Demonic Rampage

"Support! We need support! Kabukicho is under attack by monsters!"

"There are at least three enemies! Three monsters!"

Bang, bang, bang—

Near Shinjuku Station, the once-bustling Kabukicho had become a scene of utter chaos.

Tourists, Yakuza, and glamorous women were all running around like headless chickens.

"Damn it, Yamamoto! Take some people and organize the civilians. Get them moving toward Shinjuku Station. Don't let them stay here and get in the way!"

"Yes, sir!"

The patrol officers nearby hurried to gather. They needed to buy some time for the reinforcements on their way.

The acting field commander looked at his tense colleagues and wondered how many of them would still be alive after tonight.

It had started as an ordinary patrol, but now they were fighting monsters. Damn it! I'm not drawing a paycheck from the Special Affairs Bureau or the Self-Defense Force!

"Everyone, do your best to protect the people, but protect yourselves too. Our goal is to buy time, not kill the enemy. Remember that!"

"Yes, sir!"

As the crowds fled or hid, the streets gradually emptied. Those left behind were people who couldn't move easily or had twisted an ankle by accident, crawling toward the nearest hiding place with despair on their faces.

Inside a chain convenience store, the people hiding there didn't dare make a sound. They had blocked the door, which couldn't be locked, with freezers and shelves. Through the gaps or the windows, they watched the various monsters gorging themselves, their palms slick with sweat.

"Misono! Help me! I know you're in there. Please, help me!" The woman, dressed like an office worker, was crawling on the ground. When she saw a monster coming toward her, she scrambled in terror toward the convenience store door, pounding on it and wailing.

"It's here! It's coming! We're all going to die! If you don't help me, I'll make sure you die with me!" She let out a piercing scream and pushed with all her remaining strength. Somehow, she managed to shift the freezer and shelves blocking the door a little, even forcing one hand inside.

The people hiding within hurried to brace the barricade, terrified and on the verge of tears. Why couldn't she just wait to die quietly? Why did she have to cause trouble for them?

The door slammed shut, trapping the woman's arm. Her face contorted, and she let out a scream of pain.

But with a tearing sound, her wails abruptly stopped. The arm that had been struggling drooped, followed by the chilling sound of chewing.

The people hiding inside could only hope there was still enough food outside to keep the monster from bothering to open their "can."

Bang, bang, bang!

Shouting came from farther away, and bullets uselessly ricocheted around the convenience store.

The monster's attention was drawn away. It dropped the mangled chunks of flesh and leaped toward the food that had dared to fight back.

"Shit!"

The patrol officer hurriedly scrambled away from the car he'd been using as cover. The next second, a crash rang out behind him, and shards of glass from the shattered windows flew everywhere.

The officer gritted his teeth, fell onto his back, and emptied his entire magazine into the monster.

"Grrraah!"

The monster recoiled in pain, using its massive claws to block the last few bullets. Then it reached forward and slashed at the officer, who had run out of ammunition, cutting him into several pieces.

"Hirohiko! Aaaaaah!" A female patrol officer suddenly broke down and ran out from behind cover, walking straight toward the Ghoul monster as she fired.

"Kobayashi, don't do anything rash! Quick, cover her!"

The nearby patrol officers seized the chance to cover her. The Ghoul, the weakest kind of demon, couldn't withstand the gunfire and actually retreated.

The female patrol officer stumbled over to her boyfriend's mutilated corpse and gently touched his lifeless face. She looked at the engagement ring in her hand through tearful eyes, then blankly raised her gun to her temple. After a gunshot, she fell beside him.

The remaining demons finished off the food in front of them and began running toward the patrol officers, who were making the most noise.

The patrol captain took his eyes off Kobayashi and gave a bitter smile. "Everyone, don't kill yourselves. We'd lose a lot of compensation."

No one answered.

It wasn't that they didn't want to run. After seeing how terrifyingly fast the monsters could pursue them, most had soberly realized that concentrating their fire was their best chance of survival.

Rat-tat-tat—

Hearing the noise, they raised their heads, their faces breaking into delighted smiles.

A helicopter had arrived!

"Wasp One has reached the target location. Target creatures sighted. Requesting permission to engage."

"Permission granted. Fire at will."

Heavy weapons began to rain down, the roar of humanity's defiance.

The Ghoul was torn apart in an instant, leaving only a few scraps of flesh amid a hail of bullets.

The other monsters roared at the helicopter and tried to leap at it.

But the gunner aboard the helicopter knocked them out of the air. They crashed to the ground, crushing a car.

At some point, the Spider-Leg Demon had picked up a road sign. It suddenly hurled it from an oblique angle, sending it straight through the cockpit. The helicopter immediately lost control and spiraled toward the ground.

Boom! The crash landed like a giant hammer on the hearts of the survivors.

But before long, more helicopters arrived to support them.

The Spider Leg seemed to know a thing or two about anti-aircraft combat. It kept throwing objects, hitting the rotor of another helicopter. The remaining aircraft immediately became wary of getting too close, limiting themselves to long-range fire.

"These monsters are a real pain! How long until the Special Affairs Bureau gets here?!"

"They're here."

"Huh?"

A man suddenly appeared behind the Spider-Leg Demon, holding a heavy machine gun and looking like Rambo in his iconic pose.

Rat-tat-tat!

The Spider-Leg Demon cried out in pain and instinctively attacked him, but the next instant, its enemy vanished and reappeared on the other side.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

"You disgusting thing! How dare you show up within ten thousand kilometers of Nanako and scare her! Your life wouldn't be enough to pay for it, monster!"

Toyokawa Jousei kept up his trash talk as he unleashed a relentless barrage.

Dazed by the heavy fire at point-blank range, the Spider-Leg Demon was soon critically wounded. It no longer had the luxury of fighting back and chose to flee.

It kicked off with all its legs and soared into the air, only to stop there in midair, as if suspended. The Spider-Leg Demon twisted and writhed, like a ball of thread floating in the sky.

"Demons, your fate is death."

Inagaki Miki descended from the night sky with an expressionless face, pronouncing its end.

Then the power of her mind tore it apart, and black blood rained across the street.

With the most troublesome demon eliminated, the others were no threat. They were soon dealt a devastating blow, turning into piles of disgusting, rotting flesh.

Noguchi Yuji looked at the scene of devastation, at the scattered bodies, some whole and others broken. A sense of helplessness gripped his heart like a nightmare.

Did he really have to use his Holy Son Pill allotment?

The image of Division Chief Odagiri's face appeared before him.

No. He could accept compromises made by the higher-ups, but he would never compromise himself.

Even without superpowers, he still had his analytical skills and his ability to command. Surely, at least one of those was superior to the so-called supernatural.

Composing himself, he went over to the dispirited patrol captain.

"You... held them off remarkably well. You placed considerable limits on the demons and protected many people."

The patrol captain glanced at his insignia, then lowered his eyes. With a trembling hand, he silently took a drag on his cigarette before pointing at two bodies nearby.

"Tanaka fought to the very end. He was a hero. Kobayashi was afraid of even mice, but the courage she showed at the end... I could never match it." The patrol captain looked up at Noguchi Yuji with pleading eyes. "They were heroes. Can you make sure of that?"

Noguchi Yuji nodded.

"I can. I promise. Courage is one of the few things we have to fight the supernatural."