Chapter 177

Ahead of one last attendance call, Korosensei checks whether Irina wants to claim part of the bounty. She turns the offer down, telling him the moment belongs to him and the pupils he taught. He then asks Karasuma to keep watching over the group after he is gone, and the agent answers that the past year will stay with him forever. Taking the register a final time, Korosensei admits he is at peace with dying by their hands.

Nagisa steps forward to carry out the deed, yet his feelings swell and nearly overwhelm him. Korosensei presses a tentacle to the boy's neck and urges him not to strike in that state, but to do it wearing a smile instead. Once Nagisa steadies himself and manages a grin, he gives a last farewell and drives the blade home. Korosensei breaks apart into drifting motes of light until only his garments remain, and the class dissolves into open weeping.

With midnight nearly upon the eve of the official ceremony, the students feel they have already graduated in every way that matters. Irina refuses the reward money and keeps the killing between teacher and class. Karasuma accepts responsibility for the group going forward. Nagisa lands the fatal blow that scatters Korosensei into light and leaves his empty clothes lying on the ground.

The installment runs twenty-eight pages and belongs to the twentieth collected volume. Its Japanese title, Sotsugyo no jikan, renders as Graduation Time. It follows the chapter Time Has Come and leads into Time for Tears.