(A new canon is approaching. With events rapidly spiraling around us out of control. Let us see what has happened.)
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Canon 34
Previously on Canon Distortion
Ragna the Bloodedge was forced to face off against Meifang Lapislazuli after he allowed Sora Minakaze to go on ahead. The battle was fierce and at several moments the battle could have gone either side. If it had not been for the intervention of Lambda-11, a Murakumo Unit that was strangely attached to him and his master, the Six Hero Jubei, Ragna might have continued to face off against the Zero Squadron leader. But as he made his way towards the NOL base, a blast of blue and red light split the very sky above the NOL base, making the most wanted criminal wonder what had just happened.
And now, the continuation of Canon Distortion
"What….What is this..." Sora simply questioned, on his knees, Makoto resting on his body as he was simply gazing at the sight in front of him. The sheer amount of power put in display in front of him is something he had never seen before. He could feel every inch of his body tremble as he struggled to recognize the awe inspiring sight in front of him. The piercing blue light of the figure on his left was clashing with the mighty red flames of the individual at his right
When he was told to head to the NOL headquarters by Amy, this was not what he had in mind. As he gazed at this sight, he couldn't help but wonder back to what felt like just a few minutes ago as he recalled what had happened before he got to witness such a sight. When his objective was to simply head towards the NOL headquarters and try to save Makoto and his friend, Noel Vermillion in the process.
Not expecting the series of events unfolding in front of him to occur…
Minutes Prior… While Ragna faced Meifang...
Sora's feet did not stop running. Not since the opening Ragna had given him as he ran as fast as he could towards the NOL headquarters to see for himself if there was anything he could do to save Noel. Despite that, he couldn't help but look at Makoto in his arms as he decided he needed to take a stop soon to assess his current situation. Lucky for him, he found that the NOL were not chasing him any further as all he can expect is the NOL troops left behind to take care of the base.
Diving into an alleyway to keep hidden, Sora laid Makoto on the wall before stroking her face. The bleeding on the stump of her arm had stopped at this point but it doesn't change the fact that she had been gravely injured and was not going to be waking up at any point unless it was due to immense stress. Sora couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling a bit selfish for bringing Makoto into danger the way he has but he couldn't help it. Was it the trauma he had built over the years that caused him to develop such irrational thoughts? Regardless he couldn't help but keep her close as he softly smiled.
"Looks like I am still the reckless idiot you know and love huh Makoto… Look at me still making stupid choices like this." Sora mumbled, having grown over the years to develop a sense of self deprecation when it comes to his own line of thinking. Regardless however, he would still gladly choose to be a fool and pay for his choices if he was able to protect those he could care for. Too many times there were choices that were made without his consent that costed the lives of his friends.
"This time...I will protect you...with my own two hands… hand..." Sora said as using his human hand, he tightly gripped Makoto's remaining arm as he was determined to keep protecting Makoto regardless of what was going to happen to him. He might be suffering injuries already but he was willing to endure the pain required to keep on living up to their promise. "Right… let's see what the defense at the NOL Base looks like." Sora said, peeping his head out of the alleyway to see what kind of defenses he had to fight through.
What he saw was not to his liking. The sight in front of him was something he did not like one bit as despite the large number of NOL troops that were after Ragna the Bloodedge and him, there was still a small number of NOL troops that would be hard to run past. "Damn… looks like fighting my way out is the only option in this case." Sora said to himself as he looked at Makoto, realizing he was going to have her stay here for a bit while he cleared the way.
If that was the case, he needed to find something to help him spot Makoto as he planned to keep her hidden while he cleared the way. Once he managed to beat the distractions away, he would have the space needed to bring her safely into the NOL base as he began to move the some of the nearby trash to cover up Makoto, making sure she still had enough space to allow her to keep breathing as he searched his pockets for something reflective to allow the light to hit the surface to give him a line of sight on where Makoto was, making sure it was visible on a piece of garbage.
"I'm sorry I have to hide you like this… please forgive me for doing this." Sora said as he gave her a soft kiss before stepping out of the alleyway, cracking both of his fists as he glared forward at the task in front of him. His goal is to fight his way through and beat enough of the troops that he could use his Drive to go straight to Makoto, grab her and dash back to the entrance which would have been cleared at this point to allow him to utilize this strategy. "Right… The plan's set. let's..."
Before he could initialize his place, Sora noticed the NOL troops immediately start moving for some reason, prompting him to take cover by jumping into a dumpster. The sounds of mass movement could be heard as Sora kept the lid slightly open to peep into what was going on to prompt everyone of the soldiers to get moving immediately. 'Where on Earth are they going?' Sora wondered as the soldiers walked past the Alleyways.
