so bewitchingly, Ragna reflexively turned his gaze to his right arm. From the middle of his upper arm, his arm was dyed jet black, not the color of a human arm. On top of that, a belt-shaped seal was wrapped around it in a spiral pattern.

Rachel and Jubei called that arm the Azure Grimoire.

A grimoire was a key necessary to use Ars Magus, and although it was called a book, it didn't necessarily take the form of a book. Ragna's arm, while taking the form of a human arm, was said to be a grimoire, not an arm.

It was too difficult a story for Ragna, who didn't understand the concept of Ars Magus in the first place, but the precautions that Rachel and Jubei repeatedly said were ingrained in his head, beyond understanding.

Never think of the Azure Grimoire as your own power.

It is merely a grimoire, not your own arm.

Ragna, honestly, did not understand what that meant. But from the overly sincere appearance of his two guardians, he understood that it was something that should never be viewed optimistically.

Jubei spoke to his disciple, who was staring down at his black arm, in a gentle yet strong tone.

"You have to become stronger, much stronger. So that you can walk on your own with your own power. So that you can carve out a path without relying on that right arm."

"When will that be?"

It wouldn't be a matter of today or tomorrow. Next year, the year after next. No, it was still far away. He was deeply aware of his own weakness.

Jubei laughed cheerfully at Ragna, who had become sullen. It was a pleasant laugh that didn't contain any sarcasm, and it had the power to instantly blow away the darkness that clouded Ragna's heart.

"That depends on your efforts. Now. The break is over. Next, I'll attack you, so try to dodge everything!" Saying that, Jubei snatched the sword from Ragna's hand. The tip of the sword flashed and scattered a few strands of Ragna's hair. In an instant, Ragna's blood ran cold.

"Hey, you're kidding, right!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Don't worry, I'll stop before you die. Now, let's go!"

"Whoa, wait, wait, please wait, Master!"

The sound of the wind mercilessly cutting through the air ran left and right. If he stopped, he wouldn't get away with it. Ragna desperately dodged the sword that was swung down vertically and turned around, fleeing from the spot like a rabbit.

In a forgotten warehouse on the outskirts of the upper layers of Kagutsuchi, the 13th Hierarchical City, Ragna stretched out his right arm, as if offering it to the moonlight that seeped in through the gaps, and gazed at it.

"The Azure Grimoire..."

It had the form of a human arm itself, and he could make it move in any way he wished with his own will, yet it was a black mass that wasn't his own arm.

It felt like it had been a long time since he spoke that name.

It was said to be the strongest grimoire.

Ragna had been helped by the power of this grimoire several times, and he certainly thought it was worthy of being called the strongest.

The destructive power it could unleash was so merciless that Ragna couldn't bring himself to use it unless he was cornered to a great extent.

When he used it, something surged up. Perhaps it could be called a destructive impulse. Something that seemed like himself but not himself overflowed from within him and seemed to swallow him up.

"You'll be devoured."

He recalled those words that Rachel spoke sometime ago.

This arm was said to be both a grimoire and a mass of seithr. That seithr constantly drained life force from the surroundings and sent it to Ragna.

Thanks to this, Ragna had acquired the convenient ability to quickly recover from injuries, but as a result, he had been given the troublesome trait of unconsciously absorbing the life force of others when he stayed in the same place with someone for a long time.

He wondered what would happen to him if the grimoire's owner was "eaten" by that life-force-absorbing seithr.

What came to his mind was Arakune, the monster he saw in the sewer a few hours ago. Litchi, the doctor who also approached the Boundary, had said it was the transformed body of a researcher who had gotten too close to the Boundary.

''(Will I... become like that someday...?)''

Ragna threw the black arm on his lap and looked at it through the gaps in his closing eyelids.

''(Well... it doesn't really matter.)''

If he could crush the NOL and settle everything with his brother, his sister, and the man named Terumi. Then, it didn't matter if he became a demon or a monster. Once everything was settled, that's when Ragna would lose everything.

''(I'm sleepy...)''

He had to sleep and regain his strength. Tomorrow would be busy.

It was very quiet here. He could clearly hear his own breathing, which was gradually deepening.

''(Come to think of it... I feel like this happened before...)'' Ragna thought vaguely as he drifted to sleep.

''(Have I been to Kagutsuchi before...?)''

He didn't think so. But strangely, he could smoothly map out the route from the upper levels to the branch in his mind.

It was a strange feeling. He must be half-dreaming. Thinking that, Ragna closed his eyelids.

As his vision closed, Ragna exhaled deeply. And before even a minute had passed, he began to breathe regularly, his chest rising and falling in sleep.

===Part 4===

...I had a dream.

It was a dream from when I was little. A dream when I had a cold.

Even though I was covered with a fluffy blanket and futon, my body was trembling slightly. It was hard to breathe, and when I took a deep breath, my chest wheezed and I coughed. I felt chills, but my body was hot and my head was dizzy.

It was such a nice day. I wanted to play outside. I thought about that while looking at the window by the bed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I replied.

Then the door was gently opened as if to check the situation, and a boy came in.

He was a boy with golden hair and green eyes. But because I was feverish, his vision was blurred and I couldn't see his face clearly.

The boy walked carefully to the bedside and pulled up a chair to sit next to me.

"Are you okay?" The boy peered at me and spoke with concern. It was a gentle voice. That voice brought a sense of relief to my chest, and my labored breathing eased a little.

Taking the towel that was placed on my forehead, the boy put his palm on it instead and measured the heat. After a while, he grimaced as if in trouble.

"Your fever is quite high. Are you alright?" At his question, I weakly nodded from the bed. Actually, I wasn't in that much pain anymore. Just having him by my side made me so happy.

But if I answered that I was alright, I felt like he would say "then" and leave the room. So, I was a little selfish.

I wanted him to stay with me longer.

The boy dipped the towel in the wooden bucket at the bedside, wrung it out again with cold water, and placed it back on my forehead. Then, he gently stroked my head.

"Don't worry, you'll get better soon. I'll be here, so rest assured and get some sleep. Okay?"

"Yeah... brother."

Gently spoken to, I nodded this time with a big nod.

If he's going to be here, I'm relieved. With that thought, I closed my eyelids as if invited by the warmth of his hand stroking my hair.

In a peacefulness like taking a nap after a warm bath, I wished this time would last forever, and then I fell into a gentle sleep.

'''December 31, 2199 - 13:53'''

The afternoon of the last day of the year was pleasantly sunny.

Noel, who had somehow managed to return to the upper layer late at night, left the NOL facility where she had been lent a bed and went up two more levels, continuing her search mission for Major Jin Kisaragi, which she had been doing yesterday.

She had searched the likely places in the lower level one by one. But despite many eyewitness accounts, she couldn't reach Jin. However, she should have been following his route quite faithfully. She thought it wouldn't be surprising if there was another near miss like the one in the Roningai soon.

"Haa..."

Invited by the peaceful sunlight, a small yawn unintentionally escaped. While being in the middle of a mission, she hurriedly hid it with both hands while looking down.

Last night, she finally secured a bed late at night and laid down her tired body, but she woke up much earlier than scheduled. Perhaps because of this, she was half-asleep and felt heavy and unfocused since this morning.

''(Haa... That was a strange dream…)''

Noel wiped the tears that had appeared at the corners of her eyes and straightened her back again, muttering a thought she'd had countless times today.

The cause of her strange early awakening was this morning's dream. She'd had a strange dream. Usually, she hardly remembered the contents of her dreams, but today, she remembered it clearly.

It was a dream from when she was little.

Perhaps it was when she was not even ten years old. While coughing on the bed by the window, a boy came into the room and gently stroked her head. She was so happy that the boy came to her, and that he'd stroked my head... She was filled with happiness and fell asleep again.

It was a happy dream. The moment she woke up, she was shocked that it was a dream.

But... it was strange. Noel recalled the dream and tilted her head again and again.

It was a dream as if tracing the memories of her childhood. But Noel had no memories of that time at all. She didn't remember anything about the time before she was rescued from the explosion site five years ago.

Looking back, the room that appeared in that dream was one that Noel didn't know. The green scenery of the fields and forests that could be seen from the window, the bed, and even the pajamas she was wearing.

But why was it such a nostalgic dream?

''(Maybe... it's a memory from my past?)''

If it was a memory from before she was rescued, then…

''(How should I feel?)''

The more nostalgic she felt, the more a haze filled her chest. Should she feel happy? Or should she try to forget it? Would thinking about a past she didn't know be an injustice to the people who gave her a happy present?

''(I...)''

At that moment, she couldn't help but think. Who was she? Where was she born?

"Brother..." Noel muttered to herself while walking along a route that was as far away from the NOL's facilities as possible without taking an extreme detour.

In the dream, she was sick in bed with a cold, and called the boy who stroked her head "brother." Golden hair like sunlight... yes, she was sure he had gentle green eyes.

But there were no other children in the Vermillion family. She didn't know anyone she could call her brother and look up to.

Then who was that boy? Was he... a "brother" she lived with before the five years she doesn't remember?

''(It's still a strange dream.)''

And she felt strange. She had always vaguely longed for a brother.

"Wait, but..."

As if touching an invisible thread, something brushed Noel's mind. Wasn't there another brother?

"Another... one?" Noel tilted her head at the words whispered by her own unconscious.

Another one... yes, there was another one. He had the same golden hair and green eyes as the boy who appeared in the dream...

"That's it!" Noel's thoughts as she searched for her daydream were suddenly interrupted by the person crossing the street in front of her.

Golden hair, green eyes... and a blue and white uniform, and a blue sword.

"Major... Major Kisaragi!"

Jin Kisaragi, Commander of the Novus Orbis Librarium's 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron.

