The Cathedral

Kokonoe nodded as she walked over and crouched next to Mai, deciding to use a little healing magic. No, not ars, but honest to goodness magic, to help the bluenette heal the man.

"To answer your question, I sent two of my best agents here and, for some reason, our comms had been jammed." She began to explain "As such, I decided to come to Kagutsuchi myself to find my idiots and see if I can secure the Azure Grimoire personally."

She then turned to Mai with her usual frown "If you saw my memories, then you'd know who holds the damned thing right now."

Mai gasped and stared at her, hearing what she was up to. If she saw her memories... she meant Hazama? But...
"Wasn`t Ragna the Bloodedge in posession of the Azure Grimiore? How does Captain Hazama fit into this?" She asked, honestly confused. She had been searching for the Azure all her life as a cure for her condition, and for the first time in a long while, she seemed really close to it.
"Ragna came through here earlier, we were forced to let him go. Someone like us couldn`t possibly keep up with him, but Noel ran straight after him. ...Noel... that girl in your memories looked just like her, a bit more tan, but identical otherwise."
What the heck did that mean? Were they twins?

"Bingo." Kokonoe nodded as she stood up "The snot-faced runt, the oh-so-feared Grim Reaper, is the one holding the Azure Grimoire. As for that girl you call 'Noel', we're going to have to meet up with her first before I tell you anything. If she went after Ragna the Bloodedge, we should go after her too."

She took a few steps to fetch her laptop before stopping to turn to Mai "As for the one you call 'Captain Hazama'...Tell me, what do you know of Yuuki Terumi of the Six Heroes?"

Lusec started to stir, though he was far from waking up, he was surely recovering from his wounds.

As the healing Ars was spent, Mai stood up to look over to Kokonoe, who fetched her laptop as if it was nobodys business.
"Well, yes.. i feel a little more comfortable about meeting him now, with a bit of beastkin buff." She snickered, feeling empowered from the kiss.
Then, however, she blinked and stuttered a bit as she mentioned the infameous Terumi Yuuki.
"U.. uhm, he founded the NOL together with Nine and provided invalureable help in constructing the first Ars Magus and especially the Nox Nyctores... and he later fought alongside the other heroes to save us from the Black Beast. After that his story is lost in the midst of time, although some say he turned against the Six Heroes and was punished by the White Knight."
Obviously, all she knew about him was propaganda with a hint of truth. In the meantime, she made sure to stand close to Lusec, should he need her help, her legs right beside his head and her arm ready to reach out to him.

Lusec began to gain consciousness, his eyes slowly opening yet not aware of his surroundings. He just stared at the faraway object/background as his brain slowly made sense of what was going on.

He then looked up to see Mai tending to him. For a moment, he just sat like that, staring up to her while his brain processed the information.

Then it hit him.

He quickly stood up and looked away, blushing heavily. Apparently, that meant facing Kokonoe as well.
Luckily, he wasn't the hotheaded type, and figured out that something must've happened that they both stopped fighting. He then glanced both girls before saying "Okay, what did I miss?"

"Psh, that's just the tip of the iceberg." Kokonoe spat out the words as if they left a bitter taste in her mouth "That man...he's an absolute monster. He didn't betray the Six Heroes; no, you can't betray something you were never loyal to in the first place!"

As she said these words, she picked up her laptop and began trying to establish her comms with her field agents again. "Damn it..." she cursed when she found that she got nothing, then continued to speak to Mai and the newly awakened Lusec again.

"That man...he killed Nine and Trinity Glassfield, two of the Six." She continued to explain as she began recalibrating her device to pick up traces of energy and seithr. "He was going to kill Jubei and Hakumen before the latter took him into the Boundary with him, leaving Jubei to seal the door on the other side."

She began debating whether she was going to share this next piece of information with the two of them; on one hand, she can be all cryptic and shit like a certain bitchy gothic loli-vampire she knew and it would come back to bite her in the ass later, or she can fire straight up and hope for the best. In the end, she chose the latter as she stared onto Mai's eyes with a glare brimming with cold fury.

"That man you know as Captain Hazama is Yuuki Terumi."

More and more terrifing news about someone the Acadamy idolized were revealed to her, and in such a blunt manner that they simply fit too well to be an outright lie. It fit to the hatred Kokonoe seemed to have for the man, as well as the feeling she got from him. As such, the last of the revelations came as no suprise to her.
"But... so.. so the stories were true, in part... but more than a hundred years passed since then! How is he supposed to be alive, especially if he was inside the boundary? He looks no more than thirty to me..."
She didn`t even notice Lusec staring up her skirt, and she sighed, trying to pick up some resolve.
"I can see where you`re going with this... You´re not the least bit interested in Ragna, are you?"

