Its been four days since Alex began plotting the demise of Terumi and his allies. He's been puzzling together who is involved and what their weaknesses are, if they even have any, in the case of the Imperator.
Rachel checks up on him, worried he's making himself into a statue atop her castle.
Alex has finally worked out a plan to deal with all their enemies, but they're going to need to first gather up some allies.
Rachel's coming along only to observe, as she loves to watch a train wreck unfold. Alex accepts her taunt, as he plans to prove her wrong.
Though Valkenhayn has his objections, Rachel's calmness holds him back. Alex needs his help anyways.
However, even to Shina, Alex refuses to divulge his full plan yet. They need to make preparations, and their first stop is Kokonoe's lab.
Naturally upon arriving they find the scientist walking in and trying to just brush off their appearance. She's naturally annoyed at Rachel for dropping Alex and Shina into her room and wonders what their deal is.
Alex takes the lead and starts negotiating with Kokonoe, forgoing their bad encounter in the past to offer up the chance to end Terumi.
Though Kokonoe obviously has plans upon plans prepared to deal with the snaky bastard, she's not fully prepared for the other allies at his disposal.
But she doesn't want to accept Alex's help to do it, especially not regarding Nine the Phantom, who is her mom brought back from the dead.
However Alex sweetens the deal by offering to teach her how to use elemental energy. As a scientist, even she can't exactly refuse that...But she'll only stick around until he does one thing stupid.
That's fine with Alex. But now, they need to go somewhere else, as Sector Seven is kind of bugged.
Kokonoe has the best place in mind...The Yabiko NOL HQ, run by Colonel Kagura Mutsuki, who is secretly a defector in the NOL ranks and Kokonoe's contact.
So with her science, Kokonoe teleports them right outside his office door.
They first run into Kagura's assistant, Captain Hibiki. Hibiki, familiar with who Kokonoe is, is surprised to find her here in the flesh wanting Kagura's attention.
But right now Kagura's in the middle of some...lecherous goofing off. Hibiki takes great pleasure interrupting his fun-time and, after breaking his window so his newest squeeze can flee, Kagura scurries to the door to answer.
He's also surprised by the presence of Kokonoe, Rachel and Valkenhayn. He also briefly becomes enamored by Shina's beauty, though Alex literally gives him the cold shoulder in response.
Kagura then recognizes the seriousness of the moment, but Kokonoe defers to Alex to explain what's going on.
Inside Kagura's office, Alex talks about the encounter with Nu and Terumi, along with the danger of the artifact pieces. The information lines up with what Kagura heard, but there's something that he needs to confirm...If he can trust Alex to begin with.
After all, Alex is a wanted criminal with the same rank as Ragna. Maybe this whole meeting is a ploy to get him to lower his guard, and he's exploiting Kokonoe to make it more believable.
Alex pulls Kagura aside and then brings up his coup, along with the truth about the true Imperator. Kagura then realizes that with this information, Alex could've just killed him easily right now if he was the enemy.
So Kagura decides to throw his hat into Alex's plan so the fake Imperator can get dealt with sooner.
With this down, Alex allows Kokonoe into Kagura's basement to his shock and bewilderment so she can set up a new lab, then asks her to get in contact with Tager along with a couple other things.
First thing Alex wants to do is get Noel and her friend, Makoto, to safety here.
Kokonoe eventually manages to get in contact with Tager and, through that connection, activates a portal that brings him, Noel and Makoto to their destination.
After a brief reunion with Kagura, involving some flirting and punching with Makoto, the two then say hello to Shina again.
They then head back upstairs to discuss further matters, though Makoto's confused why they're listening to Alex in the first place...
It makes a little more sense once Rachel's revealed to be involved, at the least.
After some shenanigans involving Shina showering around Alex and changing clothes, Makoto wonders why her and Noel were picked up specifically.
Shina opens her mouth about Tsubaki and awkwardly, Alex has to pull her aside and tell her that he uhhh...forgot all about Tsubaki being under the enemy's thrall.
But he can still work out a plan to make everyone happy, he's just going to have to recruit...Someone he would rather avoid.
And before anymore complications come up Alex brings up Litchi too, but fortunately, Shina pre-emptively put a lid on that problem. During the eight days Alex was out, Shina was able to convince Litchi not to go with Terumi's wishes.
So with Makoto and Noel now added to their ranks, the next person Alex wants to pick up is Ragna the Bloodedge...To Makoto's irritation and confusion.
To do that, Kokonoe's working on a tracking system. For now though, Makoto and Noel are free to wander around the HQ, so long as they do nothing to arouse suspicion.
In the middle of the night Alex has a chat with Kokonoe to pass the time. After giving her a decent cup of coffee to keep her going, they sort of relate a bit about their issues.
Kokonoe does throw some faint praise to Alex for grabbing Noel first, as it gave them an easy Nox Nyctores core to use in tracking down the others they might need.
But as far as Ragna goes, even with a bead on his Idea Engine, she needs more time to prepare the teleportation device.
Alex shortcuts things with the Gaia Temporis, with Kokonoe having this vague feeling she's being messed with.
Alex goes to meet with Ragna, who is also being followed by Tao. Ragna's not exactly happy to see Alex, as Rachel told him EVERYTHING, including what Alex did to him in other loops.
Needless to say when Alex says he has a "plan", Ragna just laughs and wants to keep moving.
Alex ends up drawing him back by bringing up Saya, and when Ragna comes charging he's as angry as a bull.
He's pissed that Alex and everyone else thinks they can just lord all their information over him, and treat him like a fucking puppet.
So for once, Alex decides to offer some clarity with some of the stuff he knows. Alex knows Saya's possessed by a demon, and this has left Ragna struggling on what to do about her.
Alex gets right to the point in recognizing how to save Saya...the only way, sadly, is to kill her. Ragna calls bullshit and believes in other methods. Alex calls him out, saying even he's already started to lose faith, and just wants to try and stop Saya alone.
But ultimately its Terumi responsible for all of Ragna's problems. So he can choose...go on his way and be forced to face his sister, or get revenge on the man who ruined his life in the first place.
Ragna chooses revenge, though he still has his doubts about Alex actually having a plan. Nevertheless, him and Tao follow Alex back to the Yabiko HQ, where he meets up with Kokonoe and then Kagura.
Kagura, of course, recognizes Ragna as the terrorist he is...But is going to control his emotions until they can finish Terumi off.
Tao's then freed to raid Kagura's kitchen, while Alex prepares to start recruiting the big guns...The Six Heroes.
While waiting for Kokonoe, Alex is hanging around in Kagura's office, much to his annoyance.
Kagura tries to push Alex to go talk with the others. Even if he finds them annoying, he can always stand to learn new experiences from them.
