♪
( Knuckle gasps )
No way.
Where could he have gone in that condition?
Where are you?
♪
( Singing in Japanese )
♪
Shaiapouf: Will he do it,
abandon his original intent
and commit to an answer without evidence?
( Morel grunts )
( Shaiapouf chuckles )
He won’t.
( Shaiapouf gasping )
Morel: Smoky jail, deactivate!
Shaiapouf: I see you’ve made your choice.
Morel: Once I thought about it, it was simple.
Your pupa appeared after I played my card.
Since you only hid after learning my agenda,
I knew that was your ability and that it was a trap.
And the fact that you didn’t respond
when I lifted up my pipe to strike you confirmed it.
In fact, you showed no signs of reacting at all.
Didn’t make any sense.
( Shaiapouf laughs )
( Morel gasps )
Shaiapouf: Fifteen minutes.
( Chuckles )
That was how long I expected you to take
before deciding to finally remove the smoke barrier
you’d placed in front of me.
During that period of time,
I fully intended to slip through the smoke
and move about the area freely.
You trapped me within the barrier
to separate me from the king, did you not?
Meaning that as long as your prison of smoke was there,
your allies would see it
and conclude that I was still inside.
I decided to take advantage of that misconception
and quietly dispose of your friends.
I knew that you would hesitate for a while,
long enough to allow me time to act.
Morel: So you thought i’d wait that long
in front of an empty husk?
You don’t think very much of me, do you?
Shaiapouf: On the contrary. I gave you too much credit.
Morel: Hmm?
Shaiapouf: Too much!
♪
( Morel gasps )
He divided into super-fine particles.
Well, if that’s how he slipped through smoky jail,
I would never have been able to see a thing.
( Gasps )
( Group laughing )
Shaiapouf: You should have waited longer,
because my strategy to slip through was a last resort.
But if i’m being perfectly honest,
I was quite upset about being trapped.
Morel: That’s a crap diversion, and you’re lying!
You made it through the smoke just fine.
Shaiapouf: Well, true.
At that point, that was all there was to it.
- ( Laughter continues ) - I was convinced
that you were a much more capable soldier,
one who would stay faithful to his original mission.
But you made some wild guesses and removed the barrier.
And for that, I owe you my thanks.
- Shaiapoufs: Thank you. - Thank you.
- Thank you.
Thank you.
Morel: Smoke troopers: Deep purple!
( Shaiapoufs laughing )
( Together ) Run away!
( Laughing )
Morel: I can’t destroy them?
They just divide and reassemble.
Are they invincible?
( Shaiapoufs laughing )
( Together ) Thank you! Bye-bye!
Morel: Don’t be fooled.
He’s playing mind games.
My decision to attack was the best option at the time.
No, i’m already playing into his hands
by dwelling on the past.
If i’m gonna win this, i’ve got to anticipate his next moves.
To join up with the rest of the royal guard,
to find and eliminate my companions,
and to reunite with the king. That must be it.
His goals are the same as mine.
No problem.
Huh?
♪
( Groans )
( Shaiapouf laughs )
I’ll take this now!
( Morel groans ) He’s fast.
Shaiapouf: I’ll put this in a safe place for you!
( Laughs )
Morel: He got me.
I can’t use any other moves.
If I deactivate deep purple, i’ll be defenseless.
I’ll have to find a way to get by using that alone.
Menthuthuyoupi: Hey, are you the one...
Who can teleport?
( Morel gasps )
♪
Hmm?
Knuckle: What in the hell did you do with shoot, huh?
Menthuthuyoupi: What’s that?
Hmm?
Morel: 89 deep purple puppets,
the most I can produce right now.
I’ll use them to help knuckle as best I can.
Menthuthuyoupi: I see what you’re doing.
I’ll let you hit me once, but in return...
I’ll take your life!
( Door creaks )
Hina: Okay. There’s no one here.
Good. Time to escape, so let’s go.
Damn it. They told us we were gonna be safe here.
It’s too bad I can’t get in touch with sir leol,
and since my stomach’s deflated,
that probably means sir cheetu is dead.
I haven’t heard anything from flutter,
so I guess i’m done here.
I suppose i’ll just leave now
and become a queen somewhere else!
