"Despair has its own calms."
Chapter 9 – The Pool of Tribute
And done. A heavy blow from the back of Ragna's sword brought knocked Jin back against the wall, unable to even continue further. He struggled to even stand but that was it, any minute now and Jin would fall.
"I have tons of questions that I need to ask you so I won't finish you off. Just lie right there." Said Ragna, and then turned to walk away.
He heard Jin's weak laughter behind him, paying him no mind as he made his way down. There were more important things to deal with, and he was worried after watching Nier fall down the edge of that chasm. He wasn't too worried given Death's overprotectiveness of the girl, but she had been fighting a seemingly competent NOL officer, and who knows what else awaited her down here.
"Come on… come on…." He waited for the elevator, stepping on as it descended deeper and deeper. He hadn't encountered Nier on the way here, which meant she'd have to be deeper within the structure. After what seems like an eternity, it finally grinds to a halt. This must be as far as it goes. Other branches have had elevators like this one, but none of them had any that took so long to reach the bottom. Ragna couldn't help wondering just how deep underground he actually is.
The elevator doors open and laid out before him was a tableau he had seen many times before. Yet someone was waiting for him.
The moment Ragna sees him, he freezes. Not out of fear, but as if he's been hypnotized, unable to even lift a finger. Every fiber of his body wants to get out of that room as fast as possible, but no matter how much he struggles, his body refused to respond.
The man's face was a mask, and although there were no eyes to speak of, it still felt as if this creature was staring straight into his soul. Or maybe it was fear. He recognized the danger… this was a foe more dangerous than any he had ever faced.
"Bastard… who are you?" Ragna forced himself to speak, slowly getting into a defensive stance.
"I am the end of you…" the masked being replied, unsheathing a sword as tall as he is. It was a brilliant silver, shining with a cool, hard light. "You seem to be shaking, Ragna the Bloodedge. Is this pitiful child truly the most powerful this world has to offer? The darkness that infects our world springs from you, a font of evil. I shall staunch that flow, and put an end to you!"
He can't give up, he can't let it end here! As much as his body just wanted to turn and run, he knew it would be no use. He had to make a stand here. "Cut the crap and bring it on!" he shouted.
"I am the white void. I am the cold steel. I am the just sword! With blade in hand shall I reap the sins of this world and cleanse it in the fires of destruction! I am Hakumen! The end has come!"
She couldn't even land a hit on her. Nier's eyes moved from place to place but before she could even get a good focus on the girl, she was gone or had moved elsewhere. And it didn't even seem like she had performed an action to move anywhere.
The Imperator had gotten close again and Nier raised her hands in an arc of purple flames, but her target was gone midway through her swing and then Nier felt a pain in her side as she was struck by a powerful open-palmed push. It sent her careening before Death leaped up to grab her and held her steady.
She made sure Nier was alright before turning her gaze upon the one who also identified herself as 'Death.' Covered by a glowing, purple ribcage, the Imperator simply floated forward without a care in the world even as Death began attacking. The bladed scythe-like hair thrashed about, engulfing the Imperator's defence but could not pierce through.
"Hmmm…. This is the irregularity that's been interfering with the plans? I expected a lot more…." The Imperator said, raising her hands up while Death floated back to stand in front of Nier.
A ball of purple flame appeared above her head, slowly growing in size and then she suddenly launched it at the pair.
"Death!" Nier called out, the Primal holding both hands to her face as a pillar of purple flame erupted in front of her, engulfing the Imperator's launched projectile, the ensuing explosion knocking the Erune back again.
"So much rage… so much raw emotion. Weak, but rapidly growing in power." The Imperator said, already having closed the distance to Nier and reached out to grip her neck, lifting her up with a smile on her face.
Death whirled around, her sickles moving to slash at the Imperator, who proceeded to hold Nier straight towards her, almost as if daring her to continue attacking. Death didn't fall for such a trick though, curving the sickle blades around Nier to stab at the Imperator from behind.
Nier felt her grip loosen on her neck and squirmed away, turning around to face the Imperator. It was a chilling sight, but the most frightening part was that the girl didn't seem too fazed by her own impalement. With glib ease, she pulled herself free of the scythes before she tugged and pulled Death forward… and then the girl disappeared.
An instant later, it's as if Death had been struck in multiple different places at the same time. The Primal Beast crumpled from the onslaught as the Imperator landed gracefully in front of Nier.
"What are you…?" Nier stepped back.
"Hmmm… he may not know it yet, but I am someone Ragna is dearly acquainted with. He has yet to tell you about his dear, missing sister has he?" she leaned in forward, pushing Nier so she fell on her back, and then was instantly atop her, pinning her down with their faces close.
There was a resemblance. But the girl looked drastically different from the one she saw when looking through Ragna's memories. An insane, hollow look that made it difficult for Nier to even respond. Along with fear, plenty of fear as they looked on eye to eye.