As they did so, Sora could suddenly feel his blood freeze when one of the soldiers stopped, his eyes drawn towards the garbage pile where he had hidden Makoto in. 'Shit...Makoto.' Sora thought as he held his urge to burst out of the dumpster to save Makoto as he knew the moment he did that he would give away not only his position but also bring the whole NOL right down on his ass. All Sora could do was simply hope that scenario does not happen and the man simply walked right past.
It was at that moment Sora could feel his his blood chill even further when he saw the man extend his hand out to grab something. Could he be peeling back the trash to expose Makoto? Could his attention be on something else entirely and his hand happened to be in the general direction? Just what was this man going to do at that moment? All of these questions and more lingered in Sora's mind as he couldn't help but feel very tense at the current situation in front of him.
'Please don't see her. Please don't see her.' Sora begged as the NOL soldier grabbed the coin he had placed on the trash. "Hey what are you doing Soldier?" Another NOL soldier questioned as the man held up the coin. "What? I just found this coin on the trash. Weird isn't it." the NOL soldier noted as the man sighed and scratched his head. "Yeah it's weird but who cares. People always drop coins and don't give a shit about them." The other soldier replied as Sora couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief as the men left Makoto alone to rejoin the NOL soldiers as the NOL soon disappeared.
Jumping out of the dumpster, Sora peeked out of the alleyway to see that the whole NOL base was now empty. This left Sora both glad and also disturbed by what had happened as he knew that he was blessed in some way but also knew that the NOL moving out like that, willingly leaving their own base empty is another suspicious thing in by itself. "Just what on Earth is going on?" Sora wondered as he could feel another presence lurk in the area as he tensed up into a fighting stance, Rev Arm ready for combat.
"Oh come on now kid. there's no need to be so hostile right now." A voice said as Sora looked around, wondering where it had come from as he looked around for a bit, wondering where the source of the voice was coming from and who was even speaking to him right now. It was at that moment Sora felt a reflexive instinct to punch behind him as he swung his fist right towards the presence he had felt behind him, feeling his fist get caught as he looked at the thing responsible for catching his fist.
"But then again. You wouldn't be this antsy if you got nothing to hide am I right?" the person said as Sora got a good look at the person he had thrown his fist towards and felt a sweat drip down his forehead. He had just thrown his fist right towards Jubei of the Six heroes and he was not sweating because he had thrown his fist right at one of the legendary heroes and might have accidentally pissed him off in the process. He was sweating over the fact that this Six hero was still quite sharp despite how ancient he looked.
"I am very sorry for tossing a fist right at you. Can't be too safe you know." Sora apologized as Jubei simply chuckled. "It's alright kid. Though I admit, that is one nice arm you got there. Did my daughter make it for you?" Jubei pondered as Sora looked at the Rev Arm before scratching his head with it. "No… someone else made it… not like I would know who is your Daughter but alright." Sora explained, making Jubei sting a little. Maybe it was the father in him who wanted to tell him who his daughter was but he knew that the kid in front of him was probably not going to waste any more time at this point.
"So what brings you to these parts kid? There's nothing to do around the NOL base unless you're a vigilante." Jubei questioned as Sora couldn't help but wonder what he should say in this situation. He knew that Jubei was not going to rat him out but can he really risk bringing attention to himself from one of the great heroes? "Well… I just happen to have business in the NOL building that's all." Sora simply said, trying to keep his calm as Jubei simply nodded his head.
"Business that required you to hide inside a dumpster?" Jubei further questioned, making Sora sweat as he could feel a pressure build from this cat. "I mean… there's a lot of NOL troops and my appearance could give them the wrong idea. I don't want them to suddenly come and attack me." Sora explained as Jubei couldn't help but laugh at that sincere comment. He could tell Sora was hiding something but the way he was calmly telling the truth in between those lies is something else entirely.
"I see… So you won't tell me about the pretty lady you hid over there?" Jubei said, causing Sora's blood to freeze for a bit before he sighed. "I was trying to make sure the NOL didn't find her so I can focus on getting in the NOL building. Once it was clear, I would come back out and bring her with me." Sora explained as Jubei raised his eyebrow at that as Sora moved the trash that he had used to hide Makoto in and wiped off any trash remaining.
"And why are you bringing a lady missing her arm with you? You know she needs a hospital right?" Jubei continued as Sora scratched his head at that. He knew that Jubei was speaking the truth but he needed to be honest with the Six Hero and not say anything else. "It's because I don't know anybody here in Kagutsuchi and She's currently wanted. That means any normal hospital would immediately have her arrested on the spot and I don't know any clinic willing to house a wanted criminal here." Sora explained, showing his ability to rationalize towards the cat hero.
