Chapter 11

Cathedral Main Hall

Jin woke up, for a minute, he didn't know where he was. When he finally came to his senses, he walked to the elevator, and found that the elevator was on the lowest floor. He tried to summon the elevator back, but for some reason, it didn't work. Enraged, Jin smacked and destroyed the control panel.

"When things don't go your way, you go straight to violent. Typical of a weak, cowardly human."

Jin turned halfway towards the voice, and saw a masked man with horns. He immediately knew who he was, but he also had no interest. There was only one person on his mind right now, and he walked towards the emergency stairs.

'He went down. If the elevator doesn't work, the only other option is the stairs.'

"How dare you turn your back on me, human!" Adam said, with his hand on his sword.

ICE FANG!

The icy wave charged at Adam at the speed of sound! Adam immediately drew his sword and blocked it, but even though Adam blocked the ice blade just in time, the freezing cold air still completely froze him, turning him into an iceberg.

'Why must everyone get in my way!'

He returned to the emergency stairs, suddenly, he felt something behind him, Jin immediately turned around. The iceberg that trapped Adam, was glowing red, and then shattered! And then, a red flash! Jin fell to his knees, and then to the ground, on top of a pool of his own blood.

Adam walked up to Jin's body, and found that not only was he still alive, but he was also still conscious.

'He opened one of those magic shields at the last second, and at the same time, created an ice wall.' Adam sneered. 'But as if any human could block my Moonslice.'

"Do you see now? Which of us is the superior race." Said Adam, with his feet on Jin's head.

After that, he turned his attention to Jin's sword.

'A Nox Nyctores. To the victor, the spoils. I will use your own sword to end you.'

Adam then picked up the Yukianesa, but when he tried to draw the sword, he found that he couldn't.

"What is this?"

Adam suddenly felt a numbness in his right hand and he immediately dropped the sword. When he looked at his hand, he found frost on his right hand.

'What! What's going on? A defense mechanism? A trap?'

"Fine!" He screened angrily, turned his weapons into a gun and pointed at Jin's head with his left hand.

"So ends the "great human hero"."

"STOP!"

Adam turned the gun barrel towards the voice and fired! But it was blocked… by a large book.

REQUIEM MALEDICTIS!

Eight goldenswords appeared on top of the newcomer's head, and flew towards him in different directions! Adam tried to draw his sword, only to remember that his hand was still numbed by the frost.

"Damn!"

Adam had no choice, he fired another shot and destroyed one of the swords, and dodged another, and then ran towards one of the stone pliers and took cover. Tsubaki used the chance to pick up Jin and his sword, turning her book into wings on her back, and flew out of the cathedral.

'Tsubaki? And she is using… The Sealed Weapon Izayoi? What were you thinking?' Jin thought as he lost consciousness.

The Altar

'Saya?' Was the first thing Ragna thought when he saw the girl on the ground, the Library officer. But he didn't have time to think or look more carefully, because of the "thing" before them.

"Ragna!" Nu said happily. "Are you here to kill Nu again?"

'Huh? Her whole demeanor changed?' Thought Noel.

"Killing is for people, you get broken." Ragna replied, coldly. 'Why is this one awake?'

"Those are one and the same. The last time was… Akitsu, right? You just came and stabbed me."

"Damn freak…"

"But this time it's different. See? This time I can move, and talk!"

"Don't care. Shut up."

"Or maybe you prefer me when I couldn't move, when I was defenseless."

"I told you to shut up!"

Nu giggled. "You were smiling."

"Shut up! SHUT UP! Stop Talking to me with that face! That VOICE!"

Rage. Unfiltered rage. Noel was scared, she never met anyone who was this angry before, and yet… for some reason, Noel also thought he seemed sad, and scared.

Why? He thought. First he had to fight Jin, now he had to destroy this thing! Why do they have her face…

"I will destroy you. Every. Last. One of you!"

With a roar, he charged at Nu, raising his sword high, and slashed down at her-

ACT PARSER

But all he cut, was air. Just before his blade connected, Nu body blurred, and the blade passed right through her, and she appear ten feet away in front of him.

'Space Manipulation? Space Compression?' Though Noel.

"Watch out! Not only can she control those swords around her, she can also create magical swords with physical properties!" Warned Noel.

Nu turned her gaze at Noel, and sent a sword right at her. Noel immediately dodged out of the way, but a second sword came at Noel in her blind spot, it was only by reflex, was Noel able to open a barrier, just in time to block the sword, but it still sent her flying back.

"Stop coming between me and Ragna!"

CARNAGE SCISSORS!

Ragna used the chance and charged in, but Nu reacted in time and blocked with her floating swords, but Ragna was too powerful, and the first dark energy spike sent her swords flying.

"NOW!"

Ragna unleashed a second energy spike from the ground up, piercing Nu right in the abdomen, but rather than backing away, Nu instead locked her arms around Ragna!

