BlazBlue:Calamity Trigger Part 1 Chapter 1

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."

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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. Places with poor security are likely where 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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