Underground Elevators

Under threat of battle, Hakumen did not flinch; even though he could hardly move Ookami, he'd looked at the Red Devil and then to the Grimalkin. Noticing in slight the second agent right at the Pink haired feline's side, he'd scoffed when she asked him the question. It was not for her to know, he'd give her a cold response "You've heard more than you should know, Grimalkin, I will say no more on the matter. As for your bringing me in, we will see if you are able to take me. Either this Red Devil or this Tepid Relic of War that you've enhanced, neither will succeed." it was more a bluff right now as the man of honor that he'd defeated had said, Hakumen's Ookami had been returned to its sheath, while he stood before them. Stubborn, even in the face of being unable to resist them; he would not be stopped if he had the will to stand against this odd beast woman.

"Just what did I stumble into?"

Takeru had followed the two agents while keeping out of sight, among them the infamous Red Devil of Sector Seven, to see a most peculiar sight; the two of them, along with a pink-haired cat-girl beastkin facing a man clad in porcelain white armor who just might be THE Hakumen. On the other side, he saw Bang (a face familiar to one who's been a vigilante) conversing with two female NOL officers, saying something about taking heart and stuff.

That didn't matter right now, though. From what he had heard from his hiding spot, Ragna the Bloodedge had definitely been through here. All he had to do now was find a way past this crowd...

Mai didn´t care anymore. That muscular man was... interesting to see and to listen to, but Noel had the final word here. She said it was going to be alright... and she had Mai´s trust on it.
Letting go of her, finally, she wiped her eyes and tenderly held Noel´s hand, until she nodded, and headed towards the stairway with her, ignoring what her Grimiore told her the moment she did.
It was screaming at her not to do this, but she ignored it completely.
"Noel... don´t look back, and don´t let go of me. Please."
With that said, she went down the stairs with her, deeper and deeper, the air surrounding them becoming hotter and more humid with every step, until it became almost tropical on the final step.

------------> Oh hey its Nu

"I won't, Mai." Noel smiled as she tenderly held the other girl's hand "I promise."

In truth, she too felt unsettled by whatever was beneath the NOL branch. It was something that utterly terrified her...yet, it was something strangely familiar as well.

"Every part of me is telling me to turn back." she thought as she walked alongside the bluenette "But...I can't leave Officer Misaki in there...and I have to know why...why is Ragna the Bloodedge so familiar to me..."

(To le Cauldron!)

Kokonoe had to admit, she was rather touched with how her subordinates were reacting to her injury. Sure, all she got was a bloody nose from Hakumen breaking her restraints, but Tager looked as if he was ready to beat the Silver Knight within an inch of his life. She rarely saw the Red Devil this angry, so it was something interesting to take note of.

As for Kageo, she felt him brush up against her and turned to him with a tired smile. Out of all her subordinates, he was among those she can place her confidence in, right up there with Tager and...well, Tager. As such, she found his concern quite touching.

"I'm fine, Kageo. Really, all he did was give me a nosebleed." She chuckled "Besides...you're getting pretty sloppy if you allowed yourself to get followed like that."

As she said this, she glanced at where Takeru was hiding.

Kageo had sighed lightly and shook his head lightly. "It was a mistake of mine, Professor. I knew he was following, but I'd rarely figured someone foolish enough to trudge this deep into the territory of the Librarium. I on the other hand, came with a mission. Did you want something done with the strange one present?" having no fear of the strange one present. He had simply acted aloof, it was honestly hard not to realize someone was following you when in a rush. Though it wasn't his business nor a reason for him to actually care why the man was here, if Kokonoe had given the word; he would deal with the matter.

Though his attention never changed from the imposing figure who instilled the kaka with a mortal fear, it was something easy to ignore due to the mechanical nature of his Core System's overriding his natural fear; it was...a handy feature at times really.

"So you found me out, eh?"

Takeru could only sigh as he stepped out of the shadows "To be honest, I had a feeling you'd find me sooner or later, which says a lot for your skills."

As he spoke, he reached for the large no-dachi he carried on his back "I'd love to stay and chat, but I've got an SS-Class Bounty to snag. Unless you guys wanna scrap, I suggest you get out of my way."

He paused, his lips curling into a feral grin as his right hand rested on the hilt "To be honest, I really hope you guys try and stop me. I've been itching for a fight all day."

"I believe you should take this chance to escape, fellow warrior of Justice."

Bang staggered to his feet once again, breathing heavily as he could feel every bit of strain his body has gone through. He faced Kokonoe and her subordinates with his usual zeal "I shall hold this rabble off personally. Use this chance to withdraw, Sir Hakumen. As it stands, you will surely be overwhelmed."

