Episode Title:
Those Who Shed Petals
Episode Description:
Toya Senji is a high school student desperate to find a talent of his own. However, one night, he is attacked by a serial killer named Fish, but is saved by classmate Haito Luo Buffet. Haito uses a special knife called the Branch of Reincarnation to call upon the talent of one of her past lives, Miyamoto Musashi. As Haito battles Fish, Haito's superior Neumann explains to Toya that individuals who successfully achieve reincarnation are called "Returners", with Returners being divided between "Greats" who use their talents for good and "Sinners" who use their talents for evil. Haito defeats and kills Fish, while Toya takes a Branch of Reincarnation and uses it on himself despite the risk of death. Toya survives the process, and confides to Haito that he's desperate for talent due to always being compared to his late older brother Seiya. Neumann recruits Toya into the Forest of the Greats and tasks both him and Haito to gather intelligence on the Sinner Vlad III. Haito starts a battle with Vlad, but ends up being overpowered until Toya uses his talent, Hand of the Thief, to steal Vlad's talent. A mysterious force orders Vlad to retreat, and Neumann concludes the mission. Later that night, Vlad confronts Toya, demanding the return of his talent, but Toya instead kills him with his own talent. Toya then declares he will steal every talent he can so he can surpass Seiya. Meanwhile, Neumann muses that everything is going according to plan, and it is revealed she knows Seiya as well.
