BLOODEDGE

Ragna wasn't sure when he'd become aware.

After he'd been consumed by those white flames, all he could see was an unending white void. What seemed like an eternity later, the Reaper finally twitched his muscles and feeling returned to his harshly numbed body. Looking down to observe himself, he then also realized that his clothing had been repaired and his body seemed 'fuller' than the corpse-like state he'd been stuck in. The heavy weight behind him also alerted him that he still had his prized sword, the Aramasa. Grabbing the blade from behind him, he looked over the weapons unscathed frame and unfractured steel. No sign of Clarent on him though.

"What the hell is going on?" he swore. Even his voice seemed healthier. "I can't be… dead, can I?"

"On the contrary, you're about to enter immortality… despite how obviously undeserving you are.'

The emptiness around him shimmered as it became replaced with the court room he'd just slayed Messiah in. However, this place was not the same as its features lack any sign of battle damage or aging. The stands with seats filled by not only the same corpses as before, but some additional ones Ragna didn't remember seeing and this time they appeared to be fully skinned. Not a single one of them moved at Ragna, only staring him down with lifeless unblinking eyes. Prying his gaze away from them, his eyes moved to the throne where he saw the only one who appeared truly alive in this place, and likely the one who had spoken to him.

They were a broad shouldered warrior with armor of solid silver with a midnight black cape. Their ghostly white hair was long, flowing and fell all the way to their waist. Stern features glared down at Ragna in disgust while their gauntleted hand gripped a very familiar spear. The whip that had scarred Ragna earlier was looped at their waist while the sword of the World Conqueror rest in the hilt at his side.

"Messiah?" Ragna asked, dumbfounded by the situation.

"Who else? I told you I was everyone in this room, and soon that will include you as well. Even if to get into my rank of hosts… you cheated."

"Hosts?" the Reaper repeated, more focused on that phrase than his enemy's ego. "Then all these people-"

"Were my former bodies. And when my body failed, the victor's flesh and soul would have the privilege of serving my needs. So the process has repeated itself across these long eternities. Be honored that you'll be taking part in this ancient blessing that I've been given."

"Asshole! You're not taking me!" Ragna shouted as he finally drew his sword. Even his movements seemed easier than before, as if he really was back up to full power somehow. Messiah's earlier stern expression seemed to fade with amusement as he chuckled and shook his head.

"Why rush this? I'm sure you still have too many questions to ask and it's been quite some time since I've had someone that's made it this far. Why not ask for the knowledge I've accumulated over my several lives? I'm sure that you'll be able to-"

"Where the hell is Ruby?"

"Right that little… I mean, your friend," Messiah had been about to insult her, but something made him stop now. "She hasn't died yet if that's what you're asking, and there's no danger of that happening while things develop here. Time outside has frozen completely, all that matters is what you see before you."

"And what's that?" Ragna demanded.

"…Haven't you been paying attention? This is a setting of the soul itself! This place is reflection of everyone here! You… them…" He gestured to those in the seats. "But mostly me, which is why it reflects my old palace in its much grander days."

"This is my soul?" Ragna thought aloud as he lifted his right arm and stared at what still felt like his replacement palm. "But our auras and Semblances were sealed. How can something like…" He hesitated. "Magic."

"Oh? You came to that conclusion quite quickly. And even more surprising, it's the correct one. Yes, this entire underground palace has been sealed by magics far beyond your imagination. Magic that will trap anyone that enters this place for all eternity and seal away the aspects of the soul. The original idea was that I wouldn't be able to possess whoever managed to kill me, but even that wasn't enough for god given powers. I also had to put myself in a disadvantageous state for my encounters when I became tired of each body, just so that my prey would actually have some chance against my still outrageous powers."

'Alright, I figured most of that out but I'm not learning anything other than how full of himself this parasite is. He's not letting anything about him slip about how I'm supposed to kill him now, or how I'm supposed to get out of this place once I do.'

"How you can still consider leaving this place is beyond me, as is the idea of you besting me here. Very few have made it this far even with my aid and no one has managed to even wound me in my own soul. And all of those warriors were of a caliber far beyond yours."

'Shit, can he-?'

"Read your thoughts? Of course I can, there's nothing you can hide here. For soon I'll be in possession of everything you are," Messiah taunted, though he still seemed bored. "Face it, both you and that girl are going to remain in my broken castle until the end of time itself. I can only hope I won't be stuck with your vile flesh for long before I find a better body. Why don't you just cower where you're standing? I already know about your fear of ghosts."

"… So what if I was afraid of ghosts?" Ragna growled as he raised his sword. "Right now, I'M TOO PISSED TO GIVE A DAMN! SO WHY DON'T YOU JUST CUT YOUR BULLSHIT!?"

(Cue Kirby and the Crystal Shards -Zero 2 Battle-)

"Well…"

A sudden pain filled Ragna as he harshly winced. His adversary gave a smirk at the sight. Ragna might not have been able to put the exact feeling into words, but he still could tell what was happening; even just being in this place meant he was losing his remaining soul.

"I have time on my side."

All around him the same white flames that had consumed him into this curse alit themselves in the stands. From those flames, pale white chains came into existence and lifted the surrounding bodies into the air. Ragna tensed as he was completely surrounded, the room filling with Messiah's cruel laughter as the chains wrapped around his waist and lifted him into the air.

"Give me the entertainment I desire… and fall."

