Ah, overcoming many a night
The frozen dreams, the vanishing tears
Warm me, warm me, wrap me
I despise this body that's incapable of love for others
No matter how far I walk, I see no end
Taking my memories of the past with me
What color will I become in time?
I search for the answer
You're slow.
You are way too slow.
To begin with, you're just too wasteful.
That also goes for how you fight,
but you have quite a bit of power,
so you should use it more efficiently.
I'm sorry.
I just fought a pretty strong opponent,
so I'm all worked up right now.
I'm going to tear apart every last Awakened Being.
What do you think you're doing?
Suppressing your Yoma aura of your own will...
Does it mean you've given up already?
You are so boring.
What's this? What's this?
Could it be you're anticipating my moves by reading my Yoma aura?
You're pretty good!
You should've said so!
I'm sorry I called you boring and stuff earlier.
My...
You're pretty perceptive.
And I was just thinking of doing that soon, too...
What was that strange sensation just now?
Do me a favor,
and don't die or anything after just one blow, okay?
Here it comes!
From below, towards my right shoulder.
From above, towards my left shoulder.
Why?
I can see the path of the sword!
Why can't I block it?!
Impossible!
Her sword moved... like a snake!
Too bad for you.
If you weren't up against me,
I think you could do pretty well, you know.
You see...
I don't have a nickname like everyone else has.
You know, like "Phantom Miria" or "Wind Cutting Flora."
So, I worked really hard to come up with a lethal technique
and gave it a name.
I call this "the rippling sword."
The sword is...
No, it's an illusion.
By moving her arm in a seemingly impossible way,
she's creating that snake-like motion.
Pretty good, right?
"Rippling Ophelia."
Don't you think that sounds fabulous?
But, it hasn't quite caught on.
Because the people who've seen this...
...all tend to end up dying.
It's no good.
My ability to anticipate won't help me against this technique.
My.
So, you're still interested in continuing this?
Do you suppose there's some chance that you might win?
A chance to win?
There was never any such thing to begin with!
What? Charging in, head-on?
Oh, what a disappointment.
You're boring, after all.
Just die already.
It only gets ugly if you misjudge your time to bow out.
Damn it.
I got cut a little too deeply...
But no,
any shallower and it wouldn't have felt substantial enough...
I should be glad just to be alive.
There's no time to rest. I have to hurry and get my arm...
That was quite a stunt you pulled.
I very nearly fell for it.
The way you let me cut your arm was particularly excellent.
Because it really felt like that was the finishing blow.
And you chose that spot in anticipation of this, right?
So, you had me dancing in the palm of your hand from the beginning.
But, if that were the case, you should've given up on that right arm.
You were concerned about your right arm to the very end
and that's what bothered me.
Say, did you know?
Even among us fighters,
there are those who are excellent attackers
and those who are excellent defenders.
You're an attacker.
Attackers aren't good at healing themselves, you know.
They can reconnect severed body parts,
but it's impossible for them to regenerate what they've lost.
When you became half-man, half-monster,
were you thinking about protecting yourself to survive?
Or, were you thinking of cutting down your opponent?
That's pretty much where the difference lies.
So, what I'm trying to say here is...
You think I'm going to wait until you get that arm reattached?
Too bad!
You messed up when you let me cut off your dominant arm.
It's no use struggling.
I know it's begun to dawn on you, too.
Wow, you're trying so hard to hang in there.
Is it because of some promise you made with that boy?
Or, is there some act of vengeance that you haven't accomplished yet?
There. Now, you can't even hold your sword.
To say you can survive, because you have something you need to protect...
Or because you have some reason you can't die...
Those are just the foolish delusions of the weak!
This has been pretty fun.
I came, lured by a familiar presence, but...
I recognize neither of your faces.
Eh? Who the hell are you?
I don't sense any Yoma aura, but...
Nothing pisses me off more than being interrupted when I'm having fun!
Run!
She's dangerous!
Run, quickly!
I see. So it's you.
Huh?
What the hell did you just do?!
So, fighters these days even turn their swords against the general public?
What is this? What in the world...
Watch out! That's...
What?!
You display a peculiar form of swordsmanship.
I imagine you must be ranked at a decent number.
But, that all means nothing before my sword.
Wh-What is this?!
A sword... I can't see?!
It can't be!
She's alive?!
One of the enforcers sent against Teresa...
The former Number 2...
Quick-Sword Ilena!
To say you can survive, because you have something you need to protect...
Or because you have some reason you can't die...
Those are just the foolish delusions of the weak!
Where am I?