"Well I can see that at least… then why not place her in a safe house and go to the NOL headquarters then? Anything you can do would be much safer than bringing her out into the field here and risking her getting hurt or even killed." Jubei continued as Sora didn't flinch or get angry towards the rational being presented towards him. If it was the past him, he might have acted a bit irrational or responded with anger but he knew that Jubei just wanted to know more about his current situation so he could try to relate to him.
"Because I don't have a safe house to bring her to that is nearby. I don't have anybody in this town I can trust to take care of her and I cannot risk placing her in a random room in a hotel and hope the people there don't suspect she's wanted." Sora continued, the question annoying him but he knew he needed to show some patience. "Then why not just get the hell out of here and find a safe spot for both you and your girl? There's no need for you to be this reckless you know." Jubei said as Sora took a sigh to finally compose his thoughts.
"I know there is no need to recklessly do things like this and prioritize her safety… but her friend is over at the NOL and she was worried sick for her. I cannot just sit by like this and not do anything. I refuse to leave her side and I will not let anyone else harm her on my watch. Even if it means getting hurt myself." Sora said, his voice resolute in his decision as he looked straight into the singular eye of the Six Hero, firmly gripping onto Makoto as Jubei couldn't help but laugh at that.
"You know kid. You remind me of myself when I was with my wife." Jubei commented as Sora blushed a bit before looking away. "You make sure you live up to your words alright. A woman doesn't forgive someone who says stuff like that and bails in the process." Jubei advised as Sora smiled at that commented as Jubei scratched his head. "If I can guess from the way those NOL soldiers are going, my useless disciple of a student Ragna the Bloodedge is somewhere that direction?" Jubei questioned as Sora simply nodded his head.
"Oh well. In any case, You make sure you take care of your girl alright. Otherwise I will go and beat you up the next time we meet." Jubei advised as Sora nodded his head, carrying Makoto and looking straight at the NOL base, ready to head off. "Oh yeah! Tell me what's your name and the girl?" Jubei asked as Sora stopped for a bit, wondering what he should say. Even if he knows that people would most likely forget about him at the end of the day should things go wrong, he couldn't help but feel like the more people know about him, the more of a chance he has to stay in the world.
"The name's Sora...Sora Minakaze. She's Makoto Nanaya. If you ever meet either me or her I am counting on you to help us in any way you can." Sora simply said as Jubei couldn't help but grin at the name. "Sora and Makoto huh. You two sound nice for each other. When I meet you two the next time it better be with you two being lovey dovey and not all depressed like this." Jubei commented, leaving before Sora could question any further as Sora was left confused by this action before unable to stop himself from making a smile on his face based on the Six Hero's teasing.
"And you better make sure I don't see you again to give that fur of yours a nice ruffling." Sora said to himself as he hoisted Makoto closer to his arms and ran towards the NOL base, ready to focus his full attention towards trying to rescue Noel Vermillion and hopefully get both her and Makoto out of the base in time. While things might have not gone to what he had originally thought they were going to be but at the same time he cannot help but be glad that the series of events have happened the way they are.
"Don't worry Makoto. I promise we are almost there." Sora said, pulling her closer to him as he was simply glad that the gods for once were giving him and her a break. But knowing how fickle gods are, he will go back to cursing fate soon enough as he made his way towards the NOL base. The first thing he thought about was where he should head first to look for Noel as now that he thought about it, Where would Noel be at this point?
He could start by searching at the very bottom of the NOL base, where the cauldron would be but if Noel was not there, he would have to make his way upwards via stairs and elevators and that may take too much time from him. Time he did not have to waste from carrying Makoto all over the place. If he started from the top, he can quickly walk down and if the NOL does come back earlier than he expected and try to surround the stairs, he can use his drive to skip a couple of floors if needed.
'Looks like my choice is obvious at this point.' Sora thought as he soon entered the NOL building and began walking up the stairs to head towards the roof, not bothering to check the various rooms and hallways that surround an NOL building in the first place. The normally packed halls seem eerily quiet as each step he took brought in a sense of nervousness into him as for some reason the silence of the NOL building was much more creepy than the building being packed to the brim with NOL troops ready to ambush him.
Each corner, each hallway, potentially having NOL troops waiting for him in each door, now simply empty and nobody waiting for him. The eerie silence that was waiting for him was both refreshing from the mass group of soldiers he had seen at this point and also disturbing by how empty these buildings could be regardless of the number of people present. "Just where's the security around here. Even if Ragna The Bloodedge is a high priority target you don't just leave a base empty like this..." Sora muttered to himself as he could simply hear his footsteps echo around the halls.
From the silence to the long hallways, Sora couldn't help but hold Makoto closer to his arms as he simply focused his attention from worrying about the next possible ambush from the NOL to just finding Noel and getting both her and Makoto out of there. Still, if there was one complaint he could file to the NOL, it would be the fact that the NOL decided to design their headquarters to be as big and massive as possible.
