Chapter 65: "Goodbye, Ran."
WHOOSH—!!!
A brilliant blue beam of light tore through the atmosphere, striking the massive body of the Walpurgisnacht head-on.
There was no earth-shattering explosion. Only a moment of absolute silence.
Then, the colossal, twisted form of the Walpurgisnacht was silently pierced through its core.
It disintegrated. Annihilated.
The congregation of despair couldn't even mount a proper resistance against Conan's single attack. It was completely erased before it could even let out a final wail.
One strike. Just one. A calamity that could have devoured continents was wiped from existence.
Conan didn't stop. Blue lightning streaked across the sky above the ruins of Tokyo. His right foot kicked out again and again with ferocious power.
FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH! FWOOSH!
Beams of destructive energy, shaped like soccer balls, shot out in all directions with pinpoint accuracy. The remaining Witches that hadn't yet joined the collective were instantly vaporized. In the city's shadows, the last remnants of the Black Organization's strongholds and personnel were turned to ash.
And… there were others.
The mobs of people who had been waving their weapons, who had just impaled an innocent girl's head on a spike and were laughing maniacally. The "revelers" who were surrounding corpses, desecrating and feasting upon them. The former "ordinary people" whose faces were smeared with blood, their eyes holding nothing but a twisted pleasure.
The beams of light fell upon them, unerringly precise. Before a scream could even escape their lips, the figures lost in their atrocities were blasted into nothingness. Not even a trace of their sins remained.
Conan's eyes were ice-cold. But beneath that ice was the searing brand of a soul on fire. To let them die in an instant, while also giving the survivors whose consciences were not yet dead… a chance to live.
This was his final act of mercy before he was completely twisted by his own power.
His attacks avoided the survivors who were huddled in corners, trembling in fear. They also avoided those who had been forced to go along with the mob. He only targeted the "demons" who had participated in the witch hunt.
Wait for… the law? For… judgment, after society was rebuilt?
Order had already collapsed, and reconstruction was a distant dream. Even if order was restored one day, these people would escape justice, using the world's drastically reduced population and a thousand other excuses. He couldn't accept that. His power of truth had seen into their hearts; their atrocities were laid bare before him. He had watched with his own eyes how Ran, the Doctor, the children… were slaughtered by fanatics just like them.
Since he had already crossed that line… since these hands were already destined to be stained with sin… then this scum, worse than any demon, did not deserve to live.
Shinichi Kudo… the "just" detective who pursued the truth… was already dead. He died the moment his friends were mercilessly slaughtered by civilians. He died the moment Ran's body was dragged away and dismembered.
The one standing here now was just a person of flesh and blood. He could be hurt, and he could feel pain. Therefore, he could not tolerate it. He could not tolerate these hyenas who wore the cloak of "justice" but acted more despicably than any demon.
The one standing here now was just a revenger, burdened by sin and about to fall into the abyss. A murderer. An executioner.
There was only one direction he did not attack. An isolated island, deep in the Pacific Ocean, where Karasuma Renya resided.
That place, he would go to himself.
…
Having done all this, Conan's figure descended back to the ground. He could feel the corruption in his Soul Gem had reached a critically dangerous level. Beneath the constant thrum of rage and madness, only a final sliver of clarity remained.
He looked at the others, who were helping each other up, slowly recovering from the shock.
He looked at her. And she was looking at him.
"Conan… no, Shinichi…" Ran's voice trembled uncontrollably. She took a step forward, tears streaming down her face. She looked at the gem on his chest. It was on the verge of shattering, almost completely black. The premonition that he was about to leave again seized her heart.
He had lied to her. A colossal lie. But he had also used himself to pull her back from the edge of hell. He had brought back her father, her mother, Sonoko… everyone. He had shattered the illusion she had been waiting for, but in its place, he had given her back her real world, at the cost of his own eternal destruction.
What was this?
"Where… are you going?" she asked, her voice breaking. "Are you going to… lie to me again, like you always did… say you'll be 'right back,' and then… just leave me again?"
Conan's mouth twitched into a stiff line. He wanted to give her a reassuring smile, a confident smile like he used to. He wanted to pretend everything was under control. But the muscles in his face no longer obeyed him. All he could manage was an expression that was uglier than crying.
