Fushi, take this!
Right!
The battles against the Nokkers rage on.
Along the way, Bon is confronted with a critical fact.
Life is filled with knowledge that is best avoided.
So too are the minds of others.
I'd like you to be my wife.
Heretics Betrayed
I'd like you to be my wife.
Eh?
Oh, s-sure, I get it.
"Marriage," right?
Something about two people in love?
Yeah, it was mentioned in this book, too, so I know what it means.
But...
Isn't it something else between us?
This fluffy sensation?
I think this is what I need.
Fushi...
I see you don't understand yet, because it's all so new to you.
It's all right.
I'll teach you everything.
What is this feeling?
Right. I forgot.
This... This body isn't mine.
Fushi? Are you all right?
What happened?
Please don't come here.
I don't mind.
I don't mind if you become a man!
Don't...
...tell me...
...who I should be!
You're testing me, aren't you?
You're adorable!
I'm confident I can love you, no matter how you look.
Who are you?!
Are you all right, Fushi?
Fushi-san?!
What happened?
Kahaku grabbed onto me.
You poor thing.
You should sleep in my room tonight.
I'm sorry.
I didn't realize you hated me that much.
I don't think you're a bad person.
But I don't know whether Parona feels the same.
Parona?
The owner of this body.
She was killed by your ancestor, Hayase.
Do you know how she killed her?
I didn't see it, but Hayase said...
"It was her stomach or her face.
I felt bad cutting her stomach, so I decided on her face.
But that wasn't easy, either, so I had to take her throat."
Parona was just trying to protect a little girl named March.
And Hayase killed her, saying it was appropriate.
What was it that you wanted to accomplish by killing those two?
Was it to hold me?
I'm sorry.
Thank you for telling me about the past.
I would have stayed a fool if I hadn't known.
I can't allow our activities to be hindered.
Kahaku, I'm giving you an order to stay away from him.
You're waiting here as of tomorrow.
Fushi-sama!
It's Fushi-sama!
Welcome, Prince Bonchien, Fushi-sama.
We welcome you.
Please begin instructing my people.
Fushi-sama, is it true that you can revive people?
I can't do that.
Where did you hear such a rumor?!
I heard that the priest who returned from the Uga Castle said so.
He has the power of God!
Oh, boy.
Sorry to let you down, but that's false information!
That's enough for today.
Hide in the alley before you're surrounded.
Okay.
Hello.
I'm from the Church.
There's something I'd like to tell you.
Prince Bon will soon be captured by anti-Fushi factions and executed.
No! Why?
I'm the one they have a problem with, right?
You're too difficult to capture.
So instead, they're dealing with the people who worship you as a god.
I have to tell Bon.
Thanks for telling me.
Wait.
Even if he escapes, they'll keep chasing him forever.
You're the one they really want to capture.
In fact, if they can capture you,
Prince Bon and the others will no longer be in danger.
Between Bon's only life and your eternal life...
Which is more important to you?
Bon's life, of course.
Tell me what to do.
And so, I'd like Entus City to join us
and the other towns I just named in supporting Fushi.
Prince, Fushi seems to have been captured and taken somewhere by the Bennetts.
Take me there!
Prince Bon?
I've been looking for you, Prince Bon.
What compelled you to leave in such a hurry?
I'm looking for Fushi.
Where's the Church of Bennett in this town?
The Church? You mustn't, Prince!
That place is an anti-Fushi haven.
Besides...
Rumor has it that you're accused of heresy.
Heresy?
Me, of all people?
I am Bonchien Nicoli la Tasty Peach Uralis!
Not just you.
Your Kingdom of Uralis, too.
Why should I care?!
That's none of my business right now!
You mustn't make rash decisions.
Prince!
You're correct, Mayor.
You have a state and peoples that you need in order to become king.
Weren't you...
Supreme Pontiff What's-his-face of the Church of Bennett?
I am Cylira.
You ought to let go of Fushi immediately, Your Highness.
I can't!
My people are counting on me.
More importantly, so is Fushi! I can't betray him!
Let go of Fushi, and in recognition of your brave decision,
we will have a recommendation sent from the head church that you be made king.
Me? King?
But that would be like I'd used Fushi to become king.
I mean...
But isn't that already the truth, Bon?
That's what you're trying to do.
You were being deceived, Your Highness.
By Fushi and the Guardians.
The Church will support you.
Deceived?
I don't need such a loser's biography.
Do you really want your family to be accused of crimes?
You'll have no home or nation to return to.
Your very kingdom will disappear.
All for your fixation on just one person.
He's immortal.
Even if you let him go, he won't vanish in your lifetime.
Should you not be concerned about your own life right now?
Hand Fushi over in exchange for the kingdom?
No one who loves Fushi would allow that!
I have a good idea.
Hand over Fushi, Your Highness.
Daddy, Mommy...
My precious family...
The castle residents...
The people of Uralis...
And my dream of becoming king...
All right.
I'll give you Fushi.
You've made the right choice.
Let us take care of the rest.
I'll be in touch.
Are you sure about giving them Fushi?
The prince made his decision for the sake of the nation. Don't press further.
The Church of Bennett has captured Fushi!
He's not a demon!
All those who love him, be angry!
Don't allow the Church to get away with this foolishness!
Give back Fushi!
Yeah, yeah! Set him free!
Okay, now, what are you doing?
Up there is not your place!
Do you need to talk?
I'll hear you out, so come down!
There, there. That's my child.
Now, tell me what you were doing.
I might send you back to the sea.
And what, exactly, do you think you're doing?!
