"Who?"
The noise from behind
made the mature policewoman, Fuji Seiko, glance quickly over her shoulder while keeping her gun trained on the "Flame Skeleton."
What?!
In the mist behind her,
a "figure" holding an umbrella walked toward them.
That was right. Even though they were only a few meters apart, the mature policewoman still couldn't tell whether the figure was a man or a woman—or even whether it was human.
That was because rings of flowing water encircled the figure. The ceaseless currents wrapped around the newcomer, and through their ripples, all she could make out was a roughly humanoid shape.
The newcomer didn't answer the policewoman's question. Instead, they raised a hand and pointed from a distance at the fire hydrant that had been knocked askew by the police car.
Their five fingers clenched!
With a series of creaks,
the metal groaned and twisted
as some mysterious force inside suddenly forced the fire hydrant apart!
Boom—
The next second, water burst out of the damaged hydrant like a giant dragon breaking free of its chains and soaring into the sky.
"Dragon..."
In the shocked eyes of the policewoman, its long, sinuous form was reflected, claws bared as it twisted through the air.
The water gushing out of the hydrant didn't fall under gravity or scatter.
Instead, it coalesced into the shape of an eastern dragon: its mouth open, teeth bared, whiskers and mane fluttering, scales outlined in rippling waves. Its sharp claws and fangs looked lifelike, and its majestic head carried a broad, gentle air. White mist swirled around it, gathering without dispersing.
The wind followed the tiger; the clouds followed the dragon!
"Raaah—"
Faced with the "giant dragon" made of water, the jaw of the Flame Skeleton flew open.
It raised both arms and let out a wary shriek that made the policewoman's eardrums ache.
Human-head-sized "fireballs" appeared out of nowhere, one after another!
Faces appeared in the center of each fireball—men and women, young and old—all seemingly being mercilessly roasted.
The moment they appeared, they rushed impatiently toward the figure holding the umbrella.
Go, Dragon.
A hand beneath the umbrella pointed forward, and the water dragon immediately roared toward the fireballs with their "human faces."
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions rang out as the water dragon and the flaming faces collided violently.
Shock waves swept outward, and steam billowed everywhere. The force of the collision made the mature policewoman raise her arms in front of herself and huddle behind the police car.
Before the scalding steam had even cleared, the mature policewoman looked up. The water dragon was already badly damaged, while the flaming "faces" had nearly vanished.
Had they somehow ended in a draw?
No!
Water could extinguish fire.
As water continued to blast out of the hydrant, the damaged dragon was replenished, visibly recovering.
"Roooar~~"
With another roar,
the water dragon raced toward the Flame Skeleton, which looked weakened after releasing so many "human-faced" fireballs. It wound around the creature, trapping it in its coils.
End it quickly.
Kishida Jun, standing beneath the umbrella, channeled the "demonic aura" within him and aimed his five fingers at the Flame Skeleton, clenching his hand from a distance.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
The water dragon suddenly tightened its coils, trying to crush the flames!
The fiery skeleton thrashed wildly inside the water, but it couldn't break through the watery prison. Amid the billowing steam, its body continued to dissolve.
It was over.
As the flames went out completely, Kishida Jun's gaze sharpened.
A fragment of stone, no bigger than a fingernail, floated where the Flame Skeleton had been.
He crooked a finger,
and the water carried the stone fragment back to him.
He grasped it and felt the "demonic aura" within it. Though faint, it made him tremble all over, as if he were facing someone of absolute superiority. Rather than fear, however, Kishida Jun felt delighted.
Sessho-seki!
The task White Ghost Messenger had given him was to collect Sessho-seki.
Kishida Jun could guess the reason without being told. After all, Sessho-seki was the remains of that Great Demon—or, perhaps, a means of resurrection.
Was even the Underworld, which governed "life and death," afraid of that great figure who had crossed the sea?
The thought crossed his mind. Kishida Jun put away the Sessho-seki and prepared to leave.
"Stop!"
A sharp rebuke came from nearby, and Kishida Jun turned his head slightly beneath the umbrella.
"I don't care who you are. You have to stay and assist with the investigation!"
As Fuji Seiko shouted the words drilled into her bones, she wanted to slap herself.
She was dead!
With the power the other person had displayed, they could kill her with a casual gesture.
Especially since her gun was already out of bullets.
But the ruined houses nearby, her junior lying in a pool of blood, and the uniform she wore—all made it impossible for her to look the other way.
The other person didn't attack her. No—in fact, the "figure" holding the umbrella didn't even look at her. They simply walked away as the mist surged around them, as if surrounding an Ashigaru escorting a samurai. In the blink of an eye, they vanished from the ravaged street.
"What am I even doing?"
Lowering her arm, the mature policewoman Fuji Seiko bit her lip.
"Is anyone there?"
"Someone's hurt here!"
?!
A pained cry for help came from the mist, bringing the dazed policewoman back to her senses.
Save them!
"Mai,"
She rushed behind the police car and opened the trunk, taking out the first-aid kit.
Dashing to her fallen colleague, the mature policewoman began treating the junior lying in a pool of blood.
Chiyoda Ward, Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department.
As the world's largest municipal police force, the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department was a massive organization with more than forty-six thousand officers under its command.
It was thanks to a police force of nearly fifty thousand that Tokyo's public safety remained at a tolerable level. Unfortunately, over the past few days, the authority of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department had faced one grave challenge after another.
"Hello, this is Machiya, Arakawa Ward.?"
"This is the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department."
"An earthquake? What, a gigantic black fish? Sir, please stay calm and take a deep breath first."
