Chapter 53

This is the fifty-third chapter of the DARLING in the FRANXX manga.

Synopsis
Zorome, Miku, Futoshi, and Kokoro watch from the balcony as Delphinium and Strelizia battle. Zorome is the most bemused that the FRANXX are fighting in Mistiltein. Ichigo pleads for Zero Two to stop and there is no reason for them to be fighting. Delphinium tackles Strelizia, which snaps off Delphinium’s right arm, causing Ichigo excruciating pain. Goro asks her if she is okay and Ichigo says it’s as painful as being in stampede mode. Ichigo tells Zero Two that, as the doctor said, Zero Two is being manipulated by the enemy and, as Zero Two’s friend, she will stop her. Ikuno watches the fight from the window and Alpha realizes that only the Klaxosaur Princess could be manipulating Zero Two. Zero Two begins to hear Ichigo’a voice But is unable to stop Strelizia from moving. The Klaxosaur Princess tells Zero Two that humans’ blood and flesh are as insufficient as a spider, the words of humans have no meaning, and the Klaxosaurs are her brethren. The Klaxosaur Princess begins to tell Zero Two the story of how the battle between the humans and Klaxosaurs began a long time ago but she doesn’t know how it happened. Somehow, some humans found Nawabari, her serpent. The person who found her and whom she blames for everything is revealed to be Dr. FRANXX.

In a flashback, she asked him to hold out his hand and she licked it. She said the taste and scent of her brethren was all over his hand and merely killing him for his sins would not be enough. She bit off his arm and warned him to tell his friends not to interfere with her brethren again. However, Dr. FRANXX surpassed his anger as he realized it was his opportunity. By grabbing a handful of her hair when she wasn’t looking, he was able to create Zero Two. The Klaxosaur Princess says humans are truly and merely a collection of sins piled up together.

Zero Two is shocked as the Klaxosaur Princess says, since ancient times, the doctor has been been protecting everyone by commanding the Klaxosaurs with their blood and flesh on his hands. Zero Two’s horns start to glow and grow bigger as she despairs of her trying to become human if she acted like one but she was actually just his tool. She then hears a voice telling her not to move. Everyone looks up and sees Hiro’s training unit arriving and lands in front of Delta/ 001. She asks who he is and he introduces himself as Code: 016, Zero Two’s partner.