Chrono Paradigm
Chapter 25: Azure Wrath
AN: This took a while...sorry for the wait, the show must go on!
TEXT=people's thoughts
TEXT=distortion drives
TEXT=astral heats
First I get kidnapped by some random lady.
Then I almost get murdered by some batshit insane robot chick.
And now Envy of all people is helping me!?
What has the world become...?
In front of Beast Kain stood Envy, who saved Iris and Saya from Terumi's wrath.
"Envy!?" Beast Kain yelled. "What the hell're you doing here!?"
"Oh, I wanted to test something," Envy explained casually.
"Test what?" Beast Kain asked suspiciously.
"Oh, you'll find out..." Envy said.
"What're you...?" Beast Kain asked. "Wait...is 'that' your doing!?"
He pointed to the currently-hostile Mu, trying to kill Nu.
"A form of hypnosis, if you will," Envy said. "At my level, I don't need direct contact to manipulate one's mental stability. Hell, I can call this child's play."
"Why are you doing this!?" Beast Kain yelled.
"Like I said," Envy stated. "I wanted to test something."
"Well then stop it!" Saya growled.
"Oh, like I'm going to just stop all of my plans, just because you said so?" Envy scoffed. "Use your head, girl."
"Why you–!" Saya roared as she attacked him.
Envy just lifted a hand, making her stop. Envy then waved his hand to the ground, throwing Saya into the ground.
"Saya!" Beast Kain cried.
"Don't you even think about it..." Envy warned.
As Beast Kain was about to attack Envy, he placed his hand in the position of a gun on Saya's head.
"You know what I am capable of..." Envy said as he charged energy to the tip of his finger.
"...What the hell do you gain from doing this?" Beast Kain asked.
"That's none of your concern for now..." Envy said. "But at this rate, Noel will get killed."
"What!?" Beast Kain gasped.
"Even if I am giving her an emotional edge with the hypnosis," Envy said. "She's still no match for the Sword of Hades. Relius designed that killing machine to be an unstoppable grim reaper. Even I have no guarantee that I can stop it. I highly doubt that a 'older model' can stand up to the latest version. In fact, there's a good chance that the emotional edge is actually doing more harm than good."
"So what do we do then!?" Iris growled.
"That's easy," Envy said. "Defeat the Murakumo."
"How!?" Iris yelled. "We couldn't even hurt her!"
"That's what surprised me," Envy said. "Kain. Why haven't you used the Azure?"
Beast Kain suddenly became quiet. He didn't respond to Envy.
"The Azure?" Iris asked. "What're you talking about? He's using the Azure now."
"He's only using the armor of the Black Beast generated from the Azure," Envy said. "He never truly used the Azure."
Beast Kain remained silent.
"If you use it, then you could easily defeat No. 13," Envy said. "Hell, you could even fight me to a standoff."
"Is that true, Kain?" Iris asked.
Still, Beast Kain didn't say anything.
"Brother..." Saya said.
"...I won't use it..." Beast Kain finally said.
"Why?" Envy asked. "With that form, you could easily best the Murakumo."
Beast Kain only glared at Envy.
"Or is it," Envy asked. "That you're afraid to use it?"
Beast Kain suddenly grabbed Envy by the neck.
"...Is it because you fear that by doing so, you'll cause the synchronization to occur?" Envy asked. "Or is it because you don't want Iris to see you in that form?"
If he didn't have the helmet on, his conflicted and enraged expression could be visible to them.
"If you let your pride and fear get the best of you," Envy said. "Then you will get your mother killed. Are you really going to let that happen?"
"You bastard..." Beast Kain snarled.
"Well? What will it be?" Envy asked.
"What!?" Ragna growled.
Back at Requiem, Ragna and the remaining three girls were trying to figure out the situation.
"That must have been Phantom..." Alicia said. "Which means, Kain, Iris and Saya are now with Terumi..."
"What!?" Ragna gasped.
The mere thought of them being with Terumi made Ragna cringe with anger and fear. Who knows what he could do to them.
"Then what do we do then!?" Ragna asked.
"I don't know..." Alicia said. "If I don't have a lead, then I can't track them down."
"Come on! There has to be a way!" Ragna exclaimed.
"Uncle..." Hikari said.
"Isn't there anyway, Alicia!?" Mary begged her friend.
"...I'm sorry, but even I can't do anything about this..." Alicia said.
Ragna groaned angrily as he scratched his head.
"...Alicia!" a voice rang. "Hey! Can ya' hear me!? Alicia!"
Alicia suddenly sprung up, recognizing the voice.
"Kidou!?" Alicia exclaimed.
"What!? How!? Where!?" Ragna yelled.
"Goddamn it!" Kidou growled. "I can't keep this up all day, ya' know! I'm lucky the Collbrande was able to find ya'!"
