Episode -5 C

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A quiet forest.

Beautiful birdsong… the sound of flowing water and wind blending together, even the fragrance filling the air.

And through this place—Poppy is charging forward with tremendous noise.

On either side of Poppy, Leo, Dabi, and Eli, along with Eti—radiating immense energy—are ring at incredible speed, keeping pace with Poppy.

It's a remarkable sight.

The ring children show not a trace of fatigue. On the contrary, their faces are full of smiles, clearly enjoying themselves.

Though sweat runs down and their faces have turned red, they are brimming with excitement.

The effect of the fruit was greater than expected—and long-lasting.

In high spirits, Eti tossed three fruits into Poppy’s mouth.

Poppy swiftly caught and swallowed them, and as if unwilling to lose, continued ring even faster.

After some time, giant beasts like Poppy began appearing here and there.

But the children paid them no mind, racing ahead as if they already knew the destination.

Behind them, countless beasts gave chase.

The children were able to head precisely toward the origin of the incident because

Pai had asked Poppy for the location and requested guidance.

As time passed and they seemed to draw closer to their destination, the number of violent giant beasts increased.

But their numbers could not continue growing endlessly,

because most of the beasts that followed blindly grew exhausted and could no longer keep up.

Before long, the children’s eyes caught sight of a massive crater formed where the star had fallen.

There, a great number of giant beasts had gathered.

And as they approached the crater, the beasts surrounded the children and Poppy, allowing no further advance.

A tense silence filled the air.

Then, among the massive herd, the largest beast of all roared in fury and charged at full speed toward the children riding on Poppy’s back.

Eti immediately threw a fruit to Leo.

Leo caught it at once, put it in his mouth, chewed—gulp—and swallowed.

Then Leo collided head-on with the charging giant beast.

A thunderous crash echoed, followed by the beast’s scream.

The beast shot high into the sky for a moment,

then crashed to the ground, rolled, and fainted.

The surrounding beasts grew even more enraged,

but most no longer dared to approach Leo.

Noticing that the beasts feared coming closer, the King of Perception, Eti,

immediately grabbed Leo’s arm and slowly walked toward the crater.

Unable to block Leo’s path, the beasts parted like the Red Sea,

and little Eti was able to peer closely into the crater.

Inside, countless beasts—wounded all over their bodies—struggled endlessly,

refusing to give up as they tried desperately to climb out of the pit.

But they could never escape.

They only continued slipping again and again…

Most appeared to be small young ones and mothers.

Seeing this, the King of Perception Eti had already roughly pieced together the situation in her mind.

A moment later, she began explaining the current situation to everyone.

“Look. The situation is very serious.

Inside the crater are mothers and weak baby Poppies!

But they don’t have enough strength to climb out of such a deep pit.

Even now, they keep getting hurt and slipping, but they keep repeating it! Don’t you see!?”

After hearing Eti’s explanation, the children looked into the crater, filled with nothing but pity.

But Rogi, in particular, was deeply affected—once again overwhelmed by sorrow.

And Eti continued her explanation.

“Look, it’s filthy down there, and there’s no water or food.

So~ the father Poppies have been bringing food and water in their mouths,

and dropping it down into the crater over and over!”

Rogi added painfully, her heart aching.

“That’s why they became so violent.

They’re exhausted beyond measure, but they can’t stop.

Fatigue made the beasts… violent… savage…”

And she burst into tears.

Pai quickly embraced Rogi, sharing in her grief.

Dabi: “Then let’s pull the beasts out of the crater!”

Leo: “Yeah. Let’s do it.”

As expected, Eat did not intervene in this situation at all.

He intended only to continue watching how the children would resolve it.

If he directly involved himself, the matter would be easily settled,

but Eat had no intention of doing so.

Watching and waiting as the children solved the problem on their own—that was his mission.

And he believed that was the right thing to do.

-5 C END