~Black Cats and Magic~

Muse Asia - Posts old and some new on-going shows. Hard subs. Has separate channels for countries the shows they have license to. Recently, it’s Muse Philippines channel started posting Filipino subbed anime.

Ani-One - Posts old and some new on-going shows. Uses youtube captions for subs. Some shows are locked behind premium. There’s also Ani-One Philippines that has some shows unavailable in their main channel.

It’s Anime - Posts new series but they’re subject to availability by region. Multiple subtitles are offered.

Tropics Anime Asia - Posts english subbed anime

TV Tokyo WW - Posts anime and live actions videos with multiple language subs available. Also anime with Filipino language hardsubs (I’m surprised, too lol).

Tales of Youtube - Channel dedicated to “Tales” game series-related content as well as episodes from the anime adaptations. There’s no English subs for all of the videos as of yet but there will be as some of the videos have caption subs and this is the global channel (some anime will only be available for a week).

GONZO - Post anime created by GONZO studio with english subs.

TMS Official - Posts anime episodes. English dub.

Gundaminfo - Posts Gundam anime series with subtitles (several different languages available). Also posts other Gundam-related videos.

Nozomient - Posts a variety of anime and anime-related content. Anime series are available in sub, dub, or both.

KING AMUSEMENT CREATIVE - Posts some anime, old and new. No subs, sadly.

Ciao Channel - Posts shoujo it seems. No subs, sadly.

Anime Club - Not sure if it’s legal but they post episodes of anime in Filipino dub.

Anime made by BiliBili - Posts Chinese Animated shows. Uses youtube caption for subs.

Tencent Video - Has Chinese animated shows with english subs.

Ani-Mi Asia - Asian animations (many of which Chinese series) posted with english subs.

Cardfight Vanguard - Posts English dubbed/subbed episodes of the series and also has other videos relating to the card game.

Pokemon Asia ENG - Posts English dubbed episodes of Pokemon’s later seasons.

BEYBLADE Channel - Post Beyblade related videos. Also has the anime series but I’m not sure if it’s subbed as it’s region locked from me.

Official Beyblade Asia - Posts English dubbed episodes of Beyblade.

Beyblade Official - Metal Series - Posts English dubbed episodes of Beyblade Metal series episodes.

Cartoon Power Up - Posts English dubbed episodes of Beyblade (except for the original)

Official Beyblade Burst PH - Posts English dubbed episodes of Beyblade Burst.

Battle Spirits - Post subbed episodes of the anime Battle Spirits and videos regarding the card game.

Official Yu-Gi-Oh! - Posts English dubbed Yu-Gi-Oh episodes and other Yu-Gi-Oh related videos.

Pokemon Kids TV Japan - has a lot of Pokemon-related videos and short stories called Poketoon. Subs are in the closed captions.

Bandai Spirits Global - Posts episodes of some anime, tokusatsu shows, and Bandai-related media. Subs are in closed captions.

Crunchyroll Collections - Post a couple of subbed anime (specifically in their Full Anime Episodes playlist).

Idolmaster Channel - Posts episodes of Idolmaster plus other videos related to the franchise. No subs.

Bandai Spirits Global - Post episodes of a couple of anime series. They have several language subs.

Atashin'chi Official Channel - Posts english subbed clips from the show.

Studio Pierrot - Posts some unsubbed anime that would be available only for a limited amount of time.

Vizmedia - Posted several complete subbed anime series but only available to the US audience.

Tezuka Productions - Uploads mostly old anime produced by their company.

JPN Official Animation - Upload old anime series. Sadly, no sub or dub.

Mondo World Asia - Offers a couple of old series from Japan, China, and Korea. Sadly, no subs for any.

Chibi Maruko-chan English - A channel dedicated to just english-dubbed Chibi Maruko-chan episodes.

QTORY Channel - Posts cute anime (like Sanrio, Chiikawa, etc.)

Yoichi is thinking about way back in the day when they were getting their cursed gears. God, it's been so long, huh?

Here, Yuu and Yoichi had gotten close with their friendship after the test. Guren then tells them they're now family.

Yoichi is right, this is an awful situation they've ended up in. I honestly never thought it'd come to this either when I watched the anime back in 2015.

A three-on-three battle! Well, as long as the guys Yuu-chan tied up earlier stay tied up lol. I honestly want this to keep being a bit personal now that things have come to this.

The remaining Shinoa Squad members are still sticking to their plan of killing Saito as that would be their win condition. Personally, I was so confused why that's still their thought process when Yuu himself killed Mitsuba right in front of them. Their plan is to save him and take him back. Save him from what exactly?

Then Yoichi asked Yuu about their past, when Yuu called them this friends - more importantly family - and that he could never kill them. Yoichi desperately asks Yuu to snap out of it hoping the latter would go to their side again. This and the line "Why are you on his side now?" explains what's happening. They're still under the impression that Saito is the mastermind and couldn't think of the possibility that Yuu had a plan of his own the entire time. That's why killing Saito is their main goal.

Yuu doesn't answer and just says he'd do what must be done. Realizing there's no choice, the Shinoa Squad members get ready to fight. Yoichi starts things off strong with a heavy rain of arrows that even Saito got worried about. He asks Yuu for a barrier but Yuu said they can't as backing down and going on defense will be a disadvantage.

Yoichi is pretty powerful now and I'm surprised to see Saito's reaction to his attack. Saito, a 2nd progenitor, would want to be on defense against a human. Anways, this many arrows already? It feels like Yoichi might also be getting desperate after seeing Yuu's reaction to his question earlier.

Yuu's team is going on the offense with Saito dealing with the rain of arrows. Yuu ends up clashing against Shinoa while Mika fights against Kimizuki. Shinoa asked Yoichi to deal with Saito.

Okay! Mika is fighting separately from Yuu-chan, it seems. I wonder what that would mean for Yuu-chan's fighting power? They still have a connection so there's a chance Mika's also giving some power to Yuu-chan.

Yoichi fires another attack and Saito calls out to Urd for more power. While that's happening, Kimizuki uses Kiseki-ou to disappear and then teleport close to where Saito is. All of that turns out to be a distraction since Yoichi needs to get close enough to Saito to touch him and take control of his heart.

A little flashback shows that Yoichi and Kimizuki had actually planned this out before they went to battle. Kimizuki had also reminisced about the time when Yuu gave him a speech about how important family is and not giving up on them.

Kiseki-ou taunts Kimizuki about betrayal and how he had already given up on his sister. Kimizuki yells back at him about how both his sister and Mitsuba are dead and that everyone kept telling him to give up on those who died and move on even if he can't. He can see how Yuu hasn't given up so he doesn't want to give up either.

His conviction seem to have impressed Kiseki-ou that the latter decides to help by giving him more power.

Man, even when they're on different sides of the battlefield, Yuu still affects those who are close to him and it seems to result in something kind of positive. They want to keep going and not give up because of and for him.

Yoichi was so close to getting to Saito when someone cuts his arm off. To his shock, it was none other than Kimizuki who has decided to side with Yuu.

Holy shit! I didn't think that would happen! But the signs were there, right? He didn't actually want to give up on his sister, I mean, how could he? That's his little sister! He can't give up on family and that also includes his friends. Yuu said he'd save everyone so of course Kimizuki would pick the side that could give him what he wanted.

But still... after all the things that happened, I didn't think there'd be a last minute switch.

I feel bad for Yoichi though. Two of his closest friends are now his enemies. And with him not having a real sister, he doesn't have a reason to change his mind about where he stands.

And of course, Saito takes this opportunity to kill them both as they're needed to get the sinful keys. This happens right in front of a devastated Shinoa and Yuu who seem to not know this was gonna happen right that moment.

Saito apologizes to Kimizuki before completely ending his life for the key. Kimizuki gets cut off as he tries to apologize to Yoichi.

However when it was Yoichi's turn, he uses this as an opportunity to use his power on Saito who didn't see it coming.

Rigr finds himself in the memory of when he and Urd were near the sea. Urd tells him he lost and will now turn into a demon. Urd then asked if Rigr ever found a meaning to his life. Rigr happily says that the time they spent together was meaningful.

Yoichi watched as the memory he used his powers on faded away and he apologizes to Saito for doing so. He then also disappears, still worried about Shinoa who is now left behind on her own. He wishes the rest of his friends happiness before he disappears as well.

In the real world, Shinoa, Yuu, and Mika ends up watching as Yoichi also dies for the key to appear.

---

Well, that was one hell of a roller coaster of a chapter. They killed off three people at once! I thought this would be a longer battle before anyone dies but Kimizuki betraying his friends suddenly happened and everything happened so quickly.

I wonder how this would all end now that only three people are left in the battlefield? Would Shinoa keep fighting but this time to avenge her friends and give up on Yuu? Or will she give up now since everyone else is dead but would still try to convince Yuu to not go through with another ritual where he ends up sacrificing himself?

Like, at this point where there's only the main leaders of the two factions left, they should talk things out instead. Yuu should just tell Shinoa about who he really is and his main plan just to reassure her that he might not need to sacrifice himself. I said "might" cause there might be a chance he'd end up having to do so and we all know he won't hesitate to accept such a fate.

Oh, Kimizuki's betrayal... I can't blame him. I'd probably do the same for my immediate family cause I love them so much. What happened to him in an earlier chapter with his friends making him choose between moving on for good and giving up on his sister reminds me of how Yuu was also put in that position back then. They also cornered Yuu and were trying to make him choose to sacrifice Mika to bring everyone back. Just like how Yuu couldn't just abandon Mika when his gial the entire time was to bring him back, Kimizuki also chose to not give up on his sister.

Also, in this desperate situation, why won't Kimizuki choose the option where he can get everyone back?

Anyways, I'm not completely sure how to feel about Rigr's death. His memory was messed with by Yoichi in the end there. But also, it was sweet how in his heart, it was his connection to Urd that was important and that they were together in the end. Well, I'm at least hoping that the Urd there is the real Urd since he did become Rigr's demon. At least they get closure together (and Urd looked happy! For once!)

We're about to get to the end of the story! I'm happy and also sad at the same time. It's gonna be either next month or the month after that when the last chapter would come out according to some sites.

Unless....! Yuu-chan is planning to fight against Paradise. Final final battle for the fate of humanity? Will Yuu-chan follow in the footsteps of JRPG protagonist and fight God??? We'll find out in the next, probably, maybe, couple of chapters!

Ooh, so this is how Mitsuba finds out. Yoichi asks if he could look inside her heart cause doing that could let him power up Mitsuba even more. Mitsuba tells him there's nothing good in her memories but she's okay with him looking.

Mitsuba backstory!

Her parents are arguing again because of her since she's an illegitimate child, born from the father and a servant. Aoi tells her not to listen to what they're saying and that all she has to do is grow strong as there's no place for incompetent people in the Sanguu family.

This was apparently the last time Aoi spoke to Mitsuba. Mitsuba grew up having a complex, seeing herself as incompetent while comparing herself to her more amazing older sister. It's not helped that her family also believes this to be true. This made Mitsuba think it would be better if she died.

By the way, I think her family sucks. It's not her fault the dad was a cheater. Also, while she and Shinoa have the same complex with their older sisters, at least Mahiru acted like a big sister to Shinoa. It doesn't seem like Mitsuba had happy memories with Aoi.

