What's got you in such a hurry you can't even look at that beautiful moon?
Your Light Body is still undeveloped, but your martial arts are good.
Does that make me a Stepping Man, then?
There was one thing I was never able to figure out.
Why keep doing this, when it was obvious your modus operandi was known?
Your way of challenging the authorities?
Or...
Or did you just want to be caught?
You're a very curious young man.
I've figured out almost everything else about what's driving you!
The reason you kidnap kids!
The reason you're based out of the Garbage Collection.
But you're missing one critical piece.
I ain't, actually.
I was surprised when I heard somebody
was writing academic papers from the dump that is the Garbage Collection.
Nalgava.
First, let me congratulate you on your deduction.
Ningen Fushin: Adventurers Who Don't Believe in Humanity Will Save the World
The kid found in the common grave at the Garbage Collection
"Survivors VS Stepping Man"
showed signs of treatment for Yellow Demon Sickness.
How come an infectious disease like that
isn't spreading from the Garbage Collection to the rest of Labyrinth City?
Sure, that place isn't exactly clean,
but there shouldn't be that much of a gap in infection rates.
It feels like there's a human cause.
At least, that's our doctor's opinion.
That young man?
The Garbage Collection is your lab,
for you to devise a way to cure the illness.
You kidnap kids to give yourself more research samples.
Then there's nothing more to say.
You still want to fight?
Then, here I go!
You haven't figured it out?
I know your every move!
And I know yours, too!
Fool! If you put your full weight behind a strike up here...
That's why I did it!
We got lucky that your movement route is so precise.
So I'm trapped, then?
Nalgava.
Why did you spread a plague?
My daughter died of Yellow Demon Sickness.
I learned that when I did my research.
It was very sad.
Yellow Demon Sickness is primarily sexually transmitted.
Right now, most people think it's an STD.
One day, your daughter tried to help care
for an infected patient, and touched their blood.
She was probably trying to copy what she saw you do every day, as a doctor.
But the people around her didn't believe that.
They started spreading all kinds of rumors about how she got it...
Even after she was dead, they enjoyed it!
Why did my daughter have to die?!
Why did God take my daughter from me?!
Why?!
Why was it so sudden...?
I hoped if I could find a way to cure the disease that slew her,
at least her death wouldn't be in vain.
It would have meaning!
And that's why...?
That doesn't make what you did right!
No matter how many random little kids die, I don't care.
Nalgava, as a fellow former priest,
I was so impressed by the way you lived your life.
I respected you.
So why...?
Is there anybody in the world who's exactly what they appear to be?
Everybody's got two sides, like a playing card.
They show whichever is more convenient for them at the time.
There is no fake side or true side.
Both of them are real. Both have responsibilities.
And I'm not going to run from either side's responsibilities.
Perhaps, if that's how you feel, there's nothing left for us to say.
But... but still I have to condemn what you did!
I saw the body of a young girl in the common grave the other day.
The one you tried to disguise with the Illusion King's Jewel.
Don't you remember?
The pretty girl with long blond hair, in her dress?
Or have you forgotten already?
Martha Canning! Age 10!
Before I came here, I gave her body back to her parents!
They were in tears at losing their daughter out of nowhere!
They asked why their daughter had to die!
And when they learned she was dead,
the other shopkeepers in the neighborhood, and the customers, were all crying!
There is no such thing as a "random little kid."
Even if you don't know who they are, someone out there cares for them!
It was the same for your daughter, wasn't it?
Maybe this is just a platitude that sounds good and doesn't mean a damn thing.
But even so... even if we're just "former" priests...
isn't that something that should matter to us?
I was...
I was a terrible priest.
I'm sorry, but I've never wanted to save someone, like you evidently did.
I met a high-ranking priest in my travels, by chance,
and I sucked up to him every way I could until he made me a priest.
I'm just a petty little man.
You're saving the people in the Bedrooms because you feel that way, though.
I'm sure they're all thankful to you for the extra time in their lives you gave them.
If they'd died, others might've lived.
Neither of us can know that.
That's what makes life interesting.
You switch what side you show every second, don't you?
Nalgava?
"All you have to do is stop me and it'll all be over"?
It's not that simple, and you know it.
You're absolutely right.
But still, we can only deal with things one at a time, as we encounter them.
You're so naive.
I know.
But there are some things that only the naive can see.
Oh, no!
Someone's inside!
Someone's coming!
Nalgava!
The time for talking is over, Priest.
Conceptual Armor?
What are you doing here?
Helping you...
would've been my first preference,
but I'm afraid I'm here to kill you before you can talk.
You didn't like that I smashed up an Illusion King's Jewel
that would've gotten 10 million dinah in an underworld auction?
The idea of using it like that had never occurred to me,
but I'll give it to you as a gift before you die.
Then, why?
Why did you get careless with disguising yourself?
So that you could entrust your hopes to them?
You think I'm a better person than I really am.
The horrible, awful things I've done...
Quick Heal.
I'm just paying the price for them.
Stay out of this!
He's going to die soon, anyway.
Don't you think you're wasting your magic?
And he's your enemy, right?
Why not save your magic for yourself, since I'm about to kill you?
Don't get me wrong.
I'm here to kill you all before you talk, as well.
Fire Dragon's Fan!
Icicle Dance!
Quick Heal.
You're the one holding your party back.
But your wounds...