Ragna recklessly rushed forward with a leaping slash only to get intercepted by a heavily armored warrior wielding a greatsword. Their heavy armor only added to the blow that Ragna was forced to block as it sent him flying away from Messiah. Landing, he already saw that a much thinner and less armored spear user was diving down to impale him and dove out of the way at the last moment. As the spear broke into the stone flooring behind him, the more armored one from earlier came back around for a horizontal swing without giving Ragna time to avoid it. Ragna's forced guard resulted in him bringing his projection of the Aramasa to take the enemy's greatsword. Keeping his feet firmly planted on the ground he managed to keep from sliding back against the force, far better than he'd been able to do in their earlier fights.

He couldn't take too much pride in this though; Messiah's warning of time still had a hold over him meaning he had to commit to something. While flanked by the sword and spear wielder he was at a major disadvantage and they weren't giving him any openings to escape. Blocking the overhead sword swing while only barely managing to dodge to the side as the spear thrust nearly got him in the chest. The two came at him from opposing sides to catch him with a pincer swing, but instead of blocking Ragna leaped over the attack, bringing his blade up to carve the lancer in half.

"Got you now ass-! GUAH!"

A fiery explosion. From out of nowhere. The attack had hit Ragna head on and sent him flying into the wall where he violently crashed. Though no blood was drawn and his body didn't appear to be burnt, the pain he felt from it was real enough and nearly overwhelming. Glaring up, he saw Messiah looking down on him as he floated in the air with fire dancing around his arms.

'This guy can use actual magic too? What the hell!?' Ragna thought as he parried another fireball out of the way. Lightning then formed along the monster's arms before he threw two condensed bolts of electricity. They didn't go straight for Ragna either, traveling in jagged arcs as they separated to confuse Ragna. As the Reaper did his best to keep his eyes on the two bolts, he noticed Messiah was already gathering magic for another Fireball in each hand. They threw them just as the electricity closed in on Ragna to attack from all sides.

Tapping into speed he thought he'd lost somewhere during the hellish quarter, Ragna swung through both bolts of lightning before they hit him. Contact with his sword and the resulting burst of sparks still felt painful, but likely far less than a direct hit. He then ducked the first fireball before cleaving through the second one in a burst of flames. He felt the intense heat before his vision seemed to white out once more.

'HAIL TO THE HEAVEN SENT MESSIAH! MAY HIS REIGN SPREAD THROUGHOUT THE WORLD AND LAST AN ETERNITY!'

'HAIL TO THE MESSIAH! HAIL TO THE MESSIAH! HAIL TO THE MESSIAH!'

"What the-? WHOA!"

As Ragna's vision returned, the spearman from earlier nearly impaled him with a descending stab and would have if not for his last second dodge. Since he had already been forced to move, this left him in just the right position for the armored swordsman to attack. Swinging back around, he managed to catch the opponent's sword and keep them held in a blade lock. It wasn't an ideal position as he had multiple foes to worry about, but the attack didn't even come from a force he was expect. Pain flaring in his right leg, he glanced down to see three throwing daggers stuck in his flesh though no blood was drawn. Faltering at the wound slightly, he ducked as the swordsman completed his speed before leaping back to avoid the spearmen coming down upon him once more. Acting on instinct, he brought his sword flat before him as a shield and managed to block three more expertly thrown daggers.

The thrower of these daggers was yet again another chained phantom, only this one brought along its own set of questions. Dressed as an assassin and obviously female, Ragna might've had a crass comment to say at Messiah's expense if he had the time to do so. From the background, magic energy flowed into the tyrant's spear right up until he threw it with enough force to produce a sonic boom.

Ragna's expertly timed Aramasa swing saved him, redirecting the lance as it impaled the chained assassin in their chest. Moving fast, he ducked under the armored warrior's sword swing before cutting them vertically then side stepping the lance user spear and carving through their neck. Immediately going after the source, Ragna ran forward knowing that Messiah could try to snipe him out of the air with magic, and waited until after they'd thrown their attack to leap into the air for his attack. Messiah didn't even bother to go for their sword in defense as Ragna closed in, just continuing to float above their throne. The realization came to Ragna far too late as he felt the sharp pain of knives stabbing into his back. Before he could even let out a pain filled scream, the heavily armored one with a greatsword had leaped up to him without any signs of damage from his attack. Ragna's guard was far from clean as it blasted him away, but the real problem came when his vision started to white out again.

'Dammit! Again!?'

This time different; now Ragna could just barely make out the setting he was in though he could not move. He could see the glow of a raging fire as looked down upon some sort of formless shadow that was on his knees glaring up at him.

'Our kingdom was your greatest ally for so many generations… We signed every treaty you wanted and gave all the aid you asked for and more… Your kingdom wouldn't have gotten half as large as it did without us… AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US!?'

Ragna, or rather the vision he was occupying, only shifted their view upwards as the figure struggled to their feet. Ragna then started to develop feeling as his vision only improved; the weight of heavy armor, his gauntleted right hand wrapped around a sword handle (greatsword, he could tell), and the intense burning of the fire against him as he also started to hear screaming in the distance. The figure in front of him wasn't just some nobody either; dressed in a regal tunic with a silver wreath wrapped atop their head, long graying hair, and bloody stump of a right arm with a severed hand lying beside him a short distance from a gladius.

'Just to build your empire…' A face wracked with pain and grief though he tried to stand strong in his enemy's face, in Ragna's face. 'I hope they succeed in making that monster… Just as long as it kills you… DAMN YOU TO HELL!'

