“Hey hey, I always wanted to ride a ferris wheel.” Maru-Maru seemed oddly excited all of a sudden, like she was a little kid visiting an amusement park for the first time. Alice and Evelina were unsure about how to react but given just how whimsical the monstrous girl could be, an opportunity to avoid confrontation had just appeared. “Do you wanna ride the ferris wheel now?” Evelina’s goal by asking that probing question was to give Maru-Maru something else to focus on rather than Alice. “Yes, that would definitely be fun… but it doesn't seem to be working. Maybe they turned it off for the day?” She said in clear reference to how the ferris wheel was completely still, a moment passed where neither of the three said anything before Maru-Maru spoke again. “Well that’s a shame, guess I will simply have to devour Alice for now and come back here some other day.” From what she said any doubts were erased as to what would happen, they would be left no choice but to fight. As such, given the short distance between them Evelina ceased the initiative and unleashed a powerful slash towards Maru-Maru. The attack wasn’t performed with a weapon or anything like that, instead the brightly haired woman simply flicked her hand downwards and the very air itself parted before her, swiftly rushing towards Maru-Maru.

Immediately realizing the danger she was in as the phenomena approached her, the woman would swiftly dodge to the right and narrowly avoided being cut in half. As soon as the air had settled after being suddenly split in half, all the evidence that remained of Evelinas move was the fact that Maru-Marus position had changed slightly. A moment of indecisiveness would follow with neither Alice or Evelina being able to muster up the courage to attack her again, exploiting this the monstrous woman launched an attack of her own. Jumping high into the air before bringing her foot down like a sledgehammer towards the taller girl, Evelina would only be able to narrowly avoid the attack. As the sneaker collided with the pavement instead of its intended target, the explosive force it generated was enough to create a small crater in the ground as a loud boom resounded through the area. Merely missing one strike wasn’t enough to discourage her from attacking, unlike Evelina, as she immediately curled her right leg after planting it into the ground and used the explosive force to send her body flying head first towards Evelina. Opening her mouth as she moved through the air to reveal two sets of sharp teeth that glistered in the setting sun, it was apparent that her intention was to chomp down on any part of her opponent at the first opportunity.

That plan was quickly thwarted as dark tentacles appeared from Evelina’s long shadow and grabbed hold of Maru-Maru before forcing her to the ground. The shadows clinged to Maru-Maru and pulled her downwards with great force, almost like they were trying to submerge her into the ground. The pavement underneath her began slowly but surely cracking. Standing before the monstrous woman, Evelina would raise her right arm slowly as she gathered strength for another slash. But, what she did next shocked both of them enough to lose their focus. Slowly at first, the one who had previously been lying on the ground stood up. At first it was only a knee, but from a kneeling pose the white haired girl was slowly but surely standing up, even as Alice did her best to keep her down using shadows.

That lone act of defiance was enough for Evelina to lose focus, causing the power she had gathered up until now to ebb while Alice lost control over the shadows for a movement, allowing Maru-Maru to dissipate them simply by flexing her superhuman might. A smug smile appeared on the tanned girl's face as she saw how much distress she was able to cause to the pale woman by displaying her might.

“Her manifestation…” Having learnt all about manifestations from Mifuyu, Evelina was already coming up with theories about what their opponents' manifestation could be. She was clearly capable of regeneration, having seamlessly recovered from a split forearm. Her strength, speed and durability was also monstrous but aside from that she hadn’t displayed any supernatural traits that could be likened to magic like Evelina’s splitting or Alice’s shadow manipulation, leading her to the belief that she was primarily a physical brawler. Her thinking was cut short as the monster launched another attack towards her, once again lunging forward while trying to chew into her body. Acting on pure reflex, Evelina would split the air before her like she had just done a moment ago which successfully made the beastwoman dodge the attack by kicking the ground with enough force to send her backwards instead.

Capitalizing on her retreat, Alice would use the opportunity to summon forth a blast of shadows from the ground, its force strong enough to send Maru-Maru flying. Not having anticipated this, the white-haired girl was propelled through the air. Eventually her low-altitude flight would abruptly stop as she hit a Coca-Cola vending machine causing it to buckle under the force that carried her. The woman slumped down, not moving, almost like she had been killed. Simply seeing Maru-Maru lay there lifeless for a few moments, Alice used this opportunity to hide behind Evelina.

