Chapter 47: The Two Sides in Confrontation
Half an hour later, in Otherworld Kyoto, an alleyway twelve kilometers away from the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten.
"Arrived successfully."
Yoru stepped slowly through the "Door," looking at the thick, tide-like black mist outside the alley, and muttered to himself.
After exploring for some time, he had roughly figured things out.
Separated by just a door, the Inside and Outside were two completely different worlds.
In Physical World Kyoto, the most dangerous location was the only S-Rank spot he had marked: that unfinished building.
But if that unfinished building were placed in the Otherworld, it would be equivalent to a safe house.
After all, as long as one didn't approach that "Door," the evil spirits inside that building wouldn't even actively attack humans.
There was one major difference between the Kyoto of the Inside and Outside worlds.
Evil spirits in the Otherworld didn't need to ask questions like "Can you see me?".
Even ordinary people like Yui Yuigahama, when in the Otherworld, could clearly see the evil spirits.
This meant that as long as they saw a human, they could attack directly.
After all, this was a world dominated by evil spirits. Yoru, a human with spiritual abilities, was the intruder.
Yoru walked slowly out of the alley. Facing the thick black mist emitting a nauseating aura, he simply whispered.
"Come out."
As these two words fell, the Pale Ghost Hand appeared again.
Consuming evil spirits continuously in the Otherworld and removing "Doors" over the past few days had brought obvious growth to it.
The current Pale Ghost Hand no longer ended at the wrist but had grown a forearm and upper arm. It only lacked the shoulder part to be called a complete arm.
"Tell me, what exactly are you?"
Yoru walked leisurely on the streets of Otherworld Kyoto, chuckling as he asked the Pale Ghost Hand behind him.
Of course, the ghost hand hadn't grown a mouth and couldn't give any answer.
Yoru had also tried asking it to answer by writing.
The result was that the ghost hand seemed unable to write at all.
It's an illiterate hand.
How embarrassing.
However, through Miko successfully awakening her ability, Yoru had gained a few valuable pieces of intelligence.
Like Miko's Hyakume, the Pale Ghost Hand was a manifestation of the soul. There was no doubt about this, but it was rather special.
The first special point was that Yoru still didn't know the ghost hand's true name.
Perhaps he had to wait until the ghost hand fully condensed and grew into a humanoid form before he could call its true name to unleash its full power.
Second.
The true face of the ghost hand was even more terrifying than all the evil spirits he had seen so far.
The proof was simple.
Before he actively manifested the Pale Ghost Hand, Miko couldn't notice its existence at all.
There was only one explanation for a spirit medium unable to see an evil spirit.
Like Oda Noto (Old Geezer) and the old woman in the original story (Godmother), although they were spirit mediums, they could only see blurry black outlines, unlike Miko who could see the true faces of evil spirits.
Furthermore.
They couldn't even observe overly powerful evil spirits.
Among the evil spirits Yoru knew, only his Pale Ghost Hand was an existence that even a powerful spirit medium like Miko was unqualified to "see."
The true form of this thing...
Could it be some Cthulhu-style Evil God?
Tentacles?
That would be interesting.
Thinking this, Yoru moved forward. The thick black mist ahead was gently pushed aside by the Pale Ghost Hand as he advanced.
Gradually, Yoru's figure disappeared completely into the black mist.
Only the crimson moon in the Otherworld sky reflected a miserable and eerie red light.
.....
Meanwhile, in the clubroom of the Supernatural Quantum Mechanics Investigation and Research Club (Super-Quant).
Futaba Rio stirred the coffee in her beaker, the stirring rod making a crisp sound against the glass.
She looked at Yui and Miko sitting opposite her, staring intently at the phone screen with nervous faces, listening to the reporter's voice from the speaker. She sighed lightly and asked helplessly.
"Do you have a younger sister or brother in that kindergarten?"
After spending these few days together, although Rio couldn't call Yui and Miko friends, they could chat a bit when they met occasionally in the clubroom.
But today was the first time she saw these two in the clubroom after school.
Hearing this question, the two girls froze for a moment, looked at each other, and shook their heads simultaneously.
"I'm an only child."
"Then..."
Rio frowned slightly, a meaningful look in her eyes. She took a sip of coffee from the beaker and asked seemingly casually.
"Why are you paying so much attention to this live broadcast?"
Yui and Miko looked startled. In the end, it was Miko, with her stronger mental fortitude, who recovered first and forced a smile to explain.
"Um... after all, nothing like this has ever happened before, so we're a bit worried."
"Is that so?"
Rio responded noncommittally.
"Why didn't Yoru come today?"
"Uh... he had something to do and went home first."
"I see."
Seeing that Rio seemed to just be asking casually and didn't intend to delve deeper into the topic, Yui and Miko finally breathed a sigh of relief.
If she really got to the bottom of it, they wouldn't know how to explain.
Originally, Miko wanted to go with Yoru.
But after some consideration, she abandoned the idea.
On one hand, although Miko's Hyakume had grown to five eyes, it was at most on par with one of the hundreds of evil spirits in the unfinished building—roughly a B-Rank evil spirit level.
To travel over ten kilometers in the Otherworld, the dangers she might encounter along the way were unimaginable.
With this level of strength, if she acted with Yoru, she would only slow down his movement speed in the black mist and wouldn't be of any help.
Another reason.
The opponent this time wasn't evil spirits.
But humans armed with guns.
Before setting off, Yoru asked her a question that struck her soul.
"Can you bring yourself to kill a human?"
Miko wanted to say back then that as long as it was to protect innocent people, she could do it.
But the reality was, she knew she couldn't.
At least the current her couldn't.
Meaningless stubbornness was pointless.
All Miko could do now was watch the live report with Yui and pray silently in her heart.
...
Fifteen minutes later, outside the Kyoto Municipal Kindergarten.
"What's the situation on the scene?"
A middle-aged man wearing glasses, with a square face, short hair, and a mustache, looking resolute, wiped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and asked his subordinate beside him.
"Still no progress."
"Damn it..."
The middle-aged man gritted his teeth and waved his hand.
"Get me a bulletproof vest. I'll go inside alone to negotiate with the kidnappers!"
"Th... That won't do, Commander Yagami! You are the commander-in-chief of the scene; you cannot risk yourself!"
"There is no other way!"
As the Chief of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Metropolitan Police Department, Soichiro Yagami gritted his teeth, his hands clenching tightly involuntarily.
"It's been over an hour. The kidnappers' mental state is unstable. If this continues... the lives of the hostages..."
Listening to his words, the surrounding police officers and the Self-Defense Force members who came to support fell silent.
The situation was very complicated.
There were over twenty kidnappers, each armed with a gun.
Storm the place?
Among the hostages inside, there were many kindergarten children aged five or six.
If there were casualties, who could bear the responsibility?
This was Japan, not Russia; they couldn't just wipe out the hostages along with the kidnappers. (Note: Reference to the Moscow theater hostage crisis).
Just then.
"Commander Yagami!"
A police officer wearing a bulletproof vest ran hurriedly to Soichiro Yagami and reported breathlessly.
"Re... Report to Commander Yagami! An unidentified person has entered the scene!"