Noel ran towards the unexpected encounter.

"Wait, Major Kisaragi!" She chased after Jin's retreating figure, not on the main street where many soldiers were walking, but on a quiet street two blocks back.

At Noel's voice, Jin stopped. His back was straight and his posture was impeccable, just like the one she often saw in the corridors of the NOL headquarters. However, his expression when he turned around was clearly different from the cold look he had in the pristine interior of the headquarters.

"You..." Jin turned towards Noel with a heavy step, dragging his heel.

The look in Jin's eyes when he caught sight of Noel was as if he had found something terribly ugly. The green was smeared with disgust, and he looked at her from head to toe as if he didn't want to acknowledge her existence at all.

His sharp gaze glared with such hostility that it seemed as if he wanted to immediately cut Noel's throat.

"Ah, um..."

Noel knew Jin as a cold superior. He rarely answered when she spoke to him. His eyes were always cold, and he sometimes glared at her. But she had never been looked at like this before. It was a look filled with intense hatred that denied her very existence.

"Major Kisaragi... I was ordered to return you from headquarters. Your actions are a serious violation of discipline. Please return to headquarters immediately..."

"Why... why are you here?" Jin interrupted Noel's plea with a low, hoarse voice, suppressing his rage. He took a step towards Noel, his heels clicking loudly.

"I was ordered to bring you back. Please, Major. If you ignore the return order, you may be considered a traitor. If that happens..."

Surely Tsubaki would be more saddened than anyone else.

She tried to continue, but she couldn't put the rest into words.

Jin, who had started walking, ran. Straight towards Noel.

"Eh?"

"Why are you here!?" Jin's white jaw trembled at the shout, and he drew his sword as he stepped forward. The gleaming white blade drew an arc in the air and caught Noel in the stomach.

Noel moved as if pushed back by the murderous intent. She threw off the poncho she was wearing and used it as a shield against Jin's slash. At the same time, she took out two guns from the holster attached to the poncho.

She jumped high and quickly retreated.

When Noel's feet scraped against the ground behind her and she came to a stop, she saw the discarded poncho being cut in two and falling to the ground.

There was no hesitation in the slash. If her reaction had been delayed, it would've been Noel who had fallen to the ground there.

"M-Major K-Kisaragi..." Her lips didn't move well due to shock and fear. Jin swung his sword again at Noel, who couldn't understand what was happening or grasp the situation.

The slash that swept through the air created a blade of ice and launched it at Noel.

In an instant, Noel turned the gun in her hand towards the blade of ice. The ones in her hands were much larger than the self-defense guns usually issued to soldiers, and the barrels were especially thick and long.

They were Noel's personal weapons. A pair of handguns that, for some reason, suddenly appeared in front of Noel shortly after she was taken in by the Vermilion family.

Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk. Noel took it without knowing, but this, like Jin's Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, was one of the Nox Nyctores created during the Dark War.

Noel quickly fired the gun she was aiming. What Noel's gun fired was not a gunshot, but Ars Magus. The aim was not mistaken, and it shot through and shattered the ice blade that Jin had fired.

"Please stop, Major Kisaragi! If you resist, your crimes will only increase!"

If she let her guard down, it would be dangerous. Noel desperately put strength into her voice while keeping her gun at the ready without letting her guard down.

Perhaps seeing it as hostility, Jin's reaction towards Noel became even more violent.

"I won't give it to you."

"Eh?"

"I won't give it to you..." Jin said in a quiet, heavy, eerily cold voice that crawled from the depths of his stomach. He lowered the unwavering tip of his sword and ran, sliding it along the ground.

If he got too close, it would be dangerous. Noel fired an Ars Magus bullet at Jin's feet as he ran.

Perhaps anticipating this, Jin jumped at the same time. What stretched out to Noel was not the sword, but his leg. Noel used her gun's barrel as a shield to block the deceptively heavy kick that swept through the air.

"Damn!"

From above Noel, who was enduring, Jin swung his sword without even landing. Blocking it with her two guns, Noel quickly retreated and opened the distance. She took a stance, and Jin looked at her. Noel couldn't tell if those eyes were really those of the Jin Kisaragi she knew.

His clouded eyes, as if possessed by something, made her wonder if he was truly seeing her. His hollow gaze seemed to be fixed on something else that wasn't there.

"Don't show that face in front of me, you obstacle!!"

Noel's body bristled at the snarling voice. The spirit itself was like a blade. That blade pierced Noel before the real thing, binding her feet to the spot. She shrank back in fear.

"Your face, your voice, your shadow, never again! Never again!!"

"Kisa..."

Jin, in a state of frenzy, wildly swung his sword. The distance Noel had created was only slight. Distorting his connected face, tossing his light golden hair, Jin stepped in roughly and slashed Noel from below.

...At that very moment.

Something small burst and bounced between Noel and Jin, and from there an enormous amount of black smoke spread with such force that it threatened to engulf the entire area.

"Wh-wha… ''cough, cough,'' wha- what is this?"

Noel's vision was lost in an instant. The smoke stung her eyes and throat, making it painful to keep her eyes open or even breathe properly. It seemed to be the same for Jin, as she could hear his choking voice nearby.

"This way, now!"

"Eh? Yes!" Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and Noel was forcibly pulled out of the smoke, running as she was led.

Even after getting away from the smoke and her throat registering the clean air, Noel's vision didn't clear immediately. Her eyes stung as if sand had been blown into them, and as she ran, Noel had to repeatedly wipe her teary eyes with her arm.

After turning many corners, the person who had been pulling her arm finally stopped. The arm that had been grabbed was immediately released.

"It seems we're not being pursued... for now." Noel recognized the voice that spoke in a light, panting tone. Wiping her still-aching eyes once more, Noel forced them open and looked at her rescuer.

He was right in front of her. It seemed they were in a park with a promenade, and he was sitting on a bench, weakly fanning his face with a black hat. She recognized the black suit and green hair.

"Ha… Hazama-san!"

"Yes? Haa… please, have mercy. Unlike you or Major Kisaragi, I'm not a specialist in combat." Hazama said in a weak, pathetic voice, putting his hat on his head and pulling it down low.

Noel bowed deeply to her unexpected savior.

"Hazama-san, you saved me. Um, thank you very much. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No, no, I can't very well ignore the plight of my mission partner, can I?" Hazama said, waving his hand loosely and smiling lightly. She had initially found that smile suspicious, but at the moment, it made her feel a little relieved.

Adjusting his hat slightly with his fingertip, Hazama straightened his suit and stood up from the bench.

"Anyway… Major Kisaragi seems to be in quite a troublesome state, doesn't he?" Hazama said in a troubled tone, but a somewhat meaningful smile floated on his face. "I don't know what happened, but he doesn't seem to be in his right mind. If you poke him carelessly, you might cause unnecessary damage."

"Yes." Noel nodded shallowly, still at attention.

Without a doubt, Jin at that time intended to kill Noel. If the battle had continued as it was, Noel would have died and the surrounding area would've suffered tremendous damage.

Hazama lightly tugged on his suit sleeve and opened his mouth, checking the watch on his wrist.

"For now, shall we wait for night?"

"Night?"

"Currently, Ragna the Bloodedge seems to be lurking in the upper levels. He'll probably come to attack the branch tonight. Major Kisaragi will probably come to the branch, aiming for him."

Jin's objective was Ragna the Bloodedge. It was clear from his past criminal record that Ragna the Bloodedge's destination was the branch, so Jin would naturally head there eventually.

Hazama raised his index finger and continued.

"Why don't we just bring in the guards from Kagutsuchi and capture them there? We can't let the scale grow any larger, and with Ragna the Bloodedge involved, I'd like to settle things quickly."

"Yes... that's right. I understand."

At the very least, Noel was all for the idea of contacting Jin at the branch.

Earlier, they were lucky that there were no passersby, but the next time they fought in the city, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be people around. Even if he was an opponent she should face as a soldier, it was painful and suffocating just to imagine the residents and children she had to protect getting hurt...

Even now, there are many people in this city living peaceful lives, unaware of the NOL's internal troubles.

There might even be a house where a younger sister has caught a cold, and her older brother is taking care of her.

''(I'm thinking about that dream again...)''

The warm smile of a warm "brother" that she looked up at in a warm bed. She still vaguely remembered the feeling of his hand stroking her hair.

If someone forcibly took that away... she would surely be sad.

"Hello? Lieutenant Vermilion?"

"Y-yes!" Noel jumped up and replied.

Hazama hid his eyes under his hat and smiled wryly.

"What are you going to do until tonight? I have some errands to run, so I'm thinking of looking into Major Kisaragi's situation while taking care of my own business."

She seemed to be daydreaming again. Noel tightened her expression and straightened her back.

"I will continue to search for the Major until tonight. I don't think I can persuade him... but I can't do nothing."

Just clashing with force wasn't the only solution. If they were to meet again, she was thinking of trying to persuade him, saying that Tsubaki was worried.

Noel's words probably wouldn't reach him, but it might be different with Tsubaki. They were from the same high school, and Jin was kind to Tsubaki back then.

"In that case, I'll tell them at the Kagutsuchi branch to contact you if Major Kisaragi appears. You have a communicator, right?" As if demonstrating, Hazama took out a small communicator from his suit pocket and held it up. It was something given to NOL soldiers during missions.

"Ah, yes."

Fortunately, the communicator was in her hand, not on the poncho that was cut by Jin. When she took it out and handed it over, Hazama gave a strangely theatrical nod.

"Please return to the branch if you're contacted. Well, see you later." Hazama slipped the communicator back into his pocket, put his hand on his hat, and bowed. Noel responded with a salute.

