Episode 54

Hero War, Gang War. (stylized as HERO WAR,GANG WAR.) is the 54th episode of Bungo Stray Dogs anime series and the fourth episode of the fifth season.

Synopsis
Loyalties continue to be tested as the depth of Fukuchi's betrayals become clearer. Tachihara is forced to make a choice between the Port Mafia and the Hunting Dogs, and he may be the only one left who can stop Fukuchi before it's too late.

Summary
In his final stand, Akutagawa aids Atsushi to escape the ship from Fukuchi at the cost of his life. As he plans to turn back either time or space with Amenogozen to catch Atsushi, Fukuchi ultimately decides against it when ship guards arrive at the scene, ordering them instead to track down the runaway weretiger. The ship guard who previously caught Atsushi and Akutagawa aboard also mumbles an apology to the now-dead Akutagawa for being unable to repay him after sparing his life at the crossfire.

Meeting Ango ashore, Atsushi manages to escape and ponders about Akutagawa's recent actions on the ship, leading to his survival. Meanwhile, Fukuchi awakens the vampire and final member of the Decay of the Angel, Bram, from his slumber. Albeit reluctant to turn any more people into his kin, Bram gets threatened by Fukuchi into infecting Akutagawa with his ability.

Sometime later, after the Mafia holds Akutagawa's funeral, Higuchi receives word of Akutagawa's location and meets him. Before she can fully confess her feelings towards him, Akutagawa, now a vampire, infects and turns her into a vampire. Consequently, Tachihara reports to the Hunting Dogs about the infection's spread to the Port Mafia, including Gin, Hirotsu, and various others. The Hunting Dogs unanimously agree to kill the source ability user itself, which they believe belongs to the Agency as part of their terrorism.

Teruko, however, sees the complication of a third of Yokohama's police forces siding with the Agency following Ranpo's broadcast, including, as Jōno notes, Tachihara himself who requests to reassess the investigation. Fukuchi declines his request, but Tachihara proposes an alternative of handing the Agency's flash drive regarding the truth of the entire incident to the police deputy commissioner Yasui, which he retrieved and restored at the Sky Casino. Backed into a corner, Fukuchi offers to take the flash drive to Yasui himself.

Fukuchi orders Bram to infect Yasui to collapse the Agency's sympathizer organizations, where he gets caught by Tachihara courtesy of the flash drive that turns out to be a tracker. After being uncovered by Mori as a Hunting Dog from collected intel, Tachihara gets tasked as a Port Mafia member to defeat the true mastermind of terrorism. Tachihara quickly engages Fukuchi in combat and, with his metal manipulation ability, gains the upper hand against Fukuchi's sword and even against Amenogozen, both being metals by nature. Tachihara corners Fukuchi and professes that he is a mafioso over a Hunting Dog.

Before he can further question Fukuchi, Amenogozen stabs Tachihara from the past into the future, set up by Fukuchi to lure and attack him at his present spot. Fukuchi then blinds Tachihara and tells him about the angels that they, the Decay of the Angel, bring signs of deaths of false rulers who bring forth war from their disregard and must be punished painfully. He also reveals his next strategy of controlling half of every nation's population before the final phase via Bram's ability enhanced by his ability to be more contagious.

Tachihara attempts to take his own life, but Fukuchi stops him and asks him to continue serving him as a vampire, upon which Bram bites and infects him. With four days until X Day, the contagious ability spreads overseas, prompting the United Nations to request the Order of the Clock Tower to unleash their ability weapon, One Order.