Page 1
Yuzuha runs toward Number Seven. Her scythe gleams as it tears through the air.
Number Seven catches it with his bare hand. He pulls her in. He drives the handle into her face.
Yuzuha takes the blow. She answers with a punch to the stomach.
His stomach converts to solid Stone Mantle. Her hand hits rock. She recoils in pain.
He sweeps her feet. A kick from the other leg. Yuzuha flies toward the pillar.
Page 2
Impact.
In the same moment — a violet beam passes and splits the pillar down the middle.
Yuzuha falls through the debris.
On the other side, Totoki launches thorns at Number Three. A green shield appears and deflects all of them without breaking.
Number Three smiles. He doesn't move.
Page 3
Karki turns.
He sees Totoki.
He freezes.
Longer hair. Taller. A beard that wasn't there before. Half his face — violet. His eyes nothing like Totoki's eyes.
"What happened to you? What are you?"
Totoki looks at him.
"I'm not Totoki. But Totoki asked me to help you. So that's what I'm doing."
Page 4
Karki opens his mouth to answer.
A fire strike hits him from the side. He flies backward.
Number Three appears — reading an incantation in a low voice. The earth beneath Karki splits. A small mountain rises and launches him into the air.
"What kind of power is this?"
Number Three doesn't lift his head.
"I don't have power. I'm a sorcerer."
Page 5
Incantation circles form in the sky above Karki. Moving rings. They launch toward him like waves.
Totoki fires thorns at Number Three. The green shield deflects every single one without flinching.
Karki runs. Dodges. Runs more.
"I don't know which one is more dangerous."
Page 6
Yuzuha comes out of the debris.
Blood on her head. Her steps heavy. But her eyes are steady.
Number Seven looks at her.
"There you are."
Yuzuha looks at him.
"You and me. Here. Now. This doesn't end until one of us falls."
She pulls her scythe.
Page 7
She grabs the scythe's handle with both hands and pulls it — it extends. She draws a blade from her back and locks it in place.
The scythe is now larger. Heavier. More dangerous.
She wraps the chain around her hand. She takes one step forward.
Number Seven braces.
Page 8
Yuzuha raises her voice and spins.
The scythe spins with her. It accelerates. Then:
"Four times."
The scythe and chain multiply in size several times over. They spin at a speed that tears through the air. Their weight makes the earth shake beneath her.
Page 9
Number Seven converts his side to stone.
What is this.
The scythe's head connects.
The stone cracks. Number Seven flies right — like a projectile.
Yuzuha stops.
"Normal size."
The scythe returns. She pulls it. She raises it.
"Five times."
Page 10
The scythe grows to a size the palace has never seen.
Karki sprints away.
Yuzuha drives it into the floor with everything she has.
The palace tile shatters. The walls shake. Dust fills everything.
Page 11
She releases the chain from her hand.
"Normal size."
She leaps.
The scythe shrinks suddenly. The chain yanks her with tremendous force toward the floor.
A violet beam passes in front of her at the speed of a blink.
She lands. She grabs her scythe from the ground.
Page 12
Number Seven walks out of the dust.
His left hand is gone. The other still moves.
He looks at Yuzuha.
He punches her in the face. She falls. Her hand releases the scythe.
She hits the ground.
Page 13
She rises. She kicks.
Number Seven moves right. He catches her foot between his hand and his stomach — converts both to stone. He presses.
Yuzuha screams. He's trying to break her foot. She pulls. She can't.
The pressure increases.
She reaches into her pocket. She draws a knife. She directs it toward Number Seven.
"Perfect size."
Page 14
The knife grows in a single instant. It pierces Number Seven's stomach with force that launches him into the ceiling.
Yuzuha's foot is free.
But the knife's handle swings back from below — and hits her. She crashes into the floor.
She stops.
She doesn't move.
Page 15
Above — Number Seven pinned to the ceiling. The knife through him. Split.
The knife returns to its normal size.
He falls.
Yuzuha loses consciousness.
Page 16
Elsewhere.
Thian stands in the corridor. In front of him — a person who has transformed fully into a wolf. Drool running down. Claws gleaming.
It charges.
A punch sends Thian through the wall. They crash together into the lower courtyard.
They trade strikes during the fall. Yuzuha's scythe passes through the air between them.
They land far apart.
Page 17
Thian pushes himself upright.
He runs at the werewolf. He punches. It rolls.
He leaps on top of it. He punches. Once. Twice.
The werewolf deflects. It rakes Thian's chest with its claws.
Blood pours.
Thian doesn't stop.
Page 18
In the upper floor.
Mabu on the ground. His right wooden hand shattered. His left hand alone isn't enough.
Kazuko walks toward him slowly. Unhurried. As if taking a stroll.
"Who are you? What is all this noise? And where are the numbers?"
Page 19
Mabu stands.
The Stone Mantle covers his feet. The ground cracks beneath him.
A fast flying kick toward Kazuko.
Kazuko sidesteps with one step. He catches Mabu's foot. He drives him into the floor.
He lifts him by the foot, upside down in the air.
"Let go of me."
"Alright."
Page 20
A powerful kick launches Mabu into the wall. The impact shakes his entire body.
He falls.
"Should I kill him, Kazuko?"
Bumer sits where he was. He hasn't moved. He wipes his mouth with his napkin.
"Why not. He ruined my breakfast. Of course."
Kazuko walks toward Mabu.
"As you wish."
Page 21
Kazuko drives a knife into Mabu's shoulder.
Mabu screams.
Another stab into his foot.
"Whoever came here will regret it greatly."
He draws his sword. He raises it.
"You'll be my breakfast today."
Page 22
The sword swings down.
A punch comes from the right.
Kazuko sidesteps it easily. He grabs the striker. He throws him.
The striker disappears in the air.
He reappears in front of Kazuko. He grabs his arm. He lifts him into the sky.
On the verge of driving him into the floor.
Page 23
Kazuko doesn't fall.
At the last instant he flips backward. He breaks free.
The striker disappears — reappears behind Kazuko.
Two hands grab Kazuko from behind in midair. They drive his head into the floor with force that explodes the tile.
The old man.
Page 24
The dust rises.
When it clears — the old man and Kazuko stand face to face.
Bumer rises from his chair. His face changes.
"No. No. No."
The old man looks at Kazuko.
"Do you remember me?"
Continued in Chapter Thirty-Four