I won't be much of a guide.
But I can support you.
Priest Biwamaru.
There was once a cry that should've been heard in this land.
No sooner was it uttered than it was silenced.
Yet even so, it reverberated throughout the land.
And it still does.
Betrayed this world
And it simmers within
Rupturing my innards
Swelling a reddish black
Until the sun burnt skin ruptures
There is a light in the depths of the seething darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
There is a light in the depths of the darkness
Confirming each other's voices in the distance
As if to stroke with wet fingertips
I'd like to touch you one day
#24 Dororo and Hyakkimaru
Repulsive. How dare you stain the castle of Daigo!
This is no place for you to be.
The castle of Daigo?
Then it is mine!
It never has been and never will be!
This is my castle!
I was born and raised here.
I played here, I trained here.
This is my room.
Father gave me that desk. Horses, too.
As with Mother!
Mother always...
Always...
Mother...
My son...
Mother?
She is my mother!
You were never here.
Nothing here is a testimony of your existence.
You... Why is it?
Why what?
You were here. Always.
Yeah, unlike you.
-Then why are you lacking? -What?
You are lacking. Just like me.
-Me? Never. -Why? Why do you lack something?
Shut up! If I am lacking something, you took it from me.
Mutsu and Hyogo. Mother, too.
I did? From you?
So give it back. All of you, give it back to this land!
Bro's got to be up there.
But I can't reach it.
Bro, Bro...
-Bro! -Dororo.
Priest, you came. Everything's gone up in flames.
What are you doing?
A secret passage. Lady Nui is down there.
It's you!
Dororo, wait for me up there.
I will need you to pull this back up.
I'm going too.
Dororo.
Please stay by my son's side. Just as you have always done.
You mean...
You must be Hyakkimaru's mother.
He truly has your face.
And you are...?
Why?
Why didn't you slice through me?
You could've severed my head.
Why?
I don't know.
But you're the same as me.
You're human.
I lose.
Nay, I've always been losing to you. Always.
Tahomaru.
Tis my chance to fulfill the contract!
Demon.
Demons don't give up easily, huh?
Brother, I will give these back to you.
What's going on, dang it!
I can't just stand around. Priest, you wait here.
Hey, you're leaving me here?
B-Brother...
Hyakkimaru.
My son.
Finally, I can hold you.
I never should have let you go.
I should've just held you like this.
How I love you, how I love you so dearly.
It's warm.
Forgive me, Hyakkimaru.
What I should've given you wasn't arms or legs.
Listen, Hyakkimaru. You must live.
Let a human and not a demon reside in your bloodstained body.
You already have the embers glowing within you.
Bro!
Go now.
You have a child who is waiting for you. One who will stay by your side.
Go.
Mama...
-Bro! -Dororo.
We gotta get out of here. Come on!
This way. The fire is spreading, hurry.
Don't breathe in the smoke. You'll burn your lungs.
Mother...
Tahomaru.
Forgive me for making you feel so lonely.
But I will stay by your side forever now.
Do not worry.
I will never leave you.
Finally, it all ends.
-Priest! -You're back.
Hyakkimaru too? Good. I'll pull you up. Ready?
One second.
-Ready. -Okay.
We're saved.
Bro's arms are soft and warm.
He finally got them back, huh.
Pretty. The sky is pretty.
The sky?
Dororo. You are pretty.
What... Shut up, whatever!
Wait, you can see? You see my face?
-Careful, you'll fall. -You can see my face?
Hey, bro!
This is the closure to your fate.
Watch it closely, with those eyes of yours.
Huh? What's that?
Lord, grave news.
I hesitate to tell you, but...
Say it.
The castle is burning, and it has spread throughout.
Young Master's residence has been burnt down.
Young Master and Lady Nui have gone missing.
It is feared that...
Justice.
We will crush the Asakura. Onward, march!
To fend off the Asakura army,
innumerable men lost their lives for Daigo.
The final demon statue also crumbled and fell that day.
Yet, there was nobody to notice it.
I get what you're saying about not relying on samurai to make a living.
And we all would if we could.
But we don't have that power.
We don't know how to use swords and spears.
Nah, I'm not talking about that kind of power.
Then what do you have in mind?
Okay, listen up.
Money.
We won't use samurai or demons. We won't do wars.
Then what else but money?
Yeah, but where do we get it?
We wouldn't suffer like this if we had it.
I have the money.
It's a bit far from here. But it's a hidden mountain of gold.
You mean it?
Where is it?
Calm down guys.
I'll go get it in a couple of days, so be ready.
I see. That's quite a bold idea.
You heard that?
You're the one who told me to think of how to use the money.
I hadn't meant it so profoundly.
A land where the people build up their own country, huh.
I guess I'd never thought of it because I'm one of the samurai.
You? A samurai?
Never mind. By the way, where's Hyakkimaru?
He seems to be deep in thought ever since that day.
Yeah, so I told him about my plans to cheer him up.
Then he left, saying he had something he wanted to check.
Check? Check what?
He just said it was something about himself.
I guess he wants to see if the body he regained works okay.
"HALL OF HELL"
I see you've regained everything from the demons.
How is this land you're finally seeing? Is it beautiful?
It is not pretty.
Of course not.
The land and its people has bled too much for you.
Nay, they will keep bleeding for you.
But I won't let it go down.
In this world, you either kill or be killed. So be it.
I will live through this hell.
If the demons wish for a human, I will just feed them another.
You will feed me to them again?
And why not? I am a samurai lord. I wish for nothing but total rule.
I will strike as many deals with the demons as it takes.
If I've ever been wrong, it has only been once.
I shouldn't have left you to the midwife.
I should've strangled you with my own two hands.
You must despise me.
Should I die, my soul shall reign together with my son Tahomaru
as a demon protecting this land.
He's not back yet?
No. He wasn't at the castle, either.
He said he'd be back soon.
Maybe's he's already gone.
What do you mean?
He may have left on another journey.
Yeah right, he never would!
Why would he go without telling me?
Calm down now.
That boy has just been born.
Not because he's regained his body. I mean his heart and mind.
I don't get it.
He must leave the path of evil and retrace the path of humanity.
But he's killed too many people for it to be easy to do that.
Yeah.
Bro's mama and brother are dead now, too.
I told him it's not his fault.
If Hyakkimaru walks down the wrong path again, you may not be safe.
No, he's okay now.
Perhaps that's what he's gone off to check.
You mean...
Why?
The path I take.
Does not lead that way.
I am human.
Don't you become a demon, either.
Live on as a human.
Hyakkimaru...
If I hadn't turned to these demons that day.
If you had succeeded my reign,
the prosperity that I have so desired may have...
Hyakkimaru.
Within you is a strength to live on, a strength that demons craved so badly.
I'll be waiting, bro.
You'll come back.
Right?
Hyakkimaru has gone, and Dororo walks on.
The Warring States Era draws near.
Yet, Biwamaru believes.
That something more than blood and despair lies ahead for those two young souls.
Born into this world
There is no salvation
The distorted shape of the heart
Yet it beats courageously
There is no turning back
Even from the path of evil
Witnessing the withering seasons
We search for the truth
In our ugliness
We don't even recognize the pain
As we peel back the skin
We are forever tormented by our stupidity
But if the dawn never comes
Through the painful night
You who distrusts nothing
You will be able to love this accursed world
Now that we carry the world on our shoulders
It's time to take it back
THE END