BlazBlue – Phase Shift

December 31th, 2107 AD.

A night that felt unpleasant; with a strangely warm wind blowing.

Although the sky was mostly deprived of clouds, the supposedly visible stars grown hazy as they were covered by thick seithr.

But the moon that had none of silver nor gold was oddly close. It shone its stagnant light upon the ground that was about to be ruined as if giving a sympathy.

The vicinity was a plain wasteland. No gra.s.s or water existed.

If today would be the day of apocalypse for humanity, it would truly be the appropriate place.

...Nine thought about it while taking a deep breath, having confirmed the situation with all the main units of Mage"s Guild.

The day and the year would end very soon. When a whole year had pa.s.sed since that time, something might get revived. Just thinking about it would give anyone shivers.

Of course, the preparation had been sufficiently arranged. As anything that could be done had been dealt with, there was no anxiety or fear regarding that part.

What had been concerning Nine was Celica.

"Nine. The deployment of the foreign armies has been completed without problems."

Trinity jogged to Nine. She was among the same main units as Nine and had the role to support all of the armies.

Every functioning countries were partic.i.p.ating in this strategy.

They mobilized the acknowledged armies in the last moment. The armies included the countries that had been previously refusing to cooperate with Mage"s Guild and also the circles of the Ten Sages other that Nine that had been made to act.

Presently, several hundreds of thousands units had been positioned around various cauldrons that had high rate of seithr discharge. The units also included volunteers who were ordinary people.

It was still unclear which cauldron the Black Beast will emerge from. But once its arrival had been confirmed, the attack and mobilization would commence immediately.

Among the armies that had been stationed at the cauldrons... there was Celica. She was on the central point of the cauldrons" vicinity. Her position made her easy to move from anywhere.

"...Are you worried about Celica-san?"

Trinity asked her in a whisper as she detected a deep sorrow from Nine"s expression that was dressed in calmness.

Finally noticing that her mind was completely filled with Celica, Nine lightly bit her lips to reprimand herself. The light pain that didn"t get to be wound felt like she was chewing a gum.

"...Of course I"m worried."

She could have dodged the question, but Nine chose to speak out her mind obediently. Her company was Trinity. She could immediately see through Nine"s pressure no matter how many words she used to coat it.

Plus she couldn"t keep making a calm face like there was nothing when it came to that matter.

"Don"t make a joke like that! Do you even understand what you"re saying!?"

The first moment Celica said that she wanted be a decoy, Nine reflexively yelled.

Nine"s shout would make her cla.s.smates from the academy trembling. But it wasn"t a big deal for Celica. Instead she talked back with a louder voice.

"I said I do. I can"t say something like this jokingly."

"That makes it even worse! Celica, didn"t you hear about my thoughts in antic.i.p.ating for this battle!?"

"Of course I remember. But this is different from our talk about Seven-san and Eight-san. I won"t be dying. And if I can lure the Black Beast, won"t it be good for the strategy?"

The more Nine resisted, the more stubborn Celica stood her ground.

Even if they kept repeating it, Celica wouldn"t back down once she had decided on something. Nine knew about it as the experience kept piling up in her.

At such a time, she might already know who would yield in the end.

"Please! I want to do it no matter what! I"ll run away when it gets dangerous. I"ll obey your instruction. So please…!"

The sisters continued throwing their demands and made the argument lasted close to thirty minutes.

But then Celica joined her hands and then deeply bowed in her begging. The excessively direct request made Nine spontaneously at a loss for words.

She understood about it. About what kind of a sister Celica was and how earnest her heart was.

Nine gave a big sigh and scratched her hair in annoyance.

"…Aaah, okay! You have a comeback for everything I said!"

"…Then… you get it!?"

"I get it, I get it! You"re such a stubborn kid. You must have thought tons of excuses to persuade me."

Actually, even if the theories she lined up against Nine might seem all over the place, they needed a little more accuracy in pin pointing Black Beast"s arrival in order to intercept it.

There weren"t many alternatives that would go smoothly even when the certainty wasn"t in 100% percent, or even if they had to rely on the vampire girl"s prophecy. In fact, there were only a few of them.

If the Black Beast would get drawn to Celica, then it would greatly helped the proceeding of the plan.

Nine wouldn"t have any complain if Celica didn"t do it.

"…But remember, your duty is just to lure out that monster. You absolutely cannot partic.i.p.ate in the battle. Get to a safe place after that. You hear?"

"Yes! Thanks, Onee-chan!"

With her confidence to not lose to Nine went away, Celica put her usual bright, carefree smile. Then she gripped her sister"s hands.

Nine didn"t have the slightest idea about what she should feel when looking at her smile.

…The day of the decisive battle approached. Although the arrangement had been finished at this point, Nine was in violent remorse. She couldn"t resist to think that it might be better if she had dismissed Celica"s opinion using whatever means necessary.

Nine crushed the deployment scheme of the foreign armies in her hand. She immediately switched her long gaze to the direction where Celica was supposed to be.

"Truth to be told, I want to send her to Ishana immediately. Having Celica to be a bait to lure the Black Beast is ludicrous… If I could, I wanted to at least be right beside and protect her now."

"You have to take command of the Armagus unit, you know. No one but you are able to do it."