Obviously, that wouldn’t be enough to put someone like the monstrous woman down for good, which became apparent as her body began to slowly move as she sat up, now being drenched in sparkling sugar water. The bruises she received from the attack were already disappearing from her skin as she did so. “Be careful, her manifestation probably allows her to regenerate quickly.” Evelina said, determined to protect the cowering Alice. When Evelina said that, a disappointed expression would appear on their opponent's face before she responded to that remark. “No, no no no no no no no. You got it so wrong. My manifestation isn’t about regeneration, it’s…” Looking around her, Maru-Maru would grab a soda can that hadn’t been destroyed by the impact and hold it in her hand for a moment before throwing it towards the two girls. It hit the ground quite a bit before it reached them and rolled the last distance, landing right before Evelina’s feet. As the red can rolled over, there was something strange about the write print on it. Part of it, or rather most of it, was missing. The text read: ‘C c C ‘ three c’s was all that remained, not sure how Maru-Maru had been able to pull off a magic trick like this Evelina simply looked at her with an indecisive expression. “That is my manifestation… Craving of Cosmic Consumption.” This did little to ease the brightly haired woman's confusion, in fact it seemed to only make it worse.

Another smile appeared on Maru-Marus face as she intended to capitalize on the confusion she had caused to launch a surprise attack towards Evelina. Getting up and using the vending machine as a launch pad of sorts, she would propel herself with previously unseen speeds towards the two women, causing the metal object to explode from the launching force alone. Almost being unable to react due to her immense speed, the two girls had little choice but to mount a desperate defense. Since Evelina’s ability was almost purely offensive in nature she couldn’t do much but rely on Alice to come up with something to stop the incoming inhuman projectile. Given that she only had a split instant to come up with it, the decision she made was quite smart. Instead of trying to construct a wall of shadows or something like that, she formed dozens of black spikes aimed at Maru-Maru’s direction so she would end up impaling herself. As expected the monstrous woman's assault was stopped dead in its tracks by the recently formed spikes, who now pierced through her body. With red blood dripping on the ground an expression of hate would be visible on their adversaries face. “You…” Letting out a powerful scream as she uttered the next few words, the force of which alone was seemingly powerful enough to shatter the spikes that made contact with her body. “...How dare you!?”

Now free from her restraints the wounds she had sustained did not slow Maru-Maru down in the slightest as she launched a powerful uppercut towards Evelina’s chin, sending her flying into the sky as it made impact. In the very next instant she had grabbed ahold of Alice’s face and thrown her up in the air as well. Seeing Evelina fly next to her Alice would truly see how beautiful she was, which was probably not the best thing that could happen to her self-image as she would inevitably compare herself to her.

But she would be given little time to think about appearances as the monstrous woman jumped up into the air to join them. Almost instantly she had grabbed one girl using each hand and using her superhuman strength, she threw them down into the ground with overwhelming force. Almost immediately after colliding with the cold pavement, Evelina would get back up on her feet regardless of the pain she felt as she looked up at the enemy that was now slowly falling down towards them. She aimed her fist towards Maru-Maru before creating a great rift in the air that steadily grew towards her location, Maru-Maru who seemed to lack fine control of her movement within the air were unable to do little but put her arms up in a cross-shape to block the brunt of the attack.

Although Evelina’s power was strong enough to completely decapitate the first arm, it stopped before it could deal any major damage to the second one. This set a precedent that they had a very real chance of killing the woman before them if they acted wisely. Getting back up on their feet, the duo would see the white haired girl quickly snatch up the severed hand using her mouth before throwing herself backwards with a powerful kick the instant she hit the ground. Given her regenerative powers, it seemed inevitable that their progress would be undone as her body parts had regenerated from similar wounds before. But, neither of them could predict just how quickly her arm would reform as the woman who now stood up around a dozen meters from them began to chomp down on the severed appendage with unmatched gluttony. In a mere second she had chewed down her entire forearm and within the next few seconds the two women would be able to see it visibly regenerate before their eyes, making only the damage to her hoodie what remained of Evelina’s valiant effort.

