Page 1
A platform in the center of the capital.
The crowd stretches in every direction until it disappears between the buildings. Thousands of faces. Most of them don't know why they came. They only know something is about to happen.
Karki. Totoki. Yuzuha.
Bound to wooden posts. Garbage thrown at them from every side.
Page 2
Yuzuha raises her head.
"You filth. Die. Damn every single one of you."
No fear in her voice. Only pure contempt.
The man on the platform raises his hand. The crowd goes silent.
"These criminals caused the death of our beloved King Bumer. And the deaths of dozens of innocent soldiers."
Page 3
Totoki looks at them.
Half his face burned. The violet color flickering beneath the cracked skin.
"Can't they be quiet?"
He says it to himself. With the calm of a man trying to find something to hold onto in his last moments.
"At least let us die in peace."
Page 4
In a far corner of the square.
Two men move through the crowd. On their chests: Number Five. Number Four. Second Squad.
"Do you see this wreckage?"
"Yes. I can't imagine the commander's reaction when he sees what happened. Let's go deliver Marnos."
They walk. They watch. No one notices them.
Elsewhere — Mabu and Thian are running.
Mabu's broken hand grips a blade. The blade cuts into his hand. Blood runs down it.
Page 5
The crowd — a wall that can't be broken through.
Mabu runs. He pushes. He shouts.
"Move. I need to get through. Move."
No one hears. No one moves. Everyone wants to see.
Mabu stops. He looks over the heads. He sees the three of them on the posts. Garbage raining down.
He runs back.
Page 6
A side street. Packed as well.
Mabu tries to climb the wall. The rain makes the stone slippery. His wooden hand doesn't grip well.
He falls.
He stands. He breathes. He looks at the crowd.
"Move. Let me through."
Nothing.
Page 7
A hand grabs his shoulder. Shoves him back.
A large man. His face carries no interest in Mabu's problems.
"Where do you think you're going? You're not getting through here."
"I need to pass."
"Get back. Before you regret it."
Mabu looks past the man. He looks at the platform. He sees the executioner's hand rising.
Page 8
Mabu punches the man in the face.
The man takes one step back. Then he grabs Mabu by his shirt. He draws his sword.
"Where do you think you're going?"
The executioner approaches Karki. The crowd: execute him — execute him. He raises the axe.
Mabu shouts: "No."
Page 9
The axe falls.
Silence drops over the entire square.
Mabu sees it. He cannot not see it.
The blood runs slowly across the wood of the platform.
His eyes are open. They don't believe what they're seeing.
Page 10
The executioner raises his axe a second time. Strikes again. Then again.
Karki's head falls.
Yuzuha screams. The chains hold her. She can't turn.
"Karki. Karki, answer me."
Silence.
"KAAARKIIII."
Page 11
Mabu takes one step back.
Then another.
His pupils expand. Then contract. Then contract further.
Something breaks in a place inside him that no one has ever reached before.
The man in front of him opens his mouth to speak.
He splits in two before he makes a sound.
Page 12
A woman turns. She opens her mouth to scream. A sword through her skull.
Mabu no longer sees faces. No longer sees people.
He sees only everything standing between him and the platform.
The sword moves. The crowd explodes. Everyone runs in every direction. Screaming fills the space.
Mabu moves forward. He kills everyone in his path.
Page 13
Yuzuha looks from atop the platform.
The crowd shatters like a broken wave. And in its center — Mabu.
His eyes don't look like Mabu's eyes. He cuts through the crowd. They scream. They try to flee.
His voice — not his voice:
"Anyone who stands in my way dies."
Page 14
Thian runs behind him.
He sees what Mabu is doing. He sees how he moves.
He shakes his head.
"No. Not like this. Not like this, Mabu."
He runs faster. He tries to catch up.
The executioner on the platform approaches Yuzuha. He raises the axe.
I must execute her before her rescuer arrives.
Page 15
A sword pierces the executioner's head at a speed that can't be followed.
He freezes — pinned to the wood directly above Yuzuha's head.
Blood drips onto her face.
She looks up. She looks toward where the sword came from.
Mabu stands in the middle of the bodies. His eyes — as if they've gone black.
He doesn't see her. He doesn't see anyone.
Page 16
He steps onto the platform.
"Yuzuha. Wait."
He moves toward her restraints.
A kick from the left. Number Five.
Mabu blocks it with his arm. He turns. His face completely still.
He answers with one kick — Stone Mantle-coated.
Number Five tears through the platform's wood like an arrow.
Page 17
The earth splits beneath the platform.
A small formation rises. It launches Mabu backward.
Number Three. He stands at a distance. He pulls Number Five from beneath the wood.
From the other side, Thian deflects Number Four's strike. He kicks him away.
Page 18
Number Three looks at them both.
He exhales.
"I need to end them now. The threat is greater than I anticipated."
He pulls a pendant from his pocket — Mabu's name written on it. A swift motion. He draws a knife.
"Come back to me, Thian."
He places them both on the ground. He sits. He opens his book. He begins reading.
Page 19
Mabu looks at Number Five. Rage fills every part of him.
"Stay out of my way."
The Stone Mantle appears on his feet — coating them to the knee.
He launches at Number Five.
One kick. Sends him toward the far wall. He sinks into it.
Page 20
Mabu runs after him. He continues.
Kick. Kick. Number Five catches Mabu's foot. He drives him into the ground.
He smiles — a smile that belongs on no one taking this much punishment.
"You know something? The hits make me stronger. Every time."
He punches Mabu with doubled force. Mabu flies. He breaks through the wall of the distant palace.
Page 21
Thian charges with his sword toward Number Four.
The blade pierces the chest.
Number Four looks at the wound. He smiles.
A charge of electricity explodes from his body. Thian flies backward. He falls. He gasps.
He stands again.
Page 22
Thian runs. He throws a punch. Number Four sidesteps it.
Another. He catches it. He electrocutes him.
Thian screams in pain. He drops to one knee.
He stands.
He drops again.
Page 23
Inside Thian's mind — one voice only:
No. No. No.
This is what I trained for. This is the reason. I have to protect him.
He raises his head.
He launches.
From the other side — Mabu runs toward him at the same moment. Number Five behind him.
Number Four grabs Thian. He electrocutes him with everything he has.
Mabu's punch connects with Number Four from the side. It sends him away.
Page 24
Number Four stands. Number Five beside him.
Number Four raises his hand toward the sky.
The sky responds. Thunder fills everything.
"Rain down."
One bolt. Descending from the clouds — directly.
It strikes Thian.
The sound cuts through everything. The light blinds everything.
When the scene clears — Thian is standing where he was. His body blackened. He doesn't move.
Mabu stands. He watches.
His heartbeat fills the silence.
No.
Continued in Chapter Thirty-Seven