Ai Bielie

There are no Evil Ghosts in Arakawa Ward, Tokyo.

Living in groups is the nature of the weak. Truly ferocious predators possess vast territories, and outsiders who intrude must pay a price.

Niijima Yuta was such a predator. He had once infiltrated an enemy yakuza headquarters alone and taken down dozens of people. After that night, merely mentioning his name would silence the yakuza in Arakawa Ward.

It was said that the blood of his enemies that night had stained his chest, which was tattooed with a fierce tiger, earning him the nickname "Blood Tiger" as the leader of the Niijima-gumi.

Yet, this ferocious predator was now respectfully—one might even say fearfully—bowing and scraping before the woman who was sprawled wantonly across his beloved office desk.

—Ai Bielie.

That was the monster on the desk's self-proclaimed name.

Perhaps she appeared as an exquisitely beautiful woman now, but at first glance, one would only feel that she resembled neither human, nor demon, nor even any of the malevolent spirits.

Niijima Yuta knew that what he saw was merely what Ai Bielie wanted him to see.

"—Niijima, do you know?"

Ai Bielie's light laughter echoed through the Niijima-gumi's office. "Everyone grows."

"If you give a person warm hope and beautiful love, and then, after a long time, at some point, let it all be destroyed."

Ai Bielie, with her long, white hair, turned her head and quietly gazed at the tall and burly Niijima Yuta, her eyes filled with pity. "At that moment, all beauty will shatter, turning into the pain of separation. This is how people grow."

Ai Bielie sighed softly. "Therefore, all living beings suffer."

She sat up, pressing her palms together piously. "I have come to relieve all living beings of their suffering."

Niijima Yuta's scalp tingled. He realized that even he, who could kill without hesitation, could not comprehend the thought process of this monster.

She had previously instructed him to kill anyone who stood in her way and had mentally controlled all his subordinates, yet now she spoke of universal salvation with such benevolence.

—If it weren't for the desire to obtain the power of the legendary Evil Ghost, he wouldn't have stayed by this monster's side for a second longer.

"Your Excellency, another branch of the club was destroyed by Nanjō Emi this morning. All the disciples and believers within perished. There are now only four branches left in Arakawa Ward."

He lowered his head, prepared for Ai Bielie to fly into a rage.

Because that was the kind of person she was.

But what came back was Ai Bielie's delighted laughter.

"Niijima, this is good news. You should be happy that so many friends have gone to a blissful world free from suffering, a world filled with friendship."

Ai Bielie said, "If Nanjō Emi likes doing this, then let her continue. I'm also very curious to see how many deaths it will take to reflect the other side of her heart."

Go to hell with your blissful world.

Niijima Yuta thought that if he could defeat her, he would draw his sword and cut the woman in half on the spot. It was a disgrace that she had renamed his Niijima-gumi the "Friendship Club."

But this monster… perhaps "Ghost God" was a more fitting term. In an instant, she could kill dozens of people from afar. This Ghost God Power was utterly incomprehensible to Niijima Yuta.

Moreover, it seemed that as time went on, the monster's power was growing stronger…

"Niijima, are you thinking about me?"

Niijima Yuta's thoughts stopped abruptly.

At that moment, he even felt as though his entire being was about to dissolve into a pool of formless liquid—that was the fate of those who had defied Ai Bielie before.

Terrified, Niijima didn't even have time to apologize before he felt a pair of warm hands help him up. Before his eyes, Ai Bielie smiled and said, "I can know what you're thinking—that's right, I have indeed become much stronger than I was at the beginning."

"Whether it's joy, sadness, or fear… the more intense a person's emotional changes, the faster I can grow." As she spoke, Ai Bielie looked at him meaningfully. "That's why many people are at their most delicious at the moment of their death."

Niijima Yuta felt as though he had fallen into an ice cellar, even feeling a sense of despair.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid~"

Ai Bielie gently patted Niijima Yuta's palm.

He then felt his fear and unease rapidly receding, replaced by an unparalleled destructive urge and a bloodthirsty impulse.

"That's more like it."

Clapping her hands, Ai Bielie crouched down and looked at Niijima Yuta expectantly. "You still have something you haven't said. Hurry and say it now."

"Yes."

The Blood Tiger obediently lowered his head, retracting his fangs before his sole master. "The Ouija Board sent out a few days ago has been confirmed effective, the seal has loosened but not completely."

"And then?" Ai Bielie asked, her eyes wide. "What about your 'but'?"

Niijima Yuta paused for two seconds before saying, "But, the Ouija Board was also confiscated by Nanjō Emi."

Nanjō Emi, again.

She seemed like such a boring person, yet she could do so many interesting things.

Then, at the moment she broke down emotionally, when she went completely mad, how dazzling and delicious would she be?

Ai Bielie was becoming impatient.

Compared to that, although the Ouija Board could allow her strength to advance further at the very first moment of the First Wave, recovering from "Evil Ghost" to "Ghost God," it didn't seem as important anymore.

"Also…"

"Please wait a moment."

Ai Bielie smiled and raised its hand, then, under Niijima's strange gaze, it reached out and grabbed a translucent ghost holding a paper umbrella, her face filled with gentleness and sorrow, from who knows where.

"It's a Rain Woman. I wonder what it feels like to cross mountains and rivers to reach the mortal world, only to meet your death just as you're about to see your former husband?"

As it spoke, Ai Bielie put the anxiously pleading Rain Woman into its mouth and chewed it up in a few bites.

Savoring the gradually fading sounds of sorrow and crying within its body, Ai Bielie couldn't help but show an expression of ecstasy.

Niijima ignored it and continued, "Besides that, there are two other students who survived after contacting the Ouija Board."

"Who? Who?"

Ai Bielie's face was full of anticipation.

Niijima took out his phone and showed Ai Bielie photos of Uesugi Tetsu and Tokugawa Ririko.

Ai Bielie excitedly memorized Uesugi Tetsu's face, then narrowed its eyes when it saw Ririko, "I remember her. She was the champion of the Kendo competition, wasn't she?"

It said slowly, "I hate Kendo..."

Niijima immediately called out loudly to his subordinates, ordering them to capture Ririko. If they couldn't capture her, bringing back her corpse would suffice.

A synchronized "Yes!" immediately came from outside the door, loud and full of energy.

"Forget it, I'm still a little interested in her," Ai Bielie stopped him.

So Niijima waved his hand again, telling the gathered subordinates to disperse and return to their posts, to spread the teachings of the Friendship Cult using the electronic devices specially modified by Ai Bielie.

The current Niijima Group... no, perhaps it should be called a den filled with friendship, was now completely under absolute command.

"These two children look so delicious and tasty."

Ai Bielie patted Niijima Yuta's broad shoulder, urging him to stand up. "Don't worry about the Special Affairs Division or Nanjō Emi. Let them do as they please. You just need to do as I say: find people who are extremely happy or extremely sad, and then spread the seeds."

Immediately after, in Niijima Yuta's eyes, Ai Bielie seemed to split into three like cell division, and then the three Ai Bielies laughed in unison:

"It's decided. Before we have the main course, I'll send my clones to go meet those two children first."