Summary:
Higuruma eventually agrees to give his 100 points to Yuji’s cause, allowing players to transfer points between themselves. While things are going well for Yuji, Megumi’s dealings with the other Culling Game players completely fall apart.
Plot:
Higuruma tells his Kogan to add a rule to the Culling Game that allows players to transfer points between themselves. He will definitely mention that this must also affect the calculation of the score around the removal of the cursed technique. Yuji anxiously waits for Kogane to relay the message to the game master, but only moments later the new rule is approved. He lets out a sigh of relief and Higuruma transfers one of his points to Yuji so that neither of them will be affected by the removal of the cursed technique for nineteen days.
Higuruma walks towards the exit of the theater and says goodbye, but Yuji asks him what he’s going to do now. Yuji wants Higuruma to use his power to help them fight the cull game, but the lawyer explains that he killed the judge and the prosecutor before arriving in Tokyo. He feels the need to take charge and plans once the barrier opens. He will currently be thinking about his course of action and doesn’t feel comfortable hanging around Yuji as it would only make him hate himself more. Higuruma leaves the theater and Yuji is alone, lamenting the situation despite having achieved his goal.
Meanwhile, Reggie praises Megumi, saying that he can tell the young man is strong just based on his shikigami. Unbeknownst to Remi, Reggie was using her to lure potential allies and would simply dispose of them if they weren’t worth more than their points. Reggie wants Megumi to join their group and asks how much she knows about the Culling game. Without mentioning Master Tengen, Megumi reveals that it is a ritual to bring the Japanese to the other side so that they are no longer human. Reggie responds with a laugh and asks if Megumi knows Kenjaku, surprising him. Megumi figured that sooner or later she would run into a wizard with a connection to Kenjaku, and this exchange confirms it.
Reggie explains that the ritual explanation is probably just a cover for Kenjaku’s real plan. He has three main reasons why he believes this is not Kenjaku’s main goal: the number of players, the difference in skill levels between the players, and the rules of the game. Assuming the thousand players were split evenly among the ten colonies, Reggie suggests that each colony of a hundred players is the hardest in terms of player skill level. Players like Hajime Kashimo and Higuruma are much stronger than most other players. Between the two of them, they eliminated roughly sixty other players in twelve days.
This rationalization makes sense to Megumi so far, as Tokyo Colony #1 has been quiet since he entered it. He asks Reggie if the strong have taken out all the weak soon and if the game will soon reach a dead end. Reggie confirms that this has already happened in both Tokyo colonies. He reveals that the conversion process is not just a way to spread the player, but a way to stimulate a second awakening of the cursed techniques of the modern wizard. Some will even die during this transfer, but this does not benefit the ritual as much as prolonged close combat.
Kenjaku meets with government officials overseas in China. Reggie is sure Kenjaku will drop a metaphorical bomb on all the players once only the strongest are left. At that point, Reggie believes that the Culling game has served its purpose. Unsure of what this revelation might be, Reggie focuses on gathering allies and saving points for any eventuality.
Megumi questions how Remi fits into this plan since he’s a worthless weakling. Reggie makes it clear that Remi is useful for luring people because they felt their guards were down around the woman. Megumi asks if Reggie will remove her for points once she stops using it, but Reggie denies it and Remi claims that he is her true knight. Megumi tells her it must be nice, mostly ignoring her. He asks Reggie if the total points of everyone in his group will add up to at least one hundred. Reggie confirms that they have over a hundred points in total, and Megumi reveals that a new rule will be added to allow players to give each other points. He demands that Reggie and his allies hand over all their points before he will consider joining them.
Reggie immediately declares that their negotiation has failed. Another player named Chizuru Hari immediately appears behind Megumi and tries to attack him with his set of claws. Megumi disappears by slipping into Hari’s shadow. As Divine Dog: Totality attacks Reggie, Megumi picks up Hari and throws him over the side of a building. He then commands Nue to blast him, shocking the player and knocking him to the ground below. Remi realizes that Megumi has been patrolling Nue all this time and the Jujutsu High School student glares at her and warns the girl to never let him see her face again.
Suddenly, two kitchen knives are thrust into Divine Dog’s mouth, incapacitating the shikigami. Megumi turns around and is surprised to see that Reggie is unharmed while his shikigami is whimpering on the ground. Knowing that Megumi is holding back because she wants their points, Reggie warns her opponent that she will die if she doesn’t actually fight. On cue, the detached eye suddenly falls over the side of the building next to Meguumi and suddenly explodes.