Alex doesn't get much time to consider that before Noel and Makoto come in per Kagura's request, so they can get their new clothes finally.
Then Kokonoe pops in, thankful that Noel's here already. On the way down to the basement Alex gets Noel up-to-date on the plan.
She then summons Bolverk into Kokonoe's new machine and with it, Kokonoe's able to figure out where the other Nox Nyctores users are.
Alex's immediate thought is to go after Jin and Jubei, who are together. Kokonoe's angry because she doesn't want to be around her deadbeat dad, but Alex manages to wiggle his way to their location before she can object further.
Alex's presence is immediately caught by Jin and Jubei during their training. Jubei recognizes Alex's power, while Jin's annoyed by him being here.
Alex is easily able to convince Jubei to come help since he already knew a bit about the artifact piece from Valkenhayn.
Jin, however, is fully convinced that following Alex's path will only lead to the collapse of the world's order.
Alex's plan will kill the Imperator, possibly, but in her absence a void will need to be filled and chaos will burn the world like a fire.
Alex tries to bring up Kagura's coup and the true Imperator, but it matters little. Jin looks at Alex and sees a destroyer, his presence is the pure anti-thesis of order.
Alex calls him out on being a dick and he doesn't even want to really work with him...But he knows that if there's one thing Jin cares about, its Tsubaki.
Jin hesitates, but then agrees to follow Jubei along only because "he needs to finish his training".
The two then follow Alex back to the HQ. Jubei and Kokonoe exchange some brief words, while Noel tries to greet Jin, who laughs at her pretending to be useful.
Alex gets him to back off and he just heads on upstairs, which of course leads to an inevitable encounter with Ragna and the two resuming their feud.
Meanwhile, Alex decides to make good on his promise early to owe up for Jubei's presence by explaining elemental energy to Kokonoe.
Alex then sighs, still believing this rag-tag group can get things done.
The next morning Shina joins up with Alex, feeling he's been avoiding her for a bit now. However, Alex isn't really in the mood to chat with her.
Fortunately Kokonoe pops up and manages to save his ass by bringing up the next part of their plan. She's found other Nox Nyctores' users, including Bang, Carl, and Platinum the Trinity.
Alex ignores Bang and Carl but has Kokonoe open up a portal close to Platinum, sending Shina through rather forcefully to recruit them.
With her out of the way he decides to go after Valkenhayn with the express intent to have him...teaching him how to cook all over again.
Valkenhayn respects Alex's humility and decides to appease his wishes. Rachel follows along, figuring she can get some amusement out of this.
Meanwhile Shina runs into Platinum the Trinity outside one of the Hierarchical Cities. Platinum has two siblings possessing his body, the docile boy Sena and the loud-mouthed shrewd Luna.
Luna immediately thinks negatively of Shina, mocking her height and big ass tits. Shina tries to be patient and explain that she needs their help...But realizes she neglected to ask Alex why.
Luna immediately whips out their Nox Nyctores, Muchorin, and uses its ability to create stuff to make their escape with Shina in hot pursuit.
Back at Yabiko, Alex is in the kitchen with Valkenhayn, first learning how to cut up vegetables. Hibiki winds up popping in to offer his expertise, the level of which surprising even Valkenhayn.
Then Kagura shows up, interested to see what Alex is up to. And then to make matters worse, Noel, Makoto and Tao are snooping on them too.
Alex tries to keep his cool, which is REALLY hard when Kagura blurts out that he's doing this for Shina. Nevertheless, Alex is determined to do this right despite the peanut gallery watching over his shoulders.
Rachel suggests Noel and Tao sit beside her and critique Alex's food, much to his dismay.
Meanwhile Shina continues to try and pursue the rampant Luna, who starts calling her a sex-crazed Shotacon. Shina starts losing her patience and prepares to spank the kid once she catches up.
However, upon remembering the third soul inside of Platinum's body, she comes up with a better solution. After tricking Luna into running into a wall to knock her out, Shina uses her aura to coax the soul of Trinity Glasfielle in control.
Trinity, being another of the Six Heroes and all, recognizes Shina's aura powers from Gabriel. She also knows about Terumi, regretting her hand in him still being alive.
She quickly understands why she's needed and shall gladly help, but first Shina will have to convince Luna to come along.
That's easier than it turns out to be actually, as Shina just finally decides to bring up Jubei and lie about him being in danger.
Luna's eventually worn down by Sena to go help Jubei, FINALLY following Shina back to Yabiko.
Alex hears of their return and breaks off from the kitchen to meet Platinum. Rachel takes a bite of Alex's meal, and compliments the effort more than the flavor.
Alex runs into Jubei and the two of them head to the basement...Where Luna proceeds to knock Alex out, believing he's the villain who kidnapped Jubei.
Jubei then has a reunion with the two kids and is glad they're ok.
Alex grumbles at this whole mess and Shina chuckles. At this point, there's only one person left to recruit...Hakumen.
A few hours later Alex plans to go it alone to meet him. Jubei offers his help, but Alex declines, saying this is something he HAS to do himself.
Alex finds the white warrior standing on a cliffside, not even bothering to hide that he senses Alex's presence.
Alex tries to approach him to help stop Terumi. Hakumen immediately declines, stating how he proved incapable of ending the snake before.
Alex cries out that its not his fault, but Hakumen chides him, noting how he's not the least bit faultless when it comes to the affairs on this world.
Alex defends his actions as just, stating how its bullshit that the Power of Order calls him a "destroyer" when he hasn't destroyed anything.
Yet Hakumen disagrees, noting how the "demon" responsible for the artifact's presence follows his every move.
Alex yells at Hakumen, stating how yeah, he's screwed up multiple times, but he's TRYING to correct his mistakes. If he was truly so reprehensible, then why would he want to save the world?!
Inadvertently, he reveals he's doing this not to disappoint Shina, and Hakumen finally understands what motivates him.
Hakumen imparts wisdom from his past as Jin about the tribulations of seeking redemption and purpose. He wants Alex to understand the weight of his blade and of his heart.
Hakumen tells him that he cannot make other people fight his war. All Alex wants, however, is to let him end HIS war.
Hakumen chooses to let Alex use his blade, but only if he admits his feelings to Shina. Alex chooses to do so without hesitation, and Hakumen leaves back to Yabiko.
But before Alex can return, he's interrupted by Amane Nishiki, the current Observer who replaced Rachel.
Amane pretends he's just strolling through but Alex knows better. Amane, however, is just interested in the "play", hoping though that the "director" doesn't screw it up.
He then leaves, and Alex returns to the HQ. Ragna's annoyed at Hakumen's presence, but Hakumen chooses to forgo their grudge for the moment.
Alex then plans to have a feast to finally discuss their plans for stopping Terumi.
