The body of Miyamoto Yumi in his arms was still trembling slightly, not from fear, but from the aftershocks of some intense emotional release, and a deeper reverence and dependence on Kanjuro's power. Kanjuro gently patted her back, a movement that seemed gentle but actually carried an unquestionable sense of control.
"It's alright, it's all over." His voice was low, sounding in her ear with a strange soothing power, but it also seemed to be finalizing her recent actions, rationalizing and justifying them. "He wanted to hurt me, and you protected me. You did the right thing."
Yumi looked up in his arms, her gaze still somewhat scattered, but it was quickly covered by her obsession with Kanjuro. She nodded vigorously, as if wanting to completely banish Hideyoshi's despairing face and that blood-stained fruit knife from her mind, leaving only Kanjuro's figure. "Mm... for Lord Kanjuro, I am willing to do anything."
Kanjuro smiled with satisfaction, holding her, not even looking at the gradually cooling corpse on the ground. He reached out his empty hand, palm up, and a wisp of dark flame that seemed able to absorb all light appeared out of thin air, dancing silently and emitting an ominous and cold aura—this was a manifestation of the dark bible's power, a twisted combination of destruction and Purify.
He tossed it casually, and that wisp of black flame landed lightly on Akai Hideyoshi's corpse.
There was no earth-shattering explosion, no billowing smoke. The flame, as if possessed of life, rapidly spread across the entire corpse. Wherever it passed, all matter—clothing, skin, bone—silently decomposed and dissipated as if thrown into an entry to the void, leaving no trace of ash, not even igniting the carpet. In just a few short breaths, the last traces of Akai Hideyoshi's existence were completely erased, as if he had never appeared in this room. Only a faint, non-existent smell of scorching in the air proves that everything that had just happened was not a hallucination.
After dealing with the "trouble," Kanjuro lowered his head and spoke softly to Yumi: "We should go. This isn't a place to stay for long." His tone was as natural as if he had just thrown away a bag of trash.
Yumi snuggled against him obediently, letting him wrap his arm around her waist as they walked out of the hotel suite where the tragic "patricide" had just occurred. Her steps were even a bit light, as if she had shed a heavy burden, completely immersed in her blind following and twisted love for Kanjuro.
Kanjuro's goal was clear—Akai Mary's residence.
He wasn't in a hurry to hide his tracks; instead, he acted as if he were going to an appointment. He enjoyed the process of personally uncovering the cruel truth and watching the other party collapse in despair; it brought him more pleasure than simple slaughter.
Arriving at the door of Akai Mary's home, Kanjuro didn't even knock. He simply reached out a finger and tapped the lock lightly. A faint sound of mechanical damage came from inside the seemingly sturdy lock, and the door swung open.
In the living room, Akai Mary was sitting on the sofa, feeling uneasy. Ever since Hideyoshi had rushed out frantically, her heart had been hanging in mid-air, a strong sense of foreboding looming over her like a dark cloud. When the door opened without warning and she saw Kanjuro standing there with his arm around Miyamoto Yumi, her heart suddenly constricted!
Especially when she saw the spots of blood on Yumi's light-colored clothing that hadn't been wiped clean in time, looking particularly eye-catching, and the expression on Yumi's face—a mixture of laziness, dependence, and a strange excitement—Mary's blood almost froze instantly!
She stood up abruptly, her voice shrill with extreme fear: "Kanjuro! You... what did you do to Hideyoshi?! What's with the blood on Yumi?!"
Kanjuro didn't answer immediately. He held Yumi and walked into the living room as leisurely as a master, closing the door behind him. His calm gaze swept over Mary's pale and terrified face, and the corners of his mouth curled into a cruel arc.
"Mary, why so nervous?" His tone carried a hint of playfulness. "I came to tell you some 'good news'."
He paused deliberately, admiring Mary's chest heaving violently from fear.
"Your son, Akai Hideyoshi," Kanjuro's voice was clear and cold, every word hitting Mary's heart like an icicle, "tried to kill me just now. Unfortunately, he failed."
Mary's body swayed, nearly losing her footing. She asked in a trembling voice, "He... where is he now?!"
Kanjuro smiled slightly, a smile that looked like a demon's grin in Mary's eyes. He gently nudged Yumi beside him, signaling her to speak.
Miyamoto Yumi looked up at Akai Mary. There was no trace of guilt in her eyes; instead, with a tone that sounded almost like she was reporting an achievement, she said clearly:
"Ms. Mary, Hideyoshi... he tried to kill Lord Kanjuro with a gun just now. To protect Lord Kanjuro, I had no choice but to... stop him."
She paused, as if savoring the "feat" of that moment, and then added with a tone that carried a hint of twisted relief,
"But you don't have to worry. Lord Kanjuro has already handled the aftermath. It's very 'clean,' and no one will find any trouble."
"St... stopped?" Mary's voice was shattered. She looked at the obvious bloodstains on Yumi, and a terrifying realization made her feel as if she had fallen into an ice cellar. "You... how did you 'stop' him?!"
Yumi didn't answer directly, but her silence and her subconscious action of touching the bloodstain on the corner of her clothes explained everything.
"No—!!!" Akai Mary let out a piercing wail, her entire body losing all strength as she slumped to the floor. She clutched her chest tightly with both hands, as if she were enduring a tearing pain. Hideyoshi... the child she had watched grow up, whom she had long regarded as her own even without a blood relation... had actually... actually died at the hands of the man her birth mother (herself) had submitted to, and perhaps even by the hands of his former girlfriend... This massive, absurd, and horrific blow instantly crushed all her strength and reason.
