Lord of Vermilion: The Crimson King (ロード オブ ヴァーミリオン 紅蓮の王)

You're late.

Why'd we have to meet here?

Sorry. I'm the one who asked everyone to come.

Who's there?

Hey. How are ya?

Seriously?

Surprised to see us here?

The Guardian State.

I asked you all here because I thought we could work together.

Your sense of humor needs some work.

Well, I wouldn't mind.

Be quiet, Tsubaki.

I know you've been working with them.

As a member of the Guardian State, your thoughtless actions won't be forgiven.

They're the ones who destroyed the barriers protecting Tokyo.

We're saving the world.

All fanatics say that.

I'm not surprised.

The words of an organization that claims they're protecting the country—

while slaying those who oppose them— are exceptionally persuasive.

I won't allow you to insult the Guardian State.

Ichijo Julia is entering battle.

Come to me, Gabriel.

Jumonji Suruga is entering battle.

Come, Lia Fáil!

You wanna fight?

Hey, wait!

Julie-Julie and Kotecchan, calm down!

Unless we destroy Tokyo, Chaos will stain the world.

We can save the world without destroying Tokyo!

What?

Very well. Elaborate.

He's obviously lying.

That's right.

You've been destroying parts of Tokyo because it's impossible.

We can change fate.

Shiraki Yuri.

Excruciating Sadness Can Be Cured by Other Anguish

The agent of Chaos!

What is the meaning of this?

Wait. She's on our side!

Our side?

You've been seduced by the Foundation.

Yuri saved Kotetsu.

What do you mean?

It's true, Tsubaki-chan. I owe Shiraki-san my life.

Since awakening after the Great Collapse, I started having dreams.

Dreams of my loved ones dying.

First Kotetsu's dad, then Inuki-san.

No matter how I fought, I couldn't change the outcome.

Prophetic dreams of death, huh?

Sounds like you.

Then I dreamed of Kotetsu's death.

I gave up hope. I thought it was fate.

But I'm still alive.

Yuri taught me that I can change fate.

It's not logic or sentimentality.

The fact that Kotetsu's still here is all we need to know.

I'm no longer at the mercy of fate.

Sounds good to me.

Isn't it your goal to destroy Tokyo?

Isn't it too late to stop?

AVAL's goal is the extermination of the Heroic Lineage.

To do that, they caused the Great Collapse and are turning people into gates.

In order to protect the Heroic Lineage,

Maldeus Church is trying to destroy Tokyo, the breeding ground for said gates.

There is no other way.

The answer's simple, then.

The Heroic Lineage simply needs to survive without destroying Tokyo.

If we survive, we can stop Chaos' plan.

If we work together,

we should be able to overcome the Foundation's attacks.

Not a bad idea.

Though we're enemies now...

I don't trust them.

Shoko-san...

The destruction of Tokyo or the death of the Heroic Lineage.

It can only be one of the two.

Yuri had no choice but to fight, but she joined us instead.

Kotetsu was meant to die, but he was saved.

Fate is already beginning to change.

You've been misled by your love affair. For you to lecture us about fate

is the pinnacle of audacity.

I just don't want anyone else to die!

Help me. Please!

You already know my answer.

Maybe I'll side with Kotecchan, then.

Akira?

Sure, if it means getting Haru back.

I'll fight with you, too.

Do what you want.

We will fulfill our duty as members of the Guardian State.

We don't require the help of sinners.

Don't.

If you get involved, he'll dream of you next.

I'll help.

You trust them?

I want to.

Where is Yuri?!

Maybe she betrayed us.

Jun, have you not heard anything?

Nothing.

My daughter is a fool, but Yuri is still useful to us.

Find her.

How could you ignore my goodwill?

Get involved and die, huh?

It'll take more than a million funerals to kill you.

I'm a tough man to kill.

If it lets me change the present, I'd even work with the god of death.

There's no guarantee it'll improve things.

The future is based on the past.

If his hands are stained with blood,

the future he creates will surely be bloodstained, too.

He killed his own father so he'd survive.

Are you sure?

What?

Come with me.

Sorry. Were you waiting long?

No.

It smells good.

I'm pretty confident this time.

These are the reports from the investigation 13 years ago.

When I learned Kamina Chihiro was a vessel of Heroic Blood,

I acquired them immediately.

The autopsy report, crime scene photos...

Some of this info was never made public.

What you believed to be the truth may not actually be true.

You're saying he didn't kill him?

13 years ago, in a neighborhood of summer homes in Chichibusanchu,

a family forced into a double suicide was discovered.

Their seven-year-old son was rescued in a weakened state,

but the father had been dead for two weeks.

It's likely the son spent all that time with the body.

I... My dad...

I killed my dad.

He fell into a coma, and when he awoke,

he'd lost his memories of the incident.

Kamina clearly said to the cops who arrived at the scene

that he'd killed his father!

He must've been confused.

Yeah. That's what you cops thought,

and it was treated as a forced double suicide.

There were signs on Kamina Chihiro's throat that indicated he'd been choked.

His father tried to strangle him

but changed his mind and stabbed himself instead.

The kid stabbed him!

The piece of glass he used was there!

There were cuts on the hand he used to hold it!

Kakihara, you're a journalist.

Can you see the truth through those warped eyes?

There's information that wasn't released to the public.

What was thought to be the father's dying message was found at the scene.

Doesn't look like that to me.

My personal interpretation is that he was trying to tell his son to live.

Live?

Yeah, right.

It can't be.

His son stabbed him.

Hey, Kakihara...

It's easy to tell someone to die, but it's hard to tell them to live.

Especially for someone who's about to be killed.

He didn't kill him?

It's me.

Got it. Tomorrow morning.

That was Kamina.

He wants us to gather at the church.

I refuse. I refuse to accept this.

Kakihara...

He freed himself from the hands of the father who tried to die with him!

He refused to die with his father and killed him instead!

We know the Foundation is trying to cause a second Great Collapse.

A second Great Collapse?

That's no good.