Chapter 233

Saying Goodbye to A.W. - The Way of the Three (A.W（アレン・ウォーカー）に別れを告げる・The way of the three, A.W. (Aren Wōkā) ni wakare o tsugeru ・ The way of the three) is the two hundred and thirty third chapter of the D.Gray-man manga series written and illustrated by Katsura Hoshino. It was published in Jump SQ Rise on July 22, 2019.

Color Spread
Allen Walker, The Earl of Millennium and Cross Marian are standing back to back with Timcanpy's by Allen's side. Allen is wearing, he is holding a clown mask with his left hand and waving with his right hand. The Earl, in his human appearance with his Noah skin tone and amber eyes, has his usual ocher and green suit and gloves. His top hat is covered with yellow and orange flowers and rests partially on his head while he hold the corner with his right hand. Cross Marian is wearing the first version of the exorcist uniform and black gloves. He is smoking and holding his handgun "Judgement" in his right hand.

Short Summary
The chapter opens with a moment of Marian Cross's past, where he arrives too late to save a comrade from the Akuma miasma, and is forced to engage a higher level akuma seemingly responsible for his fallen comrade's death.

We are then shown a glimpse a little further ahead in time, when Allen, or "Red" is still living within the Carvey Circus, and how he is treated (or more accurately, mistreated) by the carnies and staff. The chapter shows us more of the child's past, and how much he struggled through on a day-to-day basis, and why a certain man's dog  meant so much to him during the later part of his stay within that place.

The chapter shows us that suffering is not only a word all-too familiar to the three characters given the limelight of this chapter, but that it can have different meanings, and be experienced in different ways by different people, as we are shown in the last half of the chapter Mana living within the circus as well, and the internal struggle his psyche faces....

Long Summary
*Warning: From this point on, there are major chapter spoilers. Out of courtesy, the writer of this summary has decided to use the first paragraph to describe the cover image of the chapter out of respect for those whom may not want the chapter given away for them just yet. Also, there is some violence in this chapter which may be upsetting to some readers. You have been warned, and you have had your opportunity to click away. <3 *



We start with a beautiful colored cover opening, courtesy of the wonderful author and her incredibly talented staff, which features (from bottom and top left, to right), Allen Walker, Marian Cross, The Earl, (sporting one of the most glamorous hats in his vast collection yet, which features what appear to be marvelously drawn rose-gold inspired peonies and fall leaves!) and everyone's favorite golem-- Timcanpy. The background appears to be like a mix of an intricate Persian tapestry and Fleur-de-lis design in a mix of black and/or gray, and white to allow the three male leads to stand out in the foreground. All three figures have their faces in shadow, and are facing different directions with their backs to each other, but their eyes meet the reader's, likely signifying the different paths each individual is undergoing not only in terms of personal mental/emotional changes and turmoil, but also to likely signify the literal "paths of life" these three characters appear to be heading down with how they experience, confront, and react to events- which as most everyone whom has followed the series this long knows, is a recurring theme of D. Gray Man. Marian holds a gun, Allen observes the clown mask and performance ball used by Mana when they worked in the circus, and the Earl is possed as if he were just removing the hat from his head, or putting it on, his expression is perhaps the most grimacing, as one cannot help but wonder if he is putting on "The mask of Mana," or if his Noah memory has taken over the man's mind, and left only the beast that is the Millennium Earl.

The start of the chapter opens within a door to a church or cathedral opening. It's dark and seemingly deserted, not even a single candle appears to be lit. We see the General Marian Cross is the person whom has entered the building, perhaps a few years younger as his hair is seemingly less unkempt, and sporting the Black Order's coat. He is looking at a man, presumably either a fellow exorcist, or the church's priest, hanging from a ginormous spider's web almost symbolically in front of three stained glass windows. Marian is focused on the man before him, and it appears he has arrived too late to assist, for as the man weakly calls out "Is that you, Cross...?" his forefinger falls off his hand like that of a porcelain doll's when one is broken upon the floor, or in midair- as ''the guy is trapped in a spider's web. ''

"Didn't I tell you to forget about me? To focus only on your mission?" Cross asks, his face unreadable from the distance and because of the shadows surrounding them within the building. The figure, who's face is largely unseeable, can only be in a tremendous amount of excruciating agony as the Akuma Miasma is eating away at him- the familiar star pattern of the virus creeping it's way up his neck from under his clothes with an ominous 'crack,' 'crack,' and the rest of his hand breaking off and falling to the floor. Whomever this individual is, we are shown in these panels in that moment, that he does not have much longer to live.