Alex, Valkenhayn and Hibiki work together to prepare the grand feast. Everyone gathers to eat, except for Hakumen, who stands idly by and waits to hear what's going on.
Shina's the only person with a special dish made for her. It reminds her a lot of what she used to eat at home, only tastier, with Makoto teasing her obliviousness regarding who made it.
Alex slowly walks in, his confidence shaky about the speech he has to make. He addresses everyone about why they're here, and what they're fighting to reclaim.
He refuses to let Terumi and his allies control the world anymore. He promises to give it back to them. Even if he's not a born leader, he will lead them to victory.
He's labeled the plates they're eating off of with different numbers and dates for the next morning, signaling the groups everyone will be separated into.
Shina's the only one who claps at his speech, but that's all that matters to him.
Later in the night Kokonoe's on a balcony thinking about tomorrow. Jubei approaches quietly, wanting to talk to her.
The two of them have been put into a group together, much to Kokonoe's annoyance. And more than likely, its planned for them to be fighting Nine.
Kokonoe's pissed that Jubei's taking this so lightly. Jubei's not acting this way because he doesn't care about Nine. Its because he loves her so much that he has to take this seriously in order to save her from Terumi's grip.
Kokonoe doesn't want to say goodbye to her mother again when she couldn't even do so the first time. On top of Jubei abandoning her, its clear her pent up aggression is because of parental issues.
Jubei admits to his faults and wishes he could've been a better father to her, but circumstances prevented him from doing so, and he made more of a difference being outside instead of trapped in Kokonoe's lab.
Jubei admits that death follows him wherever he goes whether he likes it or not and made him build up a mentality to avoid others.
But he doesn't plan on running off anymore once Terumi's gone. He wants to make up for lost time with his daughter, if she'd be willing.
Kokonoe...plans to think about it.
Meanwhile, Noel and Makoto are having a hard time sleeping, both worried about Tsubaki. Noel in particular thinks there's nothing she can do to help her, as Tsubaki hates her very existence now.
Rachel comes in with an offer...To help Noel accept the power within herself, and use that to reach out to Tsubaki. It'll be tough, but Noel accepts without hesitation.
The next day Alex meets with the first group, consisting of Jin, Noel, Makoto and Kagura.
Jin denies needing any other help but in a rare show of courage Noel insists she can be useful. Alex can even sense she's awakened the power of "Mu", and compliments Rachel for her foresight.
The plan is simple, but can go wrong if things aren't pulled off correctly.
First, Kagura will get in contact with Tsubaki and lure her to Yabiko's Coliseum with news of Ragna. Then, everyone there will ambush here until the stress of fighting her friends causes her to break.
She'll unleash the Izayoi in desperation, and at that point its up to Jin and the Power of Order to finish the job.
Jin leaves ahead of the others to prepare. Some time later, Alex invites the second group of Jubei and Kokonoe.
They'll be working with the third and fifth groups for a brief time. As Group 1 fights Tsubaki, Shina will be using a helmet developed by Kokonoe to amplify her aura senses and detect where the Imperator is holed up in.
Then, Kokonoe will teleport them there. Jubei's presence will force the Imperator to fully unleash Nine from the Phantom, upon which Nine will whisk Jubei away to a new area to fight.
Its up to Kokonoe to determine where and erect an Eclipse Field so Nine won't escape. Then they can fight her however they wish.
The third group, consisting of only Valkenhayn, comes in a little later.
Valkenhayn is to force Relius to face him, with Nine, in the time she's still with the Imperator, sending them somewhere else to fight.
Alex gives Valkenhayn an adamantium gauntlet as a secret weapon against Relius' puppet, Ignis. He then thanks the butler for teaching him how to cook, with Valkenhayn lamenting how Shina did not recognize his efforts.
The fourth group is Ragna and Hibiki. Hibiki will call Terumi to come over and discuss information on the "traitors" Noel, Makoto and Jin's presence here.
Ragna and Alex will stay behind for a bit until Terumi's fully certain he's not being led into a trap. Then, Ragna and Alex will sneak up, kick his ass, with Ragna using Black Onslaught to ensure even his soul dies.
Hibiki's confident he can fend Terumi off if things go awry. Ragna's just happy he gets to kill Terumi.
The final group is Shina, Hakumen and Trinity. After Trinity's introduced to Alex, he gives them the toughest goal of all...Killing Hades:Izanami, the Imperator.
As a representation of Death, she claims to be immortal. But Alex theorizes there's no such thing as true immortality in this universe, and that Izanami has a fatal weakness only they can exploit.
Shina's Valkyrie Drive can cleave through aura, which contains the very nature of a being. Shina will be able to thus tender Izanami's "immortality" null and void, upon which Hakumen will use the Time Killer to finish her off.
Trinity is there to use magic and provide back-up, as Izanami will not go down easy.
Hakumen and Trinity then leave to prepare, but Shina lingers behind cause she has one thing to get off her chest...
She thinks Alex's plan is stupid, very, very stupid. She believes he alone could defeat Terumi and his allies, but the reality is Alex doesn't see it that way anymore...
Losing to Terumi humbled him. He can't win this battle being reckless, not anymore.
Shina at the very least wants to switch places with him, since she knows his Blazing Overlord Fist could kill Izanami too.
And whatever city she's holed up in, Alex notes. He begins to sense fear dripping off Shina, and tries to comfrot her.
He assures her over and over that she will not die. But having experienced death already, Shina just doesn't want everything they've done so far to mean nothing.
Alex promises they'll make it through, but she has to not run away from living and face tomorrow...Only then, will he tell her what he needs to say.
Shina calls him a really good friend, and is glad to have met him. She leaves to prepare for tomorrow, while Alex feels extra motivated to kill Terumi.
Even the villains have their own things going on during this time. Currently Izanami is perplexed by her inability to perform phenomena intervention through Takamagahara.
Relius Observes her attempts through the use of Ignis, and finds themselves being intervened upon themselves by a strange pink-haired girl.
Terumi waltzes in and confirms the obvious suspicions that Alex is involved. Izanami blames Terumi for failing to do his job in stopping him, but Terumi intends to blame the Phantom for screwing up at the last moment.
But he intends to correct his error, as he has pieced together from Hibiki and Kagura's calls that Alex is plotting something.
He will go along with Hibiki's invitation and finish Alex off for good, suspecting that the "Aurian bitch" may be going after one of them.
At the very least, this'll also be a good test run for the Izayoi by killing the traitor Kagura.
Terumi then laughs at Izanami making demands of him, stating that she should just deal with Alex herself...Unless she's afraid to die.
Izanami boasts that she who embodies death cannot know the fear of it, and nearly kills Terumi for his sharp-tongued remark.
