Claire and Mary reach the top of the tower, but Cid isn’t there. Then, in an instant, Claire is impaled through the shoulder by one of the slowly awakening Vampire Queen Elizabeth’s tendrils. She’s then carried to Elizabeth’s waiting fangs, which sink into her neck. Moments later, the vampiress is beheaded =by Beta, who has arrived with 664, 665, and 666 to rescue Shadow’s sister.
Elizabeth’s head doesn’t stay detached, however, and as the queen continues to gain consciousness, she only becomes stronger. Beta knows they have a hell of a fight on their hands, but all they need to do is hold out until Shadow arrives. Juggernaut has a go at Liz, but gets dusted, and has to spend the remaining battle up in the cheap seats with Yukime.
They’re wise to keep their distance: Elizabeth is a whole other level of power. Beta even notes that her magical energy exceeds Lady Alpha’s, and not only is she and the other Garden lasses wounded and their blood used to heal Liz, but she is also able to control their possessed blood, or corrupt Shadow’s Blessing. She even awakens the possessed blood within Claire, who then suddenly awakens in a standard school nurse’s office.
Awaiting her there is none other than Nurse Aurora, who has brought Claire into this other plane of being not to explain everything, but just enough to get Claire on the right path. Long story short, Claire’s human and possessed blood is adapting and evolving, which means she’s becoming far more powerful, but also has a long hard road ahead. Back up on the tower, Aurora borrows Claire’s body so she can fight Liz, who is technically her kohai.
Aurora seems ready to cast her version of Shadow’s I Am Atomic before Liz’s flurry of blood blades forestall it. No matter; Aurora has done enough stalling to give time for “the star of the show”, Shadow himself. Beta’s look of elation when he touches down is priceless.
Surrounded by a cloud of shattered gold coins, Shadow dazzles all the more for a delighted Beta, who cheers him on as he confronts Liz and goes toe-to-toe for her in an absolutely bonkers, light-speed battle up in the sky with the blood moon as backdrop. As Yukime puts it, it’s all a bit over the top, but that’s why it’s so bloody brilliant and fun.
After fighting to a stalemate, the combatants pause, and Liz says her first words (in Hayami Saori’s voice), asking Shadow his name. He responds by saying “I … AM … RECOVERY ATOMIC.” Well, that’s a new one. Rather than destroying Elizabeth, this attack turns the entire Lawless City to monochrome, resets everything to before all hell broke loose with the ghouls and vampires.
Cid later explains, while waiting for Claire and Mary to have a cozy goodbye, that his ability simply quelled those various forms of magic overload, resulting in an “all’s well that ends well” state. He didn’t recover all the cash he had wanted, but knows he can always return to the Lawless City if he finds himself short on funds.
A guarded Claire also tells Cid about what is stirring in her arm, and he responds with a vow of unconditional support. No matter what path she chooses, he’ll be by her side. It’s exactly what Claire needs to hear, and it puts her enough at ease to fall asleep beside Cid on the train ride home.
That said, Shadow eventually ends up on another train at night to meet with Yukime, whose face we finally see in full. I love her regal, ethereal aloofness, so their future interactions should be fun. Until then, Eminence delivered yet another stylish barnburner of a battle.
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