Cross apologizes to the man, a cigarette in his mouth, his eyes hidden beneath his bangs and his signature mask, unreadable to the audience as he says he came too late to help. Despite the fact that he is dying, the unknown individual forces his head up as the symptoms of the miasma have now completely covered all visible parts of his epidermis, and smiles - offering Marian Cross comfort. "Forget about it, Find what you're looking for...my friend!" More cracking is heard as the man cries out, and his head breaks apart  from his hanging torso as the miasma kills him- the overexertion of moving his head to meet Cross's eyes and encourage the General in his final moments being what likely  only then is he released from the webbing, his body likely breaking to ashy pieces off-screen.

Marian has now raised his gun, and is prepared to fight as an akuma that can only be described as looking like a certain sunflower designed character from a popular 8-bit game if they had one eye, and wore a gothic lolita-styled dress, looms over the cadaver of the General's fallen friend, grinning maniacally as it prepares to enter combat. Other akuma appear, crying out for Marian Cross's death as the man fires at the mechanical demons. He is talking to no one, but asks a question out loud; "Hey God? Is this mission...more important than human life?" He then scoffs as the akuma madly cry out for his death with cries of "Kill him! Kill him!," commenting that whomever he is asking, they are "silent as always, huh?" The lead akuma appears before him, and we finally see a glimpse of what can only be pure rage as he shoots at the akuma, presumably killing them off-screen, as we are given a glimpse of the stained glass windows again.

After the battle, Marian is standing at a pew with Timcanpy, mouth open, showing a holographic image of a young, disheveled boy- the person known as Red, holding his arm and looking into the distance with a pained expression. It becomes more clear that in this part of the chapter, Marian is the window for the audience into the events he has seen. "That's a strange arm on this brat, huh? Marian is studying the child's figure closely, surmising that the cross on the child's arm could very well be innocence.

"There should be abnormalities if it's innocence...I don't see those signs in him." The General muses as he takes a puff from his cigarette. He goes on to muse about the image the golem has shown him, saying that even if the child is an accomodater, he does not have time to deal with him. "Plus, who knows what will happen if Mana gets near Innocence in his current Condition? Of all the bad timing..." The General studies the holographic child's face, wondering if he should kill him to prevent Mana's current emotional state from being triggered by the Noah's reaction to Innocence. He recalls that the "Allen" whom became Nea's host 35 years ago should at least be in his thirties. He cannot believe that a child could be the host he is looking for. The note of the previous Allen's age not only establishes a likely timeline for the audience to follow, but is likely a nod to "The Picture of Dorian Gray," which is known to be part of the inspiration for the Noah clan and their genetic condition.

General Marian Cross ponders his options, on the one hand, he does not want to kill a kid, but he acknowledges to himself that Mana takes priority if the situation calls for it. A puffed up and plump Timcanpy, whom until now had been dutifully assisting the man, begins to chatter in protest at the notion, and Marian insists to the golem that he does not want that to happen either if he can avoid it. He speaks to Timcanpy, and essentially here recaps what has occurred in previous chapters for the audience; that Mana has forgotten he is the Millennium Earl, and is 'unwell.' The man is wandering around, searching for the fourteenth, hiding from the reality that he had killed him in the past. Marian seems to be musing more and more to himself, rather than the golem, as if he is mentally exhausted from a long series of trials due to these unfortunate events, and comments that there is no way of telling when Mana will become the Earl Again. We see an ominous, shadowed image of the Millennium Earl as he was revealed andTh introduced to the readers in earlier chapters as a smiling caricature of a figure in his "suit." Marian surmises then that because of Mana's fragile mental state, this is the perfect time for as far as the Heart  is concerned, to destroy the Earl, once and for all.

As Marian is racking his brain over this, we see the image of the child again, looking downwards forlornly, and his battered arm with the cross in the center foreground, before cutting to a frustrated Marian, asking "Jeez- what to do...? Will we ever manage to get there?" As if he were battling with his own morals, the circumstances of Mana, whom he has seemingly been tracking for a long time, and the intricate web of events the General finds himself within. The panels cut from the hanging remains of the unknown priest and the web capturing his remains, and to a large Circus Tent, as the spotlight of the chapter shifts to the next lead, and the next perspective we the audience follow.

