| Battle 45 | |
|---|---|
| |
| Volume: | 8 |
| Chapter | 45 |
| Total pages | 21 |
| Released | 1994 |
| Story Arc | Barjack Rebellion Arc |
| Chapter Navigation | |
| previous Battle 44 |
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A Thousand Faces of Madness ( 獣を受け継ぐ Kemono o uketsugu?) is the forty-fifth chapter and the fourth issue of the eighth volume of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel Alita.
Cover[]
Kaos comes across a carousel in a theme park located within the Granite Inn.
Summary[]
Alita is shocked back to consciousness by Bigott; having bested AR-2 in combat, she is ordered to resume the mission to capture Desty Nova. Tired from the fighting and miserable over how both TUNED and Nova have taken everything away from her, Alita requests Bigott to just kill her. He reveals Lou's role in helping her defeat AR-2 and that she would be throwing that sacrifice away. He mentions that once she completes this mission, she will be freed from service to TUNED and allowed to retire; remembering her promise to Figure Four, Alita takes some comfort in the thought that she is not alone. Crafting a wooden prosthesis to replace her missing left leg, she gears back up and travels to the Granite Inn.
Prior to this during Alita's fight with AR-2, Kaos reveals to his father that he knows of the purpose of the transmitter that channels his Den persona; speaking through one of the figureheads on the carousel, Nova explains that while he did implant the transmitter into Kaos' chest, he did nothing in regards to cultivating the Den persona and mentions it is from Kaos' own desires and suppressed emotions and thoughts regarding Tiphares.
Kaos looks on as one of the carousel horses bleeds out
Suddenly, one of the live horses on the carousel (something Kaos noticed earlier with horror) breaks free and takes a few steps before dying next to Kaos due to blood loss. Nova appears and mocks the horse for its choice to break free; Kaos disagrees and mentions the horse died taking its steps where it chose to. As Nova observes this change in character, Kaos unsheathes his sword and slices Nova only to reveal it is a fake.
Kaos is mentally tortured by Nova
As Kaos goes to strike one of the other mirror images of his father, he is quickly overtaken by an illusion; he tries to calm himself but is captured by Nova. He mentions that due to Kaos' psychometry, he can absorb all his expertise and expresses a desire for his son to continue on his research into karma. After Kaos refuses, Nova maniacally continues to mentally torture his son as he forces Kaos to touch the brains of several of his experiments; while doing so, Nova loudly questions why they are here and what is the overall purpose of life, vowing they must find these answers with his research.
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