"Ah…" A dry sound was caught in his throat. How could he explain? It was impossible. There was no time. The final threat was now himself. He had to… get away from Ran. He had to… carry out the final judgment.
"There's one last threat that needs to be dealt with," he said. He glanced over the crowd, his gaze finally settling on a point in the far distance, as if piercing through space itself. "The one who's been hiding behind the scenes, who dragged the entire world into the abyss for the sake of his own grand ambition… Karasuma Renya."
He didn't mention Kyubey. He had already missed his chance; there was no point.
His voice was strangely calm, but beneath that calm was a resolve that would burn his very soul.
"Don't worry. I can already 'see' where he is. It will be over soon."
Soon, I will be gone.
"But, Shinichi…" Ran stepped forward, her eyes brimming with tears. She just wanted to hold on to the person in front of her. "Your condition, you can't possibly…"
She reached out her hand, wanting to touch the ominous gem, wanting to confirm that he was real.
Conan took an imperceptible step back, avoiding her touch. He didn't want to defile her. But that small movement made Ran's heart plummet.
"To bring you all back, I've already paid the necessary price," Conan said, lowering his gaze, not daring to look at the hurt in her eyes. He was afraid to see the disappointment that might appear in her eyes, in everyone's eyes. These people had fought alongside him. They had pursued truth and justice together. If they knew his final wish had included the option of "destruction," what kind of expressions would they wear? He had protected them, but in their hearts, he may have destroyed "Shinichi Kudo."
He took a deep breath, swallowing the bitterness in his throat, and looked up. For one last time, he etched the faces of everyone before him into the deepest part of his soul. He greedily memorized every detail. Ran's tearful eyes. Haibara's worried face. The Doctor's anxious expression. Sonoko and Makoto's clasped hands. Sato and Takagi's huddled forms. Vermouth's concern… all the people he had brought back. These were the treasures he had traded everything for.
At least, that island was far enough away. Far enough from Ran and the others. After destroying the Walpurgisnacht and preventing it from merging with him, preventing his own evolution into the ultimate Witch… that distance was enough. Enough to last until the "turning point" he had vaguely foreseen arrived.
And…
Conan's eyes suddenly turned cold and crazed. A black fire danced within the deep blue gem. Although he had missed his one chance to fight Kyubey… Karasuma Renya… After absorbing so much pain and distortion, that name was now seared into his heart.
He dragged the world into hell for his own ambition. He turned Beika into ruins. He turned laughter into screams. He turned hope into despair. He made Ran—the girl he cherished most—suffer such pain and death, and even after death, her body was not allowed to rest in peace.
Just kick him to death? Erase him like trash?
No. How could that be possible? How could that be allowed?!
Rage boiled in his chest. Regret pierced his nerves. He would make Karasuma Renya feel ten thousand times the pain he was feeling right now. He would make him die in endless terror and regret. He would make him regret being born into this world. He would make him regret every sin he had ever committed.
This had nothing to do with justice. This was simply revenge. This was the most absolute curse a soul about to fall into the abyss could cast upon a devil already deep in hell.
He closed his eyes, forcibly suppressing the darkness churning within him. When he opened them again, they held only a resolve cold enough to freeze everything.
"Goodbye, Ran."
With that, Conan turned, without a shred of hesitation. His blue figure shot into the sky like a meteor, racing toward the distant Pacific island, a resolute silhouette that left all sorrow and reluctance behind. The dark secret he carried was left behind as well.
On the ground, the others wanted to stop him, but they could only watch as the streak of light—which once symbolized hope, and now symbolized destruction—vanished over the horizon.
Ran reached out a hand, tears falling silently.
"Shinichi…"
…
At the same time, as the hidden Black Organization bases and Witches across the globe were annihilated, alarms blared almost simultaneously. One by one, signals on screens vanished, signifying the complete destruction of the strongholds and Labyrinths.
Deep in the Pacific, inside the island fortress that was a fusion of high technology and luxury, Karasuma Renya, who had been sitting calmly before his monitors, showed an expression of panic for the first time on his ancient face.
And in the shadows, Kyubey simply watched it all happen, awaiting its impending harvest, and the arrival of its… observation subject.