Seraph LN v2 summary

Prologue - A Retainer’s Crush
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- flashback to 10 years ago again from Sayuri’s perspective
- chapter talks about how Sayuri got a crush on Guren a day after he was beaten up by Mahiru’s attendants, as a result of him baring himself in front of her - crying and being honest and stuff (though they were just kids)
- and that his love for Mahiru resembles hers for him (different stations)
- goes back to present to state that she’s just happy to remain at his side for as long as she can

Chapter 1 - A Lurking Lion
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- as usual, Guren pretended to be weak and as he was sparring with Mito, Mito became angry at him for not putting in any effort; when Guren teased her on whether she had fallen for him, her face turned red, she denied it and hurried off
- Goshi also came over and talked about their gratitude towards him for saving their lives, and they would do their best to help him become better so that he wouldnt get bullied during the 3 years
- throughout the conversation, it seemed to indicate that Goshi also had some personal issues with regards to trying hard and not getting the results expected of him
- after he left, Shinya came to claim Guren as his personal bully target to shoo away the other students who wanted to bully Guren
- they conversed privately and Shinya offered some intel to Guren
- so far, the Hiiragis top brass had concluded that there was an insider but had not figured that it was Mahiru as Mahiru had the absolute trust of her father, Hiiragi Tenri
- they had however begun to suspect Guren as he managed to came out of previous attack incident unscathed despite him being weak
- even now, he was being watched
- the person watching him from the school building was Hiiragi Kureto, Hiiragi eldest son, who was the student council president as well as a potential successor to the Hiiragi head position alongside Mahiru, though currently, Mahiru outshone Kureto and is the first candidate
- even Guren could not feel Kureto ‘watching’ him
- Shinya then proceeded to beat Guren up to maintain the charade

Chapter 2 - Hiiragi Shinoa
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- as Guren and co. were on their way back and engaging in their banter, Guren told Sayuri and Shigure about Kureto and that they were being watched and to split up
- Sayuri and Shigure went to the supermarket, while Guren headed to the Hyakuya orphanage to seek more intel, knowing that he could shake off his tail
- and he did, but just right before arriving at the orphanage, a little girl with ashen grey hair stood in his way
- it was Hiiragi Shinoa
- even as a kid, Shinoa was a cheeky and cynical little girl
- she told Guren that she was here to pass him a message from Mahiru
- Mahiru did not want Guren to make contact with Hyakuya Church as she had intended to betray them as well
- Mahiru also mentioned that even though their paths differ, they would end up at the same place, which made Guren think of what she had said previously; he also wondered what kind of burden she might be carrying for her to go to such extremes
- Shinoa also demonstrated that she was well-trained and skilled during the encounter with Guren; she then said that she had no interest in the affairs of the adults, and factions and just that she loved her big sis
- prior to the ending of the chapter, Akane and Mika made a brief (albeit unimportant) appearance

Chapter 3 - The Student Council President’s Summon
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- teacher suddenly announced that due to the previous terror attack in the midst of the sorcery tests, some students’ evaluation had not been completed; as such, Mito and Goshi were summoned to the gym hall at 8.30 the following day while Guren and Shinya at 9.
- on reaching gym hall, Guren saw Kureto there, Shinya had already arrived, while Mito and Goshi appeared to be tired, seemingly having sparred for the test evaluation
- Kureto suddenly talked about the Hyakuya attack and the possibility of Guren being a spy much to everyone’s surprise, though both Guren and Shinya feigned surprise as they had expected this
- Guren denied and said how could a shit like him be a spy
- Kureto exposed Guren as feigning his weakness as he could not have survived the Hyakuya attack if he were that shitty, to which Guren continued to deny
- Kureto then asked Shinya to kill Guren
- Shinya complained but later followed his order and appeared to use his full power; but Guren knew Shinya would not kill him though this attack would land him in hospital for a month; he weighed his options and decided to receive it
- Kureto immediately saw through Shinya as not using all his power and blasted Shinya across the hall, knocking him down
- Kureto then commented now Shinya was also of suspect because of what he did and he would be investigated; while Shinya was unable to get up
- Kureto then let out his murderous intent towards Guren
- Mito stepped forward and tried to persuade Kureto that Guren could not have been the traitor judging from his ability; even Guren was surprised by Mito’s actions; even Goshi was appalled by the turn of events and thought this was a shitty development
- Kureto then said now Mito is also of suspect because of her action
- Guren had no choice but to unseal his new sword to fend off Kureto
- they exchanged some blows and then both jumped back
- their actions were too fast for Mito and Goshi to follow and their jaws dropped
- Kureto grinned and said now, he would need to determine whether Guren was a traitor in cahoots with the Hyakuya, and to also determine if he was powerful enough to threaten the Hiiragis; at the same time he also said that he was surprised that someone of his talent had been born to the Ichinose house; and if Guren was not with the Hyakuyas or powerful enough to threaten the Hiiragi house, he would determine whether he was good enough to be used as a pawn to serve the Hiiragis
- apparently there were 5 people hidden and they shot needles at Guren; they were very skilled and Guren could not fend off all the needles and he fell unconscious after getting hit

