Chapter 97: The Two Philosophers

Hohenheim remembers his flight from ruined Xerxes, staggering across the eastern sands until he collapsed and was found by Xingese merchants, all the while murmuring to unseen companions and pleading for their forgiveness. In the present he stands in Father's chamber and rattles off the individual names and temperaments of the eight souls the homunculus has just swallowed, explaining that they now aid him against the one who ended their lives. Father dismisses the idea that souls inside a Philosopher's Stone can keep separate minds, calling them mere scraps of energy. Hohenheim counters that although speaking with each soul nearly broke him, the deathless body Father once gave him afforded all the time he needed, and that he has done what his old friend never dreamed of: sitting down with every one of the 536,329 people bound inside him. As he speaks, the newly taken souls act on their own, sharpening into a spear that runs Father through the skull. He snaps off the point, but more erupt from his mouth and throat, and after a knowing glance at Hohenheim his coughed-up black blood twists into a humanoid shadow that devours his hollow shell, declaring, as Gate-like eyes bloom across its surface, that humans are not the only ones capable of evolving.

Above ground, Buccaneer and Falman's squad push toward the main gate cutting down Mannequin Soldiers, while Sig and Izumi do the same within. Izumi rescues the panicking Brigadier General Edison from the creatures, then answers his offer of a bodyguard post with a punch and a demand to hear about the Good Gentleman he keeps mentioning. Olivier rejects the Führer's sniper-exposed office as a command post, and Alex spots a hidden passage descending toward the tunnels that may be spawning the Mannequin Soldiers. Word arrives that Briggs now holds the gates, the tank, and ninety percent of the compound, until King Bradley's voice announces his personal return. Charging the front with only a grenade and a single sword, he wrecks the tank, kills its crew, and cuts Buccaneer's Crocodile automail to ribbons. A weeping Falman raises his gun in Mustang's name, the battered Buccaneer rises with his saw-chain wrapped around his fist to fight on, and Greed, lounging atop the gate, calls down that he cannot walk away from people this recklessly brave.

The eight souls Father absorbs are named Sargens, Dozul, Kaya, Sari, Tommy, Gidalsh, Andar, and Zule. From Bradley's line of approach, it can be worked out that the front gate of Central Command faces south. An omake at the close of Volume 24 spoofs the dramatic return, imagining Bradley staggering back to headquarters after a night of drinking.