Prologue. New start

The Boundary. A place located between many worlds, separating them from each other. But even this place has its own borders, located with other Boundaries of other universes and multiverses

Ragna couldn't remember how long he had been in this place, but he knew that he was already far from his world.

Usually, you can't be in the Boundary without having protection from a magical element or seitr – the energy that is everywhere in this place and that could absorb all living forms and materials that fell into it. But before traveling here, he did a little research in his Grimoire, finding abilities that allowed him to have protection from the effects of the Boundary.

«It's a good thing I decided to study Grimoire better before I go. I wouldn't want to restore my memory pieces in pieces again.»

Traveling along the Boundary looked more like swimming with the stream, which was interrupted by small worlds, sometimes very different from each other. At times, the Grim Reaper stopped in some worlds to rest and recover his strength to continue his journey. Sometimes, he solved the problems of locals and received honors that he thought were undeserved. But so far, none of the worlds had interested Bloodedge in staying there and settling down.

Suddenly, Ragna came across a stronger «stream» that began to pull him in unknown direction. There was no way he could control it.

- Damn, if I don't do anything, I'll lose all my strength supporting the barrier and die!

But it was already too late. Ragna noticed a light slowly approaching him.

«I don't know where this is going, but I hope it won't be a troublesome place.»


He woke up lying on the yellowed grass in the middle of the forest. But unlike the forests he had already known, this forest looked more lively and peaceful. The huge crowns of the trees opened up the starry sky, preventing the moonlight from illuminating the clearing where he lay.

When Ragna got to his feet, he felt a heaviness in his whole body, as he always did when entering a new world due to the exhaustion of the seitr. Although this time, he felt especially tired.

After taking a break, Bloodedge walked away from the edge of the forest in search of an exit. He walked through a path until he came to a long stone staircase. Looking back, he noticed a huge gate at the top. Not being very interested in what the gate hid, Ragna began his descent, coming to an empty road of a certain city. Looking around, he noticed a nearby information stand designed for providing information about attractions. It was written in both Japanese and English, but his teacher had made sure he was good at both reading and writing.

- Fuyuki… - Ragna scratched his head thoughtfully. - It's weird. I don't remember such a city from the maps of 2107.

He had seen enough versions of the map from the 2100s to be sure of his memory. But he needed to rest now.

With the Grimoire's invisibility activated, Ragna moved through the streets, looking for a place to rest. Fortunately, the streets were almost deserted, but he still tried to avoid the main street in case the invisible mode failed.

«I had enough, once I almost getting busted for carrying a weapon. I had to delve deeply into the study of magic formulas.»

Ragna reached a small hotel, where he found himself in a small lobby that was rather modestly furnished, but comfortable enough not to feel cheap. Walking up to the front desk, Bloodedge addressed the porter:

- Hello, I'd like to prepay for a couple of days' accommodation.

- Of course! May I take your passport, sir? - the porter asked.

- Passport? - Ragna fumbled for his pockets and realized that he didn't have any passport, so he took out a gold coin. - Is that enough?

Glancing around, the clerk took the coin and left through the door behind him. A few minutes later, he returned and gave Ragna the keys.

- The last room on the second floor. Would you like breakfast in your room? - the porter spoke even more politely than before.

- No, thanks. – Ragna noticed a newspaper lying on the table. - Can I take it?

- Of course, take it!


Later=

The room turned out to be just as small, but Ragna didn't care about it at the moment, because he was too tired to put much emphasis on it.

After bathing, he put his things on a chair and leaned his sword against the wall. Then he sat on the bed and began to read the newspaper. There was a lot of useless information, but Ragna could find something interesting in it. He learned from the newspaper that it was 2004, and there was a strange series of mysterious deaths due to gas in the city.

- Yeah, sure. I believe it. It's as if everyone's techniques have suddenly gone bad and they don't realize how they're gasping. - said a grinning Ragna - Obviously, something is wrong here. Again."

Even though he traveled to other worlds, they were usually similar to his home world, with some differences in events. Somewhere the Black Beast never appeared, and somewhere it destroyed the entire world. And somewhere the Black Beast was dealt with by a completely different Six Heroes. But it usually fell between 2100 and 2200 years. This time was different, so he wanted to investigate this anomaly. Also, due to the fact that the Grimoire needed time to recharge, it couldn't just go to another world as soon as he did.

- I've been stuck here for at least 5 days. During this time, it would be nice to find out everything about where I got to. But I'll leave that for tomorrow.

After getting dressed, Ragna lay down on the bed and fell asleep pretty quickly. However, his sleep was not peaceful for long.


Ragna stood in the middle of the dark grass as the whole sky was in a bloody color. The sun was just a big black hole. As he looked up at the sun, something threatening began to flow out of him. A creature or something resembling a human began to emerge from this liquid and it looked right at him. His face was not visible, but just looking at him made Bloodedge uncomfortable.

«The feeling... It's like I'm looking at the Black Beast again... Or something that looks too much like him.»

- Jo... ...e. - He kept repeating this over and over again.

But even these unintelligible words become more incomprehensible as darkness began to envelope Ragna's mind again.