In the next panel as the story continues, this time from the perspective of a young red, we see he is being held down as the carnies forcefully view his arm. "Awesome! It really is like a monster's arm." The ringleader exclaims gleefully as the adult male uses his leg against the small of the child's back to pin him down, and uses his free hand to pull back the struggling boy's shirt sleeve, revealing "Red's" mangled appearing arm. By the sign of bottles and cups in the background, it is implied that the men have been drinking heavily, and have decided to bully the child as a means of entertainment as they poke his arm, wondering if it is some sort of contagious condition. The leader laughs, claiming "it's no big deal, right Red-arm?" He sits back on a pile of suitcases, straw, and blankets, a wine bottle in hand as he continues to laugh as the small child picks himself up, not saying anything as he holds his arm defensively. "C'mon, We're both the same after all, bought and sold, right?" He drinks like a glutton from the bottle, giving a sense of pause to the reader as he continues his twistedly entitled monologue and rationing behind treating a child the way he has as he looks down and to the side of the kid. "You're better off, actually. You were a lost cause from the start. I on the other hand, have noble blood. I shouldn't be in a place like this!" From what is implied, the audience can assume that perhaps this bully is an illegitimate child, sold inter service of the circus perhaps- however it is not this man's story, but the child we are inclined to view, as in the next two panels we are shown a close-up of the frustration and hurt on the child's face as he looks in disgust at the drunk man.

The story cuts to the kitchen, where the Circus's chef is seemingly enraged, and throws a bowl at the boy's head, the child just managing to block the blow with his forearm. "There's no food left for you! Hurry up and go feed the lions!" He orders the boy, sending him off with an overloaded serving cart for the animals. Red gives it his all, but collapses from hunger before finishing his chore. He reflects on the man who had held him down, believing the man to be a weakling, and knowing he is different from that cruel person. He tells himself that "One day, he'll definitely find a place he belongs," and gets up, wrapping his hands around the cart and attempts to push it again, turning his head for a moment as a glimpse of a figure sitting, arms wrapped around their legs, seemingly upset under a tree. It is Mana, and next to him is his dog, 'Allen.' The boy quietly watches him for a moment, before continuing his evening's work. 'Allen' the dog watches the boy as he leaves, and we see a panel of the circus tents with stars around them, allowing us to understand that it is nighttime.

On the next page, we see Red sitting by a cleaning bucket, scarfing down a loaf of bread he had stolen from the kitchens when the chef left him with a task of cleaning all the kitchen's pots and bowls from the evening meal, having chosen to go off to nap rather than do his job. Red is clearly in survival mode, as he pauses from eating the bread to look around nervously, hoping he is not caught with the stolen bread. Nearby, a crate full of performance equipment is bumped over, and the boy panics, clearly worried he has been found and will be punished for taking food. It is not one of the circus members, but 'Allen' the dog, poking his head up from the numerous toys and equipment, looking at the boy adoringly as only a dog with a tiny clown hat can. The boy is shocked for a moment, and managed to choke down the bite of bread caught in his mouth, breathing a sigh of relief he has not been found by any other people, and remarking that the dog had startled him. The dog picks up a ball from inside the crate, and runs away, seemingly to play. Red panics, crying that the dog had stolen a ball, and that he feared that he would be starved further if he lost a prop piece. The boy chases after the dog in the snow away from the tents, whom is running ahead with the ball as Red desperately calls after him. We see that the boy is slowing as the dog gains distance, until Red falls to his knees, weak and spent from hunger and the exhausting work the circus performers put him through. He lays in the snow on his back, gasping for breath, cursing the dog and fearing that with the prop ball it had stolen his next meal. The child wonders how long it has been since he had a decent meal before that one loaf of bread, gazing at the stars and wondering over his circumstances. Just as he closes his eyes, seeming to be about to give in to fatigue, the ball is dropped unceremoniously on his face, and bounces to the ground. There is 'Allen,' the dog panting and looking down at the young boy, who gets up slowly, watching the dog as it sits by the ball. "You...." Red says in surprise, and attempts to grab the ball. The dog however has been trained very well by his master, and lifts up the squeaky ball with his front paws, seeming to be playing with the boy as the next images show Red desperately trying to get the ball from the dog as it maneuvers around him. "What's up with you?!" The child cries in exasperation as the dog bounces the ball on it's head, then seemingly attempts to pass the ball to Red, accidentally hitting the child in the face with the prop. 'I'm being played... I'm being played by a dog' The boy realizes. He falls back in the snow, giving up as the dog watches him, "Just do what you want, okay? I'm tired already...I can barely move." The child says in frustration at the animal as he closes his eyes, seeming to have given up all hope. Allen the dog leans down, licking the boy's cheek, woofing happily at the child as the boy looks in shock at the animal. The dog goes then, leaving the ball with the child, and heading back for the tents, as Red sits there, wondering what is with the animal as the panel closes in on the prop ball.