Shinoa finds Mitsuba training outside and asks why she's even trying if they're both doomed to just be the useless little sisters. Also, she says Mitsuba's boobs are in the way of her training lol. Of course, Shinoa has to add that last part.

Flashback to their school days. Yuu passed out as they were studying. He wakes up to Yoichi asking him something and he says he wasn't taught how to read. Kimizuki is disappointed by this and Shinoa just finds it funny. Mitsuba watches and thinks that she doesn't feel bad about herself whenever she's around her friends. Being with them makes her feel like it's okay to be alive and be herself despite what her family thinks of her.

Yoichi ruins the immersion by talking to Mitsuba. He takes some of Mitsuba's desires and she tells him she wants to win and have carefree days with the others again.

Meanwhile, Yuu and his group are still fighting off the enemies. Mika realizes they're being trapped and Saito says he sees a seam in the barrier. Before they could do anything, Kiseki-ou and Gekkouin appears and are aiming for Saito. Mika pulls him away but a ward is placed on him. Saito was able to help Mika out though.

Saito is out there about to use his sword's power. Meanwhile, Mika and Yuu-chan are discussing their next move. The seam in the barrier where they could escape might be a trap. Since the barrier is the kind that could incapacitate demons, they have no choice but to punch through the barrier and the potential ambush. The plan now is to cut through the barrier with their swords.

lol after all this time with Mika thinking that it might be okay for Yuu to end up with Shinoa, this current fight was the red flag that made him think otherwise. Yuu-chan just laughs at this comment - he really doesn't want to acknowledge anything that's got to do with Shinoa's feelings for him.

With all their power, Saito and Yuu break the barrier causing damage to their surrounding. Shinoa was able to protect herself and the others from the debris with her barrier.

Another battlefield reunion. Yuu greets his friends for the first time after a long time but no time for anything else. The Shinoa Squad charges in to capture Yuu. Saito tells Yuu to target Mitsuba who is currently using her demon.

The fight begins and Yuu's friends asks him to stop while Yuu says he's gonna save everybody.

They were able to trap Yuu and are all about to charge in again but Saito reveals that it was just an illusion. Shinoa immediately knew the danger they're in and tells everyone to run.

Sadly, they're too late as Yuu uses this moment to kill Mitsuba. He apologizes and promises to bring her back to life later.

Wow, damn, I thought only Yoichi and Kimizuki would be the casualties as they're the only ones needed for the keys.

Kimizuki uses Kiseki-ou to get Mitsuba to another world where Shinoa can heal her. Mitsuba's only thought was that she wants to tell them how she was saved by meeting them.

Another memory plays, This time it's when she and Shinoa talked about their similar feelings for Yuu. Mitsuba tells Shinoa that she plans to back down in pursuing Yuu cause she considers Shinoa the first friend she ever had although she chose not to elaborate on that.

Aww... she really did consider Shinoa as someone really important to her. It's why she never did anything despite it being revealed earlier that she had a crush on Yuu. She probably wants to support Shinoa instead and make her happy.

In the end, they couldn't save Mitsuba.

Yuu on the other hand is shaken by taking the life of another friend. Mika tells him that they don't have a choice anymore and that right now is their chance to kill the others, too. Mika repeatedly tells him to move and Yuu tearfully and reluctantly would do so.

This is messed up. Yuu was confident in being able to bring everyone back but it would still hurt to see his friends die, especially since it's with his own hands.

Yoichi is the one trying to get Shinoa to keep going on their side. Yuu and Shinoa face each other and Yuu tells her he'd bring her back to life so she should just surrender.

God, they look so miserable. Like all of the confidence they had before is slowly being drained by the reality of the situation. Thinking about fighting and winning even if someone dies is easier than actually seeing it happen. Yuu is still trying to act like he's sure things are gonna end well.

Surprisingly, it's now Yoichi who still has it together and tells Yuu they won't do what he says. They can't get to an agreement and the two groups decided this means they continue fighting. And for Yuu, it means killing his friends.

----

You know, I had more screenshots but tumblr won't let me post more so I had to get rid of some of them. I miss having MS Paint to put together photos (;-;)

I didn't know exactly what would happen when the fight started but I wasn't expecting Mitsuba to get killed. It was a sad thing to see after seeing her past. Her friends became important to her since her family weren't kind to her. They were precious to her especially Shinoa who was her first friend.

Her having a crush on Yuu was mentioned earlier in the story (I think it was the same episode she was introduced in) but after that, nothing much was done with it. I'm guessing it's cause of this. She realizes Shinoa felt the same way and decided to let Shinoa win. Even in their talk a while back about being rivals, she had no intention of taking that seriously.

Again, her family sucks. At least Shinoa's family tried to act like family despite how messed up they were.

I'm sad Mitsuba wasn't able to give them any last words even when she desperately tried to.

Anyways, seeing the devastated faces of the characters hurt. They'd rather not do this anymore but they're already here and have done so much to get this far. No more backing down now.

I guess we're near the end. These guys are the only ones left in this war and whoever wins decides the fate of the world. I have some theories about what could happen but that's for next time since it's 5am and I gotta sleep.

Saito cast a search spell and Shinoa knew they'd soon meet. Mitsuba asked if they can't just talk things out with the other group and Shinoa tells them how Yuu tearfully ended the Lt. Col. life and that his plan is to sacrifice himself to resurrect everyone.

Shinoa's plan is for them to kill Saito, get Yuu and have her take all of his power, and then she gets sacrificed. She says Yuu is a kind person compared to her who doesn't care about the world so it's only right.

Kimizuki says the plan isn't good enough as Yuu means business. And also that he gave up on his sister to be with everyone and a plan that could end up with one of them dead isn't good and that he doesn't want anyone of them to sacrifice themselves. He also tells them that if he ends up dying to not revive him - in fact, don't revive anyone as the dead should stay dead. He makes Shinoa promise to uphold that.

Wow, he really took his conversation with Yoichi to heart. Even if he's still reluctant. I guess he figured this really might be for the best.

Kimizuki asked Yoichi to use his power on Shinoa and they're now talking in that mental space. Shinoa sees that Yoichi actually has similar powers to her and asked why he kept it a secret. He explains his sister made him forget to protect him and just remembered it recently. Shinoa points out that they're the same, having sisters who died to protect them.

Anyways, Yoichi says he's here to check if Shinoa intends to keep her promise. He tries to scan her or something but stops and says he doesn't need to as he doesn't want to be suspicious of family. Besides, if he were in her place, he doesn't know what he himself would do.

Ah, so he's not gonna tell them about the fake sister? And I was surprised when Kimizuki asked Yoichi to do this. Like, he now knows Yoichi has this power so they can use it for this.

Okay, so adding to what Yoichi was saying, he points out that they're not the same age as when the Lt. Col. did the ritual and the world ended. He asked if they're gonna make the same choices. Shinoa tells him that her sister said not to.

Yoichi then tells her that if something does happen like Yuu dying and she goes berserk, he'd just steal all of her powers.

Oh my god, yeah, Yoichi does have the same power as Shinoa and according to the researchers, it might even be more powerful that hers although, that might be the case before she devoured the First Progenitor.

Upon using his power on Shinoa (just to demonstrate, I guess), he also gets a glimpse of her emotions and it's her romantic feelings for Yuu and the memories of her associated with him. He tells Shinoa again that he'd stop her cause even if Shinoa doesn't want to resurrect anyone now, the sadness of losing someone might make her do it. all they got to do is support each other when that happens.

And Yoichi says he also took some of the First's power. Oh boy, a third person holding that power. Oooh... might this mean he can now connect with Yuu as well?

Okay, again their plan: one-shot Saito but ignore Yuu since he probably won't harm them. Yoichi gets to see some of the things Shinoa did as he now has some of the First's power. He thinks that together, they're stronger than Yuu if they don't count Saito. Get Yuu back and they win.

They go back to the real world and tell the other two this.

Back to Yuu-chan and Mika! Mika asked Yuu how he'd avoid the punishment for the ritual. Yuu says the First already got that covered with the "Blow Up Paradise" spell. They're gonna blow up the sun! Well, just the part with Paradise on it, I hope.

Their only issue now is Shinoa. She got 70% of the Firsts power so she's stronger than even all three of them combined. They asked Saito for advice and he confirms that yeah, they can't beat her easily.

Aaaand, they don't know about Yoichi yet!

Mika still has qualms about teaming up with Saito and suspects that this might all be part of his plan. Saito says he wishes this was planned but he can't pull all this off by himself lol.

Saito tells them that back when they were human, he and Urd were the same as Mika and Yuu are now but he ended up killing him. He tells them that he created the Ichinose family (including Guren) using his genome and Mahiru and Shinoa were also supposed to be his creations but in the end, the First Progenitor knew of it all and used it, with him not knowing he was doing what the First wanted.

Okay, I think I remember that part now. It was mentioned many chapters ago. So he is, in a way, related to Guren. And haha, Saito also lampshades the similarity between him + Urd and Mika + Yuu. I was right haha.

Saito has now also seen the First's memories and have concluded that maybe the one manipulating them all along is God. lmao He yells out his frustrations about how everyone's death was meaningless and that he's tired of all this crap. Haha he still has some silliness in him all along.

Saito then asked Yuu if he'd give up now and says he can't beat Shinoa on his own. I guess this act was good enough to motivate Yuu again who yells out that he doesn't care who he has to kill to protect his family even if it's God!

Mika thinks the two went nuts lol.

Saito gives his sinful keys to Mika and Yuu since he says he has no plans and hence, no use for them. Saito tells them they're the leader now and he trust they have some kind of plan since the First did give Yuu his powers.

And Yuu has decided to finally tell Saito of the big twists! This shocks Mika as much as it shocked me, by the way lol. I was like "Ah, wait, you're doing this now?!" but I also cheered a bit cause someone else finally knows the truth. I love reveals!

Anyways, he explains of his past life's plan to Saito who then says that Yuu really has been the ringleader all this time. Mika asked why Yuu told Saito about all this and Yuu says that if they lose to Shinoa, they're gonna have to leave the rest to Saito. Mika reminds Yuu of his promise not to sacrifice himself and Yuu says he won't.

Well, the Shinoa Squad are coming. I guess they have to have another talk about what to do offscreen as Yuu tells Saito that Shinoa saw the fight against Guren earlier.

The Shinoa Squad's plan involves a sigil that still isn't done yet but Shinoa knows they're now being watched. Mitsuba volunteers to be the distraction using Tenjiryuu (Yay! A bit of screentime for her demon) and both Shinoa and Yoichi took the curse she's supposed to get as backlash so that she can use her demon to it's full extent.

Now surrounded, Yuu asked his smarter teammates (lol) what to do. Saito says they have to stay close to protect one another and only fight the enemies one-by-one.

---

Okay, first things first - Tenjiryuu! I thought they got replaced already but it's Mitsuba's main weapon so she's using it instead of the new one. By the way, I don't remember ever seeing this before. Had they shown Tenjiryuu's power before this? If not, well, better late than never. I'm glad Mitsuba gets to do something cool cause I remember a point in time when she got so little screentime and even dialogue in the manga.

Woohoo! Yuu-chan finally reveals the truth to someone! That felt kinda great to watch. Saito also gave his keys to the boys so this means they trusts each other now. Mika is still reluctant but he has no choice lol.

I still wonder how powerful Yoichi actually is. And did he ever explain this to Mitsuba cause Kimizuki and Shinoa are shown to find out onscreen.

