Its now been another four months since they departed from they Guilty Gear world, and all that time has been spent training.
Shina's been making marked improvements and now knows everything about what her Valkyrie Drive can do. It seems during this time period Alex has also been more forward about some of his powers, along with explicitly forbidding Shina from inquiring about the Gaia Temporis or even touching it.
With a little bit of rest for their weary bodies, Shina pulls out the artifact and directs them towards yet another Earth.
The surface of this Earth is covered in a poisonous mist that makes it hard to travel on foot. But as the skies are more filled with vehicles, Alex drops the air bubble and has them quickly head towards the nearest city they can manage to find.
Fortunately for them it seems there's no alternate dimension shenanigans afoot this go-around. The artifact guides them towards the 13th Hierarchical City of Kagutsuchi, placing them squarely in the BlazBlue world.
After sneaking their way into the city and blending in with the crowd of celebrating citizens from all corners of the world, Alex and Shina try to figure out what era they're in.
But first, a quick break to eat, as they are both hungry, and Shina tires of Alex's home-made cooking. They pick up some Thai food and take a look at their surroundings.
There are bounty posters up for someone called "Ragna the Bloodedge", which does give some hints as to what events might be unfolding at the moment.
But before they can deduce any further, the city is shaken by the emergence of a terrifying monster at the topmost building...The Black Beast, herald of the end of days.
Before Alex can act upon this new information, a massive laser is fired upon the city and he's forced to have Shina shield them as best she can.
While she shields them, Alex struggles against the pressure to grab the Gaia Temporis. But right as he activates it, Shina's shield breaks and she's swept up into the energy beam, seemingly killed.
Alex can only yell in anguish as Kagutsuchi is wiped off the map, and him along with it.
From the skies above, Rachel Alucard, the Observer of this world, comments on the Elemental Overlord's appearance, and welcomes him to their cycle of death, which shall continue without end...
Loop 1 (Shina Aurora):
Shina wakes up on the outskirts of Kagutsuchi laying atop a tree. She's shocked that the city's intact and she's still alive. But more importantly, that Alex is nowhere to be seen.
Somehow either they traveled back in time or started a new loop, and during that she got separated from Alex. Though she knows he can take of himself, the fact that he's so...unsubtle about his actions makes her worry, so she quickly tries to get to Kagutsuchi to find him before he tears up the city looking for her.
But she's soon to discover that Alex doesn't exactly have a distinct aura when he's not fighting, so either she can waste time scouring the city for him...Or follow their lead on the artifact, and show him that their training meant something by proving she can handle herself alone.
Her immediate assumption, given the time period, is that the artifact will be in the NOL Kagutsuchi HQ up top. But she doesn't want to just barge in like a criminal. So instead she...lures an NOL Officer into an alley, knocks them out with a flyswatter, then steals their clothes.
After noting the irony of her worrying about Alex being a criminal, Shina waltzes on off to the train station to try and get a ride to the HQ building.
She gets a free ticket thanks to being an "officer", but she has to wait a bit. During this time, another person arrives, also from the NOL. She is Noel Vermillion, a lieutenant in their ranks and someone, as it turns out, Shina admires greatly.
So needless to say, Shina wastes no time in fangirling the hell out of Noel, much to the pain of the poor girl's anxiety.
Shina does manage to calm herself down though, and starts chatting with Noel like a normal person would. Noel's shocked that someone would actually be her fan, even when Shina compliments her top marks in the Academy.
But Shina winds up blowing it when she casually drops that she stole this outfit from an officer. Noel immediately switches to a somewhat more confident "arrest mode" and charges Shina with crimes of larceny and mocking her self-confidence with her big breasts.
Shina evades capture and goes into her Gunslinger Drive to have a fight with Noel. The two prove to be dead even in skill actually, with Noel mistaking Shina's Drive for an Ars Armagus.
But their fight is undecided as they wind up realizing they missed the train. Noel breaks down, cursing her uselessness. Shina peps her up though, and apologizes for their scuffle.
Noel winds up realizing that Shina's not a bad person after all, just...overeager. Shina then explains what she was doing, but Noel knows nothing about the artifact.
Since they have to wait for the next train up, Shina and Noel decide to grab a bite to eat at the Thai restaurant she had been to with Alex before.
Along the way there Shina tries to find signs of Alex, but its to no avail. The two of them sit down to eat, and during that time Noel talks a bit about her friends Makoto and Tsubaki, saying how she misses them.
After Shina nearly loses consciousness from a spicy bowl of food, Noel pays for their meal and they head out back to their train ride.
The ride up to the top is slow but it gives Noel and Shina time to reflect while the New Years' fireworks go off in the distance.
All Noel wants for the New Year is to see her friends again, while Shina wishes good tidings for her family back home.
Shina then decides to try and make friends with Noel, much to the girl's bewilderment. But against Shina's enthusiasm, she just can't compete.
They make it top the HQ and find the door slightly ajar. Noel fears the Grim Reaper, Ragna the Bloodedge, has come to slaughter the NOL again.
Shina assures her that if that's true, she'll defend her. They make their way through the building proper, and its surprisingly empty. Not a single soul to speak of.
Noel winds up wandering towards the basement and that worries Shina, who knows what lies below. This HQ holds a Cauldron, an intermediary between the real world and the Boundary. But its what's INSIDE the Cauldron right now that worries Shina.
Noel staring at the Cauldron awakens dormant memories for a moment, but Shina snaps her out of it and tries to get her out of here.
Too late though, as the Cauldron opens up, and from it emerges Kagutsuchi's Murakumo Unit...Number 13, Nu. And worst of all...SHE is the one in possession of the artifact piece.
Noel starts to droll on in a monotone voice, speaking in code regarding a "Unit 12, Mu" until Shina literally slaps some sense back into her.
Shina tries to get Noel to stand back whole she arms her Gunslinger Drive and engages Nu. The artifact piece has corrupted the Murakumo, granting it to power of the Black Beast in her blades.
She's a much more stubborn version of an already stubborn to kill foe. Nu slices through Shina's projectiles and defense with cold precision.
Her training hadn't quite prepared her for something like this, but Shina manages to keep her cool and focus on trying to shove the artifact piece out of Nu's body.
Yet the piece resists those efforts, and Nu continues to attack without end. A merciless machine, this newborn mannequin does not tire.
Noel steps in to try and help, but Shina can't allow her to die when she has a wish to fulfill. She protects her in a bubble of aura in an attempt to carry her to safety...
But without a hint of hesitation, Nu cleaves through the bubble and then stabs Noel into a wall, ending her life in a splatter of blood.
Shina loses her mind and starts furiously attacking Nu, but now the Murakumo has all the openings it needs. First, she cleaves off Shina's wrist so she cannot use the Valkyrie Drive, then she attacks Shina's heart.
Finally, when Noel tries to attack with the last of her life, Nu smashes her to paste just to rub it in. Shina begs and pleads for this to not be the end, as Nu snuffs her out for good.
With the curtain closed on this battle, Rachel Alucard comments on the end...Her audience now growing with the addition of the green-haired snake, Yuuki Terumi.
Terumi laughs at this new addition to a rather droll play, saying that the fun shall only increase from here on out.
Rachel warns Terumi of the Elemental Overlord's presence, but Terumi simply grits his teeth and says he'll just have to break him like any other toy...
Loop 2 (Alex Whiter):
Alex is awakened by a mysterious waif who seems to be familiar with the name "Sarajin". Upon waking up Alex jolts upright and finds himself outside Kagutsuchi, which is currently NOT destroyed.
Obviously this is cause of the time loops, which means for once the Gaia Temporis responded to his non-time stop related wishes.
