Awakened Being Hunt Arc

The Awakened Being Hunt Arc is the fourth story arc of Claymore.

Summary
A team of Claymores are shown heading to a village where a Voracious Eater may be lurking. However, they find Clare, who already slayed the Yoma in the village, despite her orders to wait for backup. This results in the leader of the group threatening to complain about her to the Organization’s higher ups. That night, Rubel chastises Clare for her recklessness and reveals that a “Voracious Eater” is a code word for an Awakened Being, previous Claymores who have surpassed their limits and become monsters. What she fought in Rabona was merely a normal Yoma. He adds that she wouldn’t stand a chance against a normal Awakened Being, let alone Priscilla, but allows her to join an Awakened Being Hunt with a group of other Claymores.

When Clare arrives in town, she meets up with three other team members. One tauntingly questions her if she is using Raki as a "toy", causing Clare to attack her in return. They are broken up by another Claymore, the same one Clare ditched in her previous mission. She introduces herself as Number 6, Miria, and, again, takes command of the hunting party. The other two are revealed to be Number 15 and 22, Deneve and Helen respectively. When Clare reveals that she is Number 47, Helen laughs out loud and reveals that 47 is the lowest ranking of all Claymores.

After leaving Raki behind in town and promising to return in a week, Clare sets off with the hunting party up a mountain to find the Awakened Being. However, the group can barely hold itself together as Helen and Deneve constantly mock Clare about her low rank, with the leader Miria having to act as the peacemaker. When the party settles in a cave for the night, Miria invites Clare outside for a sparring match and Helen and Deneve watch them fight. Both of them agree that Clare's swordsmanship is terrible and, sure enough, Clare is disarmed by Miria. Exhausted, Clare falls unconscious in the rain, where the others leave her. In the night, she dreams of Teresa before waking the next morning when the rest of the hunting party is ready. Later that day, the party encounters a man who Miria quickly slashes, having correctly deduced that he was the Awakened Being. However, it is a male Awakened Being and one that is more powerful than what their orders had suggested.

The male Awakened Being quickly severs Deneve’s arm and ragdolls Clare. Drawing on her Yoki, Helen stretches her sword arm and severs three of the Awakened Being’s arms. However, his arms immediately reconnect, and Helen is only saved from its attack by Deneve, with her arm partially regenerated. While they recover, Miria explains that the Organization created male Claymores in its early days, but these warriors were unable to suppress their Yoma energy as the females do, and all of them Awakened in short order (The act of Awakening is compared to sexual climax). The Awakened Being promises to give her a "taste of true despair," and he quickly takes down Clare, Deneve and Helen. Leaving Miria to face the Awakened Being alone. With little choice, Miria unveils her signature move, called “Phantom Mirage”, a technique that allows the user to briefly move at a frightening speed, thereby leaving after-images to confuse opponents. This new speed allows her to hold her own against the Awakened male, however, she soon reaches her limit, and the Awakened male finally manages to pin Miria down and begins torturing her. Too injured to help, Helen states that she can do nothing, and that this is true despair. However, Clare stands up and says: “Despair? After only this? I’ve known a far greater opponent and felt true despair.”

Despite her wounds, Clare calmly approaches the Awakened Being and he seems unable to hit her with any of his attacks. As Clare walks through a barrage of attacks, she focuses on suppressing her Yoki to predict the direction of attacks from the Awakened Being’s aura. Miria realizes that Clare was trying to use this technique during their fight, but that it works better the more Yoki an attacker releases. In fact, Clare's technique is designed specifically to fight Awakened Beings. To her credit, Clare almost finishes off the Awakened Being single handedly but fails to land a killing blow. Miria, who has partially recovered, rejoins the fight and says that Clare needs more practice. The creature tries to buy his life with information while attacking by surprise, but Miria and Clare avoid the attack and then slice the Awakened Being into pieces.

After the battle, Miria then asks Clare and Helen if they have ever come close to Awakening. Clare talks about the incident in Rabona, while Helen admits that both she and Deneve have had similar experiences. Miria then asks if the Claymores have caused trouble for humans. Helen states that she has come close to killing humans on some occasions, and that Deneve often stirs up trouble with other Claymores. Combined with Clare's independent streak, Miria hypothesizes that the Organization sent them on a suicide mission to dispose of Claymores they found troublesome. Clare asks where Miria fits in. She admits that she almost Awakened after killing an Awakened Being who turned out to have been her best friend and being provoked by another Claymore. From then on, she has plotted her revenge against the Organization and has been investigating them in secret. However, she chooses not to reveal their darkest secret, as in her words, “There would be no turning back”.

She goes on to say that since all four of them have come close to Awakening, they can draw on Yoki over their normal limit on a regular basis and occasionally feel hunger. All of them have already half Awakened. Miria explains that she doesn't know if the group has escaped Awakening or if they will fully Awaken over time. Deneve is determined to prove their partial Awakening, and so she raises her Yoki above the point of no return so that she can heal her stomach and then return to her human form, which is normally impossible. Helen and Clare make ready to kill Deneve if she does Awaken. Luckily, Deneve does recover and is scolded by Miria for her recklessness. Clare feels that they are being watched, but Miria tells her that anyone in range to sense their Yoki would themselves be sensed.

Miria tells Deneve, Helen, and Clare to return to their regular duties and to keep a low profile, while she will continue to investigate the Organization and will share any information that she uncovers with them. After their partial Awakening, she believes they have the power to rival any single-digit warrior except for numbers five and up. Drawing the markings for the top five warriors, Miria warns the others to avoid engaging: 1. Alicia, 2. Beth, 3. Galatea, 4. Ophelia, and 5. Rafaela. Afterwards, they all cross swords and make a promise to meet again.

At the end, it is revealed the team was being observed from afar by Ermita, an Organization handler, and Galatea herself, whose Yoki-sensing abilities have a far greater range and precision than any other Claymore, sensing the strength and feelings of the four Claymores. As grim foreshadowing, Ermita tells her to memorize the auras of the hunting party in case they come into conflict later.

Characters Introduced

 * Miria
 * Queenie
 * Helen
 * Deneve
 * Six-Armed Awakened Being