Ragna wasn't in control, but he still felt motion as he brought the sword high into the air before bringing the blade down with an executioner's slash. As soon as the blade finished cutting the victim's flesh in a gory display, Ragna snapped out of that hallucination. It was sickening… being on that side.

So sickening, that he was almost stabbed in the chest by the dragoon's lance. Grabbing the weapon just above the point, Ragna managed to throw its user off him before blocking against the knives aimed against this back by the female assassin. Landing to the ground, Ragna was once more surrounded by the four.

"What's wrong? You seem distracted," Messiah taunted as his arms cackled with electric force.

"STAY THE HELL OUT OF MY HEAD!" Ragna shouted at the top of his lungs before lurching once more as his soul seemed to drain away. This was much harsher than the first time. Was it because this form had taken damage? Was it because he was running out of time? Likely, it was for both.

That pain nearly led to much more suffer as he was barely able to block a volley of arrows shot by yet another chained warrior. Feeling the room painfully cool around him, Ragna leaped into the air just as the ground he'd been standing on was encased with thick ice. Making rapid swings with his sword he was barely able to defend himself between both the archer's arrows from before and the new robed magic user that still had access to their powers as Messiah's pawn to launch jagged icicles at him.

At his hastened defense, Messiah only increased his pressure while controlling the other captured spirits as they leapt up at Ragna from different directions. Countering the greatsword, the colliding forces sent Ragna high into the air to avoid the other attacks before flipping over as his feet planted onto the ceiling. Kicking off, he homed in on Messiah with a powerful thrust forward. His target didn't seem surprised at all by this sudden movement as he counted with a spear stab. The collision caused the spear to shatter once more, but using their free hand its owner grabbed the Genesis Blade and swung to counter Ragna's attack and sent him flying back. Ragna flipped back and landed on his feet as he slid back, keeping his sword up and his senses about him as he did so. Messiah didn't send his minions after him, only keeping them around him to form a barrier.

"You fight much better in this state. A pity I couldn't enjoy this while you still had ownership over your body; I might have found you somewhat worthy," Messiah conceded with amusement as the shattered pieces of his spear reformed the weapon to its prime form right before Ragna's very eyes, like it had never been damaged. "Not a lot of thinking going on in that head of yours while you fight, though… The way you move with pure instinct reminds me of someone I knew long ago..." A scowl forming at what appeared to be a bitter memory. "The damn pest that he was."

Ragna didn't say anything as he kept his blade up and watched the phantoms forming a barrier protecting Messiah. While he still felt as strong as he had earlier, the sudden bursts of pain he experienced meant he was losing the battle for his soul. Searching for his opening while still keeping an eye on the multitude of soul that Messiah had yet to bring into the fight, things weren't looking good for the Reaper. Taking the opportunity while he still had it, he pulled out the knives from the assassin and threw them to the ground without a single drop of blood on them.

"Hmm… Let's have some fun and bring that in," Messiah decided with a smirk. Before Ragna could question what he meant the doorway gave a powerful rumble. "Stand firm against this and will officially recognize you as a suitable vessel."

"Tch!"

The doorway then exploded with a loud crash then send debris flying at Ragna. Instead of cutting it with his sword, he delivered a simple jab that carried enough force for it to shatter the chunk aimed for his head. This proved to be the right move as Ragna knew this was only cover for the thing that sent the rubble flying at him in the first place. The Aramasa's edge contacted a sharpened waraxe and managed to deflect the weapon before doing the same with the wielder's longsword. Bringing his sword around, the sudden flash of metal made him leap back just to barely avoid a battle hammer's swing and deflected the thrust of a lance point. Blocking both the longsword and waraxe sent him sliding back, but it also gave him his first proper look at his new opponent.

Just like he'd expected, it was the four armed warrior that had been sitting on the throne. The sealed Emperor, only now he could actually grasp the power he held in him with his restored flesh. He was well over nine feet tall and each of his four arms were barrels of muscle as they each held a different weapon. While the face appeared human, the angular shape and constantly stern expression was more than enough to brand it as a monster. They wore no armor, only a long tunic at the waist and leather wrapped sandals. This creature also had the same ghostly chains wrapped around their waist, allowing Messiah to control the monster.

It came in with the lance first due to its superior range and Ragna had to dodge if he didn't want to get caught off guard for its follow up attacks. Answering the slash from its long sword with one from his own blade, Ragna managed to counter the attack before rolling out of the way to the axe swing. Going into a slide to avoid the overhead swing from the battle hammer, Ragna impaled his sword into the ground to stop his movement before flipping backwards. Narrowly missing the warrior's spear swing as it tried to bat him away, Ragna successfully made a clean slash against their chest. No blood was drawn from the attack and the creature didn't so much as flinch before swinging again with their Battle hammer. Ragna was forced to block the blow and winced at both the ungodly impact as well as the unwelcome flash of a vision.

"I told that idiot not to face him without us… and now look at them now…"

Ragna was seeing this vision through Messiah's eyes once more, only this time he could tell that he was inhabiting the body of the warrior he was currently facing. Having four arms was certainly odd, but he couldn't move the arms in the vision if he wanted to. He was on the floor in utter defeat as he glared up at three figures. The one who had spoken looked like some sort of witch with her pointed hat and bright pink hair, an obvious temper about her as she glared down at him.

"To think he had to lose his body to him as well… And he was such a strong warrior…" This was spoken by the other woman of the group. She wore a light hood, had peach colored hair, and wore round glasses. She had a calming aura around her, but only looked down sorrowfully into Ragna's vision. "What are we supposed to do now?'

