Arakune

A black blob-like creature with a white mask who formerly worked alongside Kokonoe, Tager and Litchi in Sector Seven. He is formerly a human named “Lotte Carmine”. After an attempt to study the Boundary, due to his inferiority complex over Kokonoe’s genius, he became what he is today, now housing innumerable insects with his now-blobby body and thriving on knowledge. His horrible condition has rendered him virtually insane and lacking any reliable memory, as well as distorting his speech to near incoherency - most of his dialogue consists of gibberish, insane laughter and tortured screaming. (But it seems that only Litchi understands his words.)

His dialogue between many characters, as well as his Arcade Mode ending, suggest that it was the power and knowledge he obtained from the Boundary that gradually turned him into what he is, and notably (according to his Arcade Mode ending) he doesn’t seem to have noticed that he’s changed, and to him, his bizarre speech is completely normal. He seems to not understand why others can’t understand him, creating a crude mask for himself thinking it would allow others to understand what he’s saying.

During Calamity Trigger, he lives in the sewers of Kagutsuchi where the seithr concentration is highest and will attack anyone who visits there. He has also been known to attack and devour his victims to sustain himself, specifically targeting the Kaka clan, the closest living creatures. He thirsts for power and knowledge above all else and considers the Azure Grimoire the pinnacle of such. Anytime he meets Ragna he becomes obsessive in his desire to consume the Azure, often only saying “AzureAzureAzureAzure” when around Ragna.

In Continuum Shift, Arakune continues to look for the Azure Grimoire. He is also shown to be capable of speaking like a normal human, although temporarily before slipping away to insanity once more. During his instance of sanity, he told Litchi to cease her attempts to cure him using the same power that drove him mad and instead turn herself to Kokonoe for healing; there is a fine line that she shouldn’t cross or she could end up like him. An encounter with Terumi later reveals that Arakune was used as an experiment to create the Black Beast, but he ends up as a failure as the only thing he knew is how to consume others.

He seems to remember Relius Clover and has a deep hatred for him. Their initial encounter is revealed in Continuum Shift II’s 2nd Extra Story - “That Which is Inherited.” Unfortunately, during one of his encounters with Relius, he is struck down and subdued with Relius’ own marionette, Ignis, taking him into his custody. Terumi later uses the information of his captivity to eventually push Litchi to join the NOL.