Rays of the bright sun shine unto the criminal's face. They were sleeping together not long after Ragna had regained his memories.

"Ugh...I just had a good dream..."

It was 7 in the morning.

Ragna wakes up to see Rachel sleeping soundly between his arms. She was wearing his jacket but that still didn't hinder her facial visibility. Her beauty was still something that Ragna's eyes had locked on even during her slumber.

"Keep sleeping rabbit."

He caresses her face as he smiles. He made himself comfortable and cuddled Rachel as he returns to sleep.

BANG!

Kokonoe had kicked the door open. Rachel's servants screeched in fright from the sudden noise of the door being forefully opened.

Ragna was infuriated from the intrusion and sighed quietly. Rachel was disturbed and attempted to look at Ragna as she blinks sluggishly to get a clearer look. He tells her to keep sleeping, knowing that she was still tired and needed rest more than him. The servants were incredibly drowsy because they had awaken from a good sleep.

"Get up. I told Platinum to wake you up but your door was locked and I was pretty worried that both of you did yourselves last night. So, I took the initiative to wake both of you my way."

"Seriously? Look at our condition. I can admit that I'm a dumbass but I use my head on my head instead of my crotch. We took a huge beating and barely survived. Do you expect us to still stand up and recover to full strength the next day? You should've at least have the decency to know that. You might wanna have your head checked next time." A frustrated tone from Ragna. He may have a different body but his mind and the grimoire remembered the wounds and opened in the areas where they were formerly located.

"Huh. I just figured that you would recover quickly with your Azure Grimoire. I thought the princess over there had enhanced regeneration because she's a vampire" She shrugged. "Just a miscalculation I guess." She throws a timer and Ragna catches it. "Ragna, I need you to go to the lab after an hour. I'm gonna need to talk to everyone who can still stand. If Rachel doesn't have the strength to get up, then she can continue sleeping. There, I mellowed it down for you lovebirds. Don't be late or else I'm detonating that arm of yours."

"That's a joke right?"

"Since when did I start making jokes?" She lifted her brow. She proceeded closing the door shut while leaving Ragna concerned if she's actually going to detonate his arm, or if it's just a bluff.

A faint tired voice could be heard behind Ragna, "I'm coming with you Ragna..." Rachel attempted to get up but Ragna stops her and gently puts her back on the bed and covered her up with a blanket. She thought the blankets being pulled up was unnecessary and looked at Ragna with a confused look.

"No. You're staying here. As much as I want you to come with me, it's better for you to stay here and rest."

"Stubborn as usual aren't you?" Rachel retorted.

"Talk about irony. Heh, should've expected that from you."

Ragna stood up and stretched after a long night of good sleep. He goes to the window and looks outside. The barrier was transparent and still running to keep Izanami away for the time being. He closes the curtains shortly to dim the area so Rachel could easily go back to sleep.

"I'm heading out. I'll bring breakfast here after we're done talking, so keep resting aight?"

Rachel pulls the sheets upwards, covering her entire body but the upper half of her face. "I understand."

Ragna gave her an endearing smile. This had made her grin. He never failed to amuse her even with the tiniest of things. She turns to her side and holds onto Ragna's jacket that she was wearing and closes her eyes, imagining Ragna's presence as if he was tight next to her while she slowly falls back to sleep.

Just as Ragna was about to leave, he told the servants to keep an eye on her.

"U-understoo...zzz" Gii was about to pass out until Nago had slapped him down to the ground, finally snapping him out of it. "GUWAH! READY FOR DUTY!"

"Don't push yourselves too hard fellas." He looks at the door and tried to test if it was still functional. Thankfully, it was still functional. He proceeded to leave quietly.

The halls were oddly quiet and were broken thanks to Ragna's footsteps echoing through the emtpy halls. The place is surely massive but the place being in pure silence was enough to make Ragna's skin crawl even if it was in broad daylight.

"A place this big should be full of people but I'm not complaining...that'll mean less trouble for me..."He jumped when he heard something fell. He figured a rat must have touched something. "Son of a bitch..."

He arrived to the lab quite early. Kokonoe still working on her computer, trying to figure out where their enemies had gone to after their return. Ragna had observed that it was only Kokonoe and Lambda in the lab when he entered.

"I know that I'm early and all, but where's the rest?"

"Bang, Litchi, Makoto, Taokaka and Hibiki will stay to keep watch of everyone who's too injured to even fight. Tager is still undergoing repairs."

"Tsubaki? I thought she's fine."

"She was helping Litchi in taking care of everyone and she didn't know that she was running on adrenaline from the recent battle. When her adrenaline wore off, she collapsed on the floor. You may think that's a lot of people to keep watch but these aren't ordinary patients."

