"Ugh…"
For a moment, he lurched forward before he found a solid footing. He blinked a few times after opening his eyes, his vision sharpening.
"…Where…am I?" His voice came out as a whisper, pushed out by an increased awareness of his own flowing thoughts.
The place he stood in appeared to be outdoors on a man-made platform. It was wide and plaza-like, hanging over the edge at a great height inside a city. Far ahead, he could see parts of another district behind a large clock face. His foot scraped against the worn-out metallic floor when he turned around to look behind him.
"This place…? This is Kagutsuchi?" He recognized it, yet something seemed off. It sounded too quiet for a port. Moreover, not a single person was there, safe for himself.
After gaining an understanding of where he awoke, he felt one of his hands had been gripping onto something the entire time. He looked down at it.
A sword with a green hilt.
"Yuki…anesa?"
Vivid images flashed before him. "Ah, I remember now…"
After the civil war, the Librarium had handed him the title of major with overblown fanfare. Having a close friend working as his secretary somewhat eased matters, but it wasn't enough. His mind remained restless yet apathetic. Like that, time had crawled by and she continued to pester him with constant reminders of the workload he purposely ignored. Until one day when he fled his post to—
"That's right! I'm here because of the 'Grim Reaper'! He's here in this city… Nii-san, wait for me..." Recalling the reason behind this journey, Jin broke into an eager run.
The scenery changed, and he found himself in a dark area. How he got to this place so quickly, he didn't care. What mattered was that he knew his brother would be there. A distance away was the giant pit serving as the opening to the Hierarchical City's cauldron. A soft glow seeped out of it, sitting in a calm state.
Jin walked out to the middle of the open space. There, he waited. And within mere seconds, the sound of another person's footsteps appeared. His heart leapt. In such an overdue reunion, he had difficulty holding back a smile.
A man came out of the darkness. His white hair and red coat gave away his identity immediately, but Jin didn't even need to look to know who had been hiding in the shadows.
"Ragna… Nii-san… Ah, it's been so long! I can hardly believe you're here, alive no less!" Jin took a few steps closer in his direction. Yukianesa awakened in his hand, roused by the man's presence.
His brother did not answer, simply staring at him with a watchful eye.
"You haven't changed at all. Just as headstrong and serious as I remembered… I'm so glad!" Another laugh slipped out. Was this relief he felt? Hatred? Dread? Tiresome things. "It'll do you some good to relax once in a while. How about we play? Like good, old times."
His brother finally showed a reaction with a toughened glare. Posture dropping into a combative stance, he pulled out his sword from behind him. The atmosphere around Ragna changed, far different from the cautious passivity just a moment before.
No longer suppressing his own intentions, Jin responded in kind by drawing Yukianesa from its sheath. A familiar chill permeated the air and his own heart. Beneath that, untouched by the frost, a sole desire burned.
Kill. Kill him. Kill Ragna the Bloodedge.
The world's enemy needed to be killed.
"Yes! Let's have some fun!" His once gentle smile widened. "Ha ha ha…You're mine to kill…Mine! Nothing will ever change that!" To slay the Black Beast was his birthright and duty in this world, his purpose and his burden.
Like a rehearsed dance, their blades clashed. Step by step, Jin recalled each move his brother would do. Ice enveloped the floor, changing the terrain to his advantage.
"Easy…this is too easy, Nii-san!" Strong like his voice, he parried each of his brother's hits. The heavy blows strained his arm. His chest thumped wildly. He hadn't felt this much exhilaration in years, and he wanted this moment to last forever.
But, it had to end.
It had to end, because one could not change a predetermined fate.
"Farewell, Ragna the Bloodedge." Within a single stride, his sword traveled in a straight line. It cut across his opponent's neck, separating the body from its head with ease. Once he returned his weapon to its scabbard, he glanced at the man he called his brother. The body laid still on uneven, frost-covered ground. Stillness settled in as he stood there looking down at the remains. All traces of delight wore off from his face.
"…How pitiful."
Right as he said that, the corpse faded away and left nothing behind like it were an illusionary apparition. Pressing his palm against his forehead to dull the aching, Jin closed his eyes. "Of course… It's because this end was never meant to be. Nii-san, you've suffered a cruel fate. I tried to save you and I failed. And because of my failure…this world had to pay the price." He had seen the trail of destruction in the wake of the Black Beast's genesis.
More bits and pieces returned to him, and the murkiness in his mind cleared up just a little. He required another warm-up to remember—to dredge up more of 'himself'.
A malevolent ghost entered the vicinity within a split second, causing him to stop mulling over his thoughts. Putting a hand on his sword's handle, he prepared to face his next adversary with a hateful look. "Terumi…The scourge of the world!"
Snake-like eyes stared back at him. A man in the brightly-coloured coat appeared with a soundless cackle, but his laughter rang loud inside Jin's head.
Without waiting for his enemy to move first, he commanded Yukianesa to shoot a trail of ice at Terumi's feet. The ars magus attack glided across the floor, but the man leapt to the side. Right where he stood before, large spikes of ice protruded out of the cracked ground.
Not losing his chance, Terumi conjured his own weapon. The golden head of a viper coated in a dark green aura propelled through the air, aiming to pierce Jin's torso.
Weaving in, he made use of the ice pillars from his previous duel to shield him. Cold shards scattered all over as they shattered under the attack. Pushing through the flying ice fragments, he was within attacking range in a flash.
