Beetle Sludge
14. Saving Grace
In the end, those girls become his saving grace.
It's Chloe's idea. He's good at seeing the potential in people and things so maybe he can rescue those three girls about to be kicked out of the school.
He manages it, even with Yuri playing the devil's advocate. And he does wind up giving away too much of himself in the process but he doesn't regret it.
Better than saving an ignorant populace, better than saving the friends he cherishes most in the world, is being able to pass on what he's learnt for others to take up the torch.
Now he understands why Yuri with her sword was so painful.
But now he's fought, and he's used the power of the devil beetles too many times and he's falling apart in a way that he can't hide anymore. And these friends, old and new, won't allow him to hide.
He sees their pitying gazes. They know they're looking at a dying man. But the only thing that would make him feel more fulfilled would be to stop the devil beetles once and for all.