"Kidou! Kain, Iris and Saya was kidnapped by Phantom!" Alicia quickly reported.
"What!?" Kidou gasped. "Ya' gotta be shittin' me! Phantom kidnapped some of our people too!"
"What!?" they exclaimed.
"Who!?" Ragna growled.
"Hakumen, Izayoi, Makoto and Noel," Kidou replied.
Ragna's heart practically sank when he heard Noel's name, then suddenly grabbed Alicia by the collar.
"Uncle!" Hikari yelled,
"You better have a way to save them!" Ragna growled.
Despite Ragna's intimidation, Alicia retained a cool composure, as she stared back at Ragna.
"Do you really think violence will solve anything now?" Alicia asked Ragna.
Ragna glared at Alicia, but let her go and sighed deeply.
"...Well need some time," Alicia said. "But for now, we should at least report this to everyone."
"And cause another fiasco?" Ragna asked.
"Right..." Alicia said. "For now then, I need Kidou's help to track Kain down."
"Oh, can ya' make the hole big enough for two people?" Kidou asked.
"? Two?" Alicia asked.
"Me, and Kagura Mutsuki," Kidou said.
"Kagura Mutsuki!?" Ragna gasped.
"The 'Black Knight'..." Alicia said. "So you met up with him?"
"He'll be helpin' us out," Kidou reported.
"Very well then," Alicia said. "Give me a minute."
Alicia created a portal, where after a few moments, Kidou and Kagura emerged from the hole.
"Get out the Collbrande and activate Avalon," Alicia quickly said.
Kidou nodded in agreement and unsheathed the two broad swords. He then stabbed them to the ground, creating a large magic circle. Alicia stepped into the circle and lifted her arms. From her shadow, several long claws shot out and clawed the light that the circle made.
"What're you doing?" Ragna asked.
"Isn't it obvious?" Alicia asked. "I'm trying to search for Kain."
"How" Kagura asked.
"By reverse-engineering Kidou's transportation ability," Alicia simply answered.
From the light and darkness, several screens appeared. Alicia was searching through the countless screens in hope of finding their friend.
"Come on, Kain..." Alicia said. "Give me a sign..."
As Hikari and Mary looked worried, Ragna glared at Kagura, who noticed the glare.
"So you're Ragna the Bloodedge, huh?" Kagura asked.
"Yeah, so?" Ragna growled.
"Whoa, let's get along here," Kagura said nonchalantly. "We're all friends here, apparently."
"The hell're you talking about?" Ragna asked. "How're you my 'friend'? Aren't you the head of the Duodecim?"
"On the surface, yeah," Kagura snickered.
"Huh?" Ragna asked.
"You'll figure it out once this fiasco is solved," Kagura said.
As Ragna was about to ask another question, he stopped.
"...I know you're hiding there, Jin!" Ragna growled. "Now get out here!"
"Jin...?" Kagura asked.
The two men turned to the entrance to the castle, where Jin crept out from the shadows of the walls.
"Brother..." Jin muttered in a lustful tone.
"Time's a wasting," Envy said. "If you don't hurry up and make a decision, then Noel will die."
Beast Kain didn't respond, where Mu and Nu continued to try to kill each other. If he didn't make up his mind soon, then Mu's life will end up being extinguished by Nu. Beast Kain glanced at the battle. Indeed, Mu was struggling. At this rate, she would die at the hands of Nu, and neither his human form nor his current Beast form couldn't compete with her.
"Why are you hesitating?" Envy asked. "Are you that afraid of becoming the Black Beast with the presence of Saya? Or are you afraid that Iris will fear you after seeing what's 'under the mask'?"
Beast Kain leered at Envy.
"Is your pride really worth death?" Envy asked.
"Kain..." Iris said.
After a long moment of struggling on what he should do, he finally made a decision.
"...Iris..." Beast Kain suddenly said. "Whatever you do...don't regret seeing this..."
"Eh?" she asked.
Beast Kain lifted his left arm, where the armor became a black substance that flowed back into the arm, reverting Beast Kain back to his human form. He kept his left gauntlet up.
"Restriction 666 released..." Kain suddenly chanted. "Dimensional Interference Field Deployed!"
The pauldron on the gauntlet opened up as a bright crimson red aura emitted from it.
"Now engaging the Ragnarok System..." he went on as creases and openings started to form on the gauntlet.
"Pay close attention, Miss Iris," Envy said to her. "This is Kain's 'true' power."
"BlazBlue...activate!"
The gauntlet completely shattered, revealing his hidden limb made of seithr. The shattered pieces of the gauntlet gathered behind Kain to form a ball of energy, where eight black blades similar to the Murakumo blade-wings formed from it. Kain's left eye changed from the emerald-green to a deep blue, while his right eye became a blood-red.