Oh, I know!
I can make you my deputy. How’s that sound?
Bizeff: Help...Me.
Hina: Eh?
Bizeff: Please help me.
Get me out of here!
I need help.
Hina: You don’t look so good, director bizeff.
Bizeff: No, I... Can’t move my legs.
Hina: Hmm?
Hmm.
This looks dangerous. Let’s just go.
Bizeff: Please wait. Don’t go. You can’t leave.
If you do, i’m gonna die!
Hina: Yeah, no can do.
There’s no way I can move all that stuff.
Hina: At the very least, call someone to help!
Hina: I told you no already!
I’m trying to get out of here a.S.A.P.
My boss is missing, I have no direct line to the king,
and the palace is all messed up!
So I don’t have any reason to stay here anymore.
Bizeff: Just tell me what you want!
There are mountains of treasure in the basement!
If you help me, you can take whatever you like,
so please, please pull me out!
Hina: Where in the basement?
Bizeff: There’s a private area reserved for the leader
that’s located just beyond the shelter.
I’m in charge of the vault.
I’m the only one who has access. ( Groaning )
Hina: You’ll give me anything?
( Grunts )
Bizeff: Oh, my.
Hina: You’d better keep your promise,
or i’m gonna kill you, okay?
♪ Treasure, treasure
♪ we’re off to find some treasure ♪
♪ some pretty golden treasure, treasure... ♪
Bizeff: This country is absolutely done for.
I wasn’t certain before,
but an air raid without my consultation
is all the proof I need.
I’m sure they’re calling the ants biological weapons
to justify the assault.
If i’m captured, they’ll force me to confess
and use it as cover while they throw me in prison for life.
That, or they’ll execute me so I can’t talk.
( Groans )
I can’t let them capture me. I’ve got to escape!
( Splash )
Shaiapouf: Now the smoke user’s out of commission.
I’ll go back to the palace, evaluate the current situation,
and return to the king.
Though i’m sure, if i’m by his side,
the king will only find me a nuisance.
Beelzebub!
♪
Go forth, my segments!
Go find and evaluate every last being in the palace.
( Segments laughing )
Narrator: Beelzebub is pouf’s ability
to split himself into clones,
the smallest being nano-sized particles.
He can divide himself into a variety of sizes,
and the smaller they are,
the greater in number they can be.
However, no matter the size of his clones,
the core command center
must remain at least the size of a bee.
Shaiapouf: Oh, smoke man,
if you hadn’t removed the barrier,
my main body would never have been able to escape,
and my combat capacity would have been reduced by half.
I’m sure a puppet master such as yourself is acutely aware
of the incomparable difference in strength
between a clone and your own body.
But now that i’m free, i’m invincible.
You’ve already lost.
You should have deliberated a little more carefully.
When you realized the pupa was empty,
you could have asked yourself
whether its contents had escaped the smoke
or whether they remained inside.
Even if I seemed to speak from the outside,
you could have asked yourself
whether or not the voice was even real.
The plan I executed earlier
was an act of pure desperation borne out of necessity.
My clones could have continued to undermine your comrades
for quite a long time,
and some might have been fooled,
but as long as a few were as skilled as you seem to be,
they would have realized that I was a fake,
sooner or later, anyway.
Had you comprehended the truth
instead of allowing yourself to be blinded to it,
had you realized that my main body
remained within the barrier,
you would have understood my ability
and would have searched for me...
And in that case,
I would have had no way to fight you,
given my reduced state of being.
( Squish )
In other words,
if you’d kept me imprisoned as per your initial plan,
you might have lost some colleagues,
but you would have been able to defeat me.
Truth be told, I was 10% resigned to that outcome.
Your emotions were perfectly aligned to accomplish that.
I suppose the explosion must have thrown you off.
( Sighs ) Such a pity.
But i’m free again,
and now i’ll evaluate the situation in the palace.
Narrator: Morel was far from being in perfect form,
even before the storming of the palace was under way.
He then faced pouf in a battle of wits
while under tremendous stress,
but considering his extreme fatigue
and profound anxiety,
it’s no wonder that he jumped the gun.
However, he arrived
at the perfect time to support knuckle,
preventing him from engaging youpi alone.