With long, shadow-like legs, Hazama headed towards the branch. Noel didn't follow him. Instead, relying on her senses, she decided to return along the path she had just escaped from. She had to retrieve the gun holster that was probably dropped along with the remnants of her poncho.

"I'm sure… it'll be alright."

She would carry out her mission and return to headquarters. As she told herself this, firmly grasping her beloved gun, her lifeline, she shook off the vaguely ominous premonition and ran away from the spot.

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BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 3

2025-06-23T00:46:05Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "==BBCT2 Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero== ===Part 1=== '''December 30, 2199 - 23:45''' The night deepened quietly under the clear silver moon. The wind that crossed the heights was strong, making a sound like death cutting through the air. The clouds, thin and stretched out, occasionally blocked the moonlight and were easily swept away, disappearing into the sky. The commercial district of the upper layer of Kagutsuchi was already mostly closed, with f..."

==BBCT2 Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero==

===Part 1===
'''December 30, 2199 - 23:45'''

The night deepened quietly under the clear silver moon.

The wind that crossed the heights was strong, making a sound like death cutting through the air. The clouds, thin and stretched out, occasionally blocked the moonlight and were easily swept away, disappearing into the sky.

The commercial district of the upper layer of Kagutsuchi was already mostly closed, with few people around, enveloped in a secretive atmosphere. The stores that operated at night were only lined up on the main street, and if you took the back streets, you could head to the city center without attracting unnecessary attention.

There were few lights and no unnecessary facilities. This was a city that was managed for order. Those who sought entertainment would go down a few levels to a place with less surveillance.

Otherwise, they would obediently return to their blessed homes and enjoy the warmth of a warm room.

The people who lived around here, whether shallow or deep, all had some kind of connection with the NOL. With the Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch nearby, and many related facilities lined up around it, there were few who would choose to go out at night.

Yes. The Novus Orbis Librarium's Kagutsuchi branch was visible nearby.

"Every time I see it, it's always... a hollow figure."

In the nighttime of the upper city, a white shadow stopped and chewed.

It had a form that was like a human, but not a human. The toned body was the silhouette of a man, and he was tall. He wore a strange outfit based on white and black, not revealing a single piece of human skin. Not his fingertips, toes, not even his head.

The man in white and black had no expression. The face, which looked like it was covered with a white mask, had no eyes, nose, or mouth, and a long tuft of white hair-like things grew from his head.

On his back, he carried a sword that was abnormally long. It was one of only two in the world, a Nox Nyctores: Interfectum Malus: Ookami.

It was a weapon created during the Dark War, which began about a hundred years ago, to fight against the Black Beast.

The fact that he carried it on his back indicated that he was a hero, the owner of Ookami.

His name was Hakumen. He was one of the Six Heroes said to have taken the lead in challenging the Black Beast that rampaged to destroy humanity during the "Dark War," a war where the world once saw despair.

He was said to have gone missing immediately after the war, and since then, no one knew his whereabouts... and now, about ninety years later, the hero in white attire was in the land of Kagutsuchi.

Large, claw-like feet walked, hidden in the shadows of the dark back streets. The destination was the rumored Kagutsuchi branch of the NOL, which shone in the moonlight.

The sophisticated cityscape that led to it was nostalgic for Hakumen.

No, the word nostalgic was not enough. It was a distant memory. An old, old memory. Parts of it were blurred and painful, or torn and lost, and they would never be repaired. But someday, it was a fragment of memory that the soul certainly saw, heard, touched, and tasted.

He once walked this land in a different form than now, chasing the same man as now. And at the end of that...

"That's... a phenomena weapon."

Suddenly, Hakumen stopped walking.

Ahead, beyond the darkness of the night, there was a known presence. A phenomena weapon - like the Ookami on his back, it seemed that one of the weapons created during the Dark War was there.

But it was strange. The weapon that Hakumen knew was long sealed, and shouldn't exist as a Nox Nyctores. Moreover, the presence that felt like it was clinging to this thread somehow felt different from the one that was in the same battlefield in the past.

It was an uncomfortable feeling, as if he had stepped into a muddy place. This unclear feeling, even if he tried to ignore it, was persistent and clung to him. Either way, it was the destination. Hakumen lowered his waist while facing the direction of the presence, and jumped high.

Jumping to the roof of the building beside him, he kicked off his feet as they were and went forward. Overlooking the moon, he jumped over the roofs one after another.

The moon was swelling into an almost perfect circle. Tomorrow would be a full moon.

The full moon did not bring good memories.

Jumping over the last roof, he found the owner of the presence below. If Hakumen had an expression, he would have frowned in suspicion.

A child was walking on a back street that deliberately deviated from the main street, a dark path with only the light leaking from the windows of the buildings. Although he was wearing fine clothes, the path he was walking and the time of day were completely unsuitable.

Walking alongside the child, as if accompanying him, was the owner of the déjà vu and discomfort that Hakumen felt.

Catching the night wind, Hakumen jumped down. He landed right in front of the child and the strange figure standing beside him.

"Whoa!" The child raised a voice of surprise appropriate for his age at the white intruder who had fallen from the sky. But at the same time, the way he jumped back was by no means childish.

As Hakumen recognized from a distance, he was a boy in fine clothes. A purple outfit with a cloak of the same color and a top hat. Behind the round glasses, there were eyes that seemed to be of good birth nestled in the eye sockets, but the emotions there were strangely uneasy.

Was it because of the figure beside him? Hakumen straightened his posture from the landing position and turned his face to the tall figure who had stepped out in front of the boy, instead of the boy.

It was a mechanical doll.

Although it was modeled after a woman in a purple dress, it was clear at a glance that it wasn't human. The inorganic and metallic texture, the face that looked like a mere creation, the arms that were too long and looked like sturdy gauntlets, and the sharp claws lined up instead of fingers.

"Nox Nyctores... Deus Machina: Nirvana." In a muffled voice under the mask, Hakumen spoke the doll's name.

At that moment, murderous intent gushed out from the boy like a spray. His wide-open blue eyes harbored a dangerous light, and he stared at Hakumen as if challenging him without fear. The hand he held out, as if protecting the mechanical doll standing one step behind him, could be seen as if he were bracing himself.

"I don't know who you are, but I don't know anyone by that name. I'm Carl Clover, and this is my sister, Ada. There's no one named Nirvana here." The boy, who identified himself as Carl in an innocent but hostile voice, told Hakumen. But immediately, as if called by someone, he turned around sharply. What he looked up at through his large glasses was the mechanical doll he called his sister.

"Huh? What's wrong, sister?" Carl behaved as if he could hear the voice of the doll behind him.

Hakumen's ears could not hear the voice of the mechanical doll Nirvana. Even if there were other people in this place, they would probably not be able to hear it.

The voice of his sister whispering to him was only heard by Carl. Whether it was really Nirvana's voice or not was another matter.

"This person..."

While turning his ear to his sister, Carl looked at Hakumen with caution. They were not the eyes of a child. His eyes, which were both ruthless and aggressive, as well as intelligent, observed Hakumen closely. Soon, the boy found an answer and frowned with his handsome eyebrows as if doubting his own eyes.

"That body... and the odachi on your back... could it be the Interfectum Malus: Ookami? Then you're... Hakumen of the Six Heroes?" Carl's tone, which suggested that he had some knowledge of Ookami and the Six Heroes, made him feel like he had a level of education beyond his years.

Why such a boy was with this doll was unclear to Hakumen.

"Child, that doll is a Nox Nyctores. Touching it demands a corresponding burden from the user. Even if it's Nirvana, it will be too much poison for a young mind." Hakumen spoke calmly without returning any of the hostility or murderous intent that were directed at him.

A Nox Nyctores is not just a weapon. In the past, each weapon had its own "individuality," and in order to wield its power, it interfered with the user's mind to draw out even more power, making it a semi-living weapon.

The Ookami that Hakumen possessed, and the Nirvana over there, had sealed their "individuality," so there wasn't as much burden as during the war. Even so, possessing a Nox Nyctores meant that the mind was being eroded and interfered with every day.

Unless one had a stronger mental strength than necessary, or something that could replace it, it was difficult not only to handle, but to even maintain a sane mind.

"Then, what are you trying to say?" Carl glared at Hakumen with an upward glance and an unsettling voice. The well-mannered face he had been trying to maintain was now abandoned, and he was measuring the distance between himself and Hakumen with an uneasy calmness.

"What I do is none of your business. What's wrong with siblings being together in the first place?" Carl's tone was slightly different from a child's tantrum or selfishness. It was more insightful and calm.

"You understand, and yet you say you will follow it?" Hakumen muttered to himself.

He could see that the boy named Carl understood that the doll he called his sister, Nirvana, was a Nox Nyctores. That being together was bizarre to others. That being together put a strain on his mind. However, it was doubtful how truly he felt the sense of crisis that he might be ruined as a result.

"You have a rude way of speaking for someone who's supposed to be one of the Six Heroes." Carl grimaced unhappily.

Without being moved by his desperate glare, Hakumen asked again. "Where did you get it?"

That which should have been sealed long ago.

"I have no obligation to answer. Please move out of the way. If you are going to interfere with us, even if you are Hakumen, one of the Six Heroes... I will not forgive you."

As if to show that there was no falsehood in those words, Carl clenched his hand wrapped in a white glove tightly. Seemingly induced by Carl's will, Nirvana slid forward several steps, and then, as he had been done to her earlier, she stood to protect her little master behind her back.

"Sister?" That seemed to be different from what Carl had intended, and the boy looked up at his sister in bewilderment. The inorganic sister stood motionless in front of Carl, lightly opening both arms as if to block the way. The face with lowered metallic eyelids had no eyes, but a quiet gaze stared at Hakumen.

