We have set tonight as the deadline.
We no longer have any option but to take serious action.
In five hours from now, at exactly midnight,
as a final warning, we will drop a new bomb with the destructive power of a super-dreadnought warship on Shanghai.
What?
What is this all about?
Don't you think Takachiho is taking things too far?
Don't act like you know me.
But I do know you! I understand who you are, for the most part.
I'm done wasting my time here.
Come back, Kazura!
The Sakurai organization is gone.
I'm not talking about that worthless organization.
Come back with us.
Where is the exit?
Seems as though you can't use your powers today.
Even if you could use them, they wouldn't help you get out of this.
Natsume!
Natsume, hang in there!
Natsume!
Please, don't tell Yukina...
Until this is all over.
I don't want to see her sad face.
Natsume, where are you?
Can you hear me?
Natsume?
Yes, I'm listening, my lady.
Thank goodness, I thought you went somewhere far away.
I won't ever leave, I'll always be with you.
That's right, you're always there.
Please turn left, you can exit into the courtyard from there.
The entrance to the underground area is there.
Understood.
How can you see that?
Natsume, did your ability return?
It's right in front of you.
Oh, there it is.
It's a starry sky with a new moon.
That's the kind of night I like the most.
Natsume, Aoi, can you hear me?
I found the entrance.
Aoi.
I won't let you get in my way anymore, Kazura.
I'm going to stop Takachiho no matter what it takes.
Back then, Natsume brought something back to me.
Isn't this something important?
I often speak of the future, but what really drives my life is the past.
He completely understood my weakness and yet he still...
Even if you find the entrance, it won't be easy opening it.
I'll open it for you.
Where is Natsume?
He'll catch up with us soon.
You've arrived, and you too.
I just can't go along with this.
If all you want is to demonstrate the bomb's power, then use it on a deserted island.
There are people from all over the world in Shanghai, it has to be here.
People cannot understand a tragedy unless it happens to someone close to them.
That is why tragedies continue to occur.
And it is necessary for as many countries as possible to share this tragedy...
Wait.
Are you saying that demonstrating that destructive power and sacrificing thousands of lives
is your way of creating some perverted version of peace?
You of all people should understand how our incredible power gives us far too much control over our own fate.
And that weapon possess a similar incredible power.
It will shape the destiny of the world, take hold, and never let go.
A troubling and overwhelming power.
That is exactly why we need to show the world how terrifying this weapon is, before someone uses it recklessly.
This will be the first and last time.
Once you use it, it will all be the same.
There has to be another way that doesn't rely on destruction.
This is the answer that came to me once I completed my search.
Did you receive the prophecy?
Let's end this here.
What are you saying?
You think that it is your fault that Ms. Towa passed away.
Yes...
I forced her to tell me a prediction I was not meant to hear.
I don't think that is the case.
Ms. Towa was trying to release me from my fate as a prophet.
All for the person she loved.
She was always full of regret,
that at such a young age, she received the prophecy that elected me as the next prophet.
As atonement for that, she tried to let me escape my destiny.
She's to blame for it all.
Are you saying that was the reason she committed suicide?
I don't know what really happened.
I wanted to repay Ms. Towa's kindness by helping you.
That is what I thought.
But now, I don't know if Ms. Towa would really agree with your actions.
Anyone who knew the future, especially a horrific one, would want to change it.
If that is the case, then why is your heart trembling so much?
I can feel the doubt in your heart, brother.
I know you understand that.
Not a single person knows the right path to take.
So please stop this, I beg of you.
Brother?!
Who's there?
This can't be.
What can't be?
Isn't this what we've been after all along?
Were you aiming for Yukina?
It was obvious that he would protect his sister.
In the end, feelings for those close to us rule people's lives.
For better or for worse.
What exactly are you doing?
It seems that I'm the one who always has to do the dirty work.
I prefer a weapon that dangerous to be handled by the military, that's all there is to it.
Please, someone, he's bleeding.
Brother.
Brother!
And that completes the Sakurai organization's mission.
Thanks for all of the help.
Why are you stopping me?
Let's go.
We can't let that bomb fall into the hands of the military or anyone else.
Even if someone invents it in the future, we can at least save the present from it.
Shizune, take care of her.
We will be back.
This time, wait for me.
Tell everyone waiting at the airstrip...
the situation has changed.
So, the plan is shelved for now.
Why? Don't joke around with me! We've come this far.
Just fly like you were supposed to.
There's no way I can.
Besides, the co-pilot already got off the plane.
I'm about to-
Fly it!
Help...
Please...
Please... help me.
There's something...
Something I have to do.
That can't be, the airplane is...
The bomb's in there? Kazura!
Hold on to me.
Even without the Prophet, this can still work.
According to my calculations, this is the most likely combination.
It's over, Mr. Ichinose.
Over? You idiot! We're just getting started!
Captain Takachiho is dead.
There is no reason to use this bomb anymore.
What did you say?
At this rate, the bomb will be seized by the military.
