Thus the Girl Died ( そして少女は死んだ / そして しょうじょ は しんだ / soshite shoujo ha shinda ) is the sixteenth chapter of the Elfen Lied manga series.
A story arc digest of chapters thirteen through sixteen is also available.
Plot[]
A now-powerless Lucy is surrounded by the armed forces led by Kurama. Despite the advice being given by Isobe, Kurama refuses to abandon Nana, and steps forward, ignoring his assistant's warnings, determined that he will not let her die alone, remembering her savage execution of the pleading Kisaragi. Since none of them ever realize that her vectors have been disabled, Isobe assumes the guilt-ridden Kurama is on a suicide run against Lucy. The guards begin to panic from stories of Lucy's reputation against Bando and the story of her escape until Isobe urges them to focus, all this while Kurama calmly walks past her. There is confusion on the part of Isobe and the soldiers as she does not attack. Kurama's face states his regrets over nearly everything that has occurred, even the things he could not have affected. For his boss' sake as well as that of the soldiers with them, Isobe does not call for them to attack.
Tenderly, Kurama scoops up the severely injured Nana in his arms, who gingerly apologizes for staining his necktie with blood. At his questioning over why she didn't wait, Nana explains that she moved to confront Lucy to impress her 'papa', while Lucy taunts him about his real daughter, who she knows to be dead, and who he admits to killing. Shockingly and in seeming confirmation of his perhaps suicidal intent, he punches her square in the face, knocking her down hard, uncaring of his fate past striking at least one solid blow against her and shocking everyone. He states that the pain he has inflicted on her with his punch is nothing compared to what Nana is suffering at the moment. Again, since no one there knows that her vectors have been disabled, her lack of retaliation and subsequent decision to flee confuses the assault team. Kurama worriedly tends to Nana while the frightened troops make a show of pursuing Lucy. Nana's greatest pain seems to be not from her own wounds, but from having failed her 'papa' and of possibly no longer being of use to him.
Lucy suffers from two kinds of agony as she flees, both from having her vectors shut off, and from her inability to stop the re-emergence of a confused and terrified Nyu, who wanders all alone into what she sees as a scary forest.
Trivia[]
- This chapter's cover art features Kurama. It is one of the few times that a male cast member is featured instead of a female one, and one of the rare times a recurring rather than a core character is featured.
- This chapter hints at the blood feud between Lucy and Kurama.
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