Carl knew that if he jumped out, Hakumen would draw the odachi on his back without hesitation and fight back.

Nirvana probably understood that. Or perhaps it was a memory.

From behind Nirvana, who was trying to protect her master by shielding him, Carl, unable to grasp the situation, raised his voice in agitation.

"What's wrong, sister!? Can you hear me!? ...Y-you, what did you do to my sister!?" His expression, which had been so calm until then, changed drastically. His eyes narrowed and he showed intense anger. But Nirvana firmly held Carl back, preventing him from moving even a step forward.

As if measuring the distance, Nirvana took a step back. Following her, Hakumen grabbed his odachi.

At that moment, Nirvana, with a sudden movement that ignored breathing, grabbed Carl as if snatching him up, and jumped up to the roof. Immediately, she avoided the moonlight and chose the darkness, running from the roof to the alley, and then dashing towards the main street and disappearing.

Soon the presence moved away, and eventually blended into the lights of the city.

"Did they get away?" Hakumen took his hand off the odachi.

If they went to a crowded place, it would be difficult to chase them. If they were found by the NOL soldiers, who would be suitable for maintaining security, there would be various troubles.

Besides... it seemed that another person had come whom he'd have to deal with.

When the presence of the Nox Nyctores disappeared and the quiet night air descended again, this time the fragrance of flowers mixed in and danced there.

Hakumen turned around. A small whirlwind danced in front of him, and as if a flower bud blossomed and opened, the scent of roses overflowed in that place. At the same time, a girl appeared, crossing the space.

With golden hair and red eyes, wearing a gorgeous black dress, and appearing with a parasol with a cat's face and a red, round familiar, it was the summoned ghost in the form of a girl, Rachel Alucard.

Leaning the umbrella she held in both hands on her small shoulder and looking at Hakumen diagonally, Rachel let out a chuckle and a provocative smile.

"It's been a while, Mr. Hero."

"Harlequin."

To Rachel, who called out to him teasingly, Hakumen replied in a low voice, faintly showing his disgust.

But Rachel directed a smile like a sneer at Hakumen's quiet, threatening spirit, and turned her umbrella around.

"You seem to have plenty of time on your hands. To be meddling with a passing phenomena weapon..."

"It's none of your business."

"Do you remember the old you, the one who was trapped by the Nox Nyctores?"

The old you. At those mischievous words, Hakumen turned towards Rachel.

Perhaps his reaction was amusing, Rachel put a white fingertip to her lips and let out a laugh like the rustling of clothes.

"Oh, how terrible. Is it true?"

"A Nox Nyctores is not something that should be left in human history... That is the only reason."

All of the Nox Nyctores should have been destroyed immediately after the end of the Dark War. It was hard to believe that they still remain in this world.

But even that was probably nothing more than a foolish sentiment for this cunning vampire.

Even now, perhaps thinking that Hakumen's excuse was a poor one, she did not stop her mocking gaze.

"It's not just the phenomena weapon. This city is also nostalgic, isn't it? I wonder how long ago it was for you. The memory of you, as Jin Kisaragi, wandering Kagutsuchi with a different sword than you have now, and fighting your brother deep underground..."

"Harlequin." Hakumen stopped Rachel, who spoke like a rolling bell, in a heavy tone. He had no intention of listening any further. "I have discarded that name. My name is Hakumen. From the time you led me to this forest and made it mine, I have only been myself. No one else."

Not now. Not in this place. Hakumen was certainly a young man with a different name. But that is exactly what "not the current dimension" means.

"You, on the other hand, are quite eloquent this time. You, a mere bystander who knows everything but does not lift a finger, are able to line up words so skillfully." Hakumen retorted, mixing in a sound that could be taken as a snort or a sneer.

Rachel, while hooking her short hair behind her small ear, smiled with a composed face. It was a mature, bewitching smile that made one forget for a moment that she was a girl in appearance.

"That's right. As you say, I am a 'bystander.' In other words, I am an 'audience' of this story. The audience can throw jeers from the outside, but they cannot change the content of the stage, can they? Even if I am shown the same stage many times."

"Nonsense."

But Hakumen also understands that this is the truth.

The vampire is a bystander who can only watch the scene. A spectator who has no choice but to watch the way fate continues to roll.

But Hakumen does not even think for a moment that he will be content with that infinitely powerless position. If there are skillful hands, he will not stop pulling them, and if there are feet to step on, he will not stop struggling. He is determined to fight as long as this body can move.

Hakumen put his hand on his mask and bowed deeply. After a moment of silence, he released his hand and turned his back to Rachel.

"You can stay there and enjoy the show as long as you like. I will cut off the world in my own way."

"You can't do it, Mr. Hero."

"Even if I can't, my sword is in my hand."

The logic was enough.

Even as Hakumen walked away, shaking the silver tufts hanging from his head, Rachel did not stop him. As if she thought that even stopping him was too much of a jeer for a spectator.

The night wind was cold, and the swirling sound high in the sky seemed to be a sign of something.

But without feeling any emotion at the sound, Hakumen walked along the dark back streets.

The destination was the magnificent Novus Orbis Librarium Kagutsuchi branch. Underneath that... he intended to wait for him.

===Part 2===
'''December 30, 2199 - 23:45'''

The cold wind of midnight carried the clouds and hid the moon.

But from here, the closest place to the sky in all of Kagutsuchi, most of the way the clouds flow was an event at his feet.

Novus Orbis Librarium Kagutsuchi branch. The rooftop was usually unused and empty, with nothing on it.

The fact that there was not even a single handrail despite being at the highest height was because it was not originally a place where one should set foot.

But there, tonight, was the figure of a man.

"Well, then. I guess this is about it." Hazama of the Intelligence Department muttered in a nonchalant, drawn-out tone.

Hazama, who had been crouching on the empty circular stage-like rooftop, stood up while lightly brushing his hands.

As expected, the wind was strong just because of the altitude. Hazama took out a palm-sized communication device from his suit's inner pocket, easily operated something with his knobby fingers, and firmly held his hat so that it would not be blown away by the wind.

The communication device, which was put to his ear, repeated a boring ringing tone.

He was kept waiting for a few seconds. Soon the ringing tone stopped, and a clicking sound rang in his ear, followed by a voice responding.

"It's me." It was a low and lustrous male voice. However, there was no trace of emotion in that voice, and it made a completely bland sound on flat ground. Hazama's smile deepened at the sound of the voice, and put his hat on even more carefully.

"Ah, it's Hazama. Thank you for your hard work. I'm sorry to bother you at this late hour."

"Are the preparations complete?" Whether he heard Hazama's voice or not, the person on the other end of the phone asked emotionlessly, as if he did not care at all about the words spoken to him.

"Good grief." Hazama could not help but shake his head. He was always like this. "Seriously, you're as impatient as ever. You could at least return a proper greeting! It's a basic rule for a working adult, you know?"

"Is it done?" He apparently had no intention of listening. It was a truly typical response from the other party in the communication. Hazama shrugged his shoulders. The sharply ringing wind cut through the clouds behind him and disappeared somewhere.

"Yes, it's done. Everything is ready. Well... I don't know if this will be useful, though." Saying that, Hazama looked up at the sky. A cold moon was shining beyond the clouds that were flowing at an incredible speed. Perhaps it would be a full moon tomorrow?

At the composed round face that he looked down from that height, Hazama gave a derisive sigh.

"After this, we'll be observing the situation here... what will you do? If you have anything else you want me to do, please tell me now. Tomorrow, I have to monitor a certain lieutenant, you know."

The person on the other end of the communication suddenly gave him errands sometimes, which was troublesome.

As if to make sure, Hazama confirmed, and the other party replied after a few seconds, seemingly without interest.

"Nothing in particular for now... let me know if there's anything."

"Understood. Then, I'll take my leave. Colonel Relius Clover." The communication was cut off with a small sound.

Sliding the silent communicator back into his suit's inner pocket, Hazama turned his back on the empty space of the rooftop and started walking.

As he walked, the heels of his hard leather shoes clicking on the rooftop floor, a voice spoke to his consciousness.

"Well, well, tomorrow is the real show, Hazama."

The voice was sticky, unpleasant, sarcastic, and seemed to be making fun of him.

That way of speaking would sometimes grate on people's nerves and irritate them. But for Hazama, who heard that voice closer than anyone else, his foul mouth and attitude weren't something to be concerned about.

While walking with a nonchalant and frivolous gait, Hazama lowered the corners of his eyebrows greatly with a wry smile.

"Oh dear, it was quite a task, really. But when I think about how many times there have been patterns where I've worked hard on this and that, and then everything is ruined at the very end... it's just depressing to even imagine it."

"That's right, that's right? I'm having a hard time, you know?" The owner of the voice spoke with an exaggeratedly bored tone. Hazama listened to it and smiled wryly.

But there was only Hazama on the rooftop. There wasn't even a sign of someone else.

Even so, while strangely conversing with someone, Hazama returned to the inside of the branch.

There was still nothing on the rooftop where Hazama said he had "prepared" something. However, the moon illuminated the lonely scene in a somewhat ominous way.

'''December 31, 2199 - 13:05'''

After walking through a disgusting sewer for a long time and crawling out of a narrow exit, the sky was already dyed in the color of night.

The proper air that he inhaled after several hours was the kind of clean air that was typical of the upper city, which in turn made him feel sick.

The people who live above would probably faint immediately if they inhaled the air of the lower level. He couldn't help but think that sarcastically.

Fortunately, it was late and there were almost no people around, and if he chose a dark road, he could walk around without anyone watching him.

Avoiding shopping streets and residential areas, Ragna went as far as possible to escape to the city's outskirts. What he sought is a place where he could rest his body.

