Flashback — 12 years earlier
??? :
"Let me grant you an inexhaustible amount of the Anima you're so fascinated by."
Albert Einstein :
"Science is, and will forever remain, alive."
A gigantic beam of light pierced the sky, shooting straight toward the Paradise of Science.
Hastur, panicking :
"What's happening, scientist!?"
Then… nothing.
Silence. An unreal, suspended calm.
A faint sound rose, like cherry blossom petals drifting onto an invisible ground.
Hastur's eyes snapped open.
"Huh? Where…?"
He jumped to his feet and spotted Rastaban lying on the ground.
He shook him urgently.
Rastaban sprang up, still dizzy:
"What's going on…?"
"And where are we!?"
A deep, resonant voice suddenly echoed:
??? :
"What's happening… is that you've just escaped death."
The two boys turned around at the same time—
and froze.
A colossal man was watching them calmly. And yet, he was sitting.
Even seated, he towered above a normal human.
??? :
"You are currently on the road leading to the city of Péleiria."
He stood up. His massive silhouette seemed to crush the horizon.
??? :
"My name is Benkei. And I am the guardian of the Gojō Bridge."
Hastur, utterly confused:
"That makes no sense… Not even a minute ago, we were…"
Benkei raised his huge arm and pointed into the distance.
"Look. From here, you can still see the impact of the attack."
Rastaban—Ban—widened his eyes:
"But… that's toward the village!!?"
He turned pale.
"And Master Doran!!?"
Hastur narrowed his eyes:
"The strangest part… is how we survived. And why we ended up here."
Benkei let out a grunt, half-amused:
"By all the spirits… you two are slow-minded little flies.
That beam was meant to wipe you out. But Dante the Traveler saved you and brought you here. He was carrying someone named Doran as well, if I recall."
Ban leapt toward him:
"Then tell us where they went…!!"
SCHHHHHING!!
A sharp sound split the air.
A massive blade suddenly cut across the road, stopping just inches from Ban.
Ban staggered back, terrified:
"Hyeeeeyyy!!"
Benkei :
"Sorry. But Dante ordered me to keep you from passing."
He aimed his gigantic naginata at them.
"I will, however, offer you two options."
He raised one finger:
"First option: You attempt to force your way through… by fighting me.
If you win, I'll tell you where Dante took your dear master."
Then he pointed to the right:
"Second option: You take the long way around to reach Péleiria."
He crossed his arms, then added:
"And there is a third option…"
He smiled, revealing terrifying fangs.
"You turn back and go home.
But I strongly advise against it.
Because I'll take your heads off before you take a single step."
Hastur instinctively grabbed his neck, horrified.
Benkei :
"So? Which option do you choose?"
Hastur and Ban answered at the same time:
"Obviously, without hesitation…"
Ban :
"The first option!"
Hastur :
"The second option!"
They whirled toward each other:
"WHAT!??"