Chapter 224: The Garden of Sinners Episode 5: Paradox Spiral! (Part 22)
In the footage, Alba suddenly seemed to realize something, muttering under his breath:
"Wait— Touko—how did you get here in just a few minutes? What magic did you use?"
Aozaki Touko gave a cold, mocking smile.
"Magic? You're overthinking it. Just a little magecraft, nothing more."
"This is already my third time coming here—and I helped build this apartment in the first place. Naturally, I left myself a few little safeguards… just in case."
"…You tampered with my perception?"
At that, Alba's eyes snapped to the floor. There lay Kokutou Mikiya—completely unharmed, no fatal wounds in sight, only a small scrape on his head where the skin had broken.
Which meant—he had been under Touko's control from the very beginning. All this time, everything he'd seen… had been nothing but an illusion.
"Hah… hahaha… I see. So from the start, I was already dancing in the palm of your hand. In the end… I really was nothing more than a clown."
Touko showed no reaction to his bitter self-mockery. Instead, she tossed the suitcase she had been carrying onto the floor.
It was larger—bulkier—than the one she'd used to carry the black cat earlier.
"You… What are you planning? To take revenge on Araya Souren?!"
"Hardly. I'm here for you."
"…Me?"
"Simple. You called me by that name. Since my academy days, I've had one rule—anyone who calls me Scarred Red… dies."
"You—"
He never even had the chance to resist.
The moment the monstrous creature inside the suitcase burst free, Alba's fate was sealed.
The blood-soaked spectacle forced many in the audience to avert their eyes. Only a few stubborn ones kept watching until the very end.
The screen shifted.
Compared to Touko's clean, decisive victory, Tomoe's assault on Araya Souren was… like a mayfly flinging itself against an ancient tree.
He drove forward with everything he had, knife in hand, closing the distance with desperate speed. But before him stretched the still-world barrier—Souren's domain of "stasis." Against it, he couldn't break through so much as a fraction.
Then, without warning, a surge of power welled up from deep inside him—memories flooding his mind, memories as Enjou Tomoe.
In that moment, he found his chance, driving the dagger straight into Araya Souren's chest.
"My family… they didn't deserve a death like this. Their sins… weren't enough to merit this!"
Souren regarded his final act with cold detachment, one hand closing around Tomoe's head.
"Ryougi Shiki's Mystic Eyes can perceive my death—therefore, they have meaning. You, however… cannot strike at a death you cannot see. One last thing, Tomoe. The reason I chose you …is because your Origin is 'worthlessness.'"
The words fell like a death sentence.
And then—Tomoe's form crumbled in Souren's grasp, scattering like ash into the void, until not a single trace remained to prove he had ever existed.
…
Two scenes—two fates—flashed before the audience in quick succession.
There was no time to rejoice in Touko's victory before Tomoe's tragedy unfolded in full.
The stark contrast between the two endings left every viewer deeply shaken—each one silently feeling the weight… of power.
After all—whether in reality or in fiction—only those who wield power truly have the chance to survive.
And beyond the battle's outcome, there was something else that stuck in people's minds—Touko's second familiar.
The shot had been almost instantaneous, barely a flicker on the screen, yet the grotesque, uncanny nature of that creature burned itself deep into the audience's memory.
Still, the plot at this moment was wound so tight, the tension so high, that no one had the leisure to discuss it. The story surged forward without pause.
…
After killing Enjou Tomoe, Araya Souren sent one of his avatars to the first-floor lobby to check on the situation.
Finding Alba dead, just as he'd expected, he paid it little mind.
After all, everything was still unfolding exactly as planned.
But before he could leave, Touko suddenly called out to him.
"Araya—where are you going? Peeping isn't a very nice habit, you know."
Souren let out a cold snort.
"Hmph. I knew you'd use something to kill Alba… but I didn't expect there'd be another Touko Aozaki."
"You and Alba both love poking into pointless curiosities. That kind of thing doesn't matter in the slightest."
"From the sound of it… you really are the genuine article. In that case—shall we go another round?"
"No. I have no chance of winning inside this apartment."
"That monster hiding in your suitcase… it might be able to kill me."
"I'll pass. That thing's appetite is a bottomless pit—if I lose control, the whole building could vanish. The Association wouldn't ignore something that flashy… and then I'd be the one they were hunting down."
"…Still clinging to the hope of the Counter Force? Too bad—it won't activate here. This barrier was built precisely to suppress it."
"…A barrier?"
Touko froze for an instant, then suddenly raised her voice.
"Araya—this building's real purpose… is to contain a manifestation of the Taiji, isn't it?!"
"Correct. To completely isolate Ryougi Shiki from the outside world, I created this bounded space. Everything else… is just an accessory."
Touko burst into sudden, loud laughter.
" What's so amusing?"
"So that's it. This building itself is a magecraft. A perfect prison to hide and contain Shiki. But here's the irony, Araya—you've made a huge mistake. The barrier may be flawless… but Shiki is an abnormal death god. You, of all people, should have experienced that firsthand!"
Souren's expression twisted in shock.
"Wait— you mean—?!"
"Exactly. If you wanted to confine Shiki, you could have just buried her in concrete. If you wanted to restrain a Shiki who only has the arm strength of a schoolgirl, all you needed was an iron cell. But you—because you're a magus—you treat magecraft as absolute. And so you built this near-otherworldly apartment. Too bad for you… it's meaningless. This half-baked thing—she'll break through it in no time."
The moment her words fell, Souren felt a sharp pain tear through him.
Before he could even react, he realized—his body had been cut.
Of course, Araya Souren no longer had anything as mundane as a human body.
His true body… was the building itself.
Which meant—someone had just cut the apartment in half.
And when the camera revealed the scene, the audience's expressions lit up with sudden, irrepressible excitement.
Because there was no mistaking it—that figure stepping slowly out of the elevator was none other than the film's heroine—
Ryougi Shiki.
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[1] https://www.patreon.com/collection/162522?view=condensed
[2] https://www.patreon.com/posts/creating-anime-140083067
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