"Are these all your friends?"
Hearing Ye Xing's teasing remark, Tamamo-no-Mae didn't know whether to laugh or not.
"What time is this for joking? These four creatures..."
Tamamo-no-Mae glanced out the window and saw that Nozuchi-bō, Takame, Hashihime, and Inugami—these four well-known monsters from Hyakki Yagyō in Japan—all had faint black threads extending from the back of their heads, connecting them to the thick black mist.
Noticing this detail and sensing the terrifying spiritual power emanating from these four enemies, Tamamo-no-Mae formed a hypothesis.
"Lord Ye Xing... these four creatures seem to be drawing power from the black mist..."
"What!?"
Hearing Ye Xing's surprised tone and seeing his slightly contracted pupils and seemingly shocked expression, Tamamo-no-Mae's heart sank.
As expected...
No matter how powerful Lord Ye Xing might be, he is ultimately only human.
Facing four such powerful evil spirits, even he would find it difficult...
Just as Tamamo-no-Mae was thinking this, Ye Xing suddenly exclaimed with delight.
"So this black mist is edible? Why didn't you say so earlier, really?"
Tamamo-no-Mae: "..."
"Damn."
The elegant and enchanting nine-tailed fox uttered her first... first curse in her life... or rather, her spirit life.
So you're only thinking about eating?
Seeing Tamamo-no-Mae's speechless expression, Ye Xing chuckled and waved his hand.
"Just joking with you. I've tried consuming the black mist, but it tastes terrible and doesn't seem to enhance either my power or my soul's. No need to feel regretful."
Tamamo-no-Mae said with a complicated expression.
"This humble one doesn't feel... any regret..."
"But!"
Before Tamamo-no-Mae could finish, Ye Xing suddenly changed the subject, looking toward the four evil spirits emerging from the black mist with excitement.
"Humans can't eat grass, but cows can eat grass, and humans can eat cows."
"I can't directly devour the black mist, but they can, so I can eat them."
"What a perfect food chain. Look at their hospitality - especially pulling me into the Reverse World to prepare such a sumptuous feast for me."
Hearing this, Tamamo-no-Mae didn't know how to respond, only hesitantly speaking softly.
"Ye Xing-kun... aren't you... afraid... of losing?"
"Lose?"
Hearing this word, Ye Xing shook his head, looked at Tamamo-no-Mae, his smile disappearing as he spoke in a calm tone.
"Tell me, why would the other party trap me in the Reverse World in this manner?"
"Um..."
Tamamo-no-Mae thought for a moment before cautiously testing her answer.
"Because they want to do something in the real world and can't allow you to interfere?"
"Correct."
Ye Xing nodded slightly, speaking slowly.
"But that's not the essence, that's just the phenomenon."
"The reason for trapping me in the Reverse World is actually very simple."
"Because..."
As he said this, under Tamamo-no-Mae's shocked gaze, Ye Xing had already opened the window and jumped from the six or seven-story height, leaving only a soft statement behind.
"They fear me."
After leaping from the window, Ye Xing covered his face with his left hand and spoke softly.
"Annihilate all evil, The End of Eight Million."
Black flames burned, covering the surface of his body.
By the time Ye Xing landed on the ground, he had completed his transformation.
Beneath the pure black mask were eyes without the slightest emotional fluctuation, like calm lake water without a single ripple.
"So it's you..."
What surprised Tamamo-no-Mae, who was hiding upstairs, was that after Ye Xing landed in an extremely cool, superhero-style pose, the bridge princess with dripping wet hair and an obscured face suddenly spoke.
"You... are the monster our master ordered to be killed."
"Before saying such things..."
Ye Xing drew Onimaru Kunitsuna from his waist with one hand, swung the black blade, and looked at the four powerful evil spirits before him - Nozuchi-bō, Takame, Hashihime, and Inugami - before speaking with a light laugh.
"Take a look in the mirror first. Don't you have any idea what you look like?"
Silence.
Humiliation, extreme humiliation.
Even Tamamo-no-Mae hadn't expected that under such circumstances, Ye Xing would still actively provoke the other side.
But this wasn't the end.
Ye Xing swept his gaze over the four evil spirits before him, his eyes locking onto the unusually tall female evil spirit, and spoke with a smile.
"No wonder no one wants to marry you, being so tall."
Compared to his previous statement, this one wasn't as aggressive; at most, it could be considered somewhat sarcastic mockery.
But when Takame heard these words, her originally calm face suddenly twisted into a vicious, fierce expression, her eyes radiating intense, maddened killing intent as she screamed hoarsely.
"I'll kill you!!!"
Before the other three evil spirits beside her could stop her, Takame seemed to fall into madness, her tall body dropping to all fours as she charged towards Ye Xing like a wild beast.
And Ye Xing, who had been standing there with a contemptuous smile in his eyes, instantly switched to an utterly emotionless, indifferent gaze, murmuring softly.
