Konjiki no Gash!! Chapter 54

**An Irreplaceable Friend** (無二の親友, *Muni no Shinyū*) is the 54th chapter of Makoto Raiku's Konjiki no Gash!!. This chapter was originally released in Japan as part of volume 6 on July 18, 2002.

## Plot

In the middle of the Amazon River basin, Brago stands off against a large and ferocious alligator. The alligator leaps towards Brago but Brago instantly defeats the large animal in one swift punch. Brago would later bring this alligator to Sherie for them to eat. Brago criticizes Sherie for cooking the alligator’s meat but Sherie snaps back at him asking why he had brought back an alligator when she wanted fish instead. The conversation then changes to Brago wondering if Sherie is too exhausted to fight the enemies they’re pursuing but Sherie claims she’s feeling fine. Brago then comments saying that he feels traveling all this way for a fight seems like a waste of time but Sherie exclaims that she intends on ending the battle as soon as possible.Brago then brings up the fact that at this point, there are now 70 demons left. He goes on to mention that while weaker demons would disappear on their own without them doing anything, stronger ones would avoid fighting during the first half of the battle to conserve their strength against stronger enemies. Sherie initially thinks this is why Brago hadn’t been fighting anyone lately but Brago corrects her saying that he had been having trouble finding their next enemy even after they had been searching for three days. Brago then concludes saying that he’s certain that there are demons who are simply just too afraid to fight him. After eating, Sherie tells Brago it’s time for them to keep going to trap their next enemy. Brago thinks to himself how hard Sherie is trying to push herself to exhaustion before going on to wonder about how much faster he would become king if he didn’t have to pair up with a human partner. He then notes that Sherie had been forcing herself to keep moving even with no sleep for the past three days and how it seems to him that she truly is serious about wanting to end the battle. As Sherrie follows Brago along, she thinks about her best friend, Coco.

A flashback is then shown of an earlier point in time before the battle to decide king took place. Sherie finds Coco pushed down on the ground and she rushes to check on her. Sherie asks what had happened and Coco assures her that she’s fine and the she had been pushed down because someone had suspected that she stole something from a nearby fruit store. She tries to brush off the incident saying that she isn’t bothered by it but tells Sherie that even though she and her family were poor they would never resort to stealing things. Sherie assures Coco that she believes her and tries to comfort her by saying that nothing was her fault and she will get through these difficult times. Some time later at Sherie’s estate, Sherie orders her butler to bring her tea and she claims she’s too upset to focus on anything else. Her butler asks if she’s bothered by what had happened to Coco. Sherie vents her frustrations to her butler saying that Coco is often mistreated because of the way she looks and doesn’t understand why nobody can see how good of a person Coco really is. Sherie then expresses how thankful she is to have Coco be such an important friend to her and how they’re always there for each other during difficult times.

She then goes on to describe Coco as being a hard working person who does her best to support her family and studies just as diligently in order to go to college someday. She also adds that Coco had always been a gentle person who never lost her temper at anyone no matter how people treated her. Sherie then asks her butler if she had ever told him the story of how Coco had saved her life when she had jumped into a river when she was little and Sherie’s butler tells her that Sherie shares that story with him at least once a month. Sherie’s butler then goes on to tell Sherie some positive news in regards to Coco. He takes out a note and tells Sherie that he had recently received a notice saying that Coco’s application for a scholarship to a university she wants to attend had been accepted. Sherie smiles in excitement and tells her butler to drive her to see Coco immediately. In the car, Sherie eagerly asks again about this news and her butler tells her that the notice came from a friend of his who works at the university and that Coco will be receiving a letter of acceptance tomorrow afternoon. Sherie is excited to tell Coco the news herself and how proud she is that Coco’s hard work is starting to pay off. By the time the two arrive at Coco’s house, they see that her house and her entire village was on fire.

Both Sherie and her butler were initially too stunned to say or move at all but when Sherie sees Coco nearby, she calls out to her. Coco turns around, wearing a vacant smile on her face, and tells Sherie she had caused the fires with her new powers and intends on exacting revenge on those who had wronged her. Confused, Sherie asks Coco what she’s talking about as Coco had once told her before that all she wanted was to go to college and get a good job someday. Coco dismisses this and says she doesn’t care about such things anymore and is more interested in punishing everyone who had been cruel to her in the past. Sherie again questions Coco about what she’s talking about and Coco once again tells her that this power is something she is going to take full advantage of now. Sherie then points out to the mysterious figure standing by Coco and accuses them of somehow changing Coco. This person would soon be revealed as the demon Zofis and he tells Sherie that he is responsible for manipulating Coco’s heart and changing her into a more hateful and vengeful person. Zofis then appears in front of Sherie and introduces himself to her and tells her about the battle to decide the next king of the Demon World. He then goes on to explain that when he had first approached Coco, she expressed no interest in fighting alongside him. As a result, he changed her heart and now Coco is his ideal partner who enjoys hurting people and destroying things. Sherie looks back to Coco desperately asking her to say that this isn’t true but Coco once again smiles and tells Sherie how proud she is of herself for burning down her entire village. Zofis reiterates to Sherie that he’s willing to do anything it takes to become king and having Coco as his partner is necessary to him. Coco herself then threatens to destroy Sherie if she continues to stand in her way and that she does not want to lose her power. Sherie then begins to cry in despair as she can’t fully comprehend what had happened to her best friend has Coco had always been kind and supportive all throughout Sherie’s life.

The flashback then concludes showing Coco about to cast a spell toward Sherie as Brago in the present day tells Sherie that they had finally trapped the enemies they were pursuing. Brago points out how weak the pair are and how it seemed they had been running from them the entire time. Brago asks Sherie what they’ll do now and Sherie firmly tells him that they’re going to destroy their spell book and end the battle as soon as possible.

## Features

### Characters by Appearance

* Brago
* Sherie Belmondo
* Coco
* Sherie’s Butler
* Zofis
* Belico
* Pokkerio

### Locations

* South America
	+ Brazil
* Europe
	+ France
		- Sherie’s Estate (Debut/Flashback)