"What? Let go-"

Pain… Something just pierced his back, and then he coughed out blood. Ragna looked down at Nu's back, and saw a sword sticking out of her.

'The sword on the tip of her braid… that's what pierced me? And her?'

"Now Ragna, we are finally together." Said Nu with a smile, with blood flowing out of her mouth.

"Crazy bitch… cough…" Said Ragna as he coughed out more blood.

And then Nu began to move back, towards the Cauldron, pulling Ragna with her.

'My body feels weightless, she can control gravity too?'

"Come Ragna, let us go, and destroy everything, together."

Ragna could feel his consciousness slipping. He was just so tired. Not just from the blood loss, but also of pain, of revenge, of hate.

'Whatever. I don't care anymore. Yes, let's just end it all, and take everything else with me.'

And the two of them fell into the cauldron.

"Ragna! Stop!"

And he saw a familiar hand, reaching for him, and he reached out,

The sun was shining, he was lying down underneath a big tree. It was a good day, a good day to take a nap. Someone else is there with him, looking down on him.

"Oh, it's you, Saya. What's with that face? Did Jin pick on you again?"

"…"

'I'm so sleepy… I just need a little nap'

"…hand…"

"Hm? I'm sorry, I can't hear you."

"Give me your other hand! Hurry!"

Ragna returned to his senses, and saw a small hand had grabbed his right hand, and Nu fell into the cauldron below, alone.

"Your other hand! Quick!"

Rachel: "Don't ever give up."

Ragna did what she said, and give the girl his other hand, and then she pulled him up. Once he was up, the girl started hammering him with her fists.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" Asked the girl, in tears.

"How could you just give up like that! You always do this! Please don't scare me like that! Stupid!" Said Noel as she hit his chest with her fist.

'Always?' Thought Ragna.

"Stop! I'm still wounded you know! I got a hole in my back!"

"Oh no!" Said Noel, after coming back to her senses. "I'm… ugh… I'll go look for something to treat your wounds!."

She stood up, and ran away. "Just wait there for a minute!"

"What's with her?"

?: "Thank you for this respite from my eternal boredom. Ragna."

Ragna instinctively looked away from her. "Rabbit. So you were watching?"

"What is it? Did Jubei not teach you that when you speak to someone you need to look at them?"

Ragna grinned at his teeth. He was ashamed. 'I gave up. For a moment there, I gave up on living. Even after you gave me that whole speech.'

"Who was that girl?" Asked Ragna, looking at Rachel.

"She is the new eye." Replied Rachel.

"Eye? New eyes of what?"

"She is the new Azure Successor."

"What!"

"Oh. Don't you worry. That is not what you thought it meant. She is the one who will inherit the True Azure, not that arm of yours."

"True Azure?"

"Time has finally moved forward. No one will know what will happen next."

'It's so odd, not knowing what will happen next. I'm… scared, yet excited.' Thought Rachel.

"You're not making sense, as usual."

And Rachel said nothing and disappeared.

"What? Hey! I'm not done!"

It was then that Noel returned, with a medical kit.

'She looks just like how I imagine she will look when she grows up. Saya.'

Around ten thousand feet above Kagutsuchi

Rachel appeared in the middle of the sky, looking up at an artificial star that was orbiting Earth.

'Nox Nyctores- Gigant: Take-Mikazuchi… the artificial thunder god. So, they would go that far…' Thought Rachel.

The surface of the satellite opened, revealing a black giant, Take-Mikazuchi.

"Deploy Dimensional Interference Circle." Rachel began to chant.

The giant opened its mouth, and began charging.

"Connecting to the inherent Boundary."

A huge blast of laser, shot from Take-Mikazuchi's mouth-

"Tsukuyomi Unit, activate."

A large magic circle shield, covering the entire city of Kagutsuchi, appeared upon Rachel. The laser collided with the shield, creating shockwaves, that shook Kahutsuchi and sent both the NOL and the Atlas airships crashing into each other and plummeting to the ground!

Rachel looked down, and waved her hand, and a gust of rising air blew up underneath the airships just before they hit the ground, cushioning the impact. When the laser finally died down, Rachel looked down at the crashed ships, and wondered how many people had died tonight.

'That was the best I could do. At least we don't need to worry about Take-Mikazuchi for another four years.'

Sewers- En rote to Kaka Village

"What's going on?" Asked Yang, carrying Weiss on her back.

"I don't know. I've lived in Kagutsuchi for years now and I never experienced such shaking before." Replied Litchi.

"Are the tunnels safe?" Asked Blake.

Litchi: "The tunnels are actually safer than the city above. We need to move. Your friend is in bad condition."

Yang: "It's a good thing Litchi was in the neighborhood. Otherwise, Weiss is a goner."

"Yes! We sure are lucky…" Said Rudy, eyes shifting away…

'Huh? If I didn't know any better, I'd think Ruby is hiding things from me. Oh well, whatever it is, I'm sure she'll tell her big sis eventually.' Thought Yang, not worrying.

