Seraph of the End 6: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen

Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen (Volume 6) is the sixth volume of the Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen light novel series, which includes Guren's past with Mahiru and his encounter with many characters of the manga sequel, Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign. A drama CD was bundled with it on its release.

It is expected to be published as the second half of the third English omnibus.

Prologue
The prologue opens up with Guren and Mahiru's first meeting when they were five years old. Since Guren is covered with wounds from training, she asks if he is being bullied. She introduces herself as a forest fairy, but Guren points out they are in the mountains. Although it is 1 a.m., Mahiru says she will return the following night. They continue having late-night rendezvous and meeting up, chatting about the future and things they like. She motivates Guren to become stronger so he can be with her, despite the fact he is already considered to be extraordinarily talented.

She says cake is her favorite food. One day, Guren asks his father for pocket money to buy cake, and Sakae only gives him some after Guren says he will not be the one eating it. Guren is on a nutritional diet, so cake is not permitted and he has never eaten cake before.

He buys both a strawberry shortcake and a chocolate cake for Mahiru.

The Mikado no Oni search the Ichinose house looking for Mahiru, and Guren learns of the relationship between the Hiragi and Ichinose houses for the first time.

He and Mahiru share the cakes later that night. She escapes before some Mikado no Oni soldiers and Sakae arrive looking for Mahiru. They beat Guren, but he lies and says he did not meet with anyone. Even when Sakae asks him privately later, Guren denies lying. Sakae tells him that is fine and to do what he feels is the right choice.

A few days later, Mahiru begins appearing during the afternoon break instead of late at night. They continue chatting. She explains she approached Guren initially because the Hiragi family forced her mother to a dead end before killing her. Tenri Hiragi does not even want to look at her, so she decided to do something the Hiragi would despise the most: associate with the Ichinose. However, she says she accidentally fell in love instead. She tells him she loves him.

They continue meeting and discussing marriage.

However, they are abruptly separated. Ten years pass by. Now, she is being possessed and must be killed by September 30th or else Guren's family and subordinates will be executed.

Chapter 1
On October 2nd, Guren meets with his father for the final time. Sakae appears to have aged, but he denies being interrogated. Guren tells Sakae that Sakae did not drag him down, and Sakae tells Guren that it is not his fault that Sakae will be executed. Sakae pats Guren on the head and tousles his hair. Guren begins crying.

Since Guren captured a vampire and acquired Asuramaru, which would be highly useful for their research, Kureto initially adjourned the execution date of Sakae and the Ichinose's subordinates. However, Tenri Hiragi and the heads of the other nine houses overturned this decision. They wanted to prevent the Ichinose house from gaining to much power.

Sakae smiles, and Guren asks why he is always smiling. He says he is always happy, but Guren calls him a liar. Sakae claims that Guren will live on and become the head. He says no one will protest this, and that makes him happy.

Sakae tells Guren to continue doing what he feels is right.

Soldiers intrude and tell them it is time to execute Sakae. Sakae hugs Guren tightly and tells him farewell. The troops shackle him and take him out of the prison. As Guren watches him leave, he shouts that he was happy being born as Sakae's child.

Eventually, Kureto approaches Guren and tells him the execution is over. He says he opposed the execution, but his father made the final decision. Kureto remind Guren that he is Kureto's subordinate and does not belong to Tenri Hiragi.

Guren approaches the execution grounds and notices cameras before finding his father's decapitated corpse. Guren ignores Noya's temptation. He answers a phone call from Shinya, who tells him they will clean up the scene. Guren tells him there is no need and asks them to come play a game with him later.

Standing straight, Guren walks into the grounds and hides his emotions. He then cradle's Sakae's head and then carries it with the body using Noya's strength. The onlookers watch silently.

And thus, Guren becomes the head of the Ichinose family.

Chapter 2
Sakae's body is returned to Aichi, and his head is reattached prior to his burial. Guren dresses in his father's ceremonial kimono and greets the nine other family heads. Shinya, Goshi, and Mito also sneak in using their cursed gear to disable the alarms.