But Shina's nowhere to be found. Alex has faith she's alive, but more than likely without him keeping an eye on her she's fooling around with the cast of characters on this world. If he had to guess, Noel would be her first target.
He doesn't want to bother trying to go on a hunt for Noel to lure out Shina though. There's no guarantee that would work and he wants to get off this world as soon as possible.
He makes it back to Kagutsuchi as quick as he can and then grounds himself, annoyed he has to walk and investigate on his own.
He wanders around the city and ends up pissing off a mother and her kids, which leads to the father getting aggressive with him. Alex nonchalantly has him break his knuckles on the back of his iron-plated skull, then gets back to business.
He finds the bounty poster for Ragna the Bloodedge again and gets an idea. He'll capture Ragna and bring him up the NOL HQ, then hopefully use that opportunity to call out to Shina so they can meet up again.
Fortunately given the time period, Alex knows EXACTLY what route Ragna will be taking, and goes to intercept him.
Alex's easily able to get Ragna's attention by throwing a pebble to the back of his head and then claiming he's a bounty hunter. But Ragna only considers fighting once its shown Alex has an "Armagus" AKA his sword.
Alex easily gets on Ragna's nerves by mentioning his cut off arm, and uses the fact he's pissed off to easily land some hits on him. But Ragna's nothing if not resilient, and his Drive ability, Soul Eater, lets him siphon off energy when he hits Alex in order to keep in the fight.
Eventually the bridge beneath them begins to open up and Ragna uses it to punt Alex deeper into the city. But Alex snags him with some vines and takes him down with him.
Upon landing Ragna realizes that Alex's is no normal fighter, he might not even be human. He also reeks of blood, though Alex insists its the blood of evil he's slain.
Ragna activates his Azure Grimoire, powering up to take Alex down.
Alex retaliates by going into Phoenix Form and stating confidently that he'll win...Only to be humbled a bit when it turns out, unlike Sol, Ragna's Soul Eater allows him to easily tear through the Soul Shields.
Ragna winds up dealing more damage to Alex than he's experienced in quite a while, reminding him of his fight with Joe Dark.
Alex holds his body together through clever use of his elements and keeps charging at Ragna to try and wear him down.
It gets to the point where Ragna recognizes the only way he'll be able to stop Alex is to use his Astral Heat, Black Onslaught.
Alex might not have cared too much about dying given the time loops, but then he'd just have to restart this all over again.
So saying "screw it" to fair play, Alex takes advantage of this opening to grab Ragna's mouth and suck the air out of his system until he is knocked out.
Though he's won, Alex is winded and needs to take a moment to rest up and regain his elemental energy. He pulls Ragna off to the side, ties him up in unbreakable rope, and then knits his damage clothes back together to pass the time.
When Ragna wakes up he can't believe he's been captured by some punk kid. Ragna tries to squirm free but Alex just passes off his boasts as hot air.
When Alex starts eating an apple to regain his strength, however, Ragna swallows his edgy pride for a moment and asks if he can have one too. Alex feeds him a separate apple and begrudgingly, Ragna finds it tasty.
Ragna then demands to know why he was captured. So Alex details his plan to him and even Ragna, of all people, recognizes just how goddamn stupid it is.
Alex grumbles that its not stupid and that he's stupid. He then hoists Ragna up to carry him to the NOL HQ.
Upon reaching the top, Alex kicks down the door and announces to the NOL that he has Ragna. Ragna is utterly dumbfounded that neither of them are now not dead on the spot...But it seems as though the base is empty anyways.
Realizing that his plan really was a flop, Alex lets go of Ragna and tries to pass off his failure as a good thing by saying he wanted to be here anyways.
Ragna just groans and ignores him, making his way for the basement. But Alex is following, his instincts telling him that the Cauldron holds the artifact he needs.
Ragna is getting really annoyed at all the secrecy and following Alex is doing, but they quickly run into bigger problems.
From the cold shadows of the basement, an armor figured clad in white appears before them. His presence alone making both Ragna AND Alex tremble at the knees.
He is Hakumen, one of the legendary Six Heroes. He refers to Ragna as the "Dark One" and even seems to recognize Alex is the successor of the Elemental Overlord's legacy...Only to be disappointed by his allegiance to the Dark One.
Ragna draws his sword out of fear and attacks Hakumen, while Alex soon joins the fray. Hakumen's blade, the Nox Nyctores Okami, is able to render Alex's elements worthless, forcing him to rely on his own blade.
Hakumen's skills trump Alex's raw strength, as he soon puts both him and Ragna on their knees, their wounds unable to heal from the scars inflicted upon them by his blade.
Even Alex believes for a moment that he might not be able to loop again if Hakumen strikes him down.
But they are saved at the last moment by a dimensional bypass that drags Hakumen away against his will. Alex thanks the person who rescued them while Ragna continues to be confused.
With that obstacle gone they turn to the Cauldron, where Nu emerges, acting flirtatious towards Ragna in particular.
Nu taunts him with a painfully familiar voice, and Ragna continues to get angrier and angrier until the point his expression is like a beast.
Alex's worst fears come true when Nu activates the Murakumo Unit AND the artifact power at the same time. What's worse is that because of his pig-headed plan, he can't use Phoenix Form and Ragna can't activate the Azure Grimoire.
So they are at a clear disadvantage here already, but they try their damnedest to kill this doll and deny her her wish of becoming one with Ragna forever.
Deep into the battle, however, Nu starts to recognize that like her and Ragna, Alex fights with the intensity of a man wishing deep down to destroy the world.
Alex starts fighting more violently to tear into her mouth and lungs just so she'll shut up, but her body continues to pull itself together, driven by the ecstasy of violence.
Even with all their best efforts it doesn't matter. Nu continues to stand up and stab them through, eventually pinning Ragna in place and pulling themselves together to begin becoming one...That one, being the Black Beast of nightmares.
Alex is brought to the ground, his heart racing and his flesh ground to a pulp. And as he feels his life fleeting...He grins, and laughs.
And with his mind snapped, he boasts to Nu that he'll keep coming back, because he can never truly die forever...While she has just the one life to live.
The world around him is undone, as time once again stands to repeat itself. A cycle...that can never end.
Loop 2 (Shina Aurora):
Upon awakening back in the forest it takes Shina a moment to recognize that she's alive, as the pain from Nu's attacks grip her tightly.
But once she comes to grips with this strange reality he's found herself in she's thankful to Alex for managing to keep them both alive with the time loop shenanigans.
Yet while her memories of the last loop are still fresh, she knows it won't be the same for Noel if she finds her again. So its best for now if Shina just tries to focus on getting back to the NOL HQ.
Though without Noel around, she'll have trouble disabling the Armagus blocking the door. Using brute force might work, but then that'd just make her no better than Alex...
So while seeking a solution to her door problems, Shina also considers finding an ally to help against Nu, seeing how alone, she won't get an opening to activate the Valkyrie Drive.
Her thoughts were broken up when she runs into two people arguing outside a medical clinic. One is a beautiful black-haired woman named Litchi, the other is a towering red-skinned man named Tager.
But Litchi is speaking to a woman known as the "Professor", AKA Kokonoe, Tager's boss. Whatever the conversation's about, it doesn't seem to be making Litchi feel any better and eventually, Kokonoe commands Tager to incapacitate her for her own good.
Shina tries to resist getting involved but her good-natured soul tugs her into the heat of battle to defend Litchi. But upon clashing with Tager's beefy fists Shina realizes this is a great chance to get an ally by trying to ask Kokonoe for helping.
But Shina knowing about the Cauldron just makes Kokonoe demand Tager capture her.
Shina's forced into battle, using her nimble body to evade Tager's strength and getting hits in while she can. Eventually she uses her Gunslinger Drive, with Kokonoe seeming to recognize the term "Aura".