She helped Lusec up with one of her hands, not telling him too much yet, except a brief "She´s not here for us".

Lusec heard them all out from the beginning, and could not believe it as well.
"So all the NOL was doing, all of it was to benefit this... Terumi guy?"

"To answer your first question, I wouldn't know." Kokonoe said as she readjusted the frequency to pick up magnetic energy as well as seithr, hoping to find her agents, then went to answer Lusec's inquiry "And I doubt that the NOL knows it's following Terumi's whims. As big of a douchebag as the organization is, it has a point; imagine if every nutjob on the street has an armagus. It'd be hell on earth."

At Mai's last question, she scoffed "Like hell I am, I'm just interested in his Azure Grimoire!" she declared haughtily as she tapped the keys on her laptop furiously, her anger seeming to rise as she thought of the man who killed her mother more "And once I have it, I'll use it to beat that bastard within an inch of his life! I'll make him wish he stayed in the Boundary!"

As she continued her tirade, both of them could easily spot the raw hatred in her voice.

Though Lusec indeed see how she hated the guy, the info was still too much to take in.
The man he looked up to... was a traitor? Well, that seems to bring down the tower.

For the next few minutes, he stayed silent and instead kept ears on what the two girls were talking about.

Mai nodded, seeing the point of her previous statement, but then she twitched, hairs standing up as Kokonoe burst out in an outing of anger.
"Gah! Alright, alright, you hate him, i get it! ...Ragna isn´t a bad person, though. I`ve met him in the past, he has a kind heart aside his rough edges."
She was going to say more, but the words died in her throat as a tremble shook the ground, followed by more of them, and what sounded like an explosion of raw energy coming from beneath them.
"Wh...what is that?!" She exclaimed- she couldn´t possibly know it, but the Susannoh armor had just activated, along with the Azure Grimiore.

Kokonoe was about to clarify that she was referring to Terumi, not Ragna, when she felt that same tremble. Not only that, her laptop began beeping out of control.

"What the-?!" She growled as she consulted the readings "These readings...I have no doubt, the Azure Grimoire's here below us! Along with-"

Her eyes widened upon further inspection, her entire being feeling as if the wind was knocked out of her. She knew those energy signatures from anywhere. After all, she was the one who dragged his silver ass out of the Boundary. As powerful as the Grim Reaper was, he was up against THE Hakumen.

"Oh shit." was the only apt response she can give.

Mai looked over her shoulder to get some idea of what the problem was, although she couldn`t make sense out of the graphs and data flows on screen.
"What? What is it? Something even worse?" At this moment, she was dreadded with the feeling how insanely dangerous her quest for the Azure must`ve been. Her and her friends could`ve easily been killed trying to find it if Professor Kokonoe was almost afraid of this power.
However, rather than thinking about what could possibly be down there that actually MADE her afraid, she only had one thought on her mind.
Noel was down there. She might get killed.
"We should get down there and help..."

"Mai-san is right," Lusec said after seeing the fight. Though the data's and the graphs made no sense to Lusec, it was obvious that this one was too powerful.

Was Terumi this powerful as well? He wanted to ask Kokonoe, but her hatred for the guy made him shove it to the back of his mind.

He stood up and found himself fully recovered. Lusec then picked up his blade and started walking a few paces before turning back. "Are we gonna help out or what?"

Kokonoe could not help but smile mirthfully at the two NOL officers. "A damn shame they're with the enemy. Sector Seven could use a bunch runts like them." she thought as she picked up her laptop and tried her comms for one last desperate try.

"Iron Tager, Kageo-kaka!" She spoke with resolve "If you're hearing this, get to the Cathedral ASAP! I have found the Azure Grimoire! I repeat, I have found the Azure Grimoire!"

As soon as she was satisfied, she then turned to Mai and Lusec "C'mon! We gotta at least buy the Grim Reaper and that Lieutenant some time!"

Mai nodded, balling her fists and steeling her resolve as well- Noel would not die under her watch. She promised they would meet up later, and she was going to make damn sure that would happen.
"Alright, lets go! Move it, Lusec!" She commanded, turning on her heel to make her way back to where she had last seen Noel.