My left hand...
It was only after you reattached your left hand that you passed out.
Impressive that you managed it, considering how injured you were.
Ilena!
Where am I?! How many days has it been since then?!
Why are you...
Start by putting that in your mouth.
No food or drink for a week has to be starting to take its toll on you.
An entire week?!
Where's my sword?
Hey.
I have to hurry back!
If you have so little regard for your life,
I could take it from you, here and now.
Listen to me. The woman who was after you is still alive.
I cut her up worse than you had been,
but she is not dead.
Above all else, you have lost your dominant arm
and you have no choice but to fight with one arm from now on.
Right now, I doubt you could slay even a single small fry.
Have at least some understanding of your present condition.
Damn it...
Damn it! Damn it!
So that girl...
Did you finish eating?
Yes.
The moment I took one bite, I realized just how famished I was.
I thank you.
You knew my name. Did you check into who I was?
I checked into everything from that time that had to do with Teresa.
And that would include Priscilla, of course.
Yes.
Back then, Priscilla was slated to become the next Number 2...
But she awakened during the mission,
killed Teresa and the enforcers sent after Teresa, and disappeared.
I did not think you were still alive.
I'm surprised as well.
I never imagined that child would have become a fighter.
Is the one in you... Teresa?
You were lucky to escape with your life.
You could have forgotten about it all and gone on to live as a human.
Do you mean to take Priscilla's head, too?
I appreciate your help.
Where is my sword?
Forget about it.
Priscilla is overwhelmingly powerful.
I doubt there's any among the fighters alive today who could stop her.
To say nothing of you, who've inherited Teresa's flesh and blood.
You're not even half-man, half-monster. You're a quarter.
You are inferior in every way.
Please bring out my sword.
Look.
I crossed swords with her just once and I lost my left arm.
That time,
I realized we could never win against her,
no matter how we struggled.
After that, I let everyone think I was dead,
chose a place untouched by the Organization,
and I have lived here, single-mindedly suppressing my Yoma aura.
Having suppressed it for so many years,
I doubt even our comrades could detect it now.
Have you given up fighting?
You may only have one arm,
but your swordsmanship is still formidable.
I am afraid.
The terror I experienced then clings to me and I can't shake it.
You saw it, too.
That is exactly why...
I...
Wait.
Why are you so dedicated?
To me,
Teresa was everything.
My life and my ability to speak were both lost to me at one point.
Even the joy of being alive...
But Teresa restored those things to me.
Everything that I have, Teresa gave me.
That is exactly why I had no choice but to keep moving forward.
To forget everything that had happened then
and live on as a human...
I was not strong enough to do that.
I see.
So that's it.
That time, having witnessed the same thing,
do we choose to advance or to retreat?
That is probably what determines whether we are qualified...
...to fight or not.
I had not asked your name yet.
It's Clare.
Very well, Clare.
I will teach you the Quick-Sword.
It hurts...
It hurts! It hurts!
Brother!
Help me, Brother!
You always protected me, remember?
Why?
Why did you have to die so easily?
I thought you were going to protect me!
That damn bitch... She won't get away with this!
"Brother"?! Who the hell's that?!
Like I give a damn about a guy who got eaten by a one-horned monster
and looked all happy about it!
Screw you, you damn bastard!
Screw you...
Screw you.
Screw you! Screw you!
That's as far as you go! Stop!
The secret to the Quick-Sword
is the complete unleashing of Yoma power within just one arm.
Put another way, it's like awakening just the one arm.
And what is required of you in order to do that is an iron will.
A strong mind capable of controlling your berserk arm.
And you've been doing this without so much as batting an eye...
What will it be? Will you give up?
You must be joking.
This is ideal...
...for me.
All right, come at me.
Find the limit to which you can fully unleash your powers in your one arm
and make that limit your own.
What could this be?
I feel really good for some reason.
It's like the pain I felt until yesterday wasn't real.
I wonder why.
I feel so good.
But, I'm a little hungry.
No, I seem to be quite hungry, actually.
How strange.
Somehow... I'm in the mood for some innards.
Heart... Still, within your memories
Body... You look for the missing me
Once again today, someone, somewhere, is shedding tears
That is what it means to live the fate that smiles coldly
Holding on tightly to what I can't afford to lose
I am right here even now
The flower that never wilts is beautiful
And with unwavering emotion in my heart, it continued to bloom
The condemning sky with its ragged clouds
Held in its embrace the never-ending sorrow
Living proof. Proof that she had once lived.
Testament of one's existence.
Next time, "To Be Qualified to Fight."