Terumi then leaves, but is intercepted by Relius, who is curious about the nature of the artifact he's carrying.
Terumi hands it over simply because he plans to leave it here anyways. Relius deduces a lot of info from the artifact by a glance...But the most important thing to take away is that there are fragments of two souls inside the stone, neither whose nature he can recognize.
The two souls exist together but try to remain separate from one another, as if avoiding the other's presence.
Relius finds this discovery fascinating, and desires to explore the worlds beyond his own to see what other mysteries can be uncovered about the nature of this universe.
Terumi then heads off to Yabiko, where Hibiki greets him and guides him to the office where the trap will be sprung.
Alex and Ragna get moving, with everyone else in their positions. But as the two prepare to enter the HQ, they are met with intense bloodlust...
Seemingly to thwart Alex's plans, the mysterious enemy has dragged the Mad Dog Azrael from his prison in Sector Seven to get in their way.
He is excited as can be to fight the Grim Reaper and the Phoenix of Destruction. Kokonoe warns them both not to fight him, but Alex refuses to back down.
He plans to eliminate Azrael, as he's another evil that needs to be put down. Azrael cares about none of that and demands Alex and Ragna show him a good time.
The commotion of their ensuing fight alerts Terumi and Hibiki...Though not like Terumi didn't know what was going on from the start.
Hibiki draws his blades to kill Terumi but Terumi surprises him with his secret weapon...The window behind them shatters, and Nu rises covered in the blood of many NOL Soldiers.
Terumi then commands Nu to kill Hibiki as the "Sword of Izanami" can only do.
Meanwhile Azrael's tossing Alex and Ragna around like ragdolls, demanding they both show him a great fight. Alex keeps forcing Ragna not to use his Azure Grimoire, while trying to deal with Azrael as soon as they can.
Azrael wants to see their full power, and refuses to accept pacifism from someone heralded as the "Phoenix of Destruction".
Alex couldn't care less what Azrael wants, as he doesn't have time to deal with his bloodlust. Alex works out a plan of attack and starts executing, holding on for dear life as Azrael pounds him with all his might.
Azrael eventually gets bored and tries to force Alex and Ragna to go all-out by releasing Enchant Dragnuv 2, increasing his ridiculous strength even further.
But Alex sticks to his guts and attacks Azrael even more. What looks like him going berserk is actually a concentrated effort to whittle away at the mineral structure in Azrael's skin and bones so that eventually, his defenses become as weak as paper.
For as monstrous as the Mad Dog is, he's still confined to some human limits. Alex punches him through the chest and rips out his heart, ensuring his demise.
But in his last moments, Azrael refuses to go out this way and activates Enchant Dragnuv 4, causing his power to roar at a level comparable to the Black Beast.
But he dies a moment after, with Alex frozen in fear as his body collapses into a pool of his own blood.
He then thanks Ragna for the aid and the two of them hurry to go catch Terumi.
Meanwhile, Kagura's plan to lure Tsubaki in is working pretty well so far. He manages to keep up a string of convincing lies regarding Ragna's presence until Tsubaki's berserk desire to deliver retribution forces Kagura to trap her in the Coliseum.
Makoto, Noel and Jin then drop in and surround her. Tsubaki curses them all for betraying her along with the Imperator's will, even Jin.
Makoto and Noel try to get through to her but even with Jin's help she's committed to her justice, even if it makes her blind to the truth.
She draws her weapon and starts attacking her former friends. In the audience, however, the groups Alex set in place are waiting for their chance to strike out and fight Izanami.
Makoto and Noel's memories of better days start to wear Tsubaki down, while Jin questioning her justice and the validity of their childhood promise worsens Tsubaki's mental state.
After a combined attack from Kagura and Makoto knocks Tsubaki down, Tsubaki starts to lose her sense of reasoning and turns to the darkness in her mind for answers.
Izanami appears and grants her to way forward...To kill all in her path with the blade of justice, the Izayoi.
Shina locks onto Izanami's aura and Kokonoe sends them to the ultimate fight. Meanwhile, Tsubaki activates the Izayoi and transforms, prepared to slice through the impurity of those who defy the Imperator's will.
Jin stands to fight, while Makoto and Kagura retreat. Noel sticks by, activating the power of the 12th Murakumo Unit, Mu and vowing to help Tsubaki see the light again.
Jin, calling Noel by her name, tells her to focus and fight along his side.
Memories flood out of all parties involved as they clash, with Noel recalling the exact moment that Tsubaki's jealousy of her first came to be.
But instead of denying Tsubaki's feeling, Noel chooses to accept them and apologize for them. She never intended to steal Jin away from her it all just...sort of happened.
Tsubaki deserved to be beside Jin. She was always so studious, kind and tough, and the best friend Noel could've ever asked for.
Tsubaki screams for Noel's death, barely able to fight back the conflict in her mind. Jin separates the two with ice and forces Noel to retreat so he can finish this off.
Tsubaki turns, the voice of the Imperator interwoven to curse his "Power of Order". But Jin has faith in Tsubaki, that her light will not die to the will of such trash.
He keeps fighting her, helping her weave through the weakness in her heart and the grip the Imperator has on her.
As a desperate move to restrain the Izayoi forever, the Imperator forces the activation of the Immortal Breaker weapon to kill Jin once and for all.
Jin stands his ground and tells Tsubaki not to fear, for he will live. The Immortal Breaker strikes him clean in the gut...and fails to kill him, thanks to the Power of Order and both of their convictions.
Finally, the Imperator's hold over Tsubaki breaks, and Jin lifts her up with a smile. Tsubaki cries apologetically for forgivenness...Jin quietly tells her they will talk later, and says she should go speak to her friends first.
Tsubaki reunites with Makoto and Noel and all of them break down crying.
Jin, however, finds himself confronting in his mind by the "enemy", who had been disguising their presence as the Imperator while controlling Tsubaki.
Jin accuses them of perverting the nature of the universe, while the "enemy" states that it merely had to prove something by facing Jin like this.
Jin states how the "monster" will not escape justice forever.
The "monster" denies such trite concepts like justice and order, stating how it shall simply exist so long as its desires are unmet. But if Jin, or any other, continues to ally with the Phoenix of Destruction...Then they will be their enemy.
For now though, they have not much left to do on their own. They shall leave everything...to "him".
Jin's freed, but is left with this underlying sense that the worst is yet to come.
Meanwhile in the magical city of Ishana, Izanami is perturbed by the presence of another interloper within the Izayoi.
Relius comes in, detailing the curiosities he examined from the artifact, and determining that the soul within the artifact and the identity of the interloper is on in the same.
Now it makes sense to Izanami how Terumi defeated an Elemental Overlord, and she calls this but a meager distraction to her plans.
