recountal | falling;;

falling;;

Three months later.
??? Catacombs, whatever the fuck this country is called.

It is so dark that Chizuru feels almost like the darkness is real, tangible, sentient and capable of exerting its pressure and it's a struggle for her to keep walking. She can't see a thing. The only indication she has that she isn't completely and utterly alone is the sound of Saitou's footsteps, the rustling of his clothing, and the soft sound of his breathing, and though she's sorely tempted to reach out and take his hand or hold onto the back of his jacket she can't bring herself to do it because that's too childish. They're here for a very specific reason and they don't have time to waste with her being frightened.

It's been three months since that fateful day at their headquarters, when they had lost nearly everything. It's been a few weeks since Souji's coughing had worsened, and four days since he had collapsed; they'd managed to find him shelter and a good doctor to watch over him, but it's clear that something is horribly, terribly wrong. Frantic research, hour after hour hunched over old medical texts had told them that what Souji suffered from was incurable.

But the doctor, also a student of old legends and myths, had said that there were tales of similar ailments being cured in the ancient past, but the knowledge of how to do so was... gone. Locked away. Buried forever with those who had known it.

...and so they had to try. The catacombs of this civilization lie deep underground and Chizuru doesn't know what they'll find here, but it's the best (the only) lead they've got and Souji's body isn't healing itself the way it should be, as a knight...

The knowledge that he is depend on them to figure this out spurs her onward even in the face of her anxiety. It seems so petty, to be afraid of the dark when Souji has so much more to fear.

Somewhere far ahead of them, there is the flickering of candlelighht. Chizuru sucks in a sharp breath and can't keep herself from reaching out to take Saitou's arm, her clutching his sleeve like he's all that's keeping her from breaking down. She wishes she were stronger, but it's hard. It's been hard ever since that day three months ago, and she is sure the cracks are starting to show.

Assuming he doesn't stop walking when she grabs onto him for comfort, they draw closer to that flickering candlelight and emerge in an underground chamber with a high, vaulted ceiling - the architecture seems so advanced that if not for the fact that it was all buried underground she never would have believed this was a place people lived in the past. At their feet is some kind of track - the tunnel leading in here from the surface had, at one point, merged with a tunnel belowground that some sort of vehicle must have traveled on in ancient times.

There are two winged statues at the center of the chamber, and the only light in the room comes from the flickering candles at their bases, flames burning bright despite the fact that there doesn't seem to be any living soul around to tend to them. The lights cast long shadows on the statues, which face each other and hold a sword and a scythe made of marble, the blades coated with what looks, to Chizuru's eyes, to be dried blood. She hopes she's seeing things.

Then there is a rustle of... something. Chizuru can't pinpoint where it comes from, but a flame flickers into existence at their immediate right and it's as though it set off chain reaction, braziers set into the walls lighting themselves of their own accord. As her eyes adjust to the light, she bites her lip and takes a look at their surroundings.

There are two levels, though there are no stairs; the balcony above them is, for the moment, out of their reach, as are all the openings above them leading out onto it. Across from them is another dark tunnel that the track at their feet runs into; she can't see very far into it. There are other passageways set into three of the four walls - one at the wall their backs are to, two at the wall on their right-hand side, and one at the wall they are facing. None of them are barred by doors, but peering more than a few feet into them from this location is impossible.

She surveys the room with unease, her gaze lingering on the statues and noting that there seem to be inscriptions of some kind at their bases, before she looks to Saitou as though he can tell them what they ought to do. It's so quiet they could hear a pin drop - which is unnerving, considering the way their surroundings had lit up of their own accord. She has the awful feeling that they're getting in over their heads.

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He says nothing when she grabs onto him, but Saitou isn't unaware or dismissive. Instead, he slows his pace just enough so Chizuru doesn't feel as if she's being tugged away from and needing to keep up, just a silent way of soothing her in reminder that he's not going to leave her behind.

And he can understand being frightened of the dark, because while it is only absence of light, there can be anything in darkness that the mind wishes. More often than not, even in the safest of places, the mind is more vicious than it should be.

What does cause him to pause, however, is that noise just before the candles flicker to life, eyes narrowing slightly as he follows their path one end to another before finally settling to examine all options of progression. And there are so very many, aren't there. Something is wrong, that is for sure, but what he understands only time will unravel. The problem with that is by then it may be too late. Still, they have little choice and after a moment his free hand reaches to gently settle one of her arms, glancing down to her.