"The only thing we can do." Ragna didn't know what it was, but even in this vision he felt he blood go cold. A mysterious figure clad in white armor with a helm he couldn't see into, a long tail of silver hair coming out of the back of the helm, and an exceptionally long sword sheathed on their back. "We should rejoin the others soon, but we need to handle him. Though I may be able to kill him outright, I cannot risk the chance that he could obtain my body."

"This isn't fair, anyone that wins against him would only get possessed," the one with glasses noted. "How are we supposed to stop him now?"

"I'll have to come up with something that can seal them away for good… Hopefully the freak dies out while he's down there. Maybe I'll even put him back in his own castle so he's comfortable."

"You and your twisted sense of humor, Sage," the armored one said as he approached Ragna in the vision, and knelt down to grab him by the neck, not even noticing the weight as he hoisted him up. "But still… it's a far better fate than they deserve."

When the vision ended, Ragna spent no time shoving the large hammer off of him before slamming his sword into the spear and knocking it out of the giant's grasp. Ragna then bloodlessly cut off the axe wielding arm, dodged the sword wielding arm, and delivered another slash to the monster's chest. To anything else that blow would have been fatal, but this one didn't even slow from Ragna's heavy blows as its arm reattached before made another series of swings at Ragna. The Reaper flipped back, only to feel intense heat as a sudden fireball struck him in his exposed back and sent flying.

'So much for a fair fight,' Ragna groaned internally as Messiah's mages cast ice and lightning against him and he was forced to dodge out of the way.

By now Messiah's chains were in control of everybody that Ragna had seen in this place and was sending them at him all at once for one final attack. Ragna prepared himself for a barrage as he caught sight of the form of Messiah he'd fought with Ruby, the one that had put him in this situation, wounded Ruby so grievously and… he saw them glowing with power. That realization made Ragna brought both of his arms in front of him just as all of the Phantoms closed in on him, and all around him their blows were stopped short.

(End theme)

"What are you doing?" Messiah demanded as the black barrier forming all around Ragna continued to hold back the chained phantoms. "How are you doing this?"

"What's wrong asshole? Can't read my mind now?" Ragna taunted, though he held little advantage. Messiah's merciless assault would have left him bleeding and broken if he'd been in his proper body and even as things stood now Ragna's soul had taken serious damage. "That guy over there… the same one I fought you as earlier… that isn't any magic. I can tell that he's got a Semblance. Meaning Aura works in this place after all, I just couldn't feel mine after so long."

"And? You think that gives you enough advantage to escape your fate?" Messiah returned as his forces continued to attack Ragna's barrier, forcing the Reaper for grimace under the pressure. "Face it, you've already been bested… and you're hesitating."

'Dammit, he's right.'

"The moment you drop that barrier I will burn, freeze, electrocute, cleave, impale, and crush you in every way imaginable. I will ensure that your soul's last moments before joining me will be filled with utter agony. So come then, show me what insignificant good that little Semblance of yours will do."

'It's not little, but that's the problem,' Ragna thought, free to do so now that his barrier was keeping his thoughts unreadable to Messiah. Another harsh blow against his barrier and another wince in his hesitation. 'If this guy's telling the truth about where we are, then my Semblance could kill me outright but…' He took a deep breath. 'I'm dead either way. I gotta use it… I gotta use ALL of it.'

From beneath the barrier, Ragna lifted his right arm and grabbed his wrist with his left.

"To reap the damned and devour souls,

On my life the dark bell tolls."

"A magic-based incantation… but it's applied to a Semblance? What are you playing at?"

"Limb severed and Aura broken,

This apocalyptic arm, my spited token."

"This is little more than a poem as you prepare yourself for the end. It's boringly grandiose at best," Messiah again before noticing the cracks appear on Ragna's barrier. "You're out of time, boy. Accept it!"

"Seeking not justice, but enraged revenge,

My family's suffering, I shall avenge."

"Give it up already!" Messiah shouted as his phantoms only increased their attacks ferocity. "I'll have both your body and soul as my own long before you can pursue any ideas of vengeance!"

"Unable to protect and powerless to save

This destructive grudge, I take to my grave.

From sacrilege born and in trial grown,

Strike the Snake God from his throne."

"Strike the…? No… You can't mean…" Abruptly, the chained warriors suddenly ceased their attacks. For once Messiah seemed at an utter loss. "He can't…"

"And all who impede my blighted path…

Shall obstruct no more… For I am..."

(Cue BlazBlue CentralFiction -Black Onslaught II- Extended)

With a titanic and bestial roar that caused the setting of their souls itself to quake, Ragna's barrier finally shattered as dark energy exploded outwards and slammed directly into the phantoms sending them flying back into the walls where black flames decorated their bodies if they weren't destroyed instantly. Though he was outside the blast range, Messiah gave their first scream of agony as they gripped their own body while the chain's hold wavered for a moment. Looking back at Ragna with a feral glare, he caught sight of the man with black and red flames covering his body and emitting from his sword.

"WRATH."

'THAT POWER IS-!?'

Grabbing the Aramasa out, Ragna's sword was covered in the same energy that he was emitting as he brought the blade back. Messiah threw another of their fireballs to throw Ragna off balance, but the Reaper's blade cleaved through the attack effortlessly. The same lancer that had a nasty habit for coming at Ragna from above came down with a dragoon's dive tried to do so again, as Ragna effortlessly dodged the point he came up with a sword swing the cut deep into the lance user; coating them in the dark energy he'd created and causing them to explode in a burst of black ash. Messiah once more howled in pain and Ragna took that opening to rush forward.