Seeing that her attacks had failed multiple times at this point, the brightly haired woman would leave the attacking to her much darker haired counterpart as she herself focused on defense. “Alice, GO!” With that simple command the pale girl would hesitantly take a step forward before raising her arm towards the opponent. As she did, a huge wall made out of shadow appeared behind the two of them and in the next instant dozens if not hundreds of shadowy projectiles were fired towards their opponent. Seeing that she was about to be assaulted, Maru-Maru put her hands up as if it was an instinct. It seemed as if that was unnecessary, however, as the shadow pellets mostly bounced off her skin upon contact, bruising the monstrous woman at best. For although Alice’s shadow possessed the density to impale her opponent, she herself was incapable of utilizing their true power due to her lack of strength against someone as monstrous as the cannibalistic girl. Truth be told she was scarred, it looked like she would be forced to rely on Evelina to save her once again. But, just as she was about to take a step back and allow the taller girl to deal with the seemingly insurmountable barrier that was Maru-Maru, she could feel a hand on her shoulder.

Not expecting this, Alice turned around and saw Evelina with a confident expression on her face standing behind her. It seemed like Maru-Maru had picked up on the fact that Evelina was planning something, evident by the words she said next. “What’s this? Some kind of valiant last ditch effort in a desperate attempt for survival?” But even as the monstrous woman before them mocked their situation Evelina’s confidence did not waver in the slightest. “You could say that.” And then she looked down to Alice and their eyes met. “My manifestation allows me to manipulate the borders between things. So therefore, it might be a bit of a long shot… but by weakening the border between your manifestation and mine we could create an attack both with the strength to damage Maru-Maru and the width to hit her.”

Alice was unsure about if an idea like that was even possible to begin with but given the situation it seemed like they didn’t have much of a choice. “S-Sure, I’ll give it my best shot.” A smile appeared on Evelina’s face as Alice said that. “That’s what I like to hear.” But before they could unleash their killer move the monster spoke up in irritation. “Are you two done with your pep talk or whatever?” She was clearly mocking the two but the one who manipulates borders remained calm and simply responded with a joke that ended up flying over their opponents head. “Sure sure. We just need a moment to finish our transformation sequence!” Referencing another one of her magical girl mangas. From the look she was giving them it was clear that Maru-Maru was completely foreign to the concept as she even went as far as to repeat the words they said. “Transformation sequence?”

Before the two got a chance to put their plan into action, however, their opponent would do something rather unexpected. “We'll you will have to show this transformation sequence or whatever it is to me some other day. I'm getting tired so I think I’m gonna go take a nap now. See you around!” Taking a look in the direction that Oda, Mifuyu and Shirou went she would say one more thing more before leaving. “If you still wanna fight, that old man up there might be willing to play with you.” Just like that Maru-Maru left the scene, jumping backwards to create some distance between herself and the two before turning around and simply walking away out of their effective range. Evelina was unsure about whether to pursue or not, but the two of them were still newbies at using their powers in combat while Maru-Maru fought like a veteran, although it was clear that she was not taking it seriously. She eventually decided that the more time they could buy the better and that recklessly going after the monstrous girl now could very well end up with the two of them being killed. Drawing a deep sigh of relief, Evelina would look at Alice who was standing next to her and still looked frightened even when the danger was over. “You were awesome!” Those words would suddenly shake Alice awake from the almost trance-like state of fear and adrenaline that she was slipping into. The first thing greeting her was Evelina’s genuine smile.

The sword that the armored knight held up into the air seemed to radiate an aura of pure power, it was not the kind of power that could be accurately measured in physical measurements but rather the supernatural energy of one’s manifestation being released and given just how much of it was emanating from the sword before the attack even had been unleashed, whatever was coming had to be huge. Mifuyu continuously jumped backwards to put as much distance between the seemingly immortal man and himself.

