Chapter Summaries

Rentaro witnessed the abuse and murder of a Cursed Child, then was forced to confront Arayama’s accusations about his own treatment of Enju. Enju lost faith in Rentaro and asked Arayama whether Cursed Children could truly be hope.

• Rentaro watched a memory reveal that a man had lured a hungry girl with food, then falsely accused her of stealing after she kicked him to defend herself.
• Rentaro saw security officers take the girl to an abandoned building and shoot her, and he fled in horror.
• Arayama killed the bespectacled security officer and challenged Rentaro for condemning the killings while ignoring the murders of Cursed Children.
• Rentaro could not answer Enju’s doubts, and she concluded that he saw her as a tool and asked Arayama to take her to a world where she belonged.
• Arayama comforted Enju and called Cursed Children the Empire’s future hope, and Enju tearfully asked whether they really were hope.

After Enju left Rentaro to follow Sosuke and his companions, Kisara rebuked Rentaro for hesitating to help her and sent him after her. Enju arrived at the Empire’s shelter in Tokyo’s abandoned district, where Sosuke began arranging care for her and another child.

• Enju told Rentaro she could not face him and left with Sosuke and his companions, leaving a note behind.
• Rentaro returned to the agency, where Kisara questioned him about Enju and learned that he had hesitated when she asked for help.
• Kisara punched Rentaro and ordered him to find Enju, prompting him to read her note and hurry toward the Boundary Stele.
• Enju saw Empire soldiers use magic to clear ruins and build shelters in the abandoned district.
• Sosuke asked a major whether the teleportation array and supplies were ready, then ordered Witch Bracelets and medical care for Enju and the other girl.

Enju and Rina reconciled at the girls’ shelter, where Rina revealed her new hope for the future. Rentaro and Kisara found the cabin and reunited with Enju, who rushed into Kisara’s arms while calling Rentaro an idiot.

• Enju asked Arayama if he was angry with her, and he reassured her that Rentaro needed time to face his feelings.
• Rina told Enju she did not blame her for leaving and showed her the bracelet and sprout that gave her hope of becoming a magical girl.
• Enju apologized to Rina, and the two embraced before playing together and dreaming of becoming magical girls like the Tianju Girls.
• Rentaro and Kisara found Imperial Army soldiers near the cabin and asked them to lead the way to Enju.
• Shizune brought Rentaro and Kisara to the girls’ room, where Enju recognized them, ran to Kisara, and called Rentaro an idiot.

Enju reconciled with Rentaro and Kisara and left the Empire's camp with them, while explaining the Witch Bracelet's powers. Rentaro and Kisara were stunned when Enju demonstrated that her new Witch Authority had greatly increased her strength and eliminated the danger of Gastrea Virus infection.

• Rina urged Rentaro to apologize to Enju, and he bowed deeply and asked her forgiveness.
• Enju accepted Rentaro's apology and explained why his refusal to help Rina had hurt her, while Rentaro promised not to hesitate if she asked for help again.
• Enju agreed to return with Rentaro and Kisara after saying goodbye to Shizune, who realized Enju could still visit her later.
• Enju showed Rentaro and Kisara her glowing Witch Bracelet and explained that it gave her a Witch Authority that prevented Gastrea Virus infection.
• Enju demonstrated her enhanced power by kicking a crater more than twenty meters across, leaving Rentaro and Kisara astonished.

Rentaro and Kisara attended a Civil Security meeting where Seitenshi warned them about a powerful foreign force collecting Cursed Children and ordered them to find a stolen government box and destroy its source of infection. Hiruko Kagetane then broke into the meeting and confronted Seitenshi.

• Shogen Ikuma provoked Rentaro and insulted Initiators, but Mr. Mishima stopped their near-fight.
• Rentaro learned Shogen ranked among the world’s top Civil Security pairs and noticed Shogen’s hungry Initiator.
• Seitenshi announced that a powerful foreign force was collecting Cursed Children and that Civil Security agencies must recover a government box swallowed by a source of infection.
• Kisara and Rentaro suspected the foreign force was connected to the group that had taken in Enju, while Tendo Kikunojou silently feared retaliation from them.
• Hiruko Kagetane appeared in the empty seat, said he had killed the guards outside, and challenged Seitenshi.

Hiruko Kagetane attacked the conference to claim the Seven Stars Legacy, but Uchiha Jian Yi and the 7th Division arrived to protect and evacuate the Cursed Children. Jian Yi killed Shogen Ikuma before leaving, while Kagetane and the surviving witnesses were left shaken.

