With his swords returned to their case, Jubei stoop up straight to better assess the situation. Standing on either side of him were the people he assumed to be involved in the ruckus shaking the underground level.

After he had finished speaking with the Kaka Village's elder, the hair around the scruff of his neck pricked up. Somewhere, Nox Nyctores-level grimoires had been activated. Pushing back the rest of his tasks for a later time, Jubei had set out immediately to investigate the noise. And the closer he got, the more he sensed the atmosphere being jostled around—a sure sign that the cause of the disturbance came from combat.

One of the guilty parties pointed her long sword at him, an unflinching air accompanying her. "Why did you shield him, One-Eyed Lotus? Explain yourself."

"Oh I was shieldin' nobody but this ol' place. It might not look pretty anymore, but it's part of what keeps Kagutsuchi from crumblin' ta bits." Wanton destruction would not go ignored under his watch. The moment he spotted the girl raising her weapon amidst the damage already done, he had to intervene. But the truth was, the strange encounter with Jin from earlier the same day spurred his interest in this too.

"That is but an excuse for the result of your action," she said all while refusing to let her gaze stray from the person standing behind him.

Jubei hadn't missed the ominous feeling that had since faded after he stopped the fight. Armed with a power like that, he doubted her attack a moment before would kill the young man.

"Hey…"

Ears pricked, Jubei took a step back to look in the direction of the voice addressing him. His unusual appearance, his weapon, the formidable aura from his arm, his oddly intense stare—the sum of many things intrigued Jubei. "Whatcha givin' me that look for?"

The scowl on his face softened a little. His eyes shot between the two people in front of him. "Just…gotta figure out if you're friend or foe. No offense."

Hearing that, Jubei deemed him to be the very reasonable kind compared to the young lady in the white armor. "I'ma be honest with ya, kid, I'm neither." The corner of his mouth raised itself into a smirk. "But I'm open ta change my mind if ya can make me."

"Huh." He ran a hand over the back of his head before his expression lightened up. "Great, 'cause I could use some help here to get her off my damn case."

As far as Jubei could tell, he sensed no malicious intent behind his words. "We'll see 'bout that." He much preferred to know more before he could form a solid opinion.

Listening from a distance during the entire exchange, the mysterious girl lowered her sword. "It seems my understanding of you has been wildly misguided, One-Eyed Lotus… A friend of my enemy is nothing but another soul awaiting judgment from my blade." An intense pressure burst forth when she pointed it at them again. "Choose carefully."

"Didn't say nothin' about bein' friends with him." This made Jubei wonder what the youngster did to earn such a hair-trigger temperament from her. "I'm simply puttin' down a peace option on the table, or ya both can take this fight elsewhere before the Li—"

"There shall be no negotiating!" Her hand tightened around the handle of her hefty blade. With a single swing, a blast of wind blew across the terrain.

Once he saw that, Jubei was certain that she would no longer be waiting to hear either of them out. Not far behind, he heard the friendlier one between the two mumbling a swear and Jubei wholeheartedly agreed with him. From what he had gathered, the young woman made for a tough opponent.

Hands reaching to both hilts of his Nox Nyctores, he began looking for the right way to approach. "…!" As Jubei scanned around, his senses picked a fourth person hidden somewhere not far from them. However, he soon realized he could detect them only because they were close enough to attack. "Above?!"

Drill-like extensions appeared and fell, aiming at the girl's head.

Her quick reflexes allowed her to turn her blade and stop them on time.

What attacked her looked to be a large, female doll. It pushed down with great force. Its eyes stared down with no reaction to the sparks erupting where steel met steel.

Beneath, she used her forearm as extra support to push back against her blade. "Ngh, cowardly…tactics!" Just as her arms began to shake from exertion, she gave one last push that successfully threw it off of her.

The automaton's weapons turned into a pair of legs right as it landed on the ground, but it didn't stop. At the same time as it moved to attack with a clawed hand, one of the sharp appendages attached to the doll's head also swung.

Using her sword, she deflected the initial hit before clashing with hooked nails.

They struggled for a moment before the doll decided to swap its free hand into a bladed hook. Seeing the incoming attack, the girl retreated a distance away with what seemed to be a teleportation technique.

So much happened in such a short span that Jubei almost failed to notice the puppet's wielder stepping into the scene.

"That was a splendid demonstration." He announced himself with the snap of his fingers. At his signal, the automaton returned to his side obediently.

"You again?!" The kid with the red coat nearly stepped past Jubei when he yelled. "Then…! Tch, you freaking bastard…!"

"This man?" Jubei narrowed his eye. All three of their focus now turned to the doll and its master.

"You must be…Colonel Relius Clover." The girl recovered from the short clash within a heartbeat. Already, she prepared to resume fighting.

At the center of everyone's attention, Relius observed them all in turn. "I'm afraid I cannot properly entertain you all at the same time." His head turned in the direction near Jubei. "However, I am very grateful. The commotion was easy to follow before I let something undesirable happen to a valuable specimen."

Without warning, she reappeared close to him and attacked. But one of the doll's limbs stopped the blade.

The man did not flinch at the strike. "Am I to be your new prey item now? Interesting."

"Your eyes—He was right… They're not something that should exist. You'll pay for the sins you've committed!" Briefly, she pulled up her sword only to return with renewed force, enough to make the weaponized puppet nearly lose its balance.

Jubei remained on the sidelines, quietly watching the three sides. All of them seemed to have some kind of connection to one another but the nature of it eluded him. Seeing the young lady suddenly prioritize a different target raised an alarm about Relius' presence more than it otherwise would.

Even the kid himself appeared ready to join the fray when he had been reluctant to continue fighting some time before. "I'm down for a truce if it means kicking that guy's ass first!"

This prompted her to give him a death stare before returning it to Relius.

"…Hm, this gathering is a bit too much of a handful for my liking," said the masked man before angling his face to one side. "It's a real shame I couldn't complete what I set out to do, but I'm in no hurry. Ignis, let's wait for another chance." Something distorted the space around him and the automaton.

Then, they were gone, leaving just a small cloud of raised dust.

"I won't let you escape!" Knowing where the man had gone, she chased after him and vanished in the blink of an eye.

In a single moment, Jubei was standing with the only one remaining of the parties involved.

"..." Pushing his sensing capability near its limits, Jubei eventually concluded that both the girl and Relius Clover had truly left the premises with either heightened speed or teleportation. "Darn, can't track 'em…" To follow after them, he would need copious amounts of luck since they left no traces behind.

Once Jubei decided to give up the idea, he turned to him. "I reckon that's the end o' that. Whatcha gonna do now?"