The journey of several hours through the bad roads from Orient Town to the Kaka tribe's village, and from there through the sewer to the upper layer, had taken its toll on his body. Tonight, he would rest his body for the time being, and aim for the NOL branch tomorrow night.

Having decided so, he wandered around the corner of the upper layer where no one was around. It was already past midnight when he finally found a warehouse that seemed to be unused and rolled into it.

There was something like a natural park nearby, and the warehouse he found seemed to be a forgotten relic of some building that used to be here. The lock was only a simple one, and he forced it open and entered.

The inside was dusty enough to make him cough lightly as soon as he opened it, but after ventilating it for a while and mixing it with the clean air that the upper layer provided, the dusty warehouse was more comfortable for Ragna.

The warehouse wasn't very large, but it wasn't extremely small either. It was enough space for a man of Ragna's size to lean his back against the wall, stretch his legs, and sleep overnight. It also helped that there were few things in it, as it was not used.

He often slept outdoors. Tonight's sleeping place, with a roof, walls, and floor, and most important, privacy, was quite good.

Avoiding people's eyes, he closed the door. Faint moonlight seeps in through a small gap, drawing a pale blue line in the warehouse.

Crossing it, Ragna sat down. He took off the sword that he had been lowering and placed it beside him, then leaned his head against the cold, simple wall and used it as a pillow.

"Hah...I don't know..." As soon as he settled down, a deep sigh escaped and his shoulders dropped. Looking back, he had hardly walked on a proper road all day today.

''(No wonder I'm tired...)'' Ragna thought vaguely while looking at the streak of moonlight that passed through the floor and his knees.

Tomorrow, on the other hand, he would be walking on roads that were too proper. He would go through the upper city and break into the NOL's branch.

The time was always at night. During the day, many people enter and exit the branch.

He had no feelings of hesitation or consideration towards the NOL, but he didn't want to involve innocent people who happened to be there. He didn't want to make a fuss and attract people's attention.

On the contrary, it was honestly refreshing to see the NOL's people being wary at night, and yet being caught off guard and flustered. He hoped that they would never have a peaceful night.

"NOL, huh..."

No matter how much fatigue weighed on him, that name alone stirred Ragna's heart. A scorching heat spread from the depths of his body, stirring Ragna's fighting spirit.

It was the same even now. The light in his eyes, which should have been relaxed to rest his body, was completely lit with the fire of hostility, and his large teeth, which were clenched as if trying to suppress the impulsive outburst, bit down on his senses.

For Ragna, the NOL was the target of all the hatred that arose. It was hostility, murderous intent, and all the harm he could think of.

The root of this was seven years ago. The day when the church of the sister who raised them was attacked and burned down... it had been firmly burned into Ragna's heart and memory, and would never be erased.

===Part 3===
When he opened his eyes, the area had been raining for some time.

The soil under his face was wet and smelled suffocating. But more than that, the smell of burnt wood was lingering around, and he almost coughed from the non-existent smoke in the area.

The fire was out. The rain must have put it out.

In Ragna's hazy vision, the unrecognizable, unsightly form of the church, which had been roaring and burning just a while ago, remained.

"Too late... rain..." Powerless lips trembled in a voice that could not be heard.

The white wall where he used to throw mud balls and get scolded was nowhere to be seen. Neither was the pointed roof, nor the simple cross that stood on top of it, nor the small skylight that allowed the morning sun to enter.

Only a few charred, pillar-like sticks were standing here and there, looking forlornly at the sky.

The rain must have been falling for a long time. Ragna's body, rolling on the ground, was completely soaked, his clothes were heavy with absorbed rainwater, as if his whole body was being pressed down by something.

He couldn't move his arms or legs. His body was cold and his senses were distant, and he wasn't sure if he was alive or dead.

Ragna's right arm was missing. He was blown away without knowing why by a shadowy man who attacked the border. There was a deep stab wound on his back. It was a wound inflicted by Ragna's younger brother, who was standing next to the shadowy man, with a sword.

Those were the only two major wounds, but how much blood had been lost while he was unconscious? How much of his life had Ragna lost while the church burned down and the rain extinguished the fire?

It was not all due to the rain that his body would not move or that he had no sensation. Even if it had not rained, Ragna's body would not have moved, and sensation would not have been left.

Like the embers smoldering at the edge of the charcoal being extinguished by the rain, Ragna's life was about to be extinguished.

He felt that it was over.

The church was burned down. The sister was dead. His younger brother and sister were taken away... and eventually Ragna's life would be lost.

''(Sister, Jin, Saya!)''

The call remained in his heart. There was not even the strength left to engrave it on his lips.

He was going to die. Without knowing anything, without being able to do anything. While being stained with blood and dirt between the rain and mud, he would die as he was taken away.

Prompted by the sensation that seemed to be crawling up from his fingertips, his eyelids slowly closed... at that moment. Suddenly, the rain moved away.

"How unsightly." A voice was heard. It was a woman's voice. He didn't recognize it. But that voice gave Ragna a little strength.

''(Who is it?)''

That question made Ragna lift his eyelids. He couldn't move his neck or chin, but his eyeballs moved. Rolling his eyeballs in their sockets, Ragna searched for the owner of the voice.

She was there.

Right next to Ragna's turning head.

Wearing thick-soled shoes and a black dress with fluttering hem, a girl was standing with a large bat umbrella. She was about the same age as his younger sister. She looked a little over ten years old. The ribbon that stood upright, tying up her long golden hair, looked like rabbit ears.

The rain was gone because Ragna's head was under the shadow of her umbrella.

"Shall I watch you die like this? It's lonely to die alone, isn't it?" Whether she was serious or joking, the girl with the umbrella spoke to Ragna in a calm tone.

Ragna could only respond to that question with a faint breath. However, he did not avert his eyes.

He couldn't bear to be in grief, cry out, or despair in front of this child. He didn't want to die while being pitied.

How long had they been doing this, exchanging glances and staring at each other? The girl's eyes were a deep red color that suited the silhouette of the rabbit-eared ribbon. The crimson eyes eventually asked.

"Or do you want an arm to stand up?"

"Uh... wha...?" His throat reflexively trembled, squeezing out a voice.

The girl nodded.

"You've lost it, haven't you? Here... you can get anything you want if you wish." The girl's voice was both teasing and cold.

Not understanding what she was saying, Ragna just glared at the girl. If he could get anything he wanted, what would he want? Such a thing crossed his mind in a corner of his dull thoughts.

''(...I want power.)''

He thrust his fingertips, which had not moved even a bit, into the wet soil.

''(I want power... power that no one can beat.)''

He wanted the power to rush to the sister's aid and protect her.

He wanted the power to bring back his deranged brother's consciousness.

He wanted the power to keep anyone from touching his unconscious sister.

He wanted the power to keep anyone, anything, from being taken from him.

If he only had that, he could have protected them. He should have been able to protect them.

Ragna's hand clenched the soil tightly. His nails were about to peel off and he felt a dull pain. The pain revived his senses.

His lost right arm was hot. His stabbed back was hot. The breath and blood he exhaled were hot.

Regret and powerlessness were hot inside him.

Suddenly, he heard a sound like a beast's growl in his ear. The moment he realized it was his own breath, Ragna's body suddenly disappeared.

"What?"

In that instant, he didn't understand what had happened. But when he saw the girl's shoes, which should have been in front of him, suddenly rising, he somehow understood.

The ground under Ragna collapsed and broke, swallowing him.

There was nothing he could do about the sudden fall, and Ragna fell into the abyss.

While feeling instinctive fear at the fall as if being sucked in, Ragna heard the girl's voice whispering the moment he fell.

"Besides, whether you wish it or not, fate will not change." The girl's voice was the last thing Ragna heard, and he lost consciousness in the fall.

Consciousness returned not long after the fall. But whether that consciousness was the real world or a dream, Ragna couldn't tell.

The first thing he recognized was darkness. It was pitch black all around, and only the hard ground was something he could trust. Trying to get up, he rubbed his hand on the ground. From the sensation, it seemed to be soil or rock.

''(Damn it...)''

He couldn't get up because he had no strength. He was already missing one arm to support his body on the ground. There was no way he could lift his body, which was heavy and unable to move.

Even so, he couldn't just lie there, and Ragna clung to the ground with his remaining arm and dragged his body forward. He didn't know what was in that direction. He didn't know if he should've moved forward. But he couldn't just lie there without doing anything.

That girl had said, "If you wish, you can get it."

''(Anything is fine... any form is fine.)''

That was what he wanted.

Forward, forward. In the darkness where he didn't even know if there was an end, he crawled forward.

Ragna soon reached a wall. It seemed that his eyes had grown accustomed to the darkness, and he could see that there was a dirt wall there.

Something strange was protruding from that wall. Was it a statue? Or... a corpse? It was a black mass that had completely dyed everything while taking the shape of a human body.

The body was in the shape of a man. It looked as if he was kneeling on the ground, drooping his arms limply beside his body. But that black body had no head. From the middle of the neck up, it looked as if a sharp blade had been used to cut it off in a single stroke.

It was a grotesque object. But for some reason, Ragna couldn't take his eyes off it.

Again, he heard something like a beast's growl. This time it was not the breath he exhaled. It echoed deep in his ears, as if a hallucination.

"...Power."

This is the one who will give it to me.

Thinking this, Ragna stretched out his remaining hand while crawling on the ground. The moment his fingertips touched it, the black headless object suddenly collapsed, turning into black sand or mist. As it was, it swallowed Ragna without giving him a chance to breathe.

Ragna's body and consciousness were instantly snatched away by the black particles. And once again, he lost his memory.

