Kyoto Prefecture, August 15, late afternoon.
Whup, whup!
Formations of helicopters loaded with shells flew between the buildings, while wheeled armored vehicles rolled openly through barricade after barricade. A grim, murderous tension filled the air.
A storm was brewing.
In Sanskrit, "ullam" meant hanging upside down, while "bana" was a bowl for holding food. The Obon Festival was a day for offering food to hungry ghosts and relieving their agonizing hunger.
In Japan, the Obon Festival was a public holiday as important as New Year's Day.
Especially since the Lord of Mount Tai had manifested three years ago, the Government of Japan had held the Ritual of the Lord of Mount Tai around the Obon Festival every year, on an unprecedented scale.
Kyoto during the Obon Festival should have been as bustling and lively as it was during the Gion Festival. Now, however, its streets were deserted, and all the lights in its residential buildings were out. This metropolis of over a million people resembled a ghost town.
Apart from soldiers of the Self-Defense Forces armed with loaded weapons, not a living soul could be seen.
"Check again. Are there any problems with the defensive lines and firing positions?"
At the command headquarters on Kyoto's outskirts, Major General Gokisuke of the Supernatural Special Brigade, the overall commander of this operation, addressed his subordinates with his square face set sternly.
After the Asakusa Incident, the immensely powerful Lord of Mount Tai had lowered the curtain severing the connection between earth and heaven. Although no major supernatural events such as Kage Level powerhouses descending to the mortal world had occurred, the Government of Japan had prepared for danger in times of peace, drawing elite personnel from across the country and sparing no expense to build a rapidly deployable elite force for targeted