Picking up from last chapter, Denieve and the rest continue on their journey to destroy the organization and on their way, they run into a group of Claymores lead by Anastasia who is being attacked by Awakened Beings of half-man and half-youma. Cynthia and Uma come to rescue for Keira and Phina who got injured. Tabitha starts healing Phina but it’s taking a while since Phina is an offensive type. Uma keeps herself on guard so that Cynthia can heal Phina without any worries. Even though Phina is safe and recovering, Keira still worries about Anastasia and Nike,however, Uma does not show even a slightest bit of worry. Denieve, Helenn and Tabitha easily overwhelm the group of awakened beings.

Anastasia and Nike are amazed with the strength and coordination that Denieve, Helenn and Tabitha show dealing with those awakened beings. While Anastasia and Nike stand on side line watching, an awakened being tries to sneak up behind them and fail to do so because Dietrich comes from above and slashes it in half. Dietrich briefly tells them who Denieve and friends are and pondering on a question whether they should be purged as enemies of organization or they are their allies. Deitrich had not realized that she sees Denieve and the rest as her friend until Anastasia mentions it. Hearing this,  Nike smiles and gets ready to help Denieve and the rest so that the current warriors on duty won’t look bad.

Despite their effort, one injured awakened being still manages to escape and runs toward Uma’s group. Since Cynthia is busy healing Phina and is immobile, it’s all up to Uma to defeat the awakened being. There is nothing to worry about since Uma does her job perfectly even though Helenn was little bit worried and hurried back over where Uma’s group is. As Helenn arrives, Cynthia is also done healing Phia who just needs a bit of rest before she can open her eyes.

As a leader, Anastasia expresses her gratefulness for the help but Denieve replies back and says that they are just happen to be passing by which is so Denieve-like. While discussing what their next step is, Anastasia brings up a question whether or not they attempt to destroy the organization and what Denieve and the rest would do when there are other Claymores raising their swords against them. Denieve’s answer is short and simple as she mentions that she will fight and cut them down, however, she will not kill fellow Claymores in respect to Miria. After hearing Denieve’s answer, Anastasia decides that she will join with Denieve and the rest despite the fact that she may be purged by the organization. Apparently, it’s the last thing that Anastasia is worried about since she technically has died once if Denieve and the rest didn’t come to rescue her and her teammates.

And so they continue their journey to where the organization is.

Thoughts

After reading this chapter, I felt relieved that the ‘filler’ is only two chapters and didn’t prolong as I thought it’s going to be. As I mentioned briefly in previous chapter, I think that this Anastasia’s arc or introduction is a filler by Nagi who is obviously trying to prolong the series and postponing it from the real climax where Denieve and the rest are up against the organization. I may sound too eager to see the end but I want this manga, one of my favorites manga, to end with a normal amount of chapters and have a good ending.

Talking about this chapter, Cynthia is an irreplaceable member of the group with her healing capabilities. Her healing has saved lives in too many occasion. In addition, it’s nice to see that Uma has grown up and matured during their journey. Not to mention that she is given a page to show her skills for a bit ^^. Back in previous chapter especially just before they left the North, she was kind of a person who will just follow whatever others are doing and cannot stand on her own so it’s great that Uma’s character develops well through out chapters. If you think that this is not the case, how do you explain that Cynthia manages to stay calm and healing Phia if she does not trust Uma ? Even Denieve, who is known to have this ‘tough’ attitude toward everyone, believes that Uma can handle the injured awakened being with no problem.

A group of awakened beings attacked Anastasia’s party and within couple attacks, one of her party member, Phina, got injured. Anastasia clenched her teeth and jumped to the rescue but her effort was futile as all awakened beings attacked her one after another. To avoid being surrounded, Nike jumped back to where Phina and the other party member and told her to hang tight on Phina. Nike flied around forward to encounter the other awakened beings and Anastasia followed right behind her.

The movement of awakened beings was halted by invisible wall/barrier which turned out to be Anastasia’s hair. The reason why Anastasia can fly around freely was because she attached her hair to each awakened being so that she can use it as a stepping stone to move around in mid air. Even though Keira has been together in the north with Anastasia, she and Phina never knew her secret while Nike knew about it all along. Being a rank 15 did help.

Being a responsible leader and to protect her allies, Anastasia told her party member to run away but Nike refused to do so because she argued that being an ally is not the kind of relationship that she has with Anastasia. Since Anastasia treated her as a friend, there’s no way that she would leave Anastasia by herself fighting those awakened beings. Nike ignored Anastasia’s warning that once her technique is known, it would be totally useless in battle but Nike didn’t care anymore and was ready to die.

As Keira ran away carrying Phina, Anastasia and Nike sensed multiple youkis in the direction where Keira ran.  They started running toward Keira but they were stopped by multiple awakened beings blocking their running path. Worrying about her team member caused Anastasia losing her focus and got hit. Nike thought that this was as far as they can go since Anastasia got injured. However, out of nowhere, all awakened beings were destroyed within an instant and our rogue Claymore appeared in front of Anastasia’s team.

