An Explosion / The Running of a Nation

But in an instant, a dazzling white light pierced through the Gate of the Underworld.

Shimizu Tenpu blocked most of the white light with his hand, but managed to see the condition of the tentacles out of the corner of his eye.

The original tentacles began to thrash wildly as if stimulated by something, but with each tremor they gradually shrank and withered. The once plump tentacles became shriveled and short in a very short time, losing their original vitality and power. These withered tentacles eventually hung limply, turned into ashes, and then completely disappeared.

Yuria, standing at a distance, gazed at the white light with mixed emotions. Protected by the Straw Rope Doll, she didn't need to avoid the blinding light.

The last time she saw such a white light was when Yotsuya Miko.

The Amanita Muscaria Charm ornament was the first gift Yotsuya Miko gave her. At first, she didn't realize how precious it was until the time in the tunnel, when she finally understood its extraordinary significance.

It was more than just a gift or a shelter; it was Yotsuya Miko's deep appreciation for the friendship they shared.

"... In retrospect, all my past misfortunes were paving the way for my good fortune in Miko."

Yuria sighed, but she didn't regret doing so.

"Senior, it's not dead yet; this artifact can only temporarily injure it."

She slowly walked towards the Gate of the Underworld. A pair of wheel-sized, beige eyes emerged from the Gate of the Underworld in response to her words, revealing a deep resentment. This resentment was not only visible but also reflected in its movements.

The size of the Gate of the Underworld limited the passage of such a colossal creature, so it had previously only extended a few tentacles. Now, however, it could no longer tolerate such provocation.

"Snap."

The Gate of the Underworld emitted a crisp sound, and the invisible gate seemed to be wailing. As the monster moved on the other side of the gate, Gate of the Underworld expanded at a visible speed, almost collapsing.

"Oh no, it's about to break open the Gate of the Underworld!"

Shimizu Tenpu frowned and looked at Yuria beside him. The latter simply shook her head, denying the idea.

"No, the seal on the Gate of the Underworld is very strong; it cannot be broken."

Yotsuya Miko generously shared most of what she knew with Yuria, including the matter of the Gate of the Underworld.

That's why she had the confidence to face the Gate of the Underworld, even though she couldn't defeat the monsters within it with her current power.

As Yuria spoke, she silently gathered her Spiritual Power. This was the first difficult battle she was facing. If she was not careful, even with the straw Straw Rope Doll given to her by Yotsuya Miko, she would not be able to avoid death.

But she was not afraid, because this was not just her battle, but theirs.

Yuria knew very well that on the other side, Yotsuya Miko was facing even greater pressure—the burden of all five Gates of the Gate of the Underworld.

No matter how powerful Miko is, it would be difficult for him to cope with so many Gate of the Underworld, not to mention the powerful monsters within Gate of the Underworld.

"I will guard the Gate of the Underworld."

So please fight with peace of mind, Miko.

She said it silently to herself.

Just as the Gate of the Underworld the Gate of the Underworld was about to burst open, a surge of energy suddenly enveloped it. The constant cracking noise abruptly ceased, Gate of the Underworld returned to its original size. Even when the monster tried to break it open again, there was no reaction.

So it abandoned that action and instead stretched out more tentacles from the Gate of the Underworld to strike the two of them.

Seeing the monster before her, enraged by its failure to break through the Gate of the Underworld, stretching out more than a dozen tentacles, Yuria fearlessly accepted this cruel challenge.

"Senior, please recover your Spiritual Power. We still have a long way to go."

"... I see."

Shimizu Tenpu nodded silently, temporarily withdrawing from the battle.

He looked at the new recruits who were supposed to be under his guidance, and it's hard to know what he was thinking.

However, now is not the time to consider this.

Chapter 147 An Explosion

Six minutes before the battle began.

As the contestants entered the competition venue, Ten'gu Sanae finally confirmed that Yotsuya Miko was not present.

What happened Miko Sister Jianzi?

Such doubts arose in her mind, as well as in the minds of the audience and Amamiya Shinro.

"... Could it be that she guessed someone was going to help her get into university?"

Amamiya Shinro murmured to himself, then thought it unlikely. He had indeed used the Amamiya Family's power as one of the organizers of the tournament during the first round, but in the subsequent rounds, the audience and judges alike recognized Yotsuya Miko's strength.

After several competitions, both the audience and the judges discovered the contestant's amazing talent. This uniqueness was reflected in the fact that her calligraphy style was completely different in each competition, which surprised people and made them curious about how many different calligraphy styles she knew.

It was this expectation and the versatility of her calligraphic style that allowed her to enter the finals without any obstacles.

Therefore, this is not his fault.

Thinking this, he felt restless.

After witnessing the calligraphy prodigy, Yotsuya Miko, his interest in the competition was completely captivated by her. To put it bluntly, the finalists were simply not worthy of competing against Yotsuya Miko, because the gap between them was far too great.