When he felt stillness and opened his eyes next, Ragna's body had a right arm. However, it was not an arm with a human-like color that he originally had. It was black... a pitch-black arm, like the darkness that had gushed out at that time had been woven and solidified.

And Ragna's right eye, looking down at that arm, had changed to a sinister red.

Seeing the black arm, the rabbit-like girl taught Ragna.

"That's good. That is the Azure Grimoire. It should lend you power that surpasses anything. But be careful. That is not your arm. It is not the real you. So never think that the Azure Grimoire is your own power."

After obtaining a new arm, Ragna's life was no longer as peaceful as it had been when he was in the church.

In place of the sister, a beastkin took over as Ragna's guardian. He was only as tall as Ragna's waist, and his two-tone black and white fur gave him the appearance of a bipedal cat. His large eyes were red, and the tail extending to his back was forked at the tip.

His name was Jubei. When Ragna heard that name for the first time, he doubted his ears.

Jubei was the name of one of the Six Heroes who fought against the Black Beast in the Dark War. He had heard many stories and anecdotes about his exploits from the sister. He had heard them much more richly than old tales and lullabies.

When he learned he was the real Jubei, one of the Six Heroes, he felt surprised and admired him. He felt a little proud when he heard that the Six Heroes were old friends with the sister.

But in reality, the life that began under Jubei... was so harsh that any envy was blown away somewhere.

"Guhoah!"

Blown away by an impact that was like being gouged out along with a dull sound, Ragna crashed into a tree trunk that should have been several meters behind him and stopped. When he fell face down on the ground with a thud, green leaves that had fallen from the impact rained down on him as if pitying him.

Several years had passed since Ragna had been attacked at the church, fell underground, survived, and began living with Jubei. It was several years of harsh training under Jubei.

He learned the art of fighting, the skills and knowledge to survive in the forests and mountains, the history of the world, and the current world situation. And about how to use the black right arm - the "Azure Grimoire."

Among them, fighting techniques were particularly strict and thorough... and sometimes he was gleefully beaten day and night.

Even now, he was in the middle of such sword training. He was given a sword and told to show him a single strike, but he was brilliantly challenged by Jubei's two small branches, and as a result, he was defeated by a powerful kick.

"Oh, damn it! You're hopping around!" Brushing off the leaves, Ragna jumped up and slammed the ground with his fist, revealing his irritation. Beside him, a practice sword given to him by Jubei was rolling around.

It was unadorned and very ordinary, but it was real, not blunt. If the tip grazed, it could even brush off the tip of a cat's hair, and it should be easy to cut down a small branch.

"Are you hurt, Ragna?"

A small figure came through the bushes, which were warped by Ragna's body. It was Jubei, a large bipedal cat and Ragna's master. He glanced at his disciple's face without any disturbance in his posture.

His expression looked cheerful for no reason, and Ragna sat down and looked up at his teacher sullenly.

"You should have warned me a little before you did that. You just blew me away."

"What are you talking about? I've been quite lenient. If I were serious, it wouldn't be training for you." Jubei laughed and shrugged his shoulders, as if Ragna had just told a joke. Ragna couldn't continue, so he groaned and kept silent.

As expected of one of the Six Heroes, Jubei was very strong. Over the past few years, Ragna had been training desperately to catch up with him, but just when he thought he had gotten closer, Jubei was somehow farther away, and he didn't feel like he was catching up at all. He no longer thought that he might be able to become as strong as this little cat man.

Recently, he had been struggling to narrow the gap between himself and his master, which he finally realized was too big. But no matter how many times he was reminded and made aware of his own abilities, there was always impatience and eagerness inside Ragna. It was an emotion that was always stuck inside Ragna, and it always tormented him. If he were to give it a name in simple words, it would be "hatred."

Training after training, discipline after discipline. Through all of it, Ragna had never forgotten about that night when everything was taken from him.

"...Hey, master." Trying to stand up, he stopped once, and leaned his back against the tree trunk while sitting with one knee raised. Jubei calmly watched the situation, wagging his tail leisurely.

"What is it, Ragna?"

"When will I be able to go and crush the NOL?" The tone of the question was disguised with a casual, everyday one, but deep down, there was an anger that threatened to burn up at any moment.

Without realizing it, Ragna's hand was clenched with such force that it seemed to be cutting into his palm.

After being taken away from the church, Jin seemed to have been taken in by a family called the Kisaragi family and was living as an adopted child.

The Kisaragi family was said to be a noble class called the "Duodecim" belonging to an organization called the Novus Orbis Librarium. He didn't remember the details, but in any case, he was being educated to become a soldier as the child of a prestigious family.

On the other hand, Saya's whereabouts after being taken away by the NOL were unknown. All that was known is that she seemed to be hidden in the center of the organization... or so it seems.

All of this information was what he had heard from Jubei.

In between training with Ragna, Jubei would occasionally slip out, no one knew when he had the time, and run around here and there for investigations.

According to Ragna's only source of information, the name of the shadowy man who attacked their church was Terumi. He was one of the Six Heroes like Jubei, and currently belonged to the NOL under a different name and status.

As a result of taking in the story about that church incident, Ragna had come to the following conclusion. It was the Novus Orbis Librarium that took the church, the sister, Jin, Saya, and everything from Ragna...

Terumi and Jin both had the existence of the NOL behind them. If the NOL retrieved Saya, then it was also the NOL that made such a cruel decision in search of Saya.

It was difficult to hold many grudges. Each one was dispersed and became fragmented within themselves. That was why Ragna bundled the hatred within him under the name of the NOL. With just that one, he could move with hatred as much as he wanted.

"It's still too early. Do you wanna die for nothing?" Jubei sighed and answered bitterly.

Ragna knew his master would say that. They had repeated this exchange many times. But even so, he couldn't help but ask. He wanted to shatter that target of hatred as soon as possible, not even a second sooner.

"I know I can't beat you yet, Master, but I've gotten a lot stronger, haven't I!? Those NOL guys aren't gonna stand a chance against me, even if they come at me all at once!"

Unable to swallow his anger, Ragna punched the tree trunk he had been leaning against, and stood up with that momentum. When Ragna stood up, he looked down at Jubei. The red cat eyes that looked up at him from below showed deep understanding, but also sternly watched his disciple.

"If you can't defeat me, you won't be able to crush the NOL."

"But-"

"'You won't know until you try'?"

Suddenly, a third voice cut into the conversation between Ragna and Jubei.

At the same time, a rose-scented breeze blew around. What appeared was a graceful girl with long golden hair tied with an upright ribbon. It was the vampire Rachel Alucard, the girl who appeared before Ragna in the pouring rain at the ruins of a burned-down church.

The sight of the girl in a gorgeous black dress standing against the backdrop of the forest, where the seithr was thick and the air was gloomy, was truly mismatched and strange.

But she didn't care about such a thing, and when she closed the bat umbrella she was holding, she made a gesture as if she was sitting in the air. In response to that movement, the familiar, which was the bat umbrella, changed its shape and became a relaxed sofa, receiving the noble princess.

Leaning on the black sofa that appeared in the forest, Rachel chuckled and laughed at Ragna teasingly.

"There are many things in this world that you can know without even trying. It might be something too complex for your limited mind to understand."

What she said was probably correct, but Ragna's irritation quickly grew at her utterly condescending tone.

"How do you know if you haven't even tried it!"

"Because you're weak." Rachel immediately responded with the sharpness of a knife.

Beside her, a red rubber ball-like familiar, Gii, jumped up and busily flapped its wings while laughing mischievously.

"Weak, weak!"

"Huh!?"

"Eek!" As Ragna stepped forward with a frightening expression, Gii easily dodged and hid behind the sofa where Rachel was sitting.

Letting out a disappointed sigh at the pathetic familiar's scream, Rachel rested her cane on the sofa. She lightly placed a finger on her white cheek and gave another disappointed sigh to the other person standing in front of her.

"All you can do is vent your anger on such a small creature. With that fragile spirit and body of yours… you'll be easily devoured." As if telling a ghost story to scare a child, Rachel narrowed her red eyes and whispered. She wasn't good at inducing fear. Ragna frowned while taking half a step back, intimidated by the eerie aura that Rachel exuded more than the content of her words.

"Devoured?"

"By your right arm."

Told so bewitchingly, Ragna reflexively turned his gaze to his right arm. From the middle of his upper arm, his arm was dyed jet black, not the color of a human arm. On top of that, a belt-shaped seal was wrapped around it in a spiral pattern.

Rachel and Jubei called that arm the Azure Grimoire.

A grimoire was a key necessary to use Ars Magus, and although it was called a book, it didn't necessarily take the form of a book. Ragna's arm, while taking the form of a human arm, was said to be a grimoire, not an arm.

It was too difficult a story for Ragna, who didn't understand the concept of Ars Magus in the first place, but the precautions that Rachel and Jubei repeatedly said were ingrained in his head, beyond understanding.

Never think of the Azure Grimoire as your own power.

It is merely a grimoire, not your own arm.

Ragna, honestly, did not understand what that meant. But from the overly sincere appearance of his two guardians, he understood that it was something that should never be viewed optimistically.

Jubei spoke to his disciple, who was staring down at his black arm, in a gentle yet strong tone.

"You have to become stronger, much stronger. So that you can walk on your own with your own power. So that you can carve out a path without relying on that right arm."

"When will that be?"

It wouldn't be a matter of today or tomorrow. Next year, the year after next. No, it was still far away. He was deeply aware of his own weakness.

Jubei laughed cheerfully at Ragna, who had become sullen. It was a pleasant laugh that didn't contain any sarcasm, and it had the power to instantly blow away the darkness that clouded Ragna's heart.

