Chapter 221: The Garden of Sinners Episode 5: Paradox Spiral! (Part 19)
Touko's counterattack was swift—so swift that it caught everyone off guard. Before most of the audience could even react, Souren had already collapsed to the ground.
But just as it seemed like Touko had seized victory, something utterly unexpected happened.
She took two confident steps forward… and then—shhk! A hand suddenly burst forth from behind her and pierced straight through her chest, crushing her heart.
"That… just now, was that a puppet?!"
Touko's voice was laced with disbelief. In response, Souren's tone remained cold and composed.
"Of course. My puppetcraft may not match yours in precision, but I possess techniques passed down from the ancients."
With that, he casually crushed Touko's heart in his grasp.
He then turned his gaze toward the mechanical box that had fallen to the floor, his voice low and calm.
"A projection-type familiar, huh? No wonder physical attacks were ineffective. Even if you destroy the Ether body formed by bending light in the air, as long as the core mechanism remains functional, it can keep regenerating…"
Lying on the ground, the wounded Touko suddenly spoke up with a faint voice.
"Souren… I want to ask you something. Something I've always wondered. As a magus… what is it that you seek?"
"I seek nothing."
With that flat declaration, Souren ended her life without hesitation.
…
Touko had fallen.
The audience was stunned into silence. No one had expected the story to take such a shocking turn.
"Touko… she's really dead?!"
"I can't accept this!"
"This is insane… That Souren guy feels completely unbeatable. Is there anyone who can take him down?"
"He even defeated her… Who's left that can oppose him now?"
"Is this… the end of hope?"
"…"
Voices of disbelief echoed throughout various taverns with TVs playing the film. The audience was in shock—utterly blindsided by the sudden, devastating development.
…
Even at the Imperial Mage Academy, the reactions weren't all that different. The magi there were equally shaken, though they quickly composed themselves and began analyzing the events on-screen with practiced clarity.
"There's no way Souren is truly immortal— What sort of trick did he use?"
"That puppet at the end must've been created by himself. But the way he fought Touko felt far beyond standard thaumaturgy."
"Didn't she mention it? Souren turned the entire Ogawa apartment complex into an alternate dimension and fused his very body with the structure itself. Within that boundary field, he's basically omnipotent."
"Omnipotent? That's just absurd…"
"If that's true, then the only option is to draw him out of the Ogawa Apartment. But is that even possible?"
"With Touko dead… how could ordinary humans like Mikiya or Tomoe possibly pull it off?"
"…"
Touko had fallen. Shiki had already lost. Even the mages watching had no idea how anyone could possibly defeat Souren now.
And so, all they could do was keep their eyes glued to the screen—awaiting the final outcome that The Garden of Sinners would unveil.
…
After Touko's death, the scene shifted.
The focus returned to Mikiya and Tomoe. The two of them, having just left Shiki's apartment, now made their way to a certain location.
According to Mikiya, it was the original home of the Enjou family—the house they had lived in before moving away.
The moment they arrived, something within Tomoe stirred.
It was as if a wave of hallucinations washed over him. Forgotten memories long buried began surfacing—fragment by fragment—until the past he thought lost began to reassemble itself before his very eyes…
He saw it all—
His father, worn down and desperately overworking for the sake of his family, only to lose everything from a single misstep.
His mother, tirelessly tending to the household, bottling up her own grief just to avoid burdening her son.
And then—himself. A younger self who chose to shut everything out, locking his heart away and refusing to communicate with either of them.
As those memories resurfaced, the boy wavered—trapped in conflict. But in the end, he let go of the past, accepted everything, and came to understand what he now needed to do.
From that moment forward, both Mikiya and Tomoe resolved to carry out a plan—to rescue Shiki.
Mikiya would act as bait. Tomoe, on the other hand, would retrieve the ancient katana Kuji Kanesada, left behind in Shiki's apartment, and use it to cut through the nightmare.
The plan was crude. Neither of them had any knowledge of the supernatural, and by all accounts, they were just ordinary people.
But strangely enough, as the audience watched their simple, reckless determination unfold… a quiet sense of reassurance washed over them.
It was as if—for the first time in a while—hope had found its way back into the story.
The scene shifted again.
Now, the camera followed Mikiya as he arrived at the Ogawa Apartments—the very epicenter of the nightmare.
He was planning to head straight for the elevator, but before he could even press the button… ding—the elevator doors slid open on their own.
"Oh my~ You're just in time," came a voice that oozed with playful malice.
"I was just about to go looking for you."
Stepping out was the eccentric magus Alba, cradling in his arms a grotesque container.
Inside it was Touko's severed head.
"Ugh…"
Mikiya staggered backward, nausea welling in his throat at the sight.
But Alba paid him no mind.
With a casual flick, he inserted his fingers into Touko's vacant eye sockets—and, without a hint of hesitation, plucked out her eyeballs, trailing blood.
Mikiya couldn't even feel fear anymore. His mind shut down—replaced only by the primal urge to run.
Behind him, Alba let out a maniacal laugh, then casually crushed Touko's head in one hand like a discarded toy.
With the same terrifying ease, he sauntered after Mikiya—leisurely, almost playfully—as if this were nothing more than a game of tag.
He didn't look like a killer.
No—he looked like someone enjoying himself far too much.
…
The audience's senses were overloaded.
One shocking turn after another—no one had expected the story to suddenly shift into the realm of full-blown horror.
Yet, despite the rising dread, a strange anticipation took hold of everyone watching.
Faced with this abyss of despair, the question burning in every heart was:
How could they possibly overcome this?
The scene transitioned again.
This time, we followed Tomoe.
The boy had entered a hidden passage and arrived in a bizarre chamber, a place utterly foreign. All around him were containers—tubes, tanks, chambers—all holding living brains.
After the initial wave of disgust and shock passed, Tomoe's expression hardened.
Calmly, methodically, he began searching among the grotesque displays.
And eventually, he found it.
The brain that had always been there.
The one he'd always been connected to—whether he remembered it or not.
His own brain.
"…Heh… Heheh… Ahahahaha—!"
Laughter erupted from him. Mad, delirious laughter that echoed through the sterile chamber.
But beneath the insanity—there was clarity. Resolve.
Gripping the longsword in his hand tighter, Tomoe turned and began ascending toward the upper floors—toward the final confrontation.
At that moment, every viewer watching the screen could feel it in their bones:
The Spiral of Conflict had reached its peak.
And now—it was time for the grand finale.
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/162522?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/creating-anime-140083067
[3] https://www.patreon.com/posts/138667623?collection=162522
[4] https://www.patreon.com/collection/162522?view=condensed