As he spoke, he walked to where is giant nail lay, picking it up with ease despite his injuries "And before you protest, I ask you not think of retreating as an act of cowardice, for there is wisdom in living to fight another day."

This was a hard lesson he had learned when he escaped Ikaruga upon the request of his Lord Tenjo.

The facts were simple to point, this warrior was willing to make a stand that he should not even have been taking part in. That was something well above his own standing, it was something that Hakumen was certain to not only have respect for; but even then considering his place; the Silver Knight could not simply retreat. He'd face the Grimalkin and her pawns, anything that would stand before the will of the world, he was not to bend to it. "Your words speak of your honor, warrior, but you need not stand a battle that is my own. Even in my standing, I will not be stopped by these mere few before me. You may go, as your body is hardly suited to facing more stress. They cannot best me easily." Hakumen was determined to resist, he would face them down despite the very brave show of Bang Shishigami.

As Kokonoe ordered him, the Red Devil lowered his guard. She was right, it was not time to battle and Kokonoe was getting angry on him. What'd be a normal, coming from her? He had come late to the call, after all. I guess the time is more for explanations... "Sorry for the late report, Kokonoe. My comms have been jammed." He voluntarily omitted the part where he had a walk in Orient Town and checked up onLitchi. Kokonoe would know that, eventually. No need to stress it out now.
There wasn't time to tell such trivial things. Someone had been tailing them, and was showing up. Finally. Though, between the far-too-confident-for-his-own-good vigilante wannabe and Bang Shishigami barring his path, Tager stepped forth, voiding any possible fight: "What are the plans for now...?", he said. He was ready to teach some manners to that guy who tailed them, or to teach Bang Shishigami and Hakumen that Kokonoe would always have her way. Sector Seven was dominating the area in terms of numbers and presence after all, and any order from Kokonoe had high chances of being carried out to completion according to his evaluation of the situation.

Kokonoe nodded as she assessed the situation; Right now, the high priority target known as Ragna the Bloodedge had proceeded to the Cauldron, with those young 'uns from the NOL trailing after him. She didn't need her laptop to know that the smelting was complete; Something felt ominous about the direction they traveled towards. She needed to make sure that Ragna would survive the encounter. At least, long enough for her to procure the Azure Grimoire for herself.

Okay, Noel Vermillion and the Intermediary Grimoire would be good prizes as well. As for Lusec, she was sure she could find a use for him.

As for the current battlefield, to say that Sector Seven held the upper hand was an understatement; On her side, whilst she only suffered a bleeding nose, Tager and Kageo were fresh and eager to fight. The opposition didn't fare as well; Bang was barely standing as it is, Hakumen had been damaged somewhat and the only X-Factor would be that vigilante who's biting off more than he could chew.

"I guess they all want to do this the hard way." Kokonoe sighed as she pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose "Tager, you engage the ninja and Hakumen. I know that it seems like a tall order, but they're pretty banged up. Hell, the scruffy guy may even be a non-factor, and I'm sure you can take Hakumen on in his current state."

She then turned to regard Kageo "You go and give Mr. Hotshot the fight he's looking for. I doubt he can keep up with your ACS. As for me, I'll head further in and see if I can get the Grim Reaper to come with us nicely...or otherwise."

With that, she walked ahead and gave her subordinates a vicious grin "Okay, boys...GIVE THEM HELL!"

(To ze Cauldron!)

"Looks like I'm getting that fight I wanted after all." Takeru smiled as he turned his glance to Kageo. He knew little of the Kaka clan, but he was well aware that they were powerful fighters. This one, however, seemed to be a cut above the rest in terms of sheer ability.

"The name's Takeru Oda." the dhampir vigilante spoke with confidence as he drew his father's Armagus, Muramasa. All he needed to do know was get past these guys, then he can take care of Ragna himself. With this in mind, he held the no-dachi with both hands, the crimson blade giving off an eerie red glow as he got into a stance and grinned playfully at Kageo "And I hope you don't disappoint me."

"It seems I will stand with you, Sir Hakumen, be it my choice or otherwise."

Bang nodded vigorously as he eyed their opponents; he had heard much of Iron Tager's prowess, immediately surmising that he would be no easy opponent. As for the kaka, he remembered seeing him in the restaurant earlier today. From a glance, he could immediately tell that Tao would have had her hands full with him.

As for their new ally, the manly ninja was grateful for the assistance. He remembered seeing the young lad around town, knowing of him as a competent vigilante in his own right. A bit brash, perhaps, but he can back it up with his skills.

Still, he feared that it wouldn't be enough against these two.

"Come forth!" Bang roared as he assumed a battle stance "I, Bang Shishigami, shall turn you back from your path of folly!"

Bold words, to be sure...but can he back them up?