"I'm Fuji Seiko, a patrol division chief at the Adachi Ward Police Station. My badge number is XXXXXX!"
Among the many overlapping emergency calls, one caller identified herself outright.
"An earthquake disaster has occurred in Machiya 6-chome, Arakawa Ward. Send help immediately. Yes, there are more than ten injured at the scene!"
"No, it wasn't a natural disaster."
"The disaster was caused by a monster. A yokai."
"I'm calm. My body camera is on. Send help immediately. Hurry!"
Wail-wail-wail~~~
Police cars, ambulances, and even armored vehicles raced toward Arakawa Ward from every direction.
The flashing lights on their roofs and the cold, hard metal armor made every vehicle along the way scramble to give them room. Ordinary people and company presidents alike didn't dare say a word in the face of the state's formidable machinery of force.
Helicopters also followed one after another through the sky.
The spectacle left pedestrians and drivers speculating about what could have happened to make the police mobilize in such numbers.
But something else moved faster than any vehicle.
Earthquake scene.
Shocking: A fish swimming on land?!
Flame Skeleton? Pictures to prove it—
<Mysterious heavy fog blankets earthquake zone in Machiya 6-chome, Arakawa Ward>
Although the earthquake and the "battle" were confined to a few streets near Machiya 6-chome in Arakawa Ward, many people had witnessed and filmed the enormous black fish bearing a "torii" on its back as it crushed buildings and "swam" through the earth. Then they uploaded the footage to the internet!
Modern people practically never let their phones out of their hands.
Whenever something strange happened, their first reaction was to pull out their phones,
then post it to Line, Facebook, or YouTube.
But before long, the posts containing images disappeared from the internet at astonishing speed. Not only did people in other countries fail to react; even the residents of Arakawa Ward hadn't realized what was happening.
Then the news—<A sudden earthquake has struck Arakawa Ward. The government is carrying out rescue operations with all available resources. Residents are asked to cooperate.>—quickly took over the phones, computers, televisions, and every other means of online communication used by Arakawa Ward residents.
Armored vehicles raced in and sealed off every major route!
With sirens blaring, ambulances and police cars rushed toward Machiya 6-chome in Arakawa Ward. As for what they were going there to do?
Only the elite officers leading the way knew.
The supernatural
had appeared again!
Adachi Ward, Suimi High School.
"Huh?"
"The Chiyoda Line is undergoing emergency repairs."
Amame Ei, leaving the school gates with her friends, glanced at the notification that had popped up on her phone.
"What's with that? Doesn't that mean we have to take the long way around?"
"It's an old line built fifty years ago. It's only natural for something to go wrong."
Akihi Yu replied calmly, showing no awareness that he was the "culprit."
"It's only been fifty years..."
Amame Ei protested, but with the Chiyoda Line out of service, they had no choice but to take a detour.
"Amame, Nao, if it's inconvenient for you, you can head back first."
Akihi Yu had to go to Bunkyo Ward to pick up his younger sister, Akiyu Sora.
But Amame Ei had planned to go to Bunkyo Ward too, because her older sister, Nagisa Kazuha, went with her to clean the shrine after school every day.
Judging from the way the other girl's driver had acted yesterday, the Young Lady probably wouldn't be able to go out freely for a while.
As for Class Monitor Nao...
"I don't mind, Yu."
Now that she had finally grown close to her childhood friend again, Ai Nao wasn't going to give up a chance to spend time with him. Besides—
"I don't want to go home right now. You know that, Yu."
Ah~~
He rubbed his chin.
As he recalled, Ai Nao's parents had been giving each other the cold shoulder for over a decade. They couldn't stand the sight of one another, and a few years ago, they had nearly come to blows.
So Ai Nao had joined the school's Swimming Club and stayed out until after dark every day.
It was so she could spend as little time as possible with her parents.
"Then, let's go."
The three of them took the Namboku Line instead and made their way to Ousakura Girls' School in Bunkyo Ward.
"Wow, this is really something~~"
When the three arrived at the elite girls' high school, they saw nothing but—
Luxury cars!
All kinds of luxury cars.
They didn't recognize the makes, but the styles of the cars and the drivers in black suits, sunglasses, and gloves all exuded the air of "old aristocracy."
There were even helicopters constantly taking off and landing on the school field, ferrying one heiress after another away.
"What's going on?"
Amame Ei stared at the unusually busy scene, where nobody raised their voice, and wondered whether they had come to the wrong place.
Akihi Yu, who knew perfectly well what was going on, shrugged.
"Who knows?"
"Maybe these rich people are hurrying home for dinner?"
"Ei,"
At the school gates, the Young Lady, Nagisa Kazuha, who had been waiting there, hurried over and took the petite Amame Ei's hand.
"Come with me. You're coming to my house."
"Huh?"
"Huh?!"
Even Amame Ei, who was usually lively and cheerful, was left speechless with surprise for a moment.
"Would you three do me the honor of visiting my home?"
Young Lady Nagisa Kazuha extended the invitation after noticing Akihi Yu, Akiyu Sora, and Ai Nao.
"No, we'll just—"
"Then I'll—"
Seeing Akihi Yu about to turn her down, Amame Ei instinctively prepared to refuse as well.
"No!"
Young Lady Nagisa Kazuha was clearly flustered.
"It's about the Arakawa River right now. Anyway, just come with me, okay?"
"Huh? Why? What—"
Amame Ei instinctively turned to look at Akihi Yu. Having already understood the reason, Akihi Yu thought it over.
"Well, thank you for having us, Nagisa."
?!
Before you continue