The magical signature in this spot is massively abnormal.
This goes beyond just normal strength.
It's as if a powerful barrier has been placed around this entire house.
And at its center is...
Kohinata Mangetsu.
It can't be...
It can't be!
hikaru tsuki yoru ni ukande
The shining moon, floating in the night
kuroi kage ni kakurete kieta
disappeared behind a looming shadow
me wo fuseta toki ni mieru sekai wa
The world I saw when I closed my eyes
nisemono no yume de afureru
Was overflowing with false dreams
futari de issho ni aruita
If the road we walked on together
itsu made mo tsuzuku
was supposed to continue forever
hazu datta michi ga
moshimo kowaretara
starts to crumble
kizuite yo
Notice it
taisetsu na kimi e todoketai ai
The love that I want to convey to you
kimi no uso mo maboroshi mo uketometai
I want to accept your lies and illusions
kakete shimatta mono datte sugu ni
Even if they're fragmented,
mata atsumerareru sa
I can gather them up right away
mou mayonaka wa tsuki wo oikakenai
I won't chase after the moon anymore at midnight
hitori seoikomanakutemo iin da yo
You don't have to shoulder it all alone anymore
kuuhaku datta kono kokoro datte
Even this once empty heart
omoide de afureta
is overflowing with memories
kitto kore ga kotae da yo
This must be the answer
Onee-chan...
Don't look so sad.
Are you really okay?
The only way to protect you from them is to become a mage.
It's the only way to get them to leave us alone.
Onee-chan... You don't have to...
It's all right. I can win.
Someday...
I promise.
If I don't come back,
hide in this location.
Just forget about GRANBELM!
I can deal with it!
Even if they take me, I...
Onee-chan...
I'm sorry.
Wait... please...
Suishou...
Mangetsu
Where are you?
Tap to see more
Message
MORNING!
Can we meet up?
It says she's read it, but there's no reply...
I see.
Maybe it's best not to rely on her.
Do you think she intends to fight by herself?
Those fighting in GRANBELM normally do so alone, anyway.
All right, let's begin.
Relax.
I know I said this before,
but it really does look real.
It feels just the same, too.
The technique is projecting a part of your memory into your optic nerves.
Like if you could dream while you were awake.
Okay, here goes.
Spirits have their own consciousness, though it can be faint.
That means they can be cautious,
but it's also possible to get them to befriend you.
So they're kinda like pets?
Just projecting your own mental image like you've done before won't be enough.
You need to establish an accord with the spirit to allow you to approach it.
Okay.
Pull the strings in,
drawing the magical power at the other end toward you.
What happened?
Nothing... I'm okay.
I'll try one more time.
Let's take a break.
I know I can do it...
We have time. No need to rush.
But you can't fight in the next battle, can you?
Considering the damage I took last time, probably not.
You showed up.
I didn't think you would.
You heard, didn't you?
Heard what?
The truth.
"Please..."
"Please... eat me."
You're making her say that, aren't you?!
You're using that curse!
If you really believed that,
you wouldn't have come here.
It's the truth.
Your sister Shisui wanted me to eat her.
You're lying...
You heard it out of her mouth—
You're lying!
Why don't you ask her, then?
Ask the part of her soul that's inside me.
Onee-chan...
Kuon.
You were just a burden.
I got tired of looking after you.
How nice...
It's just like turbulence on an airplane,
the way your emotions abruptly rise and fall...
I love those eyes.
Hear me, mage,
girl who has been chosen by Magiaconatus to be the Princeps...
It is only by embracing your wounds— including ones you have yet to experience—
that a mage can be born.
No... No!
Are you all right?
Sorry I couldn't get it to come out.
I guess I'm still just a klutz.
No, it's not your fault.
If I had explained it more clearly...
That's not it at all. It's my fault.
I just... can't help remembering...
that white place of nothingness...
As I told you before,
there's no way you have nothing.
Someone who had nothing wouldn't be of such help to me.
Shingetsu-chan...
Please... Shingetsu-chan...
I'm doing this for Shingetsu-chan.
I want to protect Shingetsu-chan!
Tell me your name.
Is this...
It's a spirit.
A summoned spirit that you called here...
Orca.
So this is...
What's important is that you don't forget what you're feeling right now.
Okay! I'll practice!
Here. To thank you.
What did I tell you before?
I don't eat in the evenings.
