Sword of Justice (Episode)

"Sword of Justice" (正義のツルギ) is the sixth episode of Seraph of the End: Battle in Nagoya, eighteenth episode of the first season, and eighteenth episode overall of the Seraph of the End anime.

Synopsis
Crowley Eusford tests a Demon Army sword against Chess Belle and suspects a high-ranking vampire traitor has been providing information to the humans.

The surviving human teams regroup. Guren leaves Aiko Aihara's team behind to direct late soldiers to Nagoya Airport while he takes the other squads to rescue the hostages.

A few more soldiers arrive at Aiko's location, but vampires suddenly arrive in two large helicopters and capture everyone. Aiko orders them to commit suicide. Mika prevents her from swallowing poison, leaving her as the only survivor. She decides to trust Mika when he address Yuichiro as "Yu" and tells him Yu's location. With Mika acting as her interrogator, she tricks the other vampires into going to the botanical garden in Higashiyama Park. With some persistence, she persuades Mika to kill her.

Mika separates from Lacus and René and takes five soldiers with him to City Hall while claiming to doubt words from a human.

Summary
Inside Nagoya city hall, Crowley is reading documents concerning unstated experiments whilst Horn Skuld plays Chess Belle at the game chess. As Horn makes her move, Chess is drinking deeply from the neck of one of the hostages. Despite Horn stating that she can’t kill a hostage, and Chess saying that he can’t die without her permission the hostage nevertheless dies from blood loss.

Crowley leaves the report showing location sites and draws the sword of the deceased hostage. He tells Chess to come over and he suddenly tests the power of the sword on her, and the result sends her crashing into the wall from the force of the cursed gear weapon. Crowley muses that from their weapons, the humans are gaining strength way too fast. Crowley runs his finger along the sword and points out that the demons curse stops him from healing from his wound. He notes the possibility that there could be a traitor who is leaking their information to the humans, a high ranking one at that. Crowley says that they should be wary before offering to let Horn drink the blood from his finger. Among Krul Tepes and Ferid Bathory, Crowley also ponders that it could be a human behind these advancements.

After their successful mission to defeat fifteenth progenitor, Lucal Wesker, both team Shinoa, team Narumi, and Shinya await the arrival of other squads set to arrive at 2.20pm. With seven minutes until the time, squad leader Aiko Aihara arrives back with a greatly depleted team of three squads 15 members total, with just the seven survivors left. After talking with Narumi, Yu comes over and says that he is glad that they are back unharmed and offers to continue to stand watch whilst they rest. Mitsuba notes the reality that comrades fall on the battlefield.

Having won their engagement against Mel Stefano, Guren and his squad make it out of a nearby underground route. He asks Narumi how the new additions to the squad were, and after seeing Yu’s face he praises Shinoa squads' efforts.

Despite the loss of over half the team, Guren is glad that Aiko made it back alive. In light of the rest of the squads having not arrived back, rather than wait for them, Guren opt to move ahead with the next phase of the mission. Nine squads that were assigned to annihilate the three nobles in Nagoya city hall were either killed with twenty five captured. Guren makes it his mission is to finish the job of assassinating the noble vampires, and now rescue the captives as well. Guren dismisses Aiko as an effective volunteer in her current emotional state; he says he will rendezvous with them at the airport after the rescue. Aiko and her squad is kept behind to relay this message to other returning squads. At 2.40pm, Aiko checks her watch. Her squad assure her the elites will be ok, and then point out the arrival of another squad having successfully destroyed their targets. Aiko’s happiness is cut short with the arrival of vampire war helicopters overhead. She tells the squad to run for the airport, and immediately generates her cursed gear bow. She aims a powerful green projectile that blows a hole clean through the above chopper and results in its total destruction. Lacus Welt and René Simm make the jump from a second chopper high in the air and the humans are surrounded on all sides by vampires. Aiko raises her bow to fight but Mika lands behind her, seizes her by the neck and pins her to the ground. He says that he has a question for her. Aiko observes the dire situation they are all in with them all outmatched by the vampires. Seeing no other recourse, Aiko gives a final order of code 284 to the humans. Those who comply bite, and then fall to the ground dead. As Aiko goes to bite, Mika pushes his fingers into her mouth and removes what turns out to be a poisoned pill, a drastic measure undertaken to avoid being tortured for information by the vampires.