"Do you see anything...?" His voice is the natural quiet that it always is, but even to him it seems far too loud to be comforting; so much that he has to resist feeling the urge to continue anything from here on out in a whisper. He did notice her eyes lingering on the statue however, so after asking and waiting for a reply he turns his attention to them before slowly going to move forward ( and wait for her to come too, if she remains holding onto him ) when he notices the writing himself. If he notices the condition of the weapon as Chizuru initially had herself, he doesn't express it by even so much as a glance to it.

"No, nothing..."

There's nothing - no one - around here except for the pair of statues, and that scares her more than she wants to admit because something has to be responsible for those flames. She keeps her hold on him and follows as he moves forward - she's not going to let go of him for anything, not here - and soon enough they're close enough to the statues to read the inscriptions.

First is the inscription at the base of the statue holding a scythe:

Death is the natural end of all things. If you would seek to delay that end, take no more than you are willing to give.
Saitou will have a better view of that statue; Chizuru is looking at the base of the statue holding the sword, and she mouths the words as she reads them:

Life is a gift given when two become one. If you would seek a reward for that gift, give it in the sight of the Goddess.

Edited 2014-06-10 00:14 (UTC)

It has been some time since he has done a mission doused in riddles; but they're always disconcerting when in places like these. Rarely are riddles put in catacombs to do anyone a favor.

Rarely are riddles put in places for favors at all, even if they do provide clues.

Saitou reads the inscription once and then twice more for good measure before finally glancing up at the scythe itself after following a trail up the statue's form from the base looking to see if there is anything else to match or otherwise accompany it.

As Saitou draws his gaze up from the statue's base to the scythe, he won't see anything too terribly out of the ordinary. After all, isn't it entirely normal to see small drops of dried blood, when the scythe itself seems to be coated in it?

What he'll hear, however, is what's out of the ordinary. There is a grinding of stone from somewhere behind them. Chizuru releases his arm, but only so that she can whirl around in the direction it's coming from -

Just in time to witness a thick, solid-looking slab of stone slide out from one side of the entrance they had used to enter the catacombs, and stop once it reaches the other. The way back is blocked.

"A-ah, it's..."

...they sure are trapped. And as if the situation couldn't get any worse -

All the flickering flames in the room vanish except for two, which are on either side of the opening in the wall where the sword the other statue is holding points.

That does settle it, then, doesn't it. Although he is alarmed, Saitou is well aware panicking will only make things worse, especially for Chizuru. He had turned to look with her at the sounds, eyeing narrowing as he attempts to find the source of activating this before it stops moving, No such luck which makes him tense and simply go to turn once more and stare up at the scythe with the blood (that's going to suggest a problem most certainly) but the lights fade before he can get a good look. With the only opening lighted he realizes this isn't just an ordinary trap set up, that they're more than likely being intentionally led...but, even so what choice is there ?

And even if not, even though he would never make Chizuru take the same risks, He would do almost anything to save Souji's life. "I'm here," he says quietly to her before going to take a step forward. "We would do best to move quickly."

"Y-yes..."

She swallows hard, trying to gather her courage. This isn't something she can run away from - Souji's life hangs in the balance, and if that means she has to face her fears to save him, she'll do it. She's so glad that Saitou is here with her, though. While she would do anything for either one of them - well, he's just so much more capable than she is. As long as Saitou is here, even if she's nervous, she doesn't doubt that they'll make it out of here alive and triumphant with exactly what they need to cure Souji, so long as such a cure really exists.

She takes a breath, then, and heads to that one entrance to peer into it. It's dark - she can't see too far ahead of her - but there's no other way to really go, and so go they do.

It's a long walk down the hall, so silent and still - and it takes about ten minutes, even at a brisk pace, for them to reach a point where they can possibly change directions. The hall curves to both the right and the left. To their right, there is a faint glow in the distance - to their left, nothing. She glances at Saitou briefly, then -

A loud, echoing roar comes from the direction of the glow.

They can either left, making their way through the darkness, or turn right, going into the light but knowing there's some thing waiting there for them. Chizuru, tightly gripping her weapon, looks up at Saitou to see what he thinks would be best.

". . ."