The Armagus unit was organized from the candidates around the world that had been tested for their apt.i.tude. Today would be their first combat.

Even with their skill, the armies had insufficient combat experience. Commanding them required someone who grasped the understanding of Armagus better than anyone. In other word, Nine.

"I know about that."

Trinity was to give support and direct the supportive magic unit from headquarters. Jubei, Terumi, and Valkenhayn were partic.i.p.ating in the units which are located near their respective cauldrons. Even with someone else"s a.s.sistance, there was no other choice for Nine.

But it was because she precisely knew about it that the absurd irritation within the helpless situation struck her nerves.

The cause of annoyance didn"t just come from the Black Beast. Seven and Eight"s movement was still in her mind.

Nine thrust her disarranged long hair with her hand. Trinity put her hand to Nine"s shoulder and gently smiled.

"Didn"t you create Nirvana and have her beside Celica-san? And that gentleman is also there."

"…Ugh. Oh, well. I guess I don"t have a problem with him being her guard at the very least, considering his war potential."

Combing the tangled hair in her hand, Nine took a deep breath to shake off the ill feeling in her chest. Though the burden in her chest hadn"t disappeared, she had to forcibly convince herself for now.

"Anyway, let"s beat up the monster before it reach Celica."

"Fufu, that"s the spirit~. ...But please don"t do anything reckless."

"I know. You too, Trinity. I can"t do anything without you after all."

"Oh my. You"re making me embarra.s.sed."

Trinity covered her girlish mouth with the fingertips that came out from the sleeve of her robe. Nine replied with a daring smile.

But time was ticking. No matter how many words she spoke of, the pressuring anxiety hadn"t yet to disappear from Nine"s chest.

The midwinter wind blew, making her cheeks lukewarm. There was smell of cloud dust around.

The night somehow had gotten stagnant. The stars and moon became so much farther away. The air which was filled with seithr appeared like a pretty thin silk curtain. It gave the impression of vague feelings.

It had been a while since she felt the air outside the island. Celica sat down on top of a rugged hill within the everlasting wasteland while inhaling the dusty air of the night deep into her lungs.

Nirvana stood just next to her. The smooth and brilliant gla.s.s spheres that were her eyes appeared as if they were gazing at the distant scenery.

Following her gaze, Celica also looked at the distance.

The scenery she was staring at seemed desolate.

Once, this region had suffered damage from Black Beast. The demon appeared suddenly as usual, transformed the buildings and road into wasteland, and disappeared abruptly as before.

But a small town barely survived thanks to that whim. It was located on the other side of the rocky mountain west from here. If the Black Beast appeared on this territory tonight, the town would surely disappear and turned into a wasteland like here.

It was truly a dreadful thing.

Thinking about it made Celica couldn"t help but think that she was a complete fool for being here.

It was like being in a dream. Sure, she was fully conscious, but some part of her mind couldn"t believe the situation that was about to approach before her eyes.

Although the wind wasn"t chilly, it was mysteriously cold. Sitting on top of a rock, Celica hugged her knees and placed her chin on top of them.

The dusty wind fluttered her tied hair like a sash.

Suddenly, she heard heavy footsteps behind.

Snapped, Nirvana put her guard on. Celica turned around in panic, but seeing the person there slackened her cheeks.

"Hak.u.men-san."

There, a tall man wearing white clothing and white mask with long sword on his back stood silently.

There was no unit near Celica. During the strategy meeting, she had emphasized the possibility that the Black Beast might not be able to find her if she was included in a unit.

Of course, Nine opposed to it. But she was eventually outmatched by Celica"s unyielding spirit once she had decided on something. Then she arranged for Celica to be stationed in the middle of the wasteland. Yet she would allow it only if Nirvana and Hak.u.men were near her. It all led to now.

After Celica calmly called out to her, Nirvana ceased her cautious att.i.tude.

Hak.u.men stood beside Celica. His white mask turned toward the air as if gazing at the wasteland.

"...Are you scared?"

A low, m.u.f.fled voice questioned.

Celica looked up and stared at Hak.u.men"s face. His words were unexpected. Shrugging her shoulders, she broke down her expression with a bashful smile.

"Aha... A little."

While giving a reply, Celica got surprised by something other than Hak.u.men"s remark. For the first time, she noticed that she was trembling a bit when she heard her own answer.

She had never expected to be so terrified. But now that she had realized it, she found out that there was a fear laying deep inside. Comparing it like a small pebble sinking to the bottom of a lake was accurate.

Celica drew her knees close and hugged herself tightly. She felt a bit relief from getting enveloped by her own body heat.

"But I"m not so sure what could be so terrifying. Because I feel safe as much as I feel scared. This one year, Onee-chan and the others has really done their best. It should be fine when the Black Beast come."

It weren"t just Nine and Hak.u.men. Everyone around the world had done what they could.

There were some quarrels among fellow countries, a reorganization that had to be done to the collapsing economy, and insufficient goods. The world had to go forward while burdened by loads of problem, but plenty of people had worked hard from each of their place. And it finally came to today.

Celica believed that there wasn"t any pointless part within there.

While staying in small posture, Celica straightened her back and raised her face up straight. Her big eyes reflected a distant scene.

"Onee-chan with everyone will surely win the battle. A world where everybody lives in peace without conflict is coming. And I"m glad I can lend my hand to achieve it. That"s why right now I don"t have any regret nor a single thought to stop. But you know, it"s just… "

As she thought, being in the middle of an empty wasteland alone was frightening. A terribly simple reason that made her shivering.

"…A world where everybody lives in peace. Without conflict…"

Hak.u.men muttered in deep voice and slightly made the parched sky vibrated. It was like he was thinking of a distant wish that was vanishing. Faint and weak, swept away by the rough wind.

Hearing his voice which seemed like he was pondering of fleeting thoughts, Celica pulled her head and made a wry smile. When she heard Hak.u.men repeating her words, she became embarra.s.sed. Because it felt like her naivety and inexperience were exposed.

"A-Ahaha. It"s weird, isn’t it? I got scared despite thinking about all that. It seems I"m more confused than I thought."

"…There is nothing to fear."

Hak.u.men looked straight forward and spoke, looking like he didn’t even have a slight hesitation. Clenching the dangling hands beside his body, his feet which were previously spread shoulder-wide stepped firmly on the hard ground without a hint of retreating.

"I will slay the Dark One. Your only task is to see it with your eyes from here."

Hak.u.men"s voice was like a single swing of sword. Unwarped, unclouded.

His standing figure reminded her of a dear feeling… Celica slowly caught her breath.

"Ragna…"

Hearing the name she unintentionally spoke, Hak.u.men turned his head toward her.

When he did, Celica finally noticed that she had been muttering. She quickly waved both hands in front of her face.

"Ah, no, excuse me. I just thought that you look like someone right now."

While speaking, Celica wondered in her mind about what made her did that.

She shouldn"t be recalling Ragna when she looked at Hak.u.men somehow. It was okay if it only happened once or twice, but continuing to remember somebody else"s image like this was really impolite. Even if Celica was a dull in etiquette, she could sympathize in that.

She had to be careful. While staring at Celica as she was controlling herself, Hak.u.men leisurely asked a question a moment later.

"…Do I have any resemblance to him?"

This time, Celica gasped in surprise.

She had never considered that she was getting questioned for it. He usually would have averted his face without speaking a word. She thought he would stay silent while looking at a distance with his white face.

Celica nodded twice afterward.

"I"m sure I told you about this before. That time, I was searching for his resemblance with you… but now I found various clear similarities."

"Hm."

His groan urged her to continue. She might have misunderstood it, but Celica went along with her intuition.

"He"s blunt and has bad manner. He also tends to get in a fight with Onee-chan. But somehow, he"s good at taking care of people. And… I didn"t know where he was coming from or anything about himself at all."

With good mood, Celica spoke about him one by one while counting on her fingers. But her hands immediately opened up and she smiled while squinting her eyes in happiness.

She pressed her chest with both hands as if a warm light had been lit inside.

"But I guess it"s your air that"s similar to his. When I look at you, I recall Ragna."

In no way that was a painful feeling. Her feeling toward Ragna was more like the same feeling when she was basked with sunlight filtering through trees, back in the academy"s courtyard.

"…Do you wish to meet him?"

It was a miracle for a day to come when Celica was given a question filled with such emotion from Hak.u.men. Still spontaneously smiling looking for answer, Celica lifted her eyelids and looked at Hak.u.men.

She didn"t know where was the location of his eyes and mouth on that white and flat face. He might not have one in the first place. It was unclear whether Hak.u.men was living while relying on five senses like a human would.

However, Celica followed the feelings from Hak.u.men"s gaze and stared back at him.

"Yup, I want to."

Her pupils and voice struck directly through and through. She never doubted her wish to meet him.

"The talk about me luring the Black Beast is also because I thought I might be able to meet Ragna. Ah, of course I"m doing to help Onee-chan, too. But… when I thought about meeting him, I just couldn"t hold myself."

"The Dark One is still the Dark One. It appears with oblivion as its purpose. …The Ragna you spoke of who is being inside of it might not necessarily be the Ragna you are wishing for."

The flowing low tone of voice struck the reality without reservation.

However, his words instead made Celica glad.

"Aha. I"d been told the same thing by Ragna in the past."

She was talking about when she found her missing father. She had been told that she might regret it if she found him.

Celica"s feeling was close to that time.

"But I still wish to meet him."

Releasing the knees she had been hugging, Celica leaped and stood up. She stretched her body, puffed out her chest, and took a deep breath.

"I want to meet him. Talk to him. It"d be great if we can do things like in the past, but… it"s fine even if we couldn"t. I mean, there"s a lot of specific things I want to do it makes my head spin. I want to meet Ragna. And if I do, it"s enough to make me really happy."

It was strange. She should have been trembling enough to make her tripped. But now, that feeling was completely fading.

It must have been Hak.u.men, Celica thought. When Hak.u.men was there, she felt that she would get her harmony back whenever she had unsettling thought.

She wanted to meet Ragna. That feeling had made her push herself to stand here. She was made to remember it.

"…I see."

Hak.u.men sighed. It was no longer a hint. His voice obviously had sensitivity in it.

Astonished, Celica stared hard at Hak.u.men. She couldn"t help but have a hunch that there was a gentle yet sad face of a man under the white mask.

Between his breaths, Hak.u.men continued to talk as if speaking to himself.

"I, too, recalled a person whenever I looked at you. Someone in the distant side who I have grown to forget."

"I look like someone?"

Celica asked a question to draw him in. Hak.u.men"s past. It was like a gla.s.swork that shouldn"t be carelessly handled. It made her heart throbbed a little.

But betraying the faint feeling of expectation Celica held, Hak.u.men flatly shook his head.

"There is no similarity."

"Hey. Just now, I get a feeling like you"re making fun of me."

"I wonder."

Even his counter of feigning ignorance was as sharp as ever.

…But Hak.u.men soon spoke gently.

"…It is simply because she had the same boldness as you do. A girl who would charge ahead once she saw her goal."

Hak.u.men was staring ahead. It was a mystery whether the white mask was looking at the dull wasteland or a dearest face of someone. Looking at his face from the side, Celica guessed the latter.

"Is that girl someone you love?"

The question was mixed with the wind.

Hak.u.men didn"t answer. But the warmth feeling that had lasted until his silence was probably not just her imagination. Pushing her hair that was blown by the wind, Celica smiled while scratching her ear.

"I have a feeling that you"ll definitely meet her again… I just know it."

She didn"t know when, where, and what kind of situation that reunion will occur. But the encounter would surely bring happiness. Celica hoped from the bottom of her heart that such reunion would truly happen to Hak.u.men.

A long sigh that was clearly different than a simple one was heard coming from Hak.u.men.

"It is an odd conversation. You see the image of Ragna the Bloodedge in me. And I see the image of someone unforgettable in you."

Perhaps he was smiling right now. Perhaps his lack of smile was his way to smile.

The white mask might not only have s.n.a.t.c.hed his expression. When she suddenly thought about that, Celica let a small voice out as she chuckled. Hak.u.men couldn"t speak it out smoothly, but he had intended to smile at each other along with his words.

Led by the sound of Celica"s laugh, Hak.u.men took a step forward.

His long, silver hair swayed.

"Celica A. Mercury. If it is true that you see the image of that man in me, then I will bear the image itself as many times as it takes. He has protected you. Then I shall protect you at once."

"Protect me? I"m happy but… It"s somehow strange hearing Hak.u.men-san saying it formally. What"s wrong?"

Searching for the hidden thoughts inside those words, Celica tilted her head to the side. She tried to take a peek to his face, but she was hindered by the silver hair which was blown by the wind.

Though, there was no expression that could be seen even if she saw his face.

"…I am someone who is seeing an image within you, too. I wield my sword for that foolish purpose. I shall not repeat the same mistake. Hence, I must protect you for that very reason."

It was like the voice that went across her back was hardened by a firm determination. After taking a short pause, Hak.u.men slightly looked over his shoulder to his back.

"Cease your curiosity. This is of no concern with you."

It was not a manner to push her aside. But what was being grasped tightly by Hak.u.men"s hands must be something precious to him.

Because of that hunch, Celica stopped giving a deep thought like she had been told to.

It was enough for her since it was true that the words Hak.u.men spoke of had made her happy, whatever his circ.u.mstances might be.

"Hak.u.men-san, you"re a kind person. Just as I thought."

"Alrighty," said Celica as she hopped to Hak.u.men"s side. She gazed at the borderline of the sky in the wasteland while smiling.

Hak.u.men kept quiet as if his previous talkativeness was a lie. He lifted his chin and looked at a distance.

The gesture made it looked like he getting emotional or possibly just turning his face away. When she looked at him, Celica made a mischievous face.

"Hmm? Perhaps you"re getting embarra.s.sed?"

Every single part of her upper body peeked at Hak.u.men, but his white mask still kept silence without a slight movement.

It was hard to imagine, but he might be getting embarra.s.sed for real, Celica thought. The childish emotion within Celica"s mind was getting ticklish. She was thinking to push him a little more. But that thought only lasted for a moment.

Somehow, Celica realized that Hak.u.men"s appearance gave her uncomfortable feelings. This time, a circ.u.mstance was glanced from his straight face.

"Hak.u.men-san? What"s wrong?"

He didn"t move even when he got addressed. Hak.u.men kept focusing at his front while holding his breath.

As she thought, the situation was strange. It happened when she thought about it.

As if enshrouded with thick heat, the air around Hak.u.men changed.

Killing intent.

The dangerous sensation even made Celica, who was still far inexperienced, instantly frozen and stopped breathing.

At the same time, Celica had a thought. What kind of opponent could make Hak.u.men take out so much killing intent?

A strong breeze blew from the front. Celica turned around to brush off the wind. She only did that, yet it felt sluggish and really hard to move.

Immediately, a thick fog sprouted out like a geyser in front of Celica"s eyes. Celica screamed a little and sprung to a jump. From her side, Nirvana used her arms to hold Celica and stepped back while carrying her.

In the meantime, the gushing mist from the ground distinctly multiplied to two, three bursts. As if aiming at a spot, the eruption drew a dotted line on its own.

It was the direction where Celica and Hak.u.men were staring at. The location of a barren and uncovered wasteland.

After the small openings of the bursts gathered from around there, it was followed by a vast amount of black mist that began to overflow from the ground. A tremor violently shook the ground as if something was pushing up.

Conspicuously, the large opening of the burst eventually made a crooked neck and created cracks everywhere. It ripped the dry wasteland as it pleased.

"MOVE!"

Hak.u.men shouted an order.

But Celica couldn"t separate her eyes from the scene. Rather than the scenery, all of her senses couldn"t run from the sensation she felt on her skin.

It was the same as that time. The atmosphere she had felt just before she parted with Ragna one year ago.

The wind that was polluted with seithr advanced and surrounded Celica"s whole body. The earthquake was so violent it pushed her feet off the ground.

Nirvana supported Celica as she was staggering.

Celica raised her face up toward while trying to oppose the devastating wind.

Toward something enormous which tore the cracked earth and raised the ground level.

It was as black as a solidified darkness, had many red veins running on its figure, and had the shape of serpent head. The number of simple ways to speak of its size and potential limit were unimaginable.

But Celica immediately realized.

The number of the creeping head was just one.

Instantly, another head of the same scale crawled out one by one.

With a total of eight necks dragged out, a large torso which far surpa.s.sed the heads appeared on the desolated ground.

Meanwhile with the Armagus unit near the headquarters, Nine"s chest was gasping for breath as her breath had gone ragged unconsciously. She stared at it with hostility floating in her eyes.

"This is… the real deal…"

What made her breathing went unnoticed was not because of the seithr that went thick all of a sudden.

She held down her body with her judgment. That sensation made her stayed obediently while still trembling a little.

At the main unit, Trinity fell to her knees. Strength was sapped from the waist to her legs. Soon, she wasn"t able to stand anymore.

Her brain couldn"t accept what her eyes were seeing. It felt like the insides of her skull were firing off warnings as they couldn"t comprehend anything. …She could only stay in blank with eyes opened wide.

At the a.s.sault unit leading various demi-human that was pioneered by the beastkins, Jubei tormented his body and desperately resisted the rejection in his mind. It has begun, he thought. At the same time, he felt it was also strangely the end of things.

Once, there was a time when he was near to it. That moment was also dreadful. He was unable to move as his feet had frozen.

But it was even bigger now that its shadow couldn"t grow anymore.

Meanwhile at the ma.s.sive a.s.sault unit, Valkenhayn spontaneously averted his eyes from the figure that appeared from the ground. It was like he had witnessed the world"s demise itself.

He had the courage to bear it within his field of vision again. While speaking the name of the person he gave his loyalty to, he encouraged himself up.

However, his body was already frozen in fright.

At Ishana"s magician unit, Terumi looked up at the soaring silhouette high in the sky. His throat vibrated as he laughed. It was not because of joy nor composure. It was a laugh that happened because he couldn"t hold it.

He softly muttered under the hood.

"This guy"s nasty... He"s even bigger than the last time…"

The Black Beast.

It was simply an overwhelming fear.

Who could have imagined it?

The dark red nightmare was squirming right there.

The Black Beast loudly roared. Its paralyzing howls combined into one and would give terror to animal instinct.

The destructive voice struck and was enough to shake the ground. It was giving the vibes of despair to the world.

The black ma.s.s which trampled the common sense within people and couldn"t just be treated as phenomenon. The shadow monster. The Black Beast.

Its eight heads were raised and the ominous red eyes were lit up. It moved around like it was searching for something.

Several red lines of its veins were running on its large body. It looked like the wiring of an artificial device and also the blood vessels that were spread out in the whole body of living things. It was pulsing lights as if it was beating. It went beyond fear as to being repulsive.

The eight heads roamed about until they made a discovery all at once. A young girl standing alone in the wasteland… Celica.

Its red eyes were glaring as if some kind of emotion pa.s.sed by.

However, the color was nothing but sinister. The sensation was far from the emotion a human could have.

Her eyes met the Black Beast"s. She realized about that, but Celica wasn"t able to take off her gaze nor stared back.

Her body was frozen in place from the beginning of her head to the end of her feet. With even her gaze solidified, Celica was at her wit"s end as she trembled in fear.

(This is… the Black Beast…)

Her throat was stuck. Voice wouldn"t come out.

She was afraid. It was different from the vague fear she had a while ago as it made Celica withered in pain.

The eight crooked necks bent like a whip and moved. Fitting its large size, the black giant moved ahead in grandiose manner.

Several steps more, the eight snakes would reach Celica. She might get eaten. Or else, she might get crushed. Either way, that moment would be the end for her.

Although that thought constantly came to her mind, there was nothing that would tell her what to do. She could only tremble and stood petrified unable to do anything, like a baby…

(…But Ragna…)

For an instant, the precious color of an eye went past her terrified, shivering mind.

It was clear green. A warm and gentle color of green, like a summer that was full of leaf. But probably because of his wound, only the left side of his eyes was fine. He was always astonished, angry, and laughing with only one part of his eyes.

A transparent wind blew through Celica"s chest. Her panic disappeared like it was a lie.

(Ragna… faced this alone.)

Thanks to it, Celica didn"t lose her life.

Humanity obtained one year of time that was both short and long.

And Ragna had not yet to come back.

——mise.

The words she heard exactly one year ago were echoing in her ears.

"…na."

As if the feeling pushed her back, Celica took a step forward.

——Yeah, I promise.

Yes, he promised.

Ragna had promised to return. To take back the red coat he had entrusted to Celica.

Celica held onto it, awaiting for Ragna to return... She promised.