• Hiruko Kagetane introduced his daughter and Initiator, Kohina, and announced that he had come for the Seven Stars Legacy.
• Shogen Ikuma attacked Kagetane, whose repulsion field stopped the strike and held back a barrage of bullets before deflecting them into the civil security officers.
• Uchiha Jian Yi led the 7th Division into the hall, examined the Cursed Children, and ordered his soldiers to evacuate them.
• Shogen Ikuma tried to stop the soldiers from taking Kayo and attacked Jian Yi, who killed him with a single strike.
• Jian Yi and his unit left with the children as Hiruko Kagetane, Kohina, Rentaro, Kisara, and the other survivors watched in terror.

Kayo Senju was taken by Jian Yi’s forces, who promised her a new home, while Kakashi’s squad intervened when hoodlums bullied a blind Cursed Child in Tokyo. The girl begged Kakashi to leave so no one would discover her identity, but he drew his sword against the hoodlums.

• Jian Yi left Kayo Senju behind at the hall, saying she would come looking for them because she depended on Shogen.
• Kayo questioned the young man carrying her about Shogen, then concealed her fears and doubted that she still had a future.
• Kakashi’s squad confronted hoodlums who were tormenting a blind Cursed Child beneath an overpass in Tokyo.
• The blind girl grabbed Kakashi’s clothes and begged him to leave because she feared people would learn she was a Cursed Child.
• Kakashi recognized the cruelty of the surrounding crowd, drew his sword, and frightened the lead hoodlum.

Kakashi rescued a blind Cursed Child from punks, punished them by having their eyes gouged out, and promised to take her and her younger sister into the Empire’s care. When police tried to arrest his group, Kakashi used his aura to incapacitate them and left with the girl.

• Kakashi ordered Empire soldiers to beat the punks who had harassed the little girl.
• Kakashi saw the metal embedded in the girl’s eyes and promised to help her, then persuaded her to identify who had hurt her.
• The girl pointed to the punks, and Kakashi ordered the soldiers to gouge out their eyes.
• Kakashi picked up the girl and learned she had a younger sister, whom he also promised the Empire would raise.
• Police officers arrived and aimed guns at Kakashi’s group, but Kakashi’s oppressive aura made them collapse as he walked away with the girl.

Tendo Kikunojou ordered the Intelligence Division to spread evidence of clashes involving Empire soldiers and Tokyo civilians, hoping to undermine their efforts to take in the Cursed Children. That night, Hiruko Kagetane tried to recruit Rentaro, then sent Kohina to attack him; Enju defeated her, but Hiruko left warning that Rentaro’s ideals would endanger her.

• Tendo Kikunojou ordered the Intelligence Division to publish photos and videos of Empire soldiers fighting Tokyo civilians, despite concerns about provoking unrest.
• Rentaro walked home with Enju, who asked whether solving their mission would make her a publicly admired magical girl.
• Hiruko Kagetane appeared with Kohina and offered Rentaro money to join his cause of destroying and rebuilding the world, but Rentaro refused.
• Hiruko Kagetane ordered Kohina to attack Rentaro, and Enju intercepted her strike.
• Enju used Witch Art, Waist Bow, to knock Kohina down and defeat her.
• Hiruko Kagetane carried Kohina away and warned Rentaro that his naïve hopes would bring harm to Enju, leaving Rentaro uneasy.

Rentaro learned that Enju’s identity as a Cursed Child had been exposed amid a wave of anti-Cursed Child hostility in Tokyo. After Enju injured a classmate and fled to the Imperial Shelter, Rentaro and Kisara rushed there as an angry crowd gathered outside.

• Enju promised Rentaro she would never leave him, and the two bickered on their way home.
• Rentaro saw viral posts calling for Cursed Children to be driven out of Tokyo and agreed with Kisara that they needed to find the Seven Stars Legacy before unrest erupted.
• Enju’s teacher told Rentaro that Enju had injured a classmate, fled school, and needed to be withdrawn; Rentaro realized her identity had been exposed.
• Rentaro and Kisara ran to the Imperial Shelter, where a hostile crowd demanded that the Cursed Children leave Tokyo.
• Enju recalled classmates insulting her after learning she was a Cursed Child, and she injured a boy when she deflected his thrown pencil case.
• Enju fled school and reached the Imperial Shelter, where she threw herself into Sister Shizune’s arms.

Enju watched Rentaro and Kisara choose to leave her behind, then withdrew into the shelter with Rina. After explosives triggered an attack at the gates, Imperial soldiers opened fire on the protesting Tokyo crowd.

