Gai's vision lurched sideways. The punch had sent his brain rattling in its skull — everything spun, a brutal agony, an airless, crushing pressure as though his head itself had split open. The pain was beyond words. He'd lost count of how many teeth had shattered. Consciousness was already fraying at the edges, and in seconds he would be lost to it entirely.
But in this moment — in the final thread of awareness before he went under — Gai Tsutsugami heard Mana Ouma's voice.
"Triton."
He could barely make out shapes anymore. Somehow the lights seemed to have gone out. He found himself in absolute darkness — and the Inori who had just struck him had already taken on an entirely different expression, gentle and quiet. Her personality had shifted.
"M-Mana?"
Gai laughed, broken and ruined.
"Finally… I see you."
"I don't have much time. But what I'm about to say — remember it."
"I died ten years ago. But Eve's will would not permit my death. And so…"
"To truly resolve the Apocalypse once and for all, Eve must successfully descend into this world. The Lost Christmas must happen again. There is no other path — because the virus is formless, and Da'ath is the formless will of god, the ordained fate of biological selection and evolution. There is no alternative."
In those brief thirteen seconds, Mana distilled Inori's plan into the fewest words possible and laid it out for him.
"You must live, Triton. Work with Keido. Become Adam. Become the demon king who brings the world into the Apocalypse — and then I will find a way to sever every link in that chain."
"Please."
Gai couldn't yet grasp what all of it meant — because at that moment, the world lit up again.
Time resumed.
The Gravekeeper's arrow tore through both Gai and Inori — and left nothing behind. No wound, no trace. It simply blew a large crater into the wall across the room. That power again — that eerie control over time. God, was this woman's Void truly invincible? Even he, who possessed eternal life and oversaw the mechanisms of biological selection, had never encountered an ability this terrifying.
"I told you. Useless."
Behind Inori lay Gai, collapsed in a pool of blood. She turned with a single, sharp glance back at Yuu — a look that could cut glass. She couldn't activate Time Erasure again in quick succession, not this soon — but at this distance, King Crimson didn't need it.
King Crimson took the greatsword from Inori's hand and charged at Yuu with overwhelming force. That was the truth of it: handing the weapon to King Crimson rather than wielding it herself made it more imposing, not less. King Crimson hoisted that immense blade — nearly as long as its own body — and between its raw strength and speed, Inori genuinely couldn't imagine anyone stopping it.
But Yuu had clearly already planned his exit. He had only been testing — probing for weaknesses in Inori's ability. If the attack succeeded, all the better. If it failed, that too was within expectations. And sure enough, as he'd suspected, she could not activate the temporal leap twice in rapid succession.
He also knew he was no match for her right now. The only option was to fall back temporarily and move to his second contingency. The outcome wasn't ideal — but the Origin Stone was already secured, and Gai had been dealt with. Without Gai, Funeral Parlor would collapse like a tree losing its roots.
Before King Crimson's blade could cleave down onto his skull, Yuu pressed his palm to the floor and tore open a seam — like an unzipping crack splitting the ground — and dropped straight into it.
"Phew." She made no move to follow.
Who could say what lay on the other side of that rift? Within the real world, she was untouchable — but behind Yuu stood something that called itself a divine consciousness, and he was, for all practical purposes, unkillable. Even so, this stalemate would not last. Soon — very soon — that false god would be shattered completely by the Sovereign of Two Souls.
Inori exhaled slowly. She turned to survey the wreckage around her, and the motionless form of Gai Tsutsugami crumpled on the floor.
—Inori, is Triton… will he really be okay?
Mana was still worried. Inori's punch, even restrained, had been real.
—If I'd held back any more, he would've suspected something.
—He won't die. What we need to do now is get out of here as quickly as possible.
Inori felt a faint unease stirring in her gut. Shuichiro Keido was not the kind of man to let an opportunity this good pass — and send only Yuu to deliver a show of force. If Keido had known about her since the day she left the research facility, he must have been aware that she'd already possessed some form of special ability.
And she didn't believe Keido truly trusted Gai. Just as Gai had harbored designs on her King's Power, Keido undoubtedly had contingencies of his own. Stealing the Origin Stone was no small offense — his superiors would put him in confinement unless he could point to something bigger. And eliminating Funeral Parlor in a single stroke? That would be more than enough to justify everything.
It was only a theory. But Inori was almost certain she was right.
And right now, Gai was down. The Funeral Parlor members outside had no idea what had happened — the priority was to get back out there and keep things from falling apart.
—?
A faint sound — barely a footstep — but Inori caught it with pinpoint precision.
"Who's there?"
A soldier who hadn't managed to retreat yet?
The person had frozen. Inori could tell they weren't moving anymore. She found it rather interesting — and began walking, her shoes clicking crisp and deliberate against the metal floor, step by step, closing in.
Shu Ouma, pressed against the corner, clamped a hand over his own mouth. Sweat poured down his face in sheets. He knew he'd been found. He could barely suppress his own breathing — but his heart was slamming against his ribs so wildly it was completely beyond his control.
Inori — she killed Gai.
It had been a simple coincidence. Shu had simply been worried about Inori and slipped after her on his own — and walked straight into the aftermath of everything. He had seen it all: Inori's inexplicable movements, her ruthless efficiency. Diavolo was Inori. She had been the one pulling every string, accounting for everything from the very beginning.
"Shu~"
She drew his name out in a light, playful singsong.
Out of the dim light stepped the pink-haired girl — black fitted pants, a simple tube top, a "kind" smile on her face.
"Ah — no, don't come closer—"
Shu's entire body convulsed uncontrollably. He scrambled backward, clawing at the floor — but his legs had gone completely to water with fear, and he couldn't stand, let alone run.
"Why are you so scared?"
"Stay back!"
Shu screamed, utterly desperate.
"You're being so hurtful. If you talk like that, I might actually dislike you, you know."
Inori pouted with theatrical displeasure.
Under normal circumstances, if Inori had spoken to him like this, Shu would have replayed it in his dreams for days. Now — he felt his life was over. As the only witness, he had seen her show no mercy even to Gai. She would kill him too — just like that blond boy, pierced straight through the chest.