Chapter 49: It Ends Here, You Bastards!!!!
Elsewhere on the battlefield.
Tooru Amuro leaned against a shattered wall, his golden hair dulled by the smoke and grime of battle.
His gaze swept across the ever-expanding massacre within the shelter.
Uniformed police officers lay in pools of their own blood. Helpless civilians let out desperate screams that were abruptly silenced.
This was Japan.
The country he had sworn to protect with his very life.
And now, the Black Organization—the very group he had infiltrated with the intent to destroy—was trampling this land and slaughtering his people in the most brutal, most sacrilegious way imaginable.
Infiltration, missions, the greater good…
All the beliefs that had sustained him for so long seemed pale and powerless in the face of the hellscape before him.
He saw a little girl, clutching a doll, her face a mask of pure terror, having forgotten even how to cry as a Magical Girl from the Organization raised her weapon.
In that instant, something inside him finally snapped.
He could be Bourbon, he could be Tooru Amuro, but first and foremost, he was Rei Furuya.
An officer of Japan's Public Security Bureau.
He shot his head up, his eyes—which always concealed a sharp and calculating mind—now held nothing but a burning, unwavering resolve.
"Kyubey!" he growled, his voice hoarse with rage.
The small white creature appeared before him in silence, its red eyes as calm and placid as ever.
A wish was made in an instant. A contract was forged.
The next second, a powerful surge of magic flooded his body.
A golden magical radiance, bright as the rising sun, materialized in front of several civilians about to be executed, absorbing the full force of the Organization's attack.
"Oh? Isn't it Bourbon?"
"Couldn't take it anymore, you little PSB rat?"
Tooru Amuro ignored their taunts, focusing the immense magic into his hands.
"You will pay the price… for what you've done!"
Behind him were the people he had to protect!
Beneath his feet was the land he would never allow to be defiled!
The battle erupted!
…
Far away, in the shadows of a sniper's perch.
Shuichi Akai, now in his Magical Girl form, calmly squeezed the trigger.
Every bullet, enhanced by his contract, precisely shattered the Soul Gem of an Organization Magical Girl.
His face was devoid of expression, as if he were nothing more than an efficient killing machine. But he alone knew that with every pull of the trigger, the coldness accumulating in his heart grew deeper.
And then, he felt it.
The presence of his mother and brother vanished.
A moment later, the familiar magical signature of his sister, Masumi Sera, flared violently before it, too, was extinguished completely.
Shuichi Akai's grip on his sniper rifle tightened viciously.
For the first time, the icy calm in his green eyes cracked.
Masumi…
His vibrant little sister, who was always chasing after him…
Was dead.
Sniped… by the Organization.
His family… his mother… his brother… his sister… They were all gone.
An indescribable, ice-cold fury, mixed with overwhelming grief, shattered the calm and self-control he had maintained for so long.
He no longer searched for the optimal sniping position.
He leaped from his hiding spot, using his sniper rifle as a club to brutally smash a nearby Organization member, while his other hand gathered a destructive ball of magical energy.
Close combat.
He had chosen the most direct, most primitive method of revenge.
"Silver Bullet…? You're nothing but a rabid dog that's lost its mind."
Gin appeared before him, a cruel smile on his face, his own magical weapon glowing with an ominous light.
Shuichi Akai said nothing. He simply poured all his rage and sorrow into his attacks.
Magic bullet met magic bullet. Hand-to-hand combat intertwined with devastating spells.
Both pushed their powers to the absolute limit.
For a battle to the death.
…
At the very center of the warzone.
Kogoro Mouri's Magical Girl form was in tatters.
His Soul Gem was riddled with black corruption, looking as if it would shatter at any moment. But he remained standing, using the last of his strength to maintain a weak shield over his daughter, Ran.
Ran stared with vacant eyes at Sonoko's cold body nearby, at the spot where Makoto Kyogoku had vanished, at the direction where Masumi had been struck down.
On her own pink Soul Gem, black stains were spreading at an alarming rate.
"Ran!"
An Organization Magical Girl seized the opportunity to attack.
"Don't you dare!"