Thoughts

After finished reading chapter 111, I felt that this chapter is just a filler before we go to the final battle and I don’t see a valid reason introducing couple new characters (ie Anastasia and her party member). In particular, Anastasia herself is not really amazing of a Claymore so I doubt that she is a valuable addition for the final battle.

I think it’s safe to say that most of us can see two possible scenes between our rogue Claymore and Anastasia’s team which either they both join together and destroy the organization or Anastasia’s team gets completed demolished by our rogue Claymore (yah,I just don’t see how Anastasia’s team can beat Deneve CS).

Note to Yagi: stop dragging the story and get us on the final battle ^^;;

So what’s your thought on this chapter ?

Chapter Summary

Yagi brought us back in time when the Destroyer just released those spears all around and two of them happened to hit Raki. All this time, Priscilla has been looking for similar lingering scent (Clare’s scent?) as the one on Raki and she finally found it on the spears stabbed on Raki’s body. As a farewell gift, she left one of her arm stabbed on Raki’s body which ironically prevents Raki from being consumed by the spears. The mystery of Raki’s survival has been answered here.

Meanwhile, back to the organization, Dae inquires the upper echelons about the arm that he found on Raki’s body since he has no idea who it belongs to. None of the abyssal beings is as strong as the one whose arm got cut off (read: Priscilla). Dae questions the upper echelons further about the existence of something higher than abyssal one, however, one of the upper echelons, Master Limt, gracefully denies that no one other than Dae himself should know about this unknown abyssal being.

After the meeting, Dae approaches Master Limt about the previous plan that he proposes but got rejected. Dae tried to convince him by saying to look at their current situation, the unknown abyssal being and possibility that organization will be attacked. To increase their force, Dae plans to use Priscilla’s arm and former number one corpses. Master Limt finally approves Dae’s plan but reminds him at the same time that if there is even a smallest problem, his specimen will be destroyed.

Back to our brave warriors of the North and Dietrich, they start moving forward to the east where the organization is located but their plan is quickly being halt as Tabitha senses that there are 7 Claymores, 63 Yomas and 11 Awakened on the east side. As an alternative, the group decides to take the north path and Tabitha, again, senses that there are four Claymores on the north side with one of them having a large youki. The one with a large youki may be a single digit and Dietrich happens to know that no. 7 was on charge of the North. Suddenly, Tabitha sense a bizzare youki drawing toward those four Claymores.

Dietrich was right on the mark that organization number seven was in charge on the north and her with three other Claymores are on their way back the organization. Out of nowhere, a man appears and pleads to be saved yelling that he didn’t want to become one of those things. A huge youki was erupted from the man and turned him into an awakened being. Organization claymore number 7, who is also known as The Winged Anastasia, easily dominates the awakened being but she couldn’t feel relieve just yet as another five men, whom about to turn into an awakened being, appears; can they survive this predicament ?

Thoughts

After reading this chapter, I just realized how wicked the organization is and how they manage to keep everything under wrapped for so long especially about Priscilla. Even among upper echelons and organization members, there seems to be so much politics going on ^^;;. Additionally, Dae has a different agenda with Priscilla’ arm and corpses of former number one in the organization. It should be fascinating and interesting to see what kind of breed he would be able to pull of from those corpses. Hopefully, he can create something that will match Priscilla’ strength.

Toward the end of this chapter, Yagi introduces The Winged Anastasia, current organization number seven and I have a feeling there is a reason behind Anastasia’s introduction. Could it be that she will join Deneve cs to bring down the organization ?. Since Anastasia’s group is in a pinch, Deneve cs will probably go through the north path to rescue them as well as heading toward where the organization is located.

I also wonder what happen to Raki ? since Dae took out Priscilla’s arm from his body, can he survive ? Another possibility is that Dae manages to pull those spears from Raki’s body and stop them from spreading (Dae gives me this feeling that he is some kind of doctor or something).

After clash between Claymores and Awakened beings in Holy City of Labona, Yagi diverts our attention back to the organization. Dae, one of organization members, has brought something back the organization headquarter. It was no other than Raki, himself. Last time, he was being stabbed by those spears from the Destroyer and captured by the organization. While waiting for Dae’s return, Raki was being researched by other members to find out why he manages to survive this long and avoids corrosion. The secret lies on his back.

Back to our Claymores at Holy City of Labona, Helen guides Galatea outside Holy City of Labona to determine if the lump of flesh that she and Deneve brought back. Even the mighty Galatea, who is well-known for her youki sensing, cannot sense if Clare is inside the lump or not. The only things that Galatea knows is that it emits youki and both Clare and Priscilla are in there. Attempting to save Clare can only mean that Priscilla will be freed also and we all know how powerful Priscilla is. In addition to Clare, something else also sealed Priscilla’s movement together with Clare.

While Galatea and Helen are busy examining the lump of flesh, they are surprised by sound of two swords clashing with one another. In the east part of the holy city, Deneve and Tabitha exchanges blow between one another. Deneve tries to stop Tabitha’s foolish attempt to go alone to the organization in order to find Miria. Since Deneve is one or two levels above Tabitha, she easily gains the upper hand and as Deneve is about to land a final blow, Cynthia blocks her attack and Helenn grabs Tabitha from behind to prevent those two from killing each other.

