Kokonoe's eyes snap open, feeling like her life flashed before her eyes just minutes ago. She is still inside her lab, the schematics of Lambda-11 and the Idea Engine displayed on the screen.

"Kokonoe, you are awake."

"Tager, what happened?

The giant cyborg adjusts his glasses and answers.

"The Continuum Shift occurred after Ragna the Bloodedge was killed by Yuki Terumi. However, I experienced a new, strange phenomenon." Tager frowns. "It feels like someone injected a new mass of memories into my brain and now I suddenly remember that aside Litchi, Roy and Kajun, there is another person working alongside us, or was as of now. You are supposed to be close to him, if I recall correctly."

Kokonoe stares at her subordinate in disbelief before a headache occurs. Images of a lazy-looking man in his 20s and a serious-looking man in late 40s appear in her mind, both having an eyepatch on the right eye. She sees the former joking around with Roy, bringing her candies with an annoyed expression, sparring with Azrael of all people and smirking inside a burning facility while the latter is present with her father (she can't believe she said that), Trinity Grassfille and her mother, looking at her with a stern face and a forced smile.

"Y-Yeah, I'm starting to see weird flashbacks too. Do you remember his name, Tager?"

"I believe he has no name or has not revealed it. You were the first one to come up with an alias and called him such until he went MIA prior to the Ikaruga Civil War." Tager states. "He is known as Faust."

Hazama and Relius are inside Hazama's Intelligence Captain Office. After what they initially thought as another Shift, the Mad Puppeteer discovers the new memories he possesses. Hazama, due to his nature, seems to be unaffected by this and acts like normal. Therefore, he decides to enlighten his colleague.

"What did you say, Relius? You have to forgive my ears. I'm old after all."

"Stop jesting, Hazama. There is an interloper within our ranks." Relius massages his chin. "The Lieutenant Colonel known as 'Crimson Executioner' used to be among the best of NOL until he proved to be a major obstacle in our plan and the Imperator had the Zero Squadron dispose of him. Interestingly, you know him very well."

"And why should I know a trash to your level of 'well'?"

"Because you killedhim in the last Shift."

Hazama drops the egg he is about to devour and stares dumbfounded at Relius.

"Rags? Why the fuck did he even join NOL from the first place? Oh wait, not him." He tries to remember the name and when he does, Terumi smirks. "Our resident spoiler Faust-chan."

"That is his alias in the Sector Seven but still correct nonetheless." Relius says, his mask reflecting a glint. "In our organization, he is known as Ryuji Matsunaga to the public and to us, especially you, his name is Mephisto."

Soooo, I'm back to the living world aaaaand why the fuck am I in a hot spring? And why is Rachel glaring at me while wearing a pretty modest-looking Japanese school swimsuit? Is this some kind of Gag Reel?

"What the hell are you staring at, Rabbit?" I ask her and she keeps glaring at me as if awaiting for a reaction. Well excuse me, you are not going to make *** Jr hard with that mizugi. And before someone asks, no, I am not and will never be a pedophile. For some reasons, she can read my thoughts and deepens her scowl. Fuck, am I going to get zapped?

"Hmph, that brute. Princess went all the way to show her –"

"Be silent, Nago." Rachel kicks the big cat…thing and it shuts up immediately. I eye around and see Noel in a pretty meh one-piece swimsuit being harassed by Tao and Litchi. Really, the one in CPE's Gag Reel is much cuter. Still, what is this place? I never thought there would be a natural hot spring.

"We've come this far so let's take our time and enjoy it, Miss Lieutenant. Also, you look great." Litchi's eyes glance at me. "Isn't that right, Mister Reaper? I saw you eyeing her the whole time."

"E-EH! Ragna-san, stop it!" Noel shrieks and attempts to hide the exposed parts on her body. I send a brow to Litchi, who smiles mischievously, and sigh, thinking of what to say next. I don't know how but I feel extremely tired and irritated right now. Is it the side effect of resetting the Continuum Shift? It is until I momentarily look down and see the bandages all over my body.

Right, so this is after Carl beat the shit out of Ragna.

"Well, if you truly want my opinion…" I look up and down at Noel, whose face seems to getting redder and redder. "6 out of 10, no contest. Okay if you just want to swim, not okay if you want to show off. The design is plain and uninteresting. Noel, sorry but you ain't gonna make my heart flutter or skip a beat or some shits."

I say all of that with a straight face. Litchi and Noel are speechless in shock, Tao is giggling like crazy and Rachel has an unreadable expression. Next thing I know is something blocking my eyes and someone, presumably the rabbit, hits my head.

…

Right, after asking a fuming Noel and promising to buy sweets for her, I learn about what happened up to the moment I 're-awake'. Apparently, Taokaka proposed to take me to a secret Kaka hot spring that can cure my injuries faster and Rachel agreed to take all of us to here. Sounds bullshit but the water is actually helping my body. I just noticed the itchy stings on my chest minutes ago and now they are gone.

