"What?!"
Just as they were about to take down Tanimura Wataru, a "Rain Woman" suddenly appeared. Iori Ichika was both shocked and furious.
"What's she doing here?"
That was right.
The "Rain Woman" hunted supernaturals and seized the "Sessho-seki" on their bodies.
After learning the truth from Inari God, the government had naturally solved all the "mysteries":
With the return of spiritual energy, all kinds of minor spirits and monsters had appeared in the human world once more. To these low-level supernaturals, the "Sessho-seki" left behind by Nine-Tails Tamamo-no-Mae was surely a treasure worth fighting for with everything they had.
It wasn't just these supernatural beings fighting over them. Humans were after them, too. Hadn't Tanimura Wataru become a supernatural after a "Sessho-seki" was implanted in him?
"Seiko, get over here!"
The fog spread at a terrifying speed, quickly shrouding several nearby streets.
As the scene unfolded, Iori Ichika activated the infrared thermal imager in her helmet and called for her teammate.
Whoosh.
Wearing several hundred pounds of equipment,
Fuji Seiko leaped down from the rooftop and moved toward her superior.
The infrared thermal imagers on their helmets scanned the surroundings. Before long, they locked onto a figure lying prone in the distance.
It was Tanimura Wataru!
The next second,
the heat signature representing Tanimura Wataru shot off to the side.
Rumble~~
A rushing torrent surged past, blasting enormous holes through the gardens and houses in its path.
Riding atop the torrent like a surfer, Kishida Jun came speeding over with an umbrella in hand. He raised his other hand and pointed at Tanimura Wataru.
The current beneath his feet immediately "spat out" a barrage of water cannonballs, each the size of a human head!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
This was an upgraded version of the D-rank Water Gun Technique,
the Water Gun Technique: Barrage, which formed cannonballs from water and attacked with greater power and in denser volleys.
?!
Amid the churning fog,
human-head-sized "cannonballs" came screaming toward him.
Tanimura Wataru's pupils contracted as he sprinted on all fours, but he still couldn't outrun the water.
He had no choice but to twist aside and dodge, but—
Thud!
The attack was too dense. Though he dodged most of it, a mass of water still slammed into his arm.
"Argh~~~!"
A scream rang out through the fog.
Iori Ichika and Fuji Seiko turned to look. The figure tumbling helplessly on the infrared thermal imager had clearly fallen into a disadvantage.
So fast?
They had been able to suppress him earlier because Iori Ichika was a karate champion and the two of them worked well together, leaving Tanimura Wataru nowhere to run. But this "Rain Woman" had just arrived and already injured him. If she decided to kill him in the fog, wouldn't all the Metropolitan Police Department's planning have gone to waste?
"Seiko, attack the 'Rain Woman'!"
The fog blocked their vision, but the infrared thermal imagers could still make out human-shaped silhouettes.
At her superior's command, Fuji Seiko raised her sniper rifle without hesitation and aimed at another heat signature tumbling through the fog.
Bang!
Government agents?
A sphere of water wrapped around Kishida Jun, blocking the high-velocity bullet.
Water Prison Technique.
It used water to form a spherical prison, which could serve as a shield to protect the user from harm or as a means of restraining an opponent.
Surrounded and swept by water filled with magical energy, the bullet fired from the sniper rifle soon lost its momentum. It hadn't hurt Kishida Jun, but it had given Tanimura Wataru a chance to catch his breath.
How could this be?!
Tanimura Wataru wasn't surprised that the guy with the umbrella was attacking him. After all, the man had come for the Sessho-seki in his forehead before.
What surprised him was that his opponent had gotten so much stronger! They used to be evenly matched, but now the man had hurt him with a casual move.
This wasn't scientific.
Then again, he wasn't exactly a scientific existence himself.
Tanimura Wataru rolled to his feet and was about to run when he felt the other man's gaze lock onto him!
Take care of the government agents first.
Kishida Jun, the one holding the umbrella, was at the very age when people were truly chuunibyou. He hadn't wanted to oppose the government, but if they got in his way, then he would—
Kill!
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
"Watch out!"
The shrill whoosh of something tearing through the air and the disturbed trails in the fog shot toward them at the same time.
Iori Ichika tackled Fuji Seiko, and the two rolled together.
Thud! Thud!
Two muffled bangs rang out as water cannonballs blasted a pair of craters into the ground where they had been standing.
If those had hit them, even their armor wouldn't have—
"Cough, cough, cough."
"Commander, you—"
Pinned beneath her, Fuji Seiko saw that her superior had shielded her and that a large section of the armor on her back had caved in. Her expression changed.
"Why are you panicking? I'm not dead!"
Iori Ichika spat out a mouthful of blood, got to her feet, and gave the order.
"Keep attacking!"
?
"Ichika, it's me."
Director Takeya's voice came through her earpiece.
"Don't push yourself. Tanimura Wataru's corpse would still count as a victory for us."
This wasn't because Director Takeya was "considerate" toward his subordinates. Compared with uncontrollable "wild" supernaturals, the two policewomen from the Metropolitan Police Department were the trusted members of his own faction.
"Heh, it's not over yet, Director."
Standing in front of Fuji Seiko, Iori Ichika flashed a ferocious grin.
"I'm the one in command here!"
"You—"
At the Metropolitan Police Department, Director Takeya nearly slammed his fist into the control console again.
What was that?
As someone watching over the entire operation, he noticed something else.
Several Public Security Bureau agents pushed a box onto the battlefield. After opening it, they hurriedly retreated.
"Woof?"
A Shiba Inu walked out of its cage, staring at the thick fog around it with a humanlike look of bewilderment.
