Episode 28: Useless — Good for Nothing
Soma and Kanosuke finally stood up.
After a fierce battle with Soulbind, he revealed his trump card—
Domain: Soul Rewrite Prison.
It should have decided everything.
But Kanosuke’s defensive technique shattered it.
They were about to counterattack—
Then suddenly, Kanosuke’s legs gave out.
In the same instant, Soma was struck by Soul Rewrite.
And the gymnasium turned into hell.
---
“Soul Rewrite…!”
As Soulbind’s voice echoed, tension tightened the air.
Only the sound of Soma’s heartbeat remained.
—And yet, Soma did not collapse.
“…Oh?”
For some reason, the technique didn’t fully take hold.
“UOOOO!”
Soma lunged forward and drove his spear into Soulbind’s abdomen.
But the spear wouldn’t come out.
Soulbind’s muscles clenched around it, locking it in place.
(It won’t come out…! This is bad! Let go!)
Soma released the spear.
“Ah, so that’s the trick. Kanosuke did that earlier.
Not bad… I might use it.”
A spinning kick from Soulbind knocked Soma’s legs out from under him.
“Gah…!”
He fell.
He tried to stand—
But Soulbind crushed him underfoot.
Soma’s consciousness blurred.
He couldn’t move.
---
“Hey, Soma… can you hear me?
You’re done, aren’t you?”
Soma couldn’t even respond.
Only the sound of blood in his throat reached Soulbind’s ears.
“Answer me properly.”
Another blow.
---
“You had a family, right?”
“…Stop.”
Soma’s voice was barely audible.
But Soulbind ignored him.
“You couldn’t save them that night, could you?
You were useless. Just dead weight.”
“You could’ve saved them… if you were stronger.”
“You couldn’t even protect your own eye—
and you think you can protect your friends?”
“That’s why you couldn’t save Kei.
Or Touka. Or Kanosuke.”
“You’re worthless.”
---
Soma couldn’t argue.
He could only endure the blows.
---
“You like playing house?”
“I do.”
“I’ll recreate that night for you.”
Soulbind reshaped his hands—like puppets.
“Help me, Soma! It’s a monster!”
He crushed them—
Then restored them again.
“What did you lose when you failed to protect them?”
His hand reached for Soma’s face.
“Stop…!”
---
“HEY! STOP IT!”
Kanosuke shouted.
Soulbind turned.
“…What? You?”
Kanosuke tried to move—
But his legs were gone.
He couldn’t stand.
He couldn’t do anything.
Still, he roared from the bottom of his lungs.
“WHAT DID SOMA EVER DO TO YOU!?
HOW CAN YOU DO THIS!?”
“Where’s your heart!?”
---
“Heart?”
Soulbind laughed.
“I have one. Right here.”
“And I’m having fun.”
“If I didn’t have a heart, I wouldn’t feel this joy.”
“That’s exactly why I do.”
He kicked Kanosuke aside.
“You wouldn’t understand. You’re stupid.”
---
Kanosuke couldn’t even resist anymore.
The entire unit was wiped out.
The gym was a sea of destruction.
Soulbind smiled.
“Perfect… This is perfect.”
---
Then—
A cold presence pierced his back.
(What is this…?)
(Not Nanase… not Yakushiin… then what…!?)
He turned.
Soma was standing.
---
“…You’re still alive?
You’re persistent.”
Soma said nothing.
The air trembled.
His eyepatch fell.
Revealing—
A glowing red eye.
---
“…Your eye…!?
That should be gone!”
No response.
Soma moved.
A single blow—
Blue sparks exploded.
“Guh…!”
Soulbind was sent flying.
“…Same pattern as Touka.
Annoying.”
But Yakushiin reacted differently.
“…That eye…!”
“Kashigan…!?
A once-in-fifty-thousand-years anomaly…!?”
“That boy has it!?”
---
Soma didn’t stop.
Before Soulbind could react—
He was already cut down.
“Wha… what just happened…?”
The confidence vanished from his face.
---
(This is bad…!
It’s affecting my soul directly…!)
(I have to escape—now!)
Soulbind scattered over a hundred modified humans.
“Such a waste… I need to get out.”
Soma cut through them all.
And caught up.
---
A single strike.
Blue sparks burst—
And Soulbind was exorcised.
---
Soma returned to the gym.
But he wasn’t himself.
He turned toward everything that moved.
---
“Yeah… awakening Kashigan without control.”
Yakushiin smirked.
“Then let’s try this.”
He raised his hand.
“Malice Art – Final Form: Falling Calamity.”
A massive dark entity shot toward Soma like a meteor.
It hit.
But Soma was still alive.
---
“Of course. That won’t kill him.”
“That wasn’t the point.”
Yakushiin walked upstairs.
Soma tried to follow—
But was blocked by countless creatures.
---
“Kanosuke… I can’t move…!”
He could only watch.
---
After a long time—
Soma eliminated them all.
And approached Kanosuke.
---
“Stop… Soma…!”
But Soma didn’t stop.
---
Then—
A broadcast echoed.
“…Good evening.”
Yakushiin’s voice.
---
“…Go to the gym.”
---
Footsteps thundered.
Civilians began descending.
At the front—
Sota’s parents.
---
“HAHA! I smell ramen!”
“My body… I can’t control it…!”
Kanosuke raised his hand.
“STOP! GET OUT OF HERE!”
---
Electricity surged—
Their bodies moved.
They turned away.
---
“…What did I just do…?”
“It’s your ability.”
Yakushiin’s voice behind him.
“You sent signals directly to their brains.”
---
“Save the explanation for the afterlife.”
“Look behind you.”
---
The back door.
People returning.
---
“…Move. You’re in the way.”
A man spoke.
The same refugee who angered Kei.
---
“Then I’ll just—”
But Yakushiin was already beside him.
---
“Let’s try this here.
Touka… stitch.”
---
Touka appeared.
But not as herself—
As a monster.
---
“Touka…!”
Kanosuke shouted—
But his mouth was sealed.
---
He couldn’t speak.
He couldn’t move.
---
Soma turned—
Toward the civilians.
---
(STOP!!)
---
Yakushiin grabbed Kanosuke’s face.
Forced his eye open.
---
“Watch closely.”
“Your comrade… killing people.”
---
Kanosuke saw it.
Clearly.
---
“Hey—wait—”
A man fell.
---
Screams.
---
Then—
Soma collapsed.
---
“Where’s Hirose?”
“Where’s Yoto?”
Voices searching for the lost.
Voices that should never have been heard.
---
“Kashigan isn’t stable.”
Yakushiin laughed.
---
“Now it’s just the two of us.”
---
In Kanosuke’s eye—
He saw it.
---
The man with glasses.
A devil.
---
And inside him—
A pulsing purple core.
---
The nightmare had only just begun.