Kanjuro looked at Akai Mary, who was collapsed on the floor, weeping and looking ten years older in an instant. There was no pity in his eyes, only a sense of satisfaction akin to artistic appreciation. He slowly walked up to her, knelt down, and lifted her tear-stained face with his hand.
"Look, Mary," his voice was terrifyingly gentle, "this is the consequence of resisting me. This is the pain that 'attachment' brings. Now, you should better understand that complete obedience to me is the only 'way out,' isn't it?"
Akai Mary raised her hollow, desperate eyes, looking at Kanjuro who was inches away, looking at his eyes that controlled everything and disregarded life, and then at Yumi, who was clinging to Kanjuro as if brainwashed... All her struggles, all her hopes, were completely crushed at this moment.
She closed her eyes, and tears fell silently. But this time, it was no longer pure sadness; instead, it was mixed with a twisted sense of relief, as if she had found a home. She reached out and hugged Kanjuro back, burying her face deep in his chest, as if she wanted to completely merge herself into this dangerous "warmth."
She nodded gently and let out a barely audible hum:
"...Mhm."
Kanjuro felt the woman's submission in his arms, and a deep, dark smile curled at the corners of his mouth. He had successfully taken another pawn flowing with his own bloodline and held it firmly in his hand in the most twisted way. With this, the Akai Family had almost entirely fallen into his palm. On the path to finding Miyano Elena, another potential obstacle was removed and another usable "resource" was added. Under Kanjuro's suffocating embrace and absolute power suppression, the last trace of resistance in Akai Mary's will completely collapsed. The tragic death of her son (regardless of whether he was biological, years of upbringing had long made it unforgettable), Yumi's betrayal, and her own inescapable sinking made her realize that any concealment or resistance was meaningless and would only bring deeper destruction.
When Kanjuro's low and unquestionable voice sounded in her ear—"Now, can you tell me the whereabouts of Miyano Elena?"—Mary's body trembled imperceptibly, but in the end, she just resignedly buried her head deeper in his chest, as if she could draw a trace of false courage from this dangerous snuggle.
She was silent for a moment, as if organizing distant and chaotic memories, and then spoke slowly in a raspy voice filled with exhaustion and hollowness:
"Elena... she might... still be alive..."
These words caused Kanjuro's eyes to flicker slightly. He tightened his arm around her, signaling her to continue.
"Back then, when the Organization purged her and Atsushi... that fire..." A complex light flashed in Mary's eyes—fear of the past, but also a hint of admiration for that clever and resilient woman. "We all thought she was dead for sure. But... she escaped. Under the Organization's tight pursuit net, she miraculously found... Tsutomu, who was deeply investigating the Organization at the time."
At the mention of Akai Tsutomu's name, her voice carried a hint of imperceptible choking and bitterness.
"They... were actually distant relatives. They had an extremely thin, almost unknown cousin relationship. Perhaps it was this weak blood bond that made Elena think of him in her desperation." Mary continued her narration, her tone becoming calmer as if she were telling a story that had nothing to do with her. "Tsutomu... although he was FBI, he had his own principles and sense of justice. He couldn't leave Elena, who was being hunted by the Organization and had a distant relationship with him, to die. So, he took a huge risk, temporarily took her in, and hid her in an absolutely safe place."
She looked up at Kanjuro, her eyes hollow: "But... the good times didn't last. A few days later, Tsutomu... was exposed during an operation against the Organization and eventually... died in the line of duty."
Akai Tsutomu's death cut off Miyano Elena's greatest protection. The Organization's power was pervasive; she had to flee again.
"After Tsutomu died, Elena lost her greatest support. There weren't many places she could go; the Organization's pursuit of her never stopped." Mary paused, as if recalling a specific location. "I remember... she once mentioned a place to me by chance. It was a place she and Atsushi went to in their early years, before everything happened and when they were still doing pure scientific research, to vacation and conduct some secret experiments... a Cabin in the woods. It's very remote, very few people know about it, and even the Organization might not have a record of it."
Her voice grew lower, carrying a sense of certainty:
"If she's still alive, if she needs an absolutely quiet, undisturbed place to continue her research... I think that's the only place she could go, and the most likely place she would be."
"Research?" Kanjuro keenly caught the word.
Mary nodded and confirmed: "Yes, research. She has been trying to... perfect APTX4869, or rather, research its... antidote. This is her lifelong obsession, and her... redemption for the past."
She finally revealed the most critical information—Miyano Elena's possible hiding place and her ongoing research on the APTX4869 antidote.
Kanjuro listened quietly, no expression on his face, but in those deep eyes, dark whirlpools seemed to be spinning faster. A Cabin in the woods... the antidote for APTX4869... Miyano Elena was indeed still alive and held core secrets that might be closely related to Ai Haibara (Shiho Miyano).
He gently stroked Mary's hair, his movements still gentle but carrying a chilling sense of control.
"Very good, Mary. You made the right choice." His voice was like a demon's whisper. "It seems our next destination is very clear."
He let go of Mary, stood up, and looked out the window toward the distant forest, symbolizing the unknown and possibilities. The long journey to find Miyano Elena finally seemed to have a clear finish line. And the end of this line concerned not only the whereabouts of a missing woman but also the core secrets of APTX4869 and the ultimate fate of the tea-haired girl (Ai Haibara) beside him.
Akai Mary slumped on the floor, looking at Kanjuro's tall and dangerous back, knowing she had pushed an old friend who might still be alive into this demon's sight. A huge sense of guilt and total helplessness overwhelmed her, but there was no turning back. She, and everything she knew, had become stepping stones on Kanjuro's dark journey.
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