Deep underground a certain abandoned building in Shinjuku is a specially prepared auction site for the day. There, bored capitalists, dilettantes, or the people who live in Tokyo’s dark side walk down the steps accompanied by their bodyguards. This stairway gets described as the front line between the underworld and the world above.
The ones who walk down it go to participate in the dark auction, a place to buy things with histories you don’t talk about in polite society. None of the things on sale are things you could find in the open market, and they include things not of this world. Macan was one such article sold here at one time. Here is where Transients who’ve lost their relatives, relations, or backers are sold.
Camera tunes in at this auction with a bizarrely retro techno theme as Daikoku has declared some bidding to be finished, then asks the audience to please clap. This seems to have been a bid for some rando cops and Tajikarao, the latter of which is still struggling as he gets escorted to whoever.
Daikoku then announces that the big catch of the day will be next, a stray Transient from Utopia. Breke is brought out, his hands and feet tied up as narration says it’s the same guy you met that rainy day at the park. That day of the Ota incident, he was teleported over together with Tiger Man by Azathoth’s memory. Things happened which led to his capture by the auction runners, and now he’s been put up for sale.
A bid war breaks out over Breke, but all he can do for his part is sit there calmly and observe his surroundings. He takes note of the number of guards with guns and their positions, what could be used as cover, and possible escape routes.
Breke thinks to himself that he can’t escape at the moment, so he’ll have to wait for a chance to present itself. He could escape his bindings by morphing, but he’s under too much scrutiny to pull it off. He reminds himself that there will definitely be a chance later, and Daikoku eventually calls the auction won with it taking in the highest bid of the day. He prompts people to applaud again.
While this is happening, camera shifts over to the entrance of the auction site. Tsukuyomi suggests heading in through the front so they can go get their kouhais waiting for them. He promises to call later when the opportunity arises and hopes to share information again with the crafty policeman he’s talking to.
Hougen flies off, and Tsukuyomi turns his attention to Shirou and Moritaka, asking if they’re ready to head into the den of evil earthbound spirits. Shirou says he is and thanks them for working together with them. But before they go, Tsukuyomi decides to verify each other’s goals.
Tsukuyomi says the Outlaws are here to look for their friends after chasing a lead that said they’re being sold here. He then decides to explain things step by step, starting with the fact that the Outlaws are currently resisting the Warmongers. They’ve been able to hold out for a while, but there has been a recent barrage of police raids.
Due to that, many of their members have been captured. Their lines crumbled, and the Outlaws guildmaster is in a position where she Can’t Move. And no matter how long they waited, their captured members never returned. But thanks to a Certain Police Contact, they’ve found out that they’ve been taken prisoner to a certain place in Nerima where they can’t contact the outside.
Shirou asks if Tsukuyomi means the prison school. Tsukuyomi smiles in a way to confirm that before saying so. The Outlaws don’t have enough people to make a move on the place right now though. That’s where them allying with you guys comes in for this convenient development. Tsukuyomi asks about you guys having a reason to need to go there.
Shirou decides to confirm it and asks how Tsukuyomi heard about that. Tsukuyomi jokes about how the senior student network at school shouldn’t be underestimated, then brings up that you guys have been working with the 3rd year student Furufumi to research stuff in the old schoolhouse. Since he calls him by his last name, it takes Shirou a second to figure out who Tsukuyomi is talking about.
Tsukuyomi assures Shirou that they didn’t leak any info, saying he just has a passing connection to him. He decides to not get into any specifics about that, pointing out that both sides here have business with the prison school and that’s the important thing for now.
Shirou agrees, and narration says he’s analyzing the situation you’ve gotten yourself into. Since you’re now battling Tezcatlipoca, he feels that you need positive support more than ever. The rest of the gang didn’t let themselves get caught by the police because it was likely you’d all get sent to separate places though. So in order to reliably get closer to the place, Shirou and the Outlaws have come to an agreement.
Tsukuyomi talks about how the dark auction is their one shot of making a breakthrough, and the reason for that is that this is the only route they can take that goes to the prison school. Moritaka seems confused by something and asks Tsukuyomi how the auction and the prison school are related.
Tsukuyomi answers that the auction is where Transients are sold and one of the sources of their military forces. Moritaka is outraged, which Tsukuyomi comments on before asking what Shirou thinks. Shirou says he can’t understand how such a thing can operate so brazenly. Tsukuyomi calls it brave and just indignation. He adds that he doesn’t approve either but has a warning for the guys: they’ll lose for sure if they keep that stance going in.
Moritaka asks if Tsukuyomi is suggesting they let it slide. He clarifies that when you start isolating the world into ‘things you can understand’ and ‘things you don’t have to do,’ that will lead to your loss. This is the entrance to war, so if the boundary is pulled back, war will break out for sure. That’s the Warmongers’ forte, and you guys don’t match up to them now.
Shirou has no response, so Tsukuyomi says that the moment you decide you don’t need to understand or acknowledge something is when you stop being able to move ahead. Also, if everything ends up precisely delineated, the weak can never oppose the strong. Power rankings win out, and nothing can be done to change that.
That said, Tsukuyomi suggests that if your opponent is good at one thing, you should bait them into playing a game you can win. That’s when you can find chances to take advantage of. Tsukuyomi calls it advice from a senpai who went sly, and Shirou thanks him for it as he says he’ll keep it in mind.
Tsukuyomi smiles and winks as he brushes his hair back with his hand, then asks the guys to watch how he fights from behind. It’s not like he spends all day sleeping and putting on a show of things. He talks about auctions as a haggle using reason and profits. There is one fixed rule, and there’s a dirty way of doing things. He says it’s going to be a social battle, and that’s his specialty. Tsukuyomi then turns up the bishie as he says he’ll show them how the Kabukicho Night King fights.
Around this time, back to your end, you are attempting to deal with the attacks by (memory?) Bathym, Pollux, and Andvari, though it’s a struggle. You can choose to stop swinging your sword or try to avoid their attacks. If it matters, C talks about how you’re forced into a one-sided battle as you try to talk to the Berserkers.
None of them take any notice as they attack without mercy. You wonder if they’re thinking like you did earlier, in which case they’re unlikely to back off at all. The attacks continue, and eventually they manage to break your guard for a moment.
You yell out about how you can’t stop their attack, at which point Shennong turns up and aims his needle at the Berserkers’ backs, firing his NP at them. The three are hit with anesthesia, then slump over as if sleeping. You are surprised to see Shennong and ask why he’s here, then start thanking him when you’re surprised by something.
Shennong starts yelling at you, demanding to know why you stopped attacking as he angrily backs you against a wall. You don’t have an answer to him, and he asks if you’re okay with being killed by someone you know. He asks if you came just to be another dead body that piles up on the battlefield.
Shennong is highly upset as he tells you that if that’s how you feel, then you shouldn’t be fighting. People like you are the first to die. He says he told you that kids like you shouldn’t be there, but he stops as Ibaraki, Tetsugyuu, and Gyoubu turn up. Narration says the endless battles continue as it launches the episode battle there.
I thought we would never got more info about who sold Macan, but there he is.
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