It's a tough decision, walking into danger or into more darkness. All the same, however, Saitou almost thinks he may prefer the beast he can see versus the one he cannot. In a place like the catacombs, it's generally unusual for their to be monsters roaming due to it being locked up. Therefore perhaps it is deliberately put in here for a purpose.

That purpose is more than like something that wants to be kept hidden? Or, at least, it is sensible enough for him to decide, especially when he can't yet see it but knows there won't be anything to see in the dark regardless.

"Stay focused," he whispered, left hand going for one of his blades as proceeds forward one cautious step after another down the hall where the light and sound are coming from.

She nods, keeping quiet and focused as they creep their way down the hall. Knowing there's something there, in the light at the end - it's put Chizuru on edge, but at least she knows there's something, and so she can try and prepare herself. From the sound of the roar - it's something big, quite possibly lethal.

But what could survive down here for so many years? It's not as if there's food...

Except, She thinks, and the thought is accompanied by a shudder. For any people who come venturing down here...

That isn't a thought she wants to entertain for very long, and thankfully, she doesn't have to. As they get closer and closer to the light at the end of the hall they'll see that it opens into a small, circular room - there is a spiralling staircase set into the walls, and - somehow - it is lit by little floating balls of light that bob eerily in the air.

There is no sign of what made the noise. The only way to go seems to be up, and so Chizuru starts for the staircase, presumably along with Saitou. Nothing happens at first, but when they make it up far enough that they've circled the walls and are now a foot or so above the entrance they passed into not too long ago, there is a rumbling sound -

And the stairway under their feet begins to crumble. Chizuru gasps and breaks into a run, moving upwards as quickly as she possibly can.

"Hurry...!"

Saitou has taken to following her, not unused to the position considering partnering with Souji is more often than not letting him lead them around and Saitou merely doing some creative and subtle backseat driving when it's felt necessary. He doesn't do the same for Chizuru, but follows her all the same.

And although he looks back at the rumbling first rather than up or down, he doesn't linger when he notices the staircase starting to fall apart. He turns about the time Chizuru gasps and yells for him to make haste and there is no pause for a second thought, following her up the stairs and if he finds her step just a little too slow in terms of simply not being used to maneuvering like this on such short notice, Saitou will simply without question or a skip in his movements, scoop her up into his arms to take her up the stairs that much faster if necessary. Either way, there's not really an obvious option for them if they fall and if this is the only way through and they lose this opportunity... well, they just can't let that happen so there's no real use thinking on the consequences of it.

And Saitou has no plans of making Chizuru go on by herself by having only one of them make it up to the top.

"--ah?!"

It's an unfortunate (or, maybe not that unfortunate, all things considered) fact that Chizuru is simply slower than Saitou is. She doesn't mean to be, she's been training to work on her speed... but he runs faster than her. And so it's no real surprise that she winds up in his arms to anyone but her.

She stares up at him as he carries her up the crumbling stairs, before bringing her arms up to cling to him tightly so that he doesn't have to worry about accidentally losing his hold on her, and they make it onto the landing at the very top just moments before the last step crumbles away. She is vaguely aware, though her heart is pounding so intensely, that if she'd kept running on her own she most definitely would have fallen.

"I... I'm sorry." She's trembling in his arms; she knows she needs to stand on her own two feet and move forward, now, but she's not sure her legs would be able to hold her up if he were to set her down, and so she doesn't yet unwind her arms from around him. "You put yourself through some trouble for my sake..."

"That is incorrect," he says, voice still gentle and steady as if they had not just almost had an impromptu flight back down to the previous level without any way to prevent injury. "It was for both of our sakes."

Saitou simply doesn't see her logic in this, but he doesn't ask. Discussion on how one thinks in times like these could be saved for later when things were not so dire in their environment. Nevertheless, he does seem to have picked up she is somewhat frightened from the situation just now and instead of waiting for her to let go so he may set her down, he simply continues on with her in his arms, taking a look about the new level they've found themselves on. What's next, he can only imagine will be... creative, to say the least.

Chizuru's expression is glum, but she is thankful that he can't see it because of the way she's holding her and the way she's clinging to him. Her face just isn't in his line of sight, so he won't see the way a single thought weights heavily on her -

If it were Souji here at his side, Saitou wouldn't have to be compensating for the other's failings. They would be side by side, or at least one right after the other, moving forward without doubt and...

