Clare meets with Rafaela within the mind of the Rafaela/Luciela entity.Summary:In a forest, Clare and Jean, both in Claymore uniforms, run into Rafaela who wonders which one is Clare. Clare turns back to warn Jean but Jean has disappeared, and Clare suddenly remembers that Jean had perished during the Northern Campaign. While Clare wonders what's going on, Rafaela draws her sword and attacks Clare. Clare calls for a timeout to ask questions, but the only thing Rafaela tells Clare is that being killed in the world they are currently is more or less equivalent to dying in the real world. After the warning Rafaela attacks again and demands that Clare show off the skills she had acquired since the Northern Campaign. Clare goes for the Flash Windcutter, but Rafaela easily blocks all of the attacks and then decapitates Clare with a single stroke of her sword.Jean!? Clare in Claymore getup!? What chapter are we reading here!?The forest disappears around Clare and Rafaela after Clare is defeated. Clare (with her body in one piece) gets up once again and asks if she was pulled into Rafaela's mental realm, but Rafaela states that it's Clare who barged into this world. Rafaela explains that her individual existence was almost gone, but someone had probed her slumbering existence and then Clare woke her up. Raphaela states that her current appearance and mannerism are all based upon Clare's memories of her and that she had reassembled herself using Clare's memories in order to tell Clare something important. Clare wonders what Rafaela wants to tell her, and Rafaela states that it's something that Clare has to use her whole body to experiences. Rafaela then draws her sword and explains that she doesn't have much time as her body in the real world is starting to wake up. Clare wonders what happens if she strikes down Rafaela, and Rafaela states that her current form will disappear one way or the other. Knowing that the Flash Windcutter isn't enough to defeat Rafaela, Clare decides to call upon a technique that she hasn't used in seven years. Rafaela is surprised when yoki Clare has been gathering suddenly disappears, and only after Clare has defeated her with the Quick Sword did Rafaela realize that Clare had used the yoki to completely awaken her right arm. Rafaela's body explodes into a ball of light, and all of Rafaela's memories start rushing into Clare's consciousness.I thought the agreed-upon translation was supposed to "Quick Sword" instead of "Swift Blade".Nearby, Cynthia, Uma, Riful, and Dauf all sense a powerful yoki presence building up within the castle. The emergence of this new entity is also sensed by Deneve and Helen, Alicia and Beth, and also Priscilla, who alerts Raki to the development.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~When I saw the first page with Clare and Jean in Claymore getup, I was wondering if I was reading the right chapter lol. The appearance of Jean especially really threw me off, but it makes more sense now after I read the rest of the chapter. I believe that Jean appeared because she used her yoki to stop Clare from fully awakening during the Northern Campaign, and therefore part of Jean might exist inside Clare's consciousness. Back on to the main subject of the chapter, the meeting between Rafaela and Clare was not what I expected. I mean I wasn't sure what would happen, but I didn't think that a) Clare would only see Rafaela and not Luciela, and b) Rafaela would be so willing to help Clare. Of course Rafaela did make Clare earn her prize, and Clare didn't disappoint by unleashing her Quick Sword after all these years. Since the Flash Windcutter doesn't work very well against strong opponents, I'm pretty sure we'll see a lot more the Quick Sword in the future. In the end, the meeting with Rafaela's consciousness most likely amounted to a nice power-up for Clare, as Clare gains all of the skills and experiences of the former #5. Don't know if the power-up will be enough though as the Rafaela/Luciela entity is about to wake up, Riful and Dauf are just outside, and Alicia and Beth (plus their company of Abyss Feeders) are not very far away.The last note on the chapter is that Raki and Priscilla aren't too far away from Riful's hideout, which raises the possibility of them joining the big party. It'd be great if Raki and Priscilla will show up, but Raki would be pretty useless in a fight featuring some of the strongest awakened beings in the world, and Priscilla probably needs to ditch her diet and eat a few people to power up. Both Raki and Priscilla are looking for Clare though, so I think there's a fair chance that they will show up in the upcoming battle.Can't wait for next chapter so we can see what the new Luciela/Rafaela entity looks like (hopefully both in its new human and awakened forms).
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