Chapter 4 - Interrogation and Exposure
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- after undergoing 3 days of interrogation and no-sleep torture, Guren, who had went through training against torture/interrogation before, judged that it was about time a normal person’s mental resistance break down, and pretended to answer the interrogator’s question truthfully
- he admitted that the Hyakuya Church had approached the Ichinoses before and they mentioned the war but he did not know when it would take place
- he did not give away info about Mahiru however
- Kureto appeared and reasoned that what Guren said was plausible and that there was no real reason to pay heed to Guren as one person’s power wasnt enough to do anything to the Hiiragis
- he also said that his info matched those his father had given, after undergoing the same torture, though his father was weaker and had given it earlier and his heart had stopped once
- this triggered a reaction in Guren’s eyes and Kureto smiled, and exposed Guren on giving the info on purpose while he had yet to really break down from the torture
- he then released Guren, told him he liked him and he valued talent, and decided to make him his right-hand man
- Guren could not refuse as Kureto threatened to kill off the Ichinoses if he did
- as Guren left school, Mito confronted him about him hiding his power
- she then apologized for the things she did; Guren told her to fk off and it did not matter
- Mito then asked if that was the case, why did he save her, which was more trouble than it was worth
- Guren ignored her and this time Goshi appeared
- Goshi chided Guren that he was really talented and all the previous chat was a pile of bull; he then said he would be his friend just because Guren had saved him; and also asked the same stuff as Mito did
- Guren reflected and could not come to an answer as well; he saw this as a weakness and wondered whether he would be able to abandon Sayuri and Shigure and prioritize on achieving his objective if such a time came
- he then remarked to himself that Mahiru probably could

Chapter 5 - Hooky Break
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- Guren pretended to be still recovering and stayed away from school
- he called back home to check on his dad who told him to watch the news
- there was a report that animals at the Ueno school were found killed by poisonous substances and the zoo and surrounding area of 500m radius was cordoned off
- dad also said that, based on their intel, the Hyakuya Church had apparently placed a gag order and stopped the information from leaking till this morning
- Guren would go investigate and just as he was preparing to go out, he received a call from Kureto who ordered him to go to school
- along the way to school, the other students’ attitude seemed to have changed and those that bullied him even came to ask for his forgiveness
- he bumped into Seiichiro who still wanted a piece of him
- since Guren no longer needed to hide his power, he showed Seiiichiro the difference in their power then made use of Seiichiro by whispering to him the following:
→ that he was acting under orders from Hiiragi Tenri, the head of Hiiragis who was also the father of Kureto, Seiichiro, Mahiru
→ that Tenri was distrustful of Kureto and also had a high opinion of Seiichiro, so Guren’s task was to spy on Kureto
→ this made gullible Seiichiro happy and want to cooperate with Guren
- Guren decided not reveal everything to Sayuri and Shigure as they would suicide if they were to get interrogated so as not to leak out any intel