That's why they have to succeed, here. They need Souji. It feels strange for him not to be here, and Chizuru could never be a replacement for him, no matter how hard she tried. And if they can't even get through this without Saitou having to help her along, how can they ever hope to rescue Hijikata?

She's trying so hard, but she's having little to no success at stilling her trembling. But that might also be because this new level is, somehow, much more chilly than the last. There's a chill in the air coming from the only way they have out - a long, dimly-lit hall that stretches out in the opposite direction as the one they'd entered from on the level below. The further they make it down it, the colder it grows, and Chizuru finds that her teeth are chattering.

There is nothing immediately threatening in the hallway, but as they pass from the hall into another circular room - something drips down from the ceiling. Chizuru feels it drip down onto her cheek and brings a hand to her face to touch it, her stomach churning from the smell of -

"Blood..."

She looks up and nearly screams - a naked body hangs above them, tied by the ankles with its throat slit, fresh blood running from the cut. That shouldn't be possible. There was no one else down here. What's even more impossible - what she doesn't notice because she's buried her face in the crook of Saitou's neck already, spooked - is that it's a body of a young woman who looks exactly like Chizuru.

Opposite them, facing away, is the still form of a young man gripping a sword that is coated blood. He isn't moving and, should they approach and get a look at his face, they'll see that his eyes are blank and that he is identical to Saitou.

...No.

Saitou doesn't make a sound in turn but judging from the expression on his face if she were looking, it's clear he's just been shell-shocked from not only the woman's body and the state of it but the fact that she does look like her and even with Chizuru in his arms he feels his blood run cold, his chest tightening slightly. He slowly brings up one hand, in the process moving to hold her closer as well as press his fingers to the back of her head and encourage her to not lift her head even once the initial fear wears off from the unexpected encounter.

That blood is fresh but like Chizuru, he feels this to be impossible because he doesn't... really understand what he is dealing with here. Even if he could stand to convince himself it's not her hanging from the ceiling and being hung out to bleed her dry, it doesn't mean he can be certain the physical situation is any less real.

And, even if it isn't, Belin had often spoken of things that weren't real still being able to do exactly the same as something that is. Danger is exactly that.

But, then of course, he's turned to look across from them and unintentionally his hold on Chizuru tightens as he feels he knows exactly what he's going to see from the man holding the bloody sword. Saitou approaches, cautious but once he's made it close enough to turned to see the man's face, it still brings forth an anxiety that he doesn't want to face. But, he has to force himself to look, to really try and think of this logically rather than emotionally ( but why why this sort of situation, why is she up there and he's done— )

Chizuru doesn't need to be urged not to look up; the sight of the hanging body has already frightened her into keeping her gaze pointedly away from that direction. It's not right, she's trained for better than this, but - she's terrified, and she doesn't know why she can't just get over it.

Saitou looks into his doppelganger's eyes and nothing changes. There is a cool blankness there that belies absolutely no life - but, this close, he'll see flecks of blood around the empty shell's lips.

There isn't much that Saitou can do to incite a response out of his lookalike, but whenever he turns away to look at anything else in the room - that's when Chizuru raises her head, just the slightest bit, and locks eyes with him. The man's hand - his right hand, not his left (which is holding his sword) - twitches. She gasps.

"S-Sai--"

She doesn't manage to even choke out his name before the man's right hand shoots out to take hold of her hair by the ponytail and yanks, hard.

"Blood..." The word comes out in a choked, guttural snarl, and the Saitou lookalike raises his sword with his left hand. "Give me... your blood..."

And then, a moment later - it opens its mouth wide and lets loose an echoing roar, identical to the one that had sounded before when they were on the lower floor.

Shit. He'd inevitably drawn his gaze back to the body hanging after noticing the remnants of blood on its mouth. And Saitou does turn to look when she starts stuttering, shifting just slightly so he can balance her better in one arm when he needs to drawn his weapon but then it doesn't seem to matter because she's yanked from him and he can only let go on instinct at hearing the gurgled words and while that sound would make most wince and hesitate he's already aware his chances for mistakes like that are already gone.