Aaaah... both groups have something they don't know about! Yuu-chan and Mika doesn't know about Yoichi's real power and him taking a bit of the First's power from Shinoa. The Shinoa Squad doesn't know about Yuu's true identity and how it could help in making the ritual a success. would all of them gaining these knowledge help them make a better decision? I don't know but we'd see how things would go without everyone having all of the important info.

Yoichi has entered Kimizuki's heart and notes that like he was, Kimizuki is also stuck in a bedroom. Kimizuki yells at him repeatedly to leave but Yoichi says he just wants to talk.

It's Yoichi's turn to ask the question of why they are alive. He also tells Kimizuki that he never had a sister. This leaves Kimizuki confused since Yoichi's goal this entire time was to bring her back. Yoichi confesses that he made up his sister so he could run away and survive.

Okay, so it was recent. He really didn't remember the truth of what happened that night and truly believed his sister was murdered. I guess his sister was some sort of coping mechanism.

Yoichi asks what the point of surviving is now and asks Kimizuki what the latter would do once he got his sister back.

Yoichi also wonders if only alive right now because his imaginary sister told him to hide under the bed. His sister being fake means he can't do anything for his own sake all this time so what's the point of living?

Okay it seems that remembering his sister is not real messed him up. That girl really was holding all of Yoichi together.

Kimizuki doesn't care about Yoichi's life since his priority is getting Mirai back. Yoichi asks him if that's what his sister wanted even if it means there'd be a sacrifice.

Mirai from Kimizuki's memories are telling him to let go cause she doesn't want to be a burden to him and Kimizuki doesn't want to listen. Yoichi sees this and thinks that Mirai doesn't want to be brougth back and Kimizuki just doesn't want to accept that.

Kimizuki tells Yoichi to leave again.

Yoichi tells him that without a sister, his only family now is the Shinoa Squad. That made him realize that he doesn't actually want to live all this time.

This left Kimizuki kind of confused and honestly, I'm confused, too. I thought Yoichi would say that his reason to live not shifted to being with his friends but instead he just lost motivation. Why????

Yoichi invites Kimizuki to go on a walk while he explains his thought process. People don't want to die cause there's someone who wants them to live and that usually is their family BUT Yoichi doesn't have a real family all this time so he doesn't see a reason to live cause it'd mean he'd be living by himself.

Yoichi I do not understand you, to be honest. Shinoa just told you all that she just wants you all to live and be together. So someone doesn't want you dead??? And your friends won't abandon you so you won't be alone! What in the--

Yoichi asks again what Kimizuki's reason for living is and Kimizuki says again that it's getting his sister back. He asks why the reason wasn't basically the same as Shinoa's and says Kimizuki is trying to bring back his sister in a world where the only reason for anyone to live is to bring the dead back to life.

Oh okay... okay, I kinda get it now. I kinda get it now. He has a point. The world they're in is shit and they'd have to struggle and survive in an apocalypse where they could just die again. The people brought back would have to live in that same world and if anything happens, the cycle of "someone dying and someone having to bring them back" would continue.

Yoichi says it'd be cruel to have Mirai live in that kind of world and if Kimizuki sacrifices himself, Mirai would just be depressed and want to die cause her brother won't be around. He says they're all on the same boat though as they're living in a world where everyone else is dead and where it'd be hard to find a reason to live.

He has trouble finding another reason to keep living but says he can live for Kimizuki's sake. Yoichi manifests a knife and tells Kimizuki to kill him. If not then Yoichi says he'd stop Kimizuki from bringing back his sister so that no one would be hurt by it. He feels the same about the others, too.

He hands Kimizuki the knife so the latter could make a choice. Yoichi would be happy to die for Kimizuki cause he likes the latter and sees him as family. He then goads a reluctant Kimizuki into doing it.

Jesus christ this is probably one of the worst combo we have. The others at least decided to keep living with the person they care about or living to support their important person. Yoichi is the opposite of those as he'd either die for Kimizuki or he would hinder Kimizuki's goal. wtf

Oh... we're getting a Shinoa Squad flashback?

They're camping and Kimizuki is angry at Yuu for burning the meat. Shinoa comments that men can't do something so simple only for Mitsuba to point out she cooked Shinoa's food. Shinoa retorts that she told Mitsuba how to do it. Meanwhile, Yoichi is the one trying to keep the peace.

Aww... I kinda miss these interactions from the Shinoa Squad! It's been so long.

I guess it was Kimizuki reminiscing about the past. He tearfully says he just can't bring himself to kill Yoichi but he also doesn't want to abandon his sister. Yoichi says they can't get everything they want in this world and their reason to live should be to cherish the family they have now.

Still, Kimizuki can't bring himself to abandon Mirai.

Mirai shows up and tells Kimizuki that she appreciates what her brother has done to protect her but it's time that he lives and protects the family he has now that's still alive. Mirai says goodbye and disappears while Kimizuki tearfully asks her to not go.

I can't be sad cause this feels kind of messed up for some reason. Is this the real Mirai? Or was this made up by Kimizuki's heart that's conflicted cause of Yoichi? Or did Yoichi made this up?

Kimizuki is asking the same question! And Yoichi has the same theory I have! Kimizuki thinks this was Yoichi's doing but Yoichi thinks either that was the real Mirai or it was Kimizuki's heart telling him something. Yoichi says Kimizuki knows his sister and those might really have been her thoughts. He then asks Kimizuki to return to the real world with him.

Okay, Yoichi said that wasn't some illusion of his. I still don't know what to feel about that. I'm not completely on board with his, honestly. I get Shinoa's reason but this one for Kimizuki does seem forced.

Kimizuki tells everyone that they suck and he chooses to save his family.

Which is the Shinoa Squad. And they have to get Yuu back.

That was nice and sweet but still feels off. Also, no one is gonna ask about how Yoichi was able to get in Kimizuki's heart? Or the thing about his sister? They're just accepting this?

Anyways, Yoichi said he just remembered everything recently. I wonder if Shinoa using her new powers to make them stronger and able to use their demons freely has something to do with this? The Hyakura sect was experimenting with kids and demons after all.

Meanwhile, Rigr is with Mika and Yuu-chan. After Yuu-chan cried cause of killing Guren, Mika thinks he can't pull off their plan now and Yuu-chan says it's too late for that. Their plan though involves killing Yoichi and Kimizuki. Mika asks if they're doing the right thing.

Yuu-chan says they don't have a choice anymore since if they don't do this, they can't get anyone back. If he could give up, he would've wanted to die with Mika and the other orphans back when they failed their escape from the vampire city.

Yuu-chan is doing things like Guren, I guess. He believes they can just revive the dead. Mika isn't too convinced but Yuu-chan reminds him of their promise to save everyone. Yuu-chan really believes this would work and that they could get their happily ever after with everybody.

Yuu-chan's speech was able to finally convince Mika.

I didn't see this coming. I thought by "no sacrifice" means they'd at least try not to kill anyone but now killing Yoichi and Kimizuki are required. Oh no...

It looks like Rigr was searching for Shinoa. Mika and Yuu-chan has to be ready as Shinoa is pretty powerful now that she's devoured most of the First Progenitor.

---

We didn't get an explanation about everything else from last chapter so I'm disappointed. I mean, what was that??? And the rest of the Shinoa Squad didn't ask anything after what Yoichi just did?

How powerful is Yoichi, really? Is the "Tomoe" personality still in him or was that all Yoichi himself now?

I really hope that was the real Mirai's spirit who talked to Kimizuki cause it'd be really wrong if it's not.

This has gotten so complicated. But I guess I got the KimiYoi moment I was asking for even if it's not how I imagined it would be. Aaaah, I can't win them all, huh?

We're back to 12 years ago in Satsuki City. Tomoe was 8 while Yoichi was 4 when they were getting some shots. The doctor says the crying Yoichi can take two shots.

While they're walking home, Yoichi tells his sister that they gave him multiple shots so Tomoe tells him to lie about getting chest pains next time so they won't give him more. Yoichi doesn't get this cause it's not giving him pain and their parents told them that they should take those shots.

Tomoe then tells him to stop listening to their parents cause those people... aren't their actual parents.

Oooh... are we gonna get more lore info on the Hyakuya sect? It might explain why Yuu's and Mika's parents were so horrible to them.

They get home and was greeted by their parents. They asked about the shots the kids take and Yoichi says he got lots while Tomoe says she didn't and implies she got chest pains again.

Tomoe acts like everything is normal and notes that her brother doesn't remember that the "parents" they have right now are fake. Their real parents have already died in an accident years ago and are now replaced by look-alikes.

Damn, we're hit with a horror movie plot backstory! This is kind of scary since these two are still little kids.

It seems Yoichi finally remembers the truth and Tomoe tells him not to let it show. She'd protect him and take care of it if something happens. And if something scary happens, she wants Yoichi to hide under the bed. She'd deal with whatever comes but Yoichi has to keep himself hidden.

The experiments continue and the researchers conclude that Yoichi's score is off the charts compared to other subjects born from parents implanted with demons.

They even think Yoichi could surpass Mahiru and Shinoa.

The only issue is Yoichi's mental health. They think it'd be better to manipulate his memories and give him a separate personality to divert the damage onto so they can raise Yoichi's score higher.

Holy fuck, wait.... Yoichi had the potential to be stronger than Mahiru and Shinoa? Wait wait wait... what?! Okay, so either the experiments didn't succeed for some reason or we're about to see some shit later once something triggers this hidden power in Yoichi.

Tomoe is against this but she was given no choice but to comply cause it's either they get experimented on or they both just get killed.

Of course, four years later and the apocalypse happened. Tomoe had Yoichi hide under the bed and Lacus and Rene arrive and kills her.

But oh my god, their conversation: "Find the child.". We're they specifically instructed to get the experimented kids? I thought they went to this house on random and just grabbed whatever surviving kid was there. Was this a specific task???

Oh and it's been so long since I've seen anything of Lacus and Rene. Glad to see them again even though it's in a flashback. Lacus is so pretty but too bad he's an asshole. Didn't even get his own backstory so I don't know how exactly to feel about him.

Yoichi calls out for his sister but she's nowhere to be found and the vampires hadn't seen her either. They couldn't detect anyone else alive in the house as the parents are dead downstairs.

Okay wait... they got Yoichi? In Yoichi's memories, his sisters gets killed and he wasn't found, right?

Rene sees the photo and with no one else in the house concludes that Yoichi doesn't have a sister.

Yoichi cries and says he does have a sister and accuses them of killing her. Lacus wonders if the kid is still sane.

What in the horror movie plot is happening??? I didn't expect this! I thought this would just be another POV + extension of Yoichi's backstory that we were told. What the fuck??

Oh my god wait...

Did... Yoichi's memories already get manipulated at this point? But when? And is his sister the separate personality the researchers were talking about???

Anyways, "Yoichi" grabs Lacus' face and uses some kind of power which let him control Lacus and has him fight Rene. When Rene tries to dodge Lacus, Yoichi was able to use the same power on him.

The two are now under "Yoichi's" command. They'd be his eyes and ears and would report anything to him every six months with no recollection afterwards of any of this.

How long? Does it extend to recently? Did "Yoichi" have communication with them while the story was happening???

Is Tomoe a demon?? Was she Yoichi's demon??? And she's just manifesting physically??? Is that why she's allowed to know about the experiments?