Truth be told he wanted to protect Oda’s defenseless body but he knew very well that given the difference in combat ability between the two that would be impossible, the best he could do was to offer a silent prayer for the young man and hope he wouldn’t be affected by whatever was going to be unleashed next. But even as he moved further and further away, the opponent seemed not interested in following him in the slightest. That was bad, it either meant that he would be unable to move out of the way of whatever he was going to unleash or he wasn’t the intended target of the attack. With the second alternative in mind he glanced at Oda once again and as he did the former samurai's heart was filled with guilt. The feeling of running away like a coward once again made him stop for a split moment and turn around. He debated whether dying here would be better than to keep on living in disgrace like he had done up until now. But before he had any time to entertain that idea further, Mifuyu noticed that Oda’s body wasn’t as lifeless as he had believed, it was moving. Or rather, it was transforming. His dark clothes and jacket seemingly warped into a pitch black iron hide that covered his body while his hair grew and wrapped around it before merging with the skin to create glowing veins of a glowing golden color.

The next instant the beast, who had used to be Oda Kaguri, tackled the man in armor with enough force to send him flying through the woods. Being taken completely off-guard by this move he lost concentration on whatever unholy move he was about to unleash as he tumbled through the foliage. Eventually he was able to slow himself down enough to regain balance by thrusting his sword into the ground, although even then he still ended up sliding almost half a dozen meters before coming to a stop. But, the knight had little time to assess the new situation as the iron-hided beast once again tackled him, this time from the front.

The result was that the two of them would go flying towards the direction of a rather run down part of Pandemonium, while Mifuyu did little but watch in both amazement and confusion. Still grabbing onto his sword tightly, the knight would once again plunge it into the ground to slow down himself and this time Oda as well. But what he did not anticipate was that the monster, who was now burying its face straight in the knight's chest would open its mouth and unleash a blast of energy so powerful it sent him flying backwards for over one hundred meters. It was not until he hit the side of a mostly abandoned building that he came to a stop. Taking a step forwards, the armor would look down and note that the hole in his chest had only widened marginally due to the energy blast he received. Looking up, he would ready his sword as he saw the incoming beast almost fly towards him as he moved through the air. Its speed was more comparable to a projectile rather than a creature at this point, but despite that the warrior had enough time to put up his greatsword in an improvised block. Although in terms of technique the block had been executed almost perfectly, the beast's great strength still sent him through the concrete building and out on the other side.

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From the other side, it became clear that the building was meant to be an apartment complex but it was never finished as a huge portion of it was missing. Despite that, one could still see many hints that people were living there such as clothes drying on balconies and trash lying around. The warrior would freeze for a moment as he realized that his actions might have caused the injury or even death of some of the residents due to not being able to handle the impact of the beast's attack better. But he was given little time to think about that as the rampaging creature emerged from the rubble with only one goal; to destroy the living armor before it. With a powerful swipe it would attack him from above, forcing the warrior to put his sword up in another block, the power unleashed by the attack was enough to completely shatter the pavement below him and send splinters flying in all directions. In the corner of his eye Shirou could see what looked like a pair of beggars, a man and a woman. He realized that if they continued to fight here they would be putting the people who lived here in danger. Therefore he pushed away the creature using his sword and the instant it landed on the ground, he would rush towards it preparing a sideway swing to force it to retreat backwards, towards the forest from which they came.

It was a solid plan, but Shirou had made one mistake in the split second that he came up with it. His opponent was a rampaging beast rather than a human being and therefore, after landing on the ground, it wouldn’t try to dodge his attack in the slightest, instead it would move towards Shirou as he swung his sword causing the blade to lodge into the creature's shoulder. Seeing that he had made contact, the swordsman would make another mistake and that was to wait for some kind of reaction from the beast that he had just wounded instead of using the reminder of his strength to split the demon in half. That mistake caused him to be launched into the air by a powerful uppercut and as the sword dislodged from the creature's body the wound it had inflicted would begin to heal almost immediately. As he flew through the air, the rather heavy knight would be able to see a clear view of the skies above without worry of being attacked, and although that state of tranquility lasted only for a single second it was enough for him to make a decision.

As the two heavy metal boots hit the ground there would be no waver in Shirou’s posture, despite having taken quite a few hits the warrior's iron body was mostly unharmed due to his immense defense. Pointing his sword towards the beast before him he would exclaim. “Demon who cares not for life or death…” A quick glance around the area would be enough to make just about anyone agree with his statement. “...thy end will be at the hands of Shirou!” Someone who rampaged recklessly like that, without a worry for if they hurt or even killed civilians, a beast like that could not be allowed to exist within this world.