"That depends on your efforts. Now. The break is over. Next, I'll attack you, so try to dodge everything!" Saying that, Jubei snatched the sword from Ragna's hand. The tip of the sword flashed and scattered a few strands of Ragna's hair. In an instant, Ragna's blood ran cold.

"Hey, you're kidding, right!? Are you trying to kill me!?"

"Don't worry, I'll stop before you die. Now, let's go!"

"Whoa, wait, wait, please wait, Master!"

The sound of the wind mercilessly cutting through the air ran left and right. If he stopped, he wouldn't get away with it. Ragna desperately dodged the sword that was swung down vertically and turned around, fleeing from the spot like a rabbit.

In a forgotten warehouse on the outskirts of the upper layers of Kagutsuchi, the 13th Hierarchical City, Ragna stretched out his right arm, as if offering it to the moonlight that seeped in through the gaps, and gazed at it.

"The Azure Grimoire..."

It had the form of a human arm itself, and he could make it move in any way he wished with his own will, yet it was a black mass that wasn't his own arm.

It felt like it had been a long time since he spoke that name.

It was said to be the strongest grimoire.

Ragna had been helped by the power of this grimoire several times, and he certainly thought it was worthy of being called the strongest.

The destructive power it could unleash was so merciless that Ragna couldn't bring himself to use it unless he was cornered to a great extent.

When he used it, something surged up. Perhaps it could be called a destructive impulse. Something that seemed like himself but not himself overflowed from within him and seemed to swallow him up.

"You'll be devoured."

He recalled those words that Rachel spoke sometime ago.

This arm was said to be both a grimoire and a mass of seithr. That seithr constantly drained life force from the surroundings and sent it to Ragna.

Thanks to this, Ragna had acquired the convenient ability to quickly recover from injuries, but as a result, he had been given the troublesome trait of unconsciously absorbing the life force of others when he stayed in the same place with someone for a long time.

He wondered what would happen to him if the grimoire's owner was "eaten" by that life-force-absorbing seithr.

What came to his mind was Arakune, the monster he saw in the sewer a few hours ago. Litchi, the doctor who also approached the Boundary, had said it was the transformed body of a researcher who had gotten too close to the Boundary.

''(Will I... become like that someday...?)''

Ragna threw the black arm on his lap and looked at it through the gaps in his closing eyelids.

''(Well... it doesn't really matter.)''

If he could crush the NOL and settle everything with his brother, his sister, and the man named Terumi. Then, it didn't matter if he became a demon or a monster. Once everything was settled, that's when Ragna would lose everything.

''(I'm sleepy...)''

He had to sleep and regain his strength. Tomorrow would be busy.

It was very quiet here. He could clearly hear his own breathing, which was gradually deepening.

''(Come to think of it... I feel like this happened before...)'' Ragna thought vaguely as he drifted to sleep.

''(Have I been to Kagutsuchi before...?)''

He didn't think so. But strangely, he could smoothly map out the route from the upper levels to the branch in his mind.

It was a strange feeling. He must be half-dreaming. Thinking that, Ragna closed his eyelids.

As his vision closed, Ragna exhaled deeply. And before even a minute had passed, he began to breathe regularly, his chest rising and falling in sleep.

===Part 4===

...I had a dream.

It was a dream from when I was little. A dream when I had a cold.

Even though I was covered with a fluffy blanket and futon, my body was trembling slightly. It was hard to breathe, and when I took a deep breath, my chest wheezed and I coughed. I felt chills, but my body was hot and my head was dizzy.

It was such a nice day. I wanted to play outside. I thought about that while looking at the window by the bed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Who is it?" I replied.

Then the door was gently opened as if to check the situation, and a boy came in.

He was a boy with golden hair and green eyes. But because I was feverish, his vision was blurred and I couldn't see his face clearly.

The boy walked carefully to the bedside and pulled up a chair to sit next to me.

"Are you okay?" The boy peered at me and spoke with concern. It was a gentle voice. That voice brought a sense of relief to my chest, and my labored breathing eased a little.

Taking the towel that was placed on my forehead, the boy put his palm on it instead and measured the heat. After a while, he grimaced as if in trouble.

"Your fever is quite high. Are you alright?" At his question, I weakly nodded from the bed. Actually, I wasn't in that much pain anymore. Just having him by my side made me so happy.

But if I answered that I was alright, I felt like he would say "then" and leave the room. So, I was a little selfish.

I wanted him to stay with me longer.

The boy dipped the towel in the wooden bucket at the bedside, wrung it out again with cold water, and placed it back on my forehead. Then, he gently stroked my head.

"Don't worry, you'll get better soon. I'll be here, so rest assured and get some sleep. Okay?"

"Yeah... brother."

Gently spoken to, I nodded this time with a big nod.

If he's going to be here, I'm relieved. With that thought, I closed my eyelids as if invited by the warmth of his hand stroking my hair.

In a peacefulness like taking a nap after a warm bath, I wished this time would last forever, and then I fell into a gentle sleep.

'''December 31, 2199 - 13:53'''

The afternoon of the last day of the year was pleasantly sunny.

Noel, who had somehow managed to return to the upper layer late at night, left the NOL facility where she had been lent a bed and went up two more levels, continuing her search mission for Major Jin Kisaragi, which she had been doing yesterday.

She had searched the likely places in the lower level one by one. But despite many eyewitness accounts, she couldn't reach Jin. However, she should have been following his route quite faithfully. She thought it wouldn't be surprising if there was another near miss like the one in the Roningai soon.

"Haa..."

Invited by the peaceful sunlight, a small yawn unintentionally escaped. While being in the middle of a mission, she hurriedly hid it with both hands while looking down.

Last night, she finally secured a bed late at night and laid down her tired body, but she woke up much earlier than scheduled. Perhaps because of this, she was half-asleep and felt heavy and unfocused since this morning.

''(Haa... That was a strange dream…)''

Noel wiped the tears that had appeared at the corners of her eyes and straightened her back again, muttering a thought she'd had countless times today.

The cause of her strange early awakening was this morning's dream. She'd had a strange dream. Usually, she hardly remembered the contents of her dreams, but today, she remembered it clearly.

It was a dream from when she was little.

Perhaps it was when she was not even ten years old. While coughing on the bed by the window, a boy came into the room and gently stroked her head. She was so happy that the boy came to her, and that he'd stroked my head... She was filled with happiness and fell asleep again.

It was a happy dream. The moment she woke up, she was shocked that it was a dream.

But... it was strange. Noel recalled the dream and tilted her head again and again.

It was a dream as if tracing the memories of her childhood. But Noel had no memories of that time at all. She didn't remember anything about the time before she was rescued from the explosion site five years ago.

Looking back, the room that appeared in that dream was one that Noel didn't know. The green scenery of the fields and forests that could be seen from the window, the bed, and even the pajamas she was wearing.

But why was it such a nostalgic dream?

''(Maybe... it's a memory from my past?)''

If it was a memory from before she was rescued, then…

''(How should I feel?)''

The more nostalgic she felt, the more a haze filled her chest. Should she feel happy? Or should she try to forget it? Would thinking about a past she didn't know be an injustice to the people who gave her a happy present?

''(I...)''

At that moment, she couldn't help but think. Who was she? Where was she born?

"Brother..." Noel muttered to herself while walking along a route that was as far away from the NOL's facilities as possible without taking an extreme detour.

In the dream, she was sick in bed with a cold, and called the boy who stroked her head "brother." Golden hair like sunlight... yes, she was sure he had gentle green eyes.

But there were no other children in the Vermillion family. She didn't know anyone she could call her brother and look up to.

Then who was that boy? Was he... a "brother" she lived with before the five years she doesn't remember?

''(It's still a strange dream.)''

And she felt strange. She had always vaguely longed for a brother.

"Wait, but..."

As if touching an invisible thread, something brushed Noel's mind. Wasn't there another brother?

"Another... one?" Noel tilted her head at the words whispered by her own unconscious.

Another one... yes, there was another one. He had the same golden hair and green eyes as the boy who appeared in the dream...

"That's it!" Noel's thoughts as she searched for her daydream were suddenly interrupted by the person crossing the street in front of her.

Golden hair, green eyes... and a blue and white uniform, and a blue sword.

"Major... Major Kisaragi!"

Jin Kisaragi, Commander of the Novus Orbis Librarium's 4th Thaumaturgist Squadron.

Noel ran towards the unexpected encounter.

"Wait, Major Kisaragi!" She chased after Jin's retreating figure, not on the main street where many soldiers were walking, but on a quiet street two blocks back.

At Noel's voice, Jin stopped. His back was straight and his posture was impeccable, just like the one she often saw in the corridors of the NOL headquarters. However, his expression when he turned around was clearly different from the cold look he had in the pristine interior of the headquarters.

"You..." Jin turned towards Noel with a heavy step, dragging his heel.

The look in Jin's eyes when he caught sight of Noel was as if he had found something terribly ugly. The green was smeared with disgust, and he looked at her from head to toe as if he didn't want to acknowledge her existence at all.

His sharp gaze glared with such hostility that it seemed as if he wanted to immediately cut Noel's throat.

"Ah, um..."

Noel knew Jin as a cold superior. He rarely answered when she spoke to him. His eyes were always cold, and he sometimes glared at her. But she had never been looked at like this before. It was a look filled with intense hatred that denied her very existence.

"Major Kisaragi... I was ordered to return you from headquarters. Your actions are a serious violation of discipline. Please return to headquarters immediately..."

"Why... why are you here?" Jin interrupted Noel's plea with a low, hoarse voice, suppressing his rage. He took a step towards Noel, his heels clicking loudly.