And the events we're familiar with happens as planned. Lacus and Rene enter the house without remembering they already did so before but this time they do find Tomoe first and kills her.

I'm so confused... what's going on?

Anyways, that explains why he was asking his sister what to do last chapter. It isn't just thinking of the dead, he's actually conversing with her.

Back to the present, "Yoichi" uses his power on an angry Kimizuki. He switched... his eyes look dead.

Kimizuki sees a vision of the past where his sister tells him to leave her. While he's trying to convince his sister that he can't and won't abandon her, someone unexpected crashes the dream. Looking at this ones eyes, it's probably Yoichi.

---

I thought this is a routine backstory chapter, what the fuck???

What does this mean for the entire story? What about Yoichi's utter hatred of Lacus? Was his memory manipulated by Tomoe this time so that he won't accidentally spill about their connection and powers? Even Gekkouin never mentioned anything despite being his demon.

When did Yoichi realize that Tomoe wasn't a regular human when they were kids? When did he realize that his memories got manipulated (if they were) recently? Did he know more than he was letting on this entire time? And would this finally tell us what happened to Lacus and Rene?

God, I need an explanation next chapter! I was thrown more questions than answers this chapters and we're supposedly near the end of the story where things should be wrapping up!

Mahiru and Shinoa meet up in the mental world (I still don't know what this place is actually called) and talk about the recent events since Shinoa admits to watching the entire thing.

I guess this works cause Mahiru is now a demon and Shinoa has the power to control though which means also talk to them.

Mahiru is asking the question everyone has been searching the answer for this arc: what's the meaning of life? Shinoa doesn't have an answer herself so Mahiru talks about her answer. She says it's like a brief flash of light - she did everything she could and put in so much effort for love. She says people live and shine for only a moment before it's all over and says that since Shinoa has also decided to live for love, Shinoa is just getting ready to shine.

Mahiru gives her sister advice: focus on living her own life and don't think about what happened to the others. Mahiru says she and Guren gave it their all with no regrets so they don't need pity or sympathy so Shinoa doesn't have to have those in her mind. All Shinoa has to do is enjoy life to the fullest.

Shinoa asked if that's really okay when Mahiru had worked hard to protect her too despite all the trouble that would also cause the latter. Mahiru says she did that cause she knew of Shinoa's potential and that it was fine - she lived her life for her sister and boyfriend and that was what she wanted to do.

It's not okay to Shinoa though cause she wanted her sister back.

Mahiru apologizes for not being able to do more for Shinoa and says goodbye as Guren and Shinya are waiting for her.

Not gonna lie, I'm crying right now lol. Shinoa telling her sister she wants to spend more time with her already has me tearing up but Mahiru hugging her one last time and Shinoa reaching out to her sister as she disappeared has me crying. The closest family member they had was each other so this really sucks. I didn't cry when Yuu had to kill Guren but this hurt me bad. I have siblings and I don't even want to imagine a world without them.

And it's sweet how Mahiru didn't just mention Guren but Shinya as well. Just like how Guren's last thoughts were Mahiru and Shinya. We didn't see Shinya's own last thoughts but he was probably thinking of Guren and Mahiru. Trio til the end.

Shinoa is quiet in the real world. She's not crying but she is contemplating on what Mahiru had told her. "Good luck. Try Hard." and she wonder what for. Everyone else has some grand goal of saving other people but all Shinoa wanted was to spend time with those she cared about.

She also says she wants to get Yuu back but do nothing else after that. I guess that despite her feelings, she might not try to pursue romance and just want Yuu to rejoin their group of friends and spend the rest of her life with all of them.

I don't know why but as nice and sweet as that was to hear, somehow it feels empty.

Shinoa snaps out of her deep thoughts when her friends asks what was going on with the others. She's unable to answer and just tells them they need to move to a safe place and make plans.

Mitsuba notices something about how Shinoa is acting and realizes the truth. Mitsuba outright asked if the Lt. Col. and Shinoa's sister are dead. Shinoa's expression and silence was enough to confirm and Kimizuki asked what's really going on.

Shinoa knows now that her goals and everyone else's on her team aren't exactly the same and wonders what to do next when Yoichi tells Kimizuki off for confronting a grieving Shinoa.

Aww! Yoichi probably knows how hard this must be for Shinoa. He watched his sister die too and it had been really hard on him for years and can relate to Shinoa who also ended up watching her own sister die.

This was good enough to reassure Kimizuki though as he also has a sister so he trusts Shinoa has the same goal. Except Shinoa doesn't want to resurrect her own sister. Shinoa decides to do what her sister did and lie to the others and take responsibility for it.

But remembering the last conversation with Mahiru changes her mind. Instead she apologizes to the others and tells them the truth: that she doesn't want to revive humanity. Watching her sister and the Lt. Col. made her realize that not only is bringing the dead back a bad idea but that life also has no meaning and that they should just live and be thankful for what they have right now. Though she also adds that she might be wrong as she's still young and hasn't found the meaning of her own life yet.

Okay, that look on her face after remembering Mahiru made me tear up again. Shinoa wanted to do what her sister did but Mahiru tells Shinoa that she's more amazing. Those words made Shinoa want to do better than her sister instead of emulating Mahiru.

Shinoa has always compared herself to Mahiru, always referring to her older sister as a genius and adding that she herself isn't as good and would never be. Mahiru tells her that she's more amazing must've felt something after all this time. Mahiru, her amazing genius sister, thinks she's better so now she has to be.

Back to the conversation, Shinoa tells them that she doesn't think it's right for someone to have to sacrifice themselves to make everyone else happy while that sacrificed person gets nothing.

Kimizuki disagrees and asked what would happen to his sister. Shinoa says she understands but who would accept the punishment for what they wanted to do? Would it be her or would it be Yuu? Both Kimizuki and Yoichi volunteer instead.

That last part I'm not surprised lol. Those two have someone they want to get back all this time and that goal has never changed, just got bigger. Also, they're nice kids.

Shinoa briefly shows them a vision of the past - Sika Madu being punished for doing the ritual the first time. She explains that the pain last for a long, long time. But if this is what her friends would want, she'd volunteer to take on the punishment which Mitsuba doesn't want.

Shinoa has learned that people live and they die but that ability to die was what made life beautiful and what made everything else in their life shine. She starts a vote of what their goal would be and says she'd support the majority but personally, she just wants to spend her life happily with all of them.

Mitsuba says she's also tired of seeing people die and suffer and says she's on Shinoa's side. Shinoa though says that Yuu's goal is to save everybody and take on the punishment himself so everyone should take that into account as well.

If they want to support Yuu's plan, they can leave. They'd be enemies after that.

This made Yoichi conflicted and think of his older sister to ask what he should do. Kimizuki hates this as he's being told to abandon his little sister.

---

That was really emotional! Holy fuck, I didn't expect to cry reading this chapter. And wow, the Shinoa Squad itself might end up being split in two!

It's not just a question of morality cause outside of that, it's very personal as someone they care about has to be sacrificed to get someone else they love back. The choice won't be easy although if Yuu were here, he would've asked them to just leave it to him and Mika. Yuu also probably won't mention anything about a sacrifice cause he knows either they won't need it if it succeeds or he's ready to be sacrificed if that was ever needed.

Oh man, the amount of players in this complicated wargame has dwindled. I doubt the rest of Guren's team left behind can do much without their key members. Yuu + Mika and Rigr are sort of on the same side right now. Depending on what happens next we might get two split factions with the Shinoa Squad making the warring group three again.

Unless Kureto and the others don't give up and do their own thing despite Guren and Mahiru dead.

We'll see, I guess.

Shinya isn't completely dead despite being cut in half! He encourages Guren to win and also has enough time to use Byakkomaru. Guren tells Shinya to shoot through him.

Rigr is now dealing with his two "children".

I dunno how Shinya was able to hang on a bit longer but it's a miracle. It was nice that his last words and act were for Guren.

Things are getting desperate with Ferid's power about to reach it's limit. Rigr is gonna try to hold on until then. Meanwhile, Guren tells Mahiru to give him everything as this battle is where he dies giving it his all. Mahiru says she already is and they're going beyond their limit already.

Both Ferid and Guren attack Rigr from the front and back. Ferid's power reaches it's limit already.

Guren holds onto Rigr as Shinya gives it his one last shot. Rigr panics briefly as he's about to be shot.

But Yuu arrives on time! He's beaten the others offscreen. I'm sorry Shinya! You gave it your best til the end but Yuu-chan needs to win!

The two takes a break on one of the rooftops. Rigr tells Yuu that if they wait just a bit longer, they might win.

By the way, it seems someone's watching...

The black one was following Rigr and Yuu.

Shinoa deployed the eyeballs to watch the battle from afar (using the First's power, no doubt) and tells the others of what had happened: Lt. Col. lost while Yuu and Rigr seemed to have won in the end. But Shinoa saw everyone's ability and they can now make a proper plan to deal with it.

It's the end for Ferid who is about to turn. He looks like he had fun and is asking if Guren did, too. Guren wasn't in the mood to answer. As the realization of what would happen hit Ferid, he calls out to Crowley as he desperately wishes to not turn into a demon who has to continue to exist.

Oh my god... in the end, Ferid calls out to Crowley hoping the guy would answer. Man, everyone who "dies" clings to someone important to them. I'm sad and kind of happy to know that for Ferid, it was Crowley.

As he holds onto Shinya's corpse, Guren wishes he had died with him as a human back then like Shinya wanted. Mahiru apologizes to Shinya as well. Aaah... Guren made that promise of dying together to two people and it's both Mahiru and Shinya! They're really a trio til the end.

Mahiru also apologizes to Guren and takes responsibility for their failure. Guren tells her she did nothing wrong as they all desperately fought but it just sadly ends with them dying for nothing.

Mahiru tells Guren that she did gain something from all this as she found people precious to her and that those moments with them made her feel alive. She apologizes to Guren again for dragging him into this and Guren tells her that's he doesn't regret it. Mahiru gets turned first and disappears with Guren expected to follow her soon.

Like everyone else, huh? Like Crowley, Mahiru also cherished the moments she spent with people she cares about. It was really sweet! They'll be together as demons even though sadly, Shinya couldn't join them.

Yuu shows up to apologize for ruining all of Guren's plans. Guren is understanding as he knew Yuu just has his own plans and asked if it was something Saito thought of. Yuu proudly tells him that no, this was his own idea! He's gonna save everyone, including Guren, so the latter should leave it all to him.

"I thought for myself for the first time!" - Yuu-chan, don't say it like that! I mean, you're not wrong but still. You're kinda insulting yourself right now.

Guren asks who would pay the price for what Yuu was about to do. The world ended after Guren tried and he tells Yuu not to go through it and just live his life without making that difficult choice.

Yuu reminds Guren that it was him who taught Yuu that there's no point in living if you don't cling to your family. He thanks Guren as this helped him keep going and he's gonna give up on the latter either. He says Guren should take a break until then.

Guren asked Yuu for one last thing: kill him before he gets possessed. Yuu obliges and leaves Guren's corpse next to Shinya's.

Yuu is sad about this but Guren was counting on him. He tried to hang on but ends up crying in grief. Guren was his father-figure for four years after all.

Shinoa sees this and thinks that Yuu can't be left to do things himself.

---

I was surprised in a good way seeing Ferid's last thought was that of Crowley. Like Crowley, he did care about their time together.

