Chapter 47: Makoto and Sonoko
Outside the shelter, the sounds of gunfire and explosions were a constant, grim backdrop. Witches bloomed across the ruined city like cancerous flowers, their Labyrinths swallowing entire city blocks. The Organization was deploying its "bombs"—contractors on the verge of turning, smiling like martyrs as they expended the last of their magic.
"For the Organization's purification."
"For the future of humanity."
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Despair-filled Labyrinths erupted all around the shelter, trapping the last of the military and independent magical girls. And through the chaos, Gin and his elite squads advanced, their target the shelter itself. The final purge of Tokyo had begun.
The shelter became a slaughterhouse. Panic-stricken civilians were cut down by indiscriminate magic blasts.
"Dammit!" Conan kicked a nuclear-powered soccer ball, the force of it tearing a low-level Organization contractor in half and saving a small group of civilians. But it was a temporary measure. He couldn't destroy their Soul Gems. They would just get back up. And there were too many of them.
"Ran! Sera! Cover the evacuation!" Kogoro roared, his own amber magic flickering weakly. The cracks on his Soul Gem were now clearly visible.
Ran and Sera fought back-to-back, a whirlwind of pink and gold, trying to hold back the tide and guide the civilians deeper into the shelter. But Gin and his lieutenants had already broken through.
Elsewhere, Makoto Kyogoku was a storm of fists and feet. "Is this guy... even human?" one of the Organization's magical girls gasped as he punched straight through her torso. He was a guardian deity, a one-man army, standing firm before Sonoko, repelling all who dared to approach.
But he was bleeding. His breath was coming in ragged gasps. He was only human. The enemy was endless. They felt no pain. They just kept getting back up. He could knock them down a hundred times, but his stamina was finite. He was slowing down. He could feel the shadow of death creeping closer.
But he would not retreat. The person he had sworn to protect was right behind him.
"MAKOTO!"
Sonoko's tearful cry was a needle in his ear. He risked a glance. She was huddled behind a broken pillar, her face a mess of tears and terror. But in her eyes, he also saw a familiar, burning emotion.
Anguish.
She couldn't bear to watch him die. She saw him getting weaker, saw the new wounds opening up on his body. No... I can't let this happen... Makoto will die! Her frantic gaze scanned the battlefield, and then it locked onto a small, white figure sitting calmly amidst the carnage, watching the slaughter as if it were a play.
Kyubey.
Contracts... magical girls... power... The thoughts were a chaotic jumble in her mind. She didn't understand any of it. All she knew was that she could not let Makoto die here. Even if there was only the slightest chance... For Makoto!
She bolted from behind the pillar, running straight for Kyubey.
"SONOKO, GET BACK HERE!" Makoto's heart seized. He tried to go after her, but he was pinned down.
His desperate scream was the last thing she ever heard.
A cold sensation pierced her back. There was no pain, just a sudden numbness, the feeling of life draining away. She looked down. The tip of a cold, steel blade was protruding from her chest. A bright red flower bloomed on the front of her dress.
Her vision blurred. Her last sight was of Makoto's face, twisted in a mask of pure, uncomprehending horror. Makoto... I'm sorry... I couldn't... help you...
Her consciousness faded into an eternal darkness.
And in that moment, Makoto's world went silent. All color drained away. All that was left was the small, fragile figure, lying on the ground. Time froze. His mind went blank. The girl he was supposed to protect... was gone. His strength, his purpose... it was all a pathetic joke. He hadn't protected anything.
He felt nothing. Not the pain of his wounds. Not the enemies around him. Only the vast, empty ruin inside his heart.
"AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"
A raw, bestial roar of pure, undiluted agony was torn from his soul.
And in that moment of complete emotional vulnerability, that fatal opening, they struck. A dozen different magical attacks, from a dozen different angles, all converged on him. The flesh of steel was torn asunder. The bones that could shatter stone were broken.
His vision was a sea of red. But with his last ounce of superhuman will, he turned his head and looked, one last time, in the direction where Sonoko had fallen.
Sonoko...
And then, the darkness took him.