| In the Hiruko cavern, Shide considers Haine/Hiruko (who has transformed into an injured infant) to be useless now. He describes Ushio, who has taken on the red 'Observer's Eye' as 'the egg'. He attributes her rapid evolution to 'the power of love'. "All I gotta do is steal that eye from ya and my wish can still be granted!" he says. And, "In this timeline, the egg has yet to come". Ushio vows that Shide's wish will not come to be. Haine says she can recover if she just has lots of bodies to eat. But Shide only cares that she remain alive, since her dying would cause his armor to vanish. Shide leaves, creating a sort of vacuum that threatens to suck everyone after him. Shin laments his inadequate strength. Ushio warns that if he pursues Shide he will be 'lost forever'. Ushio wants to be the one who chases Shide, alone, but Shin won't have it. Both of them (and Ryuunosuke, who is within Shin) agree to pursue him together. Shin finds himself (and Ryuunosuke) alone at a strange lake under a red sky (see image below). This must be Haine's home, he concludes. While searching for Ushio he and Ryuunosuke find a cliff-like barrier where the "flow of time gets cut off". He senses that looping won't work here and getting killed would be permanent. Ryuunosuke senses that Ushio is nearby--the shotgun she printed still exists, so she must be within 50 meters. Ryuunosuke convinces Shin to turn command of his body over to him so that Shin will be spared the extreme pain of a leg injury he has sustained. Shin's physical body won't be able to survive otherwise. The two observe that this place is similar to Hitogashima. They also discuss how to address each other. They spot the ball Haine used to play with and follow it as it rolls into town. Black Shide-like beings appear, but they don't seem to be hostile. The ball leads them to Ushio, who is in pain--and Haine. |