Chapter 6 - Squad Established
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- on way to Kureto’s room, Guren met with Shinya who warned that this might be a trap to kill everyone in a swoop
- Sayuri, Shigure, Mito and Goshi were also summoned and were waiting outside the room
- door opened and out came Sanguu Aoi (also blond hair with twintails like Mitsuba) who ushered them into Kureto’s office
- Kureto mentioned that he was late by 2 minutes and he would kill his followers next time if it happened again; Guren said he understood
- however, Guren still showed his defiant nature, which Kureto liked
- as Guren and Shinya exchanged snide and defiant comments against Kureto, Mito and Goshi were all tensed up
- the briefing proceeded and Kureto wanted Guren and the rest to investigate the Ueno zoo
- the Hiiragis already had prior intel that the Ueno area actually had a Hyakuya experimental base and it was under their control; satellite photos also showed that explosions had taken place there and the morning news report was filled with cover-up lies
- since the night, Kureto already had sent 17 teams which were wiped out
- Kureto wanted Guren and the rest to go as an elite team to gather intel as the Hyakuyas appeared to be desperately hiding some secret there; they had never bothered to infiltrate it previously because they wanted to avoid open hostilities but now a war had been started, things had changed
- Shinya decided that Guren should be the leader and the rest agreed
- Kureto also gave a powerful demon sword, Hakushi, to Guren which was said to have slayed 1000 Onis
- Guren then had a short tactical meeting with his team in another room
- he also tested Mito and Goshi’s abilities so as to properly deploy them, and revealed that he knew about Goshi’s forte in illusionary sorcery from his observations during the test
- Aoi then came in to provide them with uniforms that provided some spell resistance and made their transport arrangements, to which Guren made some changes due to the covertness of the operation, displaying his leadership and tactical skills
- in Guren’s mind, he hoped to get hold of whatever ‘secret’ Hyakuya Church was concealing for himself in the hope that one day he could use it against the Hiiragis