"Oh hell no, not now," Ragna started to say as Jin came ever so closer to him.
"Father!" Hikari yelled.
"Yo, cool it!" Mary yelled.
Jin shot a deadly glare to the two girls, making them shut up, then fixed his gaze back at Ragna.
"But Brother..." Jin whined. "You said we would settle this as soon as those harpies finished with their battle."
"Now's not the time," Ragna shot back. "Kain and those 'harpies' just got kidnapped by Phantom."
"Like that matters now..." Jin responded. "We are going to settle this now."
"It'll matter to you once you hear that Tsubaki was kidnapped by Phantom too," Kagura intervened.
"What!?" Jin gasped, now in his normal cold tone. "Wait...Kagura Mutsuki!?"
"Oh, now you notice," Kagura muttered.
Jin suddenly unsheathed his Yukianesa and held it to Kagura's neck. Despite this however, Kagura did not flinch the slightest.
"Explain, now," Jin growled in a threatening tone.
"Well to put it simply," Alicia explained. "Several of our allies are now in the grasp of Terumi. Including Tsubaki Yayoi."
"What?" Jin growled angrily.
"Who knows what Terumi could have in store for them," Alicia said. "Well, in terms of power, they should rival Terumi's, but we do not know who or what he has with him."
"So the chances that Tsubaki along with everyone else being in a life-threatening situation," Kagura added. "Are rather high."
"So now do you get the stakes?" Ragna asked.
Jin grimaced as he put away his Nox, then glared at Alicia and Kidou.
"You better find them," Jin threatened. "Or else I will end both of you."
The two said nothing in response and focused on searching for Kain.
"Now then..." Jin said.
He suddenly unsheathed the Yukianesa once more and struck at Ragna. Ragna managed to shield himself with his Blood-Scythe.
"Oh you cannot be serious now!" Ragna muttered.
"It'll take a while for them to find everyone," Jin said in his earlier lustful tone. "So why don't you and I settle the score while we wait?"
"You've gotta be kidding me now!" Ragna said with disbelief.
"No Brother, we're going to settle this now," Jin responded.
"Father!" Hikari cried. "This is not the time for this!"
Jin glared at Hikari, but his expression quickly melted from her pleading face.
'Tch...She looks too similar to Tsubaki...' Jin thought. 'But it matters not!'
"Fine, we'll settle this," Ragna suddenly said.
"Wha-!?" Hikari gasped.
"Brother?" Jin asked, rather surprised.
"I'll fight you, Jin," Ragna said. "So that I can beat some sense into that goddamn immature skull of yours. This isn't the time for your goddamn obsession and you know it!"
"Really!?" Jin exclaimed ecstatically. "That's great, Brother!"
Ragna glared at Jin, while Jin had a maniacal grin on his expression as both brothers wielded their weapons.
"Aren't you going to stop them!?" Hikari yelled to Kagura.
"I would," Kagura said. "But this is something that they have to settle apparently...Plus I don't intend to interfere a battle between brothers, whatever the reason may be..."
"Hahahaha! Let's do this, Brother!" Jin yelled.
"Jin...I'll knock some sense into you!" Ragna yelled.
With that, the two brothers charged at each other.
Kain took a deep breath as he gripped his claw. Everyone, save Saya and Envy, and Mu and Nu who were concentrating on killing each other, was mesmerized by the sight of Kain in his Azure form.
"It's been a while since I used this..." Kain said, rather sadly.
"Kain..." Iris said. "That's...the Azure..."
Kain looked back to Iris, with a rather sad look on his face.
"...Iris..." Kain said, but looked away.
"Kain?" she asked.
"Oh, poor boy," Envy said. "He must be ashamed of himself to use that form."
Iris glared at Envy.
"What do you mean?" she asked sternly.
"Looks like someone doesn't know Kain's scarring childhood," Envy said. "He never told you about his childhood, did he?"
"Yes he has!" Iris shot back.
"Really?" Envy asked. "Then tell me, did he ever tell you that he committed genocide?"
"W-What?" Iris asked, nervously and rather shocked.
"Yes, on several occasions, actually...like the time when he almost destroyed the NOL singlehandedly by attacking the Imperator of his time?" Envy asked. "Oh, what about the time he brutally murdered his classmates who made fun of him and his sister after a certain 'incident'?"
Saya suddenly shivered in response to said 'incident'.
"Oh, you should know this one, right?" Envy asked. "You know, when you–."
Before Envy could finish his statement, Kain pointed his rifle at Envy's head before he could notice.
"If you want to keep your head," Kain threatened, this time in a rather feral and menacing tone. "Then shut the hell up."
Envy didn't seem to flinch, but stopped talking.
