Shin Megami Tensei Gaiten - Hato no Senki

Shin Megami Tensei Gaiten - Hato no Senki is a manga within the Shin Megami Tensei series. Hato no Senki was serialized within Monthly GFantasy and created by Shinsuu Ueda, who was also responsible for the manga versions of Megami Ibunroku Persona and Majin Tensei. It is comprised of three volumes. 
==Profile==
Hato no Senki tells the story of a young man named Hato Yokoyama that plays a game called DDS-NET in which players can fight against demons. He encounters a Pixie being attacked by other demons and protects her. When the game prompts him to kill her to receive an item, he refuses and discovers a strange symbol has appeared on his hand. This symbol teleports him to an area where he meets a young girl that Hato assumes to be an NPC. Cu Chulainn appears addressing the girl as princess and assumes Hato is another demon. His demeanor changes when he discovers the icon on Hato's hand and explains that Hato is the Messiah. He asks Hato to become his ally in protecting the princess. 
The next morning, Hato awakes to discover a demon summoning program on his computer. Assuming the occurrences within game to be a special event, Hato tells his classmates before a Nue is summoned directly into his classroom hunting for him. It attacks one of his classmates and a strange man appears searching for Hato. Hato remembers the summoning program and accesses it on his cellphone to summon Pixie to the classroom. Before Pixie can do anything, though, another girl enters the classroom, activates a symbol on her own hand, casting fire spell to drive the nue back. 
They clash with the young man outside of the school and are attacked by more demons. The young man turns on the nue and destroys it with his bare hands, revealing a marking on his hand as well. He introduces himself as Akira Saitou. The demons flee and as Hato and the others chase them, they discover some students that appear to be acting strangely. Hato follows them to encounter a Lilim who is after Pixie as well. Cu Chulainn appears to aid him. 
Distraught over a friend's death from the battle, Hato realizes this is no longer a game and Cu Chulainn reveals DDS-NET is tied to Makai. Cu Chulainn returns to the princess, but leaves a memory stick to summon Cerberus with Hato. The girl introduces herself as Mana Hasebe. Returning to the school, they find the teachers to be in a listless state and the students in a panic. Hato hurries home and discovers his mother's bloodstained cellphone. Looking for help, he encounters a young man that introduces himself as Chiaki Katsuraza. 
When Hato finally finds his mother nearby, he reaches out to touch her only to find her head has been severed and her body laid out by demons only to trap him. He summons Cerberus to destroy them. He is then attacked by another person with a symbol on their hand, but before he can fight back, Saitou appears to stop them. Others aligned with Saitou's Chaos side appear and though Hato accuses them of having something to do with his mother's death, their kindness regarding helping him with her remains makes him think again. In covering her body, he finds a feather on her. 
He is called by Mana, who asks for him to help her save her mother. Saitou joins him. Mana's mother is listless like the teachers from before. She finds someone through DDS-NET who claims they can help and the group goes to meet her. She introduces herself as Lisa Asakura and introduces them to a priest that is looking after similar cases. She asks them to support their efforts and Hato expresses concern over the rumors he heard from those aligned with chaos. Lisa calls them lies, but is interrupted by Saitou, who has found bodies hidden away within the church. She accuses him of being at fault when Chiaki appears and destroys the floorboards to expose more bodies. 
Lisa finally admits that an angelic being directed her to take energy from people to help keep the priest alive. She calls forth demons to prevent Hato and the others from getting in her way when the priest appears to stop her. He appears to be hurt by the power gathered there and a Cherub appears. The Cherub calms Lisa and offers the icon-bearers a chance to aid him, but Mana protests that she won't be fooled by angels again and attacks. 
Cu Chulainn appears to defend Hato, but collapses after the battle. They're drawn into DDS-NET by a magic circle where they're greeted by the princess and Scathach. Together, the two women help bring Cu Chulainn back to consciousness. Angels penetrate the area in search of the princess. 
After driving the angels back, Scathach sends Hato, the princess, and the others back to their world. They're attacked almost immediately after returning by more angels and a young girl using powerful ice skills. Mana fights back and when the girl attempts to flee, one of Saitou's companions kills her. The girl's companion arrives ready to fight when Mana, shaken by the girl's death, asks why they have to keep fighting when all she wants is to save her mother. The young boy explains that the sickness is a result of the greatness of the sins of adults. He fights against Hato and the others until the princess knocks him back with a powerful attack. 
Hato is temporarily drawn into a dimensional interstice where he sees Beelzebub at the center of DDS-NET's servers and a strange blonde man that comments that Beelzebub is the true form of the listlessness the adults have experienced. Hato is confused, but the blonde man encourages him to draw his own conclusions. He then flashes back to his childhood when his father explained the origins of his name from the dove in the story of Noah's ark. Hato comes back to consciousness to find the other young man still alive. When Cu Chulainn prepares to attack, Hato stops him. He explains what he saw and says that he wants to discover what the truth behind DDS-NET is. The manga ends as they set off in hopes of doing that.
Volume 1 was released on June 27, 2003
Volume 2 was released on April 27, 2004
==Gallery==
Category:Manga
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