But the man prepared to strike again. With a quick movement of his hand, a black mass of energy shot out and attempted to lash out a bite.
Having fought against the traitor before, he knew his methods. Even before Terumi launched an attack, he readied his sword not to cut, but to deflect. Energy rapidly pooled in front of him, preparing to take on the mind-consuming power of the serpent's attack.
The two forces clashed, nullifying each other. The moment Terumi's attack connected and dissipated, it opened a window of opportunity. Instantly, Jin initiated his own strike. Fully drawing his sword out, he slashed across the space in between them.
The tip of his blade only managed to graze Terumi, yet the Nox Nyctores' concentrated power caused ice to spread to the rest of him. Within the timespan of a single heartbeat, a thick shell of smooth ice encased him.
A superficial sense of satisfaction briefly washed over as he sunk his blade through the abdomen of the snake in human skin before moving to cut the entire body in half. Understanding that the encounter was over, he breathed out deeply as he resheathed Yukianesa. "Nothing but another illusion…" By the time he blinked, not a body remained in the ice.
Without bothering to take another look, he decided to return to the surface as quickly as his feet could carry him. He would rather not stay near the cauldron any longer.
When daylight welcomed him outside, he went towards the railings lining the edges of the upper level. Kagutsuchi stayed as empty as the last time he saw it. The subtle, unmoving atmosphere spanned the entire city, the world even. After some time spent in combat, he finally understood its true nature and how it came to be this way.
He sighed, and spoke to an unseen entity, "Grimalkin… I know that this is your doing. What's the meaning of this?"
"Finally, a proper response signal!" A woman's static voice appeared inside his head, originating from the outside world. "Materialization system sync, barely stable but functional. Sub-cognizance interface, active. Good, this worked…kinda. Heh heh, still, I'd call this run a success. But that noise interference… can't seem to get rid of that damned thing…"
"Hmph." Arms crossed, he stared intently at the clouds in the skyline. He would have allowed himself to feel nostalgic if it were not for the artificial nature of it all. "I have to wonder if there is any shred of morality left in you. Do you understand what you're doing?"
"Don't try to lecture me. It's too late for that. Besides, this was a last resort and you know it. If it wasn't, then I wouldn't have jury-rigged all this."
A scowl twisted his features. "Your quest is a fool's errand."
"Figured you'd say that again. Annoying as you are, I need you. There's something, or someone, that I and my systems can't seem to 'perceive' in my backup data, not even in simulations. But according to the data output, you can, for some reason. So there's no way I'm not exploiting that aspect. Besides, you don't get much of a choice when I could've disposed of you."
He knew exactly what the scientist referred to and the phenomena surrounding it. Unfortunately for her, he couldn't do anything about the matter, nor did he wish to. "You should not be pursuing this any further if you value your own time and life. Do not claim I didn't warn you when you suffer the consequences."
The voice scoffed. "Keep up with the big talk, buddy. Maybe that'll make you less of a pain in the ass to work with once you've had your temper tantrum. Want a calibration dummy to beat on while you're in there too?"
"You best work on your negotiation skills, Grimalkin…" But she had her reason in acting so carefree. His current state of being posed no danger to anyone, let alone her. He despised it, nearly as much as being present through this medium.
"Hm, tell you what, I've got another incentive to make you do what I tell you to do."
"…Go on." He gave that reply mostly out of spiteful curiosity at what she would throw at him next.
"I'm gonna give you a short story of what I found. You'll want to hear it." A pause followed so she could take in a breath. "Not long ago, my tracking systems detected several unknown signals originating from the Boundary. Quite a few of them kept blinking in and out. I couldn't find the identity of those abnormalities, but I recognized one of them to be Relius Clover. Doesn't that name ring a bell?"
"Relius Clover…! He's active again?" That name belonged to a man associated with countless crimes, willing to work with the worst kind of scum to achieve his secretive goals. The mad scientist must surely be planning something after—
"Well, glad that got a reaction out of you. So, here's the deal. I need to put your 'perception' to use. You're my best bet in finding the other signals and what's really happening. Simple."
For a moment, he casted his eyes to the ground. Relius, a man who committed a number of evils, had been a potential threat lurking in the background. The Mad Puppeteer must be judged for his crimes. "Fine. I'll see to it that Relius Clover be eliminated. Now get me out of this despicable imitation of a world."
A tired groan came from her. "Sure, you'll get yourself killed. The last thing I want is for you to self-destruct out of misguided bravado after I went through this much effort! Do not engage in combat if you meet him, got that? For more than one reason. I want you to investigate the signals first and foremost. Relius can be dealt with later."
"I'm the best judge for what I can and cannot do. I don't need you to command me at every step."
"Argh, whatever. We'll need to talk about more technical stuff later. Hope you don't forget anything, 'cause I'd hate to repeat myself. Over, and out." The voice and the static cut off.
Left on his own, he raised the sword in his hand to gaze at it. It lived as part of the simulation, just like all the events that had happened. "A dream within a dream…" Despite what he said about knowing his own limits, he had yet to test his abilities out in the real world. Exerting one's will in an isolated, quiet reality was certainly easy.
Not long afterwards, the edges of the city began to crumble. He himself felt his consciousness dissolve as the data of the pocket-sized world deleted itself.
Eventually, everything faded to white and vanished into nothingness.