The Order was unique in its assemble in the sense they were all generally the same and yet it was finding their strengths and mastering them rather than try to stabilize weaknesses to some mediocre level. True they suffered consequence of letting the enemy use their weaknesses against them but the amount of dedication required makes them very good at never letting that happen. Saitou's was not strength or even necessarily speed (although he is quite fast), it's his grace of dexterity and agility that aid him and it's what allows him to be quick and flexible during close combat where others can not. So he's used to having to take on ambushes in far worse scenarios although he can't say he's ever had someone he's felt like the way he does about Chizuru has ever been in a similar situation. But victims had the highest chance of surviving and escaping when with him in hostile territory than most of the other knights and he will be damned if he lets emotion make him fumble and get her killed.

His hand goes for one of his swords and he unsheathes it before flicking his wrist as he swings it back behind him. The blade collapses into the whip and its bladed segments and he snaps it forward to go towards his lookalike's left arm in hopes to wrap it around the wrist. If successful, he'll yank outward and use the whip's hold to pull himself in just that much closer so that he's between Chizuru and the blade as best one can be. And following in fluid motion is a simple downward-angled tug from his weapon again to one side before he snap kicks right at the doppelgänger's elbow while maintaining his pull in hopes of connecting and snapping bone.

With any luck it will inflict enough damage that it'll have to loosen its grip on Chizuru, too.

Edited 2014-06-11 06:03 (UTC)

She is violently yanked out of Saitou's arms and she definitely feels like her heart might drop out of her chest - from safety to danger in less than a millisecond, and the creature is holding her by the hair so tightly that it makes her head hurt. When he pulls, she has to twist a little so that there isn't too much pressure on her neck because the last thing she needs is for it to get snapped.

Saitou is already in motion, though, and before the monster can sink its teeth into her neck his sword has become a whip and he's already wrapped it around the thing's arm. She is dropped and hits the ground hard, immediately pulling herself by her arms to scramble out of the way because the last thing Saitou needs is for her to get in the way of his fight. She'll pull back, pull out her bow, and then she can help, from a distance -

The monster lets out another roar as Saitou dislocates its elbow. But that doesn't seem to be enough to get it to cease, because although the bone is no longer in place it doesn't loosen its grip on its blade. It swings its arm from the shoulder instead in a wide arc, lunging forward with its other hand - and sharp, sharp claws - for Saitou's neck.

But, ultimately, it is a beast; it lacks the finesse Saitou possesses, and it will be dispatched easily enough in the face of Saitou's grace and dexterity. All in all, it won't take more than a minute or so.

...a minute during which a bolt from Chizuru's bow never comes. When the monster is still and motionless at Saitou's feet, there is nothing but silence which will be broken by the sound of his own breathing. Chizuru is nowhere to be seen.

Neither is the body that looked so much like hers. What is there is a now-empty rope, swaying slightly with residual motion, and a splatter of blood near an opening in the wall that is not the way they came.

The beating of his own heart never felt so loud with a creature clad in his identity motionless at his feet and he has to close his eyes the pounding hurts so much as blood pounds in his head and at his eardrums.

There's no relief, however, because he has not been alone in the past few months after the raid on the Order itself and he finds to suddenly be so has not calmed his frantic thoughts as it once could. His eyes dart around the room looking for her but he doesn't call out for her, eyes widening slightly at the empty rope and he follows the motion which leads from one thing to another and he's at that opening moving to pass over examining the blood. He makes haste to pick up his pace if he has to travel any distance after a few initial cautious steps, his sword still out of its sheathe and back to its standard form.

He has to find her, he can't lose her. Not here, not now and for so many more reasons than the feeling creeping through his chest being so very desperate and overbearing than one has time to bother figuring out in these types problems.

He does have quite a distance to travel. His footsteps echo through the hall as he makes haste, the slightest volume amplified tenfold - the hall finally opens out to the large chamber they had arrived in before. The way out is still blocked by the stone slab, but... something is different.

The most obvious differences are that there are lights again, and the scythe-wielding statue, at whose feet lay the inscription about death being the natural end of all things, is gone. There is just an empty pedestal where the statue once stood.

Those flames flicker out until a single entrance is illuminated, on the opposite side of the room. Saitou, should he choose to go down that path, will eventually come out in a small room whose ceiling stretches up almost impossibly. At the center of the room is an altar, and behind that altar is a wooden door that is padlocked shut.

On the altar itself is a naked young woman that looks like Chizuru, lying motionless with a slit throat, save for the subtle rising and falling of her chest that signifies breath. At the altar's feet is a young woman that looks like Chizuru, naked as well, her throat sporting a wound of the exact same kind. She is breathing heavily but her eyes are open and she looks up at Saitou when he arrives.