Kogoro threw himself in front of his daughter, taking the full force of the blow with his body.
He coughed up blood and turned, looking at his daughter's vacant face, his eyes filled with pain and a final, gentle warmth.
He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her forehead. A faint pulse of magic flowed from his lips—a sleeping spell.
"Sleep now, Ran."
Ran's body went limp.
Kogoro handed his unconscious daughter to Conan and Dr. Agasa, who had rushed over.
"Kudo… Doctor…" he said, his voice raspy with a gravity they had never heard from him before. "Ran… I'm counting on you…"
Just then, the jarring ring of his phone cut through the chaos once more.
Eri Kisaki.
A storm of complex emotions—worry, reluctance, fear—flashed across his blood-stained face. This would be the last call. He pressed the answer key.
"Hello…"
"Kogoro?! Where are you and Ran?!" Eri's frantic, panting voice came from the other end, the faint sounds of explosions and sirens in the background. "I've broken through the blockade! I'm almost there!"
Kogoro's heart clenched. The emotions he had been suppressing finally erupted. He roared into the phone with a fury he rarely showed.
"DON'T YOU DARE COME HERE!"
"ERI! YOU DAMN FOOL!"
"IT'S HELL OVER HERE! ARE YOU COMING HERE TO DIE?!"
"GO BACK! NOW! GET AS FAR AWAY FROM HERE AS YOU CAN!"
"DO YOU HEAR ME?!"
Eri was clearly stunned into silence on the other end. "Kogoro? You…"
"NO MORE TALK! GO HOME!"
Kogoro smashed the end call button, not daring to listen for another second, terrified his resolve would waver. He gasped for breath, his body swaying, then shot a sharp, pleading look at Conan and Dr. Agasa.
"Listen to me! Kid! Doctor!"
"If… if you see Eri on the way…"
"You have to… take her with you! Don't leave her alone!"
"I'm… begging you!"
The two nodded solemnly.
…
However, their escape was not a smooth one. The Organization's pursuers would let no one escape.
But just as they were about to be caught, a mysterious woman appeared like a phantom. She used some kind of illusion to briefly confuse their pursuers, guiding Conan, Dr. Agasa, Haibara, Akemi, and a few trembling children and civilians they had managed to save.
Among them was the old woman who had been arguing in the corner of the shelter earlier. Her eyes were now empty, showing no relief at having survived. She was just clutching a dirty, worn-out cloth doll she had found somewhere, as if it were her only reason to live. She endlessly and unconsciously muttered a name, lost in a disturbing grief that was completely disconnected from the desperate escape around her.
The mysterious woman led them toward the entrance of a hidden underground passage.
Conan glanced back at him one last time.
Kogoro tried to pull his lips into one of his usual carefree grins, but it only tugged at the wounds on his face.
It's enough.
As long as Ran… and everyone else… can get away.
The string inside him, stretched to its breaking point, finally went slack.
He swayed, nearly collapsing. He fumbled through his ruined clothes. From a torn pocket, he managed to pull out a slightly bent cigarette.
A self-deprecating smile touched his lips.
With a trembling hand, he lit it.
Smoke curled into the air, obscuring his blood-streaked face.
In the distance, the golden magical light of Tooru Amuro continued to rage.
In another direction, violent energy tore through the air. That was Shuichi Akai.
And scattered everywhere else were the terrified civilians, who didn't know where to run…
Sorry, Amuro-kun.
And you, from the FBI.
And everyone else I don't know.
It's not that I didn't want to warn you. It's not that I didn't want to save more of you.
It's just… I need you to hold these scumbags off. Even for one more second.
Right now, he wasn't some famous detective.
He wasn't some ex-cop.
He was just a father… trying to make sure his daughter lived.
That was all.
He took a deep drag of the cigarette. The harsh smoke filled his lungs, bringing with it a strange sense of calm.
The cracks on his Soul Gem spread wildly, the corruption nearly swallowing the last speck of light. But the final traces of confusion and exhaustion in his eyes were washed away by the smoke.
In their place was an ice-cold, bone-deep resolve.
"It ends here, you bastards!!!!"