Demon Capital Slayer

Chapter 45 The Collapse of the Kingdom
As Yujian drifted into a dream, Baihexiang was lost in memories.

But some people are still working hard, even working night shifts.

Earlier, in the district where the Isshiki family's art studio was located, two men dressed as patrol officers were wandering aimlessly along the street.

"Senior, how much longer do we have to patrol? It's been almost a month already," asked Masami Yamato, a freshman who just joined the Countermeasures Division this month, drawing out his words.

"Shut up! Even Grandpa Xuanwu hasn't gone back to the aquarium to rest, and you still want to leave work early?" Shiraishi Kazuki slapped his junior on the head, making the other person cry out in pain.

Although he had only been in the Countermeasures Division for a short time, a senior is a senior. The Japanese island has its own long-standing system of seniority-based ranking, where even if it's just a matter of having a higher bed number, one still has to distinguish between kings and queens within the snail shell of a dojo.

“This is no good! Although it’s a bit rude, so much time has passed, that great painter who was caught up in the spiritual disaster is probably beyond saving.” Yamato Masami shook his head in distress.

"Attitude! This is a matter of attitude!" Shiraishi Kazuki flicked his junior's forehead again before lowering his voice.

“Ordinary painters, even famous ones, are just so-so, but they have overseas connections, you know?” As he spoke, Shiraishi Ichiki subtly pointed to the West.

"It's rumored that he has an old classmate who is a disciple of a prestigious and upright sect over there. As soon as the disappearance case came up, the inquiry calls went directly to the Foreign Minister's private residence. Ordinary police officers are fine, since they can't help anyway, but our countermeasures department has to at least show our attitude, or we'll be in for a beating."

Here's a counterintuitive fact: the western part of Japan is not a certain major Western power, but a certain major Eastern power.

The two officers from the countermeasures department were dressed as patrol officers, with incredibly realistic police identification badges in their pockets, except for a rather incongruous katana hanging from their waists.

However, this knife does not have the classic appearance of a traditional sword; all its fittings are square and full of industrial minimalism.

The hilt and scabbard are reinforced with bolts. The safety locking mechanism has a flashing red indicator light and a small LCD panel similar to a pager display, making it look more like a stun gun than a sword or other cold weapon.

"Speaking of which, senior, what do you think happened to the great painter? How could he suddenly disappear from the secret room?" The overly boring inspection work made Yamato Masami continue to make conversation.

"How did you graduate from the exorcism school? Did you get in through connections?" Shiraishi Kazuki rolled his eyes at him.

“Artists, scholars, and religious people generally have a higher level of spiritual awareness. Even if they have not undergone formal practice, they may be prone to spiritual disasters due to their extremely emotional way of thinking.”

“Those who are obsessed with pursuing art are especially dangerous. The most frightening are the very few cases where a sudden inspiration, as if blessed by the underworld, brings forth a magical idea.”

"The most famous of them all is Dante."

"The creator of the Triple Realm, the Dante who entered Limbo and escaped unscathed?" Yamato Masami was taken aback. His grades at the crash course in exorcism were not ideal, but he had heard of this man's great name.

“Yes, Dante Alighieri. Before becoming a sixth-order demon, he was just a poet who had never practiced any secret arts, a great poet!” Shiraishi Kazuki shook his head with a sigh.

"Uh, that's terrifying." Yamato Masami clicked his tongue, and then a strange thought popped into his head.

"Senior, do idols count as this type of person?"

"Huh?" Shiraishi Kazuki burst out laughing.

"You mean those little girls who wear miniskirts and bounce around on stage and have otaku willingly hand over their wallets?"

"Well, if they see becoming superstars as their life's goal and devote a lot of emotion and focus to it, according to the law of 'what you think about will eventually come back to you,' perhaps a similar effect will indeed occur."

At this point, Shiraishi paused for a moment.

"If that's the case, it's subtly terrifying. Devoting one's entire life to becoming more likable and charming might just turn one into an even more outrageous being than the legendary succubus."

"Uh, thinking about it that way, I'm actually a little excited," Yamato Masami muttered to himself.

"what?"

During their casual conversation, their communicators suddenly rang urgently, causing them to quickly put away their previously relaxed expressions.

"This is Shiraishi, please speak." Shiraishi immediately pressed the communicator button.

"What? Fifth-level spiritual energy fluctuations detected? Right here in the city? Section Chief, are you serious?"

Shiraishi Kazuki stared wide-eyed, almost unable to believe what he had just heard. Beside him, Yamato Masami gaped, looking utterly speechless with shock.

"Yes, I will conduct an on-site investigation immediately! Understood, on-site investigation!"

"Okay, I will be very careful."

After the communication was turned off, the two stared at each other blankly.

"Yamato, return to headquarters and report on the previous patrol findings."

"Senior, what are you going to do? We can't possibly handle this kind of thing!"