If that's the case, then we should use it before it's too late.
Do you want to see such an atrocity happen that badly?
Atrocity?
No. I just want proof, proof that my research was correct!
Are you out of your mind?
Get the hell out of here!
I don't know how you got in, but this plane is already at its weight limit.
Jump off of this plane!
Show everyone an illusion?
The one my brother showed me before.
That terrible light.
But why?
What my brother was trying to do was wrong.
However, if an individual can see that terror and tell others about it,
we might be able to avoid this in the future.
I don't think that part is wrong.
This is what he wanted to say in the end.
So with my power...
I'll help you.
I'll try to extend the range of your telepathic abilities.
An illusion is merely an illusion.
Yet, it might be able to change something.
Don't you get it?
Hurry!
Anti-aircraft guns?
The Kwantung army?
We're an unidentified aircraft.
They're aiming at the light that's coming from the plane.
Hang in there!
It's no use, we'll have to do it.
What did you just do?
You're trying to mess with our plan.
Why are you doing this?
This is all for patriotism.
With that one word, tens of thousands of young men will be sent to their deaths.
I have seen that sorrowful future.
Have you ever seen a future where the Imperial military is the first to get their hands on that new weapon?
But you saw it yourself.
The tragedy that bomb will create.
It won't create a desirable future.
We will make it!
The future we want!
Enough of this.
We still need you to learn how to finish the new bomb.
Or at least, we still need the prophecy.
Stop it.
I don't like having to be so rough.
Oh, you came at a good time.
Take her away.
Did you erase his memory?
Who are you?
Oh, me?
You're... not Japanese?
I just protect national interests.
Sometimes I just observe, sometimes I move in.
Where am I?
Please wait.
I have a request.
I don't know how, but it looks like we made it.
Yeah, if we stay on this course, we can reach the sea and get rid of this bomb
in the depths of the ocean where no one can get their hands on it.
Erase your memories?
I am the only one who can choose the next prophet.
Fortunately, I have not done that yet.
And so,
I can stop it here.
I can stop this endless sorrow.
Goodbye, Soichiro.
Did you just say something?
No, why?
Never mind.
Hey, I wonder if what we're about to do is wrong?
The future that Takachiho Isao saw, the misfortune that's in store for Japan...
And we're undoing everything he worked for to change that future...
What if...
Do you remember when we talked about Edogawa Rampo's novel?
Yeah, The Stalker in the Attic.
You were saying that the story is like our abilities right?
As if we are looking down from high above.
But if you think about it, all the stalker ever saw of the world was his view through that hole in the floor.
I now believe that the future Takachiho witnessed through the Prophet, was only one possible future.
Only time itself can tell for sure.
What's wrong?
We've been leaking fuel,
and I didn't notice that the fuel gauge was broken.
Damn it, we still have more than 300 kilometers until the ocean.
Kazura, throw the bomb off the plane.
What?
Did you know that if you throw something at more than 100 kilometers in the air,
it will reach the end of the atmosphere and fly off into space?
Once you throw it out, I'll use all of my ability to push it so hard that it will never fall to Earth.
Understood. Once you are finished with the bomb I'll use my last jump to get you.
No, I want you to take him instead.
I'll use my power to protect me from the crash.
Can you really do that?
What is this? You still can't trust me?
You're right, the more I come to know you, the more I believe in you.
Jeez, you really are something else.
Go away!
Go away! And never come back to this world!
Aoi! Where are you?
Aoi!
Two years later,
they held the ceremony again.
Pu Yi was crowned as the emperor.
It was a painfully simplistic ceremony.
As if they had learned their lesson from last time.
In the end, they said that the previous ceremony was canceled due to a power outage.
What actually happened that night,
is not often spoken about.
There were only a few people who retained their memories.
Maybe the reason I went to Xinjing for the ceremony,
was because I wanted to reaffirm my memories.
To prove that day was not just an illusion.
Natsume is still alive in my heart.
I never saw Aoi again, but I know he's still out there.
You thieving cat! Don't come back again!
Next time I'm going to cut you up with cabbage and turn you into dumplings!
How many times have I told you!
Excuse me?
Who? Me?
So it is you.
Oh! The lady!
Is this your restaurant?
Yeah, I guess so.
That's great.
I'm impressed.
Yeah, I guess so.
But the Japanese own the rights to the land.
At least for now.
For now?
Yeah, it's only a matter of time.
Even this whole country...
How's everyone? Aoi and Kazura, are they okay?
Yes, I haven't seen them for a while, but they are fine.
Look at that. You can see everyone's smiling faces.
Oh, that's the one we took in the northern territory.
Let's take a photo together.
Is Kazura going to be in this photo?
Well, we do have a photo of Kazura, we could splice him in.
This picture...
It came for me in the mail.
Aoi kept his promise.
Yes.
Just as predicted.
The world is entering a dark time...
However, hopefully the things that we did had the power to change something.
I hope for that, at least.
Last Episode
A Glimmer of Hope, at the Very Least