She wishes to task Relius with capturing the Izayoi, while she goes to deal with Terumi and reclaim Nu before his traitorous plot can unravel further.
But they will have to wait, as the group Shina's part of drops in to confront them. Izanami is honestly a little surprised by the Elemental Overlord's cunning, and summons the Phantom.
Relius prepares Ignis, with the Six Heroes arming their weapons to fight them all.
As Alex guessed, Izanami will have the Phantom fight Jubei, but first asks Relius who he wants to fight and examine. Relius has his eyes on Shina, but Valkenhayn forces him to pay attention to him alone.
Relius, with his past tied to Valkenhayn, decides to finally finish examining his illogical soul. Him and Valkenhayn are teleported to the wintery city of Akitsu-Ko.
Izanami then laughs at the rest, taunting them over the Elemental Overlord having naught the courage to face her directly.
Hakumen's confident they will suffice. Izanami, however, remarks at how they're just bodies to fill many a graves.
Jubei and Trinity continue to deflect her insults, while Shina has trouble focusing on the goddess of Death due to her cold, cruel aura.
Izanami plans to deal with this opposition fully and has the Phantom drag them all to Ibukido, where a crowd of innocents are gathered.
But Izanami uses her guise as the Imperator to broadcast a message to the world, calling out Alex as leading a band of traitors that she plans to deal with herself.
The first step is to unleash the Phantom, returning her to Nine, who then proceeds to fly after Jubei and drag them both away to parts unknown.
Izanami then sets some of her drones upon the three that remain, saying that they will not bother her any further than this.
Hakumen focuses Izanami and leaves Shina and Trinity to face the drones. Shina activates her Gunslinger Drive and takes the drones around her down with the highest firepower she can muster.
Eventually Shina's able to get an opening for Trinity so she can grant Hakumen wings long enough for him to strike Izanami in the air.
Undoing her regalia, her true, puppet-like body is revealed for the world to see. Izanami thus abandons all pretenses and declares her true nature to the world, proceeding to kill the observers in the area with a single gesture.
Shina's enraged until Hakumen tells her to calm down, saying that her hope shall be the power that will overcome Death.
She then goes into the Valkyrie Drive and draws her blade on Izanami, who adopts a more god-like frame in preparation to wipe these three from the Earth forever.
Meanwhile, Nine has dragged Jubei to a location familiar to the two of them...Its the Cauldron the Black Beast was birthed from, and the laboratory of Nine's father, Shuichiro Ayatsuki.
This is where she plans to bury the past forever, even if it means killing Jubei. She's in full control of her actions, having broken Izanami's Mind Eater the moment her restraints were released.
Kokonoe activates the Eclipse Field to lock the three of them in. Nine's impressed, though expected at least this much from her own daughter.
Kokonoe's cold to her presence, and chides Jubei for being sentimental at this point just because she acts so similar to the real Nine.
Jubei just wants to know what changed Nine this much, to which she answers that she the time her soul was in the Boundary taught her the truth of the world.
Long ago humanity strove to gain the power of the Master Unit Amaterasu, in doing so creating the Prime Field Devices, the original Murakumos.
But the PFDs gained a soul and free will, with one of them latching onto Amaterasu to becoming its sole control.
Fear drove humanity to create the Izayoi and the first Black Beast to kill Amaterasu. It would be a battle that would end the world.
Yet before the war reached its end, humanity created the Takamagahara System to rebuild the world using the Azure.
But Amaterasu used the True Azure to seize Takamagahara from humanity's control, and then rebuilt the world herself.
Now god was nothing more than a scared little girl who wanted a hero to free her from the dream she deemed a nightmare.
In this world, she saw the 鼎entralfiction the one hero who would be the focus of her dream. But also she could do was watch as time after time again, her hero would succumb to the devil, and she would force the world to reset until the 鼎alamity Trigger could free the hero from the cycle.
Jubei starts to recognize a familiarity with this tale, upon which Nine refers to the 鼎entralfiction as 迭agna the Bloodedge Even Kokonoe is taken aback by this news.
Nine curses Amaterasu for resetting the world every time she doesn't get her way. As every time she's displeased, the world is forced to endure the pain of the Dark War...Relius gets to create his PFD...Terumi betrays and kills her and Trinity...And her sister Celica dies in a church fire, again, again, and again, over and over.
Nine cannot accept the world of Amaterasu's design and plans to reset it. Kokonoe wonders how, as the Master Unit is the one thing holding this world together.
Nine, in secret, had developed an 11th Nox Nyctores called 迭equiem that will replace the Master Unit completely and undo the damnation her dream has brought upon everyone else.
And where is 迭equiem stored? Why, right under their noses, in Nine's secret lab. Kokonoe knew about the lab, but not about 迭equiem and had built Sector Seven here specifically to cover it.
Yet as Kokonoe also notes, the amount of seithr it'd take to fuel 迭equiem can just as easily damn the world to oblivion is anything goes wrong.
Nine will take that chance, as she refuses to let this world exist as it is now. And if that means killing Kokonoe and Jubei to do so? So be it.
She thanks Alex for giving her this opportunity, as with Izanami and Terumi distracted she's just steps away from completing her goals.
Kokonoe and Jubei draw their weapons and begin the fight. The two have trouble working together and choose to attack Nine in their own way.
Nine, however, keeps on the run with an assortment of magic.
When their resistance proves troublesome, Nine does compliment their efforts so far and then summons her familiar, the demon Hi no Kagutsuchi, to burn this 電ream to ashes.
Before the feud between Valkenhayn and Relius can resume, Relius waxes poetic about the nature of the soul.
When the Black Beast had dragged him into the Boundary, he got to examine the soul's true form for the first time...And was subsequently disappointed.
The soul is stagnant. What it shall be is what it was born to be from the very start. It cannot change. One who pursues evil shall always be evil. One who refuses to learn from their mistakes shall never change.
In essence, the soul is a plaything for those who exist outside of logical reasoning. And if a soul has no worth, then how can its vessel be any different?
Relius wishes to use Ignis to replace the Master Unit and with her power, become the 鄭rchitect that shall rebuild the world, rid it of its stagnation, and allow humanity to take its true shape.
But as Valkenhayn points out, if the world is as flawed and stagnant as he claims, then how could he ever have had a family?
Relius goes silent for a moment, then laughs. He finds it funny that he would be accused of having 都entimentality then rationalizes that perhaps that's the reason he longed to fight Valkenhayn again due to their partnership long ago.
Relius and Valkenhayn begin to fight with these beliefs in mind, with Relius commenting how dull Valkenhayn's claws have become.
