01x12 - The Key

[bunniefuu]

This guy is the current Emperor?

No, he might just be an errand boy.

All right, follow me.

I'll take you to the Emperor.

STORY BY TAIGA MIYAKAWA

An apartment with a basement...

What a surprisingly normal place.

This way.

We're here.

Welcome, "unarmed and butt naked" boy.

So this is...

I am Emperor Rachzelt.

Now, about yesterday...

Out of the kindness of my heart,
I shall forgive you.

How annoying!

You're younger than I had imagined.

I may not look it,

but I am 1.3 million years old!

What in the world?
Is he trying to get on my nerves?

What's his motive? It's damn irritating!

No, I have to calm down.

This might be his tactic
to test my personality.

What? 1.3 million years old?
You sure are funny.

It's a pleasure to meet you,

the second Emperor.

Hey! He knew I was
lying about my age, for real.

Of course, he would.

Is he playing with me or what?

Actually,
he must really be playing with me.

After all, they think I'm a fool
who went butt naked.

No wonder they're so carefree.

But I guess
that makes things easier for me.

What's your name?

I'm Lion Ouno.
Here is my identification card.

So, what do you want?


LION OUNO

I have so many questions for you.

Like, how did you k*ll people
with the Majority Vote?

A combination of methods.
Any other questions?

His word choice and movements
seem natural enough.

Although these people may be fake,

they're still the ones who have been
broadcasting every night.

In which case,
the next thing I need to know is...

I feel like I can
really relate to the Emperor.

So, I came here to do
whatever I can to help out!

Now, tell me. Are you my enemy or ally?
Which one is it?

What can you relate to?

The Majority Vote, of course!

You showed me how insignificant human life
is in this modern world. It felt great!

Hey, is that how you really feel?

Huh?

What's with this woman?
When did she turn up?

I'm asking you a question.
Give me an honest answer.

Excuse me?
Why the heck would I be honest with you?

I'm trying to test you, after all.

Go on and answer me.
Is that how you really feel?

Of course that's not
how I really feel, you idiot.

If I had a blunt weapon, I would beat
the Emperor to death 10,000 times.

That's how you really feel, huh?

Beat the Emperor to death 10,000 times?
That's intense, for real.

Well then, what should we do?

Why? What is going on?
I can't control my mouth!

Is it her?

For some reason,
I answered her questions with the truth.

What is happening?
Who in the world are these people?

Now, now, calm down.

You're against the Emperor
who did the Majority Vote, right?

Then most likely, we're not your enemies.
For real!

All right, you're going to have to tell us
everything you know, for real.

You should already know by now
that there's no point in lying.

I don't know if I can trust them.

All I know is

that right now,
I am at a complete disadvantage.

We can talk about the details later.

Just give us a gist of your situation.

I wanted to meet the current Emperor.

One month ago, out of the blue,

the Majority Vote was started by someone
named the Emperor.

And most of the human race died.

But the next thing I knew,
it had ended suddenly.

Luckily, I survived.

But I was clueless as to
what was actually happening.

The current Emperor was not the person
who organized the Majority Vote.

I was sure of that.

But that confused me even more.

I just wanted to know the truth.

Why did you think
they were different people?

There's no way to verify whether or not
the nightly executions actually happened.

And when it ended,
the Emperor stopped talking.

Did you hear that, Gobo?
He saw right through you.

Seriously? That's bad, for real.

"Gobo"?

-Eren!
-Huh?

Hey, is what you just said true?

-Again?!
-Answer me honestly.

Yes, it's true!

What the heck!

Oh, you don't know about special rights?

I'll explain that later.

"Special rights"?

I guess it's safe to tell him.

The Emperor died.

More accurately, we defeated him.

However, we weren't able to bring back
the dead or restore civilization.

To maintain order
in a world that is in utter chaos,

we had to borrow the Emperor's name
and control people using fear.

So, just as I thought,

they were acting as the Emperor
in order to protect this broken world.

There is a lot I'd like to say to you,

but if I have to put it simply...

Thank you, current Emperor, Rachzelt!

You may do as you please.

He's still a little irritating.

That's not his name,
so just call him Gobo.

Is that even a name?

How rude of you, Nishime! For real!

"Nishime"?

Seriously, who are these people?

You guys!

Hikari?

Why are you in such a rush?

We're in trouble.
Hurry up and turn on the TV.

Channel KHN.

KHN.

The Emperor?

What? Is it another copycat
trying to do what Lion did?

Oh?

But this is a little different, isn't it?

Don't tell me...

I am the Queen.

-The Queen?
-What is that supposed to mean?

I declare w*r against the Emperor.

I will k*ll you, by any means necessary.

And I will become the Empress.

I will find you.

Somebody else figured out that the Emperor
had changed and is making a move!

Is this real?

-What should I do! I'm going to be k*lled!
-Calm down.

It's still too early to say for certain.

We're with you. Right?

That's right.

But she said, "I will find you."

This is bad, for real.

As if I'd let you die.

As long as I'm here,
I won't let anyone get to Rach... Gobo.

I will take them on myself!

What do you mean,
you won't let anyone get to him?

I mean, I will join your team

and protect Gobo. What else would I mean?

What?

Is there something wrong?

Well, we still don't know much about you,
so we can't just suddenly...

You can figure that out later.

It seems to me
that you have a serious problem.

I agree.

Gobo,

without you, public order
would have been absolutely lost.

Not only are you necessary to us,

but I am also personally grateful to you.

You...

That's why I want to protect you.

No, I will protect you no matter what.
What more do you need to know?

Very well! You may act as my servant!

Stop acting like you're better than me!

So, what are your thoughts
on that broadcast?

She's declaring w*r for real,
knowing that the current Emperor is fake.

