The team from the Countermeasures Division led by Ren Kuroda soon reached a position close to the mountain's midsection.
What they saw there made it immediately clear—they weren't the first.
Quite a number of people had already gathered in the area. Some had even set up temporary tents, boiling cups of instant noodles in the snow, clearly having rested there for quite some time.
When the Eighth Squad arrived, the crowd stirred. A young man quickly stepped forward, his face lighting up as he enthusiastically greeted Kamishiro Isshin.
From their brief exchange, Ren could easily tell that the man was also the captain of a core squad within the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division, and that his spiritual power was roughly at B-rank.
The young captain explained that their Third Squad had been among the earliest teams to reach this area. However, they had quickly learned from even earlier arrivals that an unknown number of yokai—of unknown strength—were massed at the mountain's midsection.
They had attempted to send stealth specialists ahead to scout the situation.
The result was predictable.
Every scout had vanished without a trace.
No intelligence. No signals. Nothing.
That yokai were lying in ambush at the midsection was already an established fact—the demonic aura that had erupted earlier couldn't possibly be faked.
But without knowing how many enemies there were, or how strong they might be, everyone gathered here had chosen to hold position and wait for reinforcements.
Unfortunately, the teams from the major exorcist families were sly as foxes.
They had never intended to rush forward in the first place. Their goal was obvious—to let other teams act as cannon fodder, to probe the yokai's strength for them.
As a result, despite the fact that the path up the mountain was largely unobstructed, they advanced at a glacial pace.
Half a day passed.
Yet only a handful of teams had made it to the midsection.
Worse still, the groups gathered here were mostly scattered independent teams—none particularly powerful.
"Those exorcist families keep preaching about 'humanity's future,'" someone spat bitterly."But in the end, they're all petty schemers. There haven't been any obstacles on the way up. With their numbers, there's no way they couldn't have reached this place by now. They just want to use us as bait."
No one here was stupid.
Everyone could tell why the powerful exorcists were dragging their feet—they wanted these weaker teams to test the waters for them.
But even knowing that, there was nothing they could do.
Without the cooperation of the exorcist families, they had no hope of obtaining Spirit Power Crystals.
On the other hand, those families didn't actually need them at all to conquer the snow mountain.
The number of Spirit Power Crystals on the mountain was unknown, but the people who had come were a mixed bag—serum soldiers with no backing, rogue exorcists from obscure paths, and all kinds of opportunists.
Using these unaffiliated individuals as disposable scouts not only revealed the yokai's strength, but also conveniently reduced the number of competitors.
Cruel?
Yes.
But that was human nature.
And when priceless treasures were involved, yokai weren't the only enemies one had to watch out for.
The news of the Spirit Power Crystals couldn't be contained. Nor could they stop scavengers from muddying the waters and rushing to the mountain.
So the only option left was to let the yokai thin out the competition for them.
That was precisely why the captain of the Third Squad had been so happy to see Ren Kuroda's team arrive.
They had waited here for most of the day, and at last—a genuinely powerful team had shown up.
Although the Non-Natural Countermeasures Division wasn't considered the strongest force against yokai in the Tokyo sector, Ren Kuroda's squad was famous.
Kamishiro Isshin and Master Hakuba both hailed from prestigious lineages. They had never failed an exorcism mission, and with B+ rank spiritual power, they stood among the top exorcists in Tokyo.
As for Ren Kuroda and Yamato Kyoka, there was no need to elaborate.
Both were prodigies of the Tokyo sector—young elites whose spiritual power rivaled that of full-fledged exorcist families at A-rank, and whose names sat high on the exorcist rankings.
But the true reason Ren's squad had become so renowned lay in their performance during the previous great battle.
They had recovered the divine artifact Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi, earned its recognition—
And turned the tide of the war.
After explaining the current situation, the young captain also shared the consensus that had been reached among those gathered here.
Waiting for the other teams was pointless.
The exorcist families were deliberately slowing their advance.
More troubling still, those resting here had noticed something else—the yokai at the mountain's midsection were growing restless.
It wasn't just that humans had tried to scout them out.
The yokai had done the same.