But the wolf disagrees, flashing back to the days of old, when he began servitude under the Alucard family. He had sought to join in service so that eventually he could learn the weakness of Rachel's father, Clavis.
Instead, he learned humility, and questioned the nature of hatred, while discovering the joys of happiness and patience.
So his claws are sharper than ever, for they are strengthened by something worth fighting for, while Relius has let his heart be dulled by callousness.
Though Relius calls his will 鍍ripe he cannot deny that this is part of what makes his soul so intriguing to behold.
Back with Ragna and Alex, they make their way towards the office Terumi should be cornered inside.
Alex goes ahead first under a suspicion that something's up...And lo and behold, Hibiki is on the ground, choking on his own blood.
Terumi is glad to finally see Alex out of hiding and taunts him for underestimating him, then getting more people killed just to fulfill his crusade.
Alex notices Nu and is shocked that she's alive right now, but tries not to let her get to him.
Terumi's ready to feast on Alex's hatred once more and stomp his shitty ass into the ground...But Alex refuses.
He realizes that his fight response to Terumi was just because he's pure evil. In the end he never had any personal reason to hate him. But Ragna? Oh. Ragna has EVERY reason to kill his ass.
Ragna walks in and surprises Terumi. Nu's ready to cheerfully cut Ragna apart when Alex bursts into Phoenix Form and drags her out of the building to hold her back.
Ragna and Terumi exchange words and then activate their Azure Grimoires at the same time, beginning to tear their way through the building as they fight.
Alex, meanwhile, holds Nu back as best he can. Though she lacks the artifact she still remembers Alex getting in her way and has plenty of power at her disposal.
Not helping things is Nu's Life Link to Ragna, which means Alex doesn't have any way of putting her down without damaging the city.
Eventually news of Shina's confrontation pops up in the city, causing Alex to become distracted long enough for Nu to pin him to the ground and make a break for it.
Alex struggles to break out the blades and then tries to use the Gaia Temporis to get back to the building in time.
During this, Ragna has managed to down Terumi and prepares to kill him down to the soul with Black Onslaught. Yet as the final blow is about to be struck, Nu stabs him and her through with her blade.
The Black Beast bonding process begins anew, with Alex too late to stop it from happening. Terumi laughs, prepared to enjoy the apocalypse unfold.
Alex curses Terumi out, and screams in desperation for a way to stop this from happening.
His mind gives him one answer and one answer alone...葱ill.
With robotic discourse, Alex draws his blade...And cuts Ragna and Nu's heads off at the same time. The last word Ragna spends being a cry of confusion...
Alex's mind begins to justify what had been done as necessary, and that THEY didn't kill them...Terumi did.
Alex rises like a zombie and slowly drags himself after Terumi, who can barely scrape along the ground at this point.
Alex wastes no time picking Terumi up and burning his body to ash, knowing that without an Observer, his soul will follow soon enough...
He then tries to ignore the death in his wake and focus on the mission. With a heavy heart, he flies off to Ishana to find the artifact piece...
But what he didn't know, is that 典erumi was never really there to begin with. He had killed Hazama, and the real Terumi still walks the Earth, prepared to unleash Hell with the artifact in his possession.
Meanwhile, the trio of Hakumen, Trinity and Shina begin their true assault on Izanami. The Death Goddess focuses down Hakumen first as the strongest, but takes shots at the other two with the help of her ability to stop time.
Denying hope and order, Izanami plans to break them completely before they die.
Midway through the battle, however, they are stuck by a terrifying earthquake phenomenon. Its power...shaking the entire world.
Only Izanami knows the truth...That this is the Master Unit's doing, as she has lost her hero. Ragna the Bloodedge...is dead.
And so is Terumi, by her admission. Izanami even knows who is responsible, and states its Alex without a hint of hesitation.
Shina finds it impossible to believe she would be able to know that. However, there is a simple explanation for that...
Izanami is the manifestation of the Master Unit's Drive, and thus is connected to her will whether she likes or not...At least to some extent.
Izanami abridges the story of the Master Unit to the three, then resumes laughing at the chaos Alex Whiter has unleashed upon the world.
Shina refuses to accept this, and Izanami says she clings to a desperate, fleeting hope. Her and him are germs that infect the world, and while she'd normally be accepting of their presence...They chose to defy her.
Hakumen stands against Izanami, drawing his blade against her disorder. Even knowing the truth of the world, it doesn't change what he fights for.
He continues to fight Izanami alone for now, leaving Shina and Trinity to formulate a plan to leave the Death Goddess open for Shina to cut through her aura.
Hakumen clashes with Izanami's power, using his Astral Heat to try and pin her down. But Izanami moves within the frozen time and keeps attacking, countering all of Hakumen's bloody slashes.
Yet at the end of his assault, Hakumen breaks through his limits and adds on a second Astral Heat...尿bsolute Retribution: Impurity Rend
For once, Izanami falls to the ground and quivers in pain, with Hakumen prepared to render the final blow.
Izanami lunges up to him and grabs his sword, using her dominion over Death to shatter it completely.
Yet denied his sword, Hakumen still strikes Izanami with his fists, refusing to yield.
But without his sword, he cannot perform the Time Killer. Trinity believes she can grant him a new one temporarily, but Izanami is still fighting without tiring.
Shina swallows her hesitation and leaps between Hakumen and Izanami to confront the Death Goddess. To buy time for Trinity to do her thing, Shina invokes the Rite of Singularity on Izanami...
Nine's battle with her family is interrupted by the Master Unit's phenomenon intervention. As Kokonoe and Jubei are shaken by the news of Ragna's demise, Nine finds it curious that there's been no aftermath...As not even the Eclipse Field can stop the Master Unit's power.
Kokonoe quickly pieces together from that news that Alex's damn time and space stone is responsible somehow. Jubei and Nine both know about the Gaia Temporis, and figure it makes sense for it to stop the Master Unit.
But this simply makes it easier for Nine to accomplish her goals.
Nine continues to attack her former family. Eventually, with Kokonoe's help, Jubei is able to kill Kagutsuchi with his Nox Nyctores Musashi.
Nine refuses to yield though, and Jubei begins to understand what he must do.
Kokonoe's attempt to stop Kagutsuchi in place opened the Cauldron beneath them, however, allowing Nine to activate a powerful gravity spell that'll drag Jubei and Kokonoe into the Boundary.
Jubei lunges at Nine and pierces her abdomen with his sword, dragging them both towards the Boundary.
But with the last of her strength and scientific know-how, Kokonoe grabs hold of Jubei and pulls him up at the last second.
Nine plummets into the Boundary once more, her only wish to be for everyone's dreams to come true...Though she wonders if perhaps she went wrong somewhere.
Nine's magic fades and Kokonoe yells at Jubei for nearly abandoning her again. With this grueling battle over, there's not much else for them to do but take a bit of a cat-nap...