Chapter 7 - Mortal Combat in the Zoo
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- Guren’s squad reached the location and they changed into the battle suits provided by the Hiiragis
- Kureto had sent a few diversionary teams through another entrance and once the diversion started, Guren’s squad charged
- Guren thought it was hard to make a complex plan due to limited info and that having too many possibilities would slow them down; so it was best to just charge straight to the target destination, which was where the explosions had taken place and a large hole was seen from the satellite photos
- enroute, they found empty animal cages and blood all over the place but no signs of bodies
- at the hole they saw a tiger-like creature; sharp blades extended from its mouth and Mito was saved by Guren again
- Guren and Shinya formed the main offense as only they could react fast enough while the rest acted as support
- Guren cut its head off, but out from its body spawned a monstrous mass which Guren and co. were no match against
- Goshi deployed his illusionary magic and it worked against the monster, but it would only last for a limited time
- Shinya and Mito recommended retreat as this was not something they could beat
- but Guren felt that retreat would mean he gained nothing for the Ichinoses, the Hiiragis would have more intel, and the status of Hyakuya Church remained unchanged
- thus he started activating a taboo curse which was of high risk
- Mito came to dissuade him but in Guren’s mind, he thought of how easy it would be to kill both Mito and Goshi and then disappearing with whatever intel or remains of the monster he could acquire, assuming he beat the monster with his curse
- Shinya got Guren’s intent but did not move to stop him
- Guren changed his mind last minute and Shinya smiled happily
- a girl’s voice remarked in disappointment and in a flash Mito, Goshi, Sayuri, Shigure were knocked out and Shinya was being strangled by Mahiru, and then passed out as well (too strong!!!)
- Guren said he thought they wouldn’t meet till Christmas going by Mahiru’s previous words and reiterated that he would not dance on the palm of anyone, including Mahiru
- Mahiru said she was happy to see Guren though she came for a different purpose
- Mahiru then told Guren that if he was thinking the same thing as her, and wanted power he should abandon and kill all the people here and join her; Mahiru also questioned what Guren could amount to the way he was right now, as he could not even kill the monster, which was a chimera implanted with genetic material of John’s Four Horsemen (first hint of origin of monsters after the apocalypse)
- Mahiru then told Guren that together, they would be able to perfect the Kiju (demon-gear)
- she then thrust her katana into the ground which was giving off a black foggish aura, and asked Guren to take it up
- suddenly, Mahiru’s personality changed and asked Guren not to do it as he would be consumed and there would be no return if he did
- it was clear here that Mahiru had 2 separate personalities, which I will now call good Mahiru and evil Mahiru
- Mahiru changed back to her evil persona and continued to urge Guren to take up her katana
- Guren took the katana and the Oni flooded into him and touched his deep-seated emotions
(it’s very much worth reading the novel for the dialogues in this extremely long chapter between Guren and Mahiru and Guren and the Oni as they are largely all important but impossible to summarize properly)
- Guren slayed the chimera easily cutting it into half
- Oni psychoed Guren into killing the rest
- just as Guren was about to kill Sayuri, his left hand grabbed onto Hakushi and cut off his right arm that was holding the cursed katana
- evil Mahiru was stunned
- Guren regained his senses and told Mahiru to abandon this path and he would find another way
- evil Mahiru, despite having no trace humanity left on her face, was in tears at seeing Guren’s self-inflicted injury
- she quickly put the arm back and told Guren he might still have enough regeneration power from the Oni encroachment to have his arm reattached, and it did
- she then told Guren it was impossible to abandon this path and that his promises were lies
and that Guren could not even save her now and things were too late
- evil Mahiru also said she would be waiting for him to save her if he could
- a man appeared who turned out to be Ferid Bathory
- Mahiru fought with him and Ferid owned her easily, Guren tried to protect Mahiru and sustained more injuries to his left arm and chest
- Mahiru bemoaned the fact that her Kiju was not completed yet
- Ferid was here to investigate what taboo powers the humans were playing with; he also said that the humans would end up destroying themselves; he then left with half the chimera’s body, not even having any concern for Mahiru and Guren as he saw them as merely livestock
- here we also learnt a few facts about vampires; they had been living underground and had no care or concern for humans, who were much, much, much weaker than them
- they only see them as livestock and did not care about their conflicts; to them it’s just livestock cannibalizing one another
- Mahiru then sought to leave with the other half of the body before the Hyakuya reinforcements came
- Shinya had been feigning KO and suddenly deployed his talismans to trap Mahiru, he then asked Guren to help him capture Mahiru
- Guren appeared to agree but he knew that they were no match for Mahiru and with a feint, he managed to slice off part of the half-chimera’s body as Mahiru retreated
- Mahiru left, and the rest woke up
- Guren again considered slaying Mito and Goshi; Shinya reminded him in whisper that it would be pointless to try to ‘save’ Mahiru if he ended up walking the same path as her, and he also preferred the current Guren
- Guren lost consciousness finally due to the exertion
- Guren had a dream and in it he was talking to the Oni version of himself

Epilogue - Sayuri’s Crush
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- he awoke to find himself in a village base of the Ichinoses in Aichi area, attended by Sayuri and Shigure
- he found himself to be KOed for a month, also his injuries had healed fully, which he found was unbelievable; this indicated that a fragment of Oni had contaminated his soul
- during this chapter, Sayuri was expressing her worry and concern and ended up confessing to Guren
- Guren said to give up as he did not have time for that etc. etc., but Sayuri decided not to give up
- Guren contacted Shinya and asked him where the fk was his chimera part as in previous chapter, he had agreed to let the Ichinoses have it
- Shinya said he was not able to sneak it to Aichi under the watchful eyes of Hiiragi house and Hyakuya church and told Guren to get his ass back to Tokyo as the action was there; the war had also advanced while he was sleeping; there were new updates that he needed to know
- Guren also called Ichinose research lab and told them that someone had succeeded with the Kiju research
- it appeared that the Ichinose had also attempted researching Kiju but had problems progressing
- Guren wanted to be the lab rat as he had been contaminated with the Oni and asked them to make arrangements
- he then went back to Tokyo and to class and the volume ended talking about how the world was progressing to its end because of the ugliness of humanity