Chapter Text
Dec. 13, 2187
An ear-deafening clash. A shockwave that spans for miles. Then another clash. Another wave. Again. Again. Such was the rhythm of the world’s end, just ahead of the resolved samurai. The atmosphere was painted monochrome, every bit of color and life drained away. Grey clouds could barely be differentiated from once-blue sky, now equally grey. The dragon-installed monarch, an unknown magic user wielding the witch’s guitar, and Badguy all warred against the newborn deity atop the government airship. That new world, the one that would lack everything they held dear, was on the brink of manifestation.
Chaos was nowhere in sight; His plan to empower I-No must have worked. She didn’t appear to be struggling against the two blondes nearly as much as the samurai would hope, but perhaps victory was still in sight: Badguy looked like he had a plan.
He held some sort of weapon, resembling his sword that burned so bright in their duels. Folded out upon itself like a profane origami crane, it stood ready to deliver what the samurai could only imagine to be a cataclysmic blow. However, Nagoriyuki sensed hesitation from the man. He needed to make one singular chance count. If he didn’t land a direct hit on her weakest point, it was game over.
“You’re never going to get the answer, no matter how long you wait.”
“You..!” Badguy was alarmed at first by the samurai’s appearance, then relieved as he didn’t sense any bloodlust, nor any lingering trace of Chaos’ control on him. He must’ve fully broken free after their last encounter.
“However, I am glad you waited.”
Their gazes turned back towards the battle. Nagoriyuki’s vision narrowed, his Nightless instincts highlighting the witch’s wrist in his mind.
“It’s her right hand. I’ll get her to show her palm.” He clutched his chest. “Stand ready to take the shot… and disregard my safety.” His hand lowered to his belt as he drew his Daitō katana and a short, resolved breath to quell what little fear remained. “... This is my own decision.”
Badguy felt a moment of realization followed by a nod of understanding. A small, solemn smile appeared on his face.
“You’re batshit insane, aren’t ya? And you had the nerve to call me the monster,” he chuckled.
The samurai assumed his stance, unamused.
“If I recall correctly, you agreed.”
Nagoriyuki dashed in; his eyes set on the witch. The time-warper could only do so much, and the monarch struggled to stand, having sustained injuries from his two consecutive attempts at felling their enemy.
“Aim for her left!”, Nagoriyuki shouted, eyes not averting from his target.
Ky didn’t have time to consider who showed up next; any ally that appeared was an ally needed. He joined the charge, following orders of aiming for the witch’s left side with an overhead slash. However, she spun around and caught the blade with her right hand instead, leaving her left side open for the samurai to flank.
Nagoriyuki focused all the power he had in him into his blade, his fangs growing and eyes darkening as he entered a Blood Rage.
"Hraghh-!!"
He let out a shout to catch the witch’s attention, forcing her free hand to instinctually intercept his blade, letting Badguy take the shot at her occupied weak spot.
…
At least, that’s how it was supposed to go.
Her hand did indeed catch his Daitō. But what Nagoriyuki hadn't realized was that Ky had been sent flying after his failed attack; the witch’s right side remained free.
With that chance, a stabbing hand seamlessly went through Nagoriyuki’s body, as if he was a ghost. She didn’t pierce his flesh; rather, she passed right through and clutched the samurai’s spine. Throughout centuries of war, conflict, and battle, the samurai had scarcely felt greater pain. It burned, mimicking a red-hot spear being driven into his core, penetrating through his body and immediately cauterizing the wound. He was overwhelmed, nearly paralyzed with pain.
“GHRK-!!”
His eyes returned to normal, every other part of his body in shock. His blade fell to one hand and his body limp, his neck stretched upward with gritted teeth. He struggled to breathe, every sense screaming at him to get away and stop the pain - but he lacked both the blood and the control.
“Nice try, vamp.” A sly grin appeared on the witch’s face. “Did you really think I wouldn’t account for your whole ‘weak point’ shit?”
The samurai’s eyes began to close, his body shutting down. He could hardly feel his legs, let alone stand upright; but this was no time to falter.
Right before he fell to his knees, Nagoriyuki caught himself, clutching the witch’s still-implanted forearm with his free hand. For his every sin as Chaos’ slave and every atonement yet to come, Nagoriyuki could not fall with nothing to show for it.
His head cocked back down as his veins boiled, his eyes refilling with enraged darkness. He dropped his blade and clutched I-No’s right arm with both hands tightly, preparing for the worst. In an unexpected move, the samurai pulled himself closer, pushing the hand yet deeper into his shaking body, forcing it out on the other side.
He was now fully impaled by the witch’s ghostly arm. An even greater world of pain washed over the twitching samurai, but his grip did not falter. Heaving pants came from his blood-soaked mouth as he glared wide-eyed at the witch, whose grin had been substituted for a face of shocked confusion. After realizing what he had done, that confusion morphed into pure dread. He had exposed her right hand; her weak point.
“NOW!!”
Hearing the signal loud and clear, Badguy fired his weapon. A railgun crafted to tear any and every atom to shreds, her weak spot stood no chance at surviving the power of the Outrage. The impact was clear and true, the shriek of the blast ringing loud in the onlookers’ ears. The witch tried to pull away, but Nagoriyuki's body served as an anchor that ensured she remained planted within Badguy’s sightline. Her hand began to crack at the focal point of the laser, the blast encompassing their immediate surroundings.
“No running this time-!” The samurai grit his teeth.