An orbital bombardment manages to finally make Tager retreat, though at the cost of Shina's back hurting like hell from tanking his Genesic Emerald Tager Buster.
Fortunately seeing as Litchi is a doctor and all, Shina's invited to get healed up as thanks for helping her out.
Litchi lays Shina down with the help of her assistant Linhua and starts working on a delicate medical massage to get her back in shape.
Shina wishes she could head out sooner, but unluckily for her she can't really fight with a broken back. So she enjoys Litchi's company as her body heals up.
Litchi winds up revealing what she's been up to lately in the doctor business, including a hint that MAYBE Alex is up to some shenanigans.
But when the subject of how Shina got here comes up, Shina winds up having to reveal that she's from another Earth.
Though Litchi is shocked, she trusts in Shina's honesty and figures she'll just have to deal with this info.
But then they return to the subject of Kokonoe knowing about Aura, which Shina has NO idea what that's about...And begins to worry if perhaps Gravitus has chased her out here.
When some noise starts approaching them Shina worries for the worst...And winds up smacking Taokaka, a catgirl, to the ground in one punch.
Fortunately Tao recovers quickly and fondles Litchi and Shina's chest. Then, after perking back up, Tao explains to Litchi how she plans to become a vigilante.
She wanted to go after "Rawrgna the Bloodedge" but apparently some kid that likes to explode a lot captured him already.
Shina's face goes red with embarrassment upon realizing that that's totally Alex.
Tao instead if after the "Squiggly" AKA Arakune. Upon hearing where this person's at Litchi rushes out in a mad haste and Shina follows.
Upon catching up with Litchi, the doctor begs Shina to go back and let her fight this on her own.
Arakune was once a man named Lotte Carmine, or as they used to call him, Roy. He was a brilliant scientist in the field of Seithr and worked under Kokonoe, despite having a massive inferiority complex towards her.
He tried to unlock the secrets of the Boundary, which produces Seithr, but he went too deep and wound up being corrupted by the knowledge he discovered, transforming him into the hideous blob called Arakune.
Litchi blames herself for not stopping him sooner and wants to either save him or at worse, finish him off to end his misery.
Shina understands her plight though and despite how she promised not to help, she can't stop herself from doing so now after hearing her story.
So Litchi and Shina climb to the top of Kagutsuchi and discover yet ANOTHER victim of Alex's antics, the door to the NOL HQ.
But that's not important, as not long after Arakune begins to crawl up behind them...Now engorged massively with victims down-below, he towers over the two, surrounded by that strange aura.
After explaining the aura to Litchi, Shina draws her Gunslinger Drive and helps her try and wear Arakune down.
The goal here to break through the aura long enough for Shina to drag Roy's soul out of the mass with her own aura, and hopefully Kokonoe can make Roy a new body.
Litchi fights on with all her heart, determined to not let the past be repeated. She will save Roy, even if it means hurting herself in the process.
Eventually their efforts prove successful and Shina is able to wrench Roy's soul free, causing the mass known as Arakune to dissolve away.
Litchi's left to take care of his soul while Shina prepares herself to maybe join Alex inside and confront Nu. But before she can make it to the top...She's intercepted by Rachel Alucard.
Rachel mocks Shina for foolish ideals, stating how her attempt to defy fate is wasted on Roy. Even if Kokonoe were to relent on giving Roy a new body, he would simply continue his research anew, and the cycle would repeat.
Shina is pissed that Rachel could be so cold, but the vampire ignores her plight and reminds her that the nature of this world is fleeting as is...They naught need their presence to muddle things further.
As proof of that, Rachel remarks how Alex dragging Ragna here hastened the end of this loop, meaning Shina cannot fight Nu this time.
The laser comes down to wipe Kagutsuchi off the map, but desperate to get a victory out of this, Shina speeds down and tries to carry Litch out of there.
But she's not fast enough, and the laser would soon envelop them both. With the last seconds she has on this loop, Shina tries to ingrain Litchi with hope, even knowing it might be futile in later loops.
Once more, the flow of time is reset...
Loop 3 (Alex Whiter):
Alex wakes up dangling upside-down from a tree. Clearly some prank from the Gaia Temporis, or this was just the universe having a laugh as usual.
Upon dropping down Alex realizes just what he has to do now. No screwing around on bullshit with Ragna or anyone else, he needs to get his energy back up to full and then go burn Nu to ashes.
But he can't do it in the forest, the Seithr is poisoning the energy he can gather. So he heads back to the city and tries to obtain a map to help him find the town's garden.
Yet at the store he runs into a poster of himself...crudely drawn to look like a criminal. Turns out he's wanted now for crimes against the NOL...Which Alex quickly identifies as Yuuki Terumi abusing the time loops and his power in the NOL to screw with him.
Alex goes around burning up wanted posters on the way to the garden. Fortunately he gets there with little trouble and starts to rest up.
UNfortunately, however, his rest is interrupted when he comes under attack from a trio of Ikaruga ninjas, who demand his surrender due to the crimes he committed.
Alex brushes them off as pests until they start backing up their boasts with greater numbers, pitting a 100 of them against the one of him.
Alex gets up and cracks his knuckles, deciding to flex his power a little so he can go back to having peace and quiet.
Though their efforts are valiant, Alex easily knocks all of them out in a matter of minutes and prepares to wander off and go fight Nu.
But his path is blocked by the one and only defender of justice, the scruffy man Bang Shishigami. Alex knocks him out in one punch and prepares to leave AGAIN...Only for Bang to get up and receive a major power boost from that strange aura.
Though Bang being stronger is about as threatening to Alex as...well, facing a giant fly, so he does just ultimately knock him down AGAIN after a slightly more prolonged encounter.
But fueled by the hopes of his people, Bang refuses to stay down and rises again, activating the forbidden secret technique of his people...FU-RIN-KA-ZAN.
And his speed increases to such a ludicrous degree that Alex doesn't even get the time to get his thoughts out before he's pummeled across the garden like a pinball.
And because of this and his pride refusing to let him use Phoenix Form on Bang fucking Shishigami of all people, Alex is pinned to the fountain eventually by Bang's giant nail.
Thus his time in this loop is cut woefully short, with him incredibly pissed off at Bang's idiocy.
In his last moments, Terumi waltzes up and mocks Alex's corpse, giving it a light kick before telling him that he plans to make good use of Alex's time in this world to reap as much despair as he can out of him.
Loop 3 (Shina Aurora):
Shina wastes no time this loop getting back to Kagutsuchi and trying to get straight to the HQ building. But along the way she receives confirmation of Alex's shenanigans by finding his wanted poster.
Unsurprised in the slightest, at the very least it confirms to her that Alex is prioritizing the mission and means with any luck she'll run into him again when she gets up to the HQ.
She heads to the tram but without an officer disguise she has to pay for the ticket and can't afford it with just the lint in her pocket.
So she sits by, figuring out an alternative until, unfortunately for her, Yuuki Terumi...or rather, his guise, Captain Hazama, walks up with Noel Vermillion by his side.
Shina tries to avoid conversing with Noel but just can't help herself. But for once Shina's able to wiggle her way out of an awkward situation by lying and stating she's just here to visit a relative.
Noel manages to get Hazama to buy her a ticket so they can join her to the HQ. Hazama relents, but can't help but use his knowledge of the time loops to subtly get under Shina's skin.
Shina's tempted to end Terumi/Hazama right here and now to save a lot of trouble, but there's no guarantee this loop will be the last nor that Noel would even react well to what was happening.
So with great restraint, Shina decides to focus on Nu and the artifact. Save that problem for later maybe.
Along the way Shina catches Alex fighting the ninjas and though sighing at his antics, is glad that he's at the very least close by.