• Kakashi and his adjutant waited for orders as Tokyo residents gathered outside the shelter and the Empire searched for remaining Cursed Children.
• Rentaro and Kisara reached the gates, but Kisara persuaded Rentaro not to stand with Enju because she feared losing her agency and chance for revenge.
• Enju saw Rentaro retreat, accepted that he had abandoned her, and walked into the courtyard cabin with Rina.
• After Rentaro and Kisara left, explosions struck near the crowd, and the Imperial soldiers raised a barrier around their camp.
• Imperial soldiers brought heavy machine guns to the gates and fired into the packed Tokyo residents, killing and wounding many as the crowd panicked.

After Empire soldiers killed the armed crowd in the abandoned district, Tokyo’s leaders faced pressure to retaliate as news of the deaths spread. Seitenshi rejected an immediate war and ordered the Empire’s existence revealed, while demonstrations erupted across Tokyo that night.

• Kisara and Rentaro witnessed the aftermath of the massacre, and Kakashi ordered his soldiers to bury the bodies and cover the site with flowers.
• Seitenshi watched footage of the killings as Tendo Kikunojou and the councilors urged her to launch a counterattack.
• Seitenshi refused to start a war and ordered the government to reveal the truth about the Empire so Tokyo’s citizens could decide what to do.
• Tendo Kikunojou told the councilors to follow Seitenshi’s order, then left alone in his wheelchair.
• The Security Bureau announced that everyone who had gone to the abandoned district was dead, prompting grief and large demonstrations beneath the Tokyo Building.

Seitenshi showed Tokyo’s citizens the Empire’s power and explained that its hostility stemmed from Tokyo’s treatment of the Cursed Children, leaving the crowd too frightened to resist. Hane watched the broadcast beneath the Empire’s God Tree, where Robin’s teasing of a little girl made him suspect she might be noticing his affection for her.

• Seitenshi livestreamed footage of the Empire destroying Level IV Gastrea and warned Tokyo’s citizens that resisting the Empire could doom the city.
• An elderly citizen questioned why the Empire had attacked Tokyo, and Seitenshi said its anger came from Tokyo’s treatment of the Cursed Children.
• Tendo Kikunojou pointed out that the Empire’s people resembled the Cursed Children, and the footage revealed a scarlet-eyed man inside a skeletal monster.
• The crowd fell silent rather than declare resistance, and the citizens gradually dispersed after Seitenshi ended the broadcast.
• Hane watched the scene with the little girls beneath the God Tree and told one to defend herself against bullies, prompting her to cite Robin’s rule against fighting.
• Robin corrected the girl, then Hane gently stopped Robin from frightening her; Robin reflected on Hane’s past patience while Hane worried that she had guessed his feelings.

Hane arranged a way for the remaining Cursed Children to reach the Empire and learned that the Gastrea crisis might be connected to the invaders who fought Roger Yanluo. In Eagle Nation, Nagato’s group stole a research institute’s records and researchers, and the army advanced toward Doflamingo, unaware of his vast thread birdcage.

• Hane ordered Witch Bracelets with spatial passages sent to Cursed Children who refused to leave, and told Uchiha Retsuyō to accelerate the collection of scientific information.
• Uchiha Retsuyō reported that Orochimaru and Vegapunk had linked the world’s condition to the invaders who fought Roger Yanluo and were purifying the relevant factors.
• Eagle Nation’s president and officials debated attacking the Empire, then learned that their research institute’s materials and researchers had been taken.
• Nagato ordered Doflamingo to handle the approaching army while he moved the children beneath the God Tree.
• Doflamingo faced the advancing Eagle Nation convoy as the researchers tried to warn its officers about the enormous birdcage made of hidden threads.

Doflamingo used his strings to seize control of the Eagle Nation's forces and turn their weapons against them. The five-star general died after Doflamingo confronted him over the children killed in the Imperial Research Institute.

• The five-star general ordered snipers to shoot Doflamingo, but Doflamingo controlled their bodies and made them fire at the general's aides.
• Doflamingo took control of the helicopters, which opened fire on the Eagle Nation soldiers and wounded the five-star general.
• Doflamingo taunted the director of the Imperial Research Institute after noticing him trying to warn the troops.
• Doflamingo controlled the tanks and their crews, turning their cannons on the fleeing soldiers and revealing his strings to the general.
• The five-star general called Doflamingo a devil, and Doflamingo condemned him for the children killed at the Imperial Research Institute before his strings sliced the general apart.