Then if Ragna was somewhere inside the black ma.s.s in front of her eyes…

(I want to meet him——!)

The previously stepping foot immediately sent out the next foot. Celica ran off toward the Black Beast. While running, she let all of her voice out.

"RAGNA——————————————————!"

The next moment.

A swift, silver light flew and tore the sky. It cut apart the head of the approaching black snake in a flash.

"…!?"

Celica halted her feet in her surprise.

It threw its whole body to the black giant without a slight hesitation.

For an instant, that figure was overlapped with a nostalgic silhouette.

(No, that"s wrong. It"s not Ragna.)

It was Hak.u.men.

After he landed on top of the cleaved snakehead, Hak.u.men flipped his sword without unnecessary movement and ruthlessly pierced the head, making a vertical line.

The head took almost all of the long blade, and then it violently struggled. But before it did, Hak.u.men pulled the sword and leaped to a dodge. Next, he gave a slash to the neck part.

The sharp noise of the slash was vividly audible. It sliced the part under the jaw in a straight line.

Nonetheless, there was a drastic ma.s.s difference between Black Beast and Hak.u.men.

Even the eye-s.n.a.t.c.hing white gleam of the long sword was unable to completely chop off the demon"s neck. Perhaps the wounds of the squirming neck had finally healed since it calmly began to brush Hak.u.men away.

But still not minding it, Hak.u.men jumped high and didn’t even stop his hands from moving the sword.

The strokes of the sword were many and the blows were deep.

While keeping the jaw that had received blows in check with his brute strength, he slashed it from bottom up.

Altering the recoil with a jump, he kept going around just below the jaw and stabbed the sword to the monster"s throat. Then he sliced it by falling down, leaving it to gravity.

The beast shrieked dreadfully in rage.

Hak.u.men"s body was knocked and struck the ground. The shock hollowed the earth. But before the soaring cloud of dust even settled, the white warrior was already standing up.

In response to the gallant figure of Hak.u.men, white lightning was casted from one part of the battlefield like a rain.

It was the Armagus unit led by Nine.

There was numerous lightning bolt as it was casted repeatedly. It made explosions while at the time resounded thunderous roar that wasn"t inferior to the Black Beast"s howl.

Subsequently, Jubei"s unit approached with great speed from behind the Black Beast. They were aiming for the its feet. The alchemistical weapons that Trinity had prepared disturbed its movement occasionally by repelling the giant"s feet from the ground.

Various offensive magic were fired off from the dotted magician unit. The military forces from many nations also commenced their attack simultaneously.

Celica was watching on how the battlefield had become intensive in a blink of an eye from the hill of the mountain side.

It was a ghastly spectacle.

It couldn"t be more obvious that it was a struggle which humanity had concentrated the power they had at.

The one which had superior accomplishment among them was Armagus.

The number of users that had been a.s.sembled spanned several times of Ishana"s inhabitants. The average offensive ability from the Armagus couldn"t be compared with the magician unit.

Because Nine was giving the command, the raining impact of the Armagus didn"t get jumbled. It clinched the legs which were the means for the Black Beast to advance. It even reacted like it was taken aback.

It was effective. That conviction felt like humanity was drawing a victory for the first time.

…But when the hands that were used to attack repeatedly stopped for a moment, the Black Beast cried its ferocious voice and swung its eight necks.

When the long necks brushed off the sky, the thick fog roared and gouged the earth like a whip. Along with a howl, the descending ma.s.s of seithr crushed the earth and living beings like a lump of iron.

Then after stopping one moment, it resumed its advance. This time it slid on the ground, imposingly moving forward.

It was aiming for Celica.

"It’s coming to my location…?"

The distance was no longer mattered. The seithr would blow around violently whenever the Black Beast was near. The following rampage of wind toyed with her hair and mantle annoyingly.

Even while squinting her eyes from the head wind, Celica couldn"t take off her eyes from the approaching black ma.s.s that caused the quake.

It wasn"t because she was terrified. She was searching for a presence inside this dreadful and grotesque of a giant.

Celica had a thought. The monster kept walking to Celica"s direction even while withstanding the fierce attack. There might be a part within it that remembered the promise to "return".

A foolishly optimistic thought that might get laughed at by anyone else if they had heard about it. But once she gave it a thought, Celica couldn"t stop her feeling.

"I must go!"

With this much distance, Celica"s legs could run until she got close. Taking a resolve, Celica dashed off of the ocher soil. …However, someone suddenly caught her arm.

"Wha… Nirvana?"

When she turned around, Nirvana, who had been standing motionlessly beside Celica, used her large, weaponized hand to grab Celica"s wrist.

The beautiful artificial eyes were staring at Celica silently.

She had judged that it would be dangerous for Celica to go any further. Celica struggled, shaking her arm to loosen Nirvana"s hand, but she was undaunted as if she was a tough restraint.

"Let me go, Nirvana! I want to go there. I might be able to meet Ragna. So ple…"

Her desperate objection was cut midway.

Under Celica"s feet, veins of light were appearing.

As if in the middle of drawing a pattern, it crawled on the ground with constant speed and adding complexity to the line.

She didn"t know its purpose, but Celica soon realized what the light was drawing.

It spread wide with Celica on its center. Furthermore, it pulled along small magic circles as if they were connected somewhere, making a strange shape.