While that might work in terms of bringing control and making sure the public definitely knows the location of their bases, it makes it a pain in the ass to simply navigate through the vast building as with each step he took he felt like he was walking on a massive field instead. "Would it kill them to at least build elevators nearby… or maybe shrink their buildings down for once." Sora wondered to himself as each step he took felt more like an actual hike than a real building. Not that he minded of course since he was used to this kind of pace. But the NOL could be more considerate to the common folk at the very least.
"In any case, How many more steps before I finally reach the roof of this place." Sora wondered as slowly but surely, the destination on his mind is approaching and he needed to have a plan for just in case he had to fight. Looking at Makoto in his hands, Sora couldn't help but tighten his grip on her, resolved and ready to keep moving forward. 'Right… let's do this.' Sora thought as he decided to sprint, making a break for the roof where he would not expect to find Noel there but at the very least he would be able to say he checked that spot.
Resolving himself to not fail in the task of rescuing one of his friends.
As Sora made his way to the top, Hazama couldn't help but stare at the floating orb above him, gazing at the thing floating in front of him. How long has he waited for this moment? How many timelines has he witnessed the birth of the Godslayer? 10? One thousand times? The more that he thought about it, the more he cannot help but sigh, cursing the fate placed on the world for his near perfect memory of the series of events that were unfolding in front of him and how they would play.
Usually, it begins with him standing here at this very same spot, waiting for the Godslayer to be born. Before she could be though, a person, normally Ragna The Bloodedge, appears and they fight for a little while. Hazama will unleash the power of his Blazblue and overwhelm Ragna at that point. Then they will witness the Godslayer be born and watch her descend down Kagutsuchi's cauldron to fulfill her role of finding and killing Amaterasu.
As she does so, Hazama will continue to keep fighting Ragna. It usually ends with him either defeating Ragna or Hazama being defeated by Ragna. As soon as he defeated Ragna however, the timeline normally resets. Sometimes, this doesn't happen and other events happen. So many other events that normally he considered them one offs, events that will only happen once per timeline and only once per timeline.
"So it's looking like one of those timelines huh..." Hazama mused as judging by how long it took for Ragna The Bloodedge to get to this point, either Ragna the Bloodedge was being held up by NOL troops and Meifang LapisLazuli or Ragna was actually taking his sweet time for once. "Oh world, your mysteries still continue to elude me to this very day… Not that I actually care of course but still." Hazama said as he stretched his limbs a bit, deciding that he needed to be ready to fight at any moment.
"I wonder who I am going to face in this timeline. Not that I actually care since it's getting reset anyways." Hazama said, musing to himself as he was confident about the whims of fate. After all, he has seen every single possibility presented into his face. He is prepared for any situation, always having his strategy in mind and ready to execute them. So whoever shows up now, he did not care. All he cared about was witnessing the birth of the god slayer once more and see the world reset itself once more.
The first thing Hazama saw was white hair. Hazama at first thought it was Ragna The Bloodedge but was soon proven wrong when he saw a streak of dirty blonde hair. This immediately told him who he was seeing as he couldn't believe who the person who was going to meet him was. "Of course… It had to be him of all people." Hazama moaned as Sora soon emerged from the stairs, the very sight of the contradicting existence of this world's timeline in front of him and in his arms was Makoto Nanaya, a woman he couldn't believe was still alive at this point.
"And of course he had to bring the one rodent who refuses to die." Hazama moaned quietly as Sora himself first saw Hazama, immediately clutching Makoto closer to him before noticing the gigantic ball in the sky. Sora's eyes couldn't help but widen in confusion as to the sight in front of him as there were a couple of monoliths surrounding it for some reason. "What on Earth is this..." Sora said, unable to hold back his surprise as Hazama looked at the one simply known as Error right in the eyes.
"So...it looks like you have appeared Error." Hazama mused as Sora looked at Hazama with some surprise. What was Hazama doing all alone and in the middle of something bizarre? All Sora could guess from this sight was that Hazama was involved in some way as Hazama simply clapped his hands. "Oh? Wondering what this is? I mean. You would naturally." Hazama mused as Sora looked at the orb floating in the sky. The uneasiness he felt staring at the spherical orb forced him to redirect his attention towards Hazama and get the most important questions answered instead of focusing on other things.
Sora: That's not the point. Where the hell have you taken Noel Vermillion?
Hazama: Noel Vermillion? Oh you mean the girl? Well, too late. She's inside that orb right now.
Sora: Then get out of the way. I am going to get her out of there.
Hazama: Get her out of there? Oh you must be very mistaken. We are going to do nothing of the sort. We are just going to stand here and let things happen as they should be.