Deneve thinks that Miria is an idiot and thinks highly of her skill. Seven of them were training in the North and vowed to destroy the organization, however, Miria betrayed the group and didn’t fit to be their leader. Hearing Deneve belittles Miria, Tabitha cannot hold her anger and punch Deneve on her face. After, Deneve told Galatea that she does not believe that Miria is dead and plants to go to the organization. The rest of Claymores agree to Deneve’s plan and getting ready to leave.

As they are about to leave, Dietrich, organization no.9, appears and tells them the debt has been paid more than what they owed. She asks whether what happened in the Holy City of Labona was part of the organization’s plan. Deneve does not answer her directly, instead, she invites her to come with the rest of them to find the truth by herself.

Thoughts

Thank you, Yagi. It’s about time than we know something about Raki as it’s been a while. Judging from Dae’s reaction, Raki might have himself injected with youma’s flesh so that he becomes a Claymore. Could the flesh be from part of Priscilla’s body ? The only reason Raki survives until now despite being stabbed with two spears from the Destroyer, is because he has Priscilla’s flesh running through his body so it creates an immune system. As far as I know, those spears failed to corrode Priscilla in previous chapters.

Since there is a possibility that Clare is still alive, I somewhat foresee that the final battle may happen between Clare and Priscilla since Clare is our main heroine and Priscilla is her ultimate enemy. Assuming Galatea manages to bring Clare back, there is no way that Priscilla won’t be revived either as Galatea said in this chapter, reviving Clare also means to revive the winged, one horn monster.

Ever since Miria’s dead, Claymore’s readers/fans are divided into two faction; one believes that Miria is still alive and other believes that Miria is dead. I am part of the latter ^^;;. Sorry to those who still believes that Miria is still alive, I find it hard to believe after what happened to Miria and the way Yagi kills characters through out chapters increases the chance that Miria is already dead but since I am not the writer, I can be wrong, right ? ^^

With the rest of Claymores heading toward organization headquarter, could it be that we are reaching climax anytime soon ? I feel that it’s an appropriate way to end this manga soon instead of continuing unnecessarily.

Thoughts?

Claymore chapter 109 can be read at somemangas.com

After a lot of rage in previous chapter (read: Miria), we found ourselves back with the rest of the crew: Helen, Deneve and Dietrich who are on their way back to Holy City of Labona notice many presence of youmas and awakened ones in the Holy City. The city is under attacked and youmas and awakened ones are running rampart around the city. The city defense army, led by Galk and Sid, gets their plate busy with bunch of youmas and tries to slow down using projectiles and with the help of Miata and Clarice.

Meanwhile, Tabitha and  Galatea are being occupied by endless awakened beings coming toward their way one after another. Their breath sounds heavy and it’s a sign that they have had been fighting for a while without a rest. Despite having no sight, Galatea is still as strong as ever with her youki manipulation and having a former title of #3 is not just for a show after all, however, fighting multiple awakened beings at the same time pushes her to her limit.

As Galatea is in a pinch, a Claymore flies and kills one of the awakened beings behind her and she proceeds to cut the arm off the awakened being in front of her. Cynthia and Uma have arrived at the Holy City of Labona. Meanwhile, Tabitha is also in a difficult situation because  not only she has to fight with an awakened being but she also has to defend a mother and her child behind her. Luckily, Helen comes at the right moment and saves the mother and her child from falling as the house they are currently in crumbles. At the same time, Deneve comes to rescue and stops an attack on Tabitha.

With the arrivals of the rest of of the team, they manage to survive in this grim situation and the fight is finally over. There are no victims from the city defense army even though there are quite a few wounded ones. They are very lucky to have these Claymores here defending the city with them.

Deneve was the first one to notice that Miria is not there and while being frustrated with the thought that Miria may be dead, she asks Tabitha where Miria is. Then Galatea comes to intervene and explains everything of what happened. Judging from the current situation, Miria’s attempt to destory the organization has failed and the organization decides to destroy the Holy City of Labona along with the Claymores residing in it.

After explaining what happened, it’s Galatea’s turn to notice that they are short by one person which is Clare. Sobbing with tears, Tabitha finds it hard to believe that Clare is also dead but suddenly someone yells that Clare is not dead.

Thoughts

For fellow readers who were hoping that Miria is still alive, your hope was for nothing as Miria is truly dead , otherwise, the organization would not have sent youmas and awakened beings to Labona trying to eliminate all Claymores. Some readers found it hard that Miria is dead but at this point, regardless of any speculation, there is no way that Miria is still alive (unless Yagi decides to mess around with us, the readers).

Meanwhile, there is still a possibility that Clare is still alive since she’s being absorbed and Cynthia still can feel her presence in couple chapters back. I believe at this point, Claymore is leaning towards the ending and all out fight with organization will not be avoidable in the near future.

PS: I am still on rage with how Miria ends up in the previous chapter >.<