"Trinity, what is that magic circle!?"

After she entrusted the Armagus unit to another person, Nine teleported to the headquarters. While yelling, she walked at quick pace to her friend who was wearing yellow robe.

The location of the headquarters was a little higher than other places. Trinity who had been watching over the battlefield got in a panic from Nine"s voice. After she lifted her face, she shook her head with complicated face.

"I don’t know. I was just looking at the user now."

"Where?"

"Somewhere around the dispatched magicians who are on Celica-san"s left and right sides. There"s a chant of unusual spell… Found it! There!"

Trinity probed for the stream of magic power while manipulating her hearing. She pointed at the magician unit gathered within the shade of a few rock within the wasteland. Simultaneously, Nine amplified her vision.

With her telescopic eyes, Nine saw a pair of magicians she recognized well.

"Seven, Eight…!"

Crushing her anger, Nine groaned.

Beside her, Trinity"s voice screamed.

"NINE, PLEASE LOOK AT THAT!"

At the same time of the shrieking voice, Nine turned her sight back to normal.

What had burst in to her regular sight was a drawing of huge magic circle like a geoglyph that appeared behind Celica.

A magic circle unknown to Nine. But it was easy to decipher by looking at the magic circles that had been used as foundation, the objects that were added, and its gigantic size.

But it was something that gave Nine a tremendously bad feeling.

"Summoning magic? …It can"t be!"

Faster than the transformation of her surprise to anger, the expanded magic circle on the ground began to emit a sinister light.

The large magic circle that appeared all of a sudden began to shine. After realizing it, Celica was shaking in confusion while looking behind.

"Huh? W-What"s this!?"

Even the magic circle below her feet began to glow after a bit of delay.

She couldn"t understand what was happening. Celica tried to get away from that place.

But for some reason, she wasn"t able to go outside the magic circle. It was like she got imprisoned within a cylinder gla.s.s bottle.

She hit the invisible wall with both hands. There was no sound, but the sensation blocked Celica from getting out.

(What should I do… I somehow got a very bad feeling…)

As if confirming that ominous hunch, a lukewarm chill brushed against Celica"s spine.

To shake it off, Nirvana stretched her arms and hugged Celica tightly. Both of the hard, inhuman arms covered Celica to protect her from everything.

At the same time outside of Celica"s sight, Nirvana"s back opened. Something like a rod was pushing up and went toward the empty sky. The object that looked like an antenna and lighting rod engraved a violet crest. It wore light as if acting in agreement with something.

"Nirvana…"

Question and relief. With a voice mixed with both, Celica whispered to Nirvana.

Before her sigh ended, an unusual phenomenon happened.

The light from the magic circle suspiciously started to flicker strongly. After the noise and shock diminished like they were sinking furiously, it tried to drag Celica from everything else and knock her down.

"Wh… what"s going on… Why"s this happening…"

Still getting taken to the bottom of the ground by the force, Celica desperately clung to Nirvana and endured it.

But soon, the circulating chill stroke her spine and went inside her skin. The cold touch of ice s.n.a.t.c.hed strength from Celica"s whole body.

Body heat, sensation, emotion. Everything that dwelled within her warmth was seized, frozen, and unfolded.

(No…)

She put strength into the arm that was clinging to Nirvana. But all of that strength were turning to liquid, making it meaningless.

Celica"s knees crumbled, light enough to make the illusion of noise.

Her consciousness became distant like it was absorbed.

(No… if I faint… I can"t meet… Ragna…)

The hand that was supposed to grab Nirvana slipped and dangled beside her body. While she was relying on the neck that couldn"t support her head, her sight went around and couldn"t see anything but the night sky.

(Ragna…)

She wondered if this was what dying felt like. With her back still could only feel the stiff hands of Nirvana who was supporting her… Celica lost her consciousness as if she went sleeping.

——Celica didn"t know what happened afterward.

Delivering what had been extracted from Celica, the extended magic circle connected its light to the main part of the magic circle which was lying in wait behind.

The gigantic magic square that appeared on the sloppy ruin of hill received it. It was gushing out a light that had the color of flame. The light was spreading to the jet black figure within the circle.

The figure immediately grew large and began to crawl out from the circle.

Its huge arms were stretched before placing both hands on the wasteland. Then it pulled its body like it was crawling out of a swamp.

It had a really vague depiction of a man"s features. It had one head, two arms, one torso, and two feet.

Its whole body was black like it was built by molding solidified darkness. Like it was split by cracks, the skin had some kind of blood vessels that were like red veins circulating as they pleased.

Its appearance… resembled the Black Beast.

The t.i.tan that appeared from the magic circle made deep noises and waved its long arms. It moved its clutched fists forward to grasp the Black Beast, which had been confined by the Armagus attack, from the side. With unbelievable strength, it knocked off the beast"s large build.

Making a violent roar that shook the earth, the Black Beast forcefully gained a distance.

Everyone was watching over that scene in blank.

It was no longer a battle of humanity. It was the clash between absurdity with absurdity, monster with monster.

When the black t.i.tan"s stance changed to crawling on all fours on the ground, it widely opened it mouth with compulsory movement like a machine.

A white magic circle was unfolded within the mouth cavity that had transformed into a black cave. The magic circle rotated like the gears of watch that had gone awry. It made the red veins that covered the t.i.tan"s body to swell slowly.