Panicking, Messiah then used his magic user to launch a barrage of icicles, but Ragna's barrier prevented the attack from getting through. Messiah used this chance to charge and fire their lightning magic arcs as his assassin unleashed a barrage of knives from the other side of Ragna. Letting the barrier fade, Ragna deflected each of the knives out of the air with a series of rapid slashes before cleaving apart the lightning spells as they tried to get under his guard. The mage minded their distance as they then used the opportunity to charge the larger ice attack the had frozen the ground Ragna had been standing on earlier while the other two mages charged fire and lightning elements specifically. As Messiah threw their spear with a titanic heave, Ragna brought his sword brought his sword up behind him.

"CARNAGE-!"

He avoided most of the attacks in his rush forward; Messiah's spear, the arrows of fire, and the blast of lightning all missed their mark completely. The frigid blast on the other hand hit him with the full force intended… but it didn't even slow him. Ragna's sword cleaved through the caster with his accursed energy and caused them to shatter into ash like the others. Swinging his blade around he unleash a second swing at the further mages.

"What a worthless test subject. At this rate they won't even make it through test ten, let alone the fifty we'd need for actual progress. Dump it in the assigned cell and check if they're not dead by morning. Otherwise I'll schedule a dissection and we'll gather what little info we can from the corpse."

"-SCISSORS!"

The explosion of the dark energy from the ground in front of Ragna engulfed the remaining mages and turned them to nothingness. Through his cries, Messiah then noticed that where his phantoms had been destroyed there remained red wisps of some sort of energy. The wisps then went into Ragna's arm where they seemed to help him recover his composure.

'It IS that! How does the power of the beast exist in this day and age!?' he internally demanded by recklessly pelting Ragna with magic attacks from afar while moving his remaining phantoms out of the way. Despite the circumstances he was put into, he couldn't help but give a small smirk. 'If I can still manage to take his soul, then that power becomes MINE along with the other souls he's stolen from me. And I can still outlast him, after all I have all the tools I need right here.'

His composure regained; Messiah threw another barrage of icicles as some of his unoccupied chains retrieved his spear. Ragna dodged the attack, but the lightning quick assassin used that opportunity to pepper him with more throwing knives. These he didn't even bother to block as he charged forward, the assassin leaped back for cover behind two better armored foes. This proved fruitless as Ragna threw his sword and impaled her causing the phantom to explode. Without his sword, Ragna channeled his energy into his right arm and condensed his flames around it.

"HELL'S FANG!"

His lunge didn't even slowly as his fist impaled the first phantom warrior and destroyed them a moment last. Flinging his other hand up, he created and wave of darkness destroyed yet another warrior. Reaching out and catching his sword handle before his blade even touched the ground, he deflected the greatsword swing of the golden warrior he'd been first fighting against, showing some surprise when the warrior managed to hold him a blade lock. Noticing that Messiah was taking the chance to charge a much large spell as other Phantoms surrounded him, Ragna quickly recognized the situation he was now in.

Roughly shoving his blade to the side and ending the blade lock, Ragna delivered a gut punch that was enough to score damage through the armor, though his aura didn't destroy that phantom outright. Cleaving through them with his sword to finish the job Ragna then took note of the giant four armed warrior that had given him trouble before and went for them instead of targeting Messiah themselves. Clashing with their large battle hammer, Ragna powered through the blow just enough to block their incoming spear strike. Backing up to narrowly keep the waraxe from taking his head off. Ragna made and underhanded swipe with his sword at a group of enemies about to strike him from the side of the giant.

"Aw, what's wrong Raggy? You feeling a little down after a tiny cut like that? ARE YA!? Come on. Your piss stained little brother is still counting on you, isn't he? Weren't you talking all of that tough shit earlier? HUH!? AREN'T YOU MAD AFTER WHAT I DID TO THAT WHORE MOTHER OF YOURS!? I STILL GOT PLENTY OF TIME LEFT TO WORK ON YOUR SISTER!'

"DEAD SPIKE!"

Ragna's darkness took the form of a monstrous head that sprung from the ground and slammed into the two spirits, destroying them in an explosion of darkness. The attack would have likely been enough to kill them anyways, but Ragna's sheer anger at that last memory made certain of it. Leaping back as the four armed titan came at him with another rush, Ragna didn't so much as glance backwards before he impaled the way back and stabbed into another phantom that had been waiting for him. Instead of charging back at the titan, Ragna instead poured his energy into his sword and fired off a wave of dark energy from his sword directly at the controlling Messiah.

Going for their Sword of Conqueror's, Messiah charged energy into the blade the instant he grabbed it before letting loose his own sword wave. When the two projectiles met there was no contest, Ragna's attack was easily torn apart by Messiah's and the Reaper was forced to raise his sword to defend himself from the shockwave. Even with a perfect guard, Ragna winced in pain as his aura was broken completely for a moment as his sword took the entire blow. He was forced back in a slide as his felt a deeper twinge of pain than he had before. Was his semblance really killing him, or was there something else about that sword? He couldn't question it for more than a second as the shadow of the titan loomed over him. Raising his sword again with a much weaker stance, the giant swung its massive weapons and knocked Ragna to the side where he began to lose his balance.

The more phantoms rushed him, though these were dressed in more recent garb and were probably some of Messiah's newer hosts. One carried a lance and came in from below while the other swung a massive battle-axe from above. The lancer even seemed to have a Speed Semblance helping them charge forward in a lime green aura while the battle-axe user's red aura didn't bode well for Ragna's whatever it meant. Instead of dodging, Ragna went on the offensive.