Eagle Nation's leaders ordered a tactical nuclear strike against Doflamingo, but he survived and headed for the capital. He fought through the city's defenses, leaving the capital devastated as the chapter ended with the last military unit's signal disappearing.

• The president rejected capturing Doflamingo and ordered a tactical nuclear missile launched against him.
• Doflamingo escaped the blast, sent the researchers away, and set off toward Eagle Nation's capital.
• After learning Doflamingo was approaching, the president ordered the capital placed on full military alert and evacuated civilians from the streets.
• Eagle Nation troops opened fire on Doflamingo above the capital, but his threads cut through the attack and destroyed buildings and soldiers.
• The president and officials watched their units disappear from radar until the final unit's signal went silent.

Doflamingo destroyed Eagle Nation's capital and killed its president and senior officials, forcing nations to reconsider the Empire's power. In Tokyo, Rentaro died after the Civil Security officers lost the fight for the Seven Stars Legacy, while Enju found a new home among the Cursed Children; the chapter ended with a giant tentacled monster approaching the Tokyo Boundary Stele.

• Doflamingo slaughtered the remaining Eagle Nation soldiers and civilians, then killed the president and politicians as they tried to escape.
• News of Eagle Nation's destruction spread worldwide, and countries began seeking relations with the Empire, which demanded they hand over their Cursed Children.
• Rentaro was stabbed by Kohina, shot by Hiruko Kagetane, and left to die beside a river after falling from a cliff.
• Enju cried at the Empire's garrison center, and Rina, Kayo, and Hina comforted her as she accepted them as her friends.
• Kayo recognized a mournful howl as a call to reclaim something important, and Hina lifted the girls into the sky with her authority.
• Enju, Kayo, Hina, and the other Cursed Children saw a giant tentacled monster approaching the Tokyo Boundary Stele.

Scorpio reached Tokyo and destroyed the Boundary Stele while the Self-Defense Force searched for the Seven Stars Legacy. After the troops recovered the legacy, Scorpio stopped advancing, and Seitenshi asked how to lure it out of Tokyo.

• Enju worried about Rentaro, but Rina reminded her how he and others had treated her, and Enju promised not to act recklessly.
• Seitenshi ordered the Self-Defense Force to recover the Seven Stars Legacy and shut it down before Scorpio reached the Boundary Stele.
• Hiruko Kagetane and Kohina left the Seven Stars Legacy behind and escaped through a spatial rift as the Self-Defense Force arrived.
• The Self-Defense Force commander recovered the Seven Stars Legacy while Scorpio smashed Tokyo's Boundary Stele and triggered panic and violence among the citizens.
• Scorpio stopped after entering Tokyo's abandoned district, and Seitenshi asked how to lure it out of Tokyo.

Tendo Kikunojou persuaded Seitenshi to lure Scorpio toward the Empire, hoping to make the Empire deal with the Zodiac and strengthen Tokyo’s position. Hane returned Scorpio’s treasured case and urged her to take revenge on those responsible, awakening memories of her human life.

• Tendo Kikunojou proposed using the Seven Stars Legacy to lure Scorpio near the Empire, and Seitenshi agreed.
• Scorpio turned away from Tokyo and headed toward the Empire as Tokyo’s citizens resumed their violence against one another.
• Kayo realized Tokyo was deliberately luring Scorpio and tried to explain the situation to the other girls at the Empire’s encampment.
• Hane reassured the children, promised to give Scorpio justice, and destroyed the helicopter carrying the silver case without harming the case.
• Hane returned the case to Scorpio and encouraged her to punish those who had caused her suffering, prompting memories from her human life to surface.

Scorpio recovered her memories of the laboratory and attacked Tokyo, unleashing a Gastrea assault that destroyed the city and killed Seitenshi and Tendo Kikunojou. Hane and the Twelve Golden Guards left the world with the God Tree, while the remaining Zodiac led intelligent Gastrea in campaigns against human cities.

• Scorpio remembered her sisters’ deaths and the abuse they endured, then charged toward Tokyo in search of revenge.
• Scorpio broke through Tokyo’s Boundary Steles, and Gastrea swarmed through the breach as the city descended into chaos.
• Seitenshi and Tokyo’s politicians tried to flee by helicopter, but Scorpio’s tentacles destroyed their aircraft and killed them.
• Hane and the Twelve Golden Guards departed Tokyo, then Hane used mana to make the God Tree lift a vast piece of land into the sky and vanish.
• The Gastrea uprising spread across the world, as the remaining Zodiac led intelligent Gastrea to destroy human cities without leaving survivors.