Aw, it's fine. I want to eat with you, Shingetsu-chan.
It's good!
Right?
I can't get into the habit of buying food to immediately eat.
Got a minute?
You're...
I can't see anything.
Shingetsu-chan?
Yes?
How does it feel? Think you can move?
I'm all right.
Are you okay?
Yes.
Stay here, Shingetsu-chan!
Wait!
I'll go.
Huh?
Get as far away as possible.
There's no doubt about it.
That girl, Kohinata Mangetsu, is...
Shingetsu-chan?!
What?!
It vanished?
Shingetsu-chan, where are you?
Stay back, Mangetsu!
But why—
The magic is unstable... A barrier?
Suishou...
Be careful.
Kuon?
She's using that staff to control powerful magic.
And...
Her spirit is powerful, too.
Where's it coming from?
Shingetsu-chan! Shingetsu-chan!
What is that?!
Suishou's spirit...
Shingetsu-chan! Shingetsu-chan!
Mangetsu?
She's fast!
Mangetsu?
Mangetsu... Mangetsu!
Power of the earth, which exists within all things...
What...
This is...
A trap.
It was intended to make the three of us fight each other.
I mean, it's three against one.
You've got to give me this much, at least.
Ah...
I suppose it's actually two against one...
How very savage.
I just love how the color of your heart fluctuates.
Shut up!
Child of the earth!
Kuon-chan!
Don't!
Why—
Because then you would...
Kuon-chan!
...find out the truth.
The truth about what you really are.
The truth?
The fact that you are nothing.
Right, Shingetsu?
You keep saying these things to make us feel terrible,
and to rile us up!
Very well. Come to me.
I will be your mirror.
Shingetsu-chan, why...
What do you know?
Shingetsu Ernesta...
You'd better restrain yourself,
or I'll tell them everything!
This is...
a spirit?
It's the one who crawls, Medusa.
Do your best. Before I defeat you...
I'll bring this all to an end.
Footsteps in the Silence!
Now, that's no good. Your heart is already such a mess.
If you're wavering that much...
You're unworthy.
Onee-chan...
I'll eat you, too.
Let's be together, Kuon.
The truth? The truth about what I really am?
Mangetsu...
I can't think about it!
That's what she wants.
Orca!
Well? How do you feel?
Stop... using that voice...
I just can't help thinking...
If only she weren't around...
Eat me.
Stop! Stay out of my head!
Don't you recognize me? I'm your sister.
Stop! Stop!
Stop!
It's your big sister, who just loves Suishou.
Stop...
Go on, say it. Say, "Eat me."
"Please eat me."
See?
Please...
Me, too...
This sound...
Onee-chan...
You little—
Onee-chan...
You were with me this whole time...
I'm sorry.
What's this?
Further abusing your victim, now?
You're not the victim here.
You don't get it?
You don't know why my sister was eaten?
Why she asked to be eaten?
You were fooled.
My sister fooled you!
My sister got you to eat her on purpose!
All to defeat you!
Wha—
I finally understand.
You can't!
There are dozens of them, aren't there?
And you have to be the last one left at the end, right?
That's why I have to.
To protect you.
What my sister said... meant the same thing!
As if that's—
She's fast!
Child of the earth!
Wow...
This is...
the power of SETSGETS BAIKA...
Onee-chan...
What?
Well?
It's a lovely doll, isn't it?
That's...
Kuon-chan!
Don't!
Mangetsu!
Then... Mangetsu...
Mangetsu is...
She's...
So you came after all,
Kohinata Mangetsu!
In this monochrome world,
it wasn't easy walking alone.
I followed a vague outline,
and the thread I gathered from it did not connect.
If I had walked around it better,
what exactly would've changed?
The more I think about it, the more tangled I get.
As the creaking world was swallowing us,
many important things were scattered around.
Even then, we yearned for
the blissful life we saw somewhere.
But if that life brings us pain,
then I don't want it, don't want it, don't want it.
I don't want it.
What... is this?
To Be Continued
Next Time
The truth she has learned gouges out her heart,
wounds her, and robs her of the desire to live.
Nonetheless, the sound of the piano echoing in her heart
calls Kuon's magical power forth,
and the piano duet heard as night falls
locks on to a shining victory.
Next time on GRANBELM,
"The Pensive Doll."
The Pensive Doll
A scream of despair echoes through the night sky.
Look forward to the next episode!