At the top Hazama parts ways and leaves Noel and Shina to enter the HQ alone. There things are different than before, as they run into Jin Kisaragi, the Major Noel came here to find.
Noel tries to reason with Jin to come back, but Jin is disgusted by the sight of her and draws his Nox Nyctores Yukianesa with the intent to kill.
Shina steps in with her Gunslinger Drive and Jin starts yelling at her too, calling her the "enabler of the flames", much to Shina's confusion.
Shina and Noel work together to fend off Jin, who is somehow NOT under the control of the strange aura. Eventually they come out on top, and leave Jin out on the ground.
Shina then tries to sneak off to the basement without alerting Noel, but the lieutenant forces herself to come with because she has to keep an eye on Shina.
Strangely, Alex is nowhere to be found...
PTSD starts creeping up on Shina as she nears the Cauldron as second time. She starts worrying about the possibility of her and Alex being trapped in these time loops forever as well, forced to feel the pain of death again and again.
Though her confidence is shaken, Shina tries to keep her head held high as she approaches the Cauldron and calls Nu out to appear.
Nu wastes no time in emerging from the Cauldron and summoning her Murakumo Unit to engage in battle, still armed with the artifact piece.
And to make matters worse, Noel slipped in under Shina's notice, immediately entranced into acting like "Unit 12".
Now Shina not only has to fight off Nu, but fend off Noel's attacks as well. In this melee a trois, Shina is forced to hold herself back from hurting Noel too much, and thus can't risk using the Valkyrie Drive.
The stress of it all breaks Shina, who proceeds to pull out increasingly violent-er means of attack to tear Nu's flesh apart down to the bone.
The Murakumo Unit smirks and doesn't fight back, for instead, Shina suffers the ultimate heart-wrenching betrayal...As Noel shoots her in the back, leaving her bleeding and helpless on the floor.
Nu then takes this chance to split Noel in two, and break Shina's jaw. She then hoists Shina up, taunting her that HE will never come and save her...That they'll be trapped in this cycle forever.
And thus, left with the despair that Nu remembers EVERYTHING from each loop now, Shina's head is torn off and Nu relishes in the blood spilled alongside her own laughter...
Loop 4 (Alex Whiter):
Needless to say Alex miiiiight be more than a little pissed at losing to Bang last loop. As he calmly makes his way back to Kagutsuchi and calmly flips off the crowd as he shoves his way through, he ultimately winds up calmly making it back to the bridge where he fought Ragna and tries to make it back to the HQ from there.
But along the way he has a brief run-in with Tager. Quickly deciding "Fuck that shit" he tries to run away, only for Kokonoe to give the orders to hold him back.
Alex deflects one of Tager's Spark Bolts and then turns around, trying to determine what the hell Kokonoe wants with him.
The two get into a childish insult contest until Tager tries to break them up, upon which Alex brings up Hakumen, getting Kokonoe's attention.
Kokonoe decides to answer one of Alex's questions in exchange for info on Hakumen's current location. Once Alex complies, he learns that Kokonoe knows that he's the new Elemental Overlord and also has figured out that he's from another Earth. Not only that, but him and one other person are able to go through the time loops with their memories intact.
Alex says Kokonoe reminds him of Alpha, but only to a certain extent. He then warns Kokonoe to not bother engaging him, or he'll turn Tager to scrap.
Tager's annoyed he's being forced to fight Alex's incredible power, but Kokonoe's confident in their victory.
It doesn't seem that way at first though, as Alex shows Tager no mercy and handles him like a ragdoll, even going so far as to shatter his gauntlets.
But behind the gauntlets lies Kokonoe's surprise secret weapon against him...The Anti-Genesis Theorem.
Alex is stunned unconscious as he's contained by yet another sphere of Anti-Genesis energy, which Tager picks up and prepares to deliver directly to Kokonoe.
Alex awakens in Kokonoe's lab in Sector Seven. The cat-eared lady arrives soon enough, with Alex trying his hardest to break out in front of her.
But she points out how its no use. His strength his drained and she set up a device beneath him that twists the space specifically around the sphere so he can't even use the Gaia Temporis to warp out.
Alex starts freaking out, feeling like he's about to be tortured by her to draw out the means of which his power came from.
He starts demanding answers, specifically regarding how the hell Kokonoe knows of the Anti-Genesis Theorem, given its a creation from the original Overlord's world.
But Kokonoe claims it was her invention, and that anyone with half a brain and some understanding of magic theory could've figured it out.
So its NOT the phantom bothering Alex this time...Not like it changes Alex's view of the matter. He wants OUT, and if Kokonoe won't relent...He'll just use the Gaia Temporis to send this building to the Stone Age.
But before it can escalate that much Alex is bailed out by the timely arrival of Rachel Alucard. On orders from Takamagahara, Kokonoe is to relinquish Alex over to Rachel.
Kokonoe's pissed, which Alex likes, but it still sucks to be indebted to Rachel of all people. The first thing Rachel does is take him back to her mansion, specifically the garden, so they can have tea served by her butler Valkenhayn.
...Not that Alex has the patience for tea right now. He wants some answers regarding the Elemental Overlord's presence here. And, after Valkenhayn humbles him for his rudeness, Rachel decides she'll impart some wisdom into his dull mind.
It starts with a metaphor comparing time to a river. How time can diverge into many paths, much like one...But just like time, its unnatural for a river to loop over and over again. Even Alex manages to understand the science behind that one, much to Rachel's surprise.
Eventually God's will should intervene and make time/river linear again, but there is a possibility of the time/river becoming diluted by any outside force.
Not necessarily Alex and Shina, per se, but rather, the artifact piece inside of Nu is to blame. As with that, the past experiences the wrath of a much stronger Black Beast. So much stronger, in fact, that the Elemental Overlord and an Aurian by the name of Gabriel, whom Alex recognizes through Shina, was called in to help the Six Heroes stop it.
But Alex is now confused by why the original Overlord didn't find the artifact piece, or more importantly, why he didn't kill Terumi back then.
Rachel has no answers but now Alex thinks he can get them. This is the perfect chance for him to use the Cauldron to go back to the past and speak to the original Overlord. He's not worried about a paradox either since the old Overlord already apparently knew of him.
But Rachel chides him instead for abandoning Shina just to determine an ultimately meager truth. She also calls out his tantrum-like behavior, stating how despite the pain she suffers, Shina has managed to help people in her spare time while all Alex has done is cause damage and pick fights.
The realization of this strikes a cord in Alex's conscience, and he breaks down a bit admitting that he hadn't planned for this to happen...They just wanted to come here and get the artifact piece, he didn't intend to lose track of her or for her to suffer.
Rachel notes how the use of the accursed Gaia Temporis has not only affected him and Shina's place in the loops, but also started poisoning the minds of everyone they come across to start remembering more and more of the loops.
If Alex and/or Shina don't stop Nu soon and leave this world, this could become an inescapable loop of despair.
Alex chooses to set things right, stating how Nu hasn't seen his true power yet, and that he alone is the only one who can stop her now.
Rachel is accepting of him going on his own, but has him vow to leave this world the very moment he gets the artifact and finds Shina.
Alex then uses the Gaia Temporis to leave for Kagutsuchi's HQ, preparing for a final battle...
Alex lingers on his guilt as he makes his way towards the Cauldron. Feeling the worst regret of all towards Shina, he hopes she's surviving right now as he prepares to face Nu.
There's no Ragna. No Jin. No Hakumen. No one but him...and the 13th Murakumo Unit.
Alone, the two meet once again before the Cauldron. Though Alex tries to call out to the phantom, only Nu replies as herself.