The absence of Yotsuya Miko in the competition is as heartbreaking as the absence of Jerusalem in the West.

Before participating in the competition, he could have claimed that he was there to handle matters concerning the Tengu Family. But after seeing Yotsuya Miko, he realized that all his talk about family and interests was meaningless. He, Amamiya Shinro, was there because of this calligraphy prodigy!

Amamiya Shinro stood up and silently walked towards the outside of the venue. He wanted to use the phone number registered by Yotsuya Miko to ask her in person what had happened. The entire match was temporarily delayed because of Yotsuya Miko.

Everyone is waiting; they don't lack the time to wait.

Because this was the final battle, and Yotsuya Miko was the obvious winner, the number one in their hearts.

A silence fell over the Amamiya Shinro walked to the staff entrance of the gymnasium and was about to dial Yotsuya Miko's number, an unexpected incident occurred.

Explosion, impact, heat wave, rubble and ash from buildings.

As the tremors gradually subsided, Amamiya Shinro, holding onto the stairs, finally realized the significance of these phenomena.

"This is... a bomb?"

Silently, he switched the number on his phone and quickly dialed an emergency number.

He hurriedly reported what had happened in the stadium before looking up at the passageway above.

At the top of the stairs, Amamiya Tengo and Yamanaka Saigawa may have already been attacked by terrorists. But there's nothing he can do now; he's just a lone man.

Taking a deep breath, Amamiya Shinro calmly locked the door to the staff entrance to prevent the thugs from entering. He then headed down the stairs to the basement, which was originally intended as a precaution against accidents.

He was lucky to escape the explosion, but the spectators in the stadium were not so fortunate.

The explosions started in the stands, where the pre-planted bombs were hidden without any inspection.

No one knows how the bombs were brought in, and no one ever imagined that the stadium would be the target of such a terrorist attack.

As it turned out, the explosion was a success.

Ten'gu Sanae, along with the fourteen contestants, witnessed everything.

They were on the field, but at this moment, instead of being the ones being watched, they became the audience of this "show".

A tiny spark, followed by a spreading heatwave; seats were thrown off, deformed, charred, and shattered.

But that's not the main course; the main course is those people.

The impact traveled through the seats to the people inside. Those on the edge of the blast radius were the luckiest; their faces were only splattered with blood, their clothes were reddened, or they were hit by fragments of the seat, scratching their clothes or cheeks. There were also unfortunate people, as broken plastic shards pierced straight into their eyeballs. After a slight "plop," the shards pierced the lens, squeezing out the fluid from the vitreous humor, followed by some blood.

The man covered his eyes in anguish.

The most horrific sight was the flying, shattered limbs. A poor woman, at the epicenter of the blast, was brutally torn apart by the impact, which disregarded her fragility. The heat scorched and burned her clothes, her body hair, and even her outer skin, melting the subcutaneous fat. But before the burning pain could even register in her nerves, her body cracked. Her back, directly opposite her seat, was blown to a bloody mess, with only a few bits of flesh clinging to the bone amidst her tattered clothes. One of her arms was ripped off, falling to the grass of the stadium along with its muscles, while the other arm was severed in half, hanging from her torso and swaying like a pendulum. The woman's mangled body was thrown into the air by the blast, landing on the ground and rolling sideways a few times before finally being spared the agonizing torment.

Some people had their internal organs ruptured, and some had their heads shaped like soccer balls. The tragedy occurred during what should have been a lively event, turning it into a living hell.

One of the contestants, witnessing all of this, covered her mouth, her face filled with horror. She was stunned, she couldn't accept it. In a short moment, intense discomfort struck her both physically and mentally: nausea, dizziness, and shortness of breath. She opened her mouth wide, trying to take a deep breath, but something blocked her throat, and the breath just gushed out of her mouth.

He bent over, released his hand from his mouth, and vomited the undigested food residue from his stomach that morning, along with the solid and liquid mixture of food he had eaten the night before that had turned into rotten matter, onto the ground.

"Vomit--!"

It's hard to imagine that such a frail body could vomit such a considerable amount of digestive matter, seemingly trying to expel internal organs along with it. In the end, all that could be vomited was stomach acid.

But even after vomiting, the intense discomfort hadn't subsided; the sour, bitter, and numbing sensation lingering in her mouth continued to torment her.

Yueyi*Yinglingyiqisiwu Jiujiuba, this woman, shed tears.

The surviving viewers finally came to their senses from the horrific explosion. They didn't have time to feel nauseous, because fear had already replaced that feeling.

The chaos lasted for a long time, accompanied by sharp screams, panicked movement, and stampedes.

Such a perilous situation is difficult to describe in words, but one thing can be said:

Many people died, and blood flowed all over the ground, pooling into several small puddles. In addition to this bloody liquid, there were also black, white, and yellow human tissues mixed with blood, their shapes no longer recognizable.