No, you've noticed, haven't you?
You've made this same choice in other places before.
Look.
You made the wrong choice about who, about what to prioritize,
and your comrades are taking damage they don't need to.
But...
Your kindness isn't kindness.
It's self-centeredness.
In just a few minutes, we'll all be dead.
Me, and all of you.
Because of your selfishness.
Zem! Union!
Can you do it?
M-Me?
That's right! You're the only one who can move right now!
B-But...
What's wrong?
Nick!
Again...
We lost another chance because of me...
What do I do?
What am I supposed to do now?
Zem...
It's up to you now, Zem.
Zem! Hello?
H-Hello?!
Olivia's about to buy time with some very interesting chatter.
While that happens... I hope you'll make the right decision.
Please... Help us, Olivia!
I copy!
Thief of magic items, performer of weird rituals,
provider of weapons to worshipers of the Demon God.
"White Mask", was it?
Who are you?
Newspaper reporter, adventurer,
and other things, as well.
Olivia, a very pretty girl who just happened to be passing by.
You know, they say knowledge kills.
Who says that?
I do!
That's clever!
You ever heard this phrase, then?
"Fast as a speeding Olivia."
And...
Damn it!
"Olivia is very cute!"
You...
Those are my sayings.
Spread them to at least ten people in three days, or you'll have bad luck.
That's an ancient civilization relic...
My attacks aren't going to touch it.
Now, Zem!
Right!
Union!
Union?
Why would they have a lost magic?
Is that the sacred blade that was never used in the last war?
You're something similar, aren't you?
What? I'm a thousand times cooler than him!
Fascinating.
Dungeon Create! Great Red Spot!
Olivia!
If I die, I'm coming back to haunt you!
That area has increased temperature, gravity, and air pressure.
How long can a normal human last in there, I wonder?
How dare you do this to a normal pretty girl?
I'll curse you! I'll curse you! I'll curse you! I'll curse you!
Olivia!
Wait!
If you rush in there, you'll get crushed the second you step inside!
He's coming!
It's heavy!
The sword's true weight is probably hidden in another dimension!
It's a lot heavier than it looks!
I see.
Then, we'll...
beat him with speed!
You can use Stepping, huh?
No. Stepping can't do that...
He's turning in mid-air?
When I die, put a single flower and a single piece of candy on my grave...
Farewell, everyone, farewell...
Farewell.
It got weaker?
So he's the type who can only really concentrate on one thing at a time, huh?
Turning Bad News!
I was about to spend the rest of eternity haunting this place.
It's like he's creating invisible steps in the air...
I get it! He's deploying the Conceptual Armor in mid-air...
Watch out! UFO Attack!
Olivia!
Clever.
But if you've only got a few movement patterns,
I can aim for where you land!
I've got you now.
That's my line!
What?
This is the end for you!
Bulls-eye.
It's been a while since I've been in this much danger.
I'll admit defeat.
Farewell!
Ow...
Is everyone safe?
I guess.
I'm alive.
That guy's crazy...
Nalgava!
Are you okay?!
Just wait! We'll get you free!
No!
But he's not our enemy anymore, right?
That's not it, Curran.
I don't know how long we were unconscious, but...
"Crush syndrome."
If a human being is suddenly freed after being trapped for a long time,
their body goes into shock.
But either way, I won't last long.
No...
You...
They always did say "Physician, heal thyself."
Don't tell me...
Yellow Demon Sickness.
Leave me here.
There's no telling when this place will collapse.
Yeah. This place was old to begin with, and then there was that explosion.
It could collapse at any second.
W-We're going to leave him?
At least, let me ease your pain.
I feel so much better...
Like I'm in heaven.
You're worse at telling jokes than I am.
Let's hurry.
Nalgava...
You've given me courage.
I'm sad to lose you.
I know.
I'll tell my daughter about you...
She loved hearing stories about adventurers.
Zem.
Hurry, Zem!
Huh...? I thought I was used to people dying, but...
Don't say something so sad.
Don't say you're used to people dying.
That's right. You did great.
I did...?
I think, in the end... you saved him.
You really think?
When are people's sins forgiven, and by whom?
Zem?
But...
Even if I know it's arrogant, I still can't help but hope
I did something for him in his last moments.
Huh?
I'm doing it again...
Anyway, the Stepping Man case is over.
Yes.
Let's go tell Ada and her daughter.
Yeah.
That's one case down, at least.
The whole thing turned out to be no fun.
One case down.
But you can't relax yet.
White Mask is still out there.
And, of course, there are the ones controlling him.
If he's been given permission to use Forbidden Weapons,
there's no telling what they're plotting.
Forbidden Weapons?
Who are you, anyway?
The way you fought, the way you talked like you knew something we didn't...
Don't tell me you're "just a girl."
Oh, you're going to ask about that?
We've went through a life-and-death situation together.
I think you can tell us who you are.
That's right.
If you're going to join the party, then I want you to tell us, even little by little.
True.
Hm...
Given that you can use Union, Kizuna, you must be the Sword of Bonds.
Indeed.
I am...
actually a newspaper reporter, an adventurer, Stepping Man, and...
the Elemental-Class Anti-Demon God Combat Technician Training Program,
the "Sword of War."
That is my product name and my project name.
Final Episode: "Adventurers Can't Save the World Yet"
Final Episode: "Adventurers Can't Save the World Yet"!