"I still want a head on my body, so I guess this is enough story-telling," Envy said. "Let me handle Terumi, and you go save your future mother."
Kain snarled at Envy, but shifted his attention to Nu.
"Saya, whatever you do, DO NOT activate your Azure," Kain ordered. "Do you understand?"
"I know..." Saya said. "Just be careful..."
"Kain..." Iris said.
"...I guess I owe you an explanation..." Kain said to her. "...I'll...tell you everything once we escape here, so–."
He was interrupted by a sudden hug from Iris.
"Iris?" Kain asked shocked.
"Just...go save Noel...and don't die..." Iris pleaded.
Kain looked surprised, but smiled.
"Who do you think I am?" Kain asked jokingly.
Iris let go of Kain, where he jetted towards the Murakumo fight at blinding speed with his own blade-wings. Meanwhile, Izayoi, Makoto and Hakumen managed to recover from Terumi's attack.
"Th-that's Kain...?" Izayoi asked.
"Whoa...he looks awesome!" Makoto cheered.
"Hmph...So he's accepting himself as the Black Beast..." Hakumen grunted.
Terumi glared at Kain as he rocketed towards the two Murakumo girls.
"So that mutt's been hiding that much power..." Terumi growled. "Oh well. That isn't my concern for the time being."
He faced the three who stood back up.
"Man, don't you guys ever give up!?" Terumi yelled. "How do you plan to win against me, when none of your attacks even worked!? Use your heads! Oh wait...there's nothing in there, is there?"
As Terumi was about to make a move, psychic swords rained down from the sky, creating a tempest of swords that Terumi barely managed to dodge.
"Well then," Envy said as he teleported into the fight. "How about me then?"
"Tch! You!" Terumi hissed.
"Envy...!" Izayoi growled.
"? Well if it isn't Major Yayoi!" Envy exclaimed. "Oh wait, you betrayed the NOL, so I guess its Tsubaki Yayoi now...or is it Izayoi in that form...?"
Izayoi only glared at Envy, giving him no other response.
"Okay, I guess it's not my business anyway..." Envy said nonchalantly. "Besides, I have bigger fish to fry than you."
Envy faced Terumi, who was becoming more and more agitated by Envy's sudden interruption.
"Don't you ever learn to not butt into other people's business?" Terumi growled. "My God, don't they teach you something called 'manners' in the future?"
"Like you're one to talk," Envy shot back. "Besides, I can't really have you run amok like the insane hipster that you are."
Terumi twitched a little as Envy readied two swords.
"Why are you helping us?" Izayoi hissed.
"Think of this as special service," Envy said. "I'll protect you three form this, oh how would Kain put it, 'batshit insane asswipe'."
"Why!?" Izayoi demanded.
"...I have my own agendas, I'll just say that," Envy said.
"And you think you can take on Terumi by yourself?" Hakumen scoffed.
"Well, I already did, and he had his old pal Relius with him," Envy said. "Mopped the floor with them. Isn't that right? Terumi?"
Envy put emphasis on the question, purposely making Terumi even more agitated.
"Oh, you're so dead, you little shit!" Terumi roared as he charged at Envy.
As Terumi tried to hack him down, Envy just got out-of-the-way, grabbed Terumi by the collar and threw him across the stage. As Terumi crashed into the ground, Envy shot psychic bullets at Terumi, shooting him as he was down. Terumi managed to roll out-of-the-way, but only to get greeted by Envy teleporting in front of him and smashing his heel on his head.
"What was that?" Envy asked.
"You little..." Terumi growled, until Envy shoved his head into the ground.
"I can't really have you run amok like the insane little snake you are," Envy said. "Besides...enjoy the show why don't you..."
"Show!?" Terumi hissed.
"Why take a look, why don't you," Envy suggested.
Terumi arched his head to the direction of the Murakumo fight, where Envy created a block of psychic energy on top of Terumi and sat on it, crushing the man.
"Now witness," Envy said. "Why I'll win this war..."
Mu couldn't handle Nu's punishment any longer. She was gasping for air as she tried to pry Nu off of her.
"Let...me...go...!" Mu growled.
"Not until you die, you thieving bitch!" Nu hissed as she tightened her grip.
"How about you die?" a voice interrupted.
From out of nowhere, Kain smashed his left fist at Nu, forcing her to let her grip go and sending her flying, giving Mu a chance to recover.
"Kain...?" Mu coughed, amazed at the sight of his new form.
"Sorry for the wait, Noel," Kain said. "I'll take it from here. You rest up."
"But...!" Mu argued.
"Don't worry, I got this..." Kain said. "Trust me..."
"Kain..." Mu said.
Kain shifted his attention to Nu, who got back up.
"You...again...!?" Nu hissed.
"Yo, ya' little psychotic bitch!" Kain yelled. "Raring for a rematch!?"