"Its friends," She manages to choke out, "Took my weapon... Tried to... Make me take its place..."

What friends? Chizuru doesn't elaborate on that, and also doesn't explain how it is that if the creature with her face had overpowered her enough that she lost her clothes and her weapons, that it is it lying there on the altar instead of her. "We need to... keep going, but... What if it wakes...?"

It's a good thing he is capable of reducing his reactions where others would betray themselves much more, but even Saitou as he approaches the altar to come and kneel down by Chizuru, bringing a hand immediately up to the injury at her neck before glancing up at the altar where the other Chizuru is lying still.

"...Take its place?" There's a lot to try and understand here, her words and he doesn't know what she means by friends or even the question on the creature waking up. "Yukimura... wakes from what?" What even happened to make it unconscious in the first place, if that's what is going on here.

He would have imagined that with the slit throat and the steady subtle breathing that its passed out from blood loss and not... well, not in any position to do much waking. He has a bad feeling about this, but with Chizuru's wellbeing at stake he can't do anything but follow whatever motions necessary to be most likely to save her. Starting to hold doubts and skepticism are not going to win him any favors in terms of her safety,that's for sure.

"The Reaper is... coming," She says after a moment, a shudder wracking her form as she tilts her head to look into Saitou's eyes. "They spoke of it. The one that looked... so much like you, it..."

She shudders again and reaches for his arms to cling to him tightly. "This is a horrible... horrible place." Her head turns toward the body on the altar and her eyes narrow. "The Reaper... it is sated by blood. The creature before wanted to... stop it. But, it had... been so long since... anyone ventured down here."

Her voice drops. "They began to... turn on each other. That was why..." Her hold on his arms tightens. "We have to... kill it. I wasn't able to... but if we spill its... blood, when the Reaper comes... we'll be safe..."

Her expression contorts into something almost vicious. "Please... without my weapon, I can't... you have to kill it. Before it wakes, because... if it tries to escape... the Reaper will come for us, next..."

"The one that looked like me is dead," he replies, his attention unable to draw away from her unnatural expression and very aware of how tightly she is holding onto him. Something in the idea of how they will be safe by...

"You want me to kill it as a sacrifice for this Reaper?" He asks, as if trying to verify her request. It's all a lot to take in and for him to simply do as asked, especially on the idea it will escape.

"There's no way to get out of here, it can't escape."

"The creature that... looked like you... tried to kill it before, to... appease the Reaper." She sounds like she might cry, but there are no tears welling up in her eyes. None at all. "If it wakes up... and it escapes further... into the catacombs, the... Reaper might find us... before it finds it."

She shakes her head. "I don't... want to die! If we leave it here... it might run... but if we kill it now... the Reaper will have its blood..."

She looks deep into his eyes, imploring.

"Please... I'm frightened..."

It's so hard to not appease her when she sounds like that and he is tempted especially with the way she looks at him. He glances up again before he turns his full attention to her once more, leaning in a little closer to press his lips to her head affectionately in solace. "Where are its friends, first? I... can't kill it without it changing its appearance from your face."

His comments are murmured to her hair, although whether or not his declaration of being unable to harm something that looks like Chizuru is up in the air on being true or not. He never speaks of his capabilities nor his limitations and that includes the two very precious weapons from Belin.

The small gesture of affection doesn't seem to do much to comfort her, sadly; she becomes more agitated when he says he can't kill the woman on the altar, and her hold on his arms tightens again - the strength of her grip is a bit more than he might remember it being, but perhaps that's because she's under duress.

"I don't know... where they went... they vanished. Please..."

There are still no tears. "You killed the other... with your face... when it looked like you. Please, kill that one... I don't want to die here..." Her gaze flicks down, then up at him again; when she looks at him, it's through her lashes, from half-lidded eyes.

"I'll do anything... if you just kill it, please..."

"What do you even mean by 'anything'?" Saitou looks somewhat unsettled now, especially with the look she is giving him. What is she going on about?

Saitou continues, though, attempting to explain. "My blades are permanently enchanted to be unable to harm the Grand Master of the Order as well as those taken directly underneath him to ensure they are not stolen or taken if one turns traitor.

"And I won't let you die here."

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