The effects of the Master Unit's intervention reach Valkenhayn and Relius' battle too.
Relius deduces Alex's hand in the lack of a reset but not the reason why. Still, he thanks the boy for opening his eyes to the truth of the existence of other worlds.
Valkenhayn calls his ambitions too high for his own good, and Relius chuckles, saying that it is foolish for man to try and achieve anything with restraint.
The two's bloody battle resumes, with their bodies inflicted with the scars of war. But Relius slowly gains the upper hand through the use of Ignis.
Relius takes a moment to taunt Valkenhayn, who is crawling towards Death's door. But the butler laughs back, for his is not a body that will fall so easily...To one without a care of love in his heart.
He pulls out Alex's gauntlet and slices Ignis apart. Then, with the puppeteer distracted, Valkenhayn reaps his jugular.
Relius is embraced by the cold and drops to the ground. His last memories...pride and love towards his son, Carl.
At the end of his life, Relius realizes that the one truly flawed human in the world...was him.
Valkenhayn falls thereafter, and smiles, one last time assuring his master that he will prepare tea for her in the morning.
But he draws his last breath, and Rachel closes his eyes with sorrow in hers.
She looks to the skies above, a dread omen looming in the near future...
All that remains is Izanami, who curtly laughs at Shina's bold attempts to defy her alone.
Shina, however, claims that her boast is not to be taken lightly. The Rite of Singularity prevents Izanami from interfering with anyone but her, lest her aura be severed and her life taken immediately. Hakumen and Trinity also cannot attack Izanami.
Izanami still laughs, believing that Shina is presenting herself to her like a lamb would to herd of wolves.
Shina stands tall and confidently proclaims that she will defeat Izanami once and for all.
Izanami relishes the chance to snuff out her idealism once and for all, and quickly attacks her with all her fury.
Their battle tears up the remains of Ibukido, and the Death Goddess manages to weave her away around Shina's attacks with the use of her time stop.
Though Shina has no counter to that ability, she keeps focused so to defend against Izanami's attacks the moment she reappears.
Izanami mocks her hope, mocks her dreams, and shall drown her in despair much as she will the Master Unit.
Shina praises the Master Unit for holding on to hope even after all this time. Izanami's shocked that she would sympathize with that evil child.
Yet, without hatred in her heart, Shina wonders why Izanami denies the Master Unit's pain if they are one in the same.
Izanami denies being one with the Master Unit, wishing to be her own person.
Shina pities Izanami for not knowing what its like to hope or dream, but Izanami retaliates by saying that her 電ream is to see the world of the Master Unit be reduced to nothingness.
Their battle ramps up to the point of Izanami unleashing her Astral Heat on Shina. Shina survives and stands tall, but her body is shaking down to the knees.
Shina puts the last of her strength into one final attack. Izanami stands still and lets it happen, intending to make this the moment where hope dies eternal.
Izanami laughs at the futility of her efforts...Only for her aura to shatter, having been finally whittled down from this long battle.
Izanami fails to understand what has happened and Shina happily explains. Izanami believes it to be a joke...Until the specter of fears falls upon her.
Hakumen raises a makeshift Ookami Trinity made and activates the Time Killer. With one slice, Izanami's time is ended.
Shina collapses and raises her fist in triumph with a smile.
It seems that all shall end well enough, despite the death of Ragna the Bloodedge.
Yuuki Terumi...says otherwise.
Alex is plagued by what he has done as he scours and fails to find the artifact piece in Ishana. Returning to Ibukido to meet up with Shina, what he finds instead shocks him to the core.
Though Shina is alive, albeit covered in blood, Platinum has been mutilated into an unrecognizable form while Hakumen...is nowhere in sight.
Dreading the sights around him, Alex scrambles to pull the weakened Shina up and carry her to safety...
Only for Ouroboros to rip her heart clean from her chest.
Alex hunches over, cradling her body as the last glimmer of light fades from her eyes. In her last breath, she asks him to save her sister...
Alex goes silent, while Terumi roars full of life nearby.
Terumi applauds Alex for a job well done...Cause now, thanks to him, HE has won.
Terumi had been freed of his vessel Hazama for a while now. Observing himself, he's been able to move about undetected because everyone who'd give a shit was busy dealing with Alex's dumb plan.
He decided to use the artifact's power on a test run in the Coliseum, killing everyone that had been present there.
Then, he ducked into Rachel's castle and pulled out a sword known as the Hihiirokane, which is one of few weapons that can harm souls.
He then used said blade to rip Hakumen's soul free from the Susano'o armor, killing Trinity in the process.
Terumi then curses his 都ister the Master Unit. Long had he been forced to suffer the pointless prayers of humans, too weak to fend for themselves.
He is the one responsible for luring humanity into finding the Master Unit, and in turn causing the end and rebirth of the world.
And for many long years since he's waited for his chance to destroy the Master Unit. But now, there's no one left to oppose him...And its all thanks to Alex.
He lured everyone to their deaths just to satisfy his own ends. Because he's nothing more than a liar who goes as far as to lie to himself...He wants nothing more than to destroy everything.
But ironically, the one thing he can never destroy is the thing he hates the most...himself.
Terumi plans to rebuild the world as one devoid of hopes and dreams. Humanity will endure an eternal nightmare ruled by fear and despair. They will cry for it to end, but he will demand it never cease.
He engages the Susano'o Unit, his old body, and with the power of the artifact attaching to it he becomes a God beyond the power of even the devil himself...
The world breaks around him, welcoming his new life back into this mortal plain with a display of fear...
He walks towards Alex to accomplish what he has always been too cowardly to do...End his life, and show him the fear of the abyss.
The artifact leaves him feeling as though the Azure courses through his veins. He will kill this world. Kill the 努itch who provided her with this power...and even kill the 塗igher-ups
He takes his hand down upon Alex's skull...and is surprised to find resistance in this corpse.
His heart beating with one word...葱ill Alex begins to rise and push Susano'o off him.
The god steps back, watching as the world continues to break...Out of obedience to ALEX'S power.
Fueled by the breaking world around him, Alex forces an unholy transformation into his Phoenix Form and instantly tears one of Susano'o's arms off.
He hunches over, crying blood as he drones on about how he once felt like he had purpose...But now, its gone.
All he has left now is hatred without end, and blames it all on Terumi.
With the world coming to an end around them, Alex will stop at nothing to kill this false god, and bury the ashes of his soul across the depths of Hell.
The sole audience for this apocalypse consists of Rachel and Amane, as the rest of the world faces the consequences of this battle.
Though Rachel's attitude is dour, Amane offers her one glimmer of hope...He says he still has a plan in effect to undo the damage done to this world, and bring back Ragna.
