Almost at the same time his voice fell—
"Bang! Bang!"
Two muffled but powerful gunshots, specially silenced, rang out almost simultaneously from different directions on the high ground!
Clear targets—the center of Kanjuro's forehead, and Ran's heart!
At the moment Shinichi Kudo pulled the trigger, Ran's defenseless profile was clearly reflected in the sniper scope, the moonlight outlining her familiar silhouette. In that moment, time seemed to stretch, and countless fragments of memories flooded his mind... but he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to suppress all emotions, and steadily pulled the trigger. The bullet left the barrel, carrying all his pain, anger, and resolve, shooting toward the position where the girl he once swore to protect now stood.
However, the scene that followed made the blood of all observers, including the Kudo father and son, nearly freeze.
Facing the whistling special armor-piercing bullets, Kanjuro didn't even blink.
The bullet fired at him, upon entering the invisible "field" around him, suddenly slowed down as if it had entered an extremely viscous gel. The bullet head spun violently, creating visible fine blue electric sparks as it rubbed against the invisible force field, emitting a sharp hum. Finally, at a distance of less than ten centimeters from his forehead, the bullet completely lost all kinetic energy, suspended for a moment, and then fell lightly to the ground with a "clink," the bullet head severely deformed.
And the bullet fired at Ran, seeing it was about to hit—
Ran didn't even make a large dodging movement. In that split second, she merely turned her body slightly, while simultaneously raising her right hand at a speed difficult for the naked eye to discern, pressing two fingers together, and at the instant the bullet was about to touch her body, she precisely... caught the bullet head!
Yes, with two fingers, she caught a special armor-piercing bullet flying at supersonic speed, capable of penetrating light armor!
The bullet spun and rubbed futilely between her fingers, emitting a piercing screech, but it could not advance another inch! Her fingers were as steady as iron pincers, without even a hint of a tremor. Under the cold moonlight, she held that hot, deformed bullet head and slowly turned her head, her purple eyes precisely locking onto the sniper position where Shinichi Kudo was.
In that gaze, there was no surprise, no anger, not even a ripple. There was only total coldness and a hint of... faint indifference, as if looking at an overconfident insect.
Through the sniper scope, Shinichi Kudo met those cold purple eyes directly. In an instant, he felt as if struck by lightning, his whole body cold, the sniper rifle nearly slipping from his hands. That gaze completely shattered the last bit of hope in his heart. There was no lingering warmth, no painful struggle, only the pure indifference of a dark creation belonging to Kanjuro.
"Shinichi, watch out!" Kudo Yusaku's alarm came through the communicator.
But it was too late.
With a flick of Ran's wrist, the deformed bullet head she was holding was reflected back along its original path at a speed and precision even more terrifying than when it came!
"Puchi!"
The bulletproof glass at Shinichi Kudo's sniper position shattered, and the bullet head flew past his cheek, drawing a trail of blood, and embedded itself deep into the concrete wall behind him, shaking loose a cloud of dust. The searing airwave and the brush with death instantly soaked him in cold sweat, leaving him frozen in place.
Only then did Kanjuro slowly speak, his voice not loud but clearly echoing through the broken glass in the now silent hall and the floors above:
"A decent attempt, Mr. Kudo, and... Shinichi Kudo-kun."
He looked up, his gaze seemingly penetrating the obstacles, staring directly at the pale father and son behind the sniper position.
"You thought you could challenge me and my daughters with these toys?" He shook his head, as if lamenting the naivety of children. "It seems you still know nothing about the power of my 'creations'."
"Now," Kanjuro's tone remained calm, yet carried the unmistakable weight of a sentence, "it is our turn to respond."
"Ran, Akako. Go 'invite' our guests down. Remember... be gentle, after all, they are 'old friends'."
A cold glint flashed in Ran Mouri's eyes, and her figure instantly vanished from the spot, transforming into a black lightning bolt that sped up the vertical wall, heading straight for the floor where Shinichi Kudo was! Koizumi Akako, meanwhile, chuckled softly. A dark-red magic array lit up beneath her feet, lifting her slowly as she floated toward Kudo Yusaku's direction, her robe blossoming like a blood-colored flower under the moonlight.
The final assault and capture had begun. Faced with an absolute power disparity, the sniping and struggling of the Kudo father and son appeared utterly pale and hopeless. Kanjuro remained standing where he was, as if everything was under control, waiting for the "trophies" to be brought before him. Kanjuro's instruction to "be gentle" echoed in the silent hall, yet it was more chilling than any roar. It was not leniency, but the playful mockery of a cat with a mouse, the indifferent stripping of the vanquished's last shred of dignity by the victor.
Ran Mouri moved.
Without relying on any tools, she pushed off the smooth marble floor with both feet, her figure shooting toward the second-floor sniping corridor where Shinichi Kudo was, like a black arrow freed from the restraints of gravity. The vertical wall seemed like flat ground beneath her feet. She dashed across the near-vertical surface with speed far exceeding human limits and incredible coordination. With every light tap of her toe, the wall silently indented with a fine, spiderweb-like pattern of cracks—a demonstration of extreme power concentration and meticulous control. This was no longer merely the Qigong or martial arts of Karate, but contained a more fundamental mastery over matter and energy, stemming from deep within her bloodline.
