After the downsizing meeting in the Infinity Castle ended, the only two remaining Lower Rank demons began making moves of their own...
The next month or two passed uneventfully, with everyone at the Butterfly Mansion busy providing rehabilitation training for the injured Corps members.
Now, as the sun sank toward evening, Kirishima Bupai lounged against a veranda pillar at a riverside teahouse.
He had changed out of his signature white-and-gold cloak into a black Vergil coat that allowed greater freedom of movement.
Sunglasses covered half his face, leaving only his sharply defined jaw exposed.
At the moment, he held a stalk of grass between his lips, his toe tapping the ground now and then.
His gaze drifted, as though he were admiring the river turned to molten gold by the sunset, or perhaps simply letting his mind go blank.
Humming a tune, Kirishima Bupai toyed with an empty aluminum cola can, deftly flipping it between his fingers as its metal surface reflected the orange-red light.
"Caw! Caw! Emergency! Emergency!!"
Sharp, frantic cawing tore through the evening stillness.
A disheveled, panting Kasugai Crow swooped down like a black arrow.
It all but crashed onto the low table in front of Kirishima Bupai, raising a gust that knocked over the empty teacup.
Kirishima Bupai tilted his head slightly, looking through his sunglasses at the messenger, which was clearly in a state of extreme panic.
"What's the panic?" His voice held a trace of interrupted languor. "Is the sky falling?"
"Caw! Lord... Lord Kirishima! Caw!"
The Kasugai Crow flapped its wings, struggling to steady itself, its voice hoarse and urgent, its eyes filled with fear.
"The west! The north! And East Junction! The trains... the trains have all gone mad! Caaaw!!"
As it spoke, its words tumbled out incoherently, all its feathers bristling