That's what the explosion brought about.

I originally wanted to write about limbs being torn apart, but I couldn't find any stories about bombs causing limbs to be torn apart, so I had to write it like this. I guess it's still relatively realistic.

Chapter 148 The Operation of a Nation

But the tragedy was not over yet. Panicked people swarmed like ants crawling in a flooded nest, scrambling to escape towards the stadium's doors.

But instead of the small number of security personnel and police officers who were there to maintain order, the gate was opened to masked men carrying guns and with black bandages tied around their right hands.

On the black cloth was a kind and gentle wolfhound, its fangs bared.

Flashes of light erupted from the gun barrels, and many fell, finally silencing the ferocious escape.

Behind these people were dozens of corpses that had already fallen, blood spreading from their bodies.

Without a doubt, this was a well-executed terrorist attack.

Guns were pointed at the remaining people, forcing them to retreat.

These masked men, who could be called terrorists, stopped shooting and instead ordered the tortured people to gather at the competition venue, seemingly taking them hostage.

Ten'gu Sanae and the other competitors were much luckier than these panicked people. They were already stuck on the field, and now they didn't need to do much.

They mingled with the anxious and fearful crowd, and were then completely ignored.

However, it seems to be a good thing at the moment; being ignored is actually beneficial to their safety in the current situation.

After the terrorists gathered them into a group, they fell silent. Some kept watch over the crowd, while others disappeared from the stadium to do other things.

No one cares what they're actually doing, because thinking about such things in this setting would be incredibly presumptuous.

The fear of death far outweighed any concern for these things.

So much so that they didn't even notice what color the masked men's eyes were, or whether the blood that had been pooling on the ground and smelled of rust had faded considerably.

Their only wish right now is for the police to come and rescue them; they have no other thoughts.

So, where are the police these people are hoping for right now?

From the moment Yuria received the call from Yotsuya Miko, to Yuria reporting it to Okita Qishen, from Amamiya Tengo pressing the emergency call button, to Amamiya Shinro making the call, a series of instructions began to operate within the entire Kawamori Police Station. However, it was clear that this situation was beyond the capabilities of the regular armed police; it had escalated to a different level.

The Kawamori Police Department, the Kawamori City Government, and countless other personnel have begun to mobilize to handle this serious terrorist attack. On one hand, they must prevent the media and public opinion from leaking out, to prevent such statements from causing greater panic, complicating existing work, or even further provoking the terrorists and causing innocent people to die. On the other hand, they must consider comprehensive methods for rescuing the victims, methods that cannot be devised in a short time, and the mobilization of manpower and resources cannot be achieved in a matter of words.

Every second counts, but we're nearing our limits.

Countless teams were mobilized from Kawasho and its surrounding bases to the area around the stadium, gradually forming a complete encirclement of the stadium, but this was only the beginning.

These teams have no problem defeating the terrorists, but avoiding harm to civilians is extremely difficult.

The leader solemnly looked at the stadium before him, realizing the seriousness of the situation and the numerous suspicious points that surrounded it.

The connection between the planting of explosives and the appearance of these individuals is unclear. Investigators are urgently investigating the origins of these terrorists, as well as the stadium's organizers and any potential suspicious activity within the stadium itself.

But as mentioned before, these tasks all take time, and that's exactly what's lacking right now.

There wasn't enough time for him to fully understand these terrorists; the only requirement from above was to handle this terrorist attack by any means necessary.

This is a terrorist attack involving a staggering 30,000 people, an extremely rare occurrence in history. If not handled properly, both the perpetrator and the nation will be forever etched in the annals of history, becoming a subject of gossip for future generations. The subsequent international repercussions will also be a profound blow to the country, enough to abruptly halt its previously smooth economic development.

In other words, this is a national calamity.

"It was still too rushed."

The commander sighed deeply. The special operations team was still en route, and reducing the journey, which originally took an hour, by two-thirds was the best they could do. The exorcists to deal with the Gate of the Underworld were also still on their way, and the battle between the local exorcists and the shepherds was not yet over. Although the corresponding combat teams had been dispatched, five or six minutes had already passed by the time the cleanup was finished.

Those who know the true meaning of the Gate of the Underworld even more aware of the consequences of opening them—a calamity far more severe than the current overt terrorist attacks. However, only exorcists can handle such a catastrophe; mortals like them are completely powerless to cause any harm to these eerie beings.

With existing surveillance technology, they have learned some terrible news: the monster that appeared before Shimizu Tenpu and Futamido Yuria, members of the Divine Gate, is a real entity that can be seen by the world. They have already dispersed the crowd around the Gate of the Underworld and cut off the surveillance to prevent the footage from falling into the hands of other countries or some worse organizations.

Using the same technology, their personnel detected another person who was dealing with other Gate of the Underworld but was not affiliated with the Divine Gate.

That person who was mistaken by the world as a god, and who indeed possessed godlike power.