Kageo beamed a smile at the Professor just before she left, "Okay Professor, I'll be sure to do so.~" his words polite to a point as he turned to his opponent, looking at the edge of his seithr. It was an armagus that wielded seithr? The ACS burned to light his eyes, while the kaka kicked the end of the large spearhead from his back, he'd drawn the lower rod-like half and connected the spear midway on its fall towards the ground. With an expert hand, he'd spun the weapon twice and the center and held it at his back in a reverse grip, standing with his left foot extended forward and right sleeve-covered hand extended.

"I am Kageo-kaka of Sector Seven, let's see what you can do." the little announcement wasn't really necessary, but he'd felt the need to give his name. He could sense at the bare of his instincts, that this was no mere man and was prepared to treat him with such. Having intention to show little mercy, he would hold nothing back against this young man. In fact he'd have to end this quickly, he was already planning his few steps ahead. It would be perhaps a failing for the vigilante before him to come to realize that the seithr his weapon wielded would likely serve to boost his own abilities.

Hakumen could scarcely believe the Ninja's devotion to such a trade, he'd been unable to wield Ookami as completely as he would need. That nail had damaged him something surprising, between that and Ragna the Bloodedge's slash on him, he'd been trying to consider just how he'd be one to handle this bout with the Red Devil. With an opponent of such caliber, he'd have to probably show that his skills of legend were hardly just with Ookami alone. He would save the wielding of that for a closer range...a guaranteed hit. "Your devotion to the path of justice is exemplary, then as you would have it. We will show this Red Devil the true face of Justice." it wasn't often that Hakumen would stand with anyone, but Bang Shishigami was a man of a different caliber; one to such that he'd consider him a comrade in arms. The man had fought an honorable battle and despite losing, still stood to stand at the side of the Leader of the Six Heroes; it was more than worthy of deserving of an alliance.

"Yosh!" Takeru grinned broadly as he cricked his neck to the left then to the right, the movements creating a cracking sound as he reared himself to go "Here we go!"

The teenaged dhampir made the first move, sprinting forward as he swung Muramasa in three successive blows; vertical, diagonal and horizontal respectively.

It was nothing that the kaka was not prepared for, as he'd turned suddenly away from his opponent, blocking the first vertical slash with ease, before trusting in his senses, he'd tilted the reverse grip spear to an angle to catch the vertical slash, before using the momentum of the blocked blow to propel him forward. He'd made use of his feet and their positioning and slid harmlessly out of the way of the horizontal slash; more now to use the range of his spear to his advantage, he'd thrusted the caeroule-laden spear at the vigilante's midsection. Surely he was fast, but it had been nothing that he'd not been able to follow so far. With the strength to move him, he'd also determined that this was no ordinary human teen; he would take appropriate measures as the battle persisted.

Takeru managed to shift his body to the side to barely dodge the spear tip, though it did well to nick the right side of his abdomen. He stomped the ground, using the force to jump back and create space between him and his opponent.

"Well, well..." His lips were still curled into that battle-hungry grin as he felt his right side, feeling the familiar moistness of blood on his clothes "You're certainly quite the opponent. If I wasn't on a job right now, I'd have enjoyed this more."

As the kaka gave him a calm look, he'd drawn the spear over his shoulder, almost to a point making it look effortless on his part. In truth he was analyzing every aspect of his foe; trusting both in technology and instinct of his battle training to keep him ahead. The armagus he wielded used seithr...likely to enhance the blade's cutting ability. This would prove a problem if it hit him, but it was also a boon to the enhanced kaka; he'd drawn a small sliver of seithr off of its aura upon the first pass. He was going to use the boost in combination with his small, but pressing advantage of reading him to stay ahead of him if possible. "Yes, it will be interesting, but sad to say I have no intention of letting you past me. I'm gonna defeat you, since I can't afford to lose." he knew the youth had his reasons, but it didn't matter, as he would not be passing regardless.

Takeru was genuinely enjoying the first challenge he had in a long time.

He had already guessed that the opponent the cat lady set before him was no push over, and he was glad to be right. The only time he's had to work this hard was when he sparred with Carl Clover and that freaky puppet of his once.

And boy, did that kid kick his ass.

Still, he wasn't going to let this chance slip by. Though he had to end this as soon as possible. The longer he lingered here, the bigger the chance Ragna the Bloodedge would get away.

"Okay, let's try a different approach." He grinned as more of that blood red mist gathered into his blade.

"Killer Buzzsaw!" He swung Muramasa in a horizontal arc, creating a razor-sharp disk made of the same red seithr that was hurtling at Kageo quickly. He immediately ran after it, already having planned for three possibilities; Should Kageo block it, he would use the opening to thrust his no-dachi at the kaka's chest with Scarlet Fang. Should he dodge to the side, he would swing his weapon in a horizontal arc. And should he somehow jump, he would swing upward and hopefully catch him with a Buster Gorgon.