That was a pretty sad end. I am rooting for Yuu and Mika (and Rigr) but that doesn't mean I don't feel bad for Guren and the others who did everything they could. Their goodbyes are sad and sweet. Does this mean Guren isn't gonna be able to reunite with Mahiru now? Would he still meet Shinya in the afterlife after becoming a demon? It's sad if neither could happen.

It was nice to see the last convo between Yuu and Guren. There's no hard feelings as Guren understood that they all have a goal they want to reach and Yuu wasn't really the type to have some evil goal anyways. He even advised Yuu to not make a choice that would backfire on him as he didn't want Yuu to go through the same thing he did. Despite everything, he's still acting like Yuu's guardian.

400+ vampires that were devoured merged into one inside of Ferid making him one of the most powerful vampires at the moment. His movements were so quick that Rigr wasn't able to follow him in contrast to how Ferid sees everything in a slow motion-like pace.

To Rigr, it's as if Ferid had suddenly vanished and he didn't realize until it was too late that Ferid had quickly moved behind him. Ferid decapitates Rigr quickly but the latter was able to pull his head back to his body with numerous chains. Ferid cut off the chains before the head could properly rejoin and he decides to just eat Rigr bit by bit as the latter won't die easily.

Shinya appears behind Ferid to shoot the sinful key while Guren appears near Saito to stab him with a sword. Ferid is then instructed to eat Saito's head.

Rigr's head tries to escape but Ferid was able to catch up and using a chain, the latter was able to pull Rigr close and eat him.

Rigr is now in Ferid's tree but the latter sees that something is off. It seems Rigr's consciousness was elsewhere outside and wasn't devoured. Ferid tells Rigr he'd just devour the rest of him and Rigr says Ferid isn't actually strong enough and that he can just stall until Ferid's time limit is up.

Okay, I was shocked and slowly about to feel disappointed since Rigr got eaten so easily but it seems he had tricks up his sleeve to make this long awaited fight more interesting. It's not over yet!

Rigr hasn't used his weapon yet and Ferid mistakenly thought the weapon were the chains all this time. Rigr then tells him of his newly acquired cursed gear. Even if Ferid is still more powerful after that, Rigr can just keep dodging.

Oh my god!!! I forgot about Urd!!! He was turned into a demon, wasn't he?

It seems the rest of Rigr's consciousness was in the rest of his body. He calls out to Urd to the surprise of those outside.

Aaaaa!!! Yes!! Was this what he meant by them seeing each other again soon????

Shinya apologizes as he was killed so easily right in front of a horrified Guren. Ferid was then told to aim for Saito's legs. Mahiru has to remind him that they can just revive Shinya once they win.

This entire time, Guren has been the one telling everyone that they could give their lives so long as they could win since they can just bring the dead back but that bravado went out the window whenhe saw Shinya die. Guren tries but he's not as ready for all of this as he shows himself to be especially if the one to die is someone important to him. I'm shocked they killed Shinya first though since he's been an important character from the beginning.

Anyways, Rigr sees a sinful key near Shinya's corpse and Ferid attacks to try and stop him. Rigr asks for more power from Urd. This power lets Rigr follow Ferid's fast movements even a little.

I just wanna say, Saito doesn't have an outfit change and I'm kinda disappointed cause I expected something like what the others got. Oh well. I hope I can see demon Urd before this chapter ends at least.

Guren asks Mahiru for more power and was about to reach for the sinful key. He sees the dead body of Shinya and it affects him very badly.

Guren's desires turns to that of wanting his own death which Mahiru doesn't want to use. Guren laments being unable to save anyone - not back then and certainly not today.

Mahiru yells at him saying she feels the same as him but she doesn't want to give up yet and reminds him of their decision to win. She says she didn't fall in love with someone who would give up so even if they don't win in the end, she wants Guren's last desire to be that of someone who wants to keep fighting.

It seems Mahiru's pep talk was enough to get Guren back on his feet.

---

Like I said, I didn't expect them to kill off Shinya so fast cause I expected them to kill off the other members of the army first before claiming the life of another main cast member. Shinya's death makes sense though since he's someone really important to Guren. From this chapter, I feel like we're shown that the two people who can significantly affect Guren's thought process are Mahiru and Shinya which, I'm sure no one was surprised at but it was nice to see.

They didn't kill Rigr yet! I'm actually happy about this cause he's like, the only one left that Yuu-chan and Mika can rely on for cooperation. Also, his and Ferid's face-off felt like it was built up all this time since Ferid's motivation was revealed way back then to deal with his father. It would've been super anti-climactic if Rigr just gets eaten then and there.

We were not shown demon Urd! I hope they shown him to us next chapter. I want to see him and I want to know if he kept some of his humanity with him even after demonization. He has that connection with Rigr the same way Mika had a connection with Yuu-chan and we saw Mika gets himself together in the end. I kinda expect the same of Urd now. He's a more powerful vampire and he still has some more human feeling and desires so he should be able to, right?

I'm kinda sad that for Rigr to have gotten eaten a bit, Ferid has had to get stronger cause I kinda want another reunion in that tree lol. Sadly, the other vampires have been merged in already when he got there.

I wonder when the Shinoa Squad will get here? The battles already going. On the other hand, once everyone had either gotten killed, injured, or have lost power, the Shinoa Squad would get there still in better shape. I might affect how things would go for them and it's gonna be an advantage.

At this point, the final battle might even be between Yuu-chan + Mika and the Shinoa Squad. I'm gonna take a guess that if that ends up being the case, there'd be a big fight as to whose idea would be followed when it comes to the ritual. They might not believe that Yuu's method would work but in the end, after a huge struggle, they're gonna just leave it to Yuu. We'll see but that's my guess for now.

Vampire dad and vampire son face-off!

Rigr thinks Ferid still isn't strong enough and says Ferid might've still been thinking of Rigr's strength from years ago. Ferid says he'll find out and he hopes he's able to catch up.

Rigr releases a bunch of chains and Ferid was able to cut them. Rigr tells him he's fast but he's still faster. Ferid says he's still holding back.

Rigr is then able to rip parts of Ferid's head with chains. Ferid uses one of his chains which pierced Rigr's hand but whatever power it has doesn't work on him. He says Ferid is still too weak and uses his power to hit Ferid which also destroys some faraway building. And a mountain it looks like.

Ferid survives and lands behind Rigr covered in his chains. He knows that Ferid's power has already been drained in half by now and asks if Ferid actually thought he can take him on like this. Rigr also says he hasn't used all he got cause he knows there's a trap somewhere that he has to find first. Ferid asks him to underestimate him a bit but Rigr said that doing so is meaningless.

Ferid complains in his mental world that the fight is unfair and he might not make it in time. Crowley then tells him he's seen Ferid's memories and asks about Ferid's goal of wanting to break the cycle of rebirth. Ferid tells them not to poke around since he'd also end up watching their past. He says none of them have lived a happy life.

Krul says of course it won't be great when they struggled to survive only to end up being eaten by a loon like Ferid lol.

Ferid asks them about their thoughts on the meaning of life and the others just comment that he looks like he's having a lot of fun. haha

Ferid asks all 400+ he's eaten if anyone knows the meaning of their life but no one answers to which he says they all suck. Crowley points out that everyone is unhappy cause Ferid ate them. Ferid says he saved them from continuing to live over and over a meaningless life.

It seems as much as Ferid doesn't think there's any meaning to being alive, there's probably a part of him that still hopes for an answer since he's still looking for it. He might be hoping someone would have an answer.

Crowley then says he's had a fun life. Ferid lets him go so he could explain and asks if Crowley's friends dying in the crusade was fun. Crowley replies that that one wasn't fun but he did meet someone he spent centuries hanging out with afterwards. His answer to the meaning of life thing is that he thinks that trying to find meaning is kinda gauche.

Okay, that's... aww! I think Crowley did mean it back when he was about to be eaten and what he said now - that the time he spent with Ferid were fun. Despite everything, he appreciated those days. I wonder if Ferid believes this or not though.

Ferid reiterates that he thinks there's no meaning to life and that it's dumb and boring so they should just end it all.

Crowley thinks Ferid is having a lot of fun and jokes that seeing that made him feel like there's a meaning to life.

Anyways, all the 400+ vampires he's eaten are beginning to merge and he can use their powers soon but the recoil will kill him. Crowley asks what he plans to do after beating their father since he still wouldn't have been able to break the cycle of rebirth. If that's the case then they'd all either end up as immortal demons or they'd just be reborn again.

But since Ferid got everything ready and they've all prepared for it, they should make it a flashy finale! They lived as best they could after all.

And Crowley tells Ferid he did a good job which made Ferid smile. Aww! That was cute! I think he probably wouldn't have that reaction of anyone other than Crowley said it though. It's obvious that he appreciated the time he spent with Crowley as well seeing the better treatment he's been giving the guy.

So the vampires are getting absorbed already one by one. Krul tells him to win before disappearing herself.

When it was finally Crowley's turn, he tells Ferid they'd see each other in their next lives and Ferid says he didn't want to. Then they share a proper goodbye. And then Ferid was left alone in front of the now empty tree.

Aaaah.... I can't, man! Look at those expressions! After all the silly banter they do this. You can't do this this to me (;_;)

It seems this merge was what Ferid was waiting for this entire time and it happened when he needed it to. He thinks he can now win against Rigr with this.

---

We're given a bit more Crowley and Ferid moment before the end, huh? It was pretty sweet, too. Ferid asking questions about why he was born, why did he go through the things he did, and everything makes it look like he's desperately wanting an answer. I think he probably is even though he doesn't want to believe an answer exist in the first place.

Crowley telling Ferid again that the time they spend together was fun is just so *clutches heart*. I haven't read the LNs so I don't know the rest of Crowley's backstory from before getting turned but him saying that the most enjoyable part of his entire life were the ones he spent with Ferid was quite heartwarming. The other vampires seem to have suffered after vampirism that their goal is to just go back to being human, die, or both. Crowley didn't look like he was suffering despite probably feeling the same way himself.

I want to believe that Ferid might've felt the same way and that Crowley has a bit more importance to him cause of that sentiment. Out of everyone in the tree, the only one Ferid decide to respond to was Crowley and the one he converses more with the entire time. And he seems to be happy being complimented by Crowley, too.

Anyways, Ferid has gotten more powerful after this. What would happen next? Is it all enough to beat Rigr? What happened to Yuu-chan and Mika?

Not gonna lie, I didn't know who to root for now that I know more about Ferid and Rigr. They both have people that are counting on them to win. And there's Guren and Shinoa as well. Ultimately, I of course want Yuu-chan and Mika to win this entire war as their goal will benefit everyone.

But despite that, it doesn't mean I want to see anyone else die or disappear right now. I've honestly gotten attached to so many characters these last couple of chapters. I didn't think I'd feel this way cause I hated or felt indifferent to many of them two years ago before I took a break from reading this manga. I didn't know I'd come back to this! I feel like I did the right thing in taking a break when I did.

By the way... Ferid also ate Lest Karr, right? Where the fuck was he? Come on, you're not even giving him that? Poor guy. No screentime til the end.

Yuu-chan and Mika are ready to fight. Guren and his team are, too. Guren tells them it doesn't matter how many die so long as someone survives to reach their goal since they can revive the dead later.

Man, total difference between Yuu's "no one gets sacrificed".

Yuu asks Saito for help but unfortunately, someone else arrives. Ferid peeks from a corner and greets his dad.