With several quick steps forwards he had managed to cover half the distance between them and in the same time the beast had covered the other half before jumping up into the air and swiping downwards with its deadly claws towards the iron warrior. But before its deadly talons could make contact with the iron body, it had been impaled by the sword the warrior carried, not being able to dodge due to flying through the air in a predictable pattern. Without wasting a second, Shirou threw his sword and the beast down towards the ground like a sledgehammer, as it made contact it caused a terrible cracking sound to resonate through the area. Not wasting another moment he would pin down the beast with his iron boot and great weight before raising his sword once again.

But before he could even initiate the stab, the beast beneath him had opened its mouth and from within a great golden glow could be seen. He knew almost instinctively that the blast it was about to unleash this time would be much more powerful than the previous one, most likely due to the desperation being pinned to the ground was causing it. Therefore, not wanting to risk being defeated here he would jump backwards and narrowly avoid it as it shot into the sky. While he had been able to deal a few good hits to the creature, if he was unable to keep that up it would handily outheal his capability to deal damage as evident by the fact that the wound it had received to its shoulder was about to close up completely after a mere few moments. With a swift movement, Shirou would once again close the distance between them.

Despite being a rampaging monster it seemed to possess some sort of intelligence as it kept an eye on his sword as he approached it, which was only natural after being dealt two heavy wounds by the sharp object. But, being far smarter than a mere animal Shirou quickly picked up on this and changed his strategy and as soon as he was near the creature he would change his stance and tackle it instead. As the creature was pushed back and almost completely lost balance, the warrior would see his chance and with a swift slash the monster's right arm was severed from its body. Letting out a painful howl, the black beast would confirm that it was very capable of feeling pain. Seeing this, Shirou would try to capitalize on the opportunity as he delivered another swift strike towards the beast but this time it was capable of reacting and dodged the blow despite the pain it was feeling. Looking at the beast as it retreated the warrior would go on the offensive once again this time he unleashed multiple slashes towards it, steadily pushing the beast back with every move. Desperately trying to find a way to save itself from the incoming danger, the blackened beast would put its entire body weight into striking Shirou with the stump of its now decapitated arm. Not anticipating this kind of move in the slightest, the warrior was caught off guard and was pushed back several meters by the blow.

Despite the force the knight had just received straight to the face he appeared to be completely unharmed, even more proof of his beyond supernatural durability. Looking straight at the beast before him, Shirou would grip his sword and with a single swift moment he unleashed a slash aimed in its general direction. Despite not being anywhere near meeting the range requirements of being able to hit the beast directly with his sword, the force his swing generated was enough to send a shockwave of air towards its general direction that would send the beast tumbling backwards. It was not long until it had managed to regain balance and was ready to unleash another attack but before it was allowed to do so another shockwave would push it back, and then another one followed. The knight, now completely serious about taking down the opponent in front of him was relentlessly throwing out powerful slashes that disturbed the very air itself like they were nothing and the rampaging monster could do little but tumble around as its body was injured time and time again. Opening its mouth as it flew through the air, energy gathering in it once again it was clear that the beast was trying to escape harm by interrupting Shirou’s attacks. But the warrior took the blast of golden light head on without flinching, even as the very armor that made up his body started to glow orange from the heat it was subjected to he kept attacking.

Realizing that even its most powerful weapon served little threat to the opponent before it, the creature began screeching as it jumped backwards and away from Shirou as it felt its body about to give up. Not letting up in the slightest, another powerful blast of force would send the creature tumbling through the air for several moments before hitting the ground with immense force. From the damage it had sustained the creature was now unable to move even while trying its very best, simply lying there on the ground it did not have enough energy to even regenerate its wounds. Slowly walking towards the incapacitated beast, Shirou would begin speaking although he was uncertain if his target could even understand his words. “To believe that such a beast would be hiding within a human form. Your bloodlust, your lack of care for innocents. I can not allow a beast like you to live.” With that, Shirou’s grip on his sword tightened as he kept walking forwards, completely determined to snuff out the life of the creatures before him.