Nu suddenly bulleted towards Kain and shot several swords at him. Kain, in response, sent his eight sword-wings to intercept them, as they shot down the swords with their own lasers. Kain dashed towards Nu as the wings returned to him as he charged energy to the blade.
"DESTRUDO..."
Kain was about to dash towards Nu, but he vanished.
"Where did he–!?" Nu growled.
Kain reappeared in front of Nu and slammed the blade against Nu.
"BLADE!"
Kain then flung his blade up, sending Nu to the sky in an intense blast of dark energy. As Nu flew, Kain used his wings and pursued after her to the sky. Nu regained her balance and saw Kain coming.
"Just die already!" Nu screamed as a large portal appeared, and a large sword struck down on Kain.
Four of Kain's sword-wings got in front of Kain and formed a shield, blocking the attack. The remaining four wings flew up to the sword, became four laser swords and pierced through the giant sword, breaking it, where Kain shot Nu down with his gun. As Nu fell, Kain flew above her, then struck down and smashed his foot in Nu's gut, pummeling her to the ground. Kain got off her and floated away from Nu. Nu suddenly created a portal that unleashed a tempest of swords at Kain. Kain moved his eight wings to make a larger barrier, shielding himself from the onslaught. Nu used the opportunity and made a mad dash towards Kain, but Kain simply thrusted his rifle at Nu's gut, then shot her with one powerful blast. As Nu flew back, the tempest ceased, giving Kain the chance to make a mad dash towards Nu.
"Die!" Kain yelled as he manage to get close up to Nu and bound her in a dark light.
He stepped back, as the eight wings surrounded Nu, who was struggling to break free.
"WISDOM OF THE DIVINES!"
Kain gripped his left hand, where the eight blades became large energy blades and ripped through Nu. As she fell, Kain was about to make his next move, but he suddenly stopped, and flinched.
"Gaugh!? Not...now..." Kain grunted in pain.
He managed to shake out of it and continued his assault on Nu. Outside of the battle, everyone, save Envy and Saya, and Hakumen and Terumi (who was at this point being used as a seat for Envy), were outright amazed at Kain's newfound power.
"Holy shit...!" Makoto only said.
"He's amazing...!" Izayoi exclaimed.
"So that is his power of the Azure..." Hakumen said. "Hmph...this shows no difference from the Black Beast..."
"What're you talking about!?" Makoto yelled. "Kain's kicking her ass! He couldn't do anything in his Beast armor!"
"True...Kain is besting the Sword..." Hakumen said. "But...he is the same as he was as the Black Beast."
"What?" Izayoi asked.
"So you noticed, eh?" Envy suddenly voiced in, gaining their attention. "True, he shows a sudden surge of power, incomparable to his Beast armor. But...in the end, his mental stability is the same as it is under the influence of the Black Beast. Nay, it is even worse..."
"Mental stability?" Mu asked.
"As Kain continues to utilize the Azure to its fullest," Envy said. "His sanity keeps suffering the consequences. It keeps corroding as he keeps using the Azure. In short...at this rate, he will snap."
"Snap?" Mu asked.
"Yes, snap," Envy said. "Crack. Break. Go insane. Call it how you want. But the results will be the same. Kain will lose his sanity, and become the beast that everyone believes he is."
"What!?" they gasped.
"Kain..." Iris said, obviously worried about his welfare.
Ragna slammed his Blood-Scythe against Jin's Yukianesa, as the two pushed each other away.
"Hell's..."
"Musou..."
Ragna rammed Jin's icicle with his fist, as the two blows collided.
"Fang!"
"Senshouzan!"
Ragna raised his other fist in an uppercut, while Jin slammed his blade against said uppercut. The two warriors had to fall back once more from the collision.
"As expected, Brother..." Jin said.
"Goddamn it...as annoying as ever, I guess..." Ragna muttered as he made his next move.
"Gauntlet Hades!"
Ragna hopped into the air and delivered a fierce, spinning down hand swing of darkness at Jin, who only brandished his sword at the last second.
"Gale!"
Jin countered Ragna's attack with a wide quickdraw slash that punished Ragna to the air. Jin jumped into the air and grabbed him.
"Gotcha," Jin said playfully as he froze Ragna from behind.
As Ragna fell, Jin turned around and slashed Ragna down with an aerial battoujutsu slash, sending him to plummet. Ragna rolled out-of-the-way, only to have Jin smash his blade on his head. Ragna managed to shield himself from the attack with his blade, and pushed Jin off of him.
"Dead Spike!"
Ragna unleashed a large wave of energy shaped like a monster's head that lunged itself towards Jin. Jin only wiped the wave out with his own blade strike, but to be greeted by Ragna's fist in his face. Ragna smashed Jin into a wall. As Ragna was about to stab him in the gut, Jin retaliated by slicing his gut, making the silver-haired warrior flinch. Jin rolled out-of-the-way and froze Ragna from behind.
