is awakened. He kills a female Neo-Sapien, Saguree, but cannot save Kozuki. He escapes with Luna but is confronted by a robot battalion. After eliminating them, Tetsuya battles the leader, Burai, only to lose consciousness. When he comes to, he and Luna go to Zone Seven, but the route is contaminated, and Luna falls ill. Tetsuya is found in the forest by a doctor and led to a nearby village in Zone Seven, where the doctor treats Luna. It is revealed the people of Zone Seven aren't terrorists at all, but have been slaughtered for decades because of the government's discriminatory policies. The doctor, in conversation, informs Tetsuya of a local legend of a protective deity named "Casshern"-a deity whose statue makes numerous appearances in the movie. Tetsuya fights Barashin as the village comes under attack by the military and Neo-sapiens, and it is here that he first refers to himself as Casshern. While both suffer injuries in the fight, Casshern is the victor and Barashin is killed. Fighting Barashin has caused Tetsuya to lose Luna, who escaped with a non-verbal Neo-sapien and eventually found her way to a train full of captured villagers from Zone Seven. Here, Luna and the Neo-sapien are confronted by a bereaved scientist who blames the Neo-Sapiens for the loss of his daughter. Luna is rescued by Dr. Azuma, but the Neo-Sapien is injured. A coup d'état takes place and General Kamijo's son takes over, while in the laboratory Naito reveals that Neo Cells are not what they seem. The Neo Cells were acquired from the slaughtered "original humans" of Zone Seven for the purposes of prolonging General Kamijo and his cohorts' lives, and the Neo Cell culture did not in fact create the Neo-Sapiens. It simply rejoined the body parts that were harvested from the victims of Zone Seven after being struck by the stone lightning bolt. Even though Dr. Azuma had been spearheading the macabre experiments, he is unable to explain what has happened. As they talk, the stone lightning bolt crumbles and Casshern appears to fall from the sky into the laboratory, which is now in ruins. Burai arrives with an airship and abducts Luna, Casshern and the dying Neo-Sapien, leaving a now fatally wounded Naito, Dr. Azuma and General Kamijo's son alone. Burai gives his reasons for hating humanity, and Casshern finds his mother, but she's apparently dead. Burai launches a