Seeing that she used
the same method as me,

she's most likely trying to provoke us,
by showing us that she knows everything.

She must be pretty confident.

Now that you mention it,
she only broadcasted it on KHN.

So, if we go there now,
the Queen should be there, right?

She won't be there.

-What?
-Why?

She declared w*r, remember?
Being there would put her at risk.

I see.

Instead, you might be
ambushed or find a trap.

But if she is trying to gauge
our abilities from our reaction,

that must mean she doesn't have
any information on us yet.

So we're on an equal footing, huh?

But she made a pretty big move
by broadcasting that right now.

We can't let our guard down.

Who knew he would be able to

calmly grasp the situation and analyze it
like this after just one broadcast?

He's smart, but he's a different
kind of smart from Saneatsu.

Anyway, for now we should stay calm and...

What's wrong?

Where's that woman
who came running in here earlier?

-What?
-Hikari?

Now that you mention it,
she's not here. For real.

Ouno!

Why did it take me this long to notice?

I'd better make it in time!

Hey, where are you going?
I know you're working for the Queen.

What are you talking about?

Isn't it strange?

The Emperor's broadcast
is always at 23:55.

Aside from that time, there's no guarantee
that anybody is watching a screen.

That is why I chose to
broadcast exactly at that time.

How in the world did you notice
something that was broadcasted

in the middle of the day,
and exclusively on the KHN channel?

What are you trying to say?

It seems as though the Queen
doesn't have information on us.

Which means, you know what the Queen
is up to, but you're not a spy.

You have information on both sides,

but you aren't sharing that information
to either side.

How sly of you.

Bravo.

Who are you? What are you after?

Depending on what you can offer,
I wouldn't mind telling you.

I'd love to hear all
the information that you've got.

I'm willing to consider pretty much
any kind of condition in return.

All right, as long as you
accept my conditions. First...

Fixation.

What just happened?

In a split second, her head and body just...
How did that happen?

Did he do that to silence her?

He must work for the Queen.

If he was listening
to our conversation just now...

Crap!

Privilege! Right to Manifest!

-"Privilege"?
-Perfect Wall!

Stay back!

Oh no! He's running away!

Mr. Shinozaki!

I see him. He's behind that building.

Privilege! Right to Manifest!
Harpy Knight!

Find the man who ran behind that building
and chase him over here.

You can incapacitate him if you have to.

Are you okay, Soma?

Yeah, this is nothing!

I see. So these are the "special rights"
they were talking about?

This is crazy!
They're literally superpowers!

My arm!

Hey, he's going to die!

Shut up!

If you hesitate against
a special right holder, you'll die.

Just like Hikari did.

Remember this.
We have been fighting with firm resolve.

So they're not playing around, huh?

Don't push yourself too much,
bald macho guy.

I'm close to finishing him off.

I've lost feeling in my arm.

I can't afford to waste time here.

Kunashiri.

What is your special right?

The Privilege, Fixation Right.

Why did I answer her without thinking?

What does that special right entail?

She is using some kind of special right.

I was able to resist it and stay silent.

So she must be using
a Right and not a Privilege.

I was able to keep the traits
and weaknesses of my Privilege a secret.

He resisted it.

We found out enough. Good work, Eren.

He has a Privilege, huh? That's dangerous.

Go, Harpy Knight!

Fixation.

Harpy!

If I wanted to,

I could k*ll you the moment you move,
even if it's just a few millimeters.

Hey, that was insane!

Once he fixates a part of our body,
we will end up like that too.

I can use my Right to Manifest
one more time.

But there's no point if he can
k*ll it in an instant.

Wouldn't it be better to let him go,
rather than be k*lled by him?

That's right. Be scared.

So long as you don't know how I activate
my Privilege, you can't make a move.

He's trying to escape,
even though he has that power?

He had no problem k*lling
that Hikari girl, though...

Fixation Right...

Fixation!

The head fell down later.

His left arm is critically wounded,
but he seems unfazed.

Checkmate!

We've reached stalemate, huh?

Stay there and don't react.
Just listen to me.

I have a winning strategy.

He came up with something
in this short amount of time?

All right. They're not going to
come after me. I can just...

All right! We surrender!

We'll tell you everything.

Just don't take our lives.

How lucky am I?

My plan was to just escape from them,

but if I can return with information,
that would make Lady Kisaragi happy.

Very well. Talk to me.

Actually, this card contains
the Emperor's secret.

That card?

That's right.

This card has the Emperor's whereabouts.

That's what Hikari was after, right?

The Emperor's whereabouts!

What does it say? Read it.

Privilege, Right to Manifest.
Tungsten Cube!

In order to fixate your target,

you have to point at it with your finger.

Descend.

Damn it! Fixation!

It's not stopping? Why!

What did they do?

It's my Right, the Priority Right.

I prioritized the activation
and completion of the Right to Manifest,

so you can't use your Fixation.

A Right? What is happening...

I shouldn't look, should I?

No...

Gobo, you shouldn't look either.

Oh yeah? For real?

So this is the reality
of the world we live in now, huh?

Even though they must be sad
after their friend was k*lled,

they were still able to switch
to fight mode immediately.

These people must be so strong.

Your plan saved us.

I have a winning strategy.

Most likely, his Fixation Right

activates on whatever he points
his index finger at.

And when he stops pointing,
it deactivates.

You there, in the beanie hat.

Manifest a giant heavy object
right above him.

If he doesn't fixate it,
he will be crushed.

Once he fixates it,
we can prevent him from escaping

and wait for him to bleed out
of his left arm until he collapses.

Then it's checkmate.

Then let's combine it with my Right too.

I think it'll end things quicker
and with more certainty.

I'll leave it to you.

Now I am certain...

We need you.

Let's protect this world together,

Lion Ouno.

Of course.