Kagutsuchi- Airship Dock

The shaking stopped, Cinder left the dorms and went outside to take a look and she couldn't believe what she saw.

'The sky… all of the airships… gone…'

She immediately ran to the dock, and saw all the ships on the ground. Torchwick and Neo, she had sent them to the mother ship, and now they could be dead. Not that she cared for them, but she still had use for them!

'All my plans, ruin! I still needed those Atlasian airships and the Knights!'

"What happened?" Asked unimportant random citizen A.

"Not sure. First the sky lit up, then the earthquakes, after that I heard a weird noise, and then my windows cracked and after that, all the ships went down." Replied irrelevant random person B.

An NOL weapon? But it took down their ships as well.

'No. I haven't failed. My plan was to create fear, so it could lure the Grimms to Kagutsuchi. I can use this, making both NOL and Atlas fight each other. Even now, the people here are scar-'

"Serve you right! Stupid Library!"

"Die! Burn in hell!"

"Finally! Some justice!"

"I'm going to the bar, to have a toast!"

"Count me in!"

"Damn it. Now I have to buy new windows."

"Look! Someone already uploaded the whole thing!"

"Damn it. If only I got here faster! I could've recorded it!"

"You were too busy hiding under the desk."

She heard people in Kagutsuchi didn't like the Library, but she didn't think it was this bad. Now instead of negative emotions, people here are either happy or indifferent.

?: "Take… Take-Mikazuchi!"

'What?' Cinder turned to the voice, and saw a scruffy man in green.

"Are you sure, boss?" Asked a… ninja?

In fact, along with the scruffy man, there are three more weird people, cosplaying in different colored ninja getups.

"I saw it! Six years ago! When the library uses it to destroy Ibukido! Even though I was in Wadatsumi, hundreds of miles away, I still saw it! A pillar of light!"

'What is going on?' Thought Cinder.

The Altar

Noel: "What's with that shaking just now? Is the Cauldron-"

"It's not the Cauldron. Whatever it was, it came from up there." Said Ragna, pointing up.

Whatever medicine Noel used on him, actually closed the large wound on his back. But he's still exhausted from the blood loss.

'I'm having a conversation with the grim reaper…' Thought Noel. 'Maybe I could convince him to turn himself in-'

?: "HAhahahaha!"

They immediately turned toward the voice, and saw a green-haired man, standing in front of them.

'What? Even if I was tired, how could I not sense him?' Thought Range.

"Captain Hazama?" Said Noel, confused as to why he was laughing.

"Who the f- Wait-"

Ragna never saw this clown before in his life, but for some reason, his blood ran cold, but at the same time, anger filled him.

"Look at me, Noel Vermilion!" Ordered Hazama.

"What?" Said the confused Noel, looking at Hazama. "Captain?" And then, she saw it. A black shadow.

'No… It's someone else… What?'

At that time, Rachel returned, and saw Hazama, and immediately pulled Noel away.

"Don't look at him!"

"Eh?"

Hazama?: "Heehahahaha! Too late! That counts! That totally counts! Ah hahaha!"

Ragna didn't understand what was going on, but he immediately knew who he was! The person who killed the Sister! The person who controlled Jin to attack him! The person who kidnapped Saya!

"TARUMI!"

With a roar, Ragna drew his sword, but suddenly, the scenery changed, and he was outside, at a city expansion construction site.

"What? Where did-" Then Ragna came to a realization. "Rachel! Yon teleported me!"

Besides him, Noel was also teleported with him, and she was more confused than before.

"Is that your way of expressing thanks?" Said Rachel.

"What was that?" Said Noel, sitting on the ground, with her hands around her shoulders, trembling. "Something else was inside of Captain Hazama… Susano-"

"Don't say it." Ordered Rachel.

Noel looked up at Rachel, but Rachel just looked away. "Kokonoe." Said Rachel. "You saw everything, didn't you? He has returned."

"Kokonoe? You two know each other?" Said Ragna, surprised.

"Yeah. I saw." Kokonoe said with a smile, in her laboratory. "Finally, I can have my revenge."

"What? Who's there?" Asked Noel, looking around.

'So, you wanted him to be revived.' Thought Rachel. "Still a child I see."

"Ragna." Said Rachel. "Do you know why I teleported you?"

Ragna said nothing. Of course he does, he got a stabbed wound on his back and still suffered from blood loss.

"I pulled you out because you couldn't defeat Terumi. even if you are in perfect condition."

"What? Why?"

"Because of your Azure Grimoire. Your incomplete Grimoire."

"Incomplete?" Said Ragna, looking at his hand.

"I, and Jubei hesitated to tell you this, because we were afraid you would reject the Azure Grimoire." Rachel turned and looked Ragna in the eye. "The one who created your Grimoire, was Yuki Terumi."

To Be Continued