Oh my god, their faces! The contrast is so funny!

Saito tells Yuu that now that the two of them have taken up the role of doing what the First had failed to do, they must give it their all and kill without hesitation. They share a sort of high five! Nice!

They both deal with their own enemies. Yuu charges at Guren's team and uses Mika's sword to destroy Shinya's shot. Yuu faces against an illusion of Guren while Raimeki gets activated and the ceiling falls apart.

The other members of Guren's team attack and hit Yuu in the legs while Guren triggers an explosion. Yuu gets affected by the illusion of losing his arms and while they know it's not real, Yuu still can't use his arms like this.

Mika himself tries to fight Guren but that one turned out to be another illusion. Kureto seem to be about to attack Yuu-chan and Mika notices something is off. He soon realizes that they're actually only dealing with one enemy and everyone else is an illusion - the rest of Guren's squad is actually after Saito.

Looks like Mika got bamboozled cause Guren is actually right behind him! The rest of Guren's team follows and Guren is going to seal Mika. Mika tosses a sword to Yuu-chan but Yuu-chan is still affected by the illusion. So Yuu-chan uses the power of darkness to turn all the illusions off.

Yuu could use his arms again and was able to get Mika's sword and call him back as well. He says it took a while to cast the spell since he's not used to it yet.

Two of them against an entire team and Mika has been half sealed. They know it's not gonna be easy with Guren and the others able to use illusions. They have speed and power but they don't know how to deal with multiple enemies working against them at once. Trying to seal Mika might get them trapped as well. No other choice but to regroup with Saito.

Yuu-chan chats with Guren a bit as a little distraction. Also, apparently Yuu was taught how to use illusions back then too but just wasn't paying attention. Dammit, Yuu-chan! That would've been a totally useful thing to know all this time!

The two tried to run but Mahiru is already there waiting.

I love the dynamic between these three. They've been friends for a long time and it shows. It's like Mahiru is the weird one when they're together like how Ferid is the weird one when he's there instead of Shinya lol.

These three are gonna try to trick Saito as well, it seems. Shinya splits off with them for a while to do his role.

But Guren is keeping a secret from everyone. If he does the ritual, he's become immortal while Mahiru becomes a demon that would haunt him forever. She asks if Guren is okay with it and even suggest getting together with one of the girls in his team so he can taste love before dying as human.

Guren tells her that he's prepared for his punishment and he's ready to go to hell together with her.

By "taste love", does she mean what I think she means?

This reminds me of Yuu and Mika chapters ago when they were first told that Mika would have to be sacrificed. Mika tells Yuu-chan to let him die and even suggested that Yuu-chan get together with Shinoa and live peacefully which Yuu-chan declines as he'd rather die with Mika.

Guren and Yuu had always had similarities. Like father-figure like son.

That image of Guren and Mahiru walking together just looks like they're about to go on a date. It looks too peaceful for what's actually about to happen.

Rigr and Ferid are still fighting one another. Rigr calls Ferid Mr. Philistine again like when they first met.

---

How many characters here would choose to die with their important person rather than continue to live without them? So many, it seems. Tragic and heartwarming at the same time.

I'm sorry, it was so difficult trying to follow that battle! Trying to write down what's happening is so hard. I write fanfics and hate writing fight scenes cause I really have trouble explaining and describing the actions.

I'm guessing the Mahiru that trapped Yuu-chan there was a fake too and the real Guren, Mahiru and Shinya are actually on their way to Saito the entire time? Ugh, even I'm getting confused cause of the illusions! I guess I'd figure out what's going on next chapter.

I wonder where the Shinoa Squad is now though. It's gonna get messier once they arrive.

That's kinda fast. I thought they'd show us more of that memory place within, I assume, is the sun. But Mika's done with the analysis! Yuu-chan also knows how to use the spell that's been bound to his past self. I guess he remembers now.

Yuu-chan thinks that what's needed to cast the spells the First Progenitor gave them are: the power of darkness that the First created, the power of light stored within angel Mikaela, and the sinful keys.

Now they're trying to figure out how to go about all this. I'm surprised Yuu-chan is the one making the plan now and not Mika but I'm happy about it. He's not that dumb all the time (plus, maybe he got some of his past life braincells back after all the memories they had gotten).

They first have to use the spell to hide the Earth so that when they revive angel Mikaela, the angels from Paradise won't suddenly come in and kill them all.

Mika asks if it would really work cause if not, they could end up destroying the world instead. Yuu-chan jokes that technically, the world is already destroyed anyways lol. Not joking this time, he says that he plans on saving everyone without anymore sacrifice so if he fails this, he's giving it up. Mika agrees with him.

Yuu-chan plans to use the spell with the power of darkness to hide them but Mika asks if Yuu-chan would be able to with just 30% of the First's power. And it made Yuu-chan think...

Shinoa can tell Yuu is thinking about them and says she's on her way to save him (from what though, I do wonder cause Yuu... isn't really trapped anywhere?). Yuu says he needs the 80% from Shinoa, actually.

Mika asks if Shinoa would help them and Yuu-chan says, "Maybe cause we are friends...?". Mika reminds him that if he fails, he'd end up burning like the First did back then. Mika knows that since like him, Shinoa also cares a lot about Yuu-chan, she probably won't want to help with something so risky.

Yuu-chan then tells him that when he was thinking about the rest of the power he needed, he can feel Shinoa reading his thoughts and he had to cut that off. He's worried now that it seems Shinoa had gotten pretty powerful.

Haha Mika doesn't really disagree with Shinoa as he knows they both just wants what's best for Yuu-chan.

Yuu-chan tells him again that they're gonna save everyone! Mika says that's kinda greedy and Yuu-chan asks if he's okay with the other Hyakuya childred staying dead and Mika gives an immediate "no". However, when Yuu-chan points out that they also have to bring back the First Progenitor and the other vampires, Mika's response is "Who cares about them?" lol.

Then Yuu-chan says he also wants to bring Mika back.

Mika says that technically, that "Mika" is actually "Yuu".

With the First Progenitor's memories with him now, Yuu-chan is able to realize some things. Like how he and Mika are kinda blended together. So they're both "Mika" and "Yuu" which means that resurrecting "Mikaela" would wake both of them up.

The first part of that reminds me of the "Yuu (you) and Mika (me)" jokes that fandom was making back in the day. And the fuck is that logic? It feels like it makes sense but also feels like some loophole they wanna abuse lol.

So here's the plan: Power of Darkness = Hide earth from Paradise, Seven Sinful Keys = Resurrect angel Mikaela, Power of Light in Mikaela = Save everybody else...

...and then using the power of the angels, they spend the next 1000 years building a tower to destroy Paradise!

That went from 0 to 100 real quick.

The first part sounds reasonable then he hit us with that tower shit! It's the most Yuu-chan thing I've heard in this chapter lol.

Mika is shocked at this as well and thinks it's too much and he doesn't wanna do that last one. Yuu-chan says Guren might though and Mika says Guren only wants humanity to be saved.

Mika says the experiments already done to control Seraph of the End (Yay! Title drop!) could help with the risk of being punished for resurrecting humanity but bringing the angels back might still get them wiped out and Guren would be against that. Especially since Guren already screwed up before.

Mika then says he thinks Guren and the First have the similar look in their eyes as if they're carrying the weight of the world. Yuu-chan agrees cause those two do look like they know they screwed up.

Those two tried and failed but Yuu-chan still wants to try to save the worlds!

Mika says these are the three factions: Shinoa Squad (the zero risk tolerance group), Guren's Team (moderate risk is okay), and Yuu and Rigr (the pain-in-the-butt hero-wannabe duo).

He didn't mention it but while Ferid is with Team Guren, he does look like he has his own thing going on so we might have a group 4 in our hands here. Maybe. But since Rigr's goal is to turn all vampires back to human and let them die as one, maybe they can persuade Ferid to just joining them. Another maybe.

Anywho, Yuu-chan points out that this is the first time they've devoured the First Progenitor after thousands of years being reborn so this might be their best chance.

And Yuu-chan adds that if they fail, they'll all just die. But this time, he gets to die together with Mika.

God... this is just what Guren told Mahiru a few chapter ago. And what Urd wanted to do with Rigr (although Rigr did promise he'd follow soon).

Awww....

Mika says someone as cheery as Yuu-chan might just pull it off and then says quietly that Yuu-chan has always been there to lift him up.

Aaaah... that reminds me of what Urd thought of Rigr! I feels like I'm being hit in the feels repeatedly!

Since Mika said the last part quietly, he just tells Yuu-chan that he thinks the latter is stupid. Yuu-chan points out he wasn't being stupid lately. That, I agree with! He was being surprisingly smart recently (it's the angel Mikaela braincells he probably got back haha).

Yuu-chan shows Mika that he can now suppress Mika's curse using the First's powers! Shinoa did this for the others on her end as well a couple of chapters back. Oh and Yuu-chan says he's become smarter probably cause he devoured the First. So, I guess it's not just his past life smarts he got back.

Saito wants to change locations so they gotta go now. They wonder how things would go with Guren and Ferid out there. It seems these two also know Ferid devouring other vampires. I wonder if they found out through the First's memories or if they deduced it cause Yuu-chan and Shinoa did devour the First Progenitor to get stronger, too?

Heck yeah, let's fucking go! Yuu-chan is ready to make his first move soon!

It seems Yuu-chan was asleep this entire time. He's now gonna show Rigr their new power. And ooooh, outfit change! Almost the same as before but looks just a bit fancier this time. I still think Krul's weapon outfit change was the best out of the three we've been shown.

Guren's here! Yuu-chan asks him to confirm if his dream is to resurrect humanity. Guren says yes and ask Yuu for help but Yuu just says they're enemies now.

I guess Yuu-chan isn't explaining his goal to Guren since the guy might say no.

---

Alright! I guess Yuu-chan and Mika are gonna join the battle now.

This entire chapter is just Mika and Yuu making a big plan and it was entertaining! Sometimes I feel like I can follow along and then the leaps in logic come in making me go "Wait, huh???". As expected of these two!

Oh my god, the parallels though! Why are you doing this to me? Is this all foreshadowing to what would happen to Mika and Yuu-chan? I love that Yuu-chan would be happy even if they fail so long as he's with Mika no matter what. I have, years ago, also thought that maybe things would end with them dying together but my theory back then was more depressing compared to how optimistic Yuu-chan's own idea of it is.

So many characters wants to do what they think is right cause they want to save everyone but in the worst case scenario, all they want was to be with the most important person to them. Guren and Mahiru, Rigr and Urd, and of course, Mika and Yuu-chan. Oh and Ashera and Krul even if Ashera isn't here to say it anymore.

Shinoa probably also feels that way about Yuu. Mitsuba agreeing to be Shinoa's rival if it meant Shinoa has a reason to live counts too, right? I'm betting Shinya probably thinks the same with Guren, too.

Hey, Author! Give me some KimiYoi so I can get a bingo!

Oh, they can do that? I assumed they're collecting the keys for the ritual and, cause of last chapter, they can use the keys on their own but still have them on hand. What do they mean by infused? Was the key absorbed or something? Can't be, right? Cause they need those keys as itself.

Anyways, that shot across the area was strong and it nearly hit the Shinoa Squad who are running towards the direction of where the shot is targeted. Shinoa told the rest to get down on time. I'm guessing they're on their way to the Progenitors' current HQ to get Yuu.