Susano'o stands tall and batters Alex through the ground and sky without remorse, remarking how his rage feeds him forever.
Susano'o tries to mock Alex for hiding behind his shields, but there are none of them to be found.
This is no longer a battle for a Phoenix of Destruction or an Elemental Overlord...Alex Whiter shall be the one who kills him.
The world boils around them, hurricanes rising to hasten the destruction of the surface and seas. All the while, Susano'o boasts how his hatred far outmatches Alex's.
Alex's bones, limbs and flesh are torn asunder, reforming into something inhumane to behold. He is more made of the planet's flesh than his own after a point...A machine, hungering for the destruction of the one before him.
Susano'o cannot kill what refuses to believe in death. Even with his strongest attack, that cracks the entire continent apart, Alex still stands before him.
Alex dully removes his glove and, with flames drenched in blood, he tears Terumi right out of the Susano'o Unit.
Terumi tries to get his last licks in, but Alex just kills him without acknowledging a word he said.
He collapses onto his knees upon a dying world, raising his head to the sky while pulling the Gaia Temporis from his pocket.
He makes one last, desperate plea to it for him to go back in time. But yet again, it refuses to listen to him.
The sky splits open, and the divine presence of the Master Unit's descent juxtapositions the apocalypse consuming the world.
With one last spark of hope in his body, Alex rises to his feet and sets his gaze upon the Master Unit...Prepared to confront it.
Alex pulls himself towards the Master Unit like a man possessed. Rachel summons Tsukuyomi to block his path.
Enraged, he tries to break through, only to be reminded that its impossible...Even for him.
Rachel begs him to stop, as destroying Amaterasu will do nothing.
But Alex does not wish to destroy Amaterasu...He plans to enter it, and with its power, bring back all the good people who died...Especially Shina.
Rachel remarks how to become one with Amaterasu is dooming one's life to be that way forever. And not only that, but she doubts Alex's ability to recreate the world down to the last perfect detail.
Alex wonders why that extent would be necessary...Ignorant to the the state of the world below him.
The sight of destruction tearing apart the entire world throws him into a state of disbelief, and he refuses to accept the blame for this event.
He begs and pleads with Rachel to let him enter Amaterasu. But with one last thorough judgment, she tells him that even if she did, the True Azure would no doubt find him unworthy.
His best move now would be to leave this world, as the Gaia Temporis has been interfering with the Master Unit without his commands.
With him gone though, the Master Unit will be able to reconstruct the 電ream ..But Shina, being from outside the 電ream would not come back.
Alex refuses to accept that world, and uses the Gaia Temporis to go to where the True Azure lies.
Rachel believes the world is now doomed. However, this is all part of Amane's plan. For now, Alex must face the gatekeeper...
Standing before the gate to the True Azure, Alex finds himself confronted by a girl by the name of Es. A Prime Field Device, much like Noel and Nu, her presence here befuddles Alex...As she should have vanished from this world long ago.
His memories failing him, Alex draws his sword and demands she move.
Es draws her sword and prepares to erase Alex's presence from the world if he does not leave. Alex instead attacks.
His body, weakened from Susano'o and no energy to draw upon, finds himself being pushed back more and more from Es' elegant attacks.
His mind demands the death of this obstacle in their path.
Alex simply curses the existence of Prime Field Devices for constantly getting in his way...And then, his mind snap, as he realizes the cure to all his problems...Is to wish upon the True Azure for Prime Field Devices to have never existed.
The fight only lasts a little bit longer, as once Es cuts off one of Alex's arms with ease, Amane steps in to restrain him.
Though Es is weary of Amane's presence here, Amane has to stop her from attacking further and killing Alex, otherwise this problem won't resolve itself.
Right now Alex is bound by chains that could keep even Susano'o in check. He has no hope of escape, in other words.
Alex demands his freedom but Amane states how he's ruined any chance of begging for anything.
All Alex wanted to do is fix things, but Amane's cold to his cries after hearing how he had planned to accomplish this.
Its unfair that Shina gets to die while Ragna is constantly brought back to life, that much is true. But there's a way to stop the 電ream and its not with the destruction Alex brings.
Alex will be dragged to the Boundary, where the destruction of his body will prevent the Gaia Temporis from having a conduit to activate again.
The curtain falls on this act with Alex cursing Amane's name, as his body is helplessly dragged into the Boundary...
But in the last moment, the Gaia Temporis activates...
Alex awakens. In great pain, but he feels alive...And more curiously, he's back in the bed at Rachel's castle.
A familiar sentence jolts his mind, and he turns to find Shina sitting next to him. Not a dream, not a cruel illusion...She is as real as she's always been.
He embraces her in a hug and is glad to know she is alive. Not questioning the state of how he's back here, Alex just wants to tell her how much he loves her.
He pours his heart out to her, making Shina very, very flustered.
She believes his confession was born of being a little loopy after Terumi had roughed him up.
Alex, in sheer disbelief of her saying that to him, doesn't bother saying any more about his feelings...
Upon realizing the point in time he's in, he realizes that they still need to get the artifact piece from Terumi.
But Shina surprises him by revealing said artifact in her hands. Turns out, Alex has been transplanted not only into the past, but an alternate timeline where him attacking Terumi's legs caused him to drop the stones.
Now there's no reason left for them to be here...Which Alex prefers accepting at this point.
After saying goodbye to Rachel on good terms, Alex carries them off back into space. His feelings had been admitted...But Shina didn't seem to believe them.
But there is still one loose end to wrap up.
In Ishana, Terumi is fuming over losing the artifact piece in this timeline. He plans to raid Rachel's castle with the Phantom to bring it back.
The 努itch he works with, however, reveals itself before him as a mass of violet static.
Terumi's pissed that he's not getting the ultimate power he was promised. The mass of static chuckles, saying how its too late anyways.
Terumi just decides to go back to Plan A, saying he'd rather not rely on a worthless piece of shit anyways.
The mass of static quotes a line Terumi had said in the other timeline, where he was plotting betrayal, and Terumi freezes up in surprise.
When he attempts to attack with Ouroboros, it does nothing, for the mass of static no longer registers 溺adness
Suddenly, Terumi finds his vessel impaled through the heart and his soul dragged out into the open.
The being remarks how Terumi does not know what true madness is...
The being reveals the corpses of Izanami, Relius, and Azrael behind them, bringing Terumi into a rare state of panic.
The being then smiles at Terumi, stating how it is many things...But to him, they shall be 吐ear
It inflicts unimaginable horrors upon Terumi, then, having been satisfied, returns the bodies it had slaughtered to normal and left the world as it should be...With Terumi having no memory of them having ever been there.
Part 4.5 Story 5 END