What did those two-legged creatures mean by this?
"Cough. That voice. Come here!"
A voice rang out through the fog. The Shiba Inu froze, then immediately took off toward it on its little legs.
"Woof!!"
It was its master—
?
The man and dog met.
The Shiba Inu suddenly stood upright and swiftly transformed into another half-human, half-dog Tanimura Wataru.
Beastman Clone Technique.
"Let's go!"
The Shiba Inu's "Tanimura Wataru" joined the real Tanimura Wataru as they pounced on Kishida Jun from either side!
They both had excellent senses of smell, so even in the fog it was easy for them to lock onto their enemy.
Bang!
On the other side,
Fuji Seiko pulled the trigger again.
The M95 in her hands roared once more, firing a 12.7 mm bullet toward the "Rain Woman."
Tch, what a nuisance.
Kishida Jun, whose demon power had surged,
had thought he could easily take care of things when he realized his target was the familiar Dog Demon.
Who could have guessed that as soon as he showed up, the Dog Demon and the government's supernatural would join forces against him, even though they'd been fighting each other moments before?
The government supernatural's firearms were astonishingly powerful. Even with his greatly increased strength, Kishida Jun had to be careful to defend himself. And with the Dog Demon working together with a dog, they were unexpectedly troublesome. Attacking from both sides, they forced Kishida Jun to spend most of his time defending and little of it attacking.
It's working! It's working!
Both Tanimura Wataru and Iori Ichika were secretly delighted at the sight.
The two sides had been tearing into each other just moments ago, but under pressure from a powerful enemy, they had joined forces. Things really could change in the blink of an eye.
"Don't celebrate too soon."
Kishida Jun, growing impatient, suddenly tossed the umbrella in his hand into the air.
At the same time, water spiraled around him, forming a sphere that withstood the claws of both "Dog Demons."
?!
Fall back—
The man's stance made it clear he was preparing to unleash a "big move." Tanimura Wataru immediately broke away and retreated.
But the "Tanimura Wataru" transformed from the Shiba Inu reacted a moment too slowly.
The next second, steel needles poured down like raindrops from the fan that had opened in the sky.
"Protect your heads!"
Hearing the strange sound overhead, Iori Ichika raised her arms and crossed them above her head. Fuji Seiko crouched down behind her superior.
It wasn't that she was abandoning her teammate. Iori Ichika's armor was simply the "thickened" kind designed for close combat.
Their roles were also divided: one handled close combat, while the other provided long-range support.
Pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft pfft!!!!
More than a thousand steel needles rained down, sweeping across the entire battlefield with enough force to pierce a five-millimeter steel plate.
Their power was already on par with ordinary rifle bullets. Against flesh and blood, they were a deadly storm of metal! Tanimura Wataru, who had retreated, was left with steel needles sticking all over him. The Shiba Inu, whose reaction had been a moment too slow, was practically turned into a pincushion!
After unleashing the wide-area attack Thousand Needles of Rain and Dew, Kishida Jun's umbrella drifted slowly back down into his hand.
With the demon power of the Sessho-seki, he was far stronger than everyone else there.
"It's over."
"Cough, hahahaha—it's over, all right."
On the other side, Iori Ichika lowered her arms, which were riddled with steel needles, but showed no sign of despair.
"Show us your true face, Rain Woman—"
?!
A rustling sound overhead made Kishida Jun look up instinctively.
Through the tilted umbrella, he saw several drones scattering something. The fog he had created was rapidly disappearing.
What was this?
Kishida Jun's pupils contracted. As a top student, he knew all too well how terrifying the government could be.
That was why he shrouded every operation in thick fog.
"These are hygroscopic particles acting as catalysts,"
Iori Ichika explained, steel needles sticking out all over the Exoskeleton Armor.
"The catalysts produce a large number of condensation nuclei. Water vapor condenses on them and grows into large droplets, thereby achieving—"
Artificial fog dispersal!
"As a human,"
"you should know very well what you'll be facing next."
Iori Ichika's words pierced Kishida Jun like blades, making him freeze.
The fog was clearing. The policewoman with the sniper rifle was taking aim at him again, and voices were rising all around them.
Of course, Kishida Jun could keep producing "fog," but the longer he dragged things out, the greater the chance of exposing himself.
"Hmph."
Water wrapped around Kishida Jun as he sped away.
He had no intention of directly confronting the government.
Whew.
Watching him leave,
Iori Ichika let out a long breath and sank down onto the ground.
Damn it, the whole plan had gone completely off the rails.
Just then, a girl's figure burst onto the battered battlefield and helped Tanimura Wataru to his feet.
"Get up!"
The girl's voice roused the gravely wounded Tanimura Wataru. He squeezed the last of his "demonic energy" from his body and struggled to stand.
?!
"Stop—"
"Where do you think you're going?"
As Iori Ichika shouted at them in a fury, the two of them dashed through the restaurant's back door.
A moment later, a car engine started up on the other side of the restaurant, accompanied by a shout. But the engine's roar quickly faded into the distance, proving that they had escaped.
"Bastards!!"
Iori Ichika slammed a fist into the ground and bowed her head with a furious growl, but the corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
At last, the script was back on track.
How exciting~~
The Crow in the sky watched it all unfold.
Both the way they had broken through the "Mist Shadow Technique" and their conspicuously unusual escape proved that the island nation's government was capable of more than just bowing and apologizing on their knees.
It seemed there was no doubt now that Tanimura Wataru would be recruited by the island nation's government.
Who was the person behind all this planning?
They were worth meeting.
Even Akihi Yu hadn't expected that the mastermind behind it all was the armored woman below, who was like a "berserker."
Before you continue