But before he could reach his target a strong voice emanated through the area as a white haired man quickly appeared before him, hindering his path. “Wait!” Looking his deadly foe straight in the eyes, Mifuyu would feel sweat rolling down his face as fear and exhaustion plagued his body and mind. “Don’t kill Oda, he hasn’t done anything wrong.” Looking at the unmoving man of iron before him and realizing that he was completely powerless in the face of such a foe, Mifuyu changed his tone with the next few words. “Please, I beg of you. Let the boy live.” Shirou was quick to respond. “He’s a berserking monster, why shouldn’t I put him down?” It was true, and although he might not actually have killed anybody as he fought in this populated area, that was due to pure luck and if something similar were to happen again things might end up much grimmer. “He still has no idea how to control his power, all he needs is a little more time!” Sounding desperate now as he pleaded for his friends life, the white haired samurai could feel shame in his own weakness, if he just was a bit stronger then neither of them would be in this situation to begin with. But now, his and Oda’s faith lay in the superhuman being who stood before them in silence. A moment passed and then another without the living armor uttering anything, not being able to discern his emotion from something like facial expressions, Mifuyu was very uncertain about the outcome of the entire situation.

“Very well, if you earnestly believe that then I will let him live this time…” Breathing a sigh of relief as he heard that, the ronin was certain that some kind of caveat would follow and given the situation the two were in, the following words weren’t that unreasonable. “... But you must prove your belief in him by giving up your own life.” The armored man's purpose for coming here had been to kill Mfiuyu and that hadn’t changed in the slightest. “You were a samurai and although you might have lost your honor long ago, I still feel like you deserve one more chance to commit seppuku.” Looking back towards Oda as he heard those words, Mifuyu noted that the man had reverted to his human form and still seemed conscious, although unable to move due to the great damage he had sustained. Turning back and looking at the enemy in front of him, the white haired man would nod. Slowly walking forwards until he was about a meter in front of the armored man, he sat down on the cold ground and placed his sword sheathed on the ground in front of himself. Looking straight at Oda as he sat there, the man contemplated his life choices that had led him to this very moment. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that he had lived on borrowed time up until now. Unsheathing his blade, he would give the blonde one last smile as he plunged the blade into his abdomen before slicing it up, deep red blood spilling out on the frosty ground beneath him. At the same time, Shirou stood behind him with his sword raised in the air, ready to decapitate the man at any moment.

“Before you die, let me tell you a story.” Mere moments from death, those words shock Mifuyu back to reality as he looked up at the man standing above him. “Long ago, there was born a samurai who would rather mingle with the common folk and craftsmen of the village than his clan. He had a knack for the crafts and eventually, he became well liked within the community he grew up among nobles and peasants alike. Then, when another samurai from his clan, considered a prodigy by many, chose to cowardly sacrifice his brethren for survival the young man who had done nothing wrong was put up for execution. But on the night of his executions, a group of peasants managed to help him escape from the confines of his cell and into the night.” Mifuyu had been banished before the execution of his clansmen, something that could be interpreted as a tiny shred of mercy from the shogun, so he did not know about any details from the execution. “That man was Kigura Matsuki.” With those words Mifuyu knew for certain who had informed the iron warrior about his betrayal, although he felt a deep rage against the man in his heart, there was little he could do about it now.

But, just as the white haired man thought his executioner was finished speaking he revealed something unexpected. “And since you are going to die, telling you the truth about what's going to transpire here is nothing but right.” Listening keenly at this new revelation, Mifuyu felt further away from death than ever before despite his fatal state. “Seven angels will descend from the sky, six of them will be torn to shreds and the seventh will bring the end of the world. So reads the prophecy a certain man believes in. This man thinks the world is a horrible place, better off not existing at all and despite his vile personality I can not help but agree with him, and he's strong, way stronger than anyone I have ever met before.” Somehow perceiving the armored man's words with complete clarity, the now rehonored samurai would let his memories flutter. Mifuyu remembered fighting a manifestation user two hundred years ago, they had fought for glory, back then he had won. The white haired man also remembers fighting a manifestation user a hundred years ago, they had fought for power, back then he had won once again. Now, it was he who would be defeated by an opponent who fought for the end of the world. Looking at Oda who lay motionless quite a distance away from him, their eyes would meet and Mifuyu would flash him a quick smile. The very next instant, the samurai's head was severed from his shoulders as the executioner's greatsword swung through the air.