"Why you–!" Ragna yelled.
Ragna tried to break free from the ice, but he was too slow. Jin had already stabbed Ragna in the gut.
"What's the matter, Brother?" Jin asked rather ecstatically. "Aren't you going to 'beat some sense into me'? Well!?"
"You needy brat!" Ragna growled as he muscled his way out of the ice and pushed Jin, along with the impaled Yukianesa, back. As Jin fell, Ragna managed to run to him and smash his face into the ground. Ragna then picked up Jin and smashed his fist into Jin's gut. As Jin gagged and flinched, Ragna brandished his sword and glared at Jin.
"CARNAGE..."
Ragna dashed at Jin and slammed his sword at Jin.
"SCISSORS!"
Ragna then released two spikes or dark energy, sending Jin flying.
"Guagh!" Jin cried as he crashed to the ground.
"How's that...!?" Ragna growled.
But as Jin fell, he quickly got back on his feet and brandished his katana.
"ARCTIC DAGGER!"
Jin unleashed a cold shockwave that slashed Ragna, leaving an icy trail along the ruined rose garden.
"Gaugh...!?" Ragna gagged.
"Aww...is that it, Brother?" Jin cooed. "C'mon...you can do better than that, Brother...let's have some more fun!"
"Goddamn it...you're pissing me off!" Ragna yelled.
Ragna got back up and continued his bloodbath with Jin, where the others were only watching the battle.
"Can't we stop them!?" Hikari yelled at Kagura.
Kagura said nothing, but only spectated the battle.
"Mr. Kagura!" Hikari yelled.
"...Do you think you can even intervene in a fight of this caliber?" Kagura asked.
Hikari recoiled a little, although he was right. She wasn't strong enough to stop this fight.
"Hahahahaha! C'mon! More! Show me more!" Jin screamed.
"Goddamn it, Jin! Just shut the hell up!" Ragna yelled.
As they were about to clash once more, lightning suddnely struck out of nowhere, stopping the battle.
"What!?" Jin gasped.
"Tch! Rachel!" Ragna yelled. "The hell was that for!?"
From outside the castel doors, Rachel, with her companions and Valkenhayn, walked into the rose garden.
"Stopping this impudent fight," Rachel shot back. "Honestly Ragna, can't I leave you alone for even a sliver of time without you causing trouble?"
"Wha-!? ME!?" Ragna yelled. "Jin's the one who caused this shit to happen!"
"And you are the one who foolishly accepted that simpleton's wager," Rachel shot back. "So this is also your fault."
While Ragna grimaced, Jin glared at Rachel.
"Woman...what gives you any right to stop our fight?" Jin hissed.
"This is my mansion, after all," Rachel shot back. "So I have a right to stop foolish guests from destroying my property."
"Thank god..." Ragna sighed. "For once, thanks..."
Rachel looked a bit surprised at Ragna's gratitude, shocking everyone.
"Did you just...thank me?" Rachel asked.
"Yeah, anything to get Jin from trying to kill me," Ragna said. "God is he annoying as hell to deal with..."
"Well...isn't this a fair surprise..." Rachel said, rather content.
"Oh, thank goodness..." Hikari sighed.
While Rachel seemed content with Ragna's rare display of gratitude, Jin brandished his katana.
"I'm not done yet!" Jin roared. "ARCTIC DUNGEON!"
Jin stabbed the Yukianesa in the ground, making the ground freeze.
"!? You fool!" Rachel yelled.
"Goddamn it, Jin!" Ragna yelled, as his eyes suddenly glowed. "JUST SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Ragna, out of pure whim, brandished his sword, and stabbed it into the ground, where an inferno of dark energy burst out of the ground, dissipating the frost of the ground, and even overwhelming Jin in a sea of dark flames.
"GAAAAH!" Jin screamed.
"What the-!?" Mary yelled.
"That's...!" Hikari exclaimed.
"What is this!?" Rachel yelled.
Alicia and Kidou looked to see the commotion, and saw Ragna performing said attack.
"!? Grave Buster...!?" Alicia gasped. "But how...!? He wasn't supposed to...!"
After the inferno ceased, Jin fell to the ground. Ragna, eyes widened and amazed at the sight of the attack, pulled the sword out of the ground and examined the sword.
"...What the hell was that...?" Ragna asked.
"Ragna..." Rachel said, rather flabbergasted.
"...We need ta' hurry..." Kidou said rather seriously.