Several yokai scouts had crept down earlier to probe their strength—and the group here had failed to kill them all. A few had escaped.
Which meant the worst outcome was almost guaranteed.
Now that the yokai had a grasp on their capabilities, there was no reason for them to continue lying in wait. An active assault was only a matter of time.
That left everyone here with only two options.
The first—retreat down the mountain before the yokai made their move.
The second—stay and fight. Either dig in for a defensive battle, or push upward and attack first.
Choosing to retreat meant abandoning the hunt for Spirit Power Crystals entirely.
Their supplies were limited. If they went back down to resupply and returned later, everything would already be divided up.
They wouldn't even get scraps.
But choosing to fight?
They lacked confidence.
Every team that had gone ahead before them had been wiped out—without a single survivor.
That was why everyone had been so relieved to see Ren's team.
Whether it was Ren Kuroda or Yamato Kyoka, both were well-known figures in Tokyo.
Strong. Reputable. Trusted.
They weren't the kind of people who would casually throw others away as cannon fodder.
So the gathered teams hoped that Ren's squad would take the lead—guide them in challenging the yokai forces gathered at the midsection.
They weren't afraid of battle.
They weren't even afraid of death.
Before coming here, they had already prepared themselves mentally.
What they couldn't accept was dying meaninglessly—used up by the great families, without hope or purpose.
"I may be the squad leader," Kamishiro Isshin said calmly, "but this isn't something I can decide alone. What do you all think?"
After hearing the Third Squad captain's request, Kamishiro didn't agree immediately. Instead, he turned to Ren and the others.
"Judging from the demonic aura earlier," Master Hakuba said slowly, "there are quite a few yokai gathered above.If it were just us going up alone, breaking through wouldn't be easy. So personally, I'm inclined to accept."
He clasped his hands.
"That said, this is only my opinion. While the risk on our side would be reduced, the number of variables would increase."
Hearing that Hakuba shared his thoughts, Kamishiro nodded, then turned his gaze toward the two trump cards of their squad.
"Since Senior Kamishiro and Master Hakuba have decided," Yamato Kyoka said, "I have no objections. In terms of experience, you're clearly the veterans."
She paused, irritation flickering across her face.
"Besides, those exorcist families… even now, they're still busy scheming against one another."
Ren Kuroda, however, spoke last.
"I don't mind them following us," he said calmly. "But before that, I think it's only fair to explain the combat strength of the yokai above. What they decide after that should be their own choice."
No one else here knew how many yokai were waiting above—or how strong they were.
But Ren did.
In fact, he was one of the main hands behind the scenes.
Hair-Eating Oni, Haibōzu, and the others—their origins and strength had long been reported to him in detail by Spider Princess.
Letting those unruly yokai clash with Tokyo's exorcists had always been part of Ren's plan.
But seeing the people gathered here, he felt a trace of guilt.
Most of them bore him no grudge.
Using them as pawns weighed on him more than he had expected.
So now, Ren chose to lay out the truth.
He explained the approximate number and strength of the yokai gathered at the mountain's midsection—giving those unaware of the truth one final chance to decide their own fate.
"So according to Mr. Ren," someone asked carefully, "there are at least several hundred yokai gathered there… including great yokai at A-rank?"
"Yes," Ren replied without hesitation. "My perception is sharper than most. Based on the aura released earlier, there are more than what I just described—not fewer."
At his certainty, the hearts of most people present wavered.
If what Ren said was true, then they had almost no chance of victory.
Their combined combat power didn't even amount to a tenth of the yokai force he described.
The gap was overwhelming.
Even if Ren and Kyoka could hold back the A-rank great yokai, the remaining hundreds—each at least C-rank—were far beyond what the rest could handle.
"But even so," someone said after a bitter laugh, "you're the master of a divine artifact, aren't you?As the wielder of Kusanagi, one of the Three Sacred Treasures… surely you can do something in a situation like this?"
His eyes burned with unwillingness.
"We're not asking you to kill them all. Just protect us while we break through. That would be enough."
Some, after hearing the enemy's strength, chose to give up.
But others—driven by the temptation of Spirit Power Crystals—refused to let go so easily.
And the words they spoke next made Ren Kuroda frown deeply.