"I do believe he died. There is no way big brother would ever lie to me, right?"

"That's right, he never would."

"I loved my brother very much, but it no matter the situation it would be presumptuous of me not to believe the news of his death. My brother's rank was below mine, and I had always worried that he wouldn't be able to compete with the other higher-ranking G.o.ds."

"Uh? I thought you were the kind to get depressed about it, but you're saying

some normal stuff, aren't you?"

"Yes, it's not like I want to delve too much into it but there was always a chance that my brother would die. That's why, even if I was told he had died, I would feel sad about what happened but not to the extent of not believing the news."

"And what about now, are you thinking about getting revenge? Lute-dono, you had told me you wanted help from Lord Mana to get your revenge, right?"

"Revenge. You say. Of course, I will do it."

"Oh! Lute-dono! You've got this!"

Their original plan had gone without a hitch for the time being so Hanakawa relaxed a bit. It's not like they needed to empathize with the demon's side, but it would be nice to get rid of Yogiri anyway.

"However, there is something I need to do before that."

"Ohh, there's something that has to be prioritized over your revenge?"

"I have to give birth to my big brother."

"…uh? I'm sorry, I don't really get what you're talking about?"

"It's a bit sad but I knew that there was a possibility of him dying so I had to think of a plan in advance, right? If he was going to die, then he just needed to be born again!"

"Ah! s.h.i.+t! So it was actually Magimon then? What's your problem?!"

"Now. It's obvious that with the current situation there's a limit to how much I can do, which is why I would like to break the seal."

"What would happen if it was broken?"

"I will give birth to a new older brother who will be okay even if he dies, and then we will conquer the surface world. After that, I will create an ultimate form for him so he will never lose to anyone ever again and eventually I will destroy the Earth together with him and our children."

"Oh, you want to bury earth under your…wait! That's definitely not what I had in mind?! I think it's enough just having Takato die!"

Hanakawa took a step back involuntarily.

If they freed him the situation would be much worse.
He didn't need to think to know that much.

"Gaaaaaaaahhh!"

Lute let out a scream as Hanakawa looked at him.

Lute's arms were gone. Everything starting from the tip of his elbows wasn't there anymore. "There's no way he would…" he thought before he turned and looked into Mana's direction, Lute's arms were there. He had no clue how he'd done it. Mana took hold of Lute's arms lightly.

"Here you go, I will adhere my brother's factor to you, okay? Just take it for now. It'll be useful once we have to produce another one of him again."

Hanakawa suddenly saw the key he held in his hands.

That was the key that had been attached to Albagarm

's body. It naturally ended up becoming the factor to be used.

"Ah… but… I…"

He wanted to escape.

He needed to escape.
However, his feet wouldn't budge.

"Now that you have the key you will speak my brother's will. It's up to its owner if they lift the seal or not… now, how would you go about releasing it?"

Hanakawa didn't feel like doing any of his usual jesting.

He understood at once that he wasn't someone he could get through to with eloquent words.

He couldn't remove the seal.
If he did so it would bring forth the end of the world.

Everyone would become a slave to Mana. That wasn't a world anyone would want or could live in anymore.

Even if he survived the ordeal, it wouldn't mean anything to go on living if the human world was gone.

"We'll be in trouble if you just freeze like that. Well, I see. We can just take that servant's brain as well for the time being. Since he still remembers how my brother looked and everything."

"Ple-Please, wait! Aren't I helping you, Lute-dono?! I-I even survived through the whole thing and all, wasn't I an important subordinate of your older brother?!"

Hanakawa thought that it would be okay if he managed to keep himself alive, he had said so. But Lute had activated a strange flag and his destiny must've tied to it.

"Ahh, I don't really know anything about that, but if you say you are going to help then please release the seal now."

Hanakawa approached the pedestal.

He inserted the key, which he held in his trembling hand and gave it a turn.

"Checking the administrator's authorization. Access has been allowed to all functions."

He heard a voice say in the back of his brain.

At the same time, he immediately understood how to do it.

It worked in the same way as someone absorbing a skill.

And then, Hanakawa broke the seal.