I heard the last theory: that thud at the last panel isn't the sound of the door, it's someone falling, like maybe JJK fainting bc he needs hydration, did you see those lips?!
WoW, 4 months is a quite long time, I hpe the author's ok bc we need morrreee. Anyway, me here thinking about how they'd be about 50 yo today in the present
I read another translation of this chap, and in the last panel it said "What is mine is back" and somehow reminded me when little Karas bit Abel's neck all the time at the beginning and I guess it's a dragon instinct, like they recognize its own regas and marked him. Well, that's my interpretation