As Fushi investigates the relationship between the Guardians and the Nokkers...
It's been a long time, Fushi.
It's me.
The one who's been inside the Guardians for generations.
The Nokker.
After some contemplation,
Fushi comes to a decision.
No more playing human.
Their Home
Mizuha, get up.
Get away, or I'll cut you down with her.
Fushi... Why...
That's right.
You.
I'm going to free that body from you.
What are you talking about, Fushi?
Move, Mizuha!
I can't cut it down when you're in the way!
Run, Mizuha! Now!
No! I'm not leaving you behind!
Nokker.
If there's anything you've left unsaid with that stolen mouth,
now's your time to say it.
What's wrong?
It's nothing.
I put my roots in that body.
Almost all of the roots in the ground are the ones I made a long time ago.
I can control them at will.
You have no escape.
My roots are running all throughout your body.
All I have to do is make molten metal,
and your body will be burned up from the inside.
Please don't do it.
Please! Don't kill Mom!
What's wrong with you, Fushi?
She's my mom!
You're wrong.
Your mother is so worried for you that she's still lingering here, unable to pass on.
Mizuha...
It's okay.
It doesn't hurt at all.
It doesn't hurt. Don't worry.
Now, go on home and have some stew.
Dad's waiting.
Mom...
Why don't you retaliate?
Either of you.
A Nokker ought to at least be able to flail around.
Do you want Mizuha to see someone being burned alive?
No...
I don't even know if it's the real Mizuha speaking right now.
It isn't even worth thinking about.
It's all false.
Both your mother and you now.
I need to vacate the vessels overtaken by frauds.
That's the most justice I can offer.
It'll be hot, but you'll just have to bear it.
I'll give you the quickest death I can.
Why...
Stop! Please!
Accept it!
Please, Fushi!
I need Mom!
Mom's the only reason I could face my life again!
You'd rather choose an impostor?
My new mom doesn't make me into a trophy!
She doesn't tell me to do things!
She doesn't stare me down and corner me,
and she doesn't use my time for her own sake!
She had what it took to change my miserable life!
I finally made friends! I was enjoying every day of my life!
Can't you see who's more fit to be my mom?
If you're actually worried for me, please don't hurt the people I care about!
It's okay, Mizuha.
Thank you. I love you.
Mom? Mom?
Mom!
I'm all right.
I seem to be back to normal.
Mom, are you sure?
Fushi...
Thank you for understanding the ones who matter to me.
Fushi...
I couldn't kill it.
Yeah... You did good.
Watch it, asshole!
It felt pain and shed tears.
It protected its daughter and lied.
It doesn't hurt at all.
It really is no different from a human.
She's a full-fledged human being, with love and everything.
I don't even know what we should be fighting against anymore.
But the Nokkers are better off gone.
Right, Bon?
It's only natural that you're hesitant.
Don't blame yourself for not being able to finish it off.
It isn't about being right.
Emotions are what makes the world so interesting.
Fushi's being watched by the Nokkers as we speak.
If only there was a way to contact them from our end...
How do they even share information among themselves, anyway?
Black One, is there anyone infected by the Nokkers that you can see?
That person?
Is it half-merged?
No, fully-merged.
Half-merged? Fully-merged?
They're terms that we coined.
There are several patterns to the way the Nokkers act on the humans.
Normally, they spend their time dormant, and the humans act of their own volition.
In that state, they're no different from us.
But occasionally, the Nokker awakens and controls the body.
When a Nokker and a human coexist inside a body, it's half-merged.
And then there's the state in which a human soul has fully left the body
and a Nokker has taken over.
It lives in place of that person.
That's—
Fully-merged.
So that's what's happened to Mizuha-senpai's mother.
Hold it, Fushi!
There are too many people here.
I think I can take it on.
Take it easy.
I am!
Are you sure you can do better this time than you did with Izumi-san?
There are too many Nokkers to count.
You can't be sure things will
work out nicely like they did with Mimori and Hirotoshi.
We ought to give it some thought, even if we want to exterminate them.
Hey, maybe they have a boss.
Like, a final boss type that oversees all the Nokkers.
Let's find that one and work something out!
We make a peace agreement!
I haven't given up yet on a heart-to-heart talk!
Like Funa-senpai from the naginata club.
Maybe she knows something...
Shoo! Shoo! I'll tell you later!
Silence!
How dare you call me a middle-aged man?!
What's wrong, Bon-san?
Are there spirits here?
Indeed.
I want to have a serious conversation.
Let's go elsewhere.
Fen, Nixon, and Izumi-san are back.