"GAUNTLET HADES!"

As the dark aura now focused around his right leg, Ragna spun into an overhead roundhouse kick with enough force that it launched him into the air and avoid the lance point. Striking the wielder's head with the initial kick wasn't enough to destroy them outright, but his follow-up spin kick of dark energy that resembled a monster's claw connected with both of them and finished the job. Before Ragna had even landed he was forced to bring his sword out and cleave through Messiah's spear, which he'd launched as he he'd seemingly found an opening. Unlike before, Ragna had enough instinct to cleave his blade two additional times, destroying the lightning spells as well.

While there were still several Phantoms left, many of them were clustered around the four armed titan that served as the main threat aside from Messiah themselves. Ragna knew that if he tried to go for the monster in control here that the remaining Phantoms would only intervene like they had before, so he advanced on the titan and only hoped that the remainder of his soul would last. Deflecting spells, dodging spears, and powering through the several throwing knives brought Ragna closer to the titan who gave a loud battle roar as he stood to meet him head on. As they readied their blades, Ragna charged a dangerous amount of aura into his sword and swung in time with the titan's attacks. He managed to shatter their four blades, and rushed forward with his right hand out.

'So that really is the power of your Semblance… at least it is after what that monster did to you. Listen to me, Ragna. What you have now is probably the most dangerous semblance in all of Remnant. Not just to your enemies, but to yourself and everyone around you as well. Overusing it is just going to kill everything in sight, so never use it if you don't have to. In fact try to never use that power it if you can help it; you'll never be able to control it and even with it… you won't be able to save anyone.'

"DARKNESS CONSUME YOU!"

His right hand now transformed into a claw of darkness Ragna plunged it into the four armed monster. With a feral roar, the ground around him darkened as tendrils of energy shot out impaling the titan and all of the remaining phantoms around it in an utter storm of power. Crushing his claw and ending the attack, all of monsters around him exploded into red wisps which were fed directly into his arm. Ragna gripped his limb in pain as he could now fully feel his soul dying. But there wasn't any time to rest as he leapt into the air and grabbed out the Aramasa, the sword transforming into a scythe and glowing with the same dark energy and he brough it down on Messiah.

"Remember Ragna, I'm trusting you with a lot here," Qrow Branwen had said to him a short time ago. He remembered this night, sitting around a campfire with him and his teacher. "When you get to Beacon-"

That was the memory that Ragna had to shut down before it could finish.

"BLOODSCYTHE!"

Time seemed to slow as the glowing blade homed in on the defeated emperor, the betrayer who had likely been sealed away by the countless atrocities they had committed, the monster that had taken the bodies and souls of countless… the same monster that would be responsible for Ruby's death. But they didn't do anything. They didn't go for their powerful sword, nor did they ready their lance, they didn't even charge a magical spell to slow Ragna. All they did was smile.

"Too late."

And his vision became a void once more.

(End theme)

This time it didn't take Ragna nearly as long to come to consciousness as he stood in the void. Blinking twice, he glanced around the sheer nothingness he was trapped in. The silence. The lack of motion. It was almost sickening.

"What now?"

That wasn't his voice, though he knew he'd spoken those words aloud. It wasn't any voice. Just a hollow reverb that he could interpret as words. Glancing at himself, he realized that he'd lost a lot more than just his gruff tone. His entire body, his clothes, everything about him, it had all turned pitch black as a shadow. His Aramasa's projection still rested behind him as if he still carried features, but it was of little comfort for the situation he found himself in.

"What? How do you still exist here?"

That had been his voice… yet he was not the speaker.

Glancing behind him, he saw Messiah, moreso he saw himself. The reflection of him had their teeth grit in rage before smirking wickedly, a sight that would have made Ragna scowl had he the features for it. While it was still his body, the aggressive posture and nasty facial expression felt like something out of a horror story.

"You are a beguiling one… Reaper. Tell me, what do you think of my new form?" Messiah asked as he grabbed his version of the Aramasa from their belt, examining he blade thoughtfully. "A good weapon… such a shame you couldn't keep it from breaking before I took it."

"You haven't taken anything yet."

"Look around you. You know that isn't true. You are at the cusp of your eternal defeat, the end to all of your being… as it all becomes mine." Messiah's smile in his new body was sadistic. "Though… this may ultimately be of a mercy to you. After all, you could have never defeated the Snake. Out of all of the heroes, he was the only one that I truly feared. That thing would have been your long agonizing end, meanwhile I-"

"So you knew that bastard somehow, and you were afraid of him… just like you're afraid of me." Messiah scowled at Ragna's words, but the Reaper was hardly taunting. "Nothing about our fights have gone as you planned; I managed to kill your last body when you'd completely written me off, I survived against all of those damned phantoms, and my Semblance looks like it's the one thing that can finally kill you… For the first time, it looks like you're actually in danger of dying."

"How misguided. Even if that were true, then what would winning here grant you?" Messiah demanded with a snarl. Ragna couldn't stand the sight of himself showing such cowardice. "Even if by some miracle you are able to kill me now, you're still trapped down here. And without my eternal body, you'll slowly starve to death. There's no way out of this place; not for me, not for you… and especially not for the girl that you killed."

"…Ruby…"

"Perhaps that's all you're fighting for now; just the chance to put your own damned conscious to rest. To hold her in your arms and apologize as she slowly leaves this world. At this point that's all you could ever do for her… if I wasn't in your way."

