Cross vs the Akuma was pretty sweet, even if short. Watching a battle between the Innocence and the Akuma takes me back to the good old days. The art impeccable as always, Maria and Cross’s Innocence techniques looked especially beautiful, heck, even the Level 1 Akuma looked really good.
And this chapter does confirm that the suit (revealed in the art exposition of 2020 to be Adam, the first Memory of Noah) is sentient and is a different being from Mana. Adam was attracted by Mana’s grief after losing Allen the dog, but it seems what he needs is for Mana to fall in despair to properly become the Millennium Earl, otherwise he’s just an empty shell, shown when he leaves after Cross tells him that he cannot take Mana yet.
Mana’s memories appear to have been damaged, but Cross implies that what Mana lost is something else… Too bad he was cut short by that weird ass Akuma (I assume it's a Level 2) that came from those strange shadowy hands. The Akuma says that “the Earl will heal Noah” (that what it says in the translation I read), that further confirms the Noah are using the Earl/Mana for their own goals and he’s not part of the family. If “heal” is the correct translation, I really wonder what the Akuma meant with that.
Cross doesn’t seem to care for Red, and even says he should have killed the boy when he had the chance and tells the Akuma he can kill Red if it desires so. That was cold. I guess Cross eventually ended loving Red!Allen with the time, but I find it weird he doesn’t care about what could happen to the one he suspects is Nea’s host. Looks like he only cares about Mana.
I don’t understand the last page after Cross apparently destroys the Akuma with his Arrow of the Original Sin. I don’t know if the round, winged figure is supposed to be the explosion of the attack or its mean to be Timcampy, lmao. Another chapter ending in a cliffhanger.