While the battle between Kaito and Chizuro raged in the White Place, Yume made her way back to the cages in the warehouse.
A figure was kneeling in front of one of them.
"Toma!" she exclaimed, recognizing him immediately.
The boy spun around. "Yume... you're all right then?"
He looked behind her. "Wait... is that Kagura? You beat her?" His eyes widened at the idea.
"There's no time to explain. We have to get them out, now!" she said, glancing around.
The prisoners watched them in silence, still shaken by everything they had witnessed.
"Can't you use your spirit like before?" Toma asked, hopeful.
Yume shook her head and lowered her gaze. "I wish I could... but my fight with Kagura drained all my energy."
Toma sighed, then gave a small smile. "Then let me handle it. Fortunately, I found this."
He lifted a strange weapon: it looked like an axe fused with a metal glove. Once he slipped it on, bands of red light lit up along the handle.
"What's that?" the girl asked instinctively, eyeing the weapon.
Toma smiled again as he began to strike the bars. "You're not from here, are you?"
Without waiting for an answer, the axe blade glowed red and the first bars fell to the floor, snapped clean off.
"These are axes made in Shinkase," he explained, as the first people began to step out of the cages, trembling.
"They're designed specifically to cut through the toughest things... and apparently they still work well." he finished.
"Then let's keep going. We have to get them out..."
Suddenly, the room began to tremble.
"Mama, I'm scared! It's an earthquake!" cried a child, clutching his mother.
Yume turned on her heel. She knew exactly where that tremor came from.
She approached the little boy slowly and bent down to him.
"Don't worry... a friend of mine is fixing these shakes," she said softly, placing a hand in his hair to calm him.
Then she lowered her eyes and clenched her fists. —Please, Kaito... be careful.—
Meanwhile, Kaito had recovered his strength, while Chizuro had summoned her spirit once more.
"Chizuro...?" Kaito's voice had changed — calmer, almost compassionate. "Before you said you'd never meet him again. Who were you talking about?"
The woman didn't answer. She swallowed a sob and tightened her fists.
"It doesn't make sense to keep it hidden..." she finally whispered. Tears ran down her face again.
"Four years ago my husband died from a serious illness..." she paused, trying to breathe. "He was... the former head of the Fuyumi family."
Kaito's eyes widened. "So... it's true. The head of the family is gone..." he muttered.
"Wait... so what does any of this have to do with the auction or the Mugentamashii?!" Kaito asked, searching for answers.
"A moment before we fought I told you that money is the only thing that matters..." Chizuro reminded him. "Do you think I said that for no reason?" she added sharply.
"My husband was a fool..." she continued, her voice cracking. "Unlike his ancestors, he could never sell merchandise without scruples."
Kaito stared at her, incredulous. "What are you talking about?"
"Before every sale he made sure the buyer had no ill intent..." she explained, clenching her hands until her knuckles went white.
"By doing that he lost huge amounts of brish."
She turned to Kaito.
"Boy... life is often unfair. When he became ill... we didn't have enough money to get him the treatment he needed."
Then she looked up at the ceiling, as if she could see beyond it, toward the sky.
"Of all the diseases in existence... he had to fall ill to one of the worst."
She swallowed, as though to hide the feelings that were rising.
"That's when I understood..."
Chizuro's voice hardened, then exploded. "This world is disgusting! Those who don't deserve it die, and the others survive!" she burst out, her anger laced with pain.
"The only thing that matters is money! Only with money can you get what you want... and protect who you want!" She took a breath, her breathing ragged from the emotion.
"By now, the only people I truly care about... are my children."
Her gaze fell on her daughter's motionless body, and for a moment her voice trembled.
"The Mugentamashii is an organization with extraordinary abilities..." she began to explain.
"In exchange for payment... they guaranteed I could see him again."
Tears streamed down her face, but she didn't even try to wipe them away.
"And you think... they're honest?" Kaito's expression was hidden, tense.
"What did you say!?" Chizuro snapped.
"Do you really think that people like them, who are willing to kill an entire family, care about you?" Kaito's tone was stern, as if he knew them.
"You don't know what you're talking about!" she answered.
Kaito shook his head. "Chizuro... even hearing your story I can't justify what you did." He readied himself.
"I promised I would kill you, and I will."
"You don't need to justify yourself. I know I'm in the right."
A golden aura began to spread around her.
"Rain of coins!"
Once again, as at the start of their fight, a storm of brish plunged down across the White Place.
—Let's end this here.— Kaito advanced.
With Pressure Mode active, he dodged and cut the falling coins as if they were golden blades.
Chizuro's hand hit the ground. "Transmigration."
The ground became covered in a golden sheen that spread like a luminous wave.
—Can she use two techniques at once!?— Kaito thought, springing up to distance himself.
He kept slashing through the air, destroying the falling coins, but Chizuro had already moved.
In an instant she lunged toward him, cutting through the light like lightning.
With a hand soaked in spiritual power, she grabbed him and slammed him to the ground, smashing what remained of the stage.
A roar echoed through the White Place.
The coins kept raining down as Chizuro held Kaito pinned to the ground.
The boy turned his head, fixing on something behind her. Then he smiled.
"You want to die with a smile on your face? Fine!" Chizuro raised her hand to the sky.
"Corporeal Transmigration!" she shouted.
"I'm sorry, Chizuro... but I don't have time to waste anymore."
Pressure Mode deactivated.
"Spirit Slayer!"
A wave of energy exploded from the blades, striking Chizuro squarely.
The woman was hurled upward, passing through several tiers of the tower.
The walls shattered, and a rain of rubble fell.
Kaito stood motionless, panting. "Yume... take them out."
On the warehouse threshold, Yume watched him with wet eyes. Behind her, all the prisoners were finally free.