Kain continued his onslaught against Nu, smashing through her projectiles and slashing her to the ground. Kain then aimed his rifle at Nu and unleashed a chain of bullets at her, pummeling her with the force of the shots. Nu managed to roll out-of-the-way and stab Kain in the gut with one of her swords, but Kain didn't even flinch and kicked Nu in the gut hard enough to make her puke blood. AS Nu fell to the ground, Kain flew into the air and aimed his rifle at Nu.
"BLOODY RAIN!"
Kain shot an immense tempest of red bullets at Nu, then charged dark energy to his foot.
"HELLBOUND!"
Kain unleashed a huge fireball shaped like the Black Beast's head at Nu, engulfing her in a huge pillar of dark flames. As Kain landed, he aimed his eight wings at Nu.
"BLESSED MIRROR!"
The eight wings showered lasers upon Nu, forcing her to shield herself as much as she can. Using the opening, Kain rushed up to Nu.
"WISDOM OF THE DIVINES!"
Kain bound Nu in dark light and lifted his left claw, where the eight swords became large energy blades and surrounded her.
"Now...eat this!" Kain yelled as he clenched his left claw into a fist.
Once he formed his fist, the eight blades stabbed through Nu, ripping her apart. As she fell like a rag doll, the eight wings returned to Kain's side. As Nu struggled to get back up, Kain looked down on her.
"...You done?" Kain growled, his eyes becoming more and more feral.
"Oh...bravo..." Envy said, clapping his hands. "Even when he's using the Azure this much, he still somehow manages to maintain control over himself."
"Get...the hell off me!" Terumi screamed as he pushed Envy off of him.
"Oh my," Envy said as he jumped off at the last second.
Everyone brandished their weapons as Terumi got back up. With an irritated growl, he glared at Envy, who was only dusting himself off.
"You piece of shit..." Terumi growled. "What the hell do you gain from this, anyway?"
"? Whatever do you mean?" Envy asked with mock innocence.
"You know damn well what I mean!" Terumi hissed. "...Why would you let your enemy, especially someone as much of a threat as Kain, reach full power? Are you trying to dig your own grave?"
"Oh? Is someone scared?" Envy asked rather tauntingly.
"Bullshit!" Terumi shot back. "I'm just saying. Why purposely make your enemy stronger?"
Envy only wagged his finger to him.
"Just watch..." Envy said. "By the way, should you really let your precious 'sword' get destroyed?"
As he just said that, Nu flew across the stage, passing by Terumi. He turned to see Kain, walking in with sword at hand and sword-wings floating behind him. Even Terumi couldn't help but shiver a little at the sight of Kain.
"Quite a show you pulled off there, Kain, old boy?" Envy said. "Truly remarkable. As expected of the boy of the Azure..."
Kain only glared at Envy.
"I suggest you fall back," Envy whispered to Terumi.
"Ahh!? Like hell I'll listen to you!" Terumi yelled as he charged at Kain.
As Terumi disappeared in front of Kain, he clenched his claw, which grew in size a bit.
"SERPENT'S INFERNAL–!" Terumi yelled.
But as Terumi reappeared and tried to kick Kain, Kain dodged it and grabbed Terumi.
"Shut up...you goddamn eyesore!" Kain screamed. "DARKNESS EATER!"
From Kain's left arm, teeth emerged, which quickly became a large head of the Black Beast and gnawed on Terumi.
"What the-!?" they gasped.
"Oh..." Envy said, rather amused.
As Kain screamed like an animal, his left arm grew longer as he violently swung Terumi around and slammed him to the ground several times, until eventually he slammed Terumi to the ground so hard that the grip was lost, sending Terumi in a large wave of dark energy. Everyone, save Hakumen and Envy, trembled in fear at the sight of Kain, along with his left arm, which was now practically a living head of the Black Beast.
"The...Black Beast...?" Mu asked.
"Well of course," Envy said. "He is the body of the Black Beast of course. Generating a head, given his true potential, is a cakewalk."
"His true potential?" Mu asked.
"Did you really believe that the armor was the extent of his potential?" Envy asked. "Even in this form, he's still not at his fullest."
"What!?" Izayoi asked. "He can still become stronger!?"
"Of course," Envy said. "If you want to deal with him going full-blown insane, that is..."
Iris looked at Kain. While the others didn't notice, Iris noticed that Kain was snarling uncontrollably while staring down at Terumi. Terumi, however, put his hat back on which he took out from his coat, and reverted back to his Hazama persona.
"Now, now, I do believe that today's enough..." Hazama said rather weakly. "Since tomorrow's the big day, anyway, we should rest up. Hey, No. 13! We're leaving!"
Hearing that, Nu suddnely shot back up from here she crashed.
"...Understood..." Nu said blankly and monotonously.
"Now then...I'll bid you all goodbye for now..." Hazama said. "You should all have an action plan by tomorrow..."
"What? Why?" Izayoi asked.