Sora: Are you crazy? As if I would let you do as you please!
Hazama: While carrying the rodent in your hands. You know I know that you are not going to fight me right now without risking her. Though I have got to thank you for bringing her to me like this. I cannot wait to make sure she's really dead this time.
Sora:… Over my dead body.
"Heh. That is rich hearing from you… You know what. I am tired of seeing your face, seeing her face, and having to deal with the nonsense you two have created for me!" Hazama said as he pulled out his Balisong knife, spinning it in his hand as he looked at Sora with a killing intent as Sora was slowly getting ready to place Makoto on the ground to face against Hazama and fight against him. As he was about to do so however, he noticed the orb begin to glow as Hazama noticed the surprise on his face.
As soon as Hazama saw the expression on his face and turned around himself to see what Sora was seeing, Hazama couldn't help but not hide the glee that was present on his face as he slowly sheathed his Balisong knife. "You know… You did say you wanted to rescue Noel Vermillion didn't you." Hazama said, a dread beginning to build in Sora as the wings that wrapped themselves around the orb slowly spreaded out, the orb's white light cracking out as Sora shielded his eyes from the blinding sensation that threatened to overwhelm him.
The intense light soon dimmed, prompting Sora to look at the orb as further cracks formed on the orb itself. Hazama turned around at that moment and raised his hands high into the air. "SO HERE YOU GO! HERE IS NOEL VERMILLION GIFT WRAPPED TO YOU!" Hazama shouted as the orb at that moment finally shattered, scattering the various parts of the orb all over the place and forcing Sora to further shield his eyes as he couldn't help but ponder what on earth Hazama was speaking.
Soon Sora got his answer as a hand emerged from the orb, grabbing onto the crack of the orb and forcibly ripping it apart, splitting the whole orb whole as a surge of power struck Sora, causing him to clutch Makoto tightly in his hands as he stumbled for a bit. Tumbling as he did, he curled to ensure that Makoto was not harmed in any way as he looked ahead and saw what looked like the figure responsible for causing the wave of power emerge from their cocoon and slowly descend themselves towards the ground.
Their bare naked feet touched the ground as a girl wearing a light blue cloak with various trims of red, yellow and blue was now present in front of Sora and Hazama. The girl had various red tags floating at the end of her cloak as she wore a headpiece that had been graved with a symbol Sora did not recognize with two horns poking out at each side of the headpiece. The shock that he had felt before soon continued to grow as he realized the girl in front of him was actually Noel Vermillion as instead of her normally bright green eyes, they were replaced with a pair of dull and dim azure blue eyes.
"N-Noel!? Noel is that you!?" Sora said in surprise as he saw who he suspected to be Noel Vermillion simply stare right at him, glaring at him with her empty eyes as a chill crept up his spine. "Analyzing threat… Unknown Entity confirmed. Error must be eliminated to ensure proper protection of time." Noel said coldly as Sora shook his head in surprise. "What are you talking about!? It's me Noel! Makoto's friend!" Sora shouted, hoping to snap her back to her senses.
"Looking into database… Error's statements do not match." Noel said as Sora couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Oh. It looks like she doesn't know who the hell you are… Not that she even did in the first place!" Hazama said as Sora looked at him with anger in his eyes. "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER HAZAMA!" Sora shouted, anger starting to steep out of his voice as Hazama couldn't help but feel refreshed to see the man who seemed to almost not make an expression make such a clear expression of hatred towards him.
"Oh I did nothing. I simply showed her the truth that is all." Hazama said as Sora shook his head at anger with that statement. "What kind of truth are you talking about!?" Sora demanded as Hazama couldn't help but grin as he raised his hands into the sky. "That this world is nothing but a shitty hole of worthless dreams created just to be crushed! There is no salvation for anybody born in this pathetic world! Just pain and utter misery!" Hazama yelled, his voice reaching towards the heavens as Sora was both confused and angry with Hazama's statement.
"Yeah sure! The world's a shitty place! But so what!? That shit doesn't even matter at the end of the day! All we can do is just live our lives to the fullest making good of the situations given to us!" Sora retorted, replying with the logic he had in his mind as Hazama simply shook his head. "How naive of you. You can pretend the world doesn't revolve around you but face it! The world finds ways to just screw you over! Even if you are a worthless nobody, the world will just find a reason to replace you! To get rid of your place in the world!" Hazama countered as Sora clenched his teeth, gently pressing on Makoto's arm as he tried to refocus his attempt on Noel instead of talking to Hazama.