The next moment.

A straight, white flash was fired from the black t.i.tan toward the Black Beast.

The ear-piercing roar and shriek robbed the owners of their sense of hearing to hear all noises for several seconds. The powerfully strong light burnt every shadow, fading their sense of sight.

But everyone heard and saw it.

The sound when the beam fired by the t.i.tan penetrated the Black Beast"s abdomen, and its condition.

As the spear of light vanished, the world regained its colors and sounds. Then the black t.i.tan once again submerged into the swamp of magic circle as if it had accomplished its duty.

What remained afterward was the Black Beast. But the gaping hole in its body didn"t get healed.

The light which the t.i.tan had fired even burnt and wiped the seithr around the Black Beast. The Black Beast would cease to exist if there were no seithr.

The snake demon that was the embodiment of nightmare roared to the distant moon with a shriek. Then its large build trembled once.

And like a bag stuffed with sand that was released at once, its form crumbled. While still crumbling, it ran away to underground.

The rasping noise was getting absorbed by the earth.

The vast amount of black was getting swallowed.

Then without taking a long time, the Black Beast vanished from that place.

…After its gigantic body was gone, the remaining scenery could be seen clearly.

Toward the location where the Black Beast was, the ground was greatly demolished in a straight line. The beam which the t.i.tan had fired had burnt it.

The tall cliff that existed above the t.i.tan and beast lost its contour as if scooped by spoon like ice cream. A part had transformed into a gentle plain.

It was a tremendous power.

That abnormal strength had repelled an abnormal apparition.

It was the very first moment for humanity to succeed in repelling the Black Beast.

No one knew where it had originated from, but the desolated battlefield was engulfed in cheers.

It seemed like the cheers within the wasteland was done to celebrate posterity and the act of G.o.d as it went across the deep traces of the attack. The soldiers who shouted their joy were competing to a.s.semble at the disfigured terrain.

It was like they had witnessed the act of G.o.d. At any rate, it repelled the Black Beast with a blow. Toward the monster that couldn"t be stopped for an instant even if they had concentrated their own energy.

But that wasn"t the case for Nine.

"CELICA!!"

Making a sorrowful voice that split her throat, Nine ran at the top of the hill that bad footing.

Nine usually didn"t think of them as obstructing, but she had thrown away the high heels and Ten Sages hat somewhere. Getting covered with cloud of dust, she stumbled and came into a stop.

Nirvana was standing there. She was holding Celica on her arms.

Her tawny hair was completely disarrayed. Her head was supported by the chest of the feeble Nirvana while her limbs were stretched out like a puppet that was snapped of its thread and broke its joints.

Even the fingertip that she would took out to immediately meddle in everything, the cheeks that usually dyed in slight pink, the lips that fit her lovely smile. All was so pale it would make anyone shuddered.

Nine"s hands tucked in her sister"s cheeks. Then as if to support them, she pressed her own forehead to Celica"s forehead. The forehead she touched was cold.

"Nine, how"s Celica-sa… n…!?"

Trinity who was running late pinned her bursting chest and asked a question while still breathing roughly. Before she finished her question, Jubei who had arrived just before muttered with a sharp voice.

"She"s okay, ain"t she?"

Nine"s shoulders slightly trembled. But there was no tear flowing. When Nine raised her face, she brushed off bits of dirt on Celica"s cheeks with her fingers while replying with the kind of voice like she had crushed her emotions.

"She just fainted. It was thanks to Nirvana who was beside her. …But her magic power got sucked out, so she won"t wake up for a while."

"The Black Beast"s… dead yet?"

"No. It was only running away. It seems the strength of the finishing blow was lacking."

While calmly answering another question from Jubei, Nine untangled Celica"s bangs with her fingers.

Hak.u.men walked with undisturbed pace and stopped at a separated place. His emotionless face stared at Celica and Nirvana.

Valkenhayn, who was among the largest army of the allied countries, joined them with the appearance of wolf that he wouldn"t normally expose. Still in that appearance, he bared his fangs and groaned a question.

"Nine. Tell us if you know about it. What on earth was that?"

"…Artificial Causality Weapon."

Nine spoke quietly. After letting go of her hands from Celica who looked more like a doll than Nirvana, she used the hand to tightly grip the chest part of her own clothes.

Looking over Nirvana"s shoulder, Nine glared at the location where the t.i.tan had appeared. Her pupils were shaking in fury. Directing her burning gaze to the wasteland that was presently empty, Nine squeezed her stomach and continued to speak.

"That was Nox Nyctores… Gigant: Takemikazuchi. …Something I created."

Exactly at that time, he stood alone at a separated location.

The excited crowd were cheering while swarming the scar from the overwhelming destruction that had carved the earth. Looking over from the position where he could see them, his long coat was fluttered by the dry wind. Putting both hands to the pockets, a glint in his eyes was shining dully under the hood he wore low over his eyes.

"Khukuku… Nice, real nice. You"re really some extraordinary geniuses…"

He laughed, shaking his thin shoulders.

"Thanks to you, looks like I might get what I want faster than expected… Guess I have to give a grat.i.tude, HYAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The joyful voice that didn"t reach anyone"s voice silently thickened the color of darkness.