"An irregularity who does not belong in this world, and yet continues to make herself a part of it. But you do not know how things will end, do you? Every little repetition, collected and recorded, with undesirable events just tossed away like garbage. Even our little confrontation now, recorded and yet amounting to nothing in the end." The Imperator said, gently tracing a finger up Nier's cheek. "But you. You would seek to break that dreadful bond, yes? The world is not yet as it should."
"W-what are you talking about?" Nier asked.
A grin. "Shhh…. Watch…"
To the side, a distant haze of a battle materialized almost like that of a mirror. Ragna was in a fight with a white-masked swordsman, and losing.
"Rag…na…." Nier reached a hand out for him, ignoring the girl who was atop her.
"He will survive this battle, as he always had. Keep watching…"
Ragna was on the defensive, but he was holding his right hand up as a mass of dark energy gathered within it.
"To win, he shall use the Azure Grimoire. But after that, he shall face someone who will end him. The same result, again and again." The Imperator explained, the darkness around Ragna increasing as he activated said Azure Grimoire. Yet at the same time…
Death recovered. She was upon the Imperator with more ferocity than before, impaling her with her scythes again before flinging her away from Nier, back towards the edge of the coffin she had been resting at earlier.
"My love, are yoo injured?" asked Death and held out her hand to Nier. She accepted it gladly and pulled herself close to Death's chill embrace.
"Interesting…" the Imperator said, rising up slowly. "You've made a pact… with his Azure Grimoire itself? An unprecedented act…."
"We shall save our beloved. Even if we have to kill the world too doo so!" Death shrieked, holding Nier protectively.
"So you shall. Very well then…" the Imperator chuckled, shedding her robes. Much of her body had been impaled though one could also see that it wasn't a human body either. Almost like that of a doll, with ball joints and unnatural-looking protrusions. "This body was not meant to take much punishment, but I am interested in seeing what ripples you are able to create. And if you truly are capable of creating a world of death."
"A world of death and love…" Nier added, glaring at the Imperator, "…and you will not be a part of it."
"We shall see…" she replied, snapping her fingers. In an instant, Nier and Death were teleported away.
Their surroundings have changed yet again, and Nier found herself in the midst of destruction and ruin. Ragna was just here wasn't he? Death materialized beside her once more, looking around herself for signs of Ragna and his opponent.
Before them was a massive hole, and what looks like… a pot? The earth shook, and a bright light was emitted from the strange pot down below. Something else emerged too, but she wasn't quite sure what it was. Like the hilt of a massive weapon and off in the distance, a similar kind of coffin that the Imperator had been resting inside simply opened up. From within, another being floated down from above and hovered just at the edge of the platform that overlooked the cauldron.
A woman with long, braided, silver hair and a cloak that covered a portion of her body. A sleek suit covered the rest of her and one eye was covered by something that looked familiar.
"Loading… loading… loading… loading… complete." The girl repeated.
She was on guard. Nier hadn't even had time to recover from her battle with the Imperator and even then, it didn't feel like a win on her end. "Is this the one Ragna was meant to face…?" she wondered aloud.
The silver-haired girl raised her head immediately.
"You know… Ragna?"
"She knows him… our beloved." Death hissed.
The girl tilted her head. "I thought Ragna was Nu's… that Nu was Ragna's… who are you…?" she asked.
"Nier…" she replied, stepping back from the girl. She couldn't see it, but there was a growing amount of hostility in the air. "You can't have him. He's ours…" she frowned, as Death moved defensively in front of her again.
"No… he's here to destroy me, not you." The girl, Nu, replied as a massive blade crashed down behind her. In a flash, it seemed to have transformed her. Bladed tips aligned with her limbs and more of those swords spread out around her like wings. "Me, the world, everything in it! Once he gets going with that sword of his, he just can't help himself!"
What is she talking about?
"All he has to do is wish for all-encompassing destruction, and I'll make it happen. I'm the only one who can scratch that itch. I'm her girl, not you." The bladed tips moved, pointing forward at Nier before shooting out at her one after another. Death was ready though, blocking and parrying the blades with amazing speed.
But if her slashes were fast, then so too was Nu's agility. She already zipped forward and moved to outflank Death, firing another blade straight at Nier from an exposed gap in her defence. But not a physical blade that floated beside her and returned. Some kind of phantom blade that Nier blasted apart with a magical attack of her own. She didn't like relying on magic, but it is necessary here if she were to survive against this kind of opponent. She had to be stronger, faster than her. Prevent her from meeting Ragna if the Imperator's words rang true.
"You do not compare to our love for him." Nier glared at Nu.
The girl simply laughed and renewed her assault, moving closer and closer in increasingly erratic movements. But Death soon caught her with a sweeping spin of her scythe, cutting into her sides and then slashing at her body in mid-air again and again. Surprisingly durable, all things considered and she couldn't cleanly cut through her.