"So what huh! I don't care about that! Noel look at me! Look at Makoto! Come on!" Sora yelled as he noticed Noel gaze right at Makoto, her eyes briefly flickered for a moment, bringing some hope that Noel was somehow inside there. "Analyzing Beastkin… Female and of the Kagutsuchi Squirrel Variety… Currently incapacitated and of no threat." Noel coldly said, as if spitting out information, numbers and facts like a machine.
"Don't you see Mr Minakaze? I simply brought her back to her original role. Not the role she was pretending to play." Hazama said as Sora looked at Hazama, trying to control his emotions as Hazama simply smiled. "Like how you should be fulfilling your role already and just disappear from this world. Once you die off, the world can finally be reset without your pesky meddling of the timeline." Hazama said, looking at Noel as he knew what he wanted to do.
"Now. Obey me Kusanagi! Eliminate the Error and allow the flow of time to be restored!" Hazama ordered as Noel placed her hands on her shoulders and spun. A bright light engulfed her as Sora shielded himself from said light. What he witnessed next was Noel once more, revealing what she was wearing underneath her coat. What she wore underneath was in fact a combat outfit, exposing as much skin as possible as two gigantic pauldrons were attached to her, with two sword legs accompanying her naked legs. Long blue sleeved gloves layered over her hands with tiny claws on each finger forming a complete shape.
"Recognizing order… Commencing elimination of the Error." Noel said as a gigantic sword slammed right behind her, glowing and soon spreading to become 8 smaller swords that floated behind her as Sora could immediately feel killing intent come out of Noel as he dived out of the way from Noel's attempt at piercing him with a sword projectile. "What the.. NOEL!?" Sora yelled, bewildered by her sudden attack as he realized that Noel was going to fight him regardless of what he said.
Now normally, he would pick the option of facing off against Noel and try not harming her in the process as he would desperately try and snap her out of her current mindless state. But with Makoto in his hands and Hazama nearby and waiting to take advantage of his own chance to kill her with the killing intent he was emitting. Flight was the only option Sora had as he tucked Makoto closer, looking towards the stairs to try and run back into the building and hide from Noel so he can place Makoto in a safer location.
But as if reading his intentions, Noel immediately skated right towards him, Forcing him to use the Rev Arm to block her sword leg's attack as she slid right past him, causing Sora to be pincered between Hazama and Noel. "Oh? Thinking about running away huh? Well too bad so sad. Looks like you really are going to have to fight your way past this one Error." Hazama taunted as Sora gritted his teeth as he looked right at Noel, blocking his only exit towards salvation as he looked at Makoto in his arms.
'What do I do Makoto? How should I proceed from here?' Sora thought, looking at Makoto in his arms as he felt a chill crawl up his bones as he noticed Noel raise her hand towards him. "Deploying Steins." Noel simply said as he noticed a seal form in front of her as what emerged from the seal was something he had never seen before. From what he could tell, it looked like a drone with some sort of weapon attached at it's body. Sora did not know what it was capable of but he knew it was going to be lethal for both him and Makoto if even one shot landed.
'Move Sora...Move!' Sora thought as he dived out of the way of the steins that fired right in front of him. The laser soon struck the ground where he stood as the rubble smashed itself right into the air. This greatly alarmed him as Noel looked at him with killing intent. "I Don't want to harm you Noel! Don't do this!" Sora yelled, feeling like he was unable to harm Noel in any way despite her trying to kill him as Noel did not hesitate to create a second Stein to chase after him.
"Fuck." Sora simply said as he was now realizing that Noel was capable of creating more of them to chase after him. Sora simply knew he had to keep running to survive as the Steins relentlessly chased after him around the circular arena, preventing him from making a break towards the stairs as Noel herself did not stop her own chase, dashing behind him to make sure Sora could not catch a break as her drones stuck to him no matter what he did.
'Shit! They are relentless.' Sora thought as he grabbed a rock from the ground and tossed it right into one of the drones. This caused the drone to immediately disappear but as soon as one was taken out another was quick to replace it much to Sora's shock as Noel appeared right in front of him. Prompting Sora to turn his back as she swung the pair of swords right at him. The blows he felt were rough as he immediately saw that Noel was going to go for a swift stab that would immediately kill him if he did not react.
"D-DAMMIT NOEL!" Sora shouted through the pain he felt through his back as he did a reverse back kick right into Noel's sword leg, causing her to briefly lose balance as he delivered a donkey kick right into Noel's stomach, causing her to slide on the ground not very injured as she was quick to create a portal in front of her as Sora's drive activated once again to warn him of another attack Noel was going to deliver as Sora dived out of the way of a massive blade of light manifesting where he stood.
As soon as he dodged however, Sora was quick to realize he needed to move then as two steins trained their laser guns right at him and Makoto, forcing him to tumble in the process as he would be able to dodge more effectively if he had just left Makoto go but if he did, that wouldn't stop Hazama from just snatching her up or killing her on the spot. Thus even if this was the more painful and harder road, he needed to keep Makoto close to him as his attention was fully focused on trying to convince Noel that he was not an enemy.