Are you selling Fushi out?!
Sell him out? How dare you?!
We're going to die before he does. It doesn't matter to us.
But if we're charged as heretics, Fushi-san is going to suffer forever!
Do you know why my Uralis has managed to remain so peaceful and happy?
Because the royal family has always made the best choices for the people,
even when it was difficult!
You just fell for the Church of Bennett's threats!
You don't understand anything!
Safety doesn't come for free!
Sure, whatever!
You're just saving your own ass!
Enough, Todo!
Todo-san!
Kahaku! What happened to your restraining order?!
I don't trust you.
Silence!
What is this commotion?
Forgive us, my lord.
We captured an immortal devil, and then some of the commoners became upset.
I was told that they were invited for the city's sake.
Has Fushi done something wrong?
No, but there was a possibility.
The people don't seem convinced.
Listen, Supreme Pontiff...
If you don't prove the Church's legitimacy now, this unrest will never abate.
That's exactly right!
Hurry up and prove yourselves!
In this casket is the body of Elder Hanui, who passed away two days ago.
Hanui dedicated his entire life to the mission of the Church of Bennett.
There's a rumor...
that Fushi can bring the dead back to life.
If he's a servant of the devil, he could never bring this servant of God back to life.
On the other hand, if he has the Lord's blessings,
he will prove it to us all with a miracle.
Fushi! Y-You don't have to do this!
It'll only make you miserable!
Thanks, Bon.
But I have to do it.
I have to prove I'm not God's servant. Then I'm the only one who has to be caught.
Then the people of Uralis will be safe.
Don't do it.
Stop, Fushi!
The moment you find out about your own worth...
No one will be able to control you.
Here I go.
Wha?
What happened?
He isn't coming back to life?
That's it?
That's the root of the rumor?
All he's done is produce another corpse!
He's a servant of the devil!
My prince, run!
Bastards!
Todo!
Let's go, Your Highness!
But Todo!
It's too late.
Bon!
Contact the others!
Okay!
Todo! Todo!
How could this be?
Where am I?
My grandpa's precious hand-me-down armor!
Why? What is this place?
Where am I?
Is everyone safe?
They were taken.
The prince and the woman dressed as a man.
Bon and Todo?
That's not what they promised!
They said they'd be free if they captured me.
Yeah. They fooled you.
Why didn't you wake me up sooner?
Why are you always so...
I need to get out of here.
Where's the exit?
There is none.
It's an iron cell.
Inevitably, there are times in life when all you can do is wait.
Spinning in circles, unable to reach your goals...
Yet there's nowhere to run, either.
Restrained, all you can do is breathe.
Iron cell or not, I'm not going to just sit here.
I'm getting out!
Once isn't going to cut it.
What are you trying to do?
Booze Man told me that fire can melt iron.
I must have been thrown in from that seam.
So I have to break through there.
Bon, Todo, I'm coming!
One who is helpless to flee soon searches for things to do besides breathing.
Namely, to think.
How did this happen?
Let's take another look.
Fushi tried to bring Elder Hanui back to life,
in order to prove his holiness and that he isn't a heretic.
But unlike with Anna, he wasn't able to bring him back to life.
Why not?
Here's what I think:
Fushi hadn't met Hanui in life.
So he wasn't able to perceive him as a living person.
I suspect that whether or not Fushi can use his powers depends on the existence of the soul.
And we were captured.
At high cost.
Why won't it break?
Is Gugu's flame not strong enough?
What the...
Something's not right.
It won't go away in Tonari's form, either.
It's not poison.
What is this?
What's happening?
You're lacking something that your body needs.
What do I do?
I need to go help Bon and the others.
Be patient.
Thanks to your being confined,
the commotion outside has settled, and people can live their lives in peace.
People will no longer fight or die because of you.
But Bon and the others...
What of their deaths?
What?
How should I know?!
They're still in the middle of living!
In the middle?
That's right. In the middle of living.
In the middle of doing something.
People need to die feeling satisfied, even just a little,
so they can leave with a smile!
Like Tonari did.
They can't do that if their lives are taken from them.
That's just misery!
You understand human misery, I see.
My, how much you've grown.
It's as though you've become a human.
Yeah.
That's right.
Molten iron.
Oh, my, how terrible.
Well, Fushi, do you feel it?
This is how hot it needs to be for iron to melt.
It's unbearably hot. I can tell.
As your flesh burns, your body regenerates.
Which will happen first?
Will your body vanish first, or will this iron become solid?
I'll keep count to see how long you can bear it.
One, two, three...
Behold, we have finally succeeded in trapping Fushi.
Well done.
That completes half of our work.
I can't get through.
We'll have to take the whole block of iron.
There's no way.
No, we're doing it!
No matter what!
Hold it!
If you aren't careful, the rest of us are Swiss cheese minced meat gone goners!
We have to take advantage of the situation!
Have faith in them!
Have faith? In what?
Their good luck.
Huh?
I thought I was dead.
That voice!
It can't be...
Prince Bon?!
I'm so fortunate.
Everyone, please be at ease.
We have sealed away the immortal demon, Fushi.
It's finally done!
Thank you, Cylira-sama!
It can't be...
Our Fushi is immortal!
This is horseshit!
Give us back Fushi-sama!
One hundred twelve thousand forty-nine.
Preview
In the iron cell, Fushi's body is repeatedly immolated and rebuilt.
Bon, accused of heresy,
is given an opportunity to be freed if he admits that Fushi is a servant of the devil.
And Bon makes his decision.
Crime and Forgiveness