"Is it over?" Nier sighed in relief… only to pause.
The wounds inflicted were healing rapidly and Nu rose up again, staring at them with her visor. "Oh, that hurts a lot. I've underestimated you…" she said coldly, and then attacked again.
Blades shot out, not at Nier this time but straight towards Death. Not just from one direction but from multiple angles. From behind, from the side… and even the occasional one sent towards Nier forcing Death to expose herself to more attacks in order to protect her.
"Death…!" Nier cried out in alarm.
"You're a naughty girl, aren't you?" Nu said beside her, having slipped in through the confusion to slash at her front. A slash narrowly deflected as Death materialized in front of Nu. She grabbed her wrists and proceeded to impale her twice over in the chest with her scythes. The girl coughed out blood as the Primal Beast tossed her away.
Nier immediately got to work, healing the Primal's injuries and drew upon her own life energies in the process. And yet when she looked at their opponent's fallen figure, a look of despair overcame her features at how quickly Nu recovered and regenerated.
She couldn't even fully make Death recover before Nu attacked again. How many of these people just didn't stay down? More so with this one in particular.
She crashed in between the two as multiple phantom blades descended from above, skewering Death again and again, driving the Primal Beast down into the ground. It was too much. The injuries forced Death to dematerialize, her card appearing in Nier's hand while she raised the other to form a barrier. The next attacks carried on without mercy, blades crashing against the barrier only to eventually shatter it entirely. One, two, three, four… the pain was much greater than she had thought.
Impaled twice in both hands. One in her stomach and another in her thigh. The phantom blades dissipated, leaving Nier only with her injuries as she crumpled onto the floor, bleeding heavily.
"You're all talk then? There's no way you're worthy of Ragna's love." Nu said, the blades around her pointing forward.
She couldn't heal herself, not with these injuries right now. And Death hadn't recovered yet either. Nier shut her eyes, and waited for the final blow… but it never came. There was the sound of something landing in front of her, weapons clanging against the blades fired at her and Nier opened her eyes once more.
Ragna stood in front of her. His clothes are torn and covered in blood. But it didn't matter, he still came for her and tears started streaming down her face.
He steals a glance to look over his shoulder, momentarily surprised but only for a second, his attention back on the danger before them.
"Sorry it took me so long. A certain masked asshole wouldn't take no for an answer. Whatever you do, stay behind me" He told her, and then turned towards Nu.
"Heheh, ahahaha!" laughed the silver-haired girl. "Ragna… oh Ragna… you came for me!"
"Tch, you wish. I'm here to beat the crap out of you so bring it on!"
Nier simply watched as Ragna lunged at their opponent, still in pain as she focused entirely on recovery. She needed to help him. Though she failed in making Ragna meet that monster, she should still be able to do something eventually.
Seconds passed, each one already far too long given how furiously the battle raged. Ragna was keeping up, but also running into the same problem Nier herself had earlier. Nu just did not stay down, no matter how many injuries she received, as if she was immortal.
"I need to…" Nier whispered, crawling forward inch by inch even as she used her magic to heal her injuries. Everything taken from the surrounding air, anything at all. But this place with so little life, it made it difficult to do anything.
"Don't lose… please don't lose…" Nier whispered, eyes widening as multiple blades struck Ragna, paralyzing him. She cried out for him, hand reaching out just as another more massive blade appeared to skewer both he and that insane girl. They hang in the air a moment, before Nu began dragging Ragna back towards the Cauldron.
"No… you can't…!" Nier forced herself to stand in a rush of adrenaline, running forward as the two fell off the edge. Time seemed to slow and Nier leaped forward, right into the maw of the cauldron as she took hold of Ragna's outstretched hand. "You can't take him…!" she cried out.
She would have fallen in as well, were it not for Death materializing right at the edge, tugging on Nier as she held on tight. The sword that pierced Ragna's body slides out of his gut and the girl known only as Nu falls into the cauldron alone, disappointment creasing her brow.
A plume of flames licks up from within the cauldron's stygian depths and the girl is consumed.
Death pulled Ragna and Nier up and over her head as Ragna landed on the floor with a hard thud on his back with Nier right on top of him. The two panted heavily, taking a few moments to calm down.
"You… you saved me…" Ragna said, wincing in pain even as Nier held him tight. Too tight, too painful but… that was better than what could have happened. "Thank you."
"You scared me, so much. I thought I was going to lose you…" Nier cried into his chest. "I didn't want her to take you. I was frightened!" she continued.
"Just let it out…" he reached around with his right hand, patting her back, noticing Death approach from the corner of his eye. "Thank you as well, Death. We wouldn't have gotten out without you." He chuckled weakly.
The Primal Beast bowed gracefully, reverting back to the form of the card and settled in between the two of them.