"Hang on Makoto. This is going to get rough." Sora muttered as he soon charged right towards Noel, his goal is to get the hell out of there right now and find some cover to place Makoto in. Once he managed to hide her, he would be able to fully focus on making sure Noel herself was subdued in the process. Cuddling Makoto close into his body, Sora decided to pull in his full resources to escaping for now as Hazama couldn't help but feel amused by the situation in front of him.
"Oh hoh? Playing cat and mouse right now huh. Yeah… That's right. Continue to fight and struggle against the inevitable." Hazama said as he did not need to waste any energy right now. Noel Vermillion.. No the God Slayer was going to do everything for him and he was completely fine with that. He didn't want to overexert himself for trash and if he can just decide to ignore the trash in front of him while he got a front row seat to the trash's demise, the better.
As Hazama watched on with glee, Sora immediately ducked his head to dodge one of the stein's lasers trained at his head. As he did so, he immediately jumped to dodge Noel's leg sweep as Sora turned around and raised the Rev Arm to start blocking more of Noel's attacks as he was confident in at least parrying Noel's attacks. As for actually dodging lasers, If it wasn't for his Drive, there was going to be no way for him to properly dodge the lasers coming to him, especially since Noel began to fire the lasers in pairs.
'God she's being relentless! These laser barrages won't stop!' Sora thought as the amount of Seithr required to keep up the barrage of lasers aimed at him was simply astronomical. If that was not bad enough, Noel was producing more drones or steins as she called them to keep chase with him, now with four trying to surround and shoot him in different direction and at different speeds to throw off his sense of dodge timing and guarantee one of them does hit him in the end.
'The more he tries to get away the more relentless the god slayer becomes in exterminating him… Truly the cold logic of a machine.' Hazama thought as he continued to watch in glee at what he had created as Noel herself was beginning to realize that Sora was not attacking her willingly but to protect the person he was carrying, a person that she did not care about as something was very wrong with her. Noel, like the machine Hazama thought she was, then decided to fully dedicate herself to offense, taking advantage of this weakness to finish her target.
Suddenly, Sora saw Noel dash back and stand in position. Now normally he would be fine with his opponent running away like this as it means he has the chance to press his offense. However this time Sora did not like the way this was going as he noticed Noel raise her hands in the air as the four steins in the area immediately. "I will show thee. The wisdom of the mirror." Noel coldly said as Sora could immediately feel the effects of a Distortion Drive hit him as the steins glowed in response to Noel's words as energy began to glow behind her.
"Blessed Mirrors. Yata No Kagami!" Noel calmly said with a stern voice as a laser shot out from her back formed by a ball of light right into the steins themselves. While Sora was used to the steins firing in a more sequential pace, The energy Noel shot into the steins caused them to immediately fire their shots simultaneously in bursts of three. Sora did not need his drive to see that he and Makoto would be instantly killed by this barrage so he needed to act quickly before it was too late.
His eyes immediately spotted a crater that he could use as he immediately concentrated his efforts into fully channeling his drive into it's other form, picturing himself standing on the crater instead of where he was standing at that moment. At the same time however, Noel's eyes were trained on him. Unknown to him, Noel's blue eyes were not for show as she could see it, what Sora was going to do and where he was going to go next as Sora managed to use his Drive to get out of the way as multiple laser beams struck the ground where he previously stood, instantly creating a dust cloud that obscured Noel from Sora's vision.
"Shit… That was…!?" Sora couldn't finish his word of thought as suddenly he felt a numbing sensation all over his body as he felt stiff and unable to move any inch of his body. He could only tightly grip Makoto in his hands as he struggled to look for Noel, his whole body feeling stiff as if he had struck a lightning mine. "God...Dammit!" Sora said as he tried to use his Drive to see what he could do but no matter what he saw, he only saw himself being paralyzed, remaining where he stood as the dust cloud blew away, revealing a sight that Sora did not want to see.
It was the sight of Noel Vermillion, floating in the air with her arms stretched. Beside her were 4 blades of lights on her left and her right sides respectfully pointing towards him. Desperation soon came into Sora as he continued to try and force himself to run away, each time feeling every inch of his muscles tear as he tried to desperately escape from the situation in front of him. 'Move...Dammit!...MOVE!' Sora thought, the desperation to escape coming over him as Noel was certain that her target was not going to escape anytime soon.
"Witness the wisdom of the divines. Omohikane!" Noel said as she gestured with her hands, sending the blades of light right towards Sora as all he could do at this point was simply shield Makoto from the sheer impact of the blades by finding the strength to resist enough to curl up his body, using his back to fully block the whole impact of Noel's holy blades from hitting Makoto as he simply closed his eyes, ready to feel pain strike him all over.