"Just saying..." Hazama said. "Well then, ciao."
Hazama, then Nu, teleported out of the area, leaving the rest there. Kain took a deep sigh, where he reverted his arm back to normal (or at least back to its claw form).
"Kain!" Iris called out.
"Brother!" Saya called out.
The two rushed over to Kain, who relaxed a little, but not releasing his Azure form for some reason.
"Are you alright?" Iris asked rather concerned.
"Yeah...I'm fine..." Kain said weakly, sweating.
"Brother?" Saya asked.
"Man...This form can bring out a lot of stress..." Kain said, looking at his claw. "Any longer, and I would've lost it..."
Kain turned to the others, but quickly wince and looked the other way.
"Kain...?" Iris asked.
"Bravo, bravo," Envy said, clapping his hands.
Kain glared at Envy, who only walked closer to the three.
"That was a fantastic show, yes, truly," Envy said. "A marvel, indeed. With the power of the Azure, not even the Sword of Hades could stand in front of your wrath!"
Kain held his sword up in defense.
"What're you planning...?" Kain asked.
"Ah, so you still have some sanity left to figure that out..." Envy said rather tauntingly.
Kain held his head in pain, without loosening his grip on his sword.
"Shut up!" Kain yelled.
"...Well then..." Envy said rather deviously.
With a snap of a finger, he teleported everyone, including himself out of the sealed space.
A dark forest, outside of a hierarchical city. Everyone was teleported there, confused, expect for Envy.
"What're you planning now, Envy?" Kain asked.
"Why can't you just enjoy the view?" Envy asked. "Look at this pristine scenery. A lush forest, blanketed by the radiant light of the moon."
As Envy basked in the moonlight, Kain noticed that he was shuddering a little.
Huh? Why's he...?
"Now then," Envy said, stopping his basking in the light. "Kain! You've been through a lot ever since we came to the past."
"...So you were responsible for me being in this time period?" Kain asked.
"Of course," Envy admitted. "Although it did end out rather roughly...all seemed to end with acceptable results."
"Your definition of 'acceptable'? Or my definition of 'acceptable'?"
"I don't know," Envy said nonchalantly. "Now then...tomorrow, February 3rd. Do you remember what day in history it was? Vermillion siblings?"
"February 3rd?" Kain asked. "The year's 2200 AD...the day when the Imperator was overthrown!"
"What!?" they gasped.
"So you do know some history..." Envy said. "Now then...since time's a wasting..."
Envy suddenly warped in front of Saya and placed a hand in front of her chest, releasing energy that suddenly made her spark out.
"KYAAAAA!" she screamed.
"Saya! Guagh!?" Kain gagged as he fell, sparking form his left arm.
"Kain!?" Iris and Mu cried.
"Don't...tell me..." Kain gagged.
When Envy was done, he warped to the top of a tree, where Saya fell. Before she could hit the ground, she suddenly stood back up. A strong blue aura emitted from her, as she looked up to the group. She had a rather blank expression towards the others, but when she faced Kain, she suddenly had a rather insane grin on her face, while giggling uncontrollably.
"You...BASTARD!" Kain screamed to Envy. "YOU FORCED HER TO USE THE AZURE?!"
"Now then," Envy said. "I'll just enjoy the show here."
As Kain was about to attack Envy, Saya suddenly bulleted towards Kain and smashed a blade at him, forcing him to guard.
"Saya!?" Mu gasped.
"What're you doing!?" Iris cried.
"Of course, what they were 'meant to do'..." Envy said. "The heart and the body must merge to finally complete the true form."
"Complete the...Black Beast!?" Hakumen yelled.
"Now then, what will you do, Kain?" Envy asked. "Once the process has started, it can't be stopped unless one of the factors are extinguished. In other words..."
"One of us...has to die..." Kain said with great anguish.
"Great! You do know the circumstances!" Envy exclaimed. "If you want to stop me...you're going to have to kill your own sister! Will you kill her and stop me? Or will you die and kill everyone? I'm excited to see what you will do!"
"YOU BASTAAARRRRD!" Kain screamed.
To be continued
AN: As how Kaneshiro-sama stated, shit went down real quick and now the stakes are higher. Kain showed everyone the power of his Azure and wiped the floor with Nu and Terumi (although he could've just been going insane at some point), only to now be forced to decide whether to kill his own sister or not, not to mention that Saya now has her Azure active, making her all the more deadlier. Isn't Envy such a bastard? While that drama's happening, Ragna and Jin finally have their fight, only to find out that Ragna can use a new move, apparently one that he's supposed to learn in the future. Hey, it's a 20 year transition between Ragna's time period and Kain's original time period, so they could've learned a new trick or two.
As always, thanks for reading, hoped you enjoyed the chapter and see ya next time!