To protect herself, Inori Yuzuriha had done many things.
She had killed many people who'd seen her face. She'd built false identity after false identity. She'd deceived everyone around her.
If there had been any other way to survive, who would have chosen to walk the razor's edge like this? Who would have chosen to do these things?
She had been reborn into this world and inherited everything Inori possessed — her beauty, her transcendent voice, even King Crimson. But the price had been steep. She was made to walk in Inori's place, to bear the destiny that had already been written for her: used by countless people as a tool, discarded in the end without mercy.
No matter how desperately she'd fought, no matter how thoroughly she'd torn the so-called threads of fate to shreds — in the end, she could not escape what lay ahead. Yuu had reached into her body and drawn out the Void greatsword. She had seen that moment in Epitaph's vision of the future, and so she had used Time Erasure to alter it.
But the sword had never truly disappeared. Or rather — that sword had always been Mana's to begin with. Inori had simply tried to draw it herself when she first received the Void Genome. It turned out that Mana's awakening had given her more than just Epitaph. It had given her that sword as well.
There should have been two Void greatswords in this world: one belonging to Inori, and one belonging to Mana.
Now, King Crimson stood in place of Inori's own sword — because it was her spiritual force. And the other sword, Mana's sword, had naturally fused into her as well when Mana herself merged into her body.
"Even when I tear the past apart, it crawls back through the cracks in the stone — like earthworms."
The jarring switch between the low, middle-aged male voice and the sweet girl's voice came as no small shock to the two men. Yet in the same moment, they both understood the truth that had been hidden until now.
There was no such person as Diavolo. He was nothing more than a false persona Inori Yuzuriha had fabricated to protect herself.
"I must say, I'm surprised — you actually cooperated with Keido. No wonder I could never figure out why you handed the Origin Stone over so easily."
Inori's slender waist curved slightly. She raised her right hand to cover her face, her other arm resting at her hip — a pose of languid, theatrical authority (a JoJo pose). King Crimson floated at her side and mirrored the stance exactly.
"So you never intended to give it to me at all. What did they promise you? Do you honestly believe you can save Mana?"
"How did you escape just now?"
Yuu could only tentatively conclude that everything had been caused by Inori's Void — but he had never once heard of anyone possessing a Void so complete, so fully humanoid in form, with such a singular and grotesquely ugly appearance.
"I'm talking about my business! Don't answer a question with a question!"
Inori snapped, cold and cutting, and the killing intent that bled through her words silenced both men instantly.
"I only wanted to kill Diavolo — and then save you!" Gai's voice cracked, bitter and lost. "I never imagined you had been orchestrating all of this from the very beginning."
Gai Tsutsugami felt like an absolute fool. When had he ever been played this badly?
So this is what she truly is. A girl's beautiful face wrapped around a devil's soul. This — this was her. This was the real Inori.
"Hmph. Save me? You only wanted to save Mana."
Inori lowered her hand and scoffed. Then, in an instant, her expression collapsed — the knife-sharp eyes softened into something desperate and helpless. She hugged her arms to her chest, trembling, and called out to Gai in a voice thick with tears.
"Triton! Please help me! This woman has been holding me prisoner — I'm taking on her form, waaah, sob sob sob—"
—Hey! That's not how I talk! Stop it right now!
Mana Ouma, safely sequestered inside Inori's body, felt her heart leap into her throat at this sudden turn of events. She was terrified Inori might be hurt — and equally terrified that, now that her identity had been exposed, Inori would fly into a rage and kill Triton outright.
But true to form, she had already slipped on a new mask without missing a beat.
"M-Mana?"
Gai stood frozen, mind reeling — because in all the world, the only people who still knew that name were Haruka Ouma and the amnesiac Shu Ouma. This had to be the real Mana. There was no question.
"Hmph."
Seeing his expression, Inori knew her performance had landed. The next second she dropped it entirely, smiling with dark amusement. The Void mark on her right hand blazed with light. She brought her hand to her chest, and the void-filled hollow cracked open immediately — countless silver particles poured out and coalesced into an enormous blade, rivaling King Crimson itself in length.
"As I expected, Mana Ouma's soul fits perfectly. It fused into my body."
Inori gave the Void greatsword an experimental swing. It felt right — as if it had always been an extension of her arm.
"This body of mine is a clone of Mana Ouma. This weapon is born from Mana Ouma's soul. And the one who forced me to reveal my true identity — and thereby gave me this weapon — is none other than you, Triton~"
She called him "Triton" in a mocking singsong, and Gai's stomach dropped. Once upon a time, hearing her say that name again would have been his greatest wish. Now it felt like a brand burning into his skin — he had been played from the very beginning, from the moment she'd rescued him from that bleached-bone Christmas tree.
"…I never imagined a vessel could give rise to such a personality."
Yuu didn't know what to do anymore either.
There was no question: this had become dangerous. Neither he nor Shuichiro Keido had anticipated that a mere vessel would become their most serious obstacle. But at least the Origin Stone was already in hand. All that remained was to trigger the Apocalypse and resurrect Mana as Eve — and no matter how much power she held, it would be useless.
"A vessel?" Inori swept her gaze across him, cool and deliberate. "Look at me carefully, Yuu. Think it over — who is it, truly, who stands here now? Who in this world deserves to sit upon the highest throne?"
Having finally been able to show her full self before others, Inori spread her arms wide and laughed, wild and unrestrained.
"You have an awfully strange confidence for someone who is," Yuu said, "when all is said and done, a manufactured freak. You think that sword is enough to defy a god?"
Yuu's thick eyebrows twitched — they really were distracting. And though he wore the face of a boy, this creature had lived for god only knew how many years. As long as the Apocalypse Virus existed, he was essentially unkillable — even reduced to ash, he would reconstitute himself after a time.
Immortal. But not invincible.
At this moment, Inori had already formulated a flawless plan — a plan to eradicate the Apocalypse Virus entirely.
Right now, the only person who knew the full extent of King Crimson's abilities was Mana. These men not knowing was understandable enough. But precisely because of that — she had her opening.
Yuu drew his own Void from his chest: a high-tech crossbow, sleek and angular.
Its destructive power was considerable — but compared to Inori's ability to leap across time itself, it was pathetically outmatched.
"Hm? You think that thing can stand against my King Crimson?"
Inori dragged the greatsword behind her, utterly unfazed as Yuu raised the crossbow and took aim.
"Then let's find out, woman!"
Yuu fired. A spiraling bolt of light shot toward Inori at bullet speed. But he didn't stop there — to prevent her from blocking with the sword, he immediately fired a second shot.
"King Crimson!"
Inori breathed the words, barely above a whisper — and the world shattered like glass, dissolving into an absolute void.