Shinichi Kudo had just barely steadied himself from the shock of the bullet grazing his face when he saw that familiar, yet coldly alien, black figure approaching like a low-flying grim reaper! He instinctively wanted to raise his gun, but his arms felt heavy as lead. The intense conflict between the lingering emotions in his heart and the reality before his eyes slowed his movements by a fatal beat.
"Ran..." he croaked out a single word, trying to awaken something.
His response was Ran Mouri's unperturbed purple eyes, and a side kick so fast it was only a blur!
This kick, seemingly the most basic move in Karate, was executed by her with an air-tearing shriek and visible, faint black ripples of energy! It was a manifestation of pure power combined with a corrosive energy, subtly sharing the same origin as Kanjuro's rule-defying "Domain."
Shinichi Kudo raised his gun to block, but the instant the rifle met the side kick, he felt as if he had been struck head-on by a speeding train! The special alloy barrel of the sniper rifle groaned under the stress and instantly bent and warped! Terrifying force transferred through the gun into his arms, his bones producing a grating, sickening crunch. Intense pain surged through him, and he was sent flying backward uncontrollably, crashing heavily into the concrete load-bearing column behind him. His internal organs churned violently, and he spat out a mouthful of blood as the sniper rifle flew from his grasp and clattered onto the floor.
He slumped against the base of the wall, his vision blurred, watching Ran Mouri land lightly and walk toward him step by step. Her footsteps were soft, but in the dead silence of the corridor, each one felt like a stomp on his heart. Moonlight streamed through the broken glass, illuminating her beautiful yet cold face. Her eyes held no joy of victory, nor any reluctance toward her childhood friend; only the absolute focus of completing a task, and a trace of... inhuman indifference belonging to a creation of Kanjuro's bloodline. It was as if he were merely an "item" to be collected, rather than a "person" with whom she once shared a bond.
"Why... did it turn out like this..." Shinichi Kudo asked with difficulty, coughing up blood. It wasn't a question, but more a desperate whisper.
Ran Mouri stopped in front of him, looking down at him. After a few seconds of silence, she replied in a tone so flat it was chilling: "Because I found true belonging and power. What Father gives is eternal." In her words, the address "Father" (referring to Kanjuro) was perfectly natural, carrying an unquestionable sense of allegiance.
She leaned down, her movements not gentle, but incredibly precise as she dislocated every joint on Shinichi Kudo's body that might conceal a weapon or tool. Then, she used a pair of specialized alloy handcuffs, emitting faint energy fluctuations, to shackle his hands behind his back. Throughout the entire process, Shinichi Kudo was powerless to resist. It wasn't that he didn't want to, but his body had temporarily lost most mobility from the heavy kick, and mentally, facing the completely "alien" Ran, his last bit of fighting spirit quickly dissolved.
On the other side, Kudo Yusaku's situation was equally desperate, yet carried a strange kind of "elegance."
Koizumi Akako did not violently rush forward like Ran. She merely stepped lightly on the air with bare feet (having removed her shoes at some unknown point), and circles of dark-red, water-like magic ripples spread out beneath her, slowly lifting her as she floated toward the third-floor corridor where Kudo Yusaku was. Her dark-red robe billowed without wind, like an enchanting flower blooming in the night.
Kudo Yusaku's expression was extremely serious. In his hand, he held not a firearm, but a specialized electromagnetic pulse generator, and several high-explosive grenades designed to target energy bodies—a contingency he had prepared based on limited intelligence, theoretically capable of interfering with "anomalous energy."
However, when Koizumi Akako approached within a certain range, he realized he had made a fundamental mistake.
He pressed the button on the electromagnetic pulse generator. The powerful pulse, enough to instantly cripple nearby electronic devices, silently spread, but it had no effect on the approaching Koizumi Akako. The layer of dark-red magical radiance surrounding her merely rippled slightly, like a stone dropped into a deep pool, before immediately returning to calm.
"An interesting toy," Koizumi Akako said, her red lips slightly parted, her voice carrying a seductive laziness. "But trying to shake the ocean of magic with a ripple of technology?" She shook her head gently, and the ruby on her fingertip flashed.
The high-explosive grenade Kudo Yusaku immediately threw, the moment it left his hand, seemed to be controlled by invisible threads. Its trajectory twisted strangely, and instead of flying toward Akako, it flew back at an even faster speed, spinning harmlessly at his feet, the fuse light already extinguished, rendering it completely innocuous.
"Controlling the basic flow of energy and matter is the foundation of Scarlet Magic, and also... a slight affinity for the world's underlying rules granted by Father's bloodline." Koizumi Akako explained softly, as if teaching an introductory lesson, but the content of her words made Kudo Yusaku's heart turn cold. She referred to Kanjuro as "Father," with the exact same naturalness as Ran!