Oda was powerless to do anything but watch as his friend was decapitated, his body slumping over immediately afterwards as his blood dyed the cold ground in a grotesque shade of dark red. The last thing he could see before passing out was the silver armored knight turning around and walking away from the body. Oda didn’t know for how long he was passed out but when he was shocked awake the first thing he saw was Evelinas face who was awfully close to his own.

As soon as she saw that his eyes had opened she moved back and gave him enough space to sit up, doing so Oda would turn around and immediately see the body again, almost reflexively turning back as he caught a glimpse of it. “He’s really…” Evelina said as she looked at Oda with a look of unease on her face, choosing not to answer that question with words the blonde would simply nod. Mifuyu was dead and there was no getting around that. “Where is Alice?” The fearful man said, fearing for the worst. “She’s over there.” Evelina said and gestured back towards the amusement park, looking in that direction Oda could see a familiar black haired figure quite a bit away, she was probably too meek to go anywhere near a decapitated corpse. Getting up, Oda would look towards Evelina. “What do we do now?” After a moment of silence she answered the question earnestly. “I have no idea.” Mifuyu being the eldest and wisest of the group had usually been the one to make decisions like these. But he is now gone.

Standing up, Oda would begin walking back towards the city of Pandemonium. “I’m heading home.” He said absently, not being able to get his thoughts straight after what had happened. Evelina simply stood there and watched him as he disappeared in the distance, when Oda was little more than a tiny dot in her vision she turned around to face the limp body. While she certainly wanted to give the man a proper burial, the current situation didn’t allow them much leeway as both her and Alice were tired and another attack would surely be lethal. Therefore, against her better moral judgment Evelina was forced to leave the body where it was.

As Oda closed the door behind him, he stomped into his apartment. Through the thirty minute walk home he had had a bit of time to reflect and think about what had transpired and in his mind there was only one thing to do: kill the armored man and avenge Mifuyu’s death. As he turned on the light in the dark apartment, Oda noticed something beneath his boot. Leaning downwards, it was a now stained letter. Picking it up and opening it, the blonde wouldn’t even wait until he had taken off his jacket or boots before he started reading it.

‘Congratulations, you have been accepted into Pandemonium's rehabilitation program.’ So read the first line of the letter and it was all that was needed for Oda to abruptly drop it to the floor as he headed into his bedroom. It was ironic really, he who had tried so hard to integrate back into society was now throwing away his golden ticket to do that to walk the path of vengeance. Truly, it was like he had learnt nothing at all.

As Evelina returned to the scene where Mifuyu had died the very next day, she noticed that the body was gone. Looking around the forest where he had been killed, she would eventually see a patch of dirt that had clearly been filled in recently. “You came back.” Turning around upon hearing Oda’s voice she would see the blonde man standing about a dozen meters away from her, having appeared out from behind the nearby bushes. “You had me all scared, I thought you were a cop at first for sure.” His statement was reasonable, after what had happened here having the police investigate the forest would be little more than natural but for the moment it seemed like their efforts were still focused at the newly ruined apartment complex. From his rugged and dirtied clothing, it was quite clear that Oda had been the one who buried the body. Evelina looked back towards Alice, who had been keeping a distance of around fifty meters from her, their eyes met and not long after that the brightly haired woman nodded towards the shorter girl. That was the signal that caused Alice to group up with the other two next to the newly dug grave. The blonde man had already managed to decorate it with some ritualistic candles who were ablaze. Not saying anything, Evelina would sit down in front of the grave in silence as she clasped her hands.

Soon she was followed by first Alice and then Oda, the three sat there in silence and prayed for what felt like half an hour, although it probably was much less than that in reality. Eventually, the woman with multicolored hair would stand up and not soon after, Oda followed. He headed out of the area first, as he left he muttered something almost inaudible. “I’ll get that bastard for sure.” Pretending she hadn’t heard that, Evelina would look down at Alice as she was still praying at the grave. After about a minute, she would speak to her softly. “Alice, are you coming?” Turning around almost immediately after hearing that, Alice would get up with an embarrassed expression on her face for taking so long and the two of them headed out of the forest that now housed the grave of Mifuyu Matsuki.