Nu not only speaks, but recognizes Alex from before, stating this is the fourth time she has awakened. Alex denies the possibility that she should be able to remember him, but this is not the doing of the Gaia Temporis...The artifact is to blame once again.
It turns out the artifact is capable of housing souls, so every time the Black Beast is defeated in the past, Nu's soul is preserved within the stone and then returned to her body in the present day.
Now she knows a true paradise, where she'll get to enjoy the pleasure of bonding with Ragna time and time again, without ever having to be tortured by humans just to be born anew.
Alex calls her a monster that derives pleasure from destruction, a sentiment that Nu casts back in Alex's face. Alex draws his sword, refusing to listen to the Murakumo's deceit.
But then Nu starts giggling with pleasure, taunting Alex over the deaths Shina has suffered at her hand. Going over them in such gory, exquisite detail, Alex demands she stop.
It is not until Nu describes the pleasure she felt as moistening her loins, however, when Alex has enough.
He erupts into Phoenix Form and the two start tearing each other apart. It doesn't matter to Alex that the bitch can tear through his Soul Shields, he shreds her limbs right off and pins her to the ground, burning her flesh and bone while she gets off on the pain.
To the bitter end he fights, devolving into a monster with no sense of reason or pain. Even as Nu cuts off his arms and wings, Alex chomps into Nu's neck and uses his sword with some quick thinking to ram the Blazing Overlord Fist into her body.
This results in the destruction of Kagutsuchi HQ...And hopefully the end of Nu.
...If only it were so simple. Nu rises from the rubble looking better than ever, and begins taunting Alex for the futility of trying to kill her.
She learns from every battle. So if he wishes to make good on his boast of coming back over and over and over again until she fries...Then she's more than happy to play with him. She'll be ready to tear HIM to shreds. Every. Single. Time.
She then hoists Ragna into the air with her blades, trying to show him the face of the one who makes this nightmare possible.
Ragna has begun to have a vague recollection of other loops, and it really drives the point home to Alex about how much he fucked up.
Nu then kneels over Alex and prepares to rip him apart with glee. But in his last moments, Alex still resolves to make good on his word...Cause he has something worth fighting for, while Nu's fight is as empty as her existence.
Nu happily cuts Alex apart, laughing into the night sky with moans of pleasure interspersed between each one...
Loop 5 (Shina Aurora):
In the loop prior, Shina had wandered the streets, feeling nothing but despair. She had tried to relax and take her mind off the pain Nu inflicted on her...Only to be crushed under a large chunk of debris caused by Alex's efforts at destroying Nu.
When she awoke in the next loop, Shina hardly cares about even TRYING to put an effort into going to the HQ. She falls into a slump somewhere in the Ronin-Gai section of Kagutsuchi. As death can't free her, it won't matter if she just sits here and starves.
She doesn't believe there's any escape now. If not even Alex can defeat Nu as she is now, then who can? And worse, sticking around the likes of Noel will cause her to remember these loops.
Her existence her is a poison, and the last year of her life now seems futile.
But not like the world could leave her be. A young boy named Carl Clover and his puppet, the Nox Nyctors Nirvana, walks on by.
Calling the doll "Ada", Carl watches as his "sister" looks at Shina with interest. Shina just wants them to go away. The presence of Nirvana's claws invoking traumatic memories of Nu's blades.
Without warning Shina attacks Nirvana to repel her claws, then tries to flee, with Carl in pursuit.
Nirvana recognizes the power of Aura from the Black Beast fight, but Carl doesn't get what that means. Shina trips and falls, and put at Nirvana's mercy.
But despair grips her hard and makes her snap. She rises and attacks Nirvana, saying she'll make Carl get away from her by force.
And yet who would come to the aid of this poor innocent child but the one and only Bang Shishigami, defender of justice!
Shina's annoyed that more characters she's familiar with keep popping up, and begs Bang to leave her alone. But Bang can't turn tail now, even when Shina attacks.
Bang calls upon his first Disciple, who turns out to be Tao. Tao uses the nickname she gave Shina, but doesn't know WHY she did.
There's a lot of confusion going on as Nirvana doesn't want to settle down, Shina brings up Litchi, and Bang and Tao don't know what to do.
Eventually this sort of simmers down a little as Shina starts losing consciousness from a combination of hunger and stress...
She wakes up in one of Ronin-Gai's many abodes, covered in a blanket and her wounds treated by bandages. She also has a nice warm meal waiting for her.
Bang comes in and checks how she's doing, Shina surprised by such a display of generosity after what she did.
Bang states how justice comes in many forms. Its not about just punching evil. Sometimes...its about showing a person in need that someone cares.
He lets Shina rest and eat up for a bit while he checks on Carl in the room nearby. Though Shina's apathetic to this generosity, her growling stomach refuses to let her starve.
Bang's food is so good though, reminding her of the warmth her mother put into every meal. Shina cries and Bang immediately worries that his food was too spicy.
Bang then offers to help Shina out, sensing her distress. But Shina doesn't want to get anyone else involved.
But the better part of her can't help but wonder...If Bang can relate to trying to do something multiple times, only to fail.
Bang talks about his people's fight against the NOL that ended in the loss of their home and their leader. But many of them survived, and the survivors carry the will of fire.
The fight's not over, and even if the odds are stacked against them, Bang wants to keep doing what's right by fighting against the NOL's tyranny.
His words resonate with Shina, who realizes that she has no right to give up when she's still alive...
Shina thanks Bang for his hospitality, and he's more than happy to have cheered her up.
Carl starts acting up, with Nirvana having followed him here, attacking the ninjas that try to help him calm down.
Bang tries to join the fray but its Shina that manages to approach Carl, calming him with almost motherly words and using her aura to heal his opening wounds.
Shina then lets Bang do his thing and talk with Carl. Bang ultimately sees what Carl is trying to do and offers to take him under his wing as his disciple.
And lucky enough for them he'll be a chance to prove himself right now, as Ronin-Gai is under attack...By Arakune.
Bang and Carl immediately rush out to confront him while Shina stays back, and considers her options. She wants to try and save Roy again, even despite what Rachel said. Cause stopping Nu will do nothing to save Roy on its own.
So she speeds after Bang and Carl to try and make an attempt at helping Roy one more time. She ends up joining up with Taokaka and now she's quick to outrace three other people before they can beat up Arakune.
Arakune starts attacking the three vigilantes while on his hunt for the Azure, inevitably squiggling his way into a sewer tunnel before Shina can catch up.
Shina blocks the tunnel momentarily and tries to plead with Bang to let her go alone. Shina explains Arakune's connection to Litchi and though stunned, Bang respects the request.
Shina traverses the tunnels and has a run in with Arakune...Or more specifically, Roy. For a brief moment, the man has regained clarity, likely due to the time loop stuff Alex caused.
Shina tries to use his clarity to free him from his current form, but Roy does not wish to BE free.
Sure, his mind will eventually deteriorate into nothingness within this glob...But he accomplished what he had set out to do, and now he can access all the knowledge he could ever want. This mess was only his fault, he does not wish to drag anyone else into it, least of all Litchi.
Shina thinks he's being selfish and hurtful towards Litchi, because she cares so much for him.
And Roy knows that. But its too late for him, and hopefully when he's gone, she'll find happiness with someone better.
He then warns Shina that what she wants to do here...is selfish in of itself.
Shina decides maybe it ISN'T worth saving his ungrateful self and prepares to leave. By the time she looks back, he's gone, never to be seen again as himself.
Shina returns to Bang and upon reporting Arakune got away, runs off to think alone.
Night quickly falls and Shina sits atop the rooftops, taking into consideration Roy's final words to her.
She recognizes that a lot of what she's done so far in this world has nothing to do with Nu and the artifact, but she can't help it...She always wants to help people, even if they are those trying to take advantage of her kindness.