"Just as I thought."
As his words fell, his figure vanished from Takame's sight.
Before she could react, she felt her back being directly pierced through.
Clang!
Ye Xing reversed Onimaru Kunitsuna's blade tip with one hand, directly piercing it through Takame's body. The terrifying force was so great that even the tip of Onimaru Kunitsuna sank into the hard ground, effectively pinning the tall evil spirit firmly to the ground.
If Hachishaku-sama were here to witness this scene, she would probably suffer from PTSD.
"So that's how it is..."
Watching Ye Xing step on Takame's head with one foot, gradually crushing it to deformation and explosion amidst her roaring screams - much like stepping on a watermelon - Tamamo-no-Mae first froze in shock, then suddenly understood, murmuring to herself.
"So that's it... So that's what's going on!"
Initially, Tamamo-no-Mae had thought Ye Xing's taunts were simply due to his personality - that he needed to humiliate evil spirits to feel satisfied.
But now she realised she had been completely wrong, having underestimated this professional exorcist far too much.
The so-called Takame, like Tamamo-no-Mae and Hachishaku-sama, were all conceptual evil spirits born and gathered in the Reverse World based on people's fears of legendary stories.
All of humanity's negative emotions would enhance the power of such beings.
This was precisely the fundamental reason why evil spirits in the Reverse World were much stronger than those in the real world.
However, they also had a fatal weakness that real-world evil spirits didn't.
That was their predictable personalities and behaviours.
In Japanese legend, Takame were women who, because of their unusually tall stature during their lifetimes, remained unmarried and, after death, transformed into terrifying, resentful spirits.
This creature, while not a true Takame, was an evil spirit born from the collective negative impressions people held towards the concept of Takame.
This meant that Ye Xing's earlier remark was, to the Takame who had always viewed her height as a sore point, nothing short of the most malicious mockery in the world.
Judging by the behaviour of these four evil spirits, they hadn't immediately attacked Ye Xing, a human, and even knew how to draw power from the black mist.
This indicated that, like Tamamo-no-Mae, they possessed intelligence on par with humans, making them more difficult to deal with in battle.
But now, provoked by Ye Xing's taunt, the Takame had lost her composure and become the first to be eliminated.
'Now that's a true master of verbal warfare.'
Just as Tamamo-no-Mae was thinking this, she saw another change occur within the field.
The Takame, whose head had been crushed to pieces, was suddenly flung backwards as if being dragged, disappearing into the black mist.
And after a few seconds...
The Takame emerged intact from the black mist, slowly walking out.
"She can revive!?"
"They can be revived!?"
Tamamo-no-Mae and Ye Xing spoke in unison, their words identical but their tones completely different.
Tamamo-no-Mae's voice carried disbelief and panic.
How could evil spirits that had already dissipated into black smoke revive after returning to the black mist?
This meant the four powerful evil spirits before them - Nozuchi-bō, Takame, Hashihime, and Inugami - now had the black mist as their supply source.
What Ye Xing needed to fight wasn't just these four evil spirits.
But this thick black mist formed from all the negative emotions of Kyoto's entire population.
How could they possibly win!?
Yet Ye Xing's voice was filled with pleasant surprise and the joy of harvest.
Well now, they can be revived?
Then if I catch one, wouldn't it last me a lifetime?
A vivid image had already formed in Ye Xing's mind.
He would first compress these four evil spirits into pill shapes, to be stored by Tamamo-no-Mae.
In future exorcism operations in the Reverse World, he would carry Onimaru Kunitsuna in one hand and the pills in the other. Whenever his power depleted slightly, he'd take a bite of a pill as replenishment.
This was simply an endless, inexhaustible source of delicious replenishment!
Noticing Ye Xing's gaze sweeping over them, the four evil spirits opposite - Nozuchi-bō, Takame, Hashihime, and Inugami - couldn't help but feel a chill in their hearts, even instinctively wanting to retreat.
What Hashihime had said earlier wasn't falsehood or mockery.
In the eyes of them evil spirits...
Ye Xing truly was a monster.
Moreover, the kind of extremely terrifying, merciless monster that had devoured over ten thousand evil spirits without the slightest trace of pity or mercy.
If not for the black mist supporting them, having these four challenge Ye Xing...
Would simply be like delivering takeaway.
"Very good, very interesting."
Ye Xing nodded with satisfaction, his right arm merging with the pale ghost hand. The amusement in his eyes disappeared, replaced by madness craving something.
"Trying to delay me?"
Ye Xing slowly stepped forward, the insane pleasure in his eyes making the four evil spirits opposite feel deep fear.
"The black mist's revival isn't good news for you."
"This means in the time to come, you must prepare to die countless times, to be slowly devoured by me countless times."
...
Meanwhile, in the real world, inside Kyoto's suburban power station.
"Sniper, report the situation."
Soichiro Yagami, wearing a bulletproof vest, held a pistol in his right hand and a police walkie-talkie in his left, speaking in a hushed tone.
