Chapter 55: The Corridor of Despair, Where Stars Fall
The merged Witch Labyrinth of Kogoro and Ran.
This was a graveyard of logic, a purgatory of emotion.
Vodka's consciousness began to blur. He was trapped in a turbulent vortex of countless spinning mahjong tiles. Each tile was carved with a distorted human face, whispering garbled accusations and taunts.
"Look! The useless one!"
"Trash…"
"Just Gin's lackey…"
"Can't do anything right, only screws things up…"
"The idiot who fell for Kir's little trick…"
"He's more of a hindrance than a help…"
"He'll answer any question you ask… maybe this guy's a mole, leaking intel on purpose…"
The voices seemed to drill directly into his mind, resonating with his deeply hidden insecurities and fears. He swung his thick, magic-wielding arms, trying to smash the tiles to pieces. But the tiles would just shatter and reform, reform and shatter, endlessly.
His magic was draining rapidly. The grey light of his Soul Gem had dimmed to its absolute limit, and it was covered in cracks.
Suddenly, the ground beneath him gave way.
He plunged downward again, landing in a giant glass filled with murky, cheap whiskey. The acrid liquid instantly submerged him, its corrosive properties eating away at his magical barrier and his transformed maid outfit. More terrifying was the will contained within the alcohol—a despair that reveled in drunkenness, escaped from reality, and abandoned all hope.
"Aniki… help me…" he instinctively cried out, but the sound was choked off by the liquid, turning into gurgling bubbles.
His vision was stained a filthy yellow. He saw Aniki—Gin—on the "shore" not far away, his ankles tangled in countless losing horse-racing tickets, struggling to break free.
Aniki… looks like he can't even save himself.
Vodka's heart sank completely. For as long as he could remember, he had followed Aniki. He carried out orders, handled menial tasks. Though he was clumsy at times, he never doubted the greatness of the Organization, nor the strength of his Aniki.
But now… Aniki was trapped too.
Are we… all going to die here? Killed by… this ridiculous nonsense?
He didn't want to accept it. But a greater feeling of terror washed over him—fear of death, fear of this incomprehensible chaos.
The whiskey's corrosive power intensified. His magical barrier finally shattered completely. The cold, filthy liquid rushed into his mouth and nose, carrying Kogoro Mouri's will of regret and self-loathing, washing away the last of his consciousness.
His Soul Gem let out a final, mournful cry.
Crack.
The grey gem shattered into pieces.
Vodka's body dissolved silently in the murky liquid, disappearing completely. He didn't even leave a proper corpse behind, only a layer of grey, filthy sediment at the bottom of the glass.
…
"Vodka!"
Gin sensed Vodka's magic vanish completely, and his silver pupils constricted. He kicked away the entangling race tickets, all of them losers, radiating an aura of regret, of "almost winning."
But Vodka's presence… was truly gone.
His subordinate—loyal and dedicated, yet always in need of guidance—was dead. Swallowed by this absurd Labyrinth.
A flicker of annoyance, so faint he might not have noticed it himself, crossed his mind before being buried under a deeper layer of ice.
These were necessary sacrifices. For the Organization's grand design. For the Boss's ultimate wish.
He looked up toward the heart of the Labyrinth. There, the auras of the two Witches, Kogoro and Ran, were intertwined, forming an even larger, more chaotic entity.
I have to escape this place. Now! The Boss's mission isn't finished. How can I let it end here?!
Just as he prepared to gather his power, the scenery shifted once more.
Countless doors swung open simultaneously. Behind them were no longer scenes of the detective agency, but of courtrooms. Vague figures of lawyers stood there, staring at him with empty eyes.
A storm of orchid petals flew at him from all directions, carrying the chill of broken promises. At the same time, the ground split open, and countless arms wearing karate guards shot out, grabbing at his body.
Protection and destruction. Justice and chaos. Two completely opposing forces, now twisted together and aimed at him, the intruder.
Gin swung his magic gun, blasts of blue light tearing through the petals and shattering the arms. But the attacks were endless. Every counterattack he mounted only triggered a more ferocious assault. The corruption on his Soul Gem grew heavier. He could feel his power being absorbed and converted by the Labyrinth in some incomprehensible way.
"Boss… the Organization's Purge… has already begun."
"My mission… I suppose it's complete."
"It's just… a shame I won't see the final… new world."
"So be it."
"Eliminate all obstacles… even if that… includes myself."
Suddenly, he froze.
A slender hand in a white lace glove was resting gently on his chest. The owner of the hand was a figure as hazy as mist, recognizable only as the silhouette of a woman in a magnificent dress and a wide-brimmed hat.
Her aura… was familiar.
Vermouth?! No. It was more like… a phantom… twisted by Ran's despair?
The hand on his chest exerted no physical force. Instead, it was an indescribable will, filled with extreme sorrow and mockery.
"A secret makes a woman, woman…" a hollow, mournful voice echoed directly in his mind. "But your secrets, Gin… what's left of them, besides coldness and death?"
Gin's pupils contracted violently. This wasn't an attack. It was something far deeper… an erosion of his soul.
He felt his iron will, which he had maintained for so long, begin to crumble under this sorrowful, mocking power. Fragments of memories he had intentionally forgotten—flickers of his own past, or perhaps false memories created by the Witch—surfaced in his mind.
At that same moment, his magic spun out of control.
BOOM—!!!!
The cerulean energy in his hand detonated. The backlash of his own power instantly consumed him.
"GUUAAAAHH—!!!"
Excruciating pain shot through his body. Under the force of the wild energy, his Soul Gem, like glass struck by a sledgehammer, was instantly covered in cracks.
Darkness devoured him completely.
In the last moment before his consciousness faded, he thought he saw the blurry outline of the Boss. But it was probably… just another illusion created by the Labyrinth.
"Damned… Witches…"
That was his final thought.
The silver-haired assassin, along with his iconic magic gun, was incinerated in the blue flames, turning to ash. All that remained was a single, shattered blue fragment, which fell into the messy pile of case files and was quickly buried.