I decided to summarize chapter 32 of Ran to Haiiro no Sekai before I go back and fill in chapters 25-30 because this chapter was just too good! <g>
The title page shows Hibi standing on the giant roots amongst the destruction of the town, and written on the page is, “The Boy's Weapon is not Magic but Courage”.
Hibi sees Outarou walking away from the tangle of giant roots and tries to slip away. The Insect controlling Outarou senses something amiss but continues heading towards the village anyway. It turns out that Sango had tied a magic cord around Hibi's chest for protection and the cord conceals Hibi from the sense of the Insect. So Insect-Outarou goes off in search of prey but doesn't detect Hibi.
As Hibi climbs higher into the multi-story tangle of roots he slips on some dark liquid that is dripping down from above. Hibi pulls himself up to the next root and finds Jin's inert body, pierced with insect thorns, lying there dripping dark blood. Hibi climbs further, hears a sound off to one side and sees the motionless body of Ran's mother that is still wrapped up in insects that are making chewing sounds. Hibi continues upwards and finally reaches Ran who is lying motionless with an insect spike piercing the centre of her chest.
Hibi calls out to Ran and asks if she can hear his words. He reaches out and holds her left hand in his hands. Tears are still slowly coming out of Ran's closed eyes and Hibi tells her that he will rescue her and that she shouldn't give up.
As Hibi holds Ran's hand something strange starts to happen. A glow appears around both Hibi and Ran and Hibi's hands start to grow. Hibi's feet start to grow and push out of his boots. Hibi's chest starts to grow and the zipper on his jacket bursts. His arms and legs start to grow and stretch out beyond his cuffs. Hibi is suddenly in his adult form while Ran is now back in her child form.
Hibi is stunned and confused. Suddenly Ran takes Hibi's right hand in her hands and with her eyes still closed and while still crying tells Hibi to flee. Meanwhile Insect-Outarou is in a deserted street in the town when the Insect senses a faint change. The Insect senses prey and turns around to try to find it.
Adult Hibi finds Sango's cord to be too tight around his chest now so he loosens it. Ran then tells Hibi to take her family away to safety and flee with them because she can't do it. She says that she has to stop Outarou. Ran then grabs the insect spike in her chest and tries to pull it out. Hibi yells at her to stop because she will bleed even more if it is removed. But Ran replies that the spike is poisonous and she has to remove it. However Ran is too weak to do this so Hibi tells her to trust him and he pulls out the spike with some difficulty.
Ran screams in pain and faints as the spike is removed. Hibi tries to get Ran to respond to him and then notices that the huge wound in Ran's chest has started to glow and has stopped bleeding. Hibi then tells Ran to hang in there and gets up.
But when Hibi gets up he sees Insect-Outarou down below, searching for something. Hibi ducks down and moves away carefully. The Insect in Outarou is hungry. It can faintly sense some prey nearby but can't locate it. The Insect is perplexed – should it leave or should it search?
Hibi reaches Jin, turns his motionless body over, and starts to pull the insect spikes out of Jin's body. He notices that Jin's body has stopped bleeding and thinks about how Ran's body started to heal so quickly. While Hibi pulls the spikes out of Jin's body he wishes that Jin would wake up and help him.
As Hibi pulls out each spike his hands start to hurt and turn black. He realizes that it is due to the poison in the spikes but he keeps on anyway. By the time Hibi pulls out the last spike his hands are burned and blistered. A loose piece of burned flesh falls from Hibi's hand to the ground.
At that moment Hibi realizes with a shock that Insect-Outarou has come up beside him. The Insect senses the small piece of Hibi's flesh on the ground and Outarou squats down to get closer. Suddenly Insects shoot out of Outarou's back and smash into the ground at his feet, devouring the tiny piece of Hibi's flesh.
Sango's cord continues to protect Hibi and the Insect can't detect him, even though Hibi is only a meter away from Outarou. But then the Insect gives a tiny bit of control back to Outarou who asks “Douko da?” (Where?). Hibi sits tense with perspiration pouring down his face.
And here is where the audience is left off until Issue 7 of Harta which will come out on August 12.
↧