Kudo Yusaku made a decisive choice, abandoning all weapons and turning to run toward the emergency passage leading to the core command room, where the last physical isolation door was located.
Koizumi Akako did not pursue. She merely watched his retreating figure with interest, then extended a finger and lightly traced a line in the air toward the passage ahead of Kudo Yusaku.
"Zzzzzzt—!"
In the air, a dark-red Magical Blade, burning with unquenchable flame, appeared out of nowhere and slashed horizontally! It did not strike Kudo Yusaku's body, but cut across the space between the floor and the ceiling not far in front of him.
The sturdy composite building material was silently melted and sliced open by the Magical Blade like hot butter, leaving a deep chasm whose edges glowed with dark-red embers. The chasm blocked the path forward, and even more terrifyingly, the residual magic within it formed a scorching energy barrier, radiating heat that stung the skin and created visual distortions.
Kudo Yusaku slammed to a halt. Before him was the bottomless chasm and the scorching barrier, and his path of retreat was sealed by Akako. He gasped for breath, turning to look at the red-haired girl suspended mid-air, like a witch descending to the world.
"Your intelligence is commendable, Mr. Kudo." Koizumi Akako floated closer, playing with the ruby on her finger, which reflected Kudo Yusaku's constricted pupils. "But in the face of an absolute difference in power level, wisdom needs to redefine its application scenario. For instance, right now, considering how to surrender gracefully might be the more 'wise' action."
As she spoke, she flipped her wrist, and several ropes, formed of pure shadow energy and seemingly alive, snaked out from her sleeve, coiling around Kudo Yusaku like venomous snakes. Kudo Yusaku attempted to dodge, but the ropes seemed to anticipate his movements, incredibly flexible, instantly binding his hands and feet tightly. Where the ropes touched his skin, there was a cold burning sensation—not fire, but the direct erosion and suppression of life energy by magic.
Kudo Yusaku let out a muffled groan, struggling a few times before realizing it was futile. This restraint targeted not only the physical body but also subtly suppressed his spirit, making him feel dizzy and weak. He looked up at Koizumi Akako's red eyes, which seemed to contain a sea of stars and the abyss. In their depths, he saw the same deep, ancient indifference, originating from Kanjuro, merely manifested in the form of magic and mysticism.
Ran, carrying the handcuffed Shinichi Kudo, who was barely able to walk on his own, leaped down from the second floor and landed lightly.
Koizumi Akako, meanwhile, led the Kudo Yusaku, bound by Shadow Ropes, slowly descending from the air.
The two of them brought the father and son, now trapped like turtles in a jar, before Kanjuro, who stood perpetually in the center of the hall, as if everything was under his control.
Kanjuro's gaze slowly swept over Shinichi Kudo, who was pale, bleeding from the mouth, and whose scattered eyes held lingering resentment. Then, he looked at Kudo Yusaku, who, though bound, still struggled to keep his back straight, attempting to maintain calm analysis.
"It seems the 'greetings' are over," Kanjuro's voice was still gentle, but it scraped against the silent hall like cold metal. "I told you I would come to 'clean up'."
He took a step forward, extending his hand, his fingertip almost touching Shinichi Kudo's bowed chin, but stopping just short.
"See, Shinichi-kun, you couldn't change anything." His voice was close to a whisper, yet perfectly clear. "Even the last light in your heart has long chosen my darkness, and... has blossomed into a more beautiful, more powerful form."
He meaningfully glanced at Ran Mouri, who stood beside him, expressionless and waiting for orders.
"This is the power of bloodline and choice," Kanjuro said, summarizing the situation. His gaze swept over Ran and Akako, and a satisfied glint flashed in his eyes. "I gave them rebirth, granting them power and meaning that transcend the mundane. Their 'Karate,' their 'Scarlet Magic,' are no longer ordinary techniques, but extensions of the authority inherited from me, allowing them to interfere with the essence of the world."
He stepped back, resuming the posture of a condescending controller.
"Take them away. They are important 'guests,' and useful 'bargaining chips.' Treat them well."
"Yes, Father." Ran and Akako replied in unison. The subservience in their tone formed a strange contrast with their inhuman strength.
The Kudo father and son were led away from the hall toward an unknown fate. The symbolic resistance of the FBI Headquarters was completely dismantled. Kanjuro stood in the empty, ruined hall, moonlight filtering through the shattered ceiling glass, cloaking him in a layer of silver radiance. He watched the direction in which the father and son were taken, and the curve of his mouth deepened.
This "clean-up" operation not only severely damaged the face and strength of the FBI but also completely shattered the will of the Kudo father and son to resist, perfectly showcasing the transcendental power the "daughters" inherited from him.
Conquest is not just about seizing land and power; it is about crushing hope, reshaping perception, and making everyone see who is the true definer of the rules. And his bloodline is the most powerful pass and source of strength under this new rule.
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