While Seoki was being surrounded by the bounty hunters, the wall behind them suddenly exploded over their heads—BOOM! Smoke and debris burst outward, filling the entire room. He snapped his glasses down onto his face and had the digital angel clear the haze from his vision. As the smoke thinned, the silhouette of a bald man walked closer. Stepping through the drifting cloud, the familiar face of the ramen chef was revealed.
"Hey now! sorry I'm late, kid."
"Old man Kozo?! How the hell?" Seoki blurted out.
"Seto paid me to back you up. Figured you might need someone watching your six. Now go get her. I'll hold things here."
Seoki nodded and immediately sprinted toward the rooftop. When he reached the top, he saw the girl staggering as she climbed onto a massive LED billboard, Yurei's image flashing across it as she stared down at the thousands of people below.
"Kurayami-chan!"
Hearing his voice, she turned back and let out a long breath.
"So you finally made it, Seoki. Don't worry—Yurei already buried Kurayami. I'm uploading the virus into the system right now. Soon I'll be free of this rotting body and find a way into the satellite network. Once that happens, I'll be able to access every network on the planet."
Yurei looked down at the crowd below—people now completely under her control, reduced to nothing more than her puppets. Those who had their glasses removed were seized and forced to wear them again.
"And then I'll create a new world. A world where no child has to suffer… like we did."
Amid the lingering smoke in the parking lot, Oni slammed his fist against his twisted torso, forcing himself back upright—though he wouldn't be able to hold this state for long. Seeing Oni rise with his body warped out of shape, Seto unloaded his gun at him. Oni raised his left arm to shield his chest.
Bang! Bang!
Firing one-handed made Seto's aim shake, the shots easily going wide.
"No wonder all that money you made went into rebuilding yourself," Seto spat.
Oni hunched forward and stepped through the smoke to face him again.
"I don't… regret it. Letting you live back then—when Bito's son died."
Crack! Oni tore off his damaged mechanical right arm and let it fall—it was useless now.
"Now it's even. You and me. So if you've still got it in you—come on! Hitorishi!"
Exhausted, Seto forced himself back up, only to be slashed across the chest and have the pistol kicked from his hand. He stumbled backward, lost his footing, and fell.
'I know fighting a monster like this is pointless,' he thought. 'But if there's even a path that lets my peeps keep moving forward… then this is the only one.' Despite the fresh wound carved into him, Seto smiled faintly and asked the question that had been eating at him.
"Hey—do you even have a heart under that mask? Ever fought for somebody?"
"Of course," Oni replied, stepping closer. "I'm still fighting now. For everyone's freedom."
"Funny as hell," Seto scoffed. "Look at what you've done to that little girl. To all those people. And you still call it freedom—when you're the one who can't let go of the past or move on."
As he spoke, Seto caught sight of Oni's gun lying two meters away.
"That girl was just collateral damage. And I never expected things to spiral this far," Oni said, locking eyes with him.
"Heh," Seto muttered. "'nough talk. I don't wanna be home late."
"Too bad. Only one of us gets to," Oni sighed. "hmm~ Let's end this." As Oni raised his katana for the final strike—
"Hah. Finally speaking the same language. Come!" Seto rolled forward and slammed his fist into Oni's wounded knee. Oni lost balance, and Seto followed up with a double kick that sent him crashing onto his back. Oni rolled away and reached for Seto's fallen pistol. Using that moment, Seto spun and rolled toward Oni's own handgun instead.
"You chose the wrong path, Seto," Oni said coldly. "Look at everything you've lost. Not so different from me, are you? Your old man would be real disappointed—seeing his son die like a dog."
"Yeah," Seto replied. "My dad was just a murderer. My sister's a vegetable. My life's been one giant shitshow—right?" He crawled closer to Oni's gun while Oni turned away to grab Seto's.
"If there'd never been yakuza," Oni said, lifting Seto's pistol, "maybe we'd be drinking together right now. You're damn good at surviving. I'll give you that."
Seto nodded, the faces of Seoki, Kurayami, and everyone who had walked alongside him flashing through his mind. "You're goddamn right." He grabbed Oni's gun and aimed straight at the giant's heart. At the same time, Oni cocked the hammer and leveled the muzzle at Seto's head.
Then— Click.
Bang!
The gunshots rang out at the same instant, and when the echoes faded, only silence remained.