Around the two of them, the void finally took its new form. A small little church out in the planes, surrounded by forest land. And all of it burning with the fires of hell itself.

"Such a fitting sight for your last moments; this was the place that set you down this path, wasn't it? Only natural that you should have to relive this tragedy in your final moments as punishment." He readied his replica of the Aramasa and they produced their own dark flames on the blade. "Farewell."

"I'M NOT FIGHTING JUST TO WATCH HER DIE."

Before Messiah could retort, the image around the two flickered. The forsaken emperor tensed as it slowly gave off the image of a place that he hadn't seen in Ragna's memories. Beacon Academy.

"I made a promise to Ruby that I'm going to keep; I'm getting her out of here."

"You're… what? HOW!?" Now Messiah's face had turned feral in fear as the background they found themselves in flickered evermore violently. "HOW CAN YOU STILL CLING TO HOPE ATER ALL YOU'VE SEEN HERE!? OUTSIDE OF THE SOUL LINK YOU'RE ON THE VERGE OF DEATH! YOU'VE NO WAY TO ESCAPE MY PRISON! AND THERE NO CHANCE YOU COULD TREAT THE GIRL'S INJURIES EVEN IF YOU DID! YOU'VE ALREADY LOST!"

(Cue BlazBlue Continuum Shift EXTEND -Soukyuu No Hikari-)

"No. I haven't given up yet…" Ragna declared as he drew his own silhouette of a blade, glowing with his twisted semblance. "Even if it's just this once… Even though my teacher said I could never do this… And even with all of the damn secrets I'm keeping…"

The burning church faded as the Beacon Academy courtyard finally took its place, and Ragna's aura exploded outwards.

"I'M GOING TO SAVE HER!"

With Messiah still off guard, Ragna created a massive Dead Spike from the ground and sent it at his double. They recovered just in time to cleave through the attack with their sword, right as Ragna rushed around the attack to strike from the side. Slamming harshly into their guard, Ragna managed to push them back and Messiah went into a spinning kick mimicking his own Gauntlet Hades. Blocking the initial strike before leaning back, Ragna just barely managed to avoid the follow-up spin kick.

"INFERNO DIVIDER!"

His upward slash was enough to send them both into the air as Messiah howled at the slash Ragna left across their body. The Reaper then followed up with an uppercut to their head before coating his leg in darkness and axe kicking them to the floor. Messiah recovered quickly from the clash and threw out their own Dead Spike attack which Ragna rolled out of the way to avoid just as he touched the ground. Now mimicking his Carnage Scissors, Messiah's rush forward caught Ragna just as he was finishing his roll and broke his hastily raised guard. Striking Ragna with an explosion of darkness, the Reaper was sent flying across the courtyard. Struggling to his feet, Ragna leaped back as Messiah impaled their sword just where he'd been standing. As Messiah swung into a haymaker, Ragna countered and the ground of Ragna's projection was torn at the mere shockwave.

"WHY WON'T YOU DIE ALREADY!?" Messiah shouted in Ragna's voice as they came in for a helm-breaker slash. Defending the attack pushed Ragna back and gave Messiah long enough to transform their Aramasa into a scythe and unleashed a shockwave that hit multiple times and broke his guard. Seeing his opponent use one of his techniques even though he'd yet to show him, Ragna knew that they also had that technique as well… they weren't using it yet though as Ragna countered their sword strike with one of his own as the two blades clashed off each other once more.

As Messiah went for yet another sword swing, Ragna interrupted it with his signature roundhouse kick; far quicker as it struck home and allowed him to deliver an uppercut that lifted his opponent off their feet. Leaping up after them, Ragna made a powerful swing with the Aramasa before making a link with a drive empowered sword slash. Ragna transformed his blade into a scythe to go for vicious slash, but Messiah blasted him away with a powerful defensive burst. Landing to his feet and skidding back, Ragna lurched as his shadowy body started to fizzle out. Shaking the feeling away, he then rushed to Messiah who stood ready.

As Ragna now lead with the haymaker, Messiah blocked the attack by mimicking Ragna's barrier technique. The Reaper then back-stepped to dodge the roundhouse kick counter and stabbed forward, leading Messiah to give a wide horizontal slash as he dodged which Ragna ducked before bringing his blade up to leave a nasty scratch against their face. The sealed Emperor grit their teeth before the slash of retaliation against Ragna's blade sent him sliding back. Now when Messiah went for a rushing slash, Ragna leaped over the attack and brought his sword into position.

"BELLIAL EDGE!"

Diving down at an angle, his Aramasa's point stabbed into Messiah's shield as it absorbed the blow, but pushed him back. When Ragna landed, he made a semblance coated upwards slash and caused Messiah's raised barrier to shatter. Forced to hastily raise his sword for defense, Ragna brought his own blade down in a much more powerful slash with all of its energy directed to his opponent's sword. That wasn't the only attack he made to the sword, quickly transforming his right hand into a claw and slashing into Messiah's sword broke his opponent's guard completely and left him open to a back hand to his face.

Stumbling back, Messiah gripped his nose as Ragna only glared him down with what appeared to be a scowl. No, he was scowling. It was only for a flicker, but Ragna appeared again in his original body. He was regaining control of his soul, and Messiah wasn't about to let that stand. Mirroring Ragna from earlier, he gripped his right arm and forced his energy in it and forced his aura to surge with power in their soul. Ragna tensed as he was about to interrupt the attack, but strangely stopped short as he waited for Messiah to finish charging. Now Messiah could tell that he was scowling, looking down on him… and his rage exploded in kind.