Seraphs are hinted to be large-scale spell craft weapons.

Makoto Narumi and Shusaku Iwasaki ask Guren if Ichinose and their followers will be treated like this all their lives. Guren tells them to endure it for now but to support him.

Chapter 3
Guren reports to the Hiragi headquarters. Tenri Hiragi orders Guren to kneel before him and says he forced Sakae to dance naked. Tenri brings up how Guren deceived Seishiro in volume 1 but says it is Seishiro's fault for being deceived. Tenri stomps on Guren's head until it bleeds. He dismisses Guren.

Guren returns to his apartment and walks in on Saito lounging on his sofa. They fight, and Guren summons Noya. He accidentally cuts of Shigure's arm. Saito reveals he has been alive for over one thousand years and is a second progenitor. He asks Guren to kill his servants and join him.

Guren calls Kureto, who sends a helicopter. Shinya calls Guren, saying he bugged his room, and Guren says he accidentally chopped of Shigure's arm while attempting to cut a radish. They plan to meet at Guren's apartment that night. Guren informs Kureto about Saito. They successfully reattach Shigure's arm.

When Guren heads home, Seishiro attacks him with a group. Guren defeats them, but Shinya prevents Guren from landing the final blow. Shinya convinces Seishiro to leave Guren alone.

They reach Guren's apartment to find Mito and Goshi eating curry. They play more Bomberman.

Chapter 4
On December 2nd, Mahiru steps into Kyoto as a vampire sired by Krul Tepes. Saito gives her a ring he says will protect her from the sunlight. She attacks him with Shikama Doji. She can used cursed gear as a vampire because she was born with a demon. Saito's objective appears to be the completion of the Seraph of the End.

Mahiru knocks out a human woman and drinks her blood. She notes that blood tastes different depending on the human's age and sex, and it turns bad once the human dies. She returns to Tokyo.

On December 10th, the high school students are using demons, and some of them have gone berserk. Kureto sends Guren, Shinya, Goshi, Mito, Sayuri, and Shigure in to kill one, and Guren is the first to arrive. He comes across a classroom with twenty-seven corpses, and a girl missing an arm and leg comes out, chased by a boy with black eyes and curse markings all over his skin. Guren knocks him out instead of killing him.

Mahiru appears, applauding Guren's strength. She admits this is her doing. She asks about the experimentation on Asuramaru. She reveals that a human must be modified in order to use a Black Demon, but the current success rate is less than 20%.

Guren says he wants to protect both her and his friends. He asks her to surrender, so they can extract the demon from her. Mahiru throws down Shikama Doji and instructs him to give it to Shinoa to protect her after the Apocalypse begins.

Shinya and the rest show up and attack Mahiru, but she escapes.

On December 11th, Mito confesses her feelings to Guren, but he rejects her.

On December 20th, Kureto leads a group of 200 soldiers to destroy one of the Hyakuya Sect's research facilities. Lucal Wesker intercepts them with a group of vampires. He lets them go on a whim because he only drinks the blood of children.

On December 23rd, Guren investigates the abandoned Hyakuya Orphanage in Shibuya. Although the reports say the children have been killed, it shows signs of recent habitation. He finds Mikaela's diary, which was last dated for December 18th. Guren reports this to Kureto, and Kureto says the information came from the Nii and Kuki family families, meaning they have become traitors.

Mahiru and the Nii family head arrive in front of Kureto with an army.

At 1 p.m., Guren takes Shikama Doji to meet with Shinoa. The traitorous faction attacks them. Shinoa loses consciousness as soon as she touches Shikama Doji, but Guren manages to kill some of the soldiers and escape with her.

Goshi calls Guren and reports that Guren's apartment was set on fire by the traitors. Their phone call is interrupted. Guren steals a bike and escapes, but a van chases him. Shinya uses Byakkomaru to destroy the van and reports that they won the battle at Guren's apartment without losing anyone. Goshi arrives in a stolen minivan and picks them up.

Guren calls Mahiru and says he will betray the Hiragi and join her. She laughs.

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance: