Niššīku ends up defeated, Renai puts his arm up to celebrate.
The crowd cheers and cry tears of happiness.
"The Artist of Justice at your service."
Yves and Mime find Renai as the officer's check for survivors around the area.
"Yo! Master!" Mime waves.
Behind them, Renai sees Unit Zero, sitting defeated and exhausted.
Renai points at the mana officers, Mime and Yves move to help them.
Renai walks up to Unit Zero.
"Nice fight, guys." Renai says proudly.
Unit Zero don't give him a reaction, they keep sulking.
"If it weren't for you guys… things could've ended very badly. But thanks to your courage… we pulled through."
Renai sits himself down by the group.
"You guys are Sangre De Reyes students. You're young, full of potential. When I was your age, I was nothing but a slouch!"
"I would've never have had the courage to do what you did here today. But you… you've shown what heroes are made of."
Unit Zero all look at each other.
"I'm gonna leave you guys to it, but remember this day. You guys are real heroes." Renai leaves Unit Zero alone.
Axia sighs.
"Maybe he's right…"
"Hell yeah, he's right. I'll never give up." Plaster groans.
"We have to become stronger." Claire says.
Kevo looks at them, he gives a weak smile and nods.
They turn their attention to Beyce, watching the ruins in the distance.
"What's wrong, Beyce?" Kevo asks.
Beyce lowers his head.
"Guys, I'm not built for this." He says softly.
Kevo frowns in shock.
"W-what do you mean?"
"Sangre De Reyes, I thought about it earlier. I was too scared to fight, I dragged you guys down. Sorry about that."
"What are you talking about? We were all scared-" Kevo says.
"Not only that… I've thought about it since our last mission, I don't know If I want to live my life like this. At the beginning, I wanted to make a name for myself here, bring my family to glory. But this… this is not it, I feel like I'm putting my life at risk more than I'm getting rewarded, and It shouldn't be like that… that's how I feel at least."
Unit Zero stare at him in shock.
"So, what are you saying, Beyce?" Kevo asks.
"I'm resigning as a Sangre De Reyes student, I wish you all the best, and you will always have a friend in me, sorry guys."
Beyce gets up slowly and starts walking off.
…
"Class, today a substitute assistant will be joining us. Please welcome, Ari." The teacher says.
Ari steps into the room with his arms behind his back.
"Hello, everyone, my name is Ari, and I'm here to help." He says politely.
Students start whispering and gossiping as the teacher continues the introductions.
'I'll plant the mana dust discreetly.' He thinks.
Ari remembers Sixx giving him the mana dust, a powder invisible to non-mana users that light up when a mana user makes contact with it.
As the teacher begins the lesson, Ari slips outside and sprinkles the dust just at the entrance of every classroom.
'That should do it…'
He makes his way back and steps back in and quietly listens to the lecture.
Later, while helping some students with their work, he overhears a conversation at the back of the room.
"Have you heard about Coti? He says he can see mana auras…"
"Yeah… he's scary. And he always jokes on about death. Do you think he has something to do with what's happening?"
'Coti? I don't remember a Coti in this class.' Ari thinks.
He excuses himself and leaves the room, moving from classroom to classroom to ask about Coti.
After a few searches, a teacher answers,
"Coti? Class is over for today. He's probably getting ready to leave."
Ari nods and heads toward the entrance. He spots Coti immediately, a delinquent type with buzzed blonde hair and piercings.
Coti leaves school alone, Ari looks back at the classroom he's supposed to be an assistant at.
"Fuck it."
Ari starts tailing Coti, following him deep into the city.
He watches him disappear into an alleyway.
'Did I catch the killer?' Ari thinks, his heart beating.
Ari sees Coti confronting a stranger, they argue loudly.
Just as things are about to escalate, Ari steps in.
"Coti, hands behind your back. This is over."
Coti's eyes widen in shock, the kid he was arguing with sprints off.
"W-w-w-w-w-what? But I didn't do anything?" Coti says, his voice shaking.
'I'm not feeling any mana presence from him…' Ari thinks.
"Anyway, you're coming with me-"
Suddenly, someone strikes Ari in the back with a steel chair.
"Hm?" Ari turns around, unfazed.
"Get his ass!" A gang starts surrounding Ari.
"W-what's going on, you guys?" Coti asks nervously.
"You still owe us that money you promised us, fool!" One of the gang members say.
'Money? This guy is no mana user… I am a fool, of course he isn't the killer.'
Ari sighs and takes out two guys behind him easily.
He activates his technique in front of the gang, and they all scatter away in fear.
"Be honest, you're not a mana user… right?" Ari asks.
Coti wipes his tears.
"N-no… sorry."
Strike one.
…
"The compass shall lose its needle in four corners of the world.
Three broken clocks will resume their ticking at your approach.
They will descend with you where no stars shine.
Even betrayal will forget their names."
"That does make sense, Shinsei." Saint says.
Viola sits herself on Saint's lap.
"Soooo, we're gonna recruit three people? But I liked being us three…" She says.
"We have to strengthen our squad, we can't take Noza Ginova as we are." Saint continues, unbothered.
"Should we split up? I'm thinking we can save some time. The verse says 'In four corners of the world.', so our recruits are gonna be on each corner of the world, far from each other." Shinsei says.
"Ehh… I don't think I quite get it…" Viola says, pouting.
"The compass shall lose its needle in four corners of the world, meaning the places of interest will be in four corners of the world, followed by."
"Three broken clocks will resume their ticking at your approach, since it's in metaphors, the three broken clocks are three people heavily affected by Noza Ginova's corruption, a broken clock can't tick, but they will continue ticking once we approach them and ask them to join us." Shinsei explains.
"The last lines are pretty much self-explanatory, they will probably join our pact, making them unable to betray us." Saint adds.
"I see… I think I get it… hehe…" Viola says, smiling brightly.
"We've been lying low for some time now, It's time to start moving again." Saint says.
"Roger, boss." Shinsei says.
"Let's go."
…