"I AM THE MESSIAH OF THE HEAVENS! I WILL NOT BE OPPOSED BY A BROKEN WEAKLING OF A REAPER! GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HOLD AND PERISH!"

Both he and Ragna were complete mirrors as they channeled all of their remaining power into their weapons. The setting of the soul once more shook with the raw power as the dark auras around erupted and seemed to push against each other. Both gripping their back handed blades, Ragna was silent and Messiah roared as both forced their blades forward. Each blade halted at the impact of the opposing force, creating a shockwave that spanned the area. Messiah gave a fierce war cry… but not for long as glowing cracks appeared on his blade. The very metal on that Aramasa shook at the metal came apart…

And then Ragna's final push finished cleaving the sword through.

(End theme)

Messiah stood defenseless in front of Ragna, gaping as the image of the Aramasa shattered before him mirrored their position with a sadistically ironic twist. Ragna didn't say anything as he flipped the sword in his hands before the weapon extended and took the form of a scythe with a glow blade of energy. Messiah tried to say something. Was it a distraction until his sword reformed? A dire warning against the Snake? A final insult?

…Ragna wasn't hearing any of it.

"BLACK! ONSLAUUUUUUGHT!"

The glowing energy cleaved into Messiah's spirit, wickedly deforming the image of Ragna's own body as his target screamed in utter agony. Then he brought the scythe back for another cut, then another, and another. Messiah's body was already unrecognizable as Ragna's after the sixth slash, but Ragna was down and his dark and radiating blade violently tore at Messiah's soul while he held it high. Their very souls shock once more as with one final hate filled yell Ragna plunged his weapon forward, impaling Messiah and causing their final death cry to echo across the shattering landscape as they exploded into darkness.

Now it only felt like an instant as Ragna's body lurched forward. That… whatever it was had ended. There was no longer a projection of Beacon Academy, his old home, or even the restored castle. He back in the underground ruins, the Crescent Rose impaled in the center of the arena. Around him all of the corpses in the stands seemed to be dissolving into ash. Pieces of his real broken sword lie near him. He was trapped. Trapped with-

"RUBY!"

Rushing over to the downed form of the young huntress-in-training, if Ragna hadn't been in such a panic he might have noticed how easy it was to move as opposed to before he'd been taken by Messiah. Kneeling over her body, Ragna checked her condition. It wasn't good; she was just barely hanging on and she was fading away by the second. Even if she'd had her aura, it likely wouldn't have been enough to heal her stab wound. He was about to lose her.

"…I don't know how, but I'm going to keep that damn promise," Ragna promised her. "Just hang on… just hang on a little long- UGH!?"

His arm was burning. His right arm was burning with pain. Ragna quickly backed away from her as his arm became encased in black flame. His semblance had returned, but that shouldn't have been possible. With this place's enchantments- No, whatever was happening two things were clear. His semblance was back, and somehow he'd managed to overload it. Maybe it was because he absorbed all of Messiah's previous soul or Messiah's own could have been that much stronger than a regular one? Either way this was a new experience for Ragna as the ground quaked around him.

"Dammit! Not now! I still have to-!" Realization came to him in his panic, but it was hardly something worth smiling over. Rushing over to Ruby, he grabbed her body with his left arm and tried to cover her from what his right arm was about to do. Looking at her still body, Ragna gritted his teeth as he uttered a quiet promise one final time.

"…See you back at Beacon."

Raising his hand to the ceiling, Ragna held her close as he closed his eyes. As the power grew and he couldn't help from howling in pain, Ragna went against Jubei's teaching and did everything he could to control and force power directly into his hand. He felt his arm get torn by the force, misshaping it horribly as it tried to escape but he held on. Once he was sure he had it all there, he finally let out a howl of pain as he released it.

Up above, the rest of Team RWBY and Tao had already felt the sudden rumbling as they stood around at the border of the sinkholes. They were about to head back after Goodwitch's insistence and the excavation crew hadn't even arrived yet. As the rumbling grew fiercer they began to lose their balance yet before they saw a dark glow coming from the wasteland… and then they heard it.

A haunting shrill scream as a column of nightmarish power erupted from the tore off into the empty sky. While it was difficult to see against the night sky, the tremors and screams echoed for miles.

Meanwhile

Hazama gave another low groan as he stared at yet another bowl of his favorite food: hardboiled eggs. Much like there several other bowls he'd had recently there didn't appear to be a thing wrong with them, but he already knew that he wouldn't be enjoying these any more than he'd despised the previous batches. Even if he was a fanatic for these thing, he still had a limit for what he was willing to put up with.

"Well, be a waste not to," he said with a sulk as he picked one of the confections. "Over the teeth, and past the gums, look out stomach here it… Hmm?"

He paused as he glanced out the window to the nightmarish setting that awaited him. It wasn't any different than it usual was with Grimm stalking around as they always did. But there was something else as he looked at the creatures… they were shivering at something. Like they were all afraid at once.

"…Interesting," he mused before he lowered his hat so that it covered his eyes. He sat there in silence for a long moment before letting out his twisted cackle. "MOST interesting. So they'd survived in that prison, even after two whole apocalypses. Right up until now. And you just managed to…" His smile returning, Hazama swallowed his egg whole and felt the same sensations as he always did, only now his face was positively beaming afterwards.

"A perfect egg… just like always."

Next Time: Fall Out