The attack is about to hit them and Rigr asked Urd if the latter was fine with dying without accomplishing anything. Urd tried to use the sinful key for real this time and gets stopped with chains. Rigr takes Urd's hand that had the key.

Rigr grabs onto Urd, key in hand and activates it.

Okay, what does this--????

It's a shounen manga so it's about friendship, right? Don't bait me, man! That previous chapter flashback was starting to make me ship them seriously, too.

Also, what was Urd going to say??? Aaaaaaaah!!!

The events resulted in a large explosion and Yuu asks Mika the question the others have been asking these last couple of chapters: "What do you think we're alive for?"

Flashback of Rigr and Urd as children again after they successfully escaped. Rigr is super happy while Urd is being pessimistic and wondering how they'd survive on their own. Rigr tells him they'd do what they can - they can fish and if they can't, then they can steal.

Rigr then tells him about his old tutor who told him that the point of studying is to learn the meaning of life. He then asked Urd what he thinks is the meaning of life and Urd's answer was that there's probably none.

Rigr then says they can search for it... together.

Urd then thought that since Rigr never gave up no matter what, his dream is now to end Rigr's sufferring.

Damn! I wonder how bad the flashbacks were when Ky Luc asked Urd those questions. I'm sure Urd never forgot about Rigr but he was probably reminded of him strongly when he dealt with Ky.

It's an interesting and kind of heartwarming little chain, wasn't it? Urd who lost hope was given some by Rigr and he now dreams of doing something for his friend. Then Ky who didn't really have much reason to live aside from his promise to his mother got inspired by Urd and then decided to live helping Urd reach his dream.

It didn't end well for them, I'm afraid. It's pretty sad.

Urd tries to fight back in the end to take Rigr with him so they could die together but Rigr blocked the attack. He accepts his it in the end and apologizes to his friend. Rigr promises he'd follow him someday.

Okay, so which of them said they're becoming a demon? I'm confused.

But awww.... even when they don't get along, their end goal has always involved each other. Live or die but at least together. Even if one of them would get there late.

I guess Rigr has declared this current battle a three-way family fight between him (the father) vs. Ferid (the vampire "son") vs. Guren (someone built with his DNA) to find the meaning of life. Technically though, it's a two way since Guren and Ferid are in cahoots.

Rigr was able to deflect the attack. Ferid was watching the little fight between Rigr and Urd and saw Urd get turned and was disappointed he can't eat Urd now. Too bad, Ferid... you can't get them all. Althought I honestly thought it'd be a battle between Ferid and Shinoa and didn't see this coming.

I'm guessing Guren gave Shinya another of those drugs. He's warned that too much could kill Shinya but Guren tells them they're gonna have to give it their all this time, even if it costs them their lives.

Guren injects himself a shot too and Kureto asked for one as well.

Please tell me those are different syringes and they're not just sharing one.

Guren's group's goal is to collect the keys and steal Mikaela to bring humanity back to life. Although it seems they don't know if it truly would work since they got no proof. (Also, they still don't know about the Yuu-Mika switch lol)

Mahiru tells them not to worry cause it would work out since she's a genius. Their reactions though haha! it seems even Guren has this reaction and he's her boyfriend.

The rest of Guren's team/friends have no objections. They'd hang out after all this if they survive.

Shinya gets ready for another attack but Saito looks like he's ready to fight back as well.

And Shinya takes a shot.

---

Damn, another emotional chapter. Rigr really is like Yuu with all these important connections and people making decisions cause of him. Rigr and Urd's relationship really is like Yuu's and Mika's. Although I do wish Mika and Yuu ends up having it better than those two did.

Ferid didn't get to eat one of the progenitors! Urd was a high ranker, too. The only progenitor left, if I remember correctly, is just Rigr himself. So I guess that's the end of Ferid's little feast. Would he eat Rigr too though? I mean he probably would since their end goal is the ritual.

Also, Urd has become a demon or was he turned and then killed? Would he show up again? Why did Rigr even do that? Is he gonna use Urd's demon form to get stronger himself? I'm curious!

The Shinoa Squad is on their way so this battle is about to get more chaotic!

I'm excited to see the next part.

The Progenitors are under attack and Lest volunteers to deal with it. They also talked about Ky as they all knew something already happened to the guy. Urd says it's best they see what their enemies do first which made Rigr ask if this means Urd doubts Lest could win. Lest says he's a third progenitor and won't be careless. He then goes to the shrine entrance with his men to confront the enemy.

Okay! Lest Karr in the spotlight, finally? Backstory soon?!

I was wondering if it's Shinoa or Ferid that had come to fight. It's Ferid! I'm sure the Shinoa Squad might be on the way too since they're gonna be looking for Yuu who is also around here.

Oh, I forgot to say that according to Rigr, Mika and Yuu-chan are busy doing the research for the spells. I can't believe I'm using the word "research" anywhere near Yuu-chan as it's a rare thing to happen haha.

Are we getting flashback all of a sudden? Also... is this Paradise in the sun?! Are you serious?! Holy fuck! If it is the case then no wonder vampires burn in the sun - they're being punished by those Paradise and the sun is their base.

Mika and Yuu-chan are in the First Progenitor's memories again. And I think this time, Mika is manifesting in it as Angel Mikaela. Mika is doing all the work with figuring things out as Yuu-chan isn't able to but Yuu-chan is doing his best to eat a bunch so that Mika has enough energy to do all this. Mika then sees something floating in the distance and decides to check it out.

Anways, are they in the sun? Please, I'm so confused! wtf?!

I guess this is still part of the memory world. Sika Madu is talking to someone...

Damn, we're jumping from place to place here.

In the real world, Rigr is checking out the spells Yuu provided. Rigr says he's studying it to catch up to their Father and also since this spell was made to save them. Urd says it's pointless with their father dead and said father made this to massage his own ego and not to save them. He says it's not Rigr's job to complete it and Rigr responds by saying it is now. lol

Rigr, even as Paimon, has always been loyal to the First. I guess that hasn't changed even if he doesn't remember his past life.

Rigr asks what Urd would want as a job and Urd says his job starts once Rigr is no longer around although he won't specify what that is.

Okay, Urd isn't that loyal to the First but he is loyal to the vampires as he takes his responsibility seriously and he is also, in a way, loyal to Rigr himself. His main goal is to turn them all back to human so they can die but what does that have to do with Rigr? Why is Rigr being here make him unable to do his job?

Their discussion gets interrupted by Yuu who is asking for more food. Rigr orders one of his men to give Yuu a nutrition shot but they're warned that more of it might kill Yuu. Rigr asks if Yuu is going to let himself die now that they'd come so far and Yuu happily answers that he's not gonna die cause they're gonna save the world!

It still sounds so silly! We're getting regular shounen speech in a kind of dark story. Oh and Yuu was given the shot. I guess this would be an easier way to power Yuu up and they also probably don't have enough food to feed this kid.

There's another attack - this time from above as Ferid is attacking from underground. This new enemy is either Guren's team or the Shinoa Squad. I'm betting the former since Ferid is down there.

Urd is asked by Rigr to deal with the new arrivals but Urd is not convinced it's a good idea to split up. He's also worried that Rigr would betray them. I can't blame Urd as, from what we have seen, Rigr likes abandoning people lol.

Rigr tells him there won't be a betrayal and Urd agrees to fight the humans.

Sike! Urd takes this opportunity to steal the sinful key. He activates it ans asks it to sever the First Progenitor's curse. Yuu seems to have gotten killed cause of this and Rigr angrily tells him they needed Yuu for the future. Urd says Rigr would never say that...

Bamboozled again! Urd wasn't able to get the key after all. Also, Yuu is still eating while watching all this go down lol.

Rigr asked what Urd is after as their goals could align but Urd says that's never been the case.

A childhood flashback appears! Urd is getting weaker while Rigr encourages him to not give up yet and there's chance for a better life if they survive.

Further flashback of their first meeting! And Rigr used to be a noble before becoming a slave. We're they all nobles before all this? Let's see: Ferid was a prince, Ashera and Krul were nobles, Ky was the son of a minor lord. How about Urd? Was he also rich before this?

Anways, first thing Rigr asked is if Urd has an escape plan. Urd doesn't as he doesn't think it's possible since others died from doing things they shouldn't. Rigr said they can if they tried! He declares that they're now friends and they'll be working together to escape.

They're like a mix of Mika and Yuu-chan when they were kids. Kinda cute!

Back in the present, the two are still kind of arguing about this but they're interrupted again - this time by their new enemy from not so far away - Guren and Shinya.

Guren tells Shinya not to hit Yuu and that their goal is only to wear down the vampires (probably since they're gonna feed those guys to Ferid).

Oh come on! Did Ferid already beat and eat Lest? That was it? I feel bad for Lest. Even Ky Luc who was introduced a bit later was given a better treatment - backstory and emotional death!

I guess this is happening!

With the First Progenitor gone, they're the only ones left for the human army to deal with.

---

I'm disappointed! I thought they'd at least give Lest more screentime now that things are about to end. The other progenitors are being given their time to shine and have backstories shown!

Well, Lest has it better than Tenjiryuu who never got story importance outside of being the demon in Mitsuba's axe. Things could be worse.

Kid Rigr and Urd are so cute! Young Rigr had the determination of kid Yuu and the friendliness of kid Mika. Young Urd has the antisocialness of kid Yuu and the seriousness of teen Mika. And they're also a duo! More complicated than that of Mika and Yuu who are close. Definitelty interesting to see what happens next.

We're back to that flashback in Greece and Ferid seem to have had his men ask around about the vampire rumor and then killing people who answered. I dunno what his goal is but it sure is crappy.

Oh and the translation is back to "Bathory". Someone might've made a mistake last time or they thought they could change it suddenly for some reason.

Anywho, Ferid is reading up on writings from different parts of the world and they're all about the meaning of life. He still hasn't found a proper answer. His main goal is to find a way to completely vanish (the opposite of a certain information broker from Ikebukuro).

Ferid goes out to check on his men and the info they've gotten and so far, half the people they asked said the monster is real and half says it's just a rumor (these ones were probably scared to say it's true cause everyone who said it were killed though). It seems the answer didn't matter since it looks like they killed everyone anyways.

Some mysterious guy suddenly showed up asking Ferid to stop murdering the people.

Oh my god, I didn't recognize him cause of this looks cause I mostly see him in his current one but it's Rigr Stafford! He used to have lighter hair back then (same hair color he had as angel Paimon) which makes me realize he probably just dyes it all the time now. It's a weird thought for some reason.

Haha anyways, he ignores Ferid after this and just asked the surviving people what's going on. They tell him the enemies are looking for the immortal and without hesitation, Rigr says he's right here.

Ferid then had one of his men attack Rigr to see if it's real.

Rigr's reaction to this is to look at Ferid and determine that he has a potential to be part of the Mikaela Experiment. Anyways, why does his voice, hair, and (specifically, handsome) look matter as a criteria for this experiment? It makes it sound like you're looking for a model.

Okay, never mind that! Rigr was able to block the attack and his power was strong enough to destroy his surroundings making Ferid have his men retreat. Only them though as Ferid intends to stay as he's curious about the immortal. His worried subordinate says he might get killed and Ferid just tells him everyone dies so he's practically dead. Good enough answer for them to leave.