But perhaps the selfish part is her wanting to have everything go here way and with the way this world operates...Its just not possible.
She realizes now that if she wants to save lives, then the best way to do so is to stop Nu. That'll save the most lives, and give the survivors a chance to make their lives better on their own.
Bang catches up with her for one last talk, understanding that Shina let Arakune go on her own. He's fine with that, stating that there's always next time.
Shina, however, with a few minutes remaining until the end of this loop, tells Bang that she really is thankful for his help and that she can face the next loop without any hesitation now.
Bang is confused, naturally, but doesn't get a chance to answer before the laser comes down and wipes out Kagutsuchi...
Loop 5 (Alex Whiter):
Alex is on the warpath to Kagutsuchi HQ yet again. Even if his Blazing Overlord Fist had failed, he still has...
Well, he's not even sure anymore. The Life Link Nu has with Ragna makes it really difficult to kill her. There's a brief moment or two where he considers killing Ragna as well, but quickly shakes that off.
Along the way he winds up bumping into the worst person he could possibly have found...Captain Hazama, AKA Yuuki Terumi.
Alex turns around with hatred burning in his eyes for the evil scum, who, with a shiver through his body, turns and dispels Noel Vermilion with his suave tones.
Then, left alone to confront Alex, Terumi quickly advances towards him and hammers taunt after taunt into his patience until nothing remains.
Alex contemplates his options fully and then uses the Gaia Temporis to freeze time and then slam Terumi into a nearby will with the intent to kill.
But Terumi calls his bluff, saying if he was truly the monster he acts like, then they wouldn't be in this loop anymore. Killing him means jack shit if Nu's still alive.
Alex doesn't care, Terumi is the worst kind of evil, a devil in human's clothing. Its his duty to end him for good.
Terumi's silver tongue allows him to turn his words into weapons, wounding Alex's motivation to kill by lording his own knowledge of Shina's time here against him.
Terumi says that if Alex commits to killing him now and fails this time loop, he'll just torment Shina personally in the next loop.
Alex nearly tears Terumi's heart out through his throat until Terumi offers an arrangement to save her life for one free loop.
Alex only agrees because his care for Shina overpowers his justice, but he very, very much despises this situation.
Terumi wants only one simple thing...The death of Ragna and Jin at Alex's hands. If he accomplishes this, then Terumi'll leave Shina alone for a bit.
Alex agrees to the deal without hesitation in the moment, but once he's tragically forced to let Terumi slither away...He sure as hell doesn't know what to do.
He doesn't ACTUALLY want to kill either of them, even if Ragna's death would prove beneficial. He doesn't really have any other allies to help him out and with how big the city is he doesn't have time still to hunt down Shina.
He heads to the HQ and, as luck would have it, Ragna and Jin are fighting each other inside. Their family feud quickly escalates into Ragna and Jin falling off the edge and down near the Cauldron.
Alex pursues, and the situation is only made worse with the arrival of Hakumen, turning this basically into a four-way battle.
Now, forced to stop Hakumen and Jin from killing Ragna so he can kill him and Jin himself, while all three of them try to kill HIM for interfering...Alex curses his life.
Alex struggles to deal with this mayhem as best he can but it proves ridiculously overwhelming just because of Hakumen's presence alone.
...Yet, at the same time, perhaps it could prove to be a blessing in disguise. The stress of the moment forces Alex to remember what Hakumen is capable of...And perhaps his strength proves the key to ending this nightmare once and for all.
First, Alex uses the Gaia Temporis to break Kokonoe's attempt to call Hakumen back.
Then, with some quick thinking, Alex uses the frost coming out of Yukianesa to freeze Jin and Ragna and throw them out of reach into the ceiling.
He then stands in Hakumen's path, who is still determined to cut him down for defending the Dark One.
Alex refuses to let Ragna die just because his existence is cursed. Hakumen chides him for letting the cycle of calamity continue even longer, but Alex denies saying this is the one time he's TRYING to stop it as best he can.
Hakumen gives him a few minutes to explain himself. So Alex tells him about the time loops and how he's been trying to just get the artifact piece to do SOMETHING right.
But he's been failing at every turn and at this point he breaks down and admits that he's a shitty Elemental Overlord, and because of that he's dragged Shina into Hell.
So he BEGS Hakumen to help him stop Nu once and for all.
Hakumen...sheathes his sword and tells Alex to stand with some semblance of pride still on his back.
The Cauldron activates and Nu arrives, prepared to once more tear into Alex's body. But this time she's frozen in fear upon recognizing Hakumen, the man who tore her away from Ragna once before.
Alex goes Phoenix Form as Hakumen cites his creed. This time, they will put an end to the cursed, intertwining fate enveloping this world.
The two prove to be a powerful combination, as Hakumen's Ookami keeps Nu from healing while Alex's speed and wide variety of projectiles prevents her from using her blades against either of them.
Hakumen even manages to keep Alex focused on the battle instead of being arrogant for once.
Nu tries everything she can, throwing out all of her Distortions, truly enraged at her destiny with Ragna being defied.
But Alex and Hakumen combine their attacks to keep overpowering her desire to destroy, refusing to surrender a world this peaceful to her playful whims.
Nu begs for her life, wanting nothing more than to be with Ragna, as she feels he's the only one who can truly understand her. The attempts at pity aren't lost on Alex, but he says there's too much blood on her hands to justify any sympathy.
Nu eventually notices Ragna in the ceiling and tries to break free to release him. But Alex slams her back down and tears her visor off, forcing her to see the flames of defeat through her own eyes.
Nu rises with a scream and busts out her Astral Heat to finish the two of them off. Calmly, Hakumen draws his sword and uses his own Astral Heat in retaliation, slicing apart the blade and eviscerating Nu to the point she can barely stand.
She goes tumbling into the Cauldron, crying for Ragna, and at the last moment Alex pulls out the artifact piece.
This victory is cut short as Terumi waltzes right in, angering Hakumen. Terumi is surprised at what Alex has pulled off, but notes how he never agreed to allow him to use Hakumen to do that...And that killing Nu wasn't part of the deal either.
The situation is only made worse by the fact that Hakumen's still standing through a very tenuous string. His willpower alone is only keeping him tethered to reality at 20% of his power, and without an Observer he will be pulled back in soon enough.
So Terumi knows he won't get killed in the time Hakumen has left. Alex knows this too, as Terumi has his own Azure Grimoire.
But Alex has one last trick up his sleeve to garner Terumi's "favor"...He stabs Hakumen in the gut and makes him topple over.
Terumi laughs loudly but is not fully pleased. He walks on up to Alex and demands he hands over the artifact piece.
Alex, however, is going to give him exactly what he deserves.
Hakumen springs back to life and stabs Terumi through the gut, having survived due to Alex feinting the stab before.
Hakumen prepares to finish him off but is suddenly pulled back due to Kokonoe's influence. Alex imparts some warnings about other evils out in the world, but plans to finish Terumi off in Hakumen's stead.
Terumi spits up blood and is actually a little shocked that Alex outwitted him...
Only to burst into laughter as Alex is stabbed in the back by a few blades.
Nu clings on with very little life remaining, crawling out of the Cauldron to make Alex pay. Terumi then gets up with the last of his strength and stabs Alex in the chest, pulling the artifact from his hands and passing it back on to Nu.
Nu then quickly rips Ragna free from the ice and bonds with him in the Cauldron, starting the cycle all over again.
Terumi enjoys the world's last moments by stamping on Alex's head and saying that he shouldn't have expected any better.
Alex grits his teeth, and curses the hand fate has dealt him yet again...