And?
Did they find out anything about who the Mimori Nokker was referring to?
That day, when we started following the Mimori Nokker,
she left home after everyone had gone to sleep.
Through the seemingly endless maze...
It appeared to be an area underground,
fortified with steel so that Fushi's roots couldn't reach.
Izumi-san had apparently known for some time.
Fen and Nixon were silenced and persuaded to side with Izumi-san.
Her own daughter was the leader of the religious order ruling over the Nokkers.
Should we learn of that truth, there would be bloodshed.
As a mother, she wanted to avoid that.
But now that Mizuha's Nokker has revealed itself to Fushi,
there's no reason to hide.
So by "that person," it meant Mizuha.
The 18th generation of the Guardians.
She's looking for my life and trying to take it.
Wait, I thought the Guardians existed to protect you, Fushi.
But it's the Nokker inside Mizuha's body that's in charge.
Mizuha herself is unaware of it all.
So she's half-merged.
Yes.
It can't be allowed to do what it wants with a fourteen-year-old girl's body.
We must separate the Nokker from her and save her.
No way!
The final boss is inside Mizuha-senpai?!
Just like how Mimori-chan had Hirotoshi,
Mizuha-senpai needs her hero!
Hero?
That's you, of course, Fushi.
I hate to admit it, but I don't have that kind of power.
You don't need to save Mizuha anymore.
It's too late for her.
Bon?
Back there, Mizuha chose to coexist with the Nokker.
Don't save her?
Don't you think that's a little cold? She's your daughter.
Is that what she's saying?
Yeah.
She seems to have lost hope since she chose her fake mother over her.
Don't give up!
There must be some way!
We got Mimori back, thanks to Hirotoshi, even after she was completely taken over!
Maybe if we can give Senpai a reason to live, she'll want to be saved!
Did Izumi-san want to die, too?
The Nokkers have been taking over the bodies of people who were wishing to die.
Mizuha wanted to die, too.
Did you know that?
I never knew.
Not until I heard them talking.
I'd raised Mizuha wrong.
It was all my fault.
I'm stubborn and obstinate.
I have been since I was little.
Well done!
You always impress me, Izumi-san.
Look at her, being teacher's pet again.
It's not her fault. I mean, you know about her family?
I grew up never learning how to open myself up.
Welcome home, Izumi-sama.
My, how you've grown!
Well, we'll be off now.
I hope to see you at the regular conference sometime.
When are we done with this cult organization?
Did they insult you at school again?
When are we quitting?
I hated my family for running the order.
We have the protection of God.
Remember the scriptures.
Believe, and someday, you will be granted the power of Founder Hayase-sama.
And with that power, you'll save the weak.
What power? It's just a Nokker.
Everyone says they're the enemy.
That interpretation is wrong!
How many times do I have to tell you?!
The Nokker inside Hayase-sama is sacred!
Together with Fushi, they protected Renril, and after peace came,
she returned to paradise with the sixth generation, Kahaku.
Should the world desire peace once more,
Hayase-sama's Nokker will return to us to complete their duty as a Guardian!
Spend more time reading the scriptures!
It's going to be your duty to raise the next leader!
Next leader?
Thank you for gathering today.
This regular conference is...
I completed my duty, just as I was ordered.
But it just wasn't for me.
I knew that, but there was nothing I could do.
Well done, Izumi.
You have what it takes to guide the order.
Mom...
She was still young...
It's unfortunate that she's had to pass.
I'll be protecting you going forward.
Don't worry.
Who are you?
This is Chamihiko-san.
He's your fiancé.
He's studious, athletic, and the most pious man in the order.
I'm sure he'll give you a strong child.
You're flattering me, Reverend.
Dad...
Mom just died, you know.
We can't allow the lineage to be broken.
Your child will become the 18th generation.
You ought to have a child soon!
Stop it! No way!
Wait, Izumi!
I felt that was my only chance to leave.
And I never returned home.
I've never regretted my decision.
What should we name her?
The 18th generation! The 18th generation!
She's born!
Why are you here?!
Help! He's going to kidnap me!
You! What do you want?!
Let me go!
I'd made up my mind.
I'd raise her to be better than anyone,
and I'd make my father and the order regret it.
I made the right choice.
And I was determined to prove it.
And Mizuha's the best evidence.
Mizuha did everything.
She could absorb anything.
I'm so proud of her.
She has more than what it takes to be the 18th generation.
You lied to me!
You were with the Guardians!
How much did my father pay you?!
Do you enjoy doing this to me?!
That's not it!