Yet...there was no pain, no screams of agony coming out of Sora's voice as he couldn't help but realize that the paralyzing sensation that had overtaken him before was now gone as he didn't know if he should look at that moment or not. He slowly peeked his head to see what had happened as Noel was no longer soaring in the air but on the ground right next to Hazama. However there was now a fiery clad being right in front of him as Sora immediately realized who was capable of forming such an aura.
The person soon descended down as the being turned around and looked at him. It's gaze felt a bit painful at first but soon Sora himself was able to see through the flaming facade as the flames vanished right off the person, revealing the person to be Hunter Long as he looked right at Sora Minakaze as he continued to hold Makoto Nanaya tenderly in his arms. "Is she alright?" Hunter simply asked, gesturing with his finger right at Makoto as Sora looked at him for a moment before revealing the missing arm to Hunter's face.
The silence that Hunter gave him was enough for Sora to simply close his eyes as Hunter took a deep breath. "That's all I need to know… Whoever you are… Please take care of her for me." Hunter said as he soon turned, descending down from the wrath of flames to walk towards Hazama and Noel. "Oh? Look what we have here. The harbinger himself has decided to come along to play with us." Hazama mused but Hunter was not paying attention to Hazama but instead pulling his full focus right onto Noel instead.
"Oh? What's the matter? Cat go.." Before Hazama could finish his sentence, he immediately sensed blood lust coming for him as he immediately dodged a fireball that flew from Hunter's hand. "Shut the fuck up you snake… I don't have time to play with you." Hunter said as his gaze was primarily focused on Noel Vermillion. "Analyzing… Recognizing… Target is the user of Mucro Flagro: Draco… The Harbinger of the world." Noel said in a robotic tone as Hunter closed his eyes, simply in pain in what he was seeing.
"Noel… I don't want to do this..." Hunter said as his hand tightened on the blade of Draco as he pointed the Maw right at Noel. "That's right Godslayer. I am the Harbinger. And I have come to make sure you are stopped no matter the cost." Hunter said as his fiery gaze was focused primarily on Noel. "Recognizing threat. Switching targets to primary threat." Noel coldly said as the steins quickly retreated behind her as she flew into the air.
As she did so, Hunter looked at Sora before his gaze looked at Makoto. Just seeing her look so miserable was enough to give him a deep pain in his chest but he didn't need to say another word. He soon took to the air as well to meet Noel as they both stared at each other, ready to lunge at each other's throats. As we cut to the present scene, Noel Vermillion began to gather the Seithr into the air, allowing a blue colored aura to surround her as Hunter proceeded to do the same, Allowing the flames to further engulf him as soon, he assumed a draconic form with draconic wings and head.
"Here I come… NOEL!" Hunter yelled, a pain present in his voice as the flames behind him roared, immediately breaking the light of the sky with Draco's pure flames alone. Noel herself matched Hunter's output by amping her own Seithr output, causing the blue aura around her to explode, ripping the side of the sky she stood on as they clashed with each other at full speed, briefly breaking the air around the rooftops before a massive gust of wind blasted and struck both Hazama and Sora in the face.
...As the two lovers… Were reunited in what felt like a Greek tragedy.
GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING AT THIS VERY DAY!? Well If you have noticed that I am starting to write a bit longer chapters, it's because I am feeling inspired. Not to say I was not inspired beforehand. I am surprised I managed to find the energy and motivation to keep writing as long as I have for so many years. I guess this is the power of having a set release schedule for you guys.
Speaking of which. There have been some calls to add some lemon style chapters to my story. I didn't think that people would really like that kind of stuff. I am still quite unsure how I want to do it but I do know there are two ways of doing it. I can create a whole new story and dedicate that to purely lemons content but I feel like that would take more time to write and may not be released as much as my main story. The other option would be to go to M and just write the lemons in the story itself. I know my stories have been kinda tame for now but I do like the idea of going for more extreme stuff. Just let me know which one sounds better to you. Separating the lemons from the main story so you can just read the main story or combining the lemons and fully embrace the M rating to it's fullest.
So with that thought bubble out of the way… JUST WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN NEXT TO HUNTER AND NOEL!? WHAT IS HUNTER GOING TO DO AGAINST NOEL AND HER GODSLAYER FORM!? WHAT ABOUT SORA AND HAZAMA!? WILL THEY BE JUST WATCHING FROM THE SIDELINES OR WILL SOMETHING ELSE HAPPEN ENTIRELY!? IN ANY OTHER CASE, STICK AROUND AND KEEP READING TO FIND OUT.