Loop 6 (Shina Aurora):
Shina heads straight for Kagutsuchi HQ to wait for Alex, but finds he hasn't arrived yet. She passes the time for a few hours until Noel arrives.
As much as it pains Shina to try and keep Noel out of the fight, she finds she can't bring herself to hurt her to accomplish said tasks.
So Shina lets Noel come inside with her, at the very least to clear out the first floor of any Jin presence.
But upon entering the foyer, Shina finds Jin walking through a deep, icy fog, surrounded by that strange aura with his blade Yukianesa drawn ready to kill...
Loop 6 (Alex Whiter):
Alex makes a mad dash around the entire city in search for Shina. He HAS to make it to her before Terumi, but there's no sign of either one of them.
He reluctantly drags himself to Kagutsuchi's HQ and has a bump in with Ragna making his way inside. But he shoves him off, refusing to waste anymore time.
He arrives to find Noel fighting Jin coated in that aura, but Shina nowhere in sight. Ragna enters the fray and attacks Jin, with Noel screaming for this all to stop.
Jin wants to kill Ragna, Alex, and Noel for their corruption of the world order. He vows to make them pay, just like he did that other "blonde wench".
Alex cracks, slowly turning to find Shina froze and in pieces on the ground next to him. He bends over and begins to cry, begging God for some answer...Why Shina has to suffer like this, when she's so selfless and kind.
Its not "God" who answers.
A voice beckons him inside his head, a cruel, powerful voice that wants him to forgo any sense of humanity and finally become a monster so powerful that nothing can ever hurt them again.
And through the reasoning of this voice in his head, Alex succumbs to rage fully...He rises slow, with dark red eyes, and immediately targets Jin with murderous intent.
Jin stands no chance as Alex beats back his weak ice attacks and breaks his right arm all the way down. To rub salt in the wound, Alex even shatters Yukianesa before stabbing his fingertips into Jin's neck.
He calls his justice hypocritical and doesn't understand how a savage like him could've ever become Hakumen. But before Alex can finish his job, he's whisked away by the familiar airs of Rachel Alucard...
Alex is immediately pissed off by her interfering and tries to escape with the help of the Gaia Temporis, only to be restrained by Valkenhayn.
Alex breaks free and then yells at Rachel for resting on her laurels regardless of her duties. But there's one flaw in his complaint...
Rachel can interfere in this matter only because Alex is NOT from this world. So her and Valkenhayn start attacking Alex just to try and get him to stop rampaging for one moment and listen to reason.
Rachel's servants Nago and Gii take the brunt of Alex's fury while Alex singles his focus on her and restrains Valkenhayn with his elements.
But by patiently defending against his violent attacks and slowly whittling him down with words, Rachel succeeds in instilling a sense of guilt within Alex.
Alex breaks down crying on his knees, saying how its just unfair that this has to keep happening. It feels like no matter what he does, it ultimately ends in tragedy or failure.
He tried to restrain himself against Jin but just...couldn't do it. He listened to the voice in his head, his "second personality" as he calls it.
As he explains to a patient Rachel, a series of trauma he experienced as a child forced him to awaken a second personality to save his sanity.
But after fighting Chaos Alex the personality re-emerged and started demanding of him to just destroy everything, so nothing can hurt them again.
Alex then details events before now, but when he gets to Shina he winds up being...a lot more detailed about his reasons for helping her.
Turns out he might have been more...attracted than admiring of who she was from the start. Its hard to deny, even to himself at this point, that he might have fallen in love with Shina.
But while his second personality is inside of him, urging him to destroy, he can never feel comfortable telling her how she feels. And there's just no escape for him in sight. He's tried to die so many times, but whether by his powers or some other outside force, he simply can't.
He's forced to wander a cursed existence until the end of days...And he can't bring himself to burden Shina with his own pain.
It explains enough to Rachel Alucard...And she rightfully calls him a fool. Before he can complain about not deserving love, he first has to try and earn it.
Even if it means confessing to her and failing, its better that he has tried than not. But as Alex notes, they still have a long journey ahead, and he wouldn't want to make it awkward.
These are merely suggestions though, not outright something Alex has to do.
Matters of love are unimportant now though. Alex has calmed down enough to be reasoned with, so Rachel makes note of a few things alongside him.
One, Takamagahara has sensed the "phantom" speaking to Terumi in the Boundary during the end of the last loop.
Two, the matter of stopping Nu. Alex realizes that as much as he wants to ignore Ragna, they really need his Azure Grimoire to help aid in her defeat.
Third, reuniting with Shina. Alex realizes that because of the loophole in Rachel's Observer nature, Rachel could relay a message to Shina to meet up at Kagutsuchi HQ and wait for him no matter what.
Rachel agrees to that last one with ease.
Valkenhayn then claws Alex through the heart so he can get to the next loop faster, choosing to forgive him now for the earlier trespasses.
Rachel's prepared to observe what may be a very interesting climax...
Final Loop (Alex and Shina):
Surprisingly Shina's not too broken up about what happened with Jin. She's vowed to stay cheery going forward and prepares to head to the HQ once again.
But she's then whisked away by Rachel and brought before her in her garden. After being presented tea and politely declining the drink, she sits down to speak to the vampire.
Rachel imparts the wisdom Alex had suggested to her without bringing up his name. Shina slaps herself for not remembering Ragna sooner, and truly does believe if she has his assistance they can stop Nu.
Rachel's a little stunned by her confidence, calling it a far cry from the knee-shaking little girl she spoke to before.
Before Shina heads out though, she sort-of wants an apology from Rachel for being so rude. Valkenhayn grumbles about the nerve of these kids, yet Rachel complies to the request and apologizes.
Shina's then returned and recalls Ragna's path so she can hunt him down and ask for his help, though isn't positive just HOW she'll manage that.
She does run into him and instincts sort of take over, as she first she tries to ask nicely, then begs with determination.
Ragna keeps trying to brush her off and even draws his sword once she mentions the Murakumo Unit. But seeing Shina's face contort the way it does, unflinching in her desire to help, sort of reminds Ragna of his sister Saya.
He relents but warns Shina of the dangers up ahead. Shina's prepared to fight, even drawing her sword to show him just how much she's ready.
Ragna starts recalling vague memories of repeating events as they head to the HQ and break in. Inside, Ragna encounters Jin once more, but Shina leaves them to fight so she can preserve her energy.
Meanwhile, Alex rushes to the HQ to join the battle. However, he's plagued by some familiar laughter, and his body is tugged away into a strange, mystical realm...
Once Ragna's knocked Jin out him and Shina head towards the basement, where Hakumen awaits them. Shina realizes that she somehow hadn't run into him throughout all these loops, and this is probably the worst time to be doing so. Yet still she draws her sword and prepares to fight.
Ragna's scared, clearly, but he still wants to stop Hakumen with everything he's got.
Shina makes one last attempt to reason with Hakumen into worrying more about Nu, but though his memories are vague, Hakumen recalls making that attempt once before. Now he understands that he has to kill the Black Beast, both body and heart, if this nightmare is to end.
Shina and Ragna fight together against Hakumen's monstrous strength and impeccable skill. Shina even manages to use her aura to heal the wounds Ookami inflicts on Ragna.
Hakumen does not relent, even with all he's put up against. It takes the interference of Kokonoe once more to pull him away...Except this time, Hakumen does not need Alex's aid to escape.
His sheer willpower combined with the Power of Order is responsible for his escape, though first Shina assumes the strange aura appearing around Hakumen is responsible.
Yet Hakumen denies the existence of that aura too, referring to the world's corrupted as a "Youkai".
Kokonoe warns the two of them to run while they still can, but Ragna's sick of running, being underestimated, all that crap.
He pulls out the Azure Grimoire, warning Shina to get the hell out. But Shina activates her Valkyrie Drive, confident she can survive the Soul Eater's amplified power.