On the side note, Rachel doesn't seem to remember the previous cycle or she just hides it. Noel is definitely oblivious to Ragna's sudden change of personality and keeps asking me if my head got hit too hard by Nirvana.

"Later, little Noel. For now, relax and let all of those bullshits go away."

"A-Ah right, sorry for bothering you."

"Stop apologizing. It's unbecoming for a NOL soldier like you."

Noel sounds like she wants to rebuke me but relents and leans against the rocks to enjoy the warm water of the hot spring. Still, when will Rachel remove whatever is blocking my vision? It is getting real annoying.

"Until you control that repulsive way of examining a girl's body, I will not remove the bind."

"You're just jealous."

As an instinct, I roll over to dodge the lightning strike.

"Haha! Missed me, beech."

"Baden Baden Lily."

And I once again know what pain is.

Outside Kagutsuchi, Jubei is making dinner for young Platinum and himself when he hears a weird sound buzzing his ears.

"Ahem 1, 2, 3. Are you there old man?"

"Ain't that a voice I never thought to hear again." The beastkin smiles, returning to chop the cabbage. "How's goin', Koko?"

"Say that name again and I will send Golden Tager X after your ass. Listen, when you and mom celebrated my first birthday, the whole Six Heroes gathered right?"

"Yea'. How about it?"

"Was there another old guy wearing an eyepatch?"

Jubei flinches, not expecting his daughter to bring him up again.

"I will take that as yes. So what's the big deal about him? I got the feeling that he was supposed to be one of the Six Heroes, or Seven Heroes, and no one talked about him, even Rachel."

"Kokonoe, this is a very sensitive matter that I cannot disclose to you right now. Mephisto's death is something all of us, Rachel included, agreeing to keep a secret. It's… It's not a matter I can freely speak about." Jubei's tone completely drops the usual carefreeness. "If you truly want to know, meet me in person."

"Tch, you and your band of cryptic shits."

"I can only tell you that he is your godfather. That's all."

"… At least that is helpful." Kokonoe muttered something Jubei cannot make out and cuts off the call. The strongest living creature sighs and looks at the sky, wondering if his decision back then was righteous.

On the flight to Kagutsuchi, a distressed Tsubaki is looking over the order to 'clean' the traitorous elements Noel Vermillion and Jin Kisaragi coming from the Imperator. There has already been talks about Jin showing suspicious behaviors before his departure to Kagutsuchi, some of which were told to her by Noel, yet her friend is now also inside the hit list.

'Lt. Colonel Matsunaga...'

Tsubaki looks at the pendant on her neck and opens the cover, revealing a photo of her and an older man in dark red version of the Librarium Colonel uniform. A senior and later her brief boss after her graduation, Ryuji was the most accomplished NOL officer ever recorded, having climbed to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel within two years after his graduation. Ryuji earned the moniker of 'Crimson Executioner' and 'Terror of Naobi' in his later years for his achievements.

Tsubaki admired his skills and sought to be under his tuition, hoping to be qualified to ask for the Assistant seat in Jin's office. Sadly, Ryuji was mysterious assassinated and Noel was chosen to be Jin's assistant while she was transferred to the Wings of Justice Squadron.

"Noel…"

Captain Hazama reveals to Tsubaki that she is supposed to be Jin's assistant, not Noel. She refuses to believe it as Noel dropped out during her school years and the decision came from the higher-ups so Noel had no hand in that matter. Still, there is something about the conversation bugging Tsubaki a lot. Like, she becomes angrier when thinking about Noel for no reason at all and it scares her.

"Jin-niisama…"

Her idol, her sole reason to exist. After the Ikaruga Civil War where he is hailed as the Hero, Jin became a completely different person and rarely calls her. Noel notes that he sometimes laughs out loud whenever she brings news of the SS-class criminal Ragna the Bloodedge. Things became more hectic when Ragna was spotted in Kagutsuchi and Jin postponed all plans, including the once-in-a-while dinner with Tsubaki, and went to the 13th City.

Ragna the Bloodedge. There has to be a connection between him and Jin. To find out what it is, Tsubaki has taken the Izayoi from her family's vault in order to gain some advantages over the most dangerous man NOL ever encounters.

You must not overuse the Izayoi.

Lately, there is a foreign voice speaking in her mind and it becomes more talkative after she took the Yayoi heirloom with her. The voice seems to repeat a message of sort and the closer she gets to Kagutschi, the more complete that message is.

You must not overuse the Izayoi, lest the Mind Eater will consume your mind. Do not find Noel and Jin, it will accelerate the mind control. If an encounter is unavoidable, be vigilant and do not let a single stray thought invade your mind.

Tsubaki sits down and looks over the files the Intelligence Captain sent to her, a footage of Ragna the Bloodedge's latest raid is included. Oddly and shocking enough, the voice in her head and Ragna's voice is the same.

"What… in the world?"