Yamato Masami asked anxiously. Although this senior was usually unreliable, he had always taken good care of him. How could he just abandon him and run away like this...?

Well, since it involves fifth-level spiritual energy fluctuations, there's no point in keeping a complete newbie like him around.

Do you expect to slip on a monster with your own blood? Laughable! It might as well be flying. It could easily obliterate you with a single blow. "Don't worry, don't worry, you're just a small fry, but what about me?"

"Senior, don't talk about yourself like that."

"you shut up."

"In short, as a mid-level nobody who's just barely scratched the surface of becoming a legitimate psychic, I certainly won't do anything risky. Besides, the section chief only asked me to investigate where I am. Do you understand?"

Shiraishi Kazuki emphasized the word "stay put," while forcefully patting Yamato Masaki on the shoulder. His voice continued to rise, clearly not as calm as he had said.

"Headquarters has already contacted the experts stationed at the Hall of Gods and the Religious Council, and they will be dispatched soon... probably."

"If all else fails, we can try to beg the bigwigs of the superior country, or give some money to those damned Omega troops. That five-star general eats, drinks, and sleeps well every day; surely he should do something in a time like this!"

Despite saying that, Shiraishi Kazaki's hands were still trembling.

As a member of the public service, how could he not understand the efficiency of the Japanese administrative agencies?

According to the general evaluation standards issued by the International Spiritual Energy Organization, an existence that can unleash fifth-level spiritual energy fluctuations is at least equivalent to a human master-level spiritual ability user.

That's three energy levels higher than mine. In most cases, one energy level is already a world of difference, but three is basically the difference between an elephant and an ant.

Although beings from the Netherworld are weakened to varying degrees upon entering the mortal realm, a being at least at the fifth level of energy could deal with a nobody like me with just a glance or even a thought, right?
No, perhaps that would be considered a saturation attack.

"It's alright, it's just that we're in a time of peace now. I heard from the older generation that during wartime, fifth-level energy fluctuations happen every day, and there was even an even more exaggerated demon god war that broke out in the Pacific Ocean, that was something else... Anyway, you hurry back and report the situation!"

Shiraishi Kazaki pretended to kick Yamato's butt, but he was actually quite nervous inside.

This is roughly equivalent to air defense radar detecting a formation of bombers en route. While this might be commonplace during wartime, it would be a major event in peacetime.

Just then, a small Honda patrol car drove up nearby, and two female police officers from the traffic department opened the car window and looked in their direction.

"What happened? I think I heard someone arguing here just now?"

“No, no, we are patrol officers from the local police station (similar to a street police station under a local police station). We just received a notification that a dangerous individual suspected of being a serious criminal has entered the nearby area, so we were speaking a little loudly,” Shiraishi Kazuki said, showing his police ID.

"What? But we didn't receive any notification." The policewoman asked in surprise.

Seriously dangerous criminals usually refer to suspects in serious criminal cases such as murder and robbery. Ordinary police officers rarely encounter them, let alone traffic police who manage road traffic.

Immediately afterwards, a notification came through the car radio, the order coming directly from the Metropolitan Police Department headquarters, and the wording and attitude were very serious.

The four of them fell silent at the same time.

"Well, anyway, let's get started. Tell the residents to lock their doors and windows and not to leave the building unnecessarily," Shiraishi Kazuki said with a wry smile.

After finally managing to fool the other party, he noticed that Yamato Masaki was blushing.

"Those two young ladies were quite cute, weren't they?" Shiraishi Kazuki glanced sideways at the younger man.

"Yes, yes." Yamato Masami nodded vigorously.

"What the hell! Don't you even know what time it is! You still have time to think about girls! So, young people these days are really too sweet (Japanese pronunciation is similar to 'naive')." Shiraishi Kazuki kicked his junior in the butt.

Just as the two were about to take action, they suddenly felt the sword at their waist begin to vibrate violently.

Even more outrageous, a phantom of a great city, invisible to ordinary people but clearly visible to psychics, vaguely appeared in the night.

A beam of red light shot straight into the sky, like a divine pillar supporting the heavens and the earth in mythology, causing the great city to collapse rapidly and fall into a countdown to destruction.

Calculating the time, it was exactly the moment when he used his sword to slay the black dragon.

"S-senpai, what's going on?" Yamato asked nervously and confusedly, then noticed that his senpai's eyes were wide open.

"..." This time it was Shiraishi Kazuki's turn to gape, unable to close his mouth.

It's like a forced cooling system activated after a machine has been overloaded.

After a long pause, he managed to stammer out a sentence, his teeth chattering.

"No wonder there are fifth-level energy fluctuations."

"The world is shattered, nations are collapsing, and some are contemplating apocalyptic visions!"

Looking down at the trembling Three-Style Exorcism Blade, Shiraishi Kazuki couldn't help but say another word.

"An offensive image containing elements of the sword!"

(End of this chapter)