Mika still has a question to ask her in this state whilst they are out of earshot from the other vampires. Mika covers her mouth, leans in and tells her to play dead before the others find out that she is alive. He says he will let her go if she answers. Mika asks her if she know a human named Yūichirō Hyakuya. Making note of her eyes, Mika infers that she does indeed know and tells her to tell him everything if she wants to live. Mika reacts angrily to Aiko saying that Yu is her comrade. She asks what he is before Lacus notices and asks Mika what he’s doing. Mika maintains the ruse in front of the vampires who are now aware by stating that Aiko has already killed herself. René points out the traces of vampires that were killed form their tattered cloaks and notes it was Lord Lucal Wesker that governed this area. Lacus is doubtful humans could kill a noble, but a scout arrives and informs them both that vampires underground have been wiped out too, noble Mel Stefano cannot be found. Aiko hears that they mean to move towards the city hall where Lord Crowley is, and where Guren and his team are heading. No longer playing dead, she holds a knife to Mika’s throat, telling them all not to move. She threatens to kill Mika if they move. They want her captured for intel, and with another threat on Mika, Lacus says it’s Mika’s fault if he dies. Aiko backs away with Mika before whispering that Yūichirō is headed to the city hall as they speak, and they cannot head there otherwise they would all be wiped out. Mika is astonished by this revelation and asks why she would trust him; she cites Mika referring to him by a nickname of “Yu.” However, with her position compromised she asks Mika if he knows what this means, she moves to attack Mika at which point she is disarmed, with her wrist being crushed by Mika. They both try and act their way out the situation with Lacus and René monitoring them both. After stating she doesn’t want to die, Mika kicks her. After seeking guarantees that she will not be killed if she tells them where the humans who attacked here have gone, she misleads them saying that the Second Troop of Japanese Imperial Demon Army are planning an attack on the botanical garden in Higashiyama Park with a plan to kill Zane Lindau. Mika asks if they know this noble, they do, as the seventeenth progenitor. René notes that the humans don’t just know the noble’s name, but his location too. Out of concern they will get in trouble if they knew about this information but didn’t act on it, they agree to head to the botanical garden.

Mika leaves Aiko lying on her back, with her entire squad gone, she feels she has nothing left and she asks him to wait and kill her. After he tells her to do it herself, she replies she can’t do it herself as it could cause Lacus and René to doubt her testimony. Mika presses on to catch up but René tells him to bring Aiko with him. Mika says she is of no further use, but René retorts she is since they can get more information. With that, Aiko has risen to her feet and drawn her cursed gear bow. Coming to the conclusion that they will kill her in the end Aiko fires a shot past Mika’s head. Mika turns, draws his sword and sends a lethal wave of energy through her, and as she falls she thanks him in her final breath.

Mika gives the alibi to Lacus that who cares about livestock’s intel, they both should move to ensure that the seventeenth progenitor isn’t killed as well. Under the pretext of doubting the information, Mika opts to move out on his own, asking for five soldiers to investigate the city hall just in case. As they leave via the helicopter Mika turns to contemplate Aiko, wondering whether she protected Yu, but then thinks she must have been using him. Mika turns to the five vampires at his disposal and tells them to follow him to investigate city hall. He manages a faint smile for himself as he declares he’s coming for Yu.

Further away, Yu looks onwards from the top of a building noting something in the distance. Shinoa asks him what’s wrong, before noting that it is a perfect day to launch an attack. Yu agrees, and from their vantage point Guren observes the hostages tied to wooden crosses before them.

Characters
List of characters in order of appearance:

Gallery
Anime images provide a visual overview of the events of Episode 18 with depictions of the characters, Seraph of the End world, scenarios, artistic style among other areas.