Ragna sits down, "Alright, tell me."

"Hakumen needed to be strictly restrained. Due to his immense power and instinct, it almost took three to four people to hold him down in a special stretcher. I'm assuming he's going through parasomia."

"English."

"He's most likely experiencing a series of nightmares after having his head slammed. That unit is incredibly durable and even if we use the strongest weapon made by mom, it wouldn't even leave a scratch. Despite the unit's capabilities, Terumi himself made his own body his bitch. If he wanted to, he could've destroyed Hakumen right there. We're damn lucky that he's alive right now because he's the only one close to your level."

"How is he?"

"From the tests and results I got, none of our medicines would work on this guy. The unit itself has it's own healing factor, so let's hope the process won't take too long."

Ragna leaned to the back of his chair, thinking about what he could have done during the battle. He dismisses the thought of loathing himself for not doing enough because the fight had already finished. He closed his eyes and remembered that his master was thrown away like a deflated ball. He asks the professor, "What about Master Jubei?"

Kokonoe had flinched hearing her father's name. "Dad...Tch! Jubei is under Taokaka's watch because she knows how to treat cats because she's obviously one herself."

"Tell me about rest. If you can."

"If you say so, Makoto's Tsubaki in check since she's still unconscious, and mom...Litchi needed to examine her wounds because they wouldn't close. Must have been inflicted from that damn asshole Terumi...Bang and Hibiki on the other hand are required to stay to keep watch even if they seem safe already. Not long ago before you returned, we had a breach from Arakune so it wouldn't hurt for extra security...if you're wondering about Celica, she's sleeping in her room. She had exhausted a great majority of her magic reserves from healing so many of you in a short period of time, resulting to a signifanct loss of time she has here left."

Ragna had punched the metal wall, leaving a visible dent. He knew that Celica was soon going to disappear but he was not able to do anything to prolong it. He was angry and frustrated but he had no choice but to accept it. There is nothing he can do to stop it.

He knew that he has to be strong.

He knew that if he berated himself she wouldn't be happy. Even if she never belonged in this time, he wanted to ensure that she could at least stay in this world a little longer.

"Damn it...Is Trinity back with the brat? Actually, what is the damn brat doing?"

"Patrol duty." Kokonoe replied abruptly.

Jin had entered the room with an irritated look. He had a cast on his wrist, his arm relocated and bandages all over him.

The older brother's instincts kicked in. "Jin, you're not in a good condition. Go rest."

"Quiet brother. If I can still stand, I can still fight." Jin dismissing his brother's suggestion.

"I've never seen you push yourself like this, especially being that pissed. Did something happen?" Ragna was annoyed but he ignored his little brother's stubborn behavior.

"This has nothing to do with you."

"Is it about Tsubaki?"

Jin flinched.

A question that made Jin vulnerable for a moment. He was seen frustrated and emotionally hurt. He wasn't there to protect her. Ragna could feel his guilt but he kept quiet. Jin would snap if Ragna were to say anything that would help her. "She's fine. I believe that she may recover with no issues."

Ragna remembered that Kokonoe had not talked about Noel's condition yet. He assumed that she might be fine and asked Jin if he had seen her, "Since you visited her, what about Noel?"

Kokonoe answered instead, "According to Litchi, she had a bad concussive blow to the head from Terumi's attack. She had her head smashed onto her own weapon that was made of unknown mythical alloy. It's probably comparable to the Susanoo unit, so it may had packed a huge punch. That may sound terrible but don't worry too much. She's no ordinary person and a perfected murakumo, so she can fully recover from this. If she was a normal person, her brains would've been splattered all over the floor."

The professor noticed that Rachel was nowhere to be found in the lab. She called Ragna, "Hey, what's with Rachel anyway? I thought she could heal way faster than this?"

"Must have been from Terumi's attack. Even my wounds aren't healing fast and lots of them haven't even closed after all this time. His power was at a level that I could barely keep up with...if we had fought any longer we would've died right there." Even with the different body, the grimoire remembered the damage it sustained, similar to like what Rachel warned him about after absorbing damage from Nine during the times where she was an enemy. Susanoo was a being that was outside of the normal realm and outside of time, but was still under the chains of the Amaterasu unit.

"You fought a God after all. It would be obvious that he would hold so much power that it would be capable of damaging the grimoire to an extent...that'll be a major problem once our Terumi gets his hands on Hakumen."

Ragna heard the doors slide open. Familiar people had entered in the room. Kagura, Tager, Lambda and Minerva had arrived on time.

"There's...very few of us...why'd you bring us here anyways?"

Kokonoe turns her chair to look at them with an irritated look. She takes a deep breath to calm down and looks at them with guilt in her eyes. "Look, I'm sorry for not being able to do much during that time. Things didn't go according to plan and communications were fucked up. Couldn't even give the details of my backup plan and all of you were left to fend for yourselves...Telling from your injuries, it must have been a complete disaster. I wanted to send Lambda but the chances of sucess were extremely slim. Knowing the probability, she would have been ripped to shreds."

Kagura butted in, "Yeah...I couldn't do anything earlier. To be fair, All of us here couldn't because we weren't there. Like what Kokonoe said, Lambda would die if she attempted to send her there due to the uneven frequencies. I doubt that she wouldn't be able to make a difference because that thing you fought there?" He pointed at a blank space, indicating the detail of his explanation. "Hoh, Lambda would get bodied like the rest of you guys."

"Everyone survived. That's all that matters..." Ragna was relieved that everyone is okay and no one died. Talk about lady luck.

"Alright. Enough with the guilt trip. We're going to have a quick briefing in advance so we wouldn't have problems days later."

Everyone takes a sit to listen. While Lambda's focus was locked on a mini Tager on Kokonoe's custom chess board.

"We don't know about the whereabouts of the three assholes you guys fought so keep an eye out. Ragna, if Noel is still unconscious you're going to have to deal with Izanami yourself. Can you handle it?"

"I'm not as strong as I used to be anymore...but If that's the case, I'm up."

"Good. Kagura and Jin, focus on taking down Azrael when you encounter him. I'll lock him up in a pocket dimension once he's distracted. I'll signal both of you to back away from him when I'm about to start. Tager, you're squad will include Lambda and Minerva. You three will be on standby to keep watch on the two bastards if they're around. This plan is subjected to change when we have more people available." She scooped her hand in her stash, grabbing a silverine lolipop while she was talking. It annoyed the brothers but they shook it off and continued listening. "That's all. It's short but it's only specifically for you people because everyone else isn't awake yet. Any questions?"

Kagura raised his hand. "What about the barrier's duration? If Valkenhayn can teleport inside with ease, what about Izanami?"

"This barrier was made only to nullify Izanami's intrusion and even negate her attacks. This was also made exclusively for our enemies, so anyone that's not considered a threat can enter with ease. The energy I used was dark matter from the boundary. Rather it was energy from the boundary itself. So, anyone but the enemies we're dealing with can enter with ease. Arakune however, is a different story...he is made of matter that is unknown and mixed with the boundary, leaving us defenseless against him...that's why I assigned Bang and Hibiki to keep their eyes open."

Kagura asked again, "You said this place will only last for 3 days right? What do we do if the rest are still unconscious?"

"I modified and upgraded the barriers to last longer. It'll last around a week now but that's just my hypothesis. Don't expect it to actually reach 7 days. And if everyone is still unfit for battle...then if you have a god, you better pray to them because we are all on our own."

Everyone was silent for a bit after hearing Kokonoe's last sentence, knowing that they have a 50/50 chance of surviving with the current manpower they have.

"That's all for today. Go eat your breakfast." Ragna was the last one left and about to leave the lab but was stopped when Kokonoe called him.

"Yeah?" Ragna asked.

"Sorry for being a dickhead earlier. I was pissed at myself because I couldn't do anything but watch."

"I've been through worse. It's fine." Ragna considering Kokonoe's apology.

"Take care."

The slide door closes. Lambda observed Kokonoe and scanned her, "Professor, you seem to be in complete distress. Reason of distress: Unable to locate Number 11, Hazama, Terumi and Azrael

Kokonoe was surprised. "Did you just scan me? Geez, you're like Tager."

Taokaka invaded the room, making Kokonoe almost swallow the entire lollipop. She gets pissed and immediately asks Taokaka with contempt. "What do you want?"

"Tao heard the briefing! Bowl-cut guy told me about a super secret pathway in the building nyasu!"

"Wait what?! There's a passageway? They're still keeping secrets from me? We can maybe use this as a last resort if everything goes to hell...show me."

"Let Tao lead the way!"

Ragna had returned with two plates, one for him and one for Rachel. The servants were. sleeping like house cats, he didn't mind. They deserve some rest too after all. He saw a hanger that was holding Rachel's new clothes and another plate of food on the desk beside the bed. He figured that Valkenhayn must have stopped by. He went to the desk and read a note written by the butler.

"She is under your care. She refused to return to the castle just to stay here with you, so I am entrusting you in this. If you make a single mistake, I will bury you alive."

Ragna sighed from Valkenhayn's message. At least he trusts him. Sorta.

He slowly avoids stepping on the servants and approached her by the edge of the bed. He sits down and watches her sleep peacefully. Too bad he has to wake her up to eat. He tapped her shoulder. "Rachel"

"Hm...?" She made a noise as a reply. She didn't want to wake up, she was like a student who didn't want to go to school early after having a good sleep. She slowly turns to him with an annoyed look on her face, "Give me a valid reason as to why you had awakened me or else you will be met with humiliation."

Ragna rolled his eyes. "Still a pain in the ass huh? We're having breakfast."

"Hm..." Another noise that lazily broke out of her.

"You wanted to come with me earlier and now you don't wanna get up? C'mon, we'll eat and you can go back to sleep. You need the nutrients."

She turned to the opposite direction and held the pillow out of refusal. Disappointment struck Ragna until he touched her cheek to get her attention. It felt abnormally hot. He touched her forehead with the back of his hand and realized that she wasn't feeling well. He covered the food and left it on the desk.

"I guess breakfast can wait. You're not in good shape aren't you?"

"Am I ill? I figured it was just fatigue..." She was confused with what Ragna had said.

"Mind telling me how you feel?"

"Well...I can guarantee that I feel like my head would split apart at any given moment. I even feel cold. Is it the climate?"

Ragna jumps onto the bed and puts his arms around her.

"Nope. I'll inform Litchi after keeping you warm. If you're sick then that's no big deal. The grimoire's immune to contagious shitty diseases anyways so I'm on the green."

"I have sheets that would provide me warmth. I'm no juvenile bird, Ragna."

"What's the matter? Don't want me sticking around longer?" A mocking tone from Ragna.

The vampire sighs but she had a visible smile in her face. "If you catch a cold, you're at fault..."

"Is that a challenge?"

She lets out a soft giggle as she feels comfortable with his arms. She felt safe and they forgot about the problems that were happening during that time. He lulls her to sleep with his gentle movement as he caresses her hips and arms.

"Get well rabbit."

An hour later, an angry voice could be heard from the silent halls of the building...

Jin was self-loathing because of how powerless he was to stop Susanoo. He looks at his casted wrist and his broken sword, a reminder of his weakness.

"Tch...what usefulness will I provide in this condition...I need to heal faster."

He concentrates as he makes an extremely durable concentrated ice to replace the blade of his broken sword. No metal can create an alloy with the blade that Yukianesa was made of. Only Nine can repair it, but she's currently in the recovery room. The ice shatters as he attempts to slice a solid object. He punched the wall, leaving a crater and curses to himself.

"Damn it! I'm too weak..."

Jin clenched his fist out of frustration, out of anger that he doesn't have the strength to protect someone he cares about, but his brother has the strength and ability to do so.

"I need to become stronger...if brother can protect someone he cares about, then I can do the same!"

Kagura puts his hand on Jin's shoulder to calm the him down. He felt that Jin was incredibly tense and agitated. Filled with nothing but frustration and guilt from his worthlessness.

"Jinny, you alright? Is it because you can't protect Tsubaki?"

"She does not concern you. Leave me be."

"Jin, Listen to me. What does not kill you makes you stronger. Learn from your mistakes and stop blaming yourself. You don't want her to be in another coma right?"

In a blink of an eye, Jin grabs Kagura's collar and slammed him against the wall.

"Did you not hear me? I said she does not concern you."

Kagura had touched a sore spot. He raised his hands up, signifying that he yields and won't fight back. Jin aggressively lets go of him and eyes him back maliciously.

"Fine. I will take your word."

He walks away with an aggressive aura around him, freezing the air around him, and leaving frozen trails of his footsteps as he continues to walk until the sounds of his shoes touching the ground faded away into silence. Kagura leaned back on the wall and lets out a relieved sigh.

"Christ. He's scary..."

Jin walked to the very top of the building. He closes his eyes as he felt the morning breeze pass him. He looks at his broken sword and stares at it. He relived the events that was going on during that fight.

Anger

Hate

Sorrow

Those three words were being whispered in his mind. He resents the feeling of being powerless.

He concentrated and breathes slowly. Jin entered a state of pure concentration as he attempts to repair his Nox Nyctores. The ice slowly taking shape, replacing the missing blade of the sword. However, he was greeted with disappointment. The ice shatters another time. He drops his sword from the cold stinging pain of using his drive to it's lowest temperature.

"Damn..."

Footsteps could be heard from a distance...

With no hesitation, Jin summoned ice pillars and caged the unknown stranger with him. He grabbed his broken sword from the ground and pointed it towards the direction from where he heard the noise. It was Ragna. He didn't even flinch from the blade touching his neck.