Therefore, the timing with which he released smoky jail
was in hindsight quite a miraculous feat,
and it was certainly more than a simple product of coincidence.
It would be safe to say morel’s vast wealth of experience
played a role in saving him.
Not long after entering the palace,
morel immediately began to prepare
by weighing the strength of the enemies
against that of his own team.
Deep down, he knew they had underestimated
the power of those they would be fighting.
When he realized the length of time his people could hold out
was considerably shorter than he had previously anticipated,
he shifted his focus to deciding
whether or not to attack the pupa.
This allowed him to avoid the turmoil
of choosing between maintaining smoky jail
and supporting his team.
Morel’s cunning,
derived from his knowledge of the battlefield,
saved his friend’s life.
Menthuthuyoupi: The real one’s hidden
among the fakes trying to attack me, right?
This time, i’m gonna land a counterpunch on him.
Morel: Five wiped out. 84 left.
( Menthuthuyoupi chuckles )
The smoke ones are fake. They feel completely different.
When the real one lands a punch, i’ll know it immediately.
That moment will be his last.
Morel: 75 left. 72...
Down to 70.
♪
Shaiapouf: Pitou and the girl
are on the west tower’s second floor.
Pitou seems to be healing her,
and there’s a boy close by who’s likely an enemy.
Three more are near the underground shelter--
hina, a soldier ant, and bizeff!
They may be heading underground.
Welfin is behind them.
He appears to be in pursuit.
I see.
The girl was injured by a dragon arrow.
Why doesn’t the enemy take this chance to attack pitou?
Could he know the girl?
East tower antechamber.
It’s the human we captured a few days ago.
It should hatch soon.
( Gasps ) This area is simply crawling with enemies.
One, two, three--
ah, but youpi is taking them out quickly.
Youpi and fifty of those thuggish brutes
are in the northern part of the palace.
It’s the smoke guy and a bunch of thugs.
And there’s a weird pointy-headed fat thing.
Not sure if it’s friend or foe.
Is the pointy thing youpi’s true ability?
Only one of the thugs is real,
while the rest are made of smoke.
The number of puppets isn’t increasing,
because he needs the pipe to make more.
It should take youpi less than a minute to find the real one.
( Gasps )
The king is gone.
Where is he?
Get back here at once, all of you!
( Menthuthuyoupi chuckles )
What’s wrong? You’re running out of clones.
Are my attacks so fast you can’t get into striking range?
Is that it?
Should I give him an opening?
If I do, it’ll make it easier for him to hit me.
Be careful now.
Make it look natural.
Here you go.
Come on!
Hmm?
This one, too?
You bastard.
Morel: Do you finally get it, sucker?
See, there never was a real one in the first place.
I’ll kill you!
♪
Menthuthuyoupi: There is a real one here!
Knuckle: Yeah, no kidding, dumb-ass!
( Shaiapouf gasps )
An aura explosion from youpi?
Did he really need to use such an ability?
This is worrisome.
But even so, locating the king is my top priority.
Knuckle: Thanks, boss.
If you hadn’t set that condition,
I would have snapped and charged him.
It’s a good thing you did.
Morel: Listen up. The only time i’ll make
those pissed-lookin’ clones of you
is when you’ve flown off the handle
and stopped paying attention to anything.
When you see ’em, blend in with the clones best you can.
Just take a breather, and refocus on your goal.
Knuckle: Yeah, I get it.
That’s enough with the lecture.
After cooling down and thinking about it,
there’s no way that youpi would have taken shoot.
But if shoot couldn’t move around on his own, then who did?
( Growls ) Stop overthinking.
I need to focus on the opponent in front of me!
( Respirator hissing )
Shoot: Where--
where am I?
( Monitor beeping )
That was...
- ( Bizeff groans ) - ( Hina wails )
Hey, hurry up, and get in
before the entrance is blocked up!
Welfin: Damn it! Bizeff is mine.
If I knew what abilities they had,
I could make a move.
( Footsteps echoing )
( Neferpitou gasps )
Just stay back.
Don’t come any closer, all right?
( Shudders ) Pouf, please.
♪
( Shaiapouf scoffs )
( Singing in Japanese )