Hakumen responds with "Light of Judgment", buffing his strength and speed for a short period of time.
The clash escalates as Ragna and Shina force Hakumen back, ultimately culminating in Ragna striking Hakumen with Devoured by Darkness.
Weakened enough for Kokonoe to capture him, Hakumen finds that Alex's concerns for Shina may have been unwarranted, revealing a scar her blade had inflicted on his armor.
With him out of the way Nu wastes no time emerging from the Cauldron and taunting both Ragna and Shina for coming here again to repeat a futile cycle.
When Nu rubs it in that Alex was a failure who couldn't kill her or save Shina, Shina sees differently now. Sure, Alex may not be here, but SHE is.
Sure, she's an idiot, but an idiot can always learn from their mistakes and grow into a better person.
Shina talks to Nu without a hint of hate in her heart, understanding the pain she's suffered but disliking the way she's chosen to cope with it.
She lectures Nu on what love truly is, and that she'll never find true happiness continuing to drag Ragna into an endless cycle of destruction.
But Shina? She has bonds of strength, friendship and love at her side, genuine bonds that keep her going even though they are worlds apart.
And with this strength, she'll even defy fate itself.
Nu calls it drivel and tries to once more convince Ragna of the strength of THEIR love. Ragna promptly tells her to shut up and draws his sword, ready to destroy her.
Nu has a mental breakdown at long last and starts tearing into her own flesh, trying to conform to whatever wishes Ragna may have for her. And when he still denies her with silence, Nu grits her teeth and screams.
She blames Shina for corrupting Ragna, and summons the Murakumo Unit with the intent to this time...Burn the WHOLE world down for good.
At the exact same time this climatic battle unfolds, Alex is forced into a confrontation with Terumi inside a magical realm conjured up by "The Phantom".
Alex immediately tries to draw his sword to kill Terumi with his Phoenix Form, but his blade is cut off from his grasp and sealed away by the Phantom.
Terumi had some help from Alex's mysterious enemy to figure that out. Now, he plans to finally make good use of Alex's presence in this world.
Alex doesn't care if he doesn't have his sword, he'll just burn Terumi to ash the normal way.
Terumi activates his Azure Grimoire and prepares to show Alex the ultimate despair. Despite the difference in strength though, Alex manages to keep Terumi at bay for quite some time and lands a few good hits.
But with some trickery involving the mysterious enemy, Terumi lands one clean hit with Ouroboros...And that's all he needs to set off some deeprooted memories inside of Alex's mind.
Alex recalls a truth that should've long since been buried...That he truly WAS responsible for the death of Joe Dark's family, under the orders of Prometheus nonetheless.
Alex screams that they are fake, but the reality is that Ouroboros does not draw forth lies. Terumi does sympathize with Alex in his own twisted manner, saying how lies suck and listening to higher powers sucks even more.
He wants Alex to stop hiding behind his own lies and face his truth, that he wants to burn everything away to ash, get rid of the entire goddamn world.
Terumi even offers a partnership to destroy Amaterasu...But Alex simply spits in his face and lashes out.
With his mind weakened, however, Terumi easily overpowers him and leaves him a battered mess on the ground.
And now, Terumi intends to use him to get what he truly wants...And to do that, he's going to act as a bargaining chip.
Shina and Ragna leave nothing on the line in their attempt to defeat Nu. Shina provides Ragna some of her aura to have a better chance to cleaving through Nu's black aura, while healing him up, attacking Nu herself, and offering up some defenses.
Nu breaks down laughing, demanding to know why Ragna denies his urges.
Ragna shouts that he does want to destroy, but only the people who get in his way like her. With one Carnage Scissors empowered by Shina's aura, Ragna splits through most of Nu's body and drags her to the edge of the Cauldron.
Ragna then starts running out of juice, leaving Shina to deal the final blow. Shina cleaves the path towards a brighter future with her new ultimate attack, Radiant Dawn.
Nu screams as the artifact piece is torn from her body and she begins stumbling off the edge. But in one last moment of desperation, she tries to bond with Ragna again.
With Shina too weak herself to help, she's forced to watch as it seems the loop will happen yet again regardless.
But at the last second Noel dives in and grabs hold of Ragna, with Shina in turn grabbing Noel to pull them both free.
Noel then starts screaming at Ragna for being an idiot for reasons neither of them get, until Noel falls unconscious from exhaustion.
It seems, at long last, the cycle of events has come to an end. Except...there's one threat to deal with. The laser that wipes Kagutsuchi off the map is still prepared to fire.
But that lies in Rachel's hands. Convinced by the combined efforts of Ragna, Shina and Alex to change the future, Rachel forfeits her role as an Observer to summon the power of the Tsukuyomi Unit and defend Kagutsuchi from the blast.
Then she returns to the Cauldron, telling Ragna a little more about Noel, and how she's become the inheritor of the "Eye", that leads to the True Azure.
Noel wakes up and starts yelling at Ragna, much to Shina's amusement and his confusion.
The fun times are interrupted with the arrival of Terumi, whose appearance comes with the revelation of how he ruined Ragna's life.
Ragna tries to attack but Terumi deflects him and continues to taunt him. Before Shina can make a move herself, however, Terumi silences his gathered crowd by dropping Alex Whiter's beaten body in front of them.
There's mass confusion from everyone, and panic from Shina, who can't possibly believe that Alex would be put into such a sorry state.
Shina wants to save Alex, but worries that she won't even be able to get one attack in before Terumi snuffs Alex's life out.
So she's forced to listen to Terumi mock them all for their incompetence, driving it EXTRA hard with Alex in particular.
He's going to get everything he wants here, and if he doesn't, Alex dies.
So first, Terumi forces Rachel to let him look at Noel's eyes, thus allowing her to confirm his existence with her role as the Inheritor of the Eyes.
Secondly, Terumi wants the artifact piece Shina got off Nu.
Shina hesitates the most with this choice. Her family means so much to her, and Alex's life doesn't mean more than that.
But as she rationalizes in her head, Alex has become a very important person in her life in his own right. So its not that his value is less than her family but rather...Its about equal.
She can't stand seeing him in so much pain, and despite Alex begging her not to...Shina drops her sword and gives Terumi what he wants.
Terumi laughs, but says how he never SAID he'd let Alex go and plans to kill him anyways.
But before he can do so, Alex finally uses his sheer willpower to pull his sword free from the Phantom's binding spell. He then cuts Terumi's tendons but fails to stop him in time, allowing to escape with the artifact piece with the Phantom's help.
Alex then loses consciousness from blood loss, waking up later in Rachel's castle.
He awakens to find Shina at his side and, upon collecting his hazy memories, gets in her face and yells at her for choosing his life over her family's.
Shina slaps him for getting aggressive and yells about how hard of a choice she made but would do it again in a heartbeat. Cause at the least they had a chance of stopping Terumi again, but she doesn't have a chance to have a friend like him again.
Alex...cannot reasonably argue against that.
Rachel appears, revealing that Alex has been out for eight days. During that time, Shina partook in the events of Continuum Shift but couldn't find any hint of the artifact on Terumi, Noel/Mu, Relius Clover, the Phantom, or the Imperator.
Which means Terumi's plotting something big. But what, not even Rachel knows for sure.
Shina's at a loss of what to do next and hopes she can work out something with Alex's help.
Alex gets up and with a firm look in his eyes, decides he's had enough of slacking on his Elemental Overlord duties.
He'll accomplish what the original didn't and deal with ALL the evils of this world. Terumi, Relius, the Phantom, the Imperator...He'll deliver justice upon them all AND get the artifact piece back.
That...He swears with all his heart.
Part 4.5 Story 4 END.