“Are you insane?!! You’re gonna be eviscerated!!” I-No was panicking. Everything she had built towards, the results of every severed connection, every betrayed individual, jumped timeline, and wasted year spent trying to chase her deluded utopia was slipping through her hands. “Everything you sought to do, everything you fought for-”
“I only ever wanted to fight for myself!!”, the samurai interrupted. He spoke with resolve, despite his injury and the laser surrounding them. “... Not for Master Slayer, not for Lord Kazusanosuke, not for Chaos’ goals, nor any other country, nation, or flag. Once, I thought that my purpose lied in servitude… but I was wrong."
I-No couldn't understand what he was saying. During all of their minute off-handed interactions, she never thought much about his past. After all, he never spoke of it and Chaos had been his usual, cryptic self anytime she asked about him.
“So, this is my choice: to devote everything I have to a greater cause, but by my own will", Nagoriyuki continued. "In my next life, I am sure that I will pay dearly for my sins under Chaos. But I have found peace with that.” The darkness in his eyes had begun to drain, his blood cooling. “... That is what I fight for.”
A calm moment inside the tempest. The witch had stopped struggling, instead reflecting on the samurai’s words. She too, only ever wanted to fight for herself. For her dreams, her aspirations, her life. Then why? Why did it have to end like this for people like them? Is pain and death always the price of freedom?
... Then she remembered.
She had that freedom once, and she had willingly thrown it to the side in search of something greater. She got lost in herself, when everything she ever wanted had been chasing after her this whole time.
The time-traveling blonde’s voice rung out, just barely audible over the howl of the Outrage.
“I-NO!!”
She turned to the direction of his voice. There, she saw the pain on his face through the all-consuming white stream. Tears forming in his eyes, he clenched her guitar and bit his lip as he hesitated on the sideline. He was about to lose everything too.
“Yeah, Axl… I’m listening.”
“PLEASE TELL ME… THAT YOU REMEMBERED SOMETHING!! ANYTHING!!” His voice was cracking, tears choking him up as he took a step closer, one after another.
“Yeah, I remember.” She turned her face away, her eyes aimed at the ground in regret. “... I had everything. Both the good and the bad. I know now that to eliminate either side in pursuit of utopia isn’t life.” Her gaze moved to her disintegrating left hand. “It’s death.”
Axl inched ever closer.
“BUT THAT DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN’T FIX THINGS NOW!!”
“Axl, every aspect of our surroundings and every choice I’ve made tells me it’s too late for me”, she scoffed.
The blonde stopped approaching, just short of the blast. He was quietly sobbing by now, holding her Marlene to his chest as he saw his only love break apart before his eyes.
“We were drinking tea…”, he cried, his tears landing on the cyan guitar.
“Yeah… and we looked at the beautiful sea together.” I-No looked up at Axl with a chuckle. “... You looked scared shitless to even get close to me.”
He sniffed and matched her gaze.
“Yeah… but you heard me out anyway! You... You made me so happy-!!”
She smiled as her end drew near. The blast was overwhelming, cracks beginning to form on her face.
“You made me happy too, Axl. Even with your stupid blonde hair... I always thought it made you look like a woman~” Soft laughter came from her trembling voice, followed by a pause. “... Hey.”
Axl tried to wipe his tears away as she smiled at him.
"... Yeah...?"
“Just because it’s too late for me, doesn’t mean it’s too late for us… specifically, not for you.” She looked up towards Nagoriyuki. “... And the same thing goes for you, vamp.”
His blood rage had long since worn off. The samurai was struggling to stay conscious, let alone stand amidst the onslaught of the Outrage and his transparent impalement. Slow, heaving breaths were all he could get out; after all, he was no deity. If he stayed inside the torrent of energy much longer, he would be dead.
“Don’t be a hypocrite. Go 'live your life for a greater cause' or whatever, at least a little bit longer. But this time, make sure you stay free until the day you d-" The witch stopped. “... Actually, one condition.”
Nagoriyuki could barely hold on any longer. His half-lidded eyes looked down in confusion.
“Wh… what… are… you…sayi-…?”, he huffed, too drained to finish his sentence.
“Find yourself someone nice to settle down with.” I-No turned back to gaze at her beloved. “Looking back, the shackles of a relationship gave me the greatest feeling of freedom I’ve ever had. If someone like me managed to find someone like Axl, you deserve to find someone special for yourself." A single tear rolled down her cheek as her attention returned to the samurai. "Then, once you find her, stay by her side... and grow old together.”
The samurai was bewildered at the witch’s words.
"... Wh-"
“Until hell freezes over. Got it?”, she interrupted, giving him a teary wink. “... Because I’ll know.”
Before Nagoriyuki could give his answer, I-No clenched her impaling hand into a fist. In that moment, everything went white - an all-consuming silent flash, and she was gone. The witch had taken the infinite power of the Outrage and channeled it into her decaying body, dispelling the blast and destroying herself in the process; and with that, the only traces that remained were black ashes in the sky.
The weary samurai was left trembling and exhausted. His limit must have been breached three times over during his stand against the Outrage, not to mention his impalement, which seemed to leave no immediate visible trace. His mind reeled.
... He had spent his life trying to tear himself away from this world and its frivolities ever since Master Slayer's involvement on his deathbed. The witch demanded that he throw that all away...?
Realization finally set in, along with the whirlwind of pain that consumed him.
“... It… is… done…”, he panted, having completed his self-assigned duty of stopping the witch. He could see indistinct figures running towards him through his blurry eyes, but couldn't make sense of anything; he was far too drained. The last of his strength left him as he fell onto his knees before crashing down to the ground.
For the first time in centuries, Nagoriyuki the Nightless samurai collapsed, with subtle peace written on his face.