"I was ordered to bring you back. Please, Major. If you ignore the return order, you may be considered a traitor. If that happens..."

Surely Tsubaki would be more saddened than anyone else.

She tried to continue, but she couldn't put the rest into words.

Jin, who had started walking, ran. Straight towards Noel.

"Eh?"

"Why are you here!?" Jin's white jaw trembled at the shout, and he drew his sword as he stepped forward. The gleaming white blade drew an arc in the air and caught Noel in the stomach.

Noel moved as if pushed back by the murderous intent. She threw off the poncho she was wearing and used it as a shield against Jin's slash. At the same time, she took out two guns from the holster attached to the poncho.

She jumped high and quickly retreated.

When Noel's feet scraped against the ground behind her and she came to a stop, she saw the discarded poncho being cut in two and falling to the ground.

There was no hesitation in the slash. If her reaction had been delayed, it would've been Noel who had fallen to the ground there.

"M-Major K-Kisaragi..." Her lips didn't move well due to shock and fear. Jin swung his sword again at Noel, who couldn't understand what was happening or grasp the situation.

The slash that swept through the air created a blade of ice and launched it at Noel.

In an instant, Noel turned the gun in her hand towards the blade of ice. The ones in her hands were much larger than the self-defense guns usually issued to soldiers, and the barrels were especially thick and long.

They were Noel's personal weapons. A pair of handguns that, for some reason, suddenly appeared in front of Noel shortly after she was taken in by the Vermilion family.

Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk. Noel took it without knowing, but this, like Jin's Mucro Algesco: Yukianesa, was one of the Nox Nyctores created during the Dark War.

Noel quickly fired the gun she was aiming. What Noel's gun fired was not a gunshot, but Ars Magus. The aim was not mistaken, and it shot through and shattered the ice blade that Jin had fired.

"Please stop, Major Kisaragi! If you resist, your crimes will only increase!"

If she let her guard down, it would be dangerous. Noel desperately put strength into her voice while keeping her gun at the ready without letting her guard down.

Perhaps seeing it as hostility, Jin's reaction towards Noel became even more violent.

"I won't give it to you."

"Eh?"

"I won't give it to you..." Jin said in a quiet, heavy, eerily cold voice that crawled from the depths of his stomach. He lowered the unwavering tip of his sword and ran, sliding it along the ground.

If he got too close, it would be dangerous. Noel fired an Ars Magus bullet at Jin's feet as he ran.

Perhaps anticipating this, Jin jumped at the same time. What stretched out to Noel was not the sword, but his leg. Noel used her gun's barrel as a shield to block the deceptively heavy kick that swept through the air.

"Damn!"

From above Noel, who was enduring, Jin swung his sword without even landing. Blocking it with her two guns, Noel quickly retreated and opened the distance. She took a stance, and Jin looked at her. Noel couldn't tell if those eyes were really those of the Jin Kisaragi she knew.

His clouded eyes, as if possessed by something, made her wonder if he was truly seeing her. His hollow gaze seemed to be fixed on something else that wasn't there.

"Don't show that face in front of me, you obstacle!!"

Noel's body bristled at the snarling voice. The spirit itself was like a blade. That blade pierced Noel before the real thing, binding her feet to the spot. She shrank back in fear.

"Your face, your voice, your shadow, never again! Never again!!"

"Kisa..."

Jin, in a state of frenzy, wildly swung his sword. The distance Noel had created was only slight. Distorting his connected face, tossing his light golden hair, Jin stepped in roughly and slashed Noel from below.

...At that very moment.

Something small burst and bounced between Noel and Jin, and from there an enormous amount of black smoke spread with such force that it threatened to engulf the entire area.

"Wh-wha… ''cough, cough,'' wha- what is this?"

Noel's vision was lost in an instant. The smoke stung her eyes and throat, making it painful to keep her eyes open or even breathe properly. It seemed to be the same for Jin, as she could hear his choking voice nearby.

"This way, now!"

"Eh? Yes!" Suddenly, someone grabbed her arm and Noel was forcibly pulled out of the smoke, running as she was led.

Even after getting away from the smoke and her throat registering the clean air, Noel's vision didn't clear immediately. Her eyes stung as if sand had been blown into them, and as she ran, Noel had to repeatedly wipe her teary eyes with her arm.

After turning many corners, the person who had been pulling her arm finally stopped. The arm that had been grabbed was immediately released.

"It seems we're not being pursued... for now." Noel recognized the voice that spoke in a light, panting tone. Wiping her still-aching eyes once more, Noel forced them open and looked at her rescuer.

He was right in front of her. It seemed they were in a park with a promenade, and he was sitting on a bench, weakly fanning his face with a black hat. She recognized the black suit and green hair.

"Ha… Hazama-san!"

"Yes? Haa… please, have mercy. Unlike you or Major Kisaragi, I'm not a specialist in combat." Hazama said in a weak, pathetic voice, putting his hat on his head and pulling it down low.

Noel bowed deeply to her unexpected savior.

"Hazama-san, you saved me. Um, thank you very much. I'm sorry for the trouble."

"No, no, I can't very well ignore the plight of my mission partner, can I?" Hazama said, waving his hand loosely and smiling lightly. She had initially found that smile suspicious, but at the moment, it made her feel a little relieved.

Adjusting his hat slightly with his fingertip, Hazama straightened his suit and stood up from the bench.

"Anyway… Major Kisaragi seems to be in quite a troublesome state, doesn't he?" Hazama said in a troubled tone, but a somewhat meaningful smile floated on his face. "I don't know what happened, but he doesn't seem to be in his right mind. If you poke him carelessly, you might cause unnecessary damage."

"Yes." Noel nodded shallowly, still at attention.

Without a doubt, Jin at that time intended to kill Noel. If the battle had continued as it was, Noel would have died and the surrounding area would've suffered tremendous damage.

Hazama lightly tugged on his suit sleeve and opened his mouth, checking the watch on his wrist.

"For now, shall we wait for night?"

"Night?"

"Currently, Ragna the Bloodedge seems to be lurking in the upper levels. He'll probably come to attack the branch tonight. Major Kisaragi will probably come to the branch, aiming for him."

Jin's objective was Ragna the Bloodedge. It was clear from his past criminal record that Ragna the Bloodedge's destination was the branch, so Jin would naturally head there eventually.

Hazama raised his index finger and continued.

"Why don't we just bring in the guards from Kagutsuchi and capture them there? We can't let the scale grow any larger, and with Ragna the Bloodedge involved, I'd like to settle things quickly."

"Yes... that's right. I understand."

At the very least, Noel was all for the idea of contacting Jin at the branch.

Earlier, they were lucky that there were no passersby, but the next time they fought in the city, there was no guarantee that there wouldn't be people around. Even if he was an opponent she should face as a soldier, it was painful and suffocating just to imagine the residents and children she had to protect getting hurt...

Even now, there are many people in this city living peaceful lives, unaware of the NOL's internal troubles.

There might even be a house where a younger sister has caught a cold, and her older brother is taking care of her.

''(I'm thinking about that dream again...)''

The warm smile of a warm "brother" that she looked up at in a warm bed. She still vaguely remembered the feeling of his hand stroking her hair.

If someone forcibly took that away... she would surely be sad.

"Hello? Lieutenant Vermilion?"

"Y-yes!" Noel jumped up and replied.

Hazama hid his eyes under his hat and smiled wryly.

"What are you going to do until tonight? I have some errands to run, so I'm thinking of looking into Major Kisaragi's situation while taking care of my own business."

She seemed to be daydreaming again. Noel tightened her expression and straightened her back.

"I will continue to search for the Major until tonight. I don't think I can persuade him... but I can't do nothing."

Just clashing with force wasn't the only solution. If they were to meet again, she was thinking of trying to persuade him, saying that Tsubaki was worried.

Noel's words probably wouldn't reach him, but it might be different with Tsubaki. They were from the same high school, and Jin was kind to Tsubaki back then.

"In that case, I'll tell them at the Kagutsuchi branch to contact you if Major Kisaragi appears. You have a communicator, right?" As if demonstrating, Hazama took out a small communicator from his suit pocket and held it up. It was something given to NOL soldiers during missions.

"Ah, yes."

Fortunately, the communicator was in her hand, not on the poncho that was cut by Jin. When she took it out and handed it over, Hazama gave a strangely theatrical nod.

"Please return to the branch if you're contacted. Well, see you later." Hazama slipped the communicator back into his pocket, put his hand on his hat, and bowed. Noel responded with a salute.

With long, shadow-like legs, Hazama headed towards the branch. Noel didn't follow him. Instead, relying on her senses, she decided to return along the path she had just escaped from. She had to retrieve the gun holster that was probably dropped along with the remnants of her poncho.

"I'm sure… it'll be alright."

She would carry out her mission and return to headquarters. As she told herself this, firmly grasping her beloved gun, her lifeline, she shook off the vaguely ominous premonition and ran away from the spot.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 4: Memorable church — Siblings]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2

2025-06-23T00:31:11Z

Br3ndan5:

==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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 Chapter 2

2025-06-23T00:26:34Z

Br3ndan5: Created page with "==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 lig..."

==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 phenomenon 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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 3: False hero — The Man Called Hero]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2

2025-06-23T00:25:30Z

Br3ndan5: Blanked the page

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2

2025-06-23T00:23:26Z

Br3ndan5:

==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 phenomenon 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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

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| Back to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 1: Orient town — Orient Town]]
| Return to [[BlazBlue|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2 | Chapter 2: Cross fate — The Thing That Is There]]
|-
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</noinclude>

BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 2

2025-06-23T00:14:36Z

==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 phenomenon 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.

[[File:BB_CT2_127.jpg|frameless|right]]

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.

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