Lusec grinned. "That's what I've been waiting for, Mai-san."
With that, he turned around and bolted towards the fight. Though he was a long way from reaching Ragna's level, he was more than happy that he has finally seen some action right here.

"We gotta go underground." Kokonoe said as she walked past the two to the lift "The source for all that unnatural energy...it's coming from the basement level. I'm sure we'll find your friend there, Mai Natsume."

Without any further ado, the scientist walked towards where the lifts were, hoping that Kageo and Tager heard her and will get their asses here.

Even she would hard pressed against Hakumen, after all.

(To the Underground Elevators!!!)

(From Elevators) ~~~~~~~~~~~~>

Setting the youth against a pillar but much closer to the wall, he'd hoped to do him a favor and keep him from being seen. "Alright...here, I need you to stay right here and relax. You're in no shape to move, but at least you'll be breathing by the time this ends." the concern itself was just towards preservation of life, since he'd not known this youth or any issues in his life. It did not matter, he would simply help.

"Gee, that's awfully swell of you."

Takeru spoke not out of bitterness, but he was still quite annoyed by the fact that he lost. Even after he had fought so hard too.

"I...I won't give up..." He grunted as he attempted to get up, but found that his body couldn't respond "I can't...I just can't. Not after I promised her..."

He'd pressed two fingers to his forehead, setting him back to the pillar, the touch itself seeming to incite a small glow from his fingertips, if anything the touch would ensure he stayed still. A small numbing touch to incite a natural healing potential within the body. Whatever he'd had for a healing factor would play the role now; he'd just stimulated it with a small electrical impulse with an encoded message of 'heal immediately'. He wasn't sure if it would really increase, what likely was already going on, but he'd tried it for the hell of it.

"Then start small, there is no shortcuts in life. If you try something speedy, you'll be inviting death. I know not who 'she' is, but I doubt she'd wish you dead. Spirit will get you so far, then you'll be removed from this world...and she will be alone." he frowned at the boy's tenacity, nice as it was to dream, such ones like Ragna the Bloodedge were beyond many a vigilante's reach.

Despite the strain his body suffered, Takeru could not help but feel his blood boil. He had worked three years as a vigilante, so he believed that he'd have enough combat experience to help him. If anything, Ragna the Bloodedge shouldn't be a problem!

However, he cooled down somewhat as he heard the latter part of Kageo's speech and, as much as he hated it, the kaka was right. With his mom dead and his dad who know where, he was the only family his sister Mizuki had left. If he were to die now...it would crush her.

"I...I'm sorry." he said in a sullen whisper as he bent his head down in defeat. Even after all this time...he still wasn't strong enough?

As the Kaka had been a vigilante for much of his free time, the years he'd been loose, there was no way that he could say just how long that was. But it had been long enough to note that even he, a particularly skillful warrior from a clan whose skills were to battle naturally, that the difference in power could be tremendous. None that he knew, in fact, were stronger than Iron Tager, the Red Devil himself. But even then, there were those stronger. It was all just...experience.

"You owe no apology, but...just keep in my, life and limits, they are not without purpose. They are to be shattered, while you improve yourself. A loss is but a lesson, granted you keep your life. That is what's important, life, Oda-san, don't lose it easily over ambitions." he had preferred to see those who lived this way, to take it by the horns and not to be gored. But again, it would be up to this young man's choices...and fate. The kaka rose and placed his spear upon his back. 'Be at peace, rest now." As he started off, he'd leave the young man with the words to consider what he'd choose to do.

(Exuent to the Underground Elevators)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~>

"Ah...Thanks, I guess..." Takeru murmured as he watched the kaka leave for the elevators. As his body was still on the mend, sped up due to Kageo's boost to his physiology, he had much time to think. Mostly about why he took this job in the first place.

He chased after the Grim Reaper for the money. The bounty, which was enough to buy a small country, would surely take care of Mizuki's hospital bills for the rest of their days. He was determined that defeating Ragna the Bloodedge would solve all their problems. It would give Mizuki enough time so that a cure for her condition could be found.

As such, he set his sights on the notorious criminal, and came close to finding him too, only to be repelled by a formidable foe named Kageo-kaka. The kaka made him realize that, despite the training he put himself through, he was nowhere near strong enough to defeat Ragna the Bloodedge.

"So..." he mused aloud, admittedly at a lost now that he knew his quest was one of folly "What do I do now, Mizuki-chan?"