Ferid asks Rigr for the meaning of life - specifically his life and why he's alive. Rigr calls him a philosopher but can't exactly answer Ferid's question as he only knows why he's alive. Rigr says he wants to save someone. Ferid then calls him a philistine and Rigr says everyone is like that cause they're humans.

Wait... did he describe himself as human? Well, Urd did say there's another person besides Ky who didn't lose themself after vampirism.

He cuts off Ferid's head without warning. Ferid's head is still alive for this brief moment and Rigr offers him some blood in order to live. That is if Ferid want to.

Ferid then realized he's actually scared of dying.

He accepts and lets himself get turned. Rigr laughs and says Ferid now has centuries to ponder about life if he wants to as he won't die anymore.

Flashback timeskip to a century after Ferid got turned. We're shown the experiments and Ferid is part of it. There's so many suffering head in a jar! Ferid asked how long he'd be stuck there and Rigr is surprised that not only does Ferid still remember his name, he hasn't broken yet either unlike the other test subjects.

Ferid has been stuck as a head in a jar for a century and for that long has been the only one still conversing with Rigr. He asks again how long til this ends and Rigr admits he had failed a long time ago and can't make "Mikaela" with his methods then apologizes to Ferid as his situation is now meaningless, too. Ferid says he's fine as he wasn't looking for a meaning to his life anyways.

Oh and Ferid now refers to Rigr as "Father". Interesting, I wonder when that started? Is it an automatic when it comes to vampires or do they talk about how that should be the case?

Rigr leaves and Ferid asks if he would come back. He said yes but he lied and abandoned them. Damn, Rigr just keeps abandoning people! He left these guys and also Urd and the other vampires.

Ferid spends 20 years trying to break the jar he's in with just using his head. I did not see this coming. He just... reconstructs the rest of him from his head. I thought Rigr kept the body somewhere but nope! They're all just talking heads. Oh and he mentions that it took 50 years to regrow his entire body. Man, that's gotta be boring as fuck.

The last shot is that of the present day where Ferid is getting ready for the final battle. Probably against his father.

---

I know there'd be some little gore here in the story but I was surprised by Ferid's head regrowing his nerves and then the rest of him. Creepy.

So that's Ferid's backstory on how he became a vampire. I'm guessing that wasn't in the Mikaela LN? I think the rest of Crowley's backstory is in that though from what I saw shared on here years ago.

I'm happy I'm not missing out on a lot of things cause I assumed a lot of the backstory would be in the LN and wouldn't be covered in the manga anymore. I wish I had those novels but they're costly, especially since they're not being sold in my country and there'd be shipping fee as well if I tried to order it. It's also in dollars *sigh*

I wonder if that's all the backstory on Ferid or if there's still more? Also, this one doubles as a Rigr flashback!

Crowley saw all that flashback right? Hmm... I'm excited for his comment if there's any!

The trio felt it. If these three did then Urd most likely did, too.

Mahiru wonders what had happened and Ferid accused her and Guren of planning this so that Ferid can't get too powerful. After all, they'd have trouble dealing with Ferid after all is said and done. Mahiru denies the accusation as they need Ferid to be strong and they didn't even have a plan against Ky Luc.

Ferid attacks Guren to prove a point. They can't handle him now and they definitely wouldn't later especially if Ferid decides to betray them. Mahiru and Guren doesn't believe him since they know he needs them to win against more powerful vampires.

Oh man, Ferid is messing with them. He definitely knows that it was Shinoa who got Ky. Still, their current discussion is valid cause what happens after they reach their goal? It seems Guren and Mahiru have a bit more trust in Ferid than he thought even though it's only cause of their mutual benefit in this collaboration.

Oh, we get a little flashback! They seem to have experimented on Ferid at the Moon Demon Company's mansion in order to make him able to eat other vampires. They have the tech for all that after all since they also experimented on Mahiru and Shinoa back in the day.

(Oooh ooh ooh... another Ferid - Shinoa similarity???)

Anyways, Ferid could still turn into a demon through eating the others. He's strong enough now to not have that happen immediately but it's still a huge possibility once he devours the really high ranking progenitors.

I guess one of the scientist (?) was on patrol and found Ferid. The guy seem to know about Ferid so I guess the whole thing wasn't even a huge secret. Ferid threatens the guy into answering his questions about his new body especially if there's anything the others are keeping a secret from him.

So the collaboration with Ferid was well-known info to some of the higher-ups and those working on the experiments in the Demon Army (well, not too high up or Sika Madu would've known about all this). It wasn't just Guren and Mahiru's personal project but it seems they're definitely the mastermind behind it and the ones who are more hands on with it since they're directly working with Ferid.

Mahiru and Guren had already put a curse on Ferid just in case he betrays them. Ferid asks them if it does work and tries it out by attacking Guren again. Mahiru activates the first part and Guren the next. And now Ferid is suffering.

The others have arrived!

Mahiru also lets Ferid know that the researcher he interrogated didn't have as much info cause Mahiru knew this might happen. Mahiru hurts Ferid more to teach him a lesson.

lol The others saw it and are giving commentary. They do not want to suffer Ferid's punishment just cause he did something stupid. Ferid tells them to shut up cause it's making him up upset and Crowley points out that Ferid looks happy actually. Ferid admits he actually finds this fun.

I don't know how to feel right now. Ferid just looks so happy. Like a regular kid happy and not the creepy "I'm being an ass on purpose" happy. I'm not sure how real what he says is cause maybe he's putting up a front but it's still strange to see him like this. I'm used to him acting like a troll.

Guren makes Ferid promise to follow their orders and not pull a stunt like that again. Ferid says yes as he'd rather not be turned into a demon and also, whatever they're gonna do is gonna mess with his "Daddy Dearest" (which I guess is Rigr who turned him). He's let go and he comments how much horrible being turned into a demon is compared to getting hit with sunlight.

He looks at all of the humans around him and thinks to himself that these group is just as messed up as he is.

It seems they only got 10 days to finish their plan and reach their goal. I wonder why 10 days? What happens in 10 days? Oh and making the others go to that specific hotel had a purpose as important paperwork was there and it gave Shinya and the others the info they need before they burned it all.

And Ferid doesn't know what those materials were. Ooooh....

Hmph! If Guren and his friends are discussing their secrets then Ferid has his own... friends??? too! Hahaha

Crowley will look into Ferid for answers since the latter won't say anything. I'm sorry, out of context, the convo on the above panels sounds... questionable. Or maybe I'm just a CrowFeri shipper and I'm being delusional. ¯\(ツ)_/¯

Anyways, Ferid warns Crowley again cause Ferid has eaten so many vampires, it's not just his memories that Crowley will find, it's a bunch of other people's, too. It might end up being too much for Crowley.

Ferid likens this to everyone (all 400+ vampires he's eaten) merging with each other which is pretty powerful. You know, that sounds kinda familiar to me (*Cruel Angels Thesis starts playing in the background*)

By the way, young Ferid is a pretty boy. I think he's cute like this unlike his older look which is... punchable (with that attitude of his added in).

Crowley says he doesn't care about the potential side effects as he finds Ferid interesting.

Flashback time! This time, it's the middle of Ancient Rome's invasion of Ancient Greece. The war between two forces is happening. Ferid... Bartley is the Vice Commander leading one of the groups to victory.

Why Bartley? It's probably spelled the same as "Bathory" in Japanese. Did he change his last name for this? Or was someone else translating this one? Based on the credits, it seems it's the same people working on the other chapters though.

One of the other soldier praises Ferid and says he could be promoted if he wanted. Like Ky Luc in his own flashback, Ferid also doesn't care about that. He has something else he wants.

Ferid wants to see the infamous vampire.

It says below this that this is 25 year old Ferid Bartley. Did they just suddenly decide to change the translation for his name? The ones working on this are definitely still the same people who worked on the other chapters which used "Bathory". I wonder if there'd be an explanation next chapter?

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The Ferid flashbacks aren't over. He has more secrets to tell and this time, Crowley will be the one to uncover them.

Okay, so I only lowkey sort of shipped CrowFeri back then as my main OTPs for this fandom are MikaYuu, KimiYoi, and Shinsuba but these past couple of chapters with their interactions just sold it to me. It's pretty good!

How many splits would it be if everyone who has their own separate goal went off on their own? Cause man, most of the collabs are held on by a thread! Makes it more exciting though! With how nice Yuu-chan can be, I wonder how strong his collaboration with the Progenitors would be? He and Mika planned on acting and tricking them but Yuu-chan can get attached.

It seems Ky is no match for Shinoa when she uses the First's power. Saying it out loud makes Ky wonder what's going on.

I was half right! Shinoa is gonna devour the other vampires but also turn them into cursed gear. Haha really, the similarities to Ferid doesn't end as in Ferid's case Ky would've been eaten and turned into a demon (well, it's not that far from cursed gear as those are demons too but cursed gears are more specific). This whole thing is on purpose, I tell ya! There must be some narrative reason for it. It's just so blatant now.

Ky pleads with them and says he can't die now that he has a dream. Shinoa doesn't care for the dreams of a vampire who has killed humans though.

As he's struggling, he remembered his mother asking him to become strong and keep living and then Urd telling Ky of his dream. Urd wants to die an actual death as vampires could also just turn into demons and continue on. He just wants to die like a human.

Urd says in his many, many years of living, he realized humans live so they can die and that's what makes their lives shine.

Wow, that kinda reminds me of Ferid and his older brother's talk earlier about life.

Urd's goal was to turn them all back into humans so they can die like one.

And Ky's reason for living changed from becoming strong to just wanting to make Urd's dream come true.

Aww... that's so touching! I'm not gonna lie, I now have trouble deciding who to root for with all these different groups. At the moment, I'm rooting for Ky.

Ky struggles and tries to stop himself from becoming a demon to no avail. He starts calling out for Lord Urd and then his mother.

Shinoa tells Mitsuba he'd turn Ky into a weapon for her. I feel so bad for Mitsuba's demon cause not only did Tenjiryuu never get enough screentime nor been shown in human form, now they can be replaced, too by a named character.

Absorbing Ky's memories is starting affect Shinoa. Mitsube hugs her from behind for support and then holds her hand. Then the boys join in, too.

You can't make me not ship ShinMitsu now! What was that?! Hahahaha

Poor Ky has been turned. It seems Urd has felt it though.

Mitsuba now has a new cursed gear. I don't know what that is and what it does though. I wonder if Ky still has his memories and all since he was strong enough to not lose himself when he turned into a vampire and lived for a long time. I wanna see his dynamic with Mitsuba and maybe if we're lucky, Tenjiryuu would finally be shown as well.

Shinoa says she now also knows what Urd Rigr are thinking. And she also now knows where they can find Yuu.

---

Oh my god! He didn't get to live for long but Ky's death was more emotional than I thought it would be. He did become important even if briefly. His death was also significant to the plot as it helped Shinoa gain new information.

This makes me wonder if the others will get the same treatment as well. We already saw bits and pieces of Rigr and Urd's backstories so I guess Lest Karr is next? He was introduced before Ky, if I remember correctly but he still hasn't been given enough significant screentime.

I'm glad Mitsuba is getting more screentime now compared to back then and it's all with Shinoa! Those are really sweet moments. They have more chemistry with each other than they do with Yuu! I'm being fed right now lol.

I already know there's a high chance of Yuu ending up with Shinoa from the start and I've been trying to brace myself for that since 2015 but it's gonna hurt so bad when it happens. Two of my OTPs would crash and burn all at once.