The kaka witnessed the attack, but the young man's strategy, while sound for a variable tactic, was in fact flawed. As he'd still held a charge of Caeroule within his spear, he'd simply use another attack to counter the aimed one. With the A.C.S. giving him a reading on the massed seithr, he'd realized he wouldn't be able to block it without some effort; so he'd do one better to help the youth's tenacity work against him. "A good move...but..!" as heis body took action and leapt backwards in order to buy himself a short window of time; the fast thinking thoughts of his had been gathering the indigo haze pressure that had built, he'd whipped his spear down in front of him and launched a half formed blast of force at the disk.

"Indigo Haze Storm!" a sound tactic that would have some flak to pay for it not being properly formed. But he'd known the energy was volatile, it was why that in either form, his spear always shunted it harmlessly; while the vigilante's attack was likely the stronger in its present form, the balloon-shaped ball of indigo haze was going to force an explosion. And it was during this small window before the blast he'd unleashed had stricken the buzzsaw, that he'd brought his arms up to shield him from what of the combined blast's shock pattern would result in.

"Wh-what?!"

Takeru had not seen this coming, as he didn't expect that spear to be able to fire something that would collide with Killer Buzzsaw. He brought up his guard and bent his legs to brace himself for the inevitable clash of the two projectiles.

"Nice weapon you have there." He grinned as his prior position allowed him to quickly settle into a thrusting stance once the resulting shockwave resided "I can tell that you're using it to sap some of Muramasa's seithr. Pretty swell tactic."

He grinned as his blade glowed brighter than it did earlier "Which is why I gotta finish you as soon as possible before it turns bad for me!"

The dhampir vigilante stomped the ground, propelling himself with a great burst of speed as he held Muramasa in front of him, the Armagus screaming for blood as it aimed for the kaka's chest.

"IKUZE! GAE BOLG!"

This had made the kaka smirk a little bit, did he presume his spear was the reason why he sapped the seithr? Well it helped...yes, but his body did that on its own. And by now he'd stored up a decent amount from the region they were in. This was in a way, a domain where he was far stronger here than in most locations. He'd sensed the build up of seithr in the youth and even before he'd propelled himself in the direction of the kaka, he was already finalizing his plans in order to better deal with him. "You are powerful, but far too hasty." the words of simple fact stood as a pattern before the poise of the battle experienced kaka. He'd seen enough swift opponents and faced off with Tao commonly, she seemed faster when she was in the groove. His eyes and the A.C.S. were tracking the young man's attack, while he finally unveiled his trump card.

"Behold, the twinkle spear sings!" making use of his gathered seithr and the caeroule translated into a stable form of energy, using a spear movement he'd practiced to aim for him. As he leapt to the right of the young man's path, he'd already point the spear in his direction and unleashed a thick spear point of the black and smokey blue energy towards him. While he could not move that fast versus the young man's speed, he would not have to do much in response with the vigilante aimed for the spear point, which kept him out of the range of striking him.

(note: this seithr point extends about 2 feet from his spear and is around 4 inches thick, just making it a zone that makes the yari-spear wider~)

"Urk!" Takeru growled, his eyes widening in shock to see that the spear outreached his no-dachi for that moment as it gored him in the left shoulder.

"Damn it!" he cursed as the sheer force of the blow sent him flying across the room. Fortunately, he was able to shift his body in mid-air, landing on his feet as he skidded along the ground.

"Haah...haah...This is bad." He said as he struggled to his feet, his left arm dangling while adamantly held Muramasa in his right. He gritted his teeth as he was determined to keep fighting to the end.

As the kaka stepped to the side, he'd pointed the seithr tipped spear at him and drew it back to a reverse grip stance with the spear behind his back and his left sleeve covered paw-hand pointed
 forward. Though he spoke seriously, the words were full of some concern over the wound that he witnessed done. He was to defeat this warrior, but he was not willing to kill the vigilante over this conflict. He was going to do what he was ordered to, but still the feline would have considered this incapacitation, granted that the swordsman stood down.

"We've fought long enough, you should stand down and tend to that wound. Can't you see, this battle is fruitless now? You are unable to defeat me now, and I can assure you that the Grim Reaper is stronger. Whatever you hoped to do, would not be possible even with the adamant spirit you possess. So, as a warrior to a warrior and vigilante to vigilante...just go. If there is someone important to you, I doubt they'd wish to see you this way, Takeru Oda-san." he did not break his stance, both eyes were as an eagle's gaze, focused on the young man's choice of actions. If he did not retreat, then Kageo would consider knocking him out in order to prevent him from going forward.