"What do you want?"

Ragna puts away the broken blade by his neck. "Just a talk. It's been a while."

"Leave me be."

"Not a chance."

"I thought you were with the vampire."

"And I thought you were recovering with Tsubaki." This had slightly angered Jin.

"Do you wish to die?" Jin gave him a stern look.

"If that's what you want, so be it."

Jin prepared his stance but Ragna just stood in place. The hero makes the first move but then, he observed Ragna. He was not moving a muscle to respond to his attack. Jin stopped to where he was about to slice Ragna's face. Ragna did not even flinch from that. Jin figured that he was not going to fight back. He was confused and baffled. Without a word, Jin puts away his Yukianesa.

"What are you planning?"

"I just want to talk. That's all."

"...Fine..."

Ragna walks to the edge and leans on the metal railing, facing towards the city below them. "I noticed that you weren't in a good mood this morning. Something happened?"

"Why do you care? I thought you were taking care of the vampire."

"I was. I just gave her meds thanks to Litchi and told the bat cat things? Servants? Bah, whatever you call them, to watch over her while I'm not around. She needs some sleep and if I were to stay there any longer, I doubt she'd get any." He turned around towards Jin. "Because you're my brother. That's why I care."

"..." Jin looked away without a word. A few days ago at around 10 P.M., before Ragna had returned to Rachel's room to sleep, he had observed his little brother attempting to repair his sword countless times. Ragna was concerned because Jin had not given himself even an ounce of time to rest.

During the silence that was left out to Ragna while he was waiting for an answer, Jin finally spoke.

"What made you strong? How were you able to protect the vampire with so little strength, and gained a greater power?"

"You were awake during that?"

"Barely. Tell me, I demand an answer."

"Honestly, it's kinda hard for me to explain."

"Speak up. I don't care."

Ragna scratches his head out of irritation, "Sheesh, alright." Ragna breathed in and out while thinking of his words. "In that moment where she was in a life or death situation. My mind and body went on it's own. My mind screamed, 'save her!' It renewed my all of my strength for just a single moment." This was no longer Ragna's mind talking anymore but it was his heart taking control. He continued, "Nothing is more important than protecting the ones you care about. Remember how I was still trying to protect you and Saya from our first encounter with Sister even if I couldn't stand anymore? I'm guessing that's love. It's hella cheesy but it's true. During that concentrated state, you would feel like you could do anything, even feeling invincible. That's how I was able to survive with her during that fight."

An advice from his older brother. Jin felt nostalgic knowing that Ragna was his only family left. He felt at ease when he was passing his wisdom. For a moment, he smiled. Ragna was caught off guard but he kept himself silent. Jin shook his face from realization and looked at his sword. Ragna placed his hand on Jin's shoulder. The little brother flinched, but slowly accepts his presence. "You want to protect Tsubaki right? Then don't just make it like a mission like how you take it from your usual officer days. Let it be a purpose. You're drive. You care for her so much don'cha? Then use all of that strength you have to it's fullest to protect her."

"My drive..." Jin gripped the handle of his sword and concentrated. The air around him slowly freezes. Ragna could feel the temperature going down to an exponential rate. Jin whispered to himself, "Tsubaki..." The power that Jin was accumulating was rising and the temperature keeps on getting lower and lower, reaching to a point that Ragna couldn't handle it, but he was staying for his little brother. The ice that was slowly forming was creating a blade and it was perfectly merging with the sword. Ragna was watching his sword reaching to it's sharpest point until...

Crack.

The slight noise had shattered the hero's concentration. He watched his sword fall apart, only leaving the hilt and the broken blade. Jin was greeted with anger and disappointment. Then, he felt a pat on his shoulder.

"That's how you do it."

"But I failed...?"

"You will find out yourself, Jin. I believe in that."

"..." Jin suddenly remembered Hakumen's advice before he fell unconscious, "Love conquers all..." he was slowly beginning to understand. His older brother was right. He should not make it an obligation but rather his 'drive' and his purpose for still standing up.

"Move forward and you will see. That power you are holding isn't truly yours yet so don't get too cocky."

"You're aware that you are starting to sound like your vampire right?"

Ragna lets out a soft chuckle, "I do? Didn't know about that." He takes a stool and sits on it. "How about you keep doing it until you can get a hold of it? It's something new and you might wanna get used to it. Might be a little fun figuring out things that you never knew existed."

"*Sigh* Now you're talking like Jubei of the six heroes."

"Just shut up and listen will you?"

The two brothers continued their sibling rivalry. Thus, making simple things more difficult.