Chapter 28

The 28th chapter of Claymore by Norihiro Yagi, first published in the May 2001 issue of Shonen Jump.

Short Synopsis
Miria uses her Phantom technique to get Helen, Deneve and Clare to safety and attack the male Awakened Being, but she is pinned down and tortured. As Clare approaches the Awakened Being, it seems unable to hit her with a single attack although she makes no effort to dodge.

Miria Recovers the Injured
Miria faces the male Awakened Being over her friend's bodies. The Awakened Being mocks her, saying that she has the intelligence required of a warrior, but one who is too intelligent will not live long. It mentions that it disposes of the warriors sent to kill it in order to stay alive. Miria quickly moves Deneve to safety, estimating that she has a 50:50 chance of survival. The Awakened Being seems to impale her with a claw attack, but Miria appears near Clare, surprised that she is still alive. Another attack appears to hit her, but Miria escapes with Clare and Helen, giving the latter the same odds as Deneve.

The Phantom Technique
The Awakened Being realizes that Miria can use brief bursts of Yoki energy to move at such speed she appears as a phantasm, and that this is the source of her title "Phantom Miria." However, he suggests that her sparing use of the technique indicates a weakness. Drawing on her Yoki, Miria charges the Awakened Being, circles in a trail of after-images, and stabs its arm. Phantoming away from another attack, she slashes its arm and circles again to slash its back. Helen, recovering enough to speak, asks why Miria didn't use this power earlier. Clare tells her that the Phantom technique must be a last resort, for it puts strain on Miria's mind. Normally, she might use it as many as twenty times, but Clare has counted thirty Phantoms already. Helen asks how Clare knows so much when her number is so low.

Miria Defeated and Clare's Power
The Awakened being finally manages to pin Miria down with its forearm. Telling her that she gave all she had but reached her limits, he drives his long tongue into Miria's abdomen and essentially rapes her with great pain. Angered, Helen tries to go to help, but she is bleeding so badly that she falls to all fours. Crying, she states that she can do nothing, and that this is true despair. Deneve is still out, but Clare takes her sword and stands.

"Despair? After only this? I've known a greater opponent and faced true despair."

As Helen wonders aloud how her wounds permit her to stand, Clare walks slowly towards the Awakened Being. Contemptuous of her strength, it aims a claw attack but misses as Clare continues to calmly approach. A barrage of claws gets the same result as Miria and Helen watch Clare in amazement.

Introduced Characters
Capitolo 28