Surrounding him were over twenty heavily armed squad members carrying shotguns and semi-automatic rifles.
Along with Mai Sakurajima and Rio Futaba, who had concealed their true appearances and were silently following without saying a word.
After waiting several seconds without any response from the walkie-talkie, Soichiro Yagami frowned slightly.
"Sniper, report observed situation."
The other end remained deathly silent until, after a long pause, accompanied by crackling static, came faint, terrifying words that made Soichiro Yagami's expression change.
"You... can all see..."
After these words, the communication cut off, leaving only dead silence from the walkie-talkie.
"Hah..."
Soichiro Yagami let out a heavy sigh, gritted his teeth tightly, and pointed towards the power station's main entrance as he said in a low voice.
"Continue forward."
When dealing with incidents related to the supernatural, casualties were inevitable.
This was something Soichiro Yagami had learned during the previous train malfunction incident.
The dozen elite officers following him had all perished in the blink of an eye, their bodies left behind in the Reverse World without leaving any trace.
In the face of evil spirits...
Ordinary humans were merely playthings.
"It seems your theory was correct after all," Mai Sakurajima whispered to Rio Futaba as they entered the power station.
"There really are special evil spirits here that can merge with humans, evade the observation principle, and kill people directly."
Rio Futaba nodded, gazing at the gradually darkening sky, and remarked noncommittally, "Chief Yagami said the emergency repairs would take at least half an hour. Before nightfall... we might not make it in time..."
Mai Sakurajima sighed softly. "But this is our only option now. I wonder how things are going on their end..."
"Don't worry," Rio Futaba patted Mai Sakurajima's shoulder reassuringly. "She's strong - a natural-born professional exorcist. Even working alone, she can handle those evil spirits. Besides, there's a heavy weapons squad with her on that side. It'll be fine."
"I hope so."
...
At another power station, Miko Yotsuya clipped the walkie-talkie to her waist and said calmly to the heavy weapons squad officers behind her, "Wait here. I'll contact you via walkie-talkie once I've confirmed it's safe."
"Are you certain, ma'am?"
These dozen special officers all recognised Miko Yotsuya.
Or rather, they didn't know Miko Yotsuya herself, but rather her identity as Mask's assistant.
Within the current Metropolitan Police Department, the higher-ups maintained an ambiguous attitude towards Mask - neither acknowledging nor denying its existence, turning a blind eye and looking the other way.
But among the middle and lower ranks of the police force, the attitude was much clearer.
Most of them were supporters of Mask, and even those few who didn't support it didn't hold opposing views.
The reasoning was simple.
Who was sent on dangerous missions?
These officers.
How had the Metropolitan Police Department managed to capture the Sunny Doll Killer last time without a single officer casualty?
Because of Mask.
Was Mask righteous?
These officers didn't know, nor did they care about debates between procedural justice and consequential justice.
They only knew that from their perspective, Mask's existence was a good thing.
That was enough.
Additionally, before splitting up, Soichiro Yagami - both the Criminal Affairs Director and head of the Special Operations Division - had specifically instructed them to comply with all requests from this mysterious figure wearing the pure white mask with pale golden patterns whenever possible, which explained their current attitude.
"Yes, remain here. Observe the surroundings and maintain high alert."
After saying this, Miko Yotsuya walked alone toward the power station ahead, bathed in the fading glow of the sunset.
'If Ye Xing were here, what would he do?'
Miko Yotsuya understood his character all too well.
Ye Xing would definitely say he didn't need these officers getting in his way - that he alone could handle all the evil spirits within this power station.
Because he was the strongest.
Miko Yotsuya admired Ye Xing and wanted to become an exorcist like him.
She was no longer the girl who could only tremble before evil spirits, pretending not to see them.
"Hyakume."
The moment Miko stepped into the power station, she summoned Hyakume, her right hand already resting on Mikazuki Munechika's hilt.
"Can you detect anything?"
"Hmm... quite clearly."
Hyakume nodded slightly, pointing towards a two-storey building ahead.
"There are traces of evil spirits in there, mixed with human presence - and quite powerful ones at that."
"I understand."
Miko responded softly.
"Hyakume, become my eyes."
"I understand."
Hyakume's form gradually faded away, while a dark green hue flashed through Miko Yotsuya's golden pupils - exactly matching the eye colour of the Slaughter Demon.
"I... can see you."
After partially merging with Hyakume, Miko herself gained the ability to observe traces of evil spirits. Especially with the aid of the Slaughter Demon's eye, even the most minute traces couldn't escape her vision.
She clearly saw the two-storey building enveloped in a pale red glow that gave off an unnerving sense of fear.
Just as Miko spoke these words, the iron door on the building's ground floor slowly swung open.
A woman radiating crimson light, dressed in blood-red clothing, emerged from the doorway.
Her blood-dripping eyes met Miko's gaze.
"You... can see me."