I really did love you! It's just a coincidence!
I had no intention of hurting you.
Why didn't you tell me?
I thought you'd hate me if I told you.
So please, just don't divorce me.
Mizuha.
Mizuha!
You don't want Mom and Dad to separate, do you?
Separate?
You wouldn't want me to be gone, would you?
No...
The child wasn't to blame for any of it.
That was my first mistake after I'd left home.
It caused me to shut down.
I want to die.
I want to die. I want to die.
I want to die!
Mom?
What'll make you not want to die?
Challenge yourself to everything.
And become the best.
All my lessons? I'll do it.
Will that make you not want to die?
Yes. That will make me happy.
My daughter's life was my life.
My child's going to be starring in a musical.
It's so busy, I can't believe it.
My, that's difficult.
Wow.
Hey, how about a musical?
By having my daughter pick up all sorts of things,
I'd convinced myself that I was growing alongside her.
That growth came with pain.
The better I raised her to become,
the more she became suited to be the 18th generation.
That story, which I didn't even believe, brought me grief.
I had to erase it.
So, Mizuha, what about that musical?
Huh? I said I'd do it.
We already filed the application.
Huh? Did we?
That's when my health began to suffer.
Where did this trophy come from?
I became unusually forgetful.
You have stress-induced memory loss.
Mom, look!
I got the top prize!
Looking back now, that was the Nokker's doing.
I started keeping a record of everything that happened in my life.
I don't want to go to practice today.
My friends say they don't want to talk to me.
They aren't your friends if they say things like that.
Ignore them.
Got it?
Okay.
Don't you think we're pushing her a little too hard?
We ought to cut down on her lessons and give her time to make friends.
Are you accusing me?
No, that's not the point.
Whose fault do you think it is that I'm so desperate?!
I'm not raising the 18th generation!
Stay out of it!
She's my daughter, too.
I'm the one looking after her!
I'm raising her properly!
Don't talk like I'm doing something wrong!
It is wrong!
Have you ever raised Mizuha for her own sake?
No—
Goodness! Has the time finally come?
I have awakened, drawn here by Mizuha's soul.
Fushi's awakening nears, too.
Mizuha's voice...
Rest assured, I will guide the Guardians into the future.
The Nokkers that admire me have already descended to this land.
Together, we will achieve a perfect world.
What a weird dream.
Why...
I'm sorry, did I wake you up?
Izumi.
What?! Why are you here?
What happened to me?
What have you done, Dad?!
What are you doing to us?!
Itsuki-kun, what is Izumi talking about?
I'm sorry, Father!
She's ill!
Why are you here?!
You're the one who said we should come here for a break for Mizuha's sake!
As Mizuha grew, my memory issues became more severe.
I couldn't allow it to continue.
I had to do something.
One day, in my panic,
I saw the legendary man that I'd seen so much of in the order.
The soul of the Guardians, Fushi.
I planned a move, but it was too late.
Mizuha had already developed an interest in Fushi.
I had to win back my daughter's heart, even if it meant lying.
That ended in failure, too.
I'm a toxic parent, no matter how hard I try.
Do you really think I...
"...could save my child?"
She's fine with letting that Nokker walk around pretending to be her?
Why not?
She isn't much different from an ordinary human, right?
I can't think of a reason to object.
Son, how similar are fully-merged Nokkers to us?
They are similar, but they're still just imitations.
Those living out their lives as humans to avoid detection
will ultimately die of old age just the same.
A fully-merged is akin to child playing with a doll given to them by their parents.
0-4-0-6.
0-4-0-6?
My PC password.
Could you delete the contents of my images folder when you get a chance?
That family doesn't need them anymore.
Fushi, Izumi-san says she wants us to delete the images on her PC.
PC? Images?
I'm assuming they're records of Mizuha.
I don't get it, but I'll try.
Well, I'll be leaving now.
Izumi-san!
No! Are you leaving for paradise?
No!
Wait! I thought you were here because you had things to do.
Are you sure?
If you want to live, I'll kill that impostor.
This time, I will!
If you want it, I'll go underground to defeat the Nokkers.
I'll get Mizuha back from the Guardians!
You don't even have it in you, Fushi. Don't bother.
I would have begged you if I really wanted it.
"Thanks. I'll think about it."
"Hello, Mizuha."
Mom.
That's fantastic, Mizuha.
Dad!
My Nokker!
Preview
Is there any way to fight back against the Nokkers?
